LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

prediabetes

HEALTHY FOOD CHOICE MAY PREVENT PREDIABETES IN OBESE YOUTH – (10-01-03)

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Prediabetes in obese youth

I hate sounding like a broken record, but this review article stresses severe insulin resistance as a major player in the deterioration of our youth’s health. While genetics plays a small role, I place this blame squarely on the shoulders of parents. Much like an overweight dog, there really is no one else to blame. The programming of a child’s genes begins in the womb, is accentuated by nursing choices (with breast feeding being number one choice) and further worsened by blatant disregard for processed sugars in the diets of our kids.

The schools do not help by trading spots in the hallways for pop machines and the “added funding” from the big companies, but these patterns are established long before the child begins school. We need to educate parents on healthy food choices.

The Journal : Back Issues

Read entire article here

Help Improve Memory and Concentration: What You Need to Know

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Everyone wants their brains to function until 100. Protecting our brain is not a passive process; it takes work to help improve memory and concentration.

I have all but made it a mantra to describe the diabetic progression as the biggest fight that human physiology has. The process begins decades before a diagnosis of diabetes is even considered. It may begin subtly in many ways:

  • Increased waist to hip ratio (the belly bulge)
  • Menstrual problems
  • Gallbladder surgery
  • Elevated liver enzymes
  • Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides
  • Gout
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
  • Sleep apnea
  • High blood pressure

These are just a few of the many signs that creep up, usually not linked to prediabetes because many physicians are not aware of just how much prediabetes impacts the body.  Over decades, these items start to rack up, and many patients are left with more and more medications.  Ultimately, the diagnosis of diabetes is given unless the patient dies of a heart attack, stroke, cancer or Alzheimer’s before.

That pretty much sums it up.

By now, of course, regular readers have the list of things to avoid and things to have more of memorized. For those of you who don’t, it can be found here.

You’ll notice that I mentioned Alzheimer’s a paragraph or so ago. This is because Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are being considered a “type 3 diabetes” because the links between them are so strong and have been confirmed in numerous research studies.

This particular article takes the boundaries a little further.

Researchers looked at blood glucose levels in the “not diabetic range” of less than 110. They performed imaging of the brain and checked it again in 4 years. Specifically, they were looking at the hippocampal and amygdala regions–regions deemed very important for short term memory and emotions.

In four years, researchers found that those with blood sugar levels in the high end of normal had some not-so-good findings.

These patients had up to a 10% shrinkage (called atrophy) of the hippocampal and amygdalar regions of their brains. 10% in four years. Even those of us not good at math can figure out that these numbers don’t lead up to Jack Lalane-like longevity.

The bottom line is that we, as a society, cannot proceed along blissfully unaware of how much our prediabetic lifestyles are affecting us. We have to stand up and admit that none of this is good for us and that our heavily processed, dairy dependent, sedentary and industry-biased lifestyles are affecting every single aspect of our health. Medications are not and will never be the answer.

Personal responsibility for our health and our family’s health is the only savior. But this begins with admitting just how much every choice we make damages us.

So what will you change today to protect your brain?

How To Prevent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in 8 Easy Steps

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Being diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus almost guarantees you will be diabetic in the future, so you need to know how to prevent gestational diabetes.

To put things in perspective, being obese and at risk for GDM, but not actually being diagnosed with GDM had almost THIRTEEN times the risk of becoming diabetic in the future. That’s really, really high. But wait!  There’s more! Being obese AND being diagnosed with GDM led to over FORTY-SEVEN times higher risk. Nothing is certain, but this is one of the highest risks I think I’ve ever seen.

A more recent study threw elevated blood pressure during pregnancy into the mix as well and found that, in pregnant women who had experienced hypertension during their pregnancy, the later risk of developing diabetes was 508% higher. Interestingly, when they looked at the combination of hypertension, elevated cholesterol and obesity, the risk for progression to diabetes was again staggering 39.5 times higher risk. Maybe not as high as the previously mentioned study, but still strikingly high.

Given these numbers, any women diagnosed with diabetes of pregnancy needs to understand that the rest of their lives needs to be lived within the context of avoiding diabetes and making appropriate lifestyle choices.  If this is not taken into consideration, you can pretty much plan on becoming diabetic in the future.

Of course, the best option is to prevent gestational diabetes mellitus in the first place. Clearly an anti-diabetic lifestyle is key here.  Some key elements include:

  1. Continue with exercise, most likely some type of short-burst aerobic exercise
  2. Avoid refined carbohydrates / high fructose corn syrup, processed foods and high calories
  3. If an 8-yr-old can’t read the label, don’t buy it
  4. NO artificial sweeteners – Splenda, sucralose, Nutrasweet, aspartame, acesulfame K
  5. Avoid chemicals present in things like bottled water, flame retardants, bug / weed killer and Teflon
  6. Add olive oil, no added oil nuts, wild caught salmon
  7. Variety of fruits and veggies- 8-10 servings/ day

This particular study gives us an eighth option.

Researchers looked at vitamin D levels and their relationship to the diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus.  The findings are pretty clear cut.

