On This Diabetes Day, Let’s Triumph Over Diabetes By Following Some Simple Tips
Living with diabetes is never easy, once you have diabetes there’s nothing you or doctors can do to cure this sad disease. However, you can surely control it by adopting some lifestyle modifications and by getting regular check-ups from a diabetes clinic.
On the occasion of World Diabetes day, let’s take a pledge to beat diabetes against all odds by following these measures:
1. Embrace a diabetes-friendly diet:
There’s a saying, “watch what you eat”, and this is exactly what you need to do if you have diabetes. You should make eating a healthy and properly balanced diet, a significant part of your daily life. Go for foods that regulate your blood sugar levels. Foods that are beneficial for you when you’ve diabetes (either type 1 or type 2) are as follows:
– Fatty fishes
– Eggs
– Leafy Greens like spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc
– Dry fruits like cashew nuts, almonds, pistachios and walnuts
– Whole grains like brown rice, millet and whole wheat
– Low portions of fruits like strawberries, pears, bananas, apricots, oranges, cherries, guava etc.
2. Eating small and frequent meals:
Skipping your meals is the last thing you want to do if you have diabetes. If you do not want to have large meals, eat small meals frequently to control your blood glucose levels.
3. Shun your sedentary lifestyle:
Living an inactive lifestyle is a strict “no” for people with diabetes, as a sedentary lifestyle leads to serious health concerns like obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Maintaining a healthy weight is your first step to win over diabetes. Certain times, the doctor might suggest bariatric surgery to highly obese diabetic patients. So do include some physical activities of your choice in your life.
4. Abstain from sugary foods:
Diabetics probably know that “sugar” is their worst enemy. Though sounds difficult, you need to abstain from your favourite sweets, chocolates and sugary beverages if you’re dealing with diabetes. Choose sugarfree sweets instead if you have a sweet tooth.
5. Be serious about medications:
Take your medicines on time as prescribed by the doctor to normalize your blood sugar levels.
6. Watch your diabetes:
Keep an eye on your diabetes by getting regular check-ups from a good diabetic clinic. You can always avail our Decoding Diabetes health check up packages.
Do not let your diabetes keep you stressed and distressed. We understand how diabetes can be the worst experience for anyone, so we provide effective diabetes treatment at ILS Hospitals to help our diabetic patients. You are welcome to our hospital for proper diabetes’ diagnosis and treatment.
Diabetes And Its Harmful Effects On Overall Health
Diabetes is a medical condition which is becoming so prevalent around us these days. Until 2-3 decades ago, it was considered to be the old people’s disease, but now, young people are also seeking diabetes treatment. Many diabetes clinics, report having young children falling prey for diabetes as well. Let’s discuss what harmful effects diabetes has if it is left untreated for long or is poorly managed.
1. Slow Healing
Slow healing is the most common condition among diabetic people. Carrying out any invasive medical treatment is very challenging for the same reason. Any minor or major cut, burn, blister, etc does not heal quickly for the diabetic patients. This mostly happens in hands and feet. In rare cases, it can also lead to foot or toe amputation, when it is left untreated over a long period.
2. Kidney Damage
Having kidney failure or severe kidney disease is also a likely scenario in the case of diabetes. The patient might end up needing dialysis regularly or seeking advanced renal transplant.
3. Heart Conditions
Diabetes affects how the heart and its surrounding blood vessels work. As a result, risks of having high blood pressure narrowed blood vessels due to plaque built up is quite common too.
4. Eye Disease And Damage
Diabetes brings many vision-related complications as well. Cataract, glaucoma, eye nerve damage, etc. are some of them. In many cases, it can also lead towards blindness that can only be managed but cannot be cured.
5. Skin Diseases
Diabetes cause dry skin, skin irritation, itching, and many other complications. Moreover, slow healing often leads to cracked skin which in turn brings fungal and bacterial infections.
6. Nerve Damage
Prolonged or mismanaged diabetes causes numbness, tingling sensation in the finger and toes. It damages the foot primarily and the affected area keeps on expanding gradually. When the sensation in the feet gets severely damaged, it leads to a condition called the diabetic foot.
7. Gums And Jaws Condition
Having excessive blood sugar can cause gum disease and loose teeth. Diabetic people often complain of bad breath as well, in spite of maintaining good dental hygiene.
8. Frequent Urination
Diabetes can cause frequent urination as well, but it is more frequent among diabetic patients. Though it is not a life-threatening condition, it does hamper the quality of life and professional life of patients, especially who are engaged in work that requires them to travel a lot, on a daily basis.
