Evaluating your overall health doesn't just mean looking at what's wrong, it also means looking at what you are doing right. The Analyst™ learns all about you through a simple-yet-comprehensive questionnaire.
If you have had a 2-hour postprandial blood glucose test carried out within the past 3 months, what was the result?
Possible responses:
→ Not tested in past 3 months / don't know→ Under 160mg/dL (normal) → 160-200mg/dL (impaired glucose tolerance) → 201-250mg/dL (diabetes) → Over 250mg/dL (uncontrolled diabetes) |
Diabetes Type II also suggests the following possibilities:
According to the Rotterdam Study of 6,370 subjects over age 55, diabetes mellitus may not only damage the function of the eye, limbs, kidneys, and heart – it also appears to impair the function of the brain and hasten the process of senile dementia. [Neurology. 1999 Dec 10;53(9): pp.1937-42]
The researchers found that diabetes mellitus nearly doubles the risk of developing both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Diagnosis of diabetes was based on World Health Organization criteria using a glucose tolerance test.
A related editorial called Alzheimer's a possible "brain-type diabetes". Besides damaging important blood vessel networks and increasing the risk of small "silent" strokes deep inside the brain, dysglycemia may be directly involved in the development of the neurofibrillary tangles, the clumping of nerves and fiber tissue inside the brain characteristic of Alzheimer's.
The researchers noted that advanced glycation end products (AGE), proteins damaged by chronically high blood sugar levels, are commonly found inside these tangles. "In brains of AD patients the receptor for AGE appears overexpressed," they noted. "Activation of this receptor leads to increased oxidative stress that may result in cellular damage."
Diabetes also disrupts insulin signaling to other cells in the body. This altered signaling may increase the activity of a neuronal enzyme that stimulates phosphorylated tau proteins to build up, a key trigger mechanism cited as one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's.
NOTE: This study strongly suggests the important potential role of glycation products and insulin response, not just glucose levels, in the etiology of degenerative disease.
Type II diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease, accounting for 35% of the new cases each year and 25% of all cases in the U.S.
Diabetes is a risk factor for post-operative infection.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related death. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. At least 65% of people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
A high-fat, high-sugar diet that contains refined flour products is probably the most important risk factor for diabetes. Such a diet tends to be low in chromium content and also causes more insulin to be produced, which requires even more chromium.
Factors that increase the risk of developing gallstones include diabetes, and being overweight, obese or pregnant.
Iron deposits in the pancreas decrease insulin production which can lead to insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Hemochromatosis is also called bronze diabetes because those sufferers with diabetes can express a bronze-colored tint to their skin.
Patients with hemochromatosis can also be diagnosed with liver disease, diabetes, heart disease and arthritis without the physician realizing that these diseases are the result of iron-overload. Thus, the hemochromatosis might itself go undiagnosed and untreated.
Hypomagnesemia has been demonstrated in both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients. A low intake of magnesium, which is a common deficiency, has been associated with insulin resistance and diabetes in several studies. Magnesium deficiency in diabetes is most likely the result of increased urinary magnesium losses secondary to chronic glycosuria. However, short-term improvement in glycemic control has not been shown to restore the serum magnesium level. Long-term studies may be needed to resolve this discrepancy.
People with diabetes often have low manganese levels and this deficiency contributes to an inability to process sugars. Supplementation improves glucose management in diabetics. [Nature, 1962; 194: pp.188-89]
There have been a number of reports that have suggested diabetics have an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The reasons for this are not clear.
Diabetes is a risk factor for the development of pneumonia.
By the age of 40, up to 40% of women with PCOS will have Type II diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance.
Up to 50% of all people with leg artery disease have diabetes; for them, controlling both conditions is crucial. Diabetes increases your risk for leg artery disease fourfold, and accounts for nearly half of all amputations in the U.S. that aren't related to accidents.
Diabetes makes hardening of the arteries much more dangerous (especially in the feet and toes) through several different mechanisms, and it's still not fully understood which ones matter most. People with diabetes are prone to nerve damage in the legs and feet, which means they often may overlook minor injuries. This, combined with poor circulation that slows wound healing, can cause small wounds to develop into more serious infections. Diabetes also makes people more likely to develop blockages in smaller vessels far from the heart, and those blockages tend to be more widespread and harder to treat.
Diabetic retinopathy will occur in 65% of persons with type II diabetes within about 10 years of the beginning of diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related death. People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. At least 65% of people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.
Hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are both factors that increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Hyperinsulinemia often predates diabetes by several years.
If you are diabetic, you are at higher risk of developing infections, including periodontal diseases. These infections can in turn impair the body's ability to process and/or utilize insulin, creating a vicious circle in which your diabetes may be more difficult to control and your infection more severe than in a non-diabetic. [Journal of Periodontology November 1999]
In advanced stages of Syndrome X, when the pancreas can no longer keep up, diabetes II may develop.