Diabetes Blog

Generic Drugs

Posted by john in Diabetes News

To avoid the high cost of regular drug use, many people prefer to switch to generic drugs. Only two commonly prescribed oral anti diabetic drugs are available generically: tolbutamide and chlorpropamide. While many generic drugs are safe, the Food and Drug Administration says that these generics may not be as effective as the nongeneric items. Batches of the generic drugs have been recalled, while in 22 or more years of production none of the non generic anti diabetic drugs have been recalled.

Generic anti diabetic drugs can be harmful if they work too quickly or strongly, because a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) reaction may occur. Also, if the drug isn’t as strong as it should be, your blood sugar level may become elevated without warning. If you want to switch from one brand to another, do so only under your physician’s supervision. If your diabetes is stabilized with one particular product, you might jeopardize that control by switching to one to which your system reacts differently, advises the American Diabetes Association.

Use of generics in control of diabetes requires caution. Making an unmonitored switch from a prescribed brand to a generic may mean loss of diabetes control. In that case your cost in additional medical attention may more than outweigh any savings realized from purchasing the generic products.

Because some generic products cost less than their prescription equivalents, many physicians write prescriptions for the generic drugs. If your physician thinks a generic drug will work well for you he or she will so indicate on your prescription.Whether you use injected insulin or an oral medication, it will be regular use of the preparation, plus diet, a regular exerciseprogram, and a good mental outlook, that will help control your disease, Medication alone won’t do the job. The combined treatment approach works best.

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Hypertension and Diabetes

Posted by john in Diabetes News

You can achieve short and long-term savings by starting right now. You can take the first step in your personal campaign to avoid serious, un measurable costs by understanding them. Knowing what you are saving will encourage you to take the next step and plan each dry to include a proper balance of diet and exercise. Current evidence strongly suggests that complications of diabetes threats to life can be prevented or greatly reduced by general good health measures. One of the most important aspects of your new savings program will be to guard against hypertension (high blood pressure). This is important because hypertension and diabetes have several things in common. First, hypertension Occurs more frequently in obese people; so does diabetes. In fact, in non-insulin-dependent diabetes those extra pounds may be a factor in the development of hypertension.

A reduction of weight can mean control of your diabetes as well as your hypertension. Also, hypertension is more common in older people, and so is diabetes. For reasons not entirely certain both diseases affect more people in later life than during earlier years, but both diseases can be controlled in many cases through changes in lifestyle at any age. Although hypertension is more common among diabetics than among non diabetics, having diabetes does not mean that you will have high blood pressure. Nearly 35 million people in the United States with or without diabetes have hypertension. But, because hypertension can have so many effects on your vital organs, it is important to have it checked frequently so that you can do something about it if it becomes even mildly elevated.

Usually you can’t tell whether your blood pressure is high unless it is checked with a blood pressure measuring device. Generally high blood pressure offers no warning. signals and gradually damages your vital organs. In some cases diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney disease are linked closely. Experts don’t always agree on the sequence in which these problems Occur. High blood pressure can cause the walls of the blood vessels in the kidney to change and block some of the flow of blood, resulting in damaged kidney tissue. Also, diabetics who have kidney disease often develop high blood pressure as a result of the impaired function of their kidneys. Because the problems of diabetes, hypertension,and kidney disease are so closely interrelated, preventing or controlling one helps reduce the complications of others.

Why is Hypertension Dangerous?

Hypertension does its damage by hastening the development of atherosclerosis. When this happens fatty deposits harden in the walls of the arteries and prevent blood from flowing smoothly throughout your body just as a clogged garden hose prevents a
smooth flow of water from reaching your lawn.

Why treat hypertension?

Studies have shown that hypertension may shorten life by 20-30 years. Experts say that half of all heart attacks and two thirds of strokes Occur in people who have high blood pressure. Appropriate treatment can result in fewer and milder effects. When high blood pressure leads to hardening and blockage of arteries in the heart, heart attacks or severe pain can result. With hardening of the arteries the heart may not be able to continue to pump adequately and the lungs and other body tissues may become congested. When the body retains fluids a person may feel out of breath and tired after engaging in mild activity. When the arteries leading to the brain are clogged stroke or brain damage can occur. High blood pressure can lead to hardening of the arteries in the legs and to poor blood circulation. When poor circulation is combined with diabetes, infection and sores on the feet and legs can be more difficult to treat and heal.

If You Do Have High Blood Pressure

If you have high blood pressure, it will be important to control it along with your diabetes to safeguard your vital organs, especially Your kidneys, heart, brain, and eyes. It is important for non diabetics to treat hypertension, too, but it’s even more important for diabetics because of the combined menace the diseases present.

Your health care team will explain the significance of weight loss, if you are a little heavy, salt and cholesterol limitation in your diet, and exercise for cardiovascular fitness in fighting high blood pressure along with diabetes. If you smoke, you will be advised to stop. If these methods do not bring your high blood pressure under control, you will be advised to follow a program of drug therapy under your physician’s careful supervision.

Diabetes and Hypertension Medication

If you have diabetes and hypertension, your physician will explain the interaction of antihypertensive medications and blood glucose levels. Because of this interaction, if you need medication, your medication and diet may be a little different from those prescribed for others with high blood pressure who do not have diabetes. Diuretics are the most widely prescribed category of antihypertensive drugs. Unfortunately, in addition to reducing your blood pressure, some diuretics may also reduce your potassium stores. Some authorities say that inadequate potassium may interfere even more with your ability to make adequate insulin.

