What Does Skinny Fat Mean
Skinny on the outside doesnt always mean skinny on the inside. Commonly called dad bod or mom bod,skinny fat refers to someone with a normal BMI and weight but low muscle mass. Skinny fat people tend to have a type of fat called visceral fat. Visceral fat grows around your organs instead of under your skin, so it isnt visible.
If you have visceral fat, you may not look overweight, but you may have as much fat as someone who looks heavier.
The medical term for skinny fat is MONW, which stands for metabolically obese, normal weight, says Kosak. People who are MONW may look healthy but are at risk for conditions like diabetes.
Can Diabetes Be Cured Or Reversed
Although these seem like simple questions, the answers are not so simple. Depending on the type of your diabetes and its specific cause, it may or may not be possible to reverse your diabetes. Successfully reversing diabetes is more commonly called achieving remission.
Type 1 diabetes is an immune system disease with some genetic component. This type of diabetes cant be reversed with traditional treatments. You need lifelong insulin to survive. Providing insulin through an artificial pancreas is the most advanced way of keeping glucose within a tight range at all times most closely mimicking the body. The closest thing toward a cure for Type 1 is a pancreas transplant or a pancreas islet transplant. Transplant candidates must meet strict criteria to be eligible. Its not an option for everyone and it requires taking immunosuppressant medications for life and dealing with the side effects of these drugs.
Its possible to reverse prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes with a lot of effort and motivation. Youd have to reverse all your risk factors for disease. To do this means a combination of losing weight, exercising regularly and eating healthy . These efforts should also lower your cholesterol numbers and blood pressure to within their normal range. Bariatric surgery has been shown to achieve remission in some people with Type 2 diabetes. This is a significant surgery that has its own risks and complications.
Complementary And Integrative Health Approaches
Apart from these conventional medication treatment options, effective diabetes management means taking a well-rounded approach: Youll need to eat well, exercise, manage stress, and sleep enough, because all these factors can affect your blood sugar levels.
Certain complementary approaches may help support your conventional diabetes care, including certain botanical therapies, supplements, traditional Chinese medicine, mind-body therapies, and special diets like keto, research shows.
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Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Cured
Type 2 diabetes cannot be cured, but people with the condition may be able to manage their type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes and, if needed, diabetes medications to control blood sugar levels.
Its also emerging that some people who are overweight or obese can put their type 2 diabetes into remission by losing a substantial amount of weight, especially early in their diagnosis. Their blood sugar measurements return to healthy levels below the diabetes range. Its not a permanent solution, and diabetes could come back, so it needs to be maintained. However, many people were still in remission 2 years later. This should only be tried under the supervision of your doctor.
What Types Of Healthcare Professionals Might Be Part Of My Diabetes Treatment Team
Most people with diabetes see their primary healthcare provider first. Your provider might refer you to an endocrinologist/pediatric endocrinologist, a physician who specializes in diabetes care. Other members of your healthcare team may include an ophthalmologist , nephrologist , cardiologist , podiatrist , neurologist , gastroenterologist , registered dietician, nurse practitioners/physician assistants, diabetes educator, pharmacist, personal trainer, social worker, mental health professional, transplant team and others.
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Why Should I Be Concerned About Preventing Diabetes Is It Something I Can Get Rid Of Once I Get It
You can manage diabetes and control the blood glucose values. You may even get the values back into a normal range. But once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, it will not go away, Jamieson said.
Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. It can lead to other serious complications, such as kidney failure, blindness and amputation of a toe, foot or leg.
People with diabetes spend more on health care, have fewer productive years, and miss more workdays than people who dont have diabetes, she said.
Whether someone has Type 1 or Type 2, quality of life is significantly better if the person effectively manages their diabetes. If they do not, the risk for serious complications is higher. Learn more about managing your diabetes.
How Is Diabetes Diagnosed
Diabetes is diagnosed and managed by checking your glucose level in a blood test. There are three tests that can measure your blood glucose level: fasting glucose test, random glucose test and A1c test.
- Fasting plasma glucose test: This test is best done in the morning after an eight hour fast .
- Random plasma glucose test: This test can be done any time without the need to fast.
- A1c test: This test, also called HbA1C or glycated hemoglobin test, provides your average blood glucose level over the past two to three months. This test measures the amount of glucose attached to hemoglobin, the protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen. You dont need to fast before this test.
- Oral glucose tolerance test: In this test, blood glucose level is first measured after an overnight fast. Then you drink a sugary drink. Your blood glucose level is then checked at hours one, two and three.
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When To See Your Doctor
If you experience any of these symptoms, dont wait for your next appointment. See your regular doctor or foot doctor right away:
- Pain in your legs or cramping in your buttocks, thighs, or calves during physical activity.
- Tingling, burning, or pain in your feet.
- Loss of sense of touch or ability to feel heat or cold very well.
