Healthy News for Healthy Nation

While science is still trying to reverse diabetes nature has already found a way for many people. The reason for this is very simple. The vast majority of diabetes is directly related to lifestyle. Poor eating habits combined with a lack of exercise provides the right combination to become diabetic.

University of Florida researchers have been successful at reversing diabetes in mice using stem cells. The cells were taken from the pancreas in the early stages of development. The cells were then injected in the mice. A few days later the cells began to act like normal non-diabetic cells. The study lasted for 3 months and during the time of the study the immune system did not attack the stem cells. Unfortunately they could not determine how long it would last.

One basic point to consider is the fact that a Harvard study suggested that 85-90% of diabetes cases are directly related to poor eating and exercise habits. If someone can reverse diabetes using science one simple question to ask is, how long will it last if the diabetic does not change his or her lifestyle habits? Common sense tells us that you can get rid of many diseases with a drug or surgery but if you don’t take care of the cause of the disease it will still come back. We know this very well with cancer, another lifestyle disease.

So what are some of the foods that you should avoid? A good start would be to reduce or eliminate fast food, junk food, foods containing high fructose corn syrup, excess amounts of animal proteins including meats and dairy, and unhealthy fats like saturated fat and trans-fat. Drinks to avoid include sodas, alcohol, coffee and milk.

So what can you eat? Start by adding plenty of green vegetables to your diet. They are high in nutrients and allow your body to process then in a very clean fashion. Add good fats to your diet like avocados, almonds, flax seed oil, olive oil or borage oil. Add low sugar fruits to your diet like lemons, limes and grapefruit. And don’t forget to drink plenty of water.

A recent study linked high fructose corn syrup to diabetes. Another found that eating almonds after a meal helps to balance your blood sugar and even more studies have found that exercise can balance glucose in Type 2 diabetics. These studies add more credibility to the fact that diabetes is a lifestyle disease.

The hardest part is realizing that you have to undo years of bad habits. Just be sure to start out simple. If you try to make too many changes at once you are apt to become frustrated and quit all together. Make small changes daily and before long you will be well on your way to a healthier lifestyle. Always remember to consult your doctor before changing your diet and adding exercise. You don’t want to overdo it.

When you understand the foods you are eating and drinks you are drinking are creating diabetes you can understand how to change it. By following some simple diet guidelines many people have done just that, reversed diabetes.

There is the threat of lapsing into a coma because of low levels of glucose. Maybe you have forgotten and taken too much insulin and experienced the same results It is great that a little sip of orange juice or a small piece of candy will bring you back around in a lot of cases. Day in and day out you labor with diabetes,giving yourself insulin or the not so laborious route of taking pills. You say to yourself…I am tired of this. But you realize you have to do this to live. Suddenly you think….There must be a better way.

If you are one of the lucky ones,your mind settles on supplements. You realize there has to be more,something better,a way to deny the symptoms of diabetes the free reign to tear down your body,to shut down your kidneys,to cause you to have to deal with diabetic nerve damage. You decide within yourself…I am going to fight,deny and defy this sickness the control of my being. I refuse to give in or up.

Now you are interested in knowing all there is to know about diabetes. You find out that it is a failure by your body to metabolize fat. A failure of the pancreas to produce adequate amounts of insulin,a failure of your body to use the insulin produced. But you are determined not to allow one last failure. You will not fail in fighting this illness. You prefer the supplements route. You determine to give your body what it needs to function properly without so much outside assistance from insulin.

Medical supervision is necessary and you inform your doctor of your intentions.Because diabetes can be insulin dependent or not insulin dependent,you carefully map out a plan of attack. You change your lifestyle,and take supplements that contribute to sugar control and prevention or management of diabetic complications.

You start to take vitamins….C,E,Bilberry,,magnesium,along with about six other supplements daily. Shortly you notice a difference. You do not feel the same,you do not take as much insulin,your doctor suggests reducing insulin intake,finally you realize,though the war is not over yet,because you have a few battles left. But finally victory is attainable. You feel like moving forward.

Sometimes defiance in the face of sickness,nets us satisfaction…A goal can be reached if you believe it can,and strive toward the desired effect.