Most of the complications of diabetes develop slowly, over the period, but they can be life-threatening as well. Thus it is always advised to every individual to keep an eye on the blood sugar level, from time to time. Moreover, people who are diagnosed with high blood sugar, are advised to keep a check on the other aspects of diabetes and possible complications. ILS Hospitals offer diabetes check-up package that offers immense help to diabetes patients.
Most Common Diabetic Foot Conditions You All Need To Know About
Diabetes is one of the most widespread diseases in today’s world. Diabetes clinics, all around the world are addressing hundreds of new diabetes patients each year and the number is rising at an alarming rate. Needless to say, having a timely diabetes treatment is quite crucial, as many of you must be aware that untreated (or poorly managed) diabetes can lead to many complications like damage to eyes, kidneys, skin, nerves along with causing cardiovascular conditions and hindrance in the natural healing process. Today, we are going to discuss one particular condition, the diabetic foot.
Diabetic foot is an umbrella term for the foot conditions that arise due to prolonged diabetes. Let’s list out some of the most common conditions related to the foot that is caused by diabetes.
Diabetic Neuropathy
This causes numbness and loss of sensation in the feet, particularly in the extremities. Eventually, it leads to nerve damage and makes the person unaware of having wounds, infections, irritation, blisters or sore in their feet. Often it happens, that people become unaware of the facts that they are wearing tight shoes or if the shoes are rubbing.
It left unaddressed for long, it leads towards having gangrene and ends up needing an amputation.
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Prolonged diabetes affects the structure and function of the blood vessels. In peripheral vascular disease, the fat starts to get decomposed on the blood vessels reaching hands and feet. As a result, the adequate blood supply to the feet gets hampered and results in pain and infections. If left unresolved, it too can lead to foot amputation in the future.
Athlete’s Foot
It is a fungal infection that leads to cracking of foot skin while making it red and itchy as well. If left untreated, germs can enter through the crack skin and spread infection. Thankfully, it can be easily treated with topical creams and oral medicines.
Foot Calluses
It is the hard skin build upon the underside of the foot. It often occurs due to uneven bodyweight distribution, poorly fitted footwear, prolonged diabetes or some underlying skin condition. Wearing footwear with padding and using a pumice stone to remove calluses regularly is a big help. However, one can consider taking medicine to address it effectively as well.
Foot Corn
It is a hard skin build-up either between toes or on a bony area of the underfoot. It may also happen due to uneven pressure distribution on the foot. It happens mostly on dry skin, due to friction between toes or because of the shoe. Using any sharp object to remove them forcefully is highly unadvised. Instead, proper medication is more useful for the same.
Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Diabetes makes the healing process quite slow, and any cut or injury in the foot can often lead to infection. Diabetic foot ulcers are the condition in which the skin breaks deep on the underfoot. It eventually scrapes out the flesh and if left untreated for long, it keeps on causing damage heavily to the foot.
In case you are suffering from diabetes for a long period and encountering some foot condition, get in touch with our expert diabetic foot specialist to get quality treatment and care.
20 Fun Facts about the Human Eye That Will Amaze You
If only our eyes could take snapshots of everyday life, we could have amazing 574-megapixel resolution pictures. Often we don’t give a serious thought to our eyes unless our visions start deteriorating in some or the other way. In fact, it is not uncommon to find that people complaining about hazy vision in queues of diabetes clinics.
As we are observing the Eye Donation fortnight from August 25th Aug – 8th Sept, we present some fun facts about the Human eye.
1. The eye lens is photosensitive. Just like that of a camera’s, it adjusts the amount of light it requires for the ideal vision.
2. Just like the pulse, pupils can tell about a person’s excitement level. Both Wider and dilated pupil shows different emotions.
3. The eye becomes tired upon long exposure to electronic screen or even paper books.
4. Eyesight might be affected due to pregnancy hormones. Thankfully, it resolves on its own right after childbirth.
5. Brown eyes are the most common attributes among people in the world.
6. All the folks with blue eyes supposedly have a common ancestor.
7. Many people have eyes of two different colors. It might be due to an injury, disease or heredity.
8. The first signs of diabetes type 2 are often detected during an eye test. A consultation in a diabetes clinic is required to confirm it later.
9. It is impossible to sneeze with open eyes. It is all due to the nerve arrangement, that makes blinking, a reflex action.
