What happens in diabetes when you can't feel your feet

One of the longer term complications of diabetes is nerve damage where feeling in the lower limb is lost. Try to imagine what happens if you can’t feel your feet and you sprain your ankle. As you can’t feel it, imagine what happens as you keep walking on that sprained ankle. This is what can happen in diabetes and is known as Charcot’s foot (or Charcot’s neuroarthropathy).

Essentially what happens in Charcot’s foot is that the ability to feel pain is lost or impaired (due to the diabetic nerve damage). The muscles can then loose their ability to properly support the foot. Then minor trauma (eg sprains or stress fracture) to the foot go undetected and no treatment is given. Continued walking on the foot further increases the damage.

Usually the first sign is that the foot is warm and swollen and no pain will be present. A deformity then will start to develop if no treatment is provided.

Prevention of further joint destruction and foot deformity is the main aim in treatment. Total rest is essential and support is needed to stabilise the damaged area. Most cases will be put in a plaster or fibreglass cast called a ‘total contact cast‘ to relieve pressure and to prevent further deformity. This can take up to 6-9 months to heal properly. A drug (called a bisphosphonate) have been shown to be useful in many cases.

After the Charcot foot has healed then specialized footwear and foot supports may be needed to prevent it occurring again. If the deformity is severe or it happens again, then surgery may be used to reshape the deformity.

If you have diabetes and start to loose sensation in your feet and legs, then the risk for developing Charcot’s is high. Feet need to be checked regularly for any signs of swelling, redness or temperature changes. Very prompt medical attention is needed to halt the progression of the problem.

If you are a health professional, the most recent information on Charcot’s neuroarthropathy is available at Podiatry Arena. If you have Charcot’s and want to ask questions about it or make contact with others who have it, then there are the Charcot’s Foot threads at the Foot Health Forum.

 

 

 

4 Warning Signs of Hypoglycemia

When your blood sugar levels drops below normal levels, the result is hypoglycemia or abnormally low blood sugar. The normal cause of this condition is usually an excess of insulin or a poor diet. It can also be caused in diabetics by a delay in eating a meal or from stressing the body by overdosing on exercise. The term hypoglycemia is sometimes also referred to as “insulin shock” because of the extreme and sudden effect that it has on the body. Because hypoglycemia can possibly cause brain dysfunction and weakness, it is extremely important that those at risk learn to recognize it’s symptoms. According to research paper about diabetes mellitus, common symptoms are:

Pale and sweaty skin – when the body begins to experience hypoglycemia it releases epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. This is an attempt by the adrenal glands to raise the body’s blood sugar levels. High levels of the epinephrine hormone causes the skin to become pale.

Racing heart beat – adrenaline also causes the blood vessels to constrict and the heart to beat faster. The person may experience heart palpitations and a pounding heartbeat. Other symptoms caused by adrenaline flooding through the body can be trembling of the limbs, a tingling sensation in the hands, and a general sense of anxiety.

Severe headaches – The brain is one of our major organs. And like all of the body’s major organs, it needs glucose to function. When the body’s blood sugar levels drop, all of a sudden the brain has less glucose available to it. Now, if there is merely a tiny decrease in the glucose levels, the result may be a mild headache or possibly double vision. If, however, the drop is more severe drop, the person can possibly have a seizure. An even greater drop can lead to a loss of consciousness, difficulty concentrating and confused speech  or, in the worst case, lapsing into a coma.

Severe hunger – the body is constantly in a  state of adjusting itself to various circumstances. When the blood sugar levels drop, the body instinctively knows that it needs food to get the levels up again. The way of letting us know that is to send hunger signals to the brain in an attempt to get us to eat. Once we eat, the blood glucose levels return to normal and the hunger subsides.

The above symptoms usually do not start to show until the blood glucose levels fall a fairly significant amount such as below 60 milligrams per deciliter of blood. Also, if the person is taking medications for symptoms other than diabetes, it’s important to be aware that some medications may mask some of these symptoms. In addition, not everyone has the same reactions to low blood sugar so they may naturally experience different symptoms.

For a person diagnosed with diabetes, It’s not at all unusual for him or her to occasionally get hypoglycemia. In fact, diabetics may become very familiar with many of these symptoms since the regulation of blood glucose levels with medicines is not quite an exact science. As the blood sugar levels return to normal, however, the symptoms will usually slowly dissipate. Nevertheless, anyone experiencing any of the conditions listed above should make sure that their physician or health care provider is aware of them.

