By Dr. Allison House

Diabetics have a variety of special concerns with regard to their oral health. Most of those issues, however, begin with gum disease. The purpose of this article is to provide a basic understanding of how gum disease affects diabetics and what can be done to prevent the problems from arising as well as treating the problem once it exists.   Read More . . .

What is Morbid Obesity?

Obesity is measured by using the Body Mass Index (BMI). By knowing your height and weight and using a BMI calculator you can find your BMI. You are considered obese if you have a BMI of 30 or more. Morbid obesity is defined as having a BMI of more than 35. Severe obesity constitutes a BMI of 40 or more. (Click here to calculate your BMI.)

Health Risks of Obesity

Being obese or severely obese puts you at a higher risk for developing or worsening many serious medical conditions. There are many obesity-related medical conditions that can damage your quality of life and some can cause early death. Some of these medical conditions include arthritis, asthma, some cancers, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, gallstones, heartburn, gout, hypertension, back and joint pain, sleep apnea, infertility, urinary stress incontinence, and type 2 diabetes.
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This is the first article in a series to give our patients and other readers an understanding of what essential oils are. I will be explaining some of the history surrounding the healing powers of therapeutic grade essential oils in this article.

Essential oils come from shrubs, flowers, roots, bushes and seeds. Because of the distilling process essential oils are much more concentrated and potent than dried herbs. Often an entire plant is needed to produce just one drop of distilled essential oil.

The use of essential oils has been recorded as far back a 4500 BC where it was used in religious rituals and medical applications. There are hieroglyphics in Egypt depicting a ritual called “Cleansing the Flesh and Blood of Evil Deities”. This process is said to prepare the body for the afterlife when they will return to their mummified body. It takes three days, using specific oils.   Read More . . .

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is a medical treatment that uses the administration of 100 percent oxygen at a controlled pressure (greater than sea level) for a prescribed amount of time—usually 60 to 90 minutes.

The air we normally breathe contains 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and 1 percent carbon dioxide and all other gases. Increasing the pressure of the air we breathe through the administration of HBO therapy has the effect of dramatically increasing the number of oxygen molecules entering the bloodstream, up to 2000 percent. This increase in oxygen under controlled pressure means that oxygen can reach bone and tissue that is normally not accessible to red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body.   Read More . . .

What Is Bilberry?

You’ve probably heard of eating carrots to help your eyesight, and that’s because they contain carotenoids, which are powerful phytochemicals that protect vision. However, they’re not the only phytochemicals that can protect against diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration – both consequences of untreated diabetes. The berry of the bilberry bush, a relative of the American blueberry, contains phytochemical compounds known as flavonoids. The flavonoids found in the bilberry then classified as anthocyanosides, which are powerful antioxidants. Anthocyanosides are prescribed regularly in Europe to treat eye diseases, and can actually improve night vision, maintain healthy vision and slow the degeneration of the retina and macula in diabetes-related eye diseases, as well as treat cataracts, varicose veins and even hemorrhoids.   Read More . . .

Each year in the U.S. nearly 90,000 diabetes patients lose toes, feet, and legs to amputation. Even minor foot trauma can lead to major problems caused by diabetes-related nerve damage, medically known as neuropathy.

Now early research offers hope that an over-the-counter cream can help save the lower limbs of people with diabetes. The cream contains the amino acid arginine, and the newly published study shows that it dramatically improves blood flow to the feet of patients with type 2 diabetes.

American Diabetes Association (ADA) vice president Robert Rizza, MD, calls the findings from the small study "intriguing but preliminary," and says the next step is to determine if the cream can actually prevent or lessen the foot complications that lead to diabetes-related amputations.

"This pilot study showed that arginine does increase blood flow, but it is not yet clear if this translates into fewer foot ulcers or better healing of ulcers," he tells D4D.
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Diabetes Mellitus is a disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, a hormone that helps the body's tissues absorb glucose (sugar) so it can be used as a source of energy. The condition may also develop if muscle, fat, and liver cells respond poorly to insulin. In people with diabetes, glucose levels build up in the blood and urine, causing excessive urination, thirst, hunger, and problems with fat and protein metabolism. Diabetes mellitus differs from the less common diabetes insipidus, which is caused by lack of the hormone vasopressin that controls the amount of urine secreted.

In the United States, about 16 million people (6 percent of the population) suffer from diabetes mellitus. Every year, about 800,000 people learn they have the disease. Diabetes mellitus kills about 193,000 U.S. residents each year, and it is the seventh leading cause of all deaths and the sixth leading cause of all deaths caused by disease. In Canada, more than 2.2 million residents (7 percent of the population) have diabetes mellitus, and the disease contributes to more than 25,000 deaths a year.
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Control your diabetes through Diabetes Education, Nutrition Education and Exercise Education.

Don't let it control you!!!

Mission Statement

The focus of Diabetics 4 Diabetics will be working one-on-one to educate diabetics about their disease and teach them to control their diabetes through proper nutrition, exercise and diet. The nutritional instruction will be based on proven and medically sound practices. Their meal plans will be monitored closely and adjustments made as necessary. The clients will have a customized exercise program designed to their individual limitations. This program is designed to work in conjunction with the clients' personal physicians. The progress of the clients will be provided to them and their physicians as quarterly updates. They will also have indefinite group support, advice and guidance.   Read More . . .