Hello everyone in the house,

Please, make it a resolution to cut down on the amount of soda you consume this year 2006. Do you know that 171 million people worldwide have diabetes and another 200 million people are unaware of the fact that they have diabetes. Please , consume more of water /juice rather than consuming soda/coke/sprite because its better to prevent now than to cure later. Thanks.

NB: If you consume 1 bottle of coke a day, you are consuming about half a cup of sugar not to talk of if you consume 3 bottles day or more, you would be consuming a 1.5 container of sugar. please please please, l cry out today to everyone in the house. to prevent is better than to cure. thanks.

Correction: According to doctors, diabetes cannot be caused by excess sugar intake. But once you have diabetes, then it becomes important to control the intake of sugar.

Are you suggesting that diabetes is often caused by consumption of sugary beverages?

If thats His point, then i'll disagree. if u have enough insulin production/supply in ur system, sugary foods wont be harmful.

Well Layi, comments like that would make some people feel that maybe, they're amongst the lucky ones with adequate insulin production and naturally, just go ahead consuming more sugar. And to the best of my knowledge, regardless of your insulin production, you're liable to become diabetic if you increase your sugar intake.

Within the pancreas, the Islets of Langerhans produce insulin in response to blood glucose. These islets are tiny insulin factories that sense the level of glucose in the blood stream, and produce insulin in precise proportion to that level. Therefore, following a meal, blood sugar levels will rise significantly, and the islets will release a large amount of insulin.

This insulin will cause body cells to take up the sugar, causing blood sugar to quickly return to its normal range. Once blood sugar is in the normal range, the islets will reduce the output of insulin to an idling state. In this way, the islets adjust their production of insulin on a minute-by-minute basis, always producing just enough insulin to deal with the amount of blood sugar presently in the blood stream.

Logically, a rapid increase in blood sugar would weaken the Islet of Langerhans responsible for the production of insulin, due to the increasing amount of insulin needed for the proper absorption of blood sugar. This becomes the fast track to being diabetic.

And by the way, is there any clinical form of testing one's insulin production level?

Disney is very correct in her comments. Consume less and less sugary contents, be it sodas or whatever. We all know these drinks contain a lot of sugar and she's using the most consumed sugary contents in her arguments.

And surely Seun, diabetes is caused by excessive consumption of sugar. Sugary beverages are just another form of sugar.

Can daily or regular in take of alcohol cause diabetes

No, l don't think so since alcohol does not contain a lot of sugar unlike soft drinks. Studies have shown that alcohol intake tends to relax a person's blood pressure that is if taken in light amount like one a day.

[img]http://www.diabetes.org.uk.nyud.net:8090/gifs/p9box.gif[/img]

Bad diet cannot cause diabetes. it can be caused by certain infections or genetic predisposition. Click the image above to read more about it.

Seun:

[img]http://www.diabetes.org.uk.nyud.net:8090/gifs/p9box.gif[/img]

Bad diet cannot cause diabetes. it can be caused by certain infections or genetic predisposition. Click the image above to read more about it.

what do you refer to as bad diet? because diet do contribute to type 2 DM development, i agree with the genetics and infection stuff........but diet also is part of it.

Well what do u know!! i shd start taking alittle bit of alcohol for relaxation yeah

[No, l don't think so since alcohol does not contain a lot of sugar unlike soft drinks. Studies have shown that alcohol intake tends to relax a person's blood pressure that is if taken in light amount like one a day./quote]

Diabetes is generally believed to be a  a condition common among the supposedly well-to-do in the society  caused by the  by a high level of blood sugar- a condition commonly referred in medical Sciences as Hyper glycaemia.Well,recent studies and advances in the  field of medical sciences  lends us the credence that this view is farther from the truth.Well, the truth is every human on planet earth makes proteins in his body :the structure of which is determined by the genes or  offspring-information containing elements in the body.
   
