Need for exercise in the case of Type 2 diabetes to alleviate effects on the heart

Diabetes is supposed to have harmful affects on the heart, along with the harmful effects of an enhanced level of sugar on the internal organs of the body. There are an increasing number of diabetes affected people all over the world who are suffering from high levels of obesity / overweight individuals, there is a need to take measures that will benefit the cardiovascular system (the heart).
Experts are now recommending certain levels of exercise that will have a beneficial effect on the heart, and recommend that diabetes affected individuals do carry out an exercise regime in which they do atleast the minimum recommended (link to article):

Patients with type 2 diabetes should do at least two-and-a-half hours per week of moderate-intensity or one-and-a-half hours per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercises, plus some weight training, to reduce their cardiovascular risk, researchers suggest. According to an American Heart Association scientific statement, diet and exercise can prevent or slow the development of type 2 diabetes and produce clinically significant improvements in blood sugar control and cardiovascular risk factors in people with the condition.
Patients should exercise on at least three non-consecutive days each week to maximize benefits. Individual sessions should be at least 10 minutes each or longer.
Resistance training should be encouraged, and should be moderate to high-intensity 2-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions at a weight that can't be lifted more than 8-10 times, with 1-2-minute rest periods between sets.

Unfortunately, with the prevalence of high starch diets, increasing convenience of mechanical locomotion (cars, escalators, elevators), and more busy life styles, people are moving away from even minimum levels of exercise. However, you cannot run away from diabetes, and need to ensure that you do whatever is necessary to fight it.

Control on sugar cuts risk of heart attack

It is a known fact that diabetics have a higher risk of heart attack; regular measures to control heart attack risk by leading a healthier life, maintaining a good blood pressure and having their cholesterol levels reduced; they still have a high risk of developing heart problems. The thing that works to reduce this risk - keep sugar levels under control (link to article)

Diabetics can cut their heart attack risk by tightly controlling blood sugar levels, says a study published in the Lancet. By undertaking a meta-analysis which pooled information from five large trials, Cambridge University researchers came to the conclusion that people with diabetes who maintain intensive, low blood sugar levels are significantly less likely to suffer heart attacks and coronary heart disease.
In order to assess the possible risk of various heart conditions, Ray and team analyzed the data collected on the glucose levels in blood, specifically a long-term marker of glucose control called HbA1c. In healthy individuals, HbA1c levels average between 4-5 percent. However, diabetics often have levels above 6.5 percent.

Just another indicator that people with diabetes need to maintain a properl control on their blood sugar levels.

Diabetes research: Link between hypertension, diabetes, and heart attacks

Diabetes is a major affliction that comes with many side effects, some of which are known, and others are those which researches are still finding out. The effect of higher sugar levels in the blood is linked to hypertension, and heart disease, and here is an article that tries to establish the link between them (link to article):

Researchers from A.O.U. in Cagliari Sardegna, Italy have found a link between increased carotid artery wall thickness (CAWT) - which can cause heart attack and stroke- and diabetes and hypertension.
During the study, the researchers looked at 186 patients with the help of multidetector row CT and sought to determine association between CAWT is associated with cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and a history of smoking. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between diabetes and hypertension.

What this means is that people who have higher levels of thickness of their carotid walls combined with diabetes need to go in for more frequent medical examinations, and get themselves checked periodically. They are at higher risk, and need to ensure that they are aware of that.

External article: Can weight loss surgery reduce or reverse diabetes

Was searching for the answer to a question about whether having weight loss surgery can actually reduce the level of diabetes, or actually reverse the diabetes altogether. And I found this article (link to article)

Many people who are overweight or morbidly obese have metabolic syndrome (which is also called pre-diabetes) or have frank diabetes, which is also called adult-onset diabetes, type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (which, despite the name, may be treated with insulin). The hallmark of frank diabetes is high circulating levels of insulin and a resistance to that insulin, leading to higher-than-normal blood sugars.
Weight loss, by diet and exercise or by change in diet gastric bypass, very often improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control. Indeed, weight loss may eliminate the need for medical treatment of the condition. We in medicine usually still consider these folks diabetics, as they usually still have abnormal response to a high-sugar meal, but their blood sugar patterns are far better than before the weight loss and/or gastric bypass and their risk of diabetes complications is dramatically reduced.

