Understanding Juvenile Diabetes

In Type 1, or juvenile diabetes, the hormone insulin does not work the way it should and blood levels can go out of control. People with this form of diabetes need to be given insulin to control the blood sugar and help with the basic metabolic pathways of the body. There is a theory that for some reason the body's immune system actually attacks insulin. This is why it doesn't work. Scientists have struggled to understand what causes the body to turn against itself in Type 1 diabetes. Essentially, the immune system destroys pancreatic cells that normally produce the blood sugar regulating hormone insulin. Researchers have struggled to find out why. That's because it is a disease that affects one in every 400 to 500 children and adolescents in the United States. According to a report in the journal Nature, scientists studied mice that actually developed Type 1 diabetes and engineered them to lack normal insulin. Using those mice, they are trying to do what they can to find out secrets.

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Long Flights Increase the Risk of Blood Clots

This is the time of year when families are traveling, and with flights to faraway places like Europe and Asia discounted, it’s more affordable than ever to travel the world. That’s why a recommendation by the World Health Organization is so important. They have recommended that passengers on long flights exercise their legs and resist taking sleeping pills. That’s to reduce the risk of potentially fatal blood clots. Although the danger of developing deep vein thrombosis, or DVT’s, in the form of a blood clot in the calves is small, it increases if people are immobile for long periods. The risk is one in 6,000, but that’s one in every 15 sold-out jumbo jets. When you think about it, that’s quite a risk. The important thing is to make sure you get up and walk around and, obviously, talk with your doctor to see if you’re at greater risk.

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Importance of Vitamins for Women

Vitamins, especially prenatal vitamins, can be very important for women. During the prenatal period, it’s important because it helps nurture the baby and give the baby strength. But it’s also important during a woman’s day to day life that she gets enough iron. A woman has a menstrual cycle. As a result, she loses blood, and when she loses blood, iron levels can go down. As they go down, there have to be supplements. There have to be ways that you can actually increase the ability to develop iron and go in that stage.

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Alligator Blood May Lead to New Antibiotics

Alligators have a tough life swimming around in murky lagoons.  They have fierce territorial battles that lead to lots of wounds and infections.  Believe it or not, scientists are taking a close look at alligator blood and the proteins in the blood as potential treatments for a growing list of difficult to treat infections like MRSA.  You see, alligators have adapted over millions of years and can fight off serious infection.  Now, researchers from Louisiana suggest gator blood could produce a new source of powerful antibiotics that could fight infections associated with diabetic ulcers, burns, and even super-bugs. 

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Diabetes and the Hemoglobin A1C Test

We know the number of people with diabetes is on the rise, but according to many reports on the subject, it's estimated that 25% of people with the condition are not diagnosed.  There are many reasons for this including a lack of access to health care, the inconvenience of the blood test which can include fasting, and the fact that it's often overlooked. There is now a trend to consider the use of a test called the hemoglobin A1C test as a test to diagnose diabetes.  One of the big advantages of hemoglobin A1C is that it's more accurate of a reading over a long period of time.  Another big reason for hemoglobin A1C is that it cannot be dramatically affected by fever or illness on the day of the test.  At the present time, hemoglobin A1C is a good test to tell if people with diabetes have been consistently taking medication.  But at this point, it is still the fasting blood sugar that is the ace in the hole. 

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Do You Bruise Easily?

If you're someone who suffers from easy bruising, you want to get it checked out.  Easy bruising could be a sign that there is a problem, and the problem which we're talking about is one which could be either the liver or the blood clotting mechanisms in the body.  If that's the case, this is something that you don't want to ignore.  It's really something that needs to be aggressively managed.  If it has to be aggressively managed, you know what that means.  It means getting to the doctor's office and trying to find out from your physician what's best for you?

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