If you are advised to take a diuretic, you may also be advised to eat a diet rich in potassium (bananas, citrus fruits) or take a potassium supplement. Some diuretics also tend to increase levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and you may be advised to offset these effects by following a diet that includes less animal fat and fewer dairy products. Many persons with hypertension take one of a category of drugs known as beta blockers, which influence one part of the sympathetic nervous system. Tex work by blocking the effects of the stimulation coming to the heart and blood vessels through a I special group of sympathetic nerve fibers called beta adrenergic. These drugs decrease cardiac output by acting on nerve receptor sites in the heart. In this way they decrease the amount of sympathetic nervous output into the heart. The heart rate slows the heart does not work as hard, less blood is pumped,and blood pressure goes down. However, the beta blockers also suppress the effect of hormones, including adrenaline, responsible for constricting blood vessels and maintaining salt and water levels in the body.

Because adrenaline is also the body’s mechanism for signaling development of hypoglycemia, these drugs must be used
cautiously if you have insulin-dependent diabetes.

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Glucose Tolerance Tests

Posted by john in Diabetes News

The basic glucose tolerance test may be ordered by your physician as part of a complete physical examination or specifically because diabetes is suspected. It involves taking a small specimen of blood from a vein in your arm. Over approximately a several hour period, multiple separate readings of your blood glucose level are taken. These measurements, when plotted on a graph, graphically portray how your body handles glucose. The test is especially valuable because it can confirm the presence of a condition known as impaired glucose tolerance. While people who have impaired glucose tolerance do have elevated blood glucose levels after meals, impaired glucose tolerance is not necessarily diabetes, and their fasting blood sugar is normal. However, people who have this condition may be more likely than others to develop active diabetes.

If your physician orders a glucose tolerance test, it will be scheduled in the morning after you have had three days of good food intake so that your body can handle sugar optimally. You will be asked not to eat breakfast that morning so that your first blood sample will reflect your fasting glucose level. Next you will be given a beverage or test meal containing glucose to drink or eat. On some occasions glucose is administered intravenously. At various hourly intervals after you have taken the glucose, blood samples will be taken and the glucose level of your blood will be measured.

This test is usually not used by physicians during periods of long dietary restriction, illness, or disability or without the three ­day good food intake preparation. If you do not have diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, the resulting readings, plotted on a graph, will show a normal pattern. If you do have diabetes, the graph will show that your blood glucose level rose and kept rising and did not even begin to drop by the end of the test. If you have impaired glucose tolerance, the graph will look much like the non-diabetics graph, but it will indicate higher blood sugar concentrations with normal fasting or end-of-test levels. The levels will fall between the range of the non-diabetic and the diabetic on the graph. The term impaired glucose tolerance refers to the condition in which the fasting plasma glucose level is between normal and diabetic levels. This term is used instead of the term borderline, chemical or latent diabetes.

If a glucose tolerance test reveals that you have impaired glucose tolerance, your doctor may recommend that you have further tests. Also, because people with impaired glucose tolerance are, more likely to develop diabetes, and because at this stage diabetes is preventable, your doctor may advise you to lose weight, cut your intake of simple sugars, exercise more, and avoid cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, smoking, and high cholesterol levels.

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What Those with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Should Know?

Posted by john in Diabetes News

With insulin-dependent diabetes, when insulin injections begin your symptoms may disappear and the disease may go into a stage of remission or temporarily appear inactive. In this phase your pancreas will again secrete insulin. Your need for extra insulin may decrease or disappear. The remission phase frequently lasts as long as two or more years, and during this period it may be hard to believe that you have the disease. Your blood sugar level may remain within a normal range. Without explanation your blood sugar may go up again and again create the need for additional amounts of insulin. During the remission phase a well-balanced diet will be very important. If possible, you should try to maintain your ideal weight. However, the remission phase may end or may not Occur at all. When this happens your diabetes may be less stable, your pancreas will secrete varying amounts of insulin, and your condition may develop into what is known as brittle or poorly controlled diabetes because your blood sugar may fluctuate widely during the same day for no apparent reason. Brittle is simply the term some physicians use for a markedly fluctuating blood sugar level. In this stage it usually indicates poor daily management, and insulin, exercise, or activity may affect your blood sugar level. Better regulation of your diabetes may be necessary through dietary means, additional exercise, and alteration of your insulin intake. Close regulation may be a greater problem if you have little or no insulin production of your own.

Two Medical Emergencies to Know About

If you have insulin-dependent diabetes, you can avoid two medical emergencies by carefully monitoring your blood sugar level. Ketoacidosis (diabetic coma) is a condition of elevated blood sugar and breakdown of muscle and fat that results in a disturbance in the acid-alkaline balance in your body and causes loss of consciousness or coma. Diabetic coma can occur because of a lack of the necessary insulin dose in the presence. of the effects of stress (physical or emotional), infection, or major illness. Recognition of symptoms and prompt treatment by a physician are important. Symptoms may include flushed, dry skin, drowsiness, a fruity breath odor, deep labored breathing, vomiting, and abdominal pain.
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is a condition that can occur because of an excess of insulin, too much exercise, or not enough food. Fortunately most cases of hypoglycemia are easily reversible. You can avoid this unpleasant complication by understanding how insulin, food, and exercise interact. Further, you can use urine testing or blood sugar testing as a guide in controlling your blood sugar. While many people with insulin-dependent diabetes seldom develop this complication it is a frequent and disturbing one that requires knowledge of diabetes and cooperation with your health care team.

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