10. Minor eye injury heals within 48 hours with little medical attention.
11. A retinal scan is a better way of identification as iris has 256 unique characters, it is 40 in case of a fingerprint.
12. The presence of two eyes ensures the accurate perception of vision. It enables estimation of the distance of objects.
13. The eyes shut closed as a reflex upon perceiving dangers. It is an automatic response to mitigate injury.
14. Tears are a response to both physical and emotional stimuli. It also protects the eyes from several infections.
15. On an average, the human eye blinks 17-20 times in a minute.
16. Due to the absence of gravity, it is impossible to cry in space. It will simply get collected in the eyeball and will cause eye irritation.
17. The cornea is the only body part devoid of any blood vessels. It facilitates the proper refractive index in the eyes.
18. The eyes have rod and cone cells. The rod cells enable adjustment of light while cones enable perceptions of colors.
19. Excessive exposure to the sun can cause damage to vision.
20. A baby can only perceive black and white colors at birth, along with few shades of grey.
On this eye donation fortnight, we encourage every healthy individual to consider eye donation indistinct future and primarily to take care of their eyes to enjoy the beauty of the earth around us.
Include These 5 Foods In Your Everyday Diet To Manage Your Diabetes
Diabetes is one of the most common medical conditions throughout the world. In India too, its statistics are alarmingly high. The treatment approach is determined by the doctor after evaluating the type and severity of the condition in a reliable diabetes clinic. However, patients suffering from all the types of diabetes are advised to consume certain healthy food and adopt healthy habits to manage diabetes more effectively.
Today, we will discuss a few food items that one should include in their diet to manage diabetes. So let’s begin the countdown
1. Bitter Gourd
As the name itself indicates, this vegetable is quite bitter to taste and people usually avoid it, if they can. However, they include a component commonly known as p-insulin that controls the glycaemic level in the blood. Including them in the everyday diet is an extremely effective way to deal with diabetes-associated complications such as kidney, heart and nerve damage.
2. Green Leafy Vegetables
These are rich sources of nutrients and antioxidants along with being low on carbs and calories. Many of the green leafy also contain vitamin and minerals. In a nutshell, it replenishes eye cells from degeneration and protects it against cataract, which happens to be few common diabetes-associated complications.
3. Protein-rich food
Protein from healthy sources such as eggs, fish, and meat helps to keep blood sugar in check. Moreover, food items like Paneer, Dals, Rajma, etc also happen to be an excellent source of protein as well. Having them in adequate amount controls diabetes.
4. Amla
It is one of the most used ingredients to manage diabetes since ages, particularly as an Ayurvedic remedy. It regulates carbohydrate metabolism in the body, which in turn makes the body more receptive to insulin.
5. Yogurt
Every individual should ideally consume one serving of yogurt to aid one’s digestion and to attain weight loss. It is particularly beneficial for individuals with diabetes, as a controlled body weight can contribute towards the healthy management of diabetes. Moreover, the yogurt contains probiotic and thereby it reduces the risk of heart diseases as well.
These food items have been found to aid in better management of diabetes. However, before adding these in your everyday diet, it is best to seek consultation from a reliable diabetes clinic as well. The diabetologist not only will help you make a perfect diet chart but will also evaluate you from time to time to ensure that diabetes does not lead to any severe consequences.
6 Health Complications That Will Motivate You to Quit Smoking Now
How do you define a cigarette?
A pinch of tobacco wrapped in a roll, with fire on one side and a fool on the other side.
Work is stressful, for most of us, isn’t it? How often do you rely on your ‘so-called friend’ to relieve this never-ending stress? The answers will range from never, rarely, depends, often, to all the time.
The more your answer titles towards the right, the earlier and the deeper you are digging for your own grave.
Here we present 6 health complications associated with smoking that will motivate you to quit smoking –
1. Heart and Lungs diseases
Our lungs are capable of filtering the air and supplying oxygen to the bloodstream. However, over the years of smoking, both lungs and heart begin to perform inefficiently and as a result, the person develops several types of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
2. Diabetes Type 2
The direct impact of smoking on-setting diabetes is still a matter of conflict among research scholars, but it certainly has been found that prolonged smoking increases the complications associated with diabetes type 2. Several patients, who also happens to be chain smokers, often visits diabetes clinic to address a common complication of loss of sensation in feet/legs.
3. Reproductive Health
Let it be men or women, prolonged smoking can affect their reproductive health. As per leading gynaecologists, for women, it can lead to ectopic pregnancy and a lower rate of natural conception. Whereas, in case of men, it can lead to erectile dysfunction.