Diabetes Symptoms – Visit your doctor

At first, diabetes signs can be subtle or seemingly benign — that’s if you have them at all. You could have diabetes for years and not notice any diabetes symptoms. Being aware of potential diabetes symptoms can mean early diagnosing and treatment — and of course better health.

Diabetes Symptoms are Excessive thirst and increased urination: Drinking more and urinating more is an early sign of diabetes. When someone has diabetes, extra sugar (glucose) builds up in the blood.

The kidneys are forced work harder to take in the extra sugar. If the kidneys can’t do the job, the extra sugar is passed into the urine with the liquids taken from the tissues. This causes more frequent urination, which may leave you dehydrated. As you would expect, the more u drink the more you pee.

Fatigue: There are many elements that can lead you feeling exhausted. One of which is the lack of fluids cause by frequent urination, another is the body’s unfitness to work, since it’s unable to soak up the sugar for energy.

Weight Variation: Loosing weight easily is also a possible diabetes symptoms. When you lose sugar by urination, you lose calories.

Also, if the diabetes stops the sugar from getting to the cells it could cause constant hungriness. The combined outcome is possible weight loss, especially if you have type 1 diabetes.

Blurred vision: Diabetes symptoms sometimes demand the vision. High content of blood sugar take liquid from the tissues, including the lenses of the eyes. This impacts the power to focus. Left untreated, this can do new blood vessels to make in the retina another serious problems health.— the hind part of the eye — as well as harm old vessels. For most of the people, these early alters do not cause vision troubles. Nevertheless, if these alters advance unobserved, they can lead to sight loss and sightlessness. This is a type 2 diabetes symptom.

Slow-healing sores or frequent infections: Some people have noticed that bruises seem even more usual if they have diabetes. There has not been enough research d! one to prove if this is true or not. It could be the high amount of blood sugar spoils the body’s natural curing process and the ability to combat contagions. For women, bladder and vaginal contagions are common.

Tingling hands and feet: Extra sugar in the blood can take to nerve injury. One may see prickling and loss of sense in the hands and feet, as well as burning ail in the arms, hands, legs and feet.

 

Home Remedies for Hypothyroidism

Thyroid gland is a small mass of tissue that is present on either side of the trachea or in general a windpipe. It is one of the most important organs of the human body. The entire body systems run on metabolism and metabolism is controlled majorly by the help of thyroid gland.

Hypothyroidism is the condition that results from malfunctioning of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland produces insufficient quantity of the thyroid hormone called as thyroxin. This situation is also developed from the pituitary deficiency, but it is generally due to some abnormality in thyroid gland by birth (called as congenital/deformity) anomaly.

There are many ways to treat the thyroid gland. One of the best ways is adopting home remedy. Home remedy starts from your kitchen and undoubtedly helps in preventing, controlling and treating the diseased condition. There are many benefits of home remedies and one out of them is the cost.

Home remedies are comparatively cheaper and affordable than other therapies to treat hypothyroidism. Here are some of the home remedies that can be very effective in treating and controlling the thyroid gland. Many of them do not decrease or increase thyroid function but it regulates the gland to produce enough quantity of hormone.

1 Spirulina is considered as good health booster and thyroid regulator. There are many products available in the market containing this wonderful herb.

2 Take black Cohosh that helps in balancing the estrogen levels and can also be useful in controlling thyroid gland function.

3 Mullein covers and protects the cells and reduces the inflammation of the glands including thyroid gland. This is very useful in case of goiter.

4 Agnus castus can support the pituitary gland and can help balancing estrogen that is known to interfere with normal thyroid functions.

5 Siberian Ginseng is very useful for adrenal and thymus glands and therefore also helpful to support thyroid health.

6 Another good home remedy for thyroid gland is to have primrose oil. This is the fatty acid that restores the functions of the thyroid gland.

7 Regular intake of vitamin B complex is extremely helpful in treating thyroid conditions. Taking them also prevent other minor diseases. You should include green leafy vegetables. Vitamin B complex can also be taken as pills. It improves the cellular oxygenation and gives us energy. The group provides immunity and rejuvenates the body.

8 Bladder wrack is rich in natural iodine. This will be very beneficial in preventing and treating various thyroid disorders.

9 Food from the kitchen that contains calcium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, terbium, and neodymium are very useful minerals and trace elements those are necessary for the good health of thyroid gland.

10 Go for the low calorie food. Cut down on cakes, biscuits, sweets and alcoholic drinks those are relatively high in calories but low in nutrients.

11 Go for the food that is rich in vitamin A like yellow vegetables, eggs, carrots and dark green leafy vegetables that are thyroid boosters.

