Posts Tagged ‘Diabetes’

5 Exercise tips for diabetics

Regardless of whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it is important that you now realize that you have a problem in your hands, you have an illness to take care of and if you do not do anything about it and keep the same lifestyle that you have been having up until today, you can pretty much kiss your life goodbye! Yes, I know these are harsh words and at more than one person may even get upset about it, but when it comes to diabetes the truth can be very upsetting and that is that if you do not take care of your body now that you know if your condition consequences can be dire.

After you have been diagnosed with diabetes you will get several medications as well testing supplies so you can be on top of your health condition at all times. However, the best medication doesn’t cost a thing and it’s something that you should’ve been doing in the first place, such medication/treatment is called exercise.

Diabetics don’t like to hear about the “E” word because it implies physical activity, movement, sweating and some might not be comfortable about the whole idea but exercise is just part of your treatment and you need to get used to be a deity you need to move around and keep your body not only in shape but healthy if you want to be around for those important moments in life such as your children graduation, their wedding and such.

Exercise it doesn’t necessarily have to involve weight lifting or running for hours at the local gym, in fact you can start with very small changes around your house that will also count as an exercise as much as weight lifting at the gym do. For instance:

1. Try to vacuum four times per week, even if your house is not that dirty. Vacuuming can be a great exercise that will help you move around, sweat a little and achieve your main goal which is to remain healthy and keep your diabetes and check.
2. Walk, walk, walk and then walk some more. Lots of people often come up with very ingenious excuses about the many reasons they have for not walking, maybe it is raining, maybe they work a lot of hours and don’t have enough time throughout the day to walk, well you need to get over those excuses and find or better yet make some time throughout your busy day so you can dedicate at least five to 10 minutes to this exercise.
3. Go to your local mall and walk around.
4. Whenever you go out shopping try to make many trips from the car to your house instead of making just one trip with all the things you have purchased.
5. Play around with your kids, pets or try to get yourself a workout buddy that can encourage you to reach your goals.

Healthy heart means healthy brain

Alzheimer’s disease is said to affect one in six Americans over the age of 70.  There’s an increasing focus upon how health, and particularly heart health, in mid life affects your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease in later life. 

A new report from the long-running Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study now reveals that diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking in earlier years significantly increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  The researchers, from a number of centers in the United States, studied over 11,000 ARIC participants who were in the study in 1990 to 1992 to see which ones were hospitalized for Alzheimer’s disease during follow up.  This data on Alzheimer’s disease cases was linked to heart health factors like diabetes, smoking, obesity and high blood pressure.

The findings of this ARIC study tell us a lot about Alzheimer’s disease prevention.  Those who smoked were 70% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.  Those who had high blood pressure had a 60% increased risk.  Diabetes doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  However, in this study, obesity appeared not to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease – this does contradict findings from previous work.  When the risk factors were present at a younger age, the risk of Alzheimer’s disease was higher.

People are increasingly aware on how to keep their heart healthy – through avoiding diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors. It is interesting that these factors also influence the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.  It may be that there is a common underlying mechanism affecting both heart and brain – perhaps hardening and thickening of the arteries, reducing blood supply to both organs.  Therefore, heart health and brain health appear to be inextricably linked and the same lifestyle efforts will help both aspects of long term health. 

 

Source:

Alonso A, Mosley T et al Risk of dementia hospitalisation associated with cardiovascular risk factors in midlife and older age: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry August 2009; doi:10.1136/jnnp.2009.176818

Created on: 08/14/2009
Reviewed on: 08/14/2009

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