You have had a stroke. Hopefully, you went to the hospital when you developed your symptoms of weakness, numbness, altered speech or visual impairment. Your hospital care enabled you to limit the damaging effects of the loss of circulation to a portion of your brain. You’ve made it through the acute phase of stroke management. Now what?

You will want to obtain the best achievable outcome from the impairments you already have. If you have “motor” impairments weakness or clumsiness you can rest assured that randomized, controlled trials — the gold-standard method for determining a treatment’s effectiveness — have shown that physical therapy can improve your level of functioning. If you have speech impairment, then speech therapy might be beneficial, though this has never been proved by means of randomized, controlled trials.

While it is important to focus on rehabilitation following a stroke, there are also other issues to attend to. As a survivor of a stroke you are at increased risk for another.

Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Columbia University in New York studied 655 people who suffered first ischemic strokes. Ischemic strokes are due to plugged blood vessels and not bleeds, and comprise 85-90 of all strokes. Publishing their results in a March 2006 issue of the journal “Neurology,” the investigators found that in the first five years following the stroke there was an 18 likelihood of another. Over the same time period the research subjects also experienced a 5 likelihood of a heart attack.

Can you improve your odds? Absolutely! The process of using information from the first stroke to help prevent another is called “secondary stroke prevention.” The idea is that if there is something that can and should be done to reduce one’s risk, now is the time to do it. There is no point in waiting for yet another attack to occur before getting started.

A blue-ribbon panel from the American Stroke Association and American Heart Association reviewed the state of knowledge concerning secondary stroke prevention for patients with ischemic strokes and published their results in a March 2006 issue of the journal “Circulation.” They found that use of blood-pressure-lowering medications has a powerful effect in reducing the risk of a second stroke — ranging from 24-43 in better studies — and this benefit might even extend to patients who have normal blood pressure to start with.

If you have diabetes, then it is especially important to control high blood pressure. Using a medication from the groups of drugs known as “angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors” ACEIs and “angiotensin receptor blockers” ARBs will not only help control blood pressure, but will additionally help protect the kidneys. If you have diabetes, then it is also important to consider use of cholesterol-lowering medication, especially from the class of drugs known as “statins.” Statins can additionally benefit people without diabetes and even those without elevated cholesterol levels. Of course, in diabetes it is also important to keep the blood-sugar levels as close to normal as is humanly possible.

Quitting smoking is also pivotal in preventing another stroke, and it is never too late in the game to benefit from this difficult but important change. Consumption of more than two standard drinks of alcohol per day also increases the risk of stroke and should be avoided. If you are obese, then it is in your best interests to lose weight through a combination of calorie reduction and sensible exercise.

If your hospital studies showed that a carotid artery is 70-99 narrowed severe stenosis and your recent stroke was downstream from this blood vessel, then you are much less likely to have another stroke if you have a surgical clean-out endarterectomy by an experienced surgeon whose complication rate is less than 6. If you have severe narrowing, but because of some medical or surgical problem the surgery is considered too risky, then insertion of a stent into the narrowed artery can serve as a substitute for endarterectomy.

The carotid arteries are pulsating blood vessels in the front of the neck that carry blood to much of the brain. If the carotid artery on the same side of the stroke is 50-69 narrowed moderate stenosis, then an endarterectomy can be considered, but the benefit of surgery in these circumstances is much less clear-cut. If the narrowing is less than 50 mild stenosis, then you are better off leaving the artery alone.

The above recommendations are based on studies in people with atherosclerosis hardening of the arteries which is the most common cause of strokes and, for that matter, heart attacks. But not every stroke is caused by atherosclerosis. That’s why medical testing is important in stroke patients — so that treatment can be tailored to individual circumstances.

What about blood-thinners? If you have atrial fibrillation a specific pattern of irregular heartbeats then you are at particular risk to have a stroke due to a blood clot being thrown into the circulation from the heart. In this case warfarin Coumadin is the blood-thinner of choice. If for some reason the warfarin cannot be tolerated or is considered too risky, then aspirin is a second-best choice.

