Battling Diabetes

The September Diabetes Forecast discusses 10 Ways to Get Healthy Right Now; a really informative article by Tracey Neithercott that also discusses the sleep and diabetes connection.

Big Idea #2 Get More Sleep

…in a 2006 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found that people with type 2 diabetes who reported shortened periods of sleep or poor sleep quality had higher A1C’s than those who had long, restful slumber.

U.S News & World Report article, January 3, 2008. Lack of Deep Sleep Raises Diabetes Risk

According to the researchers, three nights of interrupted sleep effectively gave people in their 20s the glucose and insulin metabolisms of people three times their age.

Sleep–Here’s The Big Picture

The sleep cycle consists of four stages, going from light to deep sleep and finally REM (Rapid Eye Movement). The sleep cycle takes about 90 minutes. Per SleepDex, “infants spend almost 50% of their time in REM sleep. Adults spend nearly half of sleep time in stage 2, about 20% in REM and the other 30% is divided between the other three stages . ”

So what do you think? Are you sleep deprived?

Find out.

Test your reaction time at Sheep Dash.

More →

Having one of those days? Diabetes Down Days?

No matter how much you educate yourself, how much you prepare for battle in every way; there will still be down days. Days when you feel like giving up.

More →

Music has the amazing ability to turn emotions on and off, to transport us to another place and yes, to heal.

More →

Patient: Doctor, if I give up wine, women, and song, will I live longer?

Doctor: Not really. It will just seem longer.

More →

This diabetes journey can seem quite lonely. Connecting to others who understand and help prevents those feelings of isolation.

There is a huge relief that comes from reading about a journey similar to your own. That sense of not being alone is hugely comforting. Sometimes it does take one to know one. Who truly knows what you are dealing with every moment of every day better than someone who IS there, right beside you, in a similar situation?

So, where in the diabetes ‘hood do you hang out?

TuDiabetes:

We’ve already discussed this newcomer which provides a virtual forum and chats. A plethora of photos abounds on this site as well.

More →

Being a teenager is tough enough–tryng to fit in, yet be an individual… A diagnosis of diabetes adds a whole new meaning to the words teenage angst.

When it comes to coping with a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes, Nick Jonas understands first hand exactly how a teen’s life can be turned upside down.

A Little Bit Longer is the newly released hit song, written by 15 year-old, pop star Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, about his own diabetic journey that began with his 2005 diagnosis of Type I Diabetes. In fact it was a blood sugar of over 700 that sent Nick to the emergency room and began his particular challenge of dealing with diabetes on a road tour.

A Little Bit Longer

Got the news today
But they said I had to stay
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine
When I thought it’d all been done
When I thought it’d all been said
A little bit longer
And I’ll be fine

But you don’t know what you got
‘Till it’s gone
And you don’t know what it’s like
To feel so low
Everytime you smile or laugh you glow
You don’t even know
No no
You don’t even know

Check out the YouTube Video of the Jonas Brothers and a discussion of A Little Bit Longer.

You can see Nick on the cover of the July issue of Diabetes Forecast, the consumer publication of the American Diabetes Association. If you don’t subscribe (why don’t you?) then you can check out the highlights of the story here.

Attention fans of the band: Nick Jonas is also giving away concert tickets to lucky fans in every American Diabetes Association affiliate branch city in which the band performs. You can read about the winners of a recent Phoenix, Arizona concert, on Friday July 11th.

The concert schedule is available on http://www.myspace.com/jonasbrothers

More →

The Traffic Light Diet is a simple diet plan that may help adult diabetics as well as children get started on the road to healthy eating. While called a diet it is really a lifestyle plan. It is easy to follow which means long term compliance in any situation. This may be a perfect educational starter to teach newly diagnosed diabetics healthy choices.

The Traffic Light Diet or Stop Light Diet was developed by Leonard H. Epstein and colleagues for use in their family-based childhood overweight research. It has been since copied (as noted in Battling Books!).

More →

If you are having a hard time figuring out why your blood glucose levels are high and you feel you have every other area of your diabetes lifestyle under control, consider the stressors in your life.

Stress releases hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) that will increase your blood glucose levels. While this is good on a temporary basis to provide energy to deal with a threatening fight or flight situation, chronic stress keeps your glucose levels elevated which can create insulin resistance and high glucose levels.

There are however those rare individuals out there whose response to stress is a severe DROP in blood sugar.

Dealing with life is stressful. Dealing with life and diabetes is a double whammy.

How do you respond to stress?

• Do you self medicate with food?
• Road rage?
• Smoking?
• Alcohol?
• Do you exercise more?
• Clean the house when you are upset?
• Do you get depressed when you are stressed?
• Are tears your way of responding to stress?

Were your coping strategies on the list? Are they productive long term strategies? Do you consider action/response of your body when you utilize those coping mechanisms?
Like anything else, the more you feel in control the better you feel.

The basic way to manage stress is with balance: a balance of sleep, exercise and relaxation.

The experts at the Mayo Clinic say to TAKE STRESS SERIOUSLY! “If you’re stressed, it’s easy to abandon your usual diabetes care routine. The hormones your body may produce in response to prolonged stress may prevent insulin from working properly, which only makes matters worse. To take control, set limits. Prioritize your tasks. Learn relaxation techniques. Get plenty of sleep.”

Specific therapeutic tools to manage stress and get back control:

• Biofeedback. Biofeedback is one measurable tool. Biofeedback is a methodology which utilizes techniques to assist patients to control body function such as blood pressure and heart beat and muscle tension by responding to their own body reactions. The Continuum Center for Health and Healing describes biofeedback or self-regulation, this way: “…the ability to observe oneself and acquire the skills needed to make changes in one’s physiology, behavior, or even lifestyle in order to promote well-being and health.”

• Relaxation Techniques: these include meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery and yoga.

• Journaling: Journaling not only allows you to get your issues out but allows you a way to work through your problems and stressors.

• Support Groups: Consider online support groups and communities where you can openly discuss issues that are unique to diabetics.

More →

DIVABETIC was inspired by Luther Vandross and created by his assistant, Max Szadek.

More →

Depression and Diabetes

More →