- A change in the shape of your feet over time.
- Loss of hair on your toes, feet, and lower legs.
- Dry, cracked skin on your feet.
- A change in the color and temperature of your feet.
- Thickened, yellow toenails.
- Fungus infections such as athletes foot between your toes.
- A blister, sore, ulcer, infected corn, or ingrown toenail.
Most people with diabetes can prevent serious foot complications. Regular care at home and going to all doctors appointments are your best bet for preventing foot problems .
Importance Of Diet In Diabetes
Much of the food you eat is broken down into sugar , which gets released into the bloodstream. When blood sugar increases, the pancreas, an organ responsible for digestion and blood sugar regulation, releases the hormone insulin. Insulin then helps cells absorb the sugar to be used for energy or stored.
In diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to enable the cells to absorb enough sugar from the blood. Or the body might have enough insulin, but the cells do not respond to it. In both cases, this leads to there being too much sugar in the blood, which, over time can lead to serious health issues, such as vision loss, heart disease, and kidney disease.
Reducing sugar and other simple carbohydrates in your diet plays an important role in keeping blood sugar levels down, which can slow the progression of the disease and stave off such complications.
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How Does Diabetes Affect Your Heart Eyes Feet Nerves And Kidneys
Blood vessels are located throughout our bodys tissues and organs. They surround our bodys cells, providing a transfer of oxygen, nutrients and other substances, using blood as the exchange vehicle. In simple terms, diabetes doesnt allow glucose to get into cells and it damages blood vessels in/near these organs and those that nourish nerves. If organs, nerves and tissues cant get the essentials they need to properly function, they can begin to fail.Proper function means that your hearts blood vessels, including arteries, are not damaged . In your kidneys, this means that waste products can be filtered out of your blood. In your eyes, this means that the blood vessels in your retina remain intact. In your feet and nerves, this means that nerves are nourished and that theres blood flow to your feet. Diabetes causes damage that prevents proper function.
Prognosis Of Type 2 Diabetes
Dont lose hope, though. You dont have to be a statistic. Receiving a prompt diagnosis can help you get your health on track and reduce your risk of complications.
Indeed, if you take care to manage your blood sugar by following a healthy diet, exercising regularly, taking your prescribed medication, and losing weight, you may find your quality of life to be better with diabetes than it was before your diagnosis.
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How Can Parents Help
It can take time for your child and your family to adjust to living with type 2 diabetes. The care team will teach you and your child everything you need to know about staying healthy. Taking your child to all their medical visits and following the diabetes care plan will help keep you on track.
When your child has type 2 diabetes, it may feel like a lot at times, but you’re not alone. The diabetes care team is there for you and your child. Go to them with questions and concerns, or when you need support.
Heres How You Can Get Started:
- Work with your doctor to determine what level of physical activity you should engage in
- Figure out how much time per day you can devote to exercise
- Set fitness goalshaving clear goals can help you stay motivated
- Consider where youll start working outthe gym, in your neighborhood, in a park?
- Build different activities into your daily routine
- Start slowly and allow for recovery time
- Keep track of what you do and stay focused on your goals
- Listen to your body
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Health Problems Linked To Type 2 Diabetes
If your blood sugar is frequently imbalanced, you may be at a greater risk for the following type 2 diabetes complications.
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetic retinopathy In diabetic retinopathy, high blood sugar weakens the capillaries that supply the retina, the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the inner eye.
The capillaries then swell, become blocked, or leak blood into the center of the eye, blurring vision. In advanced stages, abnormal new blood vessels grow.
Diabetic neuropathy Neuropathy, or nerve damage, can affect any nerve in your body. Most commonly, it affects the nerves in the feet, legs, hands, and arms this condition is called peripheral neuropathy.
Peripheral neuropathy can cause tingling, burning, pain, or numbness in the affected areas.
The pain of peripheral neuropathy is difficult to control, though some find topical products that contain capsaicin to be helpful.
Diabetic nephropathy In diabetic nephropathy, the nephrons in the kidneys become damaged from chronic high blood sugar.
High blood pressure compounds the problem, and high cholesterol appears to contribute to it as well.
In the early stages of diabetic nephropathy, you may not notice any symptoms, but standard blood and urine tests can detect early signs of dysfunction, and early treatment can stop or slow its progression.
Diabetic ulcer People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing foot ulcers .
Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes
You might notice:
- Unplanned weight loss. If your body can’t get energy from your food, it will start burning muscle and fat for energy instead. You may lose weight even though you haven’t changed how you eat. See which foods are high in trans fatty acids.
- Nausea and vomiting. When your body resorts to burning fat, it makes ketones. These can build up in your blood to dangerous levels, a possibly life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketones can make you feel sick to your stomach.
