Diabetic Eye Disease

Diabetic Eye:

Diabetic eye disease refers to a group of eye problems that people with diabetes may face as a complication of diabetes. All can cause severe vision loss or even blindness.

Diabetic eye disease may include: 

Diabeticretinopathy—damage to the blood vessels in the retina.
Cataract—clouding of the eye's lens. Cataracts develop at an earlier age in people with       diabetes. Glaucoma—increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that leads to optic nerve damage and loss of vision. A person with diabetes is nearly twice as likely to get glaucoma as other adults

 

What is diabetic retinopathy:

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabeticeye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. 

In some people with diabetic retinopathy, bloodvessels may swell and leak fluid. In other people, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. A healthy retina is necessary for good vision.

If you have diabetic retinopathy, at first you may not notice changes to your vision. But over time, diabetic retinopathy can get worse and cause vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy usually affects both eyes.

Blood vessels damaged from diabetic retinopathy can cause vision loss in two ways: 

Fragile, abnormal blood vessels can develop and leak blood into the center of the eye, blurring vision. This is proliferative retinopathy and is the fourth and most advanced stage of the disease.

Fluid can leak into the center of the macula, the part of the eye where sharp, straight-ahead vision occurs. The fluid makes the macula swell, blurring vision. This condition is called macular edema. It can occur at any stage of diabetic retinopathy, although it is more likely to occur as the disease progresses. About half of the people with proliferative retinopathy also have macular edema.

Childhood Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity in Children

Obesity means having too much body fat. It is different from being overweight, which means weighing too much. Both terms mean that a person's weight is greater than what is considered healthy for his or her height. Children grow at different rates, so it isn't always easy to know when a child is obese or overweight. Ask your doctor to measure your child's height and weight to determine if he or she is in a healthy range.

If a weight loss program is necessary, involve the whole family in healthy habits so your child doesn't feel singled out. You can encourage healthy eating by serving more fruits and vegetables and buying fewer sodas and high-calorie, high-fat snack foods. Physical activity can also help your child overcome obesity or being overweight. Kids need about 60 minutes each day.

childhood obesity, diabetes

(NaturalNews) Widespread use of the sweetener fructose may be directly responsible for some of the ongoing increase in rates of childhood diabetes and obesity, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California-Davis and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO THE EVALUATION OF THE OVERWEIGHT/OBESE CHILD FOR T2DM?

Identification of Overweight, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, and Diabetes in Children

Genetic and environmental risk factors such as maternal obesity, gestational diabetes, and lack of physical activity can and should be identified at an early age.^32–36 BMI should be plotted by health care providers annually on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention BMI growth charts, specific for age and gender, for all children in their care. Age-, gender-, and ethnicity-specific data for waist circumference can be used as an indicator of visceral distribution of fat.³⁷ Counseling to promote weight loss through lifestyle modification should be offered to all children identified as being at risk for overweight or being overweight.

Screening of Individuals at Risk for T2DM

T2DM is often asymptomatic. Risk factors for T2DM include overweight and obesity, and signs of insulin resistance including acanthosis nigricans, precocious puberty, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and polycystic ovary syndrome (Table 1). ¹² The American Diabetes Association recommends screening for diabetes among children with a BMI of ≥85th percentile for age and gender, with 2 additional risk factors for T2DM (Table 1). There is evidence to indicate that complications of diabetes frequently begin before symptoms appear. Findings of microangiopathic damage in newly diagnosed patients indicate that such damage predates the onset of clinical diabetes.^38–40 Indeed, autopsy studies reveal that atherosclerotic vascular change is prevalent among children and the extent of atherosclerosis is correlated with risk factors such as BMI and lipid levels.⁴¹ Aggressive treatment has been shown to retard the development of complications. Early identification of children with T2DM, therefore, holds the promise of preventing serious complications.

CLINICAL NUTRITION

NUTRITION AND DIET COUNSELLING FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

Each of us are individuals, no two people are alike. We eat different foods, exercise at different rates and times, and consume different amounts of vitamins and minerals. We all require the same basic foods such as proteins, carbohydrates and fats and vitamins, minerals and enzymes; yet, it is determining the right amount of each substance for each individual that helps him or her fend off disease. Proper nutrition is an essential aspect of diagnosis and treatment. Nutrient-related disorders can be cured once nutritional balance is achieved.

Disease can result when the balance among all of the foods and nutrients we take or avoid is disrupted. Health can be restored once you begin to take in a proper essential balance of foods and nutrients - vitamins and minerals.

How would you benefit from our Naturopathic Nutritional Counselling Program?

Besides attaining optimum health in healthy individuals, nutritional counselling has been used to prevent and treat a variety of conditions including skin disorders such as childhood or adult eczema, psoriasis, weight management, lowering cholesterol, controlling diabetes, heart health, digestive issues such as constipation, colic, Irritable bowel syndrome, and severe psychiatric diseases among various others diseases, hence you will not only learn how to eat right and feel great but also decrease your risk of getting various diseases down the road.
Here is a list of diseases that naturopathic medicine (which involves optimizing your nutrition) can help you with or prevent in children, adolescents, adults and elderly:

NERVOUS SYSTEM

 

Dietetic Diet Control

Glucose Control - Diabetic Diet

  If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor has probably mentioned that you should pay careful attention to nutrition and diet as part of your treatment program. Nutrition experts say that there is no one diet for diabetes, but people with diabetes should follow the nutrition guidelines in the Food Pyramid, while paying special attention to carbohydrate intake. People with diabetes should also eat about the same amount of food at the same time each day to keep blood sugar levels stable.

Nutrition Treatment
If you've never attempted to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet before your diabetes diagnosis, it can be difficult to know where to get started. Try these tips from the American Dietetic Association

Eat more starches such as bread, cereal, and starchy vegetables. Aim for six servings a day or more. For example, have cold cereal with nonfat milk or a bagel with a teaspoon of jelly for breakfast. Another starch-adding strategy is to add cooked black beans, corn or garbanzo beans to salads or casseroles.

  Eatfive fruits and vegetables every day Have a piece of fruit or two as a snack, or add vegetables to chili, stir-fried dishes or stews. You can also pack raw vegetables for lunch or snacks.

 Eat sugars and sweets in moderation  Include your favorite sweets in your diet once or twice a week at most. Split a dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth while reducing the sugar, fat and calories

 Diabetes Diet Recommendations

 

MajorFood Components

Striking a delicate balance with carbohydrates and other need-to-know facts. Find out which food categories play an important role in the Diabetes Diet.

 

DiabeticExchange Lists

Though most CDEs, doctors and nutritionists suggest carb counting, some people still use diabetic exchange lists to monitor their food intake. Find general rules and exchanges here.

Diabetic Exchange Diet

For exchange diet instructions and a food list, click here.

TheGlycemic Index

People are still arguing about the usefulness of the glycemic index, which ranks different foods according to how much they raise blood glucose.

Weight Control

Controlling your diet is a key to effectively managing diabetes. Learn tips from the ADA on how to get fit and stay slender here.

 Tertiary Prevention

          

 Tertiary prevention focuses on preventing serious complications in diabetics who have        had the disease for a long time. Serious complications include anything from glaucoma, to foot problems, skin problems, heart disease