4. Poor Metabolism
The component nicotine makes people addictive of the same and as a result, many chain smokers suffer from several digestive and metabolic malfunctions. As a result, a person can either lose or gain significant body weight. People seeking liver treatment often turn out to be chain smokers.
5. Oral and Throat
Holding the cigarette between the teeth, in a long run leads to misalignment of teeth along with severe gum diseases. As per ENT specialists, several kinds of mouth/throat ulcers and cancer is a result of smoking too.
6. Bone Decay
Prolonged smoking leads to a much faster rate of bone decay as compared to non-smokers. It is often closely followed by severe orthopaedic complications and rheumatoid arthritis as well.
Despite the frightening consequences of smoking, the silver lining is the fact that putting down smoking can help significantly in damage control.
On this World No Tobacco Day, on 31st May 2018, ILS Hospitals encourages every smoker to quit smoking. Not only it affects your own health but it also causes damage to your family, friends, and colleagues, who eventually becomes passive smokers, over the years.
4 Screening Every Man Should Have Since His Early 40s
With the process of aging, several body parts become more and more difficult and upon the onset of a severe illness, a long series of treatment begins in hospitals. However, the entire episode of this unpleasant occurrence can be avoided if some people start taking care of their health condition from time to time.
Read more – 4 Must-have health screening for every woman above 35
Thus, we bring a list of 4 screening every man should regularly have in his late 30s to ensure a good health in his later years.
1. Colon Screening
The onset of colon cancer among elder men is a very common. Due to age, the regenerative and healing property decreases significantly. Thus early screening can keep the complication at bay, which may occur in the advanced stages. Faecal occult test, Sigmoidoscopy, and Colonoscopy are namely the tests that are usually employed.
Ideally, early 50 is the age for doing the same, but for individuals with family or personal history of inflammatory diseases, polyps, ulcerative colitis etc. should do the test by the age of 40.
2. Prostate Screening
Prostate cancer among men is kind of analogous to cervical cancer for women. It claims several lives throughout the world. Because of ignorance and lack of awareness at an early stage, many patients skip screening and eventually at an older stage, suffer severely,
Screening for prostate health include PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test and digital rectal examination (DRE)
3. Diabetes Test
Despite the fact that diabetes affects both men and women, the symptoms differ significantly. The consequences are more severe in case of men as compared to women. Thus, every man in 40s, if not already affected by diabetes till present, should go for diabetes screen at least annually.
Complicated diabetes can lead to several other complications such as blood clot, urine inconsistence, weakness and possible amputation.
4. Pulmonary and Cardiac Screening
Similar to the previous condition as compared to women, men tend to be more engaged in regular alcohol consumption and smoking. In a long run, it leads to several respiratory and cardiac ailments.
Thus every man in their 40s, who are particularly into drinking and smoking should go for regular screening to ensure the good health of their heart and chest. There are a group of tests that come under this screening.
Apart from the mentioned tests, one can go for additional ones as well, depending on the current health situation. However, the suggested screenings yield the best result for the overall health of the individual.
Key Facts About Diabetes and the Importance of World Diabetes Day, 14th November
Our body produces several types of hormones and insulin is a rather crucial one for the proper working of our body. Due to the disbalance of levels of insulin, a deadly disease surfaces, which is known as diabetes. The diabetes is a condition in which either the pancreas fails to produce insulin, or the body fails to utilize the produced insulin to maintain the blood sugar level in the bloodstream.
Key facts about Diabetes
The count of people seeking diabetes treatment increased approximately from 108 million to 422 million from 1980 to 2014.
Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death among men and women from all over the world, as per WHO
About 50 percent of the deaths due to high blood pressure, is a resultant of diabetes
Diabetes is preventable, particularly the type 2, in spite being a genetical trait, through timely, medical aid along with proper diet and regular exercise.
Prevalence of diabetes over the age of 18, has increased from 4.7 % to 8.5 % from 1980 to 2014.
Diabetes is more prevalent in low to middle-income nations.
Diabetes in later stages brings additional illnesses as well. These include slow healing, kidney failure, foot amputation, heart attack, blindness,
Diabetes claims about 1.6 million death annually.
