Diabetes has hidden dangers that begin before diagnosis and continue to worsen if we do not take certain steps to prevent the complications that are the real “killers” of diabetes.
Statistics show that there are approximately 18 million diabetics in America, both type 1 and type 2. It is amazing how many people, including diabetics, do not know the dangers a diabetic faces in their lifetime. A diabetic, all other things being equal, lives an average of 10 years less than their non-diabetic counterpart.
Why do diabetics live shorter lives than non-diabetics? The answer is both simple and complicated. Simple to explain complicated in the medical sense. Without going down the path of complexity in this article, I will try to give a simple answer to the above question. Diabetics live shorter lives than non-diabetics because of diabetic complications.
What are diabetic complications?
Diabetic complications are chronic medical conditions that affect the diabetic’s body. These complications are mainly because of a condition that the medical community has called “advanced glycation end products”, which is simply “excess sugar” saturating the inside of the body’s cells. This condition, also known as AGE, includes, but is not limited to, coronary heart disease, vascular disease, blindness, kidney disease, retinopathy (blindness) and loss of feeling in the hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy).
In the early stages, diabetes does not produce any symptoms. If we do not detect it during a routine medical examination, a diabetic may remain undiagnosed for years. It is during these years that the first complications of diabetes can set in because of excess sugar in the cells (AGE). Statistics show it is possible for over 5 million people to lead normal lives while having undiagnosed diabetes.
Are diabetic complications a certainty?
If the current consensus is that the formula for diabetic complications is diabetes + Time = complications. This means that there is a much higher risk for a diabetic to be diagnosed with one or more diabetic complications. This is due in part to the way the person monitors and controls their blood sugar.
The drastic rises and falls in blood sugar can be difficult on the body and the excess sugar in the cells wreaks havoc on the various nerves in the body, and the capillaries, veins and arteries. Evidence to date shows that excellent blood sugar control and an active lifestyle can prevent and/or slow the onset of diabetes complications.
Types of Diabetes
There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type one occurs in children and young adults and is characterized by the inability of the pancreas to produce insulin, a hormone that breaks down sugars and starches to convert them into energy. Type two usually occurs later in an adult’s life and is characterized by the inability of the pancreas to produce enough insulin because of several factors, including obesity.
About 10% of diabetics are type 1, while the remaining 90% are type 2. The main difference between the two is that type 1 diabetics completely depend on insulin and must take daily injections, while type 2 diabetics require insulin injections, while others can rely on oral medications and/or changes in diet and exercise.
Risk Factors for Diabetes
There are several risk factors that can tip a pre-diabetic into full-blown diabetes.
1) being overweight
2) family history of diabetes
3) lack of adequate exercise
4) history of gestational diabetes (which occurs during pregnancy and usually disappears after delivery)
5) certain ethnic groups
People over the age of 45 with one or more of the above risk factors should be screened for diabetes annually, preferably at an annual physical. We have shown that people with these risk factors make up most diabetes cases diagnosed each year.
What tests are used to diagnose diabetes?
Two crucial tests are used to determine whether a person has impaired glucose tolerance:
1) The fasting blood glucose test
2) The oral glucose tolerance test.
Both tests are used to determining glucose intolerance, i.e., that the blood glucose level is higher than normal. However, this is not always a sign of diabetes.
Can we prevent the onset of diabetes?
People with the above risk factors can prevent the development of full-blown diabetes by making significant lifestyle changes. What is a lifestyle change? It means replacing unhealthy diets with more blood sugar-friendly diets, getting enough exercise to compensate for increased blood sugar and keep the body healthy, and losing weight, especially if the medical community considers you obese.
If you are pre-diabetic, you must follow a strict diabetic diet. Ask your health care provider for a diet that meets this criterion and limit cakes, candies, cookies and other products with simple sugars. Eat small, nutritious meals and eat five times a day instead of just three.
We have already diagnosed if you with full-blown diabetes, follow the same diet while being closely monitored by your health care professional. Keep your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels within limits and have your eyes checked every year.
Diabetes can contribute to blindness, kidney disease and heart disease. Complications caused nearly 70,000 deaths in 2000.
What can a diabetic expect?
The complications of diabetes can be prevented or mitigated over a longer time by paying close attention to lifestyle. A diabetic who eats well, controls his or her blood sugar within acceptable limits, exercises and gets adequate rest can expect to have a quality of life far superior to the pain and suffering that diabetic complications bring to the lives of diabetics who do nothing to change their lifestyle.
What happens in the diabetic who develops complications because of uncontrolled blood sugars over time is a life filled with the possibility of becoming an invalid, either blind, an amputee, or suffering kidney failure or a heart attack.
The above paints a rather bleak picture if it does not follow lifestyle changes. Research has shown that the diabetic who maintains his or her blood sugar within acceptable limits and follows a healthy diabetic lifestyle that has been effective against the complications of diabetes has a much better chance of not developing many of the complications experienced by his or her less dedicated counterparts.
There is currently a new derivative of thiamine (vitamin B1) that shows great promise in significantly reducing excess sugar in diabetic cells, the process known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs).
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Is benfotiamine effective against diabetic complications?
Benfotiamine is a fat-soluble derivative of thiamine. Japanese researchers developed benfotiamine in the 1950s and then patented it in the United States in 1962. No one in the American medical community paid much attention to it. For the past 12 years, in Europe, we have used it for neuropathy, retinopathy and other purposes.
The chemical name and formula for benfotiamine are: S-benzoyl thiamine-O-monophosphate (C19H23N4O6PS). It wasn’t until a group of researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York published their findings in 2003 in the journal Nature Medicine that the rest of the world paid attention to this substance.
Benfotiamine is unique and has been reported by Dr. Michael Brownlee to show great promise in preventing nerve and blood vessel damage in diabetics. Every diagnosed diabetic has been told by their health care provider that diabetic complications are the actual killers in terms of diabetes.