  Genes make proteins and Insulin which regulates blood sugar level is made by these genes,so when a person is said to be diabetic,it will be as a result of the inability of these genes to make insulin probably due to a   mutation-a deleterious  situation which can only be  treated by management.As a result of the inability of the blood to control the sugar level due to a   genetic defect,blood sugar levels rises and the individual can then be said to be diabetic.So  I want us to understand that insulin is primarily a genetic defect caused probably by a mutation in these insulin-encoding genes rather than  very high sugar levels,after all we  all take in sugar daily yet we are not all diabetic.This is rather an icing on the cake.Peace

Posh,
Thank you very much for your post.
you maybe right but you are not correct.
It is true that diabetes mellitus can occur due to these things you have mentioned.
But you seem to stress so much on lack of insulin due to mutation. Do you know that
DM can occur even in the presence of adequate amount of insulin? In order words
DM can occur in the presence of normal functioning of the gene that codes for insulin.
In order not to confuse readers, a simple definition of diabetes mellitus will
take care of this misunderstanding.
Diabetes mellitus is defined as a clinical condition in which there is persistent
increase in blood sugar levels due to absolute or relative absence of insulin.
Now take note of the words, "absolute" and "relative".
In absolute absence of insulin, there is no insulin at all or too little insulin like
you have said. But in relative insulin absence, the patient actually has insulin
but, there is insensitivity of the cells to insulin.This one is called Type 2 diabetes mellitus
and is common in the elderly and obesed people. So you can see why people say it
affects the rich.Type too diabetes mellitus is common in the rich because they are
the ones who are more likely to become obese.Poor men don't become obese.
Type 1 can occur in children of the poor or rich.This one is known as juvernile onset
diabetes mellitus.Because it is due to absulute absence of insulin.That is why
treatment is based on use of Human insulin.Whereas, in type too, because the problem is not
lack of insulin, oral hypogyceamic drugs are given.This drugs help to enhance the
action of insulin by making the cells a bit sensitive to insulin.
So the people who said Dm occurs in the well-to-do were not wrong.The truth is that
because they have so much money, they can afford to eat form Mr.biggs, tantalizers
sweetsensation etc.And we all know that these people sell foods with very high cholesterol contents.
So any body who feeds on these often is likely to become obese and prediposed to
Diabete Mellitus Type 2.

how do you know if you have diabetes? what are some of its symptoms?

You wont run some tests firsts, no?

[b]Diabetes Mellitus is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism from an absolute or relative lack of insulin resulting in hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), electrolytes imbalances and finally end organ damage.

there are essentially two types of DM:

1) the juvenile onset ones, basically called type 1 DM this type results from absolute lack of insulin and present early in life, it has a genetic component with little or no family predisposition, meaning if the father has it the child will not necessarily have it.

2) the maturity onset DM, basically called type 2 DM this type results from a relative lack of insulin, because there are insulin in the system but the end organs are not responding adequately to it. Patients are usually elderly, obese with little or no genetic association but high family predisposition with up to about 95% concordance rate.

Symtoms of DM starts with:

Polyuria (excessive urinating)
Polydipsia (excessive thirst)
Polyphagia (excessive crave for food)

other tests that need to be done when you notice these symptoms are carried out in a clinic or hospital setting where a qualified practitioners will explain to you your options which will range from

urinalysis to blood tests, like Random blood sugar, commonly called diascan, Fasting blood sugar and 2hrs post prandial tests.

DM needs to be caught early and managed as the end organ, long term complications are severe....

Renal failure
cataract formation
Retinopathy
peripherial neuropathy, which in its extreme case can lead to diabetic foot ulcer and subsequently amputation of the foot/leg as the case may be if not properly managed
and a variety of heart diseases.

DM is best controlled on insulin, for the type 1 the option is insulin, for the type 2 options include oral hypoglycemic agents and there are a wide range in the market and also insulin, which still remains the gold standard in managing DM patients and limiting the long term complications, however patients usually opt for the less efficacious options of taking tablets because of the discomfort of daily needle sticks.

whatever you chose, DM cannot be managed independently of a qualified medical practiotioner (like myself  ) find one close to you and discuss the best option for your treatment with your doctor.

eat right, live right..............DM don't develop because of the diet you chose but once established amongst other things needs to be controlled in addition with eating the right diet.[/b]

Nowadays people, and mostly teenagers, are lazy and don't practise no more sports. They are so addicted and can't control themselves with junk foods like candies, hamburgers, that they finish up with diabete.I know a 12year old boy that is having a diabete and believe me it's very sad because he cannot even eat those foods he is used to. So Teenagers in this site, be mindful about the sort of foods you eat OK? !

Ahmadi a little correction here, eating of burger does not make teenagers develop diabetes, the type this twelve year old has is not hereditary and wasnt caused by eating bad diet.

It is caused by an autoimmune response, the body not recognizing itself anymore, wakes up one day and start attacking the islets cells that produce insulin and the result? type 1 diabetes.

