Cyndrome

Archive for January, 2011

Revelation to artificial light among sunset and bedtime can reduce the quality of your sleep and may enlarge the risk of hypertension and diabetes, research has found.

The study included 116 healthy participants aged 18-30 who were exposed to light, either part or the dark for eight hours before bedtime for five consecutive days. Blood plasma was collected every 30 to 60 minutes to check the levels of voluntary melatonin, a hormone produced at night by the pineal gland in the brain.

Melatonin regulates the sleep-wake cycle and has been shown to regulate blood pressure and body temperature.

The study found that exposure to bright room light before bedtime shortened the duration of melatonin production by about 90 minutes, compared to exposure to dim light. In addition, exposure to bright room light during the usual hours of sleep suppressed melatonin by more than 50 percent.

The study is scheduled for publication in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

“Given that chronic light suppression of melatonin has been hypothesized to increase relative risk for some types of cancer and that melatonin receptor genes have been linked to type 2 diabetes, our findings could have important health implications for shift workers who are exposed to indoor light at night over the course of many years,” study author Joshua Gooley, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.

“Further research is needed both during construction melatonin suppression as a major risk factor for breast cancer and to determine the mechanisms by which melatonin regulates glucose metabolism” added Gooley.

If you suffer from type 2 diabetes, there is amazing you should worry about: blood glucose monitoring, watching your diet, which includes daily exercise and normal visits to the doctor.

Be aware of your diabetes will now make a world of positive difference to the future health of your heart, feet, kidneys, brain and eyes. Why not take a New Year’s resolution to be more aware of your diabetes?

Diabetes is a complex disease, but putting a few well-defined measures in place can put you on track for making it part of your life rather than viewing it as an unwelcome stranger who, while easy to ignore, really won’t go away.  Here are some suggestions that can help you map out a plan for taking control of your diabetes:

Make a pact with yourself to check your glucose. If you’re having a hard time remembering to check, try some new tactics. For example, buy an inexpensive watch with an alarm, or use your cell phone alarm to remind you to test your blood sugar. You may also wish to carry a small notebook with you to use as a journal to record your blood sugar.

Make an entire year’s worth of doctor’s appointments now. Even if you are unsure of your schedule six months from now, having an appointment on the books will serve as a reminder to you, even if it has to be changed later. Schedule appointments with your primary caregiver, your endocrinologist, your ophthalmologist and your dentist.

Get your cholesterol and blood pressure checked. Since diabetes increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, it is important to make the time to have these checked at least once a year as part of an annual visit with your doctor.

Make losing weight a priority. An estimated 80 percent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. If you fit into this category, losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight will help improve your diabetes and may even lessen your need for medication to control your disease. Start your weight loss program by calculating how many pounds represent 5 to 7 percent of your body weight, and then work with your physican to find the right combination of diet changes and activity in order to lose the weight in a predetermined amount of time.

Get moving. Exercise offers wonderful benefits to anyone with Type 2 diabetes. If you don’t already exercise, fit some sort of activity into your day. Strive for at least 30 minutes a day, but if that’s too much at once, break it down into three, 10-minute sessions. That can be a 10-minute walk around the block after each meal.

Order a copy of the “Diabetes Playbook” from Penn State’s Hershey Diabetes and Obesity Institute. It’s a great guide for managing your disease. Diabetic people who successfully manage their disease generally have a better quality of life and suffer fewer complications throughout their entire life. It’s a great way to start the New Year!

Linda Tobin is a partner in promoting health and wellness, Penn State Employees Wellness Program at the Pennsylvania State Office of Human Resources, who is also a trustee of people focused on diabetes.

Children must “re-educated” on how to make fresh, healthy food choices and cook according Wanneroo resident Derrin Muirden. She hopes to help overcome the problems of Australia with childhood obesity and malnutrition, with his new company which is to eat?

Her first interest in nutrition began with his son, Kim (15) and Drew (9) after that Kim has been on a diet type and severe diabetes. Ms. Muirden taught them how to cook at once, with Kim now often full responsibility for preparing the evening meal for the family.

She said many parents at her sons’ schools were unsure what they should feed their children, were too busy to prepare a sit-down meal for the family or gave them free rein over afternoon snacks. The latter could fill children with empty calories, meaning that by evening they were uninterested in a healthy dinner.

“I have thought for a long time that there is a definite need for re-education on what kids should be eating,” Ms Muirden said. “I want to empower the children to make good food choices and be able to cook for themselves.”

She said the business developed over the past four months had been her “fourth career”. Her previous experiences in market research, clothes and early childhood product manufacturing and a partially completed home economics degree had proven useful in making her business idea a reality.

She attributed some interest in her program to the recent success of Junior Masterchef for demonstrating the benefits of teaching children to cook good food.

Her first students started this week, in age-bracketed classes using commercial kitchens at Kingsway Indoor Stadium and Beldon-Iluka Uniting Church.

Ms. Muirden said he hopes to get permission to teach in a renovated apartment in his grandmother’s house Wanneroo, allowing young charges to learn in the kitchen more like their own.