If your stroke was due to atherosclerosis, then studies support the use of an “anti-platelet” drug. Platelets are the building blocks from which blood clots are made, and anti-platelet drugs interfere with the ability of the platelets to clump together to form a clot. Antiplatelet drugs of first choice include aspirin by itself, aspirin in combination with extended-release dipyridamole Aggrenox, and clopidogrel Plavix.

It’s important to realize that patients who address every risk factor for a second stroke are likely to have the best outcome and the lowest chances of another attack. Handling some risk factors and not others is better than doing nothing at all, but in fighting off a second stroke, you want to use every weapon in your arsenal.

C 2006 by Gary Cordingley

Diabetes may be developed at the time or during pregnancy in a woman who does pursue diabetes previously. This is called gestational diabetes, which affects 2-3 percent of pregnant women. If it is not monitored properly, it can lead to complications for the mother or even her baby. Pregnancy is most special time period in any womans life. It is period of great joy and enthusiasm, but also the time of anxiety and different questions occurs in mind such as How will I deal with the pregnancy? With the pain in labor and delivery? Will my baby be alright? These questions may be even more difficult for women with diabetes. Having children is a big decision for anyone among us. If you are a woman who has a history of diabetes, however, it is a decision that requires much more thought, precautions and careful planning. Many women who have diabetes whether it is Type 1, Type 2 or Gestational diabetes have delivered healthy babies.

What Exactly Is It ?

Gestational Diabetes occurs when the pregnant womans body is not able to produce or create enough of the hormone insulin. This refers that her body is not able to break down the sugar that she consumes and not able to convert it into energy. Therefore her blood sugar levels raises high and this will be passed on to the baby, which can cause severe problems.

Who Can Be Affected?

The pregnant women who is most likely to be affected will fit the under mentioned criteria;

Overweighed
Age above 35
History of diabetes in family
Previously delivered large baby
Previously given birth to a baby with an malfunction or defect
Undergone abortion in late pregnancy
Symptoms of gestational diabetes

One of the troubles of gestational diabetes is that it does not marked itself with clear symptoms. The symptoms are common to high blood sugar, thirst, frequent urination, hunger as it sometimes occur, but all of them are common in the latter stages of pregnancy.

Going for baby is a big decision for anyone. If you are a woman who has diabetes, however, it is a decision that requires much more thoughts, precautions, and planning. Many women who have diabetes Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational diabetes have healthy pregnancies and healthy and fit babies. But this does not mean that they achieved good result very easily, it requires a lot of efforts and dedication from your side.

Whether Am I at risk of developing gestational diabetes?

If you have one or more of the under mentioned factors you are more likely to develop gestational diabetes

Perusing a family history of diabetes in a relative such as parent, brother or sister.
If you had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy.
If the previous baby had a birth defect or some malfunction.

For more info and Article Related Health visit HealthWikiNews.com

Diabetes is a group of associated diseases in which the body is unable to regulate the amount of sugar glucose into the blood. The cells does not respond in type2 diabetes. In this type of case the blood sugar levels gets too high instigating prolonged severe complications.

Researchers have identified various genes related with the growth of type 1 diabetes. The customary belief about the etiology, cause, of type 1 diabetes is that although someone may have a genetic inclination for developing type 1 diabetes, environmental triggers such as virus, toxin, drug are responsible to initiate the autoimmune process which causes type 1 diabetes by destroying insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells.

Type 1 Diabetes influences only 5 of all diabetics. By the researchers point of view it is by far the worst of the two types. In type 1 the cells which create insulin are destroyed – an autoimmune reaction causing dependence on outside sources of insulin. Up till now there is no clinical cure for type 1 diabetes.

