Health News

Great News about Olive Oil

Tests have shown that increasing olive oil intake can reduce cancer by an astonishing degree, and the indicator is you urine!

Tiny substances in your urine show how efficiently your body is protecting against everyday cell damage, the damage which causes cancer. In a study using olive oil , men who increased their intake had fewer of the damaged substances in their urine samples. The decrease was comparable to what smokers experience when they stop. Now that's some powerful oil.

Olive oil is full of healthy substances which have numerous positive effects on our bodies. Researchers think that phenolic compounds in the oil have properties which fight cancer. Furthermore, it is believed that there is something anti carcinogenic about monounsaturated fat itself!

This means that olive oil, rich in monounsaturated fat, is great for the heart and also helps deter cancer. That helps explain why, in comparison to Northern Europeans and Americans, Southern Europeans, who eat loads and loads of olive oil, have lower rates of both heart disease and cancer.

But one caution to bear in mind: The men in the study didn't add olive oil to their diets. They used it instead of the fats they used to consume. All in all about five to six teaspoons a day. Use olive oil to replace all the butters, margarines, and shortenings in your diet. Using it on top of your usual diet will only lead to weight problems and other areas of concern!

Another fact about olive oil; it’s great for your skin. So feel good and look good by increasing your olive oil intake now.

The Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is now widely recognized as one of nature's most effective healers and a remedy for various ailments. It also tastes great, and can be used as an ingredient in hundreds of interesting ways. Garlic is proven to help fight bacterial, viral and fungal infections if eaten regularly. There is enough evidence to show that it also combats digestion problems and enhances the immune system and helps protect the heart.

The Chinese have used garlic for centuries as a tonic and medicine. During the Great Plague epidemic in Italy in the middle ages, two prisoners in Florence were forced to bury hundreds of plague victims but never contracted the disease.There diet in jail was crushed garlic soaked in a flagon of sour wine!

Garlic is great for the heart

Garlic helps prevent heart disease because it lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. In turn, this reduces destructive oxidation and prevents clotting of the blood,hardening of arteries and DVT. Circulation is improved by eating garlic, and symptoms of poor circulation, such as headaches, cramps and tingling in the feet or hands.

The French Paradox

Although other factors must be included, garlic's cholesterol lowering qualities are highlighted in southern European countries. Take France for example wherethe 'French Paradox' has been well documented over the years. Scientists and doctors believe that garlic, along with olive oil, and red wine, significantly reduce the chance of heart disease, even though the French eat a high fat diet!

Antibiotic properties

Garlic's antibacterial and properties are known to fight of numerous infections such as colds and flu and other lung and sinus infections. Skin infections are also known to decrease if garlic is added to a regular diet. Intestinal problems like: intestinal worms, parasites and bacterial infections are greatly reduced by eating at least one whole clove a day.

There are hundreds of great ways to eat garlic and a quick Goggle search will give you enough recipes to last a life time. A life time which will be lengthened by eating more garlic.

You may want to run out and buy a new pair of glasses when you have diabetes. But wait, blurred vision is a common temporary symptom of an abnormal blood glucose level.

Eyes tend to swell when blood glucose levels are high and a swollen eye changes your ability to see clearly. Getting your blood glucose level back into the target ranges (90-130 mg/dL before meals, and 180 mg/dL or less one or two hours after a meal) is essential to correct blurred vision. Be patient as it can take as long as three months for you vision to be properly restored.

Consult an optometrist if your blurred vision continues past three to four months as it could be a sign of a more serious problem. People with diabetes are more susceptible to cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

Cataracts

A cataract is when the clear part of the lens becomes cloudy and fogged. The eye is composed of many parts, but the lens is the part that allows the eye to focus on an image. The eye cannot properly focus light and this causes glaring and blurring of vision. Anyone can get cataracts; however, people with diabetes can get it at an earlier age and it progresses far quicker in diabetic people.

Surgery to remove the cataract is the most common treatment. Also lens transplants are becoming more prevalent as well. Contacts or corrective glasses are usually needed to further correct vision.

Glaucoma

When fluid doesn’t drain properly and builds-up inside the eye, it causes a disease called glaucoma. The fluid continues to build causing pressure on the eye and damages the nerves and blood vessels in the eye resulting in a change in vision.

Glaucoma often has no symptoms until it has progressed into the more advanced stages. Severe and rapid vision loss is its main symptom. Symptoms have also included eye aches and pains, headaches, watering eyes, and halo or rings around lights in less common forms of the disease.

Special eye drops, laser incisions, medicine and surgery are treatments for the disease. Prevention is the best way to treat Glaucoma by getting an annual glaucoma screening.

Retinopathy

The eye has a group of specialized cells that change light into actual images and the optic nerve transmits those images to the brain. When the vascular channels around the eye are damaged, it prevents the signals from reaching the brain. Retinopathy caused by diabetes effects this message delivery system by creating a micro vascular condition, which if not treated, causing blindness.

