For most people, stress is simply annoying or unpleasant; for people with diabetes, it can have a direct impact on health. Stress hormones can cause blood sugar to rise and you may need more insulin or other medications to control blood sugar when you are under stress (being sick or physically injured can also do the same).

Your response to stress, however, can exacerbate the problem. If you skip meals, neglect exercise, or tend to eat poorly, your blood sugar may become too high or too low.

“There is a myth out there that it’s all about food as to why the blood sugar rises,” says Richard Hellman, MD, former president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The truth is that other factors play a role, he explains, including stress.

For example, if you’re a schoolteacher who takes insulin at breakfast, a morning meeting with a difficult co-worker can affect the insulin’s ability to control your blood sugar.

“That person will have, in many cases, a higher than normal glucose level at that time. Only part of it is due to what they ate,” Dr. Hellman says. “(Another) part of it is due to the fact that their hormones are churning out adrenaline and other stress hormones.”

If you’re under stress, you may need to take more insulin to correct for extra-high blood sugar, or less if you change your behavior.

Their study included 2,285 people, aged 45 to 84, living in neighborhoods in Baltimore, Forsyth County, N.C., and New York City/Bronx. Their neighborhoods were assessed by asking residents questions, such as whether it’s easy or pleasant to walk in their community, and whether local stores carry a large, high-quality selection of fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods. Average neighborhood scores were 3.68 for physical activity and 3.36 for healthy foods, the researchers found.

At the midpoint of five years of follow-up, 233 (10.2 percent) of the study participants had developed type 2 diabetes, the study authors reported.

“Better neighborhood resources, determined by a combined score for physical activity and healthy foods, were associated with a 38 percent lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. The association remained statistically significant after further adjustment for individual dietary factors, physical activity level and body mass index,” wrote Amy H. Auchincloss, of Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia, and colleagues.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the United States has steadily increased over the past 30 years. Identifying and modifying neighborhood traits that may affect diabetes risk could prove helpful.

“Current efforts to foster health-promoting environments include designing and modifying physical environments, such as zoning residential neighborhoods to require safe sidewalks, creating parks and attractive public green spaces and improving public transportation so that residents rely less on their cars; supporting fresh-food farmers’ markets in low-income, urban neighborhoods; and assisting stores in those neighborhoods in improving their selection of healthy foods,” the researchers wrote.

Diabetes is a illness wherein sugar, or glucose, accumulates in the bloodstream. This occurs because the cells in your pancreas cease manufacturing satisfactory amounts of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that’s critical for breaking down sugar in your blood. In the case of this syndrome, however, the quantity of insulin created is inadequate or is utilized improperly by your system. This causes your blood glucose levels to become raised – at times to the point of threat.

There is more than one kind of this disease. Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes, will usually materialize in childhood or the teenage years and strikes with no notice. It’s an autoimmune condition that will entail a lifetime of diabetes treatment. Type 2 is inclined to arise later in life and is more often than not a result of being overweight, eating a poor diet and being inactive. The problem in present day culture is that too many individuals don’t eat healthfully or get adequate exercise, and this is causing an increased number of individuals acquiring this disease.

In addition, there is gestational diabetes which occurs in pregnant women. However it’s only a short-term condition that will disappear after the baby is delivered. The concern is that the signs often go unnoticed due to all the additional changes a woman’s system goes through during gestation. In spite of this, keep an eye out for the signs and report anything unusual to your obstetrician.

As a rule, the signs of any of the forms of this disease involve excessive urination, uncommonly high feelings of hunger, and undue dehydration. On occasion diabetic patients will begin to lose weight rapidly, or have blurred eyesight. Another symptom is having injuries that mend slowly. If you begin to experience constant stomach pains, queasiness or vomiting, these are likewise warnings that you may have the disease. Any of these warning signs are something that you need to be concerned about and get checked out straight away by a health professional.

Results indicate that compared with people who slept six hours or more while being monitored in the sleep laboratory, individuals with insomnia who slept for five or fewer hours had the highest risk of diabetes (odds ratio of 2.95); people with insomnia who slept for five to six hours also had an elevated risk of diabetes (odds ratio of 2.07).

The study gathered data from 1,741 men and women who were randomly selected from Central Pennsylvania; participants were studied in a sleep laboratory. Diabetes was defined based on either fasting blood sugar or treatment. Insomnia was defined by a complaint of insomnia with a duration of at least one year, while “poor sleep” was defined as a complaint of difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or early final awakening. Polysomnographic sleep duration was classified into three categories: people who slept for six or more hours, those who slept five to six hours and those who slept for five hours or less. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for diabetes.

According to lead author Alexandros Vgontzas, MD, endowed chair in Sleep Disorders Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., patients suffering from insomnia with short sleep duration are at a serious health risk.

“The more severe form of insomnia (insomnia with short objective sleep duration) is associated with a risk for diabetes that is similar to the elevated risk associated with obstructive sleep apnea,” said Vgontzas.