In type 2 diabetes the cell receptors that respond to insulin either do not work completely or not causing insulin resistance up to the mark. The most frequent and common risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes are age factor, inactive lifestyle and being overweighed. Heredity also plays the vital role in it

Type 2 Diabetes is given the name as the disease of lifestyle. Certainly it is seen in lot of people, as you go older day by day your metabolism slows down, you start gaining weight, and as a result you are less active and more sedentary-an obvious reasons for the disease.

Genetics A Risk Factor Diabetes
It is seen that native people with high percentage of Indian blood are more often to develop diabetes. There is no certain reason that why this genetic disorder occurs, but one theory is that at one time when food was not in plenty, the body adjusted for these incline times by storing extra fat for this purpose.

The Other Factors
If you have been detected with any problems with your circulation, had an heart attack or a stroke, or if you have got high blood pressure you may be at an increased risk of diabetes or it may be the dawn of this disease in you.

Pregnant women can build up a short-term type of diabetes gestational diabetes. Having this symptoms and delivering a large baby, can boost the risk of a woman going to develop severe diabetes in the future.

Risk Factors Controlled By You
Family history In this type of case risk of having diabetes is high, if you have a close relative such as parent, brother, or sister with diabetes. Gestational diabetes, or delivered a baby who weighs more than 9 pounds. Women who have diabetes during pregnancy or have a large baby are at larger risk for diabetes later in future, usually type 2 diabetes.
For more info and Article Related Health visit HealthWikiNews.com

How do I get started?

It’s important to see your primary care provider for a thorough assessment to ensure that your symptoms are not caused by a medical condition that requires treatment. Even serious diseases, such as cancer, can present with seemingly minor symptoms such as fatigue and back pain. Or, they may only be detected by laboratory tests.

There’s no golden rule about what diet to follow or for how long, but the general theory is to temporarily no more than one month alter your diet in order to strengthen the organs and release stored toxins. This will involve cutting out alcohol and caffeine, two of the biggest culprits, as well as preparing your meals from natural foods free of additives, preservatives, saturated fats and sugar.

Overweight?

If you’re overweight, you have more toxins in your body than a thin person because the body stores excess toxins in fat cells. But don’t despair one of the great additional benefits of detoxing is losing weight!

Sauna Benefits

Heating of the tissues also enhances metabolic processes. Greater cellular energy production facilitates healing. Viruses, tumors and toxin-laden cells are weaker than normal cells. They tolerate heat poorly. Raising the body temperature causes infections to heal more quickly. Hyperthermia, or fever therapy, helps combat infections and even cancer. Our bodies develop fever when ill to enhance metabolism and help kill germs.

The people who support detox diets say that because of emotional stress or dehydration, toxins don’t leave our bodies properly during the elimination of waste. Instead, they believe toxins hang around in our digestive, lymph, and gastrointestinal systems as well as in our skin and hair. According to proponents of detox diets, these toxins can cause all kinds of problems, like tiredness, headaches, nausea, and acne.

We urge you to find out more about Herbal Detox and how it can benefit you today!

An individual may get diabetes when the pancreas can no longer secrete the needed hormones that produce insulin. The insulin maintains the glucose in the blood to be normal. Low insulin means that the level of glucose, which is sugar in the blood, may get high and may lead to diabetes.

The autoimmune reaction is a type 1 diabetes where the cells in the pancreas organ that produces the needed insulin are destroyed. This results to the total loss of insulin in the hormones. This happens because the body has its own hormones that protects and destroys its own pancreas cells.

Although there is no scientific proof why this occurrence in the pancreas happens, some studies have some theories that may possibly be related in this kind of reaction. Some say that this happens when there is exposure of a newly born to a cows milk, the infection from viruses and bacteria, and the exposure from food-borne chemical toxins. There is not enough evidence yet to prove some theories that may trigger the cause of diabetes.

The type 2 diabetes is said to progress when there is lack of insulin that is needed to maintain the blood sugar in the body. Another reason is believed to be that the needed insulin not be effective effective to control the blood sugar because of abnormalities in composition. The last reason is said to be that the receptors in cells no longer respond and fail to stimulate the organ that produces the needed insulin.