Diet and exercise helps to put diabetes under control anyway.

That's true! But what if the teenager eats too much burgers and doesn't exercise at all

what he would develop is a high lipid, may become obese but wont become diabetic in his teenage years, much later maybe which is type 2 DM; the only way he could become diabetic in teenage years is to have an auto immune destruction of his insulin producing islet cell, which is not fault of his, which is type 1 DM

Tell us more about this type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and how diet can contribute to it.

nicetohave:



2) the maturity onset DM, basically called type 2 DM this type results from a relative lack of insulin, because there are insulin in the system but the end organs are not responding adequately to it. Patients are usually elderly, obese with little or no genetic association but high family predisposition with up to about 95% concordance rate.

Symtoms of DM starts with:

Polyuria (excessive urinating)
Polydipsia (excessive thirst)
Polyphagia (excessive crave for food)

other tests that need to be done when you notice these symptoms are carried out in a clinic or hospital setting where a qualified practitioners will explain to you your options which will range from

urinalysis to blood tests, like Random blood sugar, commonly called diascan, Fasting blood sugar and 2hrs post prandial tests.

.

In addition to my earlier explanation, type 2 DM develops over the years; reason why it is not possible to develop early in life, reason why it is called adult or maturity or late onset DM, reason why it is caused by the end organs insensitive to the insulin.

In type 2 DM, insulin may be either[b] normal[/b] or low.

In the normal insulin variant, the diet has a role to play. If you load your system with too much carbohydrate or sugar or what you all call "bad diet" eventually the individual cells gets tired off "too much sugar" being delivered to it, and then even in the face of a normal insulin refuses to take up the sugar and thereby leave the sugar in the blood stream, and hence you have high blood sugar.

The emphasis here is that too much sugar is being delivered to the cells for use than they actually need to meet their metabolic needs, even in the face of normal insulin, thereby the name insulin insensitivity. Once it develops, it is a vicious cycle and since excess sugar coat the surface of cells if they are not used up eventually the excess sugar go on to destroy more and more cells until a full blown DM develops with its complications, if not treated.

Remember this runs in the family. So in individuals that have a positive family history, they should excercise more, which will help "burn" away the excess sugar. This may suffice, and prevent development of type 2 DM, even when it develops; excercise alone may be enough to control it without the oral drugs.

In the low insulin variant, the explanation is similar but here the cell affected most or first in some cases, is the pancreas that has the islet cells that produce the insulin. When they are over burdened by the need to produce more and more insulin because of more and more sugar in the bloodstream, the cells also become "tired" and start to produce less and less insulin than the body cells needs to mop up the sugar/glucose, hence DM develops.

In the first case, the body cells gets tired of metabolizing the excess sugar; this starts the vicious cycle.
In the second case, the pancreas gets tired of producing enough insulin than the body cells needs to mop up the excess sugar, this starts the vicious cycle.

Remember it develops mostly in people who have a family history of DM, but because its real pathogenesis or emphasis is on excess sugar, it may develop de novo in obese individuals too who have never had a family history.

Diet (reducing the amount of carbohydrate)

Exercise (helps the body cells burn both fat and pick up the excess sugar)

In most cases these two is enough to control the DM but because most people are lazy, wont exercise, have virtually a sedentary lifestyle, and on top will not eat good diet (minimal carbohydrate needed) and fail to comply eventually will have to be placed on the diabetes medications, which regrettably some still dont take as prescribed. The end story? the diabetes gets worse and complications like the renal failure, etc sets in.

@disney, i cant' believe you can laugh and cry at the same time
but yeah, diabetes is very bad, it killed the people i once loved

Feels good to know that we have people to inform us on stuffs like this.

Hahaha, We got different peeps in here: AUTHORS, JOURNALISTS, SCIENTISTS, NEWS REPORTERS AND MORE.

Hmm Good topic, very varying views.
I got this to say:

Adolescents can develop Type II Diabetes mellitus. Current classifications shy away from classifying Type I as Juvenile Onset and Type II as Adult Onset. Knowledge has changed that. It has been noticed that more obese adolescents are now developing Type II diabetes mellitus. So whether we like it or not diet is extremely important in the prevention of diabetes. We might say that there is no direct causal relationship between a bad diet and Diabetes but that does not hold water any longer.
(Note pls my bad diet does not mean coke or pepsi as people are wont to say.)
Some school of thought believe that obesity is an important first step in developing Insulin resistance of Type II daibetes. It is family linked but bad diet is very associated. the importance of Proper exercise and good diet cannot be overemphasized.

