Diabetes and Eyesight

Diabetes is such a destructive disease because it attacks capillaries, the tiny vessels that connect arteries to veins, throughout the body—including those in the eye. “The blood vessels start breaking down. The small vessels go first, and those in the eye are small vessels; blood and fluids start leaking out of them. As bleeds in the retina clot, they shrink and detach the retina,” explains Jeffrey Anshel, DO.


DR occurs in two forms. In the nonproliferative type leaked fluid causes the retina to bulge, which distorts vision. Abnormal blood vessels that grow in the proliferative form tend to bleed, which can cause retinal scarring. Symptoms include poor night vision, blank areas in the visual field, blurriness and an increase in floaters, or shadowy spots that move around within the eye. According to the National Eye Institute, 4.1 million people currently suffer from DR; 7.2 million cases are projected by 2020.


Changes in the eye may provide the first clue that a person has blood-sugar problems. “A lot of times I examine people and tell them, ‘I want you to go for bloodwork,’” says Marc Grossman, DO. “I just picked up diabetic retinopathy in an overweight 14-year-old the other day.”


Excess weight is often associated with type 2 diabetes, the most common form, which makes weight loss a key factor in controlling both diabetes and DR. Robert Abel, MD, had a DR patient who went from six hemorrhages in one eye and seven in the other to one hemorrhage between the two eyes after losing 50 pounds in a year. Another of Abel’s diabetic patients “lost 60 pounds and was off all medicine.”


Several of the nutrients shown to be of benefit in other degenerative eye diseases may help fight the effects of DR. In one study, diabetic rats given a combination of beta-carotene, zinc, copper and vitamins C and E showed signs of inhibited DR progression and fewer abnormal capillaries than other rats (Archives of Ophthalmology 9/08). Diabetic rats treated with the omega-3 fatty acid DHA and the carotenoid lutein didn’t experience the retinal deficits normally caused by diabetes (Current Eye Research 11/09); in another study, lutein helped prevent the development and progression of diabetes-related cataracts. And lutein’s carotenoid partner, zeaxanthin, has also inhibited retinal changes associated with DR (Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science 4/08).


Complementary practitioners employ a number of nutrients and herbs to help control diabetes, which in turn helps control DR. Natural blood-sugar regulators include beta-glucan, a type of soluble fiber that that helps keep glucose levels from rising too rapidly by slowing down the digestive process; banaba, an Indian herb that contains corosolic acid, which helps transport glucose into cells; bitter melon, a tropic fruit that helps reduce blood glucose levels; chromium, a trace mineral that fights insulin resistance; cinnamon, which helps make insulin more effective; and gymnema, an herb that helps lower levels of glucose and a harmful diabetes byproduct called glycosylated hemoglobin. (If you have DR or diabetes, always consult with a trained healthcare practitioner in creating a supplementation plan suited to your needs.)

https://www.energytimes.com/pages/fea...ion.html#extra

__________________
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." ~Immanual Kant~

NatMedTalk and Beyond

scary, somehow it is hard to lose weight. I guess that I finally have to bite the bullet and make time for exercise. Its better than Eye problems etc.

When there's a desire to do it, people usually find a way to set aside a half-hour or hour a day for most days to fit in some exercise, even if it's just brisk walking. Small things like parking at a distant spot and walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, standing instead of sitting, using a pedometer and getting in your 10,000 steps a day, even if it's just pacing back and forth in a room while watching TV will all help, you'd be surprised.

I just started trying to walk half an hour a day and I feel physically lighter and emotionally happier

The word "diabetes" means frequent urination. Having high amounts of sugar in the blood creates many problems as mentioned above, however, the sugar acts like a diuretic, attracting large amounts of water, and thus frequent urination. Besides being very hard on the kidneys, most of your water soluable vitamins are flushed out in the urine. Therefore, it is very important to take vitamin C and all the B vitamins several times throughout the day if you are a type 2 diabetic. If you don't replace the vitamins that are lost, disease is inevitable.

It is also important to lose the extra weight with regular exercise and a diet low in simple carbs. Excess weight interferes with insulin receptors, which makes you more insulin resistant, which in turn requires more insulin.

Insulin causes weight gain, so you want to keep your production of insulin as low as possible, while still allowing glucose into the cells where it can be burned for energy.

__________________
Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)

LOL that was cute!

Isn't it funny what a little half hour walk can do?

__________________

The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease
~Voltaire~