Other studies also have found serious medical risks associated with insomnia and objective short sleep duration; another study led by Vgontzas that will be presented at SLEEP 2009 found that insomnia with objective short sleep duration is also associated with increased risk of mortality in men.

According to the study’s authors, findings indicate that people with insomnia should seek evaluation and treatment from their medical provider. Although the results suggest that people with insomnia have a lower risk for physical problems if their sleep duration is normal, they still are at risk for depression and may suffer from the behavioral effects of insomnia.

You Can get More information on Insomnia Causing Diabetes

The findings were presented today at the 69th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in New Orleans, and they also appear in the latest online issue of the journal The Lancet. Researchers followed more than 6,500 British civil servants without diabetes for up to 13 years, during which time they repeatedly measured insulin sensitivity and fasting and non-fasting glucose levels.

During an average follow-up of 10 years, 505 of the study participants developed type 2 diabetes. The study showed a steady upward trajectory in metabolic changes in participants who did not develop diabetes. In contrast, these changes tended to occur at different periods in those who did go on to have diabetes, and these changes were often abrupt.

Timeline to Type 2 Diabetes
Specifically, the findings revealed:

* A steady trend in fasting glucose as early as 13 years prior to the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, with fasting glucose levels rising rapidly three years before diagnosis
* Glucose levels after eating (post-meal glucose) began to increase rapidly starting three years prior to diagnosis
* Insulin sensitivity began to decline steeply five years before diagnosis
* Beta-cell function — a measure of insulin production — began to increase three to four years prior to diagnosis, as the pancreas tried to compensate for increases in blood glucose by producing more insulin. Insulin production dropped precipitously in the three years prior to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

“The main addition of this study is that it shows for the first time a clear picture of the timeline to diabetes,” study co-author Daniel R. Witte, MD, of the University College London .  Witte says the timeline suggests three distinct phases in the progression to diabetes, which may require different disease prevention strategies.

During the first phase, which occurs six or more years before diagnosis, glucose levels remain relatively stable but insulin resistance increases along with insulin secretion. “This is the time when relatively straightforward lifestyle changes, like increasing physical activity, changing diet, and reducing obesity, could have the biggest impact,” he says.

The second phase of progression to disease is characterized by increased beta-cell activity as the pancreas produces more insulin to compensate for insulin resistance.  Witte says prevention efforts during this period may require more aggressive lifestyle intervention along with blood-sugar regulating medications like metformin.

During the final phase toward progression, which Witte refers to as the unstable phase, insulin production drops and blood glucose levels rise dramatically and rapidly. The study suggests that people who are generally considered to have prediabetes are in this final phase or close to it.

“We hypothesize that prevention would be more effective before this unstable period, but more research is needed to identify people at this stage of disease development.”

Source: WebMD

The Basics to Practice Every Day

1. Move More

Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given achoice between that and escalators or elevators. Walk your dog; chase your kids; toss balls with friends, mow the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it’s a stress buster. Think ‘move’ in small increments of time. It doesn’t have to be an hour in the gym or a 45-minute aerobic dance class or tai chi or kickboxing. But that’s great when you’re up to it. Meanwhile, move more. Thought for the day: Cha, Cha, Cha…. Then do it!

2. Cut Fat
Avoid the obvious such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meats (i.e. pork, bacon, ham, salami, ribs and sausage). Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise. Thought for the day: Lean, mean, fat-burning machine…. Then be one!

3. Quit Smoking
The jury is definitely in on this verdict. Ever since 1960 when the Surgeon General announced that smoking was harmful to your health, Americans have been reducing their use of tobacco products that kill. Just recently, we’ve seen a surge in smoking in adolescents and teens. Could it be the Hollywood influence? It seems the stars in every movie of late smoke cigarettes. Beware. Warn your children of the false romance or ‘tough guy’ stance of Hollywood smokers. Thought for the day: Give up just one cigarette…. the next one.

4. Reduce Stress
Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e.,Soak in a hot tub; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your dog; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible. Thought for the day: When seeing red, think pink clouds….then float on them.

5. Protect Yourself from Pollution
If you can’t live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise outside when the smog rating is low. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. Plant lots of shrubbery in your yard. It’s a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent. Thought for the day: ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’…and your mouth, and your nose and your lungs as do pollutants….hum the tune daily.

6. Wear Your Seat Belt
Statistics show that seat belts add to longevity and help alleviate potential injuries in car crashes. Thought for the day: Buckle down and buckle up.

7. Floss Your Teeth
Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it’s because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don’t? Thought for the day: Floss and be your body’s boss.

8. Avoid Excessive Drinking
While recent studies show a glass of wine or one drink a day (two for men) can help protect against heart disease, more than that can cause other health problems such as liver and kidney disease and cancer. Thought for the day: A jug of wine should last a long time.

9. Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
There’s a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life. Thought for the day: You can’t be unhappy when you’re smiling or singing.

10. Choose Your Parents Well
The link between genetics and health is a powerful one. But just because one or both of your parents died young in ill health doesn’t mean you cannot counteract the genetic pool handed you. Thought for the day: Follow these basic tips for healthy living and you can better control your own destiny.