Type 2 Diabetes

In controlling diabetes, it is necessary to know fundamentals of treatments, symptoms and connected data. This post will demonstrate all such for a busy executive to know.

About Type 2 Diabetes

When you have type 2 diabetes, high levels of sugar build up in your blood. This can lead to serious health complications. That's why controlling your blood sugar is key to managing diabetes. Keeping your blood sugar under control lowers your risk for complications later. High blood sugar can harm your organs and raise your risk of heart disease.

Having type 2 diabetes means that your body doesn't make enough insulin, or doesn't properly use the insulin your body makes. Insulin is a hormone that is made in your pancreas. It helps your body's cells use sugar (also called glucose), which comes from foods and drinks. Sugar is a source of energy for cells.

This site focuses on type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease. Typically, with type 2 diabetes, the body still makes insulin, but its cells can't use it. This is called insulin resistance. Over time, high levels of sugar build up in the bloodstream. Being overweight and inactive increase the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Other main types of diabetes include:

• Type 1 diabetes, which often affects children (although adults can develop it, too). In this form of diabetes, the body can't make insulin. The immune system mistakenly attacks the cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin. As these cells die, blood sugar levels rise. People with type 1 diabetes need insulin shots.
• Gestational diabetes, which occurs in some pregnant women. It can cause problems during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Women who get gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Life with type 2 diabetes

Managing type 2 diabetes means making some changes to how you live. Talk with your doctor about which changes are right for you. For example, it helps to:

• Eat healthy, and lose weight if your doctor says you should
• Be more active
• Test your blood sugar regularly
• Have your doctor check your A1C level (your average blood sugar over the past two to three months)

How to keep Sugar under control

Exercise is important for people with diabetes

Those who have diabetic levels marginal and can be controlled by means food it is likely that you need not have heavy exercises. But those who cannot maintained their sugar level by food only needs some drugs and few hours/week of exercises.The exercise here means not heavy exercises but brisk walking for 30minutes ever other day is sufficient. This will not only reduces sugar but helps to maintain cardiovascular systems in order.

especially type 2 diabetes -- because it helps regulate blood sugar and provide cardiovascular fitness that protects against heart and artery disease.

But which type of exercise is best? Cardio, weights, walking -- or perhaps a combination of aerobic and resistance training?

That's apparently what a team of scientists at the University of Calgary attempted to find out by evaluating 251 adults, aged 39 to 70, all with type 2 diabetes and whom were not regular exercisers. The scientists formed four groups and gave them different programs:

1. One group did aerobic (cardio) exercise for 45 minutes, three times each week.
2. Another group did resistance (weights) training for 45 minutes, three times each week.
3. A third group did both cardio and weights for 45 minutes each and three times each week.
4. A fourth group did no exercise at all.

The study team measured a key indicator of blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetics, known as A1c, before and after the various exercise programs. A1c is an indicator of blood glucose over the previous 2 to 3 months.

Would it surprise you to hear that A1c dropped by twice as much in the group that did the combined cardio and the weights? Well, that's exactly what occurred. . .but they did twice as much exercise didn't they? The results for the cardio or weights groups alone were similar to each other and the A1c lowering effect was doubled in the combined group.

While this story created headlines all around the world, did it really answer the question "which exercise is best?" No it did not, but what it did suggest is that either aerobic or resistance training is equally good at lowering A1c.