People who are obese or over-weight are suspectible to high levels of diabetes, and it is important that they reduce their weight as soon as possible; further, their is a chance that their levels of blood sugar and diabetes affliction may reduce if their weight levels come down.

Diabetes research: Being able to diagnose diabetes through spit testing

Diabetes is an affliction that affects a large number of persons nowadays. One big problem is about early detection, since a person who has diabetes which is not being detected and treated can suffer many problems. There is no control on the intake of sugar, or treatment with drugs to control the growth of sugar levels in the body, and consequently the problem of higher level of sugar in the body keeps on growing, in many cases, being detected only when the patient starts to suffer damage. However, current checking through the blood test is traumatic for many people, and for those who cannot stand a needle, it is very problematic. There is research ongoing about how to detect diabetes through other means, and this article talks about using the human spit for this purpose (link to article):

While searching for biomarkers that may indicate diabetes, doctors examined the saliva of 40 different patients. Through salivary analysis, they managed to devise a new 'non-invasive' method for detecting diabetes that foregoes the uncomfortable prick of a needle- patients need only to spit into a cup.
"Our goal was to characterize proteins in human saliva that may indicate prediabetes and type-2. Analysis of these proteins allowed us to develop a new method for screening, detecting and monitoring the diabetic state," said Srinivasa R Nagalla, MD, and a member of the research team.

If this technique does become successful, it will be of big help in being able to detect diabetes much earlier than possible for a large number of patients.

Setting proper diet goals and eating desired foods

For a diabetic, it is very important to keep a track of the food items a person consumes. Due to the inability of the body to process glucose properly, glucose levels in the blood stream can go up rapidly if the wrong sorts of food are eaten. It is recommended to prepare a proper food chart, and be sure about the food one is eating. It is somewhat uncomfortable for those people who have a sweet tooth, or like to eat junk food, but there is no getting around the problem; diabetes commands that a person learn to control their food intake as well as the type of food they are eating. It is equally important to make sure that a proper exercise regime is maintained, and weight levels are controlled, since obesity tends to decrease the metabolic count as well as reduce the glucose processing. Here is an article that presents details and is well worth reading (link to article):

Marriages are often used as excuses to laze around, skip exercise routines, party and enjoy. While most of us are lucky enough to get away with it, for a diabetic, diet and exercise go hand in hand. If you are one, make sure you prepare a ‘to-do’ list and follow it. Remember that you must have a diet that has a good balance of nutrition and taste.
About 15 to 20 per cent of calorie intake should come from protein.
Roughly 15 to 20 per cent of calorie intake should also come from fat.
About 60 to 70 per cent of your calorie intake should be in the form of carbohydrates. Include more of complex carbohydrates than simple ones as they breakdown more slowly to release glucose.
Decrease fat in the diet. Roast, bake or broil instead of frying. Trim the fat off meat and the skin off poultry, and avoid adding fat while cooking.
Increase fibre in your meals — including 40 gms of dietary fibre daily is beneficial.
Reduce sugar. Avoid adding sugar to beverages like tea, coffees, cereals etc.

There are many more tips in the article, and offer a lot of good suggestions that help diabetics keep their blood sugar levels down, and reduce the onset of other complications that come with diabetes. These are tips that are worth observing.

Sleep and diabetes

There are a number of factors that are risk factors for getting diabetes (specially the Type 2 variety). These include factors such as the diet, hereditary factors, the amount of exercise that a person gets, and a few others, but very few people would have expected that sleep would be one of the factors. A study has found that too much or too little sleep can affect whether a person developes Type 2 diabetes, or impaired glucose tolerance (link to article):

The risk is 2½ times higher for people who sleep less than 7 hours or more than 8 hours a night, according to the study published in journal Sleep Medicine. To reach the conclusion, researchers analysed the life habits of 276 subjects over a 6-year period. They determined that over the timespan, approximately 20 percent of those with long and short sleep duration developed type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance versus only 7 percent among subjects who were average duration sleepers.
The researchers also point out that diabetes is not the only risk associated with sleep duration. A growing number of studies have shed light on a similar relationship between sleep and obesity, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality. The authors observe that among adults, between 7 and 8 hours of nighttime sleep appears to be the optimum duration to protect against common diseases and premature death.

Even though people know that getting atleast 7-8 hours of sleep is optimum, more and more people are getting much lower levels of sleep, not realizing that this fast pace of life is affecting their health.