It is not excessive intake alone that causes diabetes, also inadequate intake of some essential nutrients can cause diabetes. there is a new classifictaion that Identifies Type IV caused by Malnutrition. It presents like Type I cos the Malnutrition causes some pancreatic injury and calcification.

Now for the issue of alcohol, Medically litlle alcohol intake is not harmful to the body but infact beneficial. In studies carried out in France and some other places, it was found out that people that take some amount of alcohol (mainly red wine) have better hearts than those who do not.

But can alcohol cause diabetes? Yes. Excessive alcohol intake is one of the prime causes of acute or chronic pancreatitis that is alcohol has a way of injuring the pancreas. It is this same pancreas that produces insulin. So what do u expect? Excessive alcohol would cause diabetes. Shikena

The complications of diabetes are too many. Thats for another day. Also there is something we call Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X. that also for another day.

Thanks all.

Thanks Ajolayo. That is an enlightening contribution, however in science (medicine) im sure you agree that common things occur commonly, so when an adolescent becomes diabetic i will probe in the direction of type 1 DM so while type 2 has a strong association with obesity and family history, it is still predominantly not a disease that appears in teenage and adolescent years, youd find hundreds of adolescent with type 1 before you can come across one with type 2.

@nicetohave,

Thanks. I agree completely with you. I am just trying to say that there is no exclusivity in the classification. I would also be thinking more of Type I if i see an adolescent with diabetes but its something to keep at the back of your mind. As you said there is No Never in Medicine.
As I said a lot of Endocrinologists do not want to say Juvenile onset and Adult Onset again rather they say Type I (Immune Mediated) etc

Thanks
PS: I want you to talk a little on the issue of alcohol. I know you might have some info about that too.

If thats His point, then i'll disagree. if u have enough insulin production/supply in your system, sugary foods wont be harmful.

Thats where the danger lies when the body is called upon to over produce insulin. After awhile the constant production gets les and less. After awhile heart and blood vessel problems set in. For every time that a person ingest processed sugar, the pancreas becomes burdened with having to produce far more insulin than is necessary.

The body produces less insulin when we ingest complex carbs. These complex carbs have a time-released mechanism that constantly feeds our blood supply with the necessary glucose, which doesn't require too much insulin release. In the case of processed sugar the insulin release becomes greater, and hence more damage to the heart and blood vessels. This also leads to hypo-glycemia at all times when processed sugar is used.

Eventually diabetes sets in, especially type 2. This type is lifestyle related.

I know a revolutionary supplement that eradicates diabetes,

Holla if you want to know more

The reason why people get diabetes is that the greasy foods that we eat (mostly from animal products, fried/cooked foods) prevents insulin in the blood stream to open the cell door in order to usher in sugar from blood.  As a result the body automatically sends more insulin into the blood because the cell is still notifying the brain that insulin is not coming in. So the brain instructs the pancreas to produce more (when in the actual sense the cell is not getting it). The sugar, insulin therefore start to build up and clogging the the artery and problems starts. Weight increase starts and the pancreas keeps producing insulin in attempt to balance it in proportion to the body weight until it (the pancreas) becomes weak or eventually packs up. This might have been going on for years before the body can't take it any more. Then the person would have no choice but resorts to injecting insulin in order to stay alive. If we change our diet and put in a little exercise the miracle would be done in no time. Get those books, u will not regret it.




The major cause of most diseases are the foods we eat. If you have diabetes these are things u need to stay away from

1) refined sugar

2) Animal products.

3) White flour products

Go to this website and order the following books, and that might be an end to the disease if you follow the  instructions.

www.Hares.com

1) Halelluyah diets

2) God's ultimate health through diet

3) Why Christians get sick

These books are written after research of 30 years in diets and health

As I have responded earlier go and study Gen 1:29. Every manufacturer of a product always have a manual for his/her product, God that created our body gave us the correct foods with which to feed the body he created to stay healthy. To cure/heal, and or prevent diabetes or most many other diseases, Fresh and organic fruits and vegetables are what we need to eat. To determine which particular fruits/vegetables, what quantity, and when during the day or evening is what science has shed light on. Most medications in many situations only add to the problem. Go and read most of the responses to the thread and do your home work. I wish you stay in good health.