Related article:

Hypothyroidism – An Ayurvedic Approach

What is your hypothyroidism diet?

Diabetic Advice

Everyone needs food for energy but this does not always happen especially when a person suffers with diabetes. We must have glucose for our energy. Your diabetes will stop the energy and makes it stay in your blood creating many more issues. This condition makes high levels to accumulate in the blood.

Diabetic Grocery List

This condition comes in two forms but only brief details are given here, The first type is called type one and primarily affects young people, usually called juvenile onset diabetes and is where the body completely stops the production of insulin,this can occur at any age but diabetics must take daily insulin injections in order to survive. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that enables the body to use glucose to produce energy as it gets sugar into the cells. The other type of diabetes (type 2 or late onset) is not quite so severe,the body is still producing insulin but there is a problem with its production or use, but fortunately this type can be treated with a special diet.

Diabetic Food Grocery List

Foods such as potatoes, rice, bread, pasta and fruit will be changed to sugar and create the energy to do our daily activities. Some serious conditions can result from excess levels of glucose in the blood including blindness, heart and kidney disease and even the removal of limbs. By sticking to a diabetes health care regime, most of these conditions can be helped,then many of the conditions associated with this condition can be slowed down considerably if not stopped altogether. It is possible to live a relatively normal life provided you stick to the plan laid out by your doctor,but this means sticking to your medication, watching your blood sugar, cholesterol and to stop smoking!

Hypoglycemia What to Eat

You will also have to keep your weight at a healthy number, this will also help your blood pressure. Once you have been diagnosed with diabetes, you will have it for life,in the United States there are reports of it affecting over two and a half percent of the population. The frightening thing is that it is estimated that at least the same number of people has this condition but just don’t know it yet,each year there are over six hundred thousand new cases. It is believed that as many as 320,000 diabetics die each year in America while only 34,000 of those actually die directly from the condition itself.

How to Manage Your Diabetes

If you are diagnosed with diabetes as an adult, you have diabetes type 2. Today, there are far too many children also being diagnosed with diabetes and theirs is called type 1. Is there a cure for diabetes most expert say no, but you must know that taking care of yourself is the key to reversin diabetes and its health effects the problems associated with diabetes. Taking care of yourself does not only mean avoiding sugar, but it also means eating fiber, low carbohydrate and other foods that help control sugar levels, and having proper and regular exercise.

Having diabetes puts a person at risk for many complications such as heart disease, kidney and other organ failures and infections, teeth and gum diseases, and blindness. This is a disease that should be taken seriously and demands all the respect due any life threating disease and if not managed, will take its toll on your health. People with diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. Diabetics are also at risk for infections with their feet, which, if not treated, can result in amputation.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that your blood sugar not go over70-120 if you are not diagnosed with diabetes. If you have diabetes, it is recommended that a fasting blood sugar level be up to 130. After eating, that level can rise up to 180. Your doctor will be doing an A1C test, which shows the levels of sugar in your system for 2-3 months before the test and will let you know the readings. The American Diabetes Association recommends that this level not exceed 7.0. You must make appointments and keep the appointments on a regular basis and get this test done quarterly to know if you are hitting the levels that are most desirable for your situation.

Any amount of exercise you can do will help keep your levels consistently low. Ten minutes three times a day of exercise is fine if you cannot get in 30 minutes of exercise in the day. The goal is to bring down your A1C levels and the sugar levels in your blood. For every 1% you can get your level down, it is thought that you can decrease your risk of certain health related problems by as much as 40%. That is a tremendous incentive and will prolong your life and your quality of life.

You should not skip meals to try reversing diabetes. After you eat, the body will demand the pancreas to increase the insulin output and also the liver will shut down making more sugar. If you are not eating, these signals will not be received. When you have diabetes, these signals are not so noticable. So, eating small portions throughout the day is key to keeping the insulin levels in balance and not yo yoing up and down. If you do not eat, you body can become nedgy, shaky, dizzy, light-headed, and you might start to have difficulty even speaking coherentlys. hypoglycemia is when your blood sugar levels go too low.

You need to limit your intake or cut out alcohol when you are diagnosed with diabetes type 2. The prescription drugs taken with diabetes can have bad side effects when alcohol is ingested.

If you take diabetes seriously and manage the types of foods and timing of meals and snacks as well as keeping exercise a routine of your day, you can overcome the undesirable problems of diabetes and live a long life. You family and friends are really counting on you. There is hope out there and someday,god willing, we will know how to cure diabetes