Women with levels below <25 nmol/L 220% more likely to develop pregnancy related diabetes.

25 nmol / L is a pretty low cutoff. I personally prefer 60 or higher. To get here, most patients would need to supplement at least 4-6,000 IU / day of emulsified D3 to get to this level. I know that in our office, this translates to about $20 for the entire term of the pregnancy. Pretty inexpensive protection.

If you were diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus, had anyone explained to you how great your risk of developing diabetes was in the future?

Sex Enhancement? Diabetes, the Anti- Female Libido Enhancer

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Unless you’re living in a cave in Afghanistan, sex enhancement might be on your “to-do” list. Is there a natural approach that is a female libido enhancer?

The good news is that the answer is a strong “yes.”

This is certainly not the first time I’ve stated that diabetes is the worst thing that can happen to our bodies.  This includes the progression to diabetes as well as the diagnosis of diabetes.  And yet society seems to think that, if you haven’t passed that magical point of a fasting blood sugar greater than 125 then you’re OK. 

This is not even close to being true.

Everything that goes for diabetes goes for prediabetes as well.  The list is near endless and has been covered ad nauseum in previous articles.

Despite all this, when faced with the need for lifestyle changes, many still balk.  These risks of cancer, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s are in the future, and everyone seems to think “it won’t happen to me.”

But of all the nasty things that prediabetes and diabetes causes.  None would seem to make lifestyle changes as important as sexual dysfunction and a healthy sex life.  Unless, of course, you’re the Dali Lama, a Catholic Priest or an unfortunate eunuch.

The links between overall health, diabetes, heart disease and sexual health are very clear.

  1. Healthier couples have almost 5 TIMES as much sex as unhealthy ones.
  2. Infertility, the potential outcome of good sexual health, is clearly linked to being prediabetic.
  3. The dreaded erectile dysfunction IS heart disease waiting to happen.

Do we really need any other reason to take better care of ourselves?

Just in case you do, this particular study should push you over the edge (literally and figuratively..).

Researchers looked at diabetic women and compared their sex lives with women who did not have diabetes.  Here is what they found:

  1. Insulin dependent diabetic women had twice the rates of low overall sexual satisfaction, a 237% higher risk of lubrication problems and 80% higher risk orgasm problems.
  2. Non–insulin using diabetic women had a 42% higher risk of low overall sexual satisfaction
  3. In all diabetic women, complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney problems and peripheral neuropathy were associated with lower sexual function as well

So, not having a healthy lifestyle not only dooms your overall health in the long run, but has a consistent and measurable detrimental effect on both the frequency and satisfaction associated with sex.  Bummer.

So, if you’re looking for sex enhancement, it has to start with an anti-diabetic lifestyle.  For any of you women out there who have made positive changes, you can likely attest to the fact that eating better, quitting smoker and exercise act as natural female libido enhancers.

If you’re wiling to share, what have you done in your lifestyle that has led to a more satisfying sex life?

Does Your Diabetes Exercise Plan Include This?

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Americans seem to have a natural exercise aversion.  Research is done, not to look at how much is too much, but rather how absolutely little we need to get benefits.

I thought we had found the answer several years ago when researchers discovered that 9 minutes (yes–NINE minutes) of exercise could improve the way insulin worked in the body by 25%.  I was wrong.

There was quite a bit of hype a decade or so ago that involved Russian muscle stim units.  One ad even had models with picture perfect abs demonstrating a belt to be worn around that abdomen that would have you looking like them by the end of the day.  I had always laughed at these ads, knowing that these results were just no attainable using muscle stim units.

Maybe I was thinking in the wrong context.

Certainly, you will not get rock hard abs from using a muscle stimulating device.  But is there a possible positive effect for those of us who may not be able to exercise due to pain, obesity or respiratory issues?  The answer may be yes.

In this particular study, researchers looked at 11 diabetic patients.  They used an electronic muscle stimulating unit (EMS) for 30 minutes after breakfast and found that the use of this device kept blood glucose levels lower up to 2 hours after the meal.

Pretty amazing, huh?

This does NOT, however, relieve those of us able to exercise from doing so.  While this may have a positive effect, I would be surprised if it is even remotely as powerful as exercise itself.  This is a tool that could be used in in patients who just are not able to exercise because of a specific reason, not merely from lack of motivation.

This would also never replace good dietary choices and an anti-diabetic lifestyle.

I’ve done a review of the use of this type of device for pain control in the past (see review here).  This type of unit can be used for muscle stim or for pain control.

What types of conditions do you think might warrant the use of an EMS unit instead of exercise?

Prevent Diabetes With This Simple Exercise

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All origins of man aside, we basically have hunter-gatherer genetics.  I view our needs for exercise with this in mind.  When it comes to aerobic activity, I would challenge anyone to come up with a predator we can outrun for 45 minutes.  On the flip side, what prey would we pursue for 45 minutes?  The answer, of course, is none for both questions.