When you have loss kidney function something need to be done to replace the cleansing of the blood from pollutants and to help remove fluid and that replacement is called “dialysis.

At first glance, this life saving dialysis machine looks like something from Star Wars, all the tubes and meters and it kind of looks like R2D2 except it’s not walking around just sitting there beside you. The good news is your “little buddy” is your life saver because it is going to cleanse your body for you and get rid of what your body can’t do on it own anymore.

Many people have a shunt in their arm where they hook up the dialysis machine and on one side of the machine the dialysate (the fluid they use) is going to flow and on the other side your blood is going to flow and when the blood is cleansed it returns to you. The dialysate also has minerals in it that are loss during dialysis, like calcium and potassium. More than likely they will also put your on a prescription for these same minerals. This type dialysis is called. “hemodialysis” and is usually done 3 times a week for 3 or 4 hours.

Another form of dialysis is called, “Peritoneal dialysis”. In this type dialysis the dialysate is of glucose and minerals and is run through your stomach area. The dialysate is then left to clean your body of waste and pollutants and then drained and thrown away. The nice part of this treatment is that it is done at home and can even be done when your traveling. This treatment doesn’t do quite as good as hemodialysis but because it is done more often during the day the methods of cleansing your body becomes about the same.

I can’t stress this enough, on your days of dialysis, you are going to be tired and it’s ok! Your body has just went through in 3-4 hours what it normally takes it to do in 48 hours. It’s like running a mile in 4 minutes and you’re going to be tired. The good news is the days you don’t have dialysis, usually, you will gain some energy back and feel less exhausted. Don’t try to do too much on your days that you have dialysis, it will only make you more tired than you already are and there is always tomorrow when you feel better to do what you need to do.

Charles E. White has been helping people with kidney disease for over 11 years. Not only has he written about the problems people face with kidney disease, but also lost his father and other half to kidney disease and has kidney failure himself.

Coughing is an important way to keep your throat and airways clear. Coughing is an action the body takes to get rid of burden that are irritating the air passages. In the more advanced stages, it’s marked by the symptom that gives the disease its name: a severe, hacking cough followed by a high-pitched intake of breath that sounds like “whoop. Coughing can also be triggered by a bolus of food going down the trachea instead of the esophagus due to a failure of the epiglottis although this may result in choking instead.

Worldwide, there were over 45 million cases of whooping cough and 409,000 deaths in 1997 making this easy-to-prevent disease one of the leading causes of illness and death. Provided the patient is a non-smoker and has a normal chest X-ray the cause of chronic cough in 93% of all patients is due to asthma reflux ( heartburn ) or post-nasal drip. Other causes of chronic cough include chronic bronchitis and medications such as ACE inhibitors. Coughing during an injection can lessen the pain of the needle stick caused by a sudden, temporary rise in pressure in the chest and spinal canal, inhibiting the pain-conducting structures of the spinal cord.

Causes of Cough

The common Causes of Cough:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

Lung disease such as bronchiectasis interstitial lung disease, or tumors.

Exposure to secondhand smoke.

Allergies and asthma.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( emphysema or chronic bronchitis).

Lung infections such as pneumonia or acute bronchitis.

Cigarette smoking.

ACE inhibitors (medications used to control blood pressure).

Symptoms of Cough

Some Symptoms of Cough:

A runny nose

Dry cough

Nasal congestion

A mild fever

Sneezing

General feeling of being unwell and loss of appetite

Red, watery eyes

Treatment of Cough

Antitussives should not be given when the cough is productive and the patient is bringing up mucus. If the cough is keeping the patient awake at night, then their use at bedtime is indicated.

Antihistamines and decongestants may be a good choice for treating coughs associated with post nasal drip.

Elevate your head with extra pillows at night to ease a dry cough.

Don’t smoke and stay away from secondhand smoke.

Antitussives are useful in suppressing dry, hacking coughs. (Specific products may be recommended by a physician or pharmacist.)

If you have allergies year round, cover your pillows and mattress with dust mite covers, use an air purifier, and avoid pets and other triggers.

For patients with underlying disease states causing the cough, treatment should first be based on treating the underlying disease.

Antitussives are useful in suppressing dry, hacking coughs.