Dangers of Uncontrolled Diabetes | GoldenEraMart Health Junction

If not controlled, diabetes can put you at risk for a host of complications that can affect nearly every organ in the body. They include:

• The heart and blood vessels
• The eyes
• The kidneys
• The nerves
• The gums and teeth

Heart Disease, Blood Vessel Disease, and Diabetes

Heart disease and blood vessel disease are the biggest complications that people with uncontrolled diabetes face. In 2004, approximately 68% of diabetes-related death certificates among people aged 65 years or older were related to heart disease, with stroke being noted in 16% of death certificates.  Diabetes can also cause poor blood flow in the legs and feet (peripheral artery disease).

Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes.The risk for stroke is two to four times higher .
Many studies show that controlling diabetes can prevent or stop the progression of heart and blood vessel disease.

Blood vessel damage or nerve damage (see below) may also lead to foot problems that can lead to amputations. More than 60% of leg and foot amputations not related to an injury are due to diabetes. Read more

Diabetes & Associated Complications

Menopause and Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence (UI) is also known as “loss of bladder control” or “urinary leakage.” Millions of women experience UI, and the frequency of involuntary loss of urine becomes more common as you get older. The loss can be very minor—you might only leak a few drops when you laugh, exercise, cough, or pick up heavy objects. Or, you may experience a sudden urge to urinate and can’t keep it in, resulting in an accident.

Women can experience UI throughout their lives, but most episodes are the result of pressure or stress on the muscles and nerves that help you to hold or pass urine. Hormone changes could also affect muscle strength. Therefore, UI is more common in women who are pregnant, giving birth, or going through menopause.

Estrogen, a hormone that helps regulate monthly cycles, may protect against heart disease, and may slow bone loss, also helps keep the bladder and urethra healthy and functioning properly. As you near menopause, your estrogen levels begin dropping. This lack of estrogen may mean that your pelvic muscles are no longer able to control your bladder as they did before, and that urethral tissues may have weakened. As estrogen levels continue to drop throughout menopause and after, UI may become worse. 

A few different types of urinary incontinence are associated with menopause. Complete article: 
Menopause and Urinary Incontinence | GoldenEraMart Health Junction

7 Steps to Tame Prehypertension

Is your blood pressure higher than it should be? Lower than the high blood pressure range, but still above normal?
 
That’s prehypertension, and it may be more serious than you think.

Prehypertension is between 120-139 for the first number in your blood pressure reading, and/or 80-89 for the second number. Nearly 30% of American adults have prehypertension, according to the CDC.
What’s the risk? You’re more likely to get high blood pressure (hypertension).

Also, you may be more likely to have a stroke if your blood pressure is in the upper end of the prehypertension range and you’re younger than 65... Full article:   7 Steps to Tame Prehypertension | GoldenEraMart Health Junction

Reduce Your Risk of Nerve Pain and Damage From Diabetes

If you have diabetes, chances are good that you already have some form of nerve pain or nerve damage, called diabetic neuropathy. “People with diabetes have about a 60% chance of getting neuropathy of any kind,” says Dace L. Trence, MD, an endocrinologist and director of the Diabetes Care Center at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. “It’s probably an equal risk of getting neuropathy with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.”

You may have tingling, pain, or numbness in your feet and hands — common signs of the diabetic nerve damage called peripheral neuropathy. Or you may have damage to the nerves that send signals to your heart, stomach, bladder, or sex organs, called autonomic neuropathy. Nerve damage can also be “silent,” meaning you have no symptoms at all.

Sometimes, nerve damage starts even before a person is diagnosed with diabetes, Trance tells WebMD. “Even somebody with prediabetes may have neuropathy,” she says. As many as 79 million Americans have prediabetes — a condition where blood sugar levels are abnormally high, but not high enough to qualify as diabetes — says the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Add to that the nearly 26 million Americans already coping with full diabetes, and you can see how common nerve pain may be.

The good news? Many of the risk factors for diabetic neuropathy are under your control. So while you may not be able to prevent nerve pain and damage completely, you may be able to help slow it down. You can reduce your risk of nerve damage and other diabetes complications by keeping your blood sugars under tight control, says the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse (NDIC).

Trence agrees. “The better the blood sugar control,” she says, “the less likely neuropathy is to progress.” A healthy lifestyle helps lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, and other diabetes complications, as well. So know your risk for complications, and work to control the ones you can control.

Are You at Risk for Diabetic Neuropathy?

Reduce Your Risk of Nerve Pain and Damage From Diabetes | GoldenEraMart Health Junction