Diabetes in India
As of now, more than 35 million people are diagnosed positive for diabetes in India. Moreover, the CPR (Crude Prevalence Rate) of diabetes is around 9 percent in urban India and 3 percent in a rural population of India. Thus, the number of people suffering from diabetes is highest, as compared to any other country. The IGT (Impaired Glucose Tolerance) of Indian people is significantly high as well. Thus the number of mobile seeking diabetes treatment is highest as well. Thus it is important that people are aware of the symptoms and treatment of diabetes.
World diabetes day and its importance
On 14th November, we observe wold diabetes day every year. It came into existence in the year 1991, by the joint effort of IDF (International Diabetes Federation) and WHO (World Health Organization). It mainly came into existence to address the increasing threat of diabetes over the health and wellness of people from all over the world.
The WDD (World Diabetes Day) is the biggest diabetes awareness campaign in the world, as it reaches more than 1 billion people globally spread in over 160 countries.
Expecting Diabetes During the Diwali? Follow These Guidelines
Diwali is around the clock and needless to say, the festival of light is not limited to the lights itself. It involves lots of sweet desserts, crackers, and gifts as well. However, several individuals end up having the excessive level of sugar in their blood and seek diabetes treatment for it. So, that you don’t end up spending your time in the hospital bed, instead of having fun, we provide several guidelines for the same.
1. Limit the consumption of sweet dishes
Diwali is a festival of lots of sweets and snack. Avoiding their temptation is not a solution, It is always recommended to limit the numbers you eat in this duration. In case, you are making sweets at home or ordering from a shop, go for a smaller size of Ladoos and other sweets to reduce the portion size of each serving.
2. Go for baked snacks instead of deep fried ones
Not every dessert can be baked, for the ones that can be done, must be. Baking served the purpose of deep frying as well, without adding the excess amount of oil on the plate. It is particularly healthy for people with blood sugar and can be considered as a diabetes treatment.
3. Go for healthier substitute
Substituting sugar with healthy herbs on the food platter is a big ‘no’ for any individual, especially during the Diwali time. Thus, try to substitute heavy, sugary ingredients with healthier substitutions. For example, using toned milk in place of full creamed, honey or applesauce in place of honey.
4. Stay away from sweets with silver coating
Though these fancy decoration, looks very appetizing, they are extremely unhealthy. Though it would not directly affect the blood sugar level in the blood, it surely enters the bloodstream due to over-consumption and then can cause severe complications.
Indians are genetically more susceptible to diabetes as compared to other people across the globe. That is why we need more attentive diabetes treatment. Thus, it is important to take every necessary action to ensure that diabetes stays away from us, particularly during festive season like Diwali, when people tend to go for a richer diet.
Though avoiding calorie and sugar-loaded sweets and other snacks, completely is not a feasible solution for the most of the people, adhering to few guidelines would certainly help a lot.
Adopt These 5 Healthy Habit to Manage Your Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes is becoming a major threat all over the world and India is no exception for the same. Today, even young people are becoming a target of this dreadful disease. Several clinics, independent doctors and hospitals provide diabetes treatment.
One interesting fact about diabetes is that it can be managed well with medication and dedication towards health.
Here are the following few healthy habits, which, if you practice regularly, can keep the ill effects of diabetes Type 2 at bay.
Consume a healthy diet
Include every nutrients like, carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, in your diet, but in the correct proportions. Eat an ample amount of fibers in your diet as snacks. It is usual to have munchies several times a day being diabetic. Thus, go for healthier snack option.
Several doctors and clinics offers a diet chart as part of the diabetes treatment.
Exercise daily
Make out time every day for some exercise. Even if you are a busy person, try to dedicate at least 15-20 minutes each day, for at least five days in a week. If you are new to the whole concept, start with the free hand exercise before trying aerobics and other strenuous activities.
Eventually, increase the time and effort for the same.
Keep a track of sugar level
Also keep the blood sugar profile in check every 3- 4 months. Go for a preplanned fasting and PP, instead of a random sugar test for better evaluation. Start, an early screening, in case, any of your parents has diabetes as well. Similarly, ask your children to be more cautious as well, if you have it.
Have an adequate sleep
Sleep at least for 6 to 8 hours daily in order to give time to your body to recover and rejuvenate. For the same, make a sleep schedule and adhere to it for a week. Eventually, your body will adjust with this new sleeping ritual.
Lead a healthy lifestyle
Apart from the diabetic gene, your lifestyle contributes a lot for the same as well. It can delay or even mitigate your diabetes. Some of the healthy habits include Stop smoking and using other tobacco products, limiting the consumption of alcohol, and taking the medications as prescribed by the doctor.