It is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the industrialized world. There has been a direct link between the length a person has diabetes to the probability of developing retinopathy. The longer one has diabetes, the higher the risk of contraction.

Usually, retinopathy doesn’t develop in those that have had diabetes for less than 5 years. Rarely does it affect those that have not reached puberty. A study by the DCCT, found that people that strictly control their blood sugar levels reduced their risk of developing retinopathy. Strict control resulted in reducing their probability of developing retinopathy by 50% to 70%.

People with Type 2 diabetes usually showed signs of already having the disease at the time of their diagnoses. Overall progression of the disease can be controlled by the proper control of blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.

Different types of retinopathy

Background retinopathy. When there is damage to the eye, but there are no immediate vision problems this is called background retinopathy. During this stage, it is important to carefully manage your diabetes to prevent it from becoming more serious and affecting your vision.

Maculopathy. There is a small area of the eye called the macula and it is a critical part of the whole vision process. Maculopathy damages the macula and can severely reduce vision.

Proliferative retinopathy. This type of retinopathy affects the small vessels in the back of the eye and prevents them from receiving the proper amount of oxygen. The vessels then occlude and improperly remodel themselves.

There are certain risks factors with which can worsen the occluded vessels. To stop the progression of new vessels from forming around the eye one should not smoke, manage their cholesterol intake, and control their glucose levels. The vessels are very fragile and can clot and bleed into the orbit which causes scares to form and lead to blindness.

Laser procedures and surgery are the leading treatments for diabetic retinopathy. Most procedures result in at least a 50% reduction of blindness.

Get your eyes screened annually to prevent retinopathy from going undiagnosed. Pregnant woman should also have a comprehensive screening during the first trimester.

How to prevent eye problems:

The ADA (American Diabetes Association) recommends these eye care guidelines for persons with diabetes:

1. Get a dilated eye exam if you have Type 1 diabetes every 3 to 5 years after being diagnosed with diabetes.

2. If you have Type 2 diabetes, have an exam shortly after your diagnoses.

3. Have an annual eye exam performed regardless of the type of diabetes you have.

4. Women considering pregnancy and have a history of diabetes should have an eye exam.

When to contact a doctor:

- Sudden sustained blurred vision.
- Light flashes or pops.
- Black spots or holes in your vision.

(ARA) - For many of the 21 million Americans living with diabetes, the worst part of monitoring their blood sugar levels is not the prick to their fingers, but the punch to their wallets.

The American Diabetes Association recommends people with Type 1 diabetes test their blood sugar levels at least three times a day. Those with Type 2 diabetes may need less frequency, but should maintain some kind of regular testing schedule. Diabetics testing three or more times a day can spend $4 or more daily on test strips. One ambiguous test result, or damaged, mishandled or contaminated test strip can drive the cost even higher.

Advances in glucose meter design are helping reduce the discomfort and cost of self-monitoring. Today's compact, easy to use and read, battery-powered meters are a far cry from the first products used in the 1970s. Early models were nearly a foot long, required up to a minute to produce a reading and needed to be plugged in to a power source. Testing devices marketed for home use in the early 1980s weren't much better.

Most American diabetics now love their glucose monitors. In fact, a 2001 study by the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, found that most people don't mind the necessary blood prick. They are far more concerned with the accuracy, ease of use and affordability of their meters, the study showed.

"The more accurate and reliable your meter, the less you will spend on retesting because of odd results or test strip problems," says Chris Mehringer, a glucose meter expert with DoctorDiabetic.com. "Modern meters improve accuracy and speed of results - some take as little as 5 seconds to produce a reading."

Advantages of modern meters include:

* Speedy results - the New Optium by Abbott Laboratories returns results in just 5 seconds.

* Small sample size - Many monitors can take a reading from a very small drop of blood. Others permit the user to add a second drop of blood - rather than completely redoing the test with a new strip and test site - if the first sample proves inadequate.

* Forearm testing - Meters like the New Optium and One Touch Ultra by Lifescan spare the fingertips by allowing the user to draw blood from anywhere on the forearm, making it virtually pain free.

* Cost reductions - In addition to improving accuracy, organizations like Doctor Diabetic can help qualified patients obtain their diabetes supplies at little or no cost to them. Founded in 2001, the company now serves 70,000 patients. Diabetics with Part A and B Medicare coverage can have 80 percent of the cost of their testing supplies covered by Medicare.

"Those who also have a secondary insurer or State Assistance may pay nothing as secondary insurers will often cover the remaining 20 percent of costs," says Mehringer. Patients without secondary insurance can submit a financial waiver which may qualify them for financial assistance to cover the costs Medicare doesn't cover. "We know dealing with the Medicare system can be daunting, so we handle all the paperwork for customers to ensure they are getting the maximum coverage to which they are entitled," Mehringer says.

Supplies can be ordered online, or by calling (800) 852-1652. Orders are delivered directly to the patient's door free of charge.

Copyright © 2006 ARA Content