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How Do You Treat Diabetes Medications Diet Stem Cells
Its possible for you to treat diabetes. Diabetes is a serious disease with many long-term health consequences. While there is currently no cure, there are different ways to treat diabetes so it remains under control and you can live a full life. Learn ways to do that below.
As you treat and manage your diabetes, you wont be alone. Youll work with a treatment team consisting of multiple health care professionals that may include:
- Your primary care physician
- Nutritionist
- Mental health therapist
Perhaps the most important person on your diabetes treatment team is you. When you take an active roll in your health and diabetes management, you will be more successful in leading a healthy life.
- Bedwetting in a child whoâs been dry at night
Signs of an emergency with type 1 diabetes include:
- Shaking and confusion
- Loss of consciousness
The Role Of Insulin In The Cause Of Type 2 Diabetes
To understand why insulin is important, it helps to know more about how your body uses food for energy. Your body is made up of millions of cells. To make energy, these cells need food in a very simple form. When you eat or drink, much of the food is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose. It moves through your bloodstream to these cells, where it provides the energy your body needs for daily activities.
Insulin and other hormones control the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. Your pancreas is always releasing small amounts of insulin. When the amount of glucose in your blood rises to a certain level, the pancreas will release more insulin to push more glucose into the cells. This causes the glucose levels in the blood to drop.
To keep blood glucose levels from getting too low , your body signals you to eat and releases some glucose from the stores kept in the liver. It also tells the body to release less insulin.
People with diabetes either don’t make insulin or their body’s cells can no longer use their insulin. This leads to high blood sugars. By definition, diabetes is:
- A blood glucose level of greater than or equal to 126 milligrams per deciliter of blood after an 8-hour fast
- A non-fasting glucose level greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL, along with symptoms of diabetes
- A glucose level greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL on a 2-hour glucose tolerance test
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Managing Diabetes In Young Children
Your child will need insulin several times a day. This is given by injection or with an insulin pen. Another option is an insulin pump, a small device which is worn 24 hours a day and delivers insulin to the body through a plastic tube. A pump is not suitable for every child, so discuss this with your doctor. You may be eligible for a subsidy from the Australian Government to buy a pump. Visit the JDRF website for more information.
You will need to monitor your childs blood glucose levels regularly, up to 6 times throughout the day and night. You do this by testing a drop of your childs blood in a special testing kit. The aim is to keep the levels within a target range set by your doctor.
To keep blood glucose levels within the right range, you will need to carefully balance the food your child eats with the amount of physical activity they do and their insulin.
If their blood glucose levels fall too low, your child could develop hypoglycaemia, or if they are too high they could develop hyperglycaemia, which could lead to an even more serious condition known as ketoacidosis. Both of these conditions are medical emergencies and you will need to learn how to recognise and manage them.
You will also need to keep your child healthy by following an eating plan and making sure they get plenty of physical activity.
Signs That May Indicate You Are At Risk For Diabetes
**This article is a repost of an earlier written article. We are reposting because we believe the information is valuable and pertinent to many.**
According to the CDC, over 9% of Americans are living with diabetes. This illness is becoming increasingly common, with 1.5 million Americans being diagnosed with diabetes every year.
There are some serious complications that can come with having high blood sugar such as heart failure and stroke. However, diabetes can be managed with prescription medication, diet, and exercise to help you live a normal, healthy life.
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Overweight Obesity And Physical Inactivity
You are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are not physically active and are overweight or obese. Extra weight sometimes causes insulin resistance and is common in people with type 2 diabetes. The location of body fat also makes a difference. Extra belly fat is linked to insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and heart and blood vessel disease. To see if your weight puts you at risk for type 2 diabetes, check out these Body Mass Index charts.
How Does Diabetes Hurt My Tendons
Tendon damage in type 1 and type 2 diabetes happens because of substances called advanced glycation end products . They form when protein or fat mixes with sugar in your bloodstream.
Normally, your body makes AGEs at a slow and steady pace. But when you have diabetes, the extra sugar in your blood cranks up the speed, which affects your tendons.
Tendons are made from a protein called collagen. AGEs form a bond with it that can change the tendons structure and affect how well they work. For instance, they could get thicker than normal and might not be able to hold as much weight as they used to. As a result, your odds of getting a tear in one of your tendons go up.
Some tendon problems you could get if you dont get your diabetes under control are:
- Frozen shoulder: Stiffness and pain that happens when a capsule that surrounds tendons and ligaments in your joint thickens up.
- Rotator cuff tears: Damage to the tendons and muscles that surround your shoulder joint, including the supraspinatus muscle.
- Trigger finger: Your finger becomes stuck in a bent position and straightens with a snap, like the sound of a trigger being pulled.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: You get numbness, tingling, and weakness in your wrist because of pressure on the nerve that runs through it.
- Dupuytrens contracture: Thickening of the tissue under the skin of your hand that causes your fingers to bend in toward your palm.
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