Herbal Medicine May Improve Pre-Diabetes

It’s well known that by eating better and exercising you can drastically improve the outcomes of pre-diabetes, a pre-curser to full-blown diabetes that also increases your risk of developing heart disease and stroke. However, you may be able to get even better results by also taking specific herbal supplements.

Chinese herbal medicines have long been used to prevent diabetes in Asian countries, and anecdotal evidence supporting their effectiveness is plentiful.

A review of 16 clinical trials involving people with pre-diabetes also found that those receiving Chinese herbal medicines combined with lifestyle modification were more than twice as likely to normalize their blood sugar levels than those using lifestyle modification alone. Those taking the herbal supplements were also less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

It’s estimated that 79 million people in the United States are currently suffering from pre-diabetes.

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. October 7, 2009 (4)

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Dr. Heather Credeur, D.C. and Dr. Brandon Credeur, D.C. of The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado are passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Diabetes on the Rise Again: 105 Million in U.S. Have Diabetes or Prediabetes

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new estimate of how many Americans have diabetes, and it’s even higher than previously reported.

Diabetes now impacts nearly 26 million Americans, up 9 percent from the 2008 estimate. In all, that’s over 8 percent of the U.S. population, or 1 in 12 Americans.

Broken down further, this includes nearly 19 million diagnosed and 7 million who do not yet know they have the disease. Another 79 million people are suffering from pre-diabetes, which means your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes (if left untreated, the majority of pre-diabetes cases will progress to type 2 diabetes within 10 years).

These are numbers of epidemic proportions, signaling a health care crisis that is unnecessarily robbing quality years from millions of Americans’ lives.

When you have type 2 diabetes, first your cells become resistant to insulin, which prompts your body to produce increasingly higher levels of this hormone. This is a health risk in and of itself, as high insulin levels can lead to weight gain and high blood pressure while increasing your risk of developing heart disease and cancer.

