Skin Complications

More than 25 million Americans suffer from a very serious condition that is called diabetes; it is a chronic disease marked by increased levels of sugar in the bloodstream, and it can affect every single part of the body. 

Too often people make the mistake of dismissing diabetes as a mild condition that can be easily overcome; these people do not realize that diabetes is a serious conditions, and that if unchecked, can even cause death.  Believe it or not, diabetes is as serious a disease as they come, and when talking about the damage that it can do to a person’s body, it is important that you know that no organ or body part is safe, not even the skin. 

Diabetes can affect a person’s skin in more ways than one; as it turns out, diabetes does not only affect your health (seriously affecting your life), but also your looks.  In making you come to terms with the reality that diabetes truly is a life-changing condition, let us go over some of the skin complications that are generally associated with this condition.  Perhaps this will help you be more mindful of the disease and take extra precautions in trying to prevent it. 

• Bacterial Infection: people with diabetes are more likely to developing bacterial infections; styes, folliculitis, boils, and carbuncles are among the more common.  These infections are generally treated using antibiotics, and they seldom constitute a serious threat to people’s lives. 

• Fungal Infection:fungal infections are characterized by the appearance of itchy rashes surrounded by tiny blisters and scales; common infections include the following: jock itch; athlete’s foot; ringworm; vaginal infection. 

• Allergic Reaction:some people might find that they are allergic to the prescribed medicine against diabetes; rashes, depressions, or bumps are signs of allergy, and you must watch out for them at all times. 

• Atherosclerosis:this is a condition characterized by the thickening of the arteries; people with diabetes usually develop this condition early on.  Usually, atherosclerosis results in thin, shiny, cool, and hairless skin; toenails discolor and thicken too. 

• Digital Sclerosis:roughly one third of people suffering from diabetes develop thick skin on the back of their hands, on their toes, and their foreheads.  When toes or fingers are affected, they become stiff and are no longer able to move normally. This, like most other skin conditions, can only be effectively healed through controlled levels of blood sugar in the blood stream.   

 If you have questions and would like more information please call our office to setup an appointment to talk to Anthony Cannon, MD at (609) 587-9944.

Diabetes Defense: Lower Your Risk by Lowering Your Calorie Intake

Have you ever heard the old adage ‘you are what you eat’?  Surely, at one point or another you probably have, but at the same time you have probably wondered if this statement is true.  Well, in case you have not figured it out by now, it is true.  A person’s body and health is conditioned by the food that he or she consumes; the body and mind need nourishment to function adequately, so it is paramount that the correct nourishment be procured for both of them. 

Based on this, it is safe to say that healthy dieting leads to a healthy body and a healthy mind, which ultimately leads to an increased quality of life.  And, do you know what the best part of it is? It keeps your body’s defenses strong so that it can fight off diseases and keep the likes of diabetes and other life-threatening conditions away.    It might come as a shock to you, but diabetes is a life-threatening disease, and as such, it is a disease to be taken seriously.  So, what can you do in order to decrease your risk of getting diabetes?  Well, the first thing that you can do is start eating more healthy food, which pretty much comes down to lowering your calorie intake. 

Now, it is important to point out that lowering your calorie intake does not mean that you have to starve, nor does it mean that you have to engage in an extreme diet that limits your daily calorie intake to 600 calories.

However, it does mean that you should try and eat healthier foods and completely eliminate all trash foods that are high on fats and calories.   

Diabetes is a condition characterized by increased sugar in the bloodstream.  Naturally, if you eat too much, your body takes in too much calories, and since calories are ultimately broken down into glucose (which is sugar), it does make sense suggesting that a lower calorie intake lowers the risks of getting diabetes.  You are what you eat; if you want to be healthy, then you have to make sure and eat healthily.  And eating healthy does not mean eating tons of healthy foods; eating healthy is both about the quality and the quantity of the food you eat.  Therefore, make sure to plan out your diet carefully; the goal is to find a balance between the quality of the food you eat, and its quantity.

Can Gastric Bypass Improve Diabetes

A new study from Duke University Medical Center and Columbia University claims that Gastric Bypass sometimes improves type 2 diabetes long before the patients lose weight. Even thought the study was small; 21 in all. The surgery patients had lower levels of amino acids that have been linked to insulin resistance in their systems compared to the dieters.

The 10 gastric bypass patients and the 11 calorie restricted dieters all lost just a fraction of the overall weight when the analysis was conducted. But researcher says the preliminary findings are tremendous and hopefully could one day lead to diabetes treatments. Study researcher Blandine Laferrere, MD, of Columbia University’s St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospital Center, tells WebMD, “Certainly weight loss by any means improves type 2 diabetes, but there is something else going on with gastric bypass surgery,”

“Surgery puts the diabetes into remission. Most of the research has focused on changes in gut hormones, but we have shown that a decline in specific circulating amino acids also occurs.” The study only included obese people with a BMI of 35 and greater from the gastric bypass side, while the dieters were strictly monitored on a 1000 calorie restricted diet. At the time of the study all participants had lost an average of 20lbs. The surgery patients took only one month to achieve the 20lb goal while most of the dieters took two months to reach the 20lb goal for the study. The analysis revealed that the surgery patients had much lower levels of several types of circulating branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine (Phe) and tyrosine (Tyr).

The greatest achievement for the study was the control in blood sugar for the gastric bypass patients, all were off all diabetes drugs after that one month period. The dieters did not have the same results as almost half still needed treatment after losing the same amount of weight. They also had greater improvements in blood sugar control. One month after surgery, all of the gastric bypass patients were off all diabetes drugs. About half the dieters still needed treatment after losing the same amount of weight.

Laferrere says this understanding could lead to new diabetes treatments that are as effective as gastric bypass surgery. “It would not be possible to offer this surgery to everyone with type 2 diabetes,” she says. “About 28 million American adults have type 2 diabetes, and about 200,000 of these surgeries are done each year.”

For more information and news on diabetes and diabetes research please check our website regularly. http://anthonycannonmd.com/