An individual is likely developing the type 2 diabetes when a person is overweight or obese. The increase of age of an individual is also considered a factor in acquiring this type of diabetes. Some few cases that may lead in this type of diabetes may include when a woman is having her pregnancy, or when a person have some intakes of medicines and drugs. In addition, any sickness or infectious decease that can alter the pancreas production of insulin.

There are some basic treatments for diabetes. These ways can serve an individual its important role in treating diabetes. Here are some ways on how a person can treat diabetes problems.

1. An individual must work thoroughly in obtaining his ideal body weight. Every individual must have a regular exercise and physical endurance tests. People who suffer from diabetes are recommended to be physically fit if possible. Exercises for the lungs and heart may help the person lessen the sugar that causes diabetes.

2. An individual must follow a diabetic diet program. Not being on the proper diet can be a great factor in acquiring type 2 diabetes. It is recommended that a person must lose weight if he is an overweight person. It is advisable that a person must be conscious of the food that he takes. Eat foods that do not have sugar content.

3. The option of the individual to have medication and seek the help of a doctor. Every diabetes patients that have type1 and type 2 diabetes can take insulin daily to sustain the insulin production of the pancreas. There is also the new insulin pump that continuously provides the much-needed insulin. There are also new medications that treat diabetes like the synthetic human insulin, Sulfonylurea drugs, Biguanides, Thiazolidinediones, Meglitinides, Alpha-glucosidase, and other drug combinations.

Diabetes can be prevented with the proper awareness and information regarding this illness. What is important is that a person must have a healthy diet and regular exercise to have a healthy body. Responsibility and discipline is needed to help oneself in overcoming this disease.

Diabetes is a disease caused when the body does not properly produce insulin. Seven percent of the population in the United States has diabetes. There are two types of the disease. Type one diabetes is where the body does not produce insulin and type two is where the body resists insulin. The majority of people diagnosed with this disease have type two. Symptoms of diabetes include extreme thirst, hazy vision, excessive hunger, weight fluctuation, fatigue and frequent urination. Diabetes is often controlled with insulin and prescription drugs, but diet and exercise play a large part in the ability to control the disease. There are also herbs that can help reduce the effects of diabetes.

Ensure a healthy diet by concentrating on foods such as vegetables, grains, fiber and legumes. These foods will help regulate sugar in the blood stream. Avoid junk food and foods that contain sugar such as cakes, cookies and other sweets. Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine should also be avoided to maintain a nourishing diet.

Exercise helps promote good health and combats against the negative effects of diabetes. It is important to exercise regularly and keep an appropriate weight. People who are inactive or overweight have a higher risk factor for diabetes and are prone to suffer from more side effects caused by the disease. It is especially important to exercise to build muscle. Starting a weight program will increase muscle mass which will increase sensitivity to insulin.

There are many herbal remedies recognized for their therapeutic properties of treating diabetes. They are commonly found in pharmacies and grocery stores and can be a great natural remedy. Prickly pear cactus has shown positive results in the treatment of this disease and was recently recognized by the International Diabetes Center as a viable natural remedy. Bitter Melon has been used for years in Asia, Africa and South America for treatment. Garlic will reduce sugar levels and is a healthy way to add flavor to food while benefiting from its curative traits. Other common herbs are ginseng, psyllium, fenugreek, bilberry, dandelion and burdock.

Vitamin supplements are frequently used to help treat diabetes with the most commonly recommended ones being vitamins B6, C and E. Also, zinc, selenium, alpha lipoic acid, chromium and vanadium are commonly used. Rather than take individual supplements, some patients opt for a multivitamin to add to their diet.

Diabetes is a disease that affects a large portion of the population. The risks associated with it are serious but can be controlled with lifestyle change. Ensuring a well balanced diet and good exercise routine will help in preventing side effects. Also, proper use of herbs, vitamins and natural remedies will help prevent the necessity for more traditional means of medication.