Diabetes: Taking Control with Insulin

If you were buying a
car, you wouldn’t dream of leaving the showroom without first asking the
salesperson how safe it is, how well it drives, and how to operate it.

 


If you’ve been
prescribed insulin — a medicine used to treat diabetes — you shouldn’t
consider leaving your doctor’s office without asking how to take it,
what side effects it might have, and how it will affect your diabetes.




Here is a list of important questions to ask your doctor before you start taking insulin:



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Foods and Drinks That Make You Gotta Go

  



Too Much Fluid?




If you’re always rushing
to the bathroom, you might assume that the solution is to drink less.
Wrong! If you drink less, your urine becomes highly concentrated, which
can irritate the bladder. In fact, cutting back on fluids too much may
make you run to the bathroom more, not less. There’s one exception: try
to reduce your intake a bit after 6 p.m. You’ll be less likely to get up
in the night to go to the bathroom. There’s one exception...



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Medical Marijuana: What's the Use?

 

More states are passing laws that allow people to use medical marijuana. So what does it treat, and who can and should use it?

Pain
is the main reason people ask for a prescription, says Barth Wilsey,
MD, a pain medicine specialist at the University of California Davis
Medical Center. It could be from headaches, a disease like cancer, or a long-term condition, like glaucoma or nerve pain.

If you live
in a state where medical marijuana is legal and your doctor thinks it
would help, you’ll get a “marijuana card.” You will be put on a list
that allows you to buy marijuana from an authorized seller, called a
dispensary.

Doctors also may prescribe medical marijuana to treat:

• Muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis
• Nausea from cancer chemotherapy
• Poor appetite and weight loss caused by chronic illness, such as HIV, or nerve pain
• Seizure disorders
• Crohn’s disease

The FDA has
also approved THC, a key ingredient in marijuana, to treat nausea and
improve appetite. It’s available by prescription Marinol (dronabinol) and Cesamet (nabilone).

How Does It Work?

Your body
already makes marijuana-like chemicals that affect pain, inflammation,
and many other processes. Marijuana can sometimes help those natural
chemicals work better, says Laura Borgelt, PharmD, of the University of
Colorado.    

How Is It Used?

Medical marijuana may be:

• Smoked
• Vaporized (heated until active ingredients are released, but no smoke is formed)
• Eaten (usually in the form of cookies or candy)
• Taken as a liquid extract 

Side Effects

Side effects of marijuana that usually don’t last long can include:

• Dizziness
• Drowsiness
• Short-term memory loss
• Euphoria

More serious side effects include severe anxiety and psychosis.

Risks and Limits

Medical
marijuana is not monitored like FDA-approved medicines. When using it,
you don’t know its potential to cause cancer, its purity, potency, or
side effects.

Only people
who have a card from a doctor should use medical marijuana. Doctors
will not prescribe medical marijuana to anyone under 18. Others who
should not use it:

• People with heart disease
• Pregnant women
• People with a history of psychosis

By Anne Harding

© 2013 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

Medical Marijuana: What's the Use? | GoldenEraMart Health JunctionGoldenEraMart Health Junction

Low Testosterone and Your Health

Researchers are unlocking
the mysteries of how low testosterone is related to men’s overall
health. Along the way, they’re uncovering connections between low
testosterone and other health conditions.

 

Diabetes, metabolic
syndrome, obesity, and high blood pressure have all been linked to
testosterone deficiency. Low testosterone isn’t known to cause these
health problems, and replacing testosterone isn’t the cure. Still, the
associations between low testosterone and other medical conditions are
interesting and worth a look.

 

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Skin Conditions Linked To Diabetes

For people with diabetes, having too much glucose (sugar) in their blood for a long time can cause serious complications, including skin problems. In fact, as many as a third of people with diabetes will have a skin condition related to their disease at some time in their lives. Fortunately, most skin conditions can be prevented and successfully treated if caught early. But if not cared for properly, a minor skin condition in a person with diabetes can turn into a serious problem with potentially severe consequences.

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6 Best Foods You're Not Eating | GoldenEraMart Health JunctionGoldenEraMart Health Junction

From watermelon to red cabbage, find out why these foods should be part of your diet.

 

Some foods are so healthy they star on every nutrition expert’s list of super foods. But often missing on those lists are some underrated gems that can definitely upgrade your diet.

We tapped nutrition experts to find out their favorite underrated fare. They only selected whole foods that are familiar, widely available, affordable, and nutrient-rich — and that taste great.

Here are their top picks.

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