Envision instead, your ancestor bursting out of the brush to through a spear and chase down a wounded animal for 100 yards.  Sounds more reasonable.  For this reason I think we are better designed for burst-type activities, and several researchers studies over the past few years continue to support this notion.

This means that walking, as a form of exercise, is not even close to what our bodies need.  I always hate to discourage those starting to exercise, but the fact remains that merely walking does not really have all that great of a response in our bodies.  The good news is that intermittent short burst aerobic exercise is very easy to adopt and can take literally only minutes per day.

Overall, the results of previous studies are pretty startling, and this particular study is no different.

To Avoid Alzheimer’s Dementia You Must Do These 6 Things

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Anyone who has seen the deterioration that occurs in Alzheimer’s dementia firsthand is fearful of the same thing happening to their own brain. Luckily, this is not an inevitable process.

To understand how cognitive loss and Alzheimer’s occurs, we need to understand more about my personal favorite part of the cell, the mitochondria.

The mitochondria is the portion of every cell in our bodies that helps to generate energy for the cell to function. Our brain cells, called neurons, require tremendous amounts of energy just to function at a basic level. When our neurons cannot generate the energy they need just to function at a basic level, they begin to break down and die off.

This means that anything that is good for our mitochondria will lower your risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s, while anything that harms our mitochondria will increase the risk. It boils down to being this simple.

One thing that is very bad for our brain is being prediabetic or diabetic, and we have known for some time that these conditions increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. The relationship has been considered strong enough to call Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases “Type 3 Diabetes.”

This particular study adds weight to prior evidence and adds some specifics. Researchers looked at the risk that diabetes creates for loss of cognitive function. Findings include:

  • Diabetic patients had a 46% higher risk for Alzheimer’s
  • They had a 248% higher risk of blood vessel related dementia (vascular dementia)
  • They had a 21% increased risk of mild cognitive impairment

These are some scary numbers. So what can we do to protect our brain and lower our risk?

Obviously, an anti-diabetic lifestyle is key. Specifically, these changes can help greatly:

  1. Exercise
  2. Continually challenging your brain (like reading the Rantings…)
  3. A high quality, low calorie diet
  4. Lower your exposure to environmental chemicals
  5. Eat more fruits and vegetables
  6. Vitamin D deficiency can increase your risk

Overall, the progression to increasing loss of brain function (from mild cognitive impairment to terminal Alzheimer’s) is almost entirely under your control, but you need to start today. The damage to your brain begins decades before any symptoms are noticed. Every day you wait to make positive changes will lead to more brain cells lost.

What changes have you made to protect your brain?

4 Sneaky Tactics to Keep Meds for High Trigylceride Expensive

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Tricor is a medication commonly used to “treat” high triglyceride levels.  Clearly, this discussion should be a moot point because the appropriate anti-diabetic lifestyle choices WILL slash high cholesterol and trigylcerides, but alas, it is not.  Abbott labs holds the patent for Tricor, which was approved in 1993.  Generics should’ve been available as early as 2000, but the sneaky tactis employed by Abbott kept this from happening.

Before we go into the details, let me again reiterate that the vast majority of lipid problems (high total cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides) are caused by a prediabetic lifestyle.  While few patients are told this, the research leaves little room for doubt.  If you have lipid problems, it is highly likely you are on your way to diabetes.

Luckily, for those of you who have no patience and want to get the process over with and just progress directly to diabetes without passing go, the statin class of drugs given to help lower cholesterol can assist.  Yes–It is now accepted that the statin class of drugs given to people with high cholesterol because they are prediabetic actually causes diabetes.

For those of you wanting to slow down and actually pass go and collect your $200, lifestyle is absolutely powerful enough to bring your blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides back to their youthful levels.  Simple changes like:

  1. As little as 9 minutes of burst type aerobic activity per week
  2. Cutting back on portion sizes and calories anywhere you can
  3. Cutting out processed foods
  4. Stop drinking your calories

The full list can be found here.

Should these changes prove too cumbersome and you’d prefer the medical route, you at least need to understand why Tricor remains an expensive drug.

Through it’s course of maintaining control over the brand name and squashing generics, this particular article outlines the sneaky tactic Abbot has employed.  These include:

  1. In 2000, Abbott filed a patent infringement suit, which legally delayed the approval of a generic by 30 months or until the litigation was resolved, protecting Tricor-1 from competition
  2. Eighteen months later, Abbott won approval for a new formulation (Tricor-2) based only on different mg dosages in the tablet
  3. Six months after approval, Tricor-2 accounted for 97% of fenofibrate prescriptions.  It is believed that Abbott pushed sales of the newly patented drug by destroying supplies of the Tricor-1
  4. In late 2002, Abbott again filed patent infringement complaints, postponing the approval of a generic Tricor-2 for another 30 months

The story goes on, but you get the idea.

Lest you think this is an isolated situation, similiar stories are almost commonplace in the pharamceutical industry.  So, the next time you hear someone claims that adding chiropractic care to a health plan will drive up the cost…just remember that we play NO part in the drug shenanigans.

What have you had to give up because the cost of your prescription medications have been so high?