Issue Date: July 15, 2007
You can actively fight diabetes!
It's hard to overstate how important exercise is in treating this widespread disease.
I remember a well-meaning teacher telling our grade-school class that consuming a single serving of alcohol destroyed enough brain cells to reduce a person's IQ score.
This petrified and puzzled me. I expected to see adults who were sipping wine deteriorate mentally, right before my very eyes. Later, I realized that the teacher's use of hyperbole to make her point could have been counterproductive because the kids eventually discovered that her statement didn't correlate with reality.
I learned a lesson that I apply today: Don't sabotage the importance of something by overselling it.
With that in mind, let's talk about the benefits an active lifestyle can have on diabetes.
Diabetes affects many
According to the American Diabetes Association, about 7% of the population has diabetes. The vast majority of people have type 2 (formerly called adult-onset or non-insulin dependent) diabetes. What's more, nearly a third of those with diabetes are unaware that they even have it.
The human and economic costs of the disease are staggering. It has been estimated that $1 out of every 10 health care dollars our nation spends is for treating diabetes and its complications. Furthermore, the effects of the illness on people's lives are dramatic. Not only do they suffer more from chronic conditions such as heart disease, but their lives also are shortened significantly. In a study published in June in the Archives of Internal Medicine, public health researchers from the Netherlands, England and Harvard jointly evaluated the effect of diabetes on longevity. They found that diabetic men 50 and older had their lives cut short by an average of 7.5 years compared with non-diabetic men. For diabetic women 50 and older, life expectancy was reduced by 8.2 years.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body no longer produces enough or ineffectively uses the hormone insulin. Think of insulin as a molecular "key" that lets glucose (sugar) from the blood stream enter the cells. If there's not enough of these keys floating around, or if the lock on the cell is "broken" and won't allow the key to work, then sugar is not able to move into the cells.
This creates two problems. For starters, the cells require glucose to function properly, so being deprived of it puts them in a "starvation" mode. Second, sugar will accumulate in the blood stream, eventually causing problems for other organs, such as the heart, blood vessels, eyes and kidneys.
Understanding how this hormonal system works has made it possible to develop medications that can be used alone or in combinations.
A simple fix
A non-drug treatment has been shown not only to help those with diabetes but also to prevent those at risk from developing it. That treatment is exercise.
For years, studies have shown that physical activity enhances a cell's uptake of glucose, getting the sugar to where it's needed for the cell to function normally.
When it comes to treating diabetes, it's difficult to overstate how important it is to remain physically active. Developing a routine of exercise represents a major step in the right direction for anyone who wants to get better control of the problem. At least 30 minutes five days per week is necessary to develop a sustained beneficial effect on sugar.
That's why, to improve your long-term odds, you simply must place your exercise routine near the top of your daily priority list. And, unlike my grade-school teacher, I'm not exaggerating.
Contributing Editor Tedd Mitchell, M.D., is president and medical director of the renowned Cooper Clinic in Dallas. He writes HealthSmart every week.
Exercising five days a week improves blood sugar levels, so diabetics should put it near the top of their to-do list.
HealthSmart illustration: McMillan/Getty
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Health Brief
Tips to calm poison ivy's itch
By Susan T. Lennon
Summertime, and the living is ... itchy! Poison ivy, sumac and oak (the most common causes of allergic rashes in this country) flourish where kids love to play: in the woods, by the beach, near the river. The oil from these plants produces a rash in up to 85% of people whose skin absorbs it, says the American Academy of Dermatology.
The best defense? Avoid the plants. Teach your kids how by visiting websites such as kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/ skin/poison_ivy.html.
If exposure occurs, act within 30 minutes. "Wash the area with soap and cold, running water," says pediatrician Lisa A. Hammer, M.D., of the University of Michigan Health System. "But don't scrub or use hot water. This may further open pores or cause more irritation."
If your child (or you) comes in contact with poison ivy, oak or sumac, follow Hammer's advice to reduce the itch and prevent further spreading:
Chill out. Try cool showers or compresses; massage the area with an ice cube to soothe itching.
Visit the drugstore. Over-the-counter oral or topical antihistamines and calamine lotion help.
Wash everything. Urushiol (yoo-roo-shee-ol), the resin found in all three plants, can stick around for five years. So, launder clothes and shoes, and use rubbing alcohol to clean gardening tools that may have sap on them. Also, bathe your furry friends just in case. Pets don't contract poison ivy, but they can carry the sap on their coats.
Seek medical help. If the itch disrupts daily living, the rash covers the face, or particles from burning plants are inhaled, then call your doctor.
Relax about touching. You can't catch poison ivy from other people unless they touch you while the resin remains on their hands.
Don't scratch. Avoid scratching, because bacteria under your fingernails could cause infection. But scratching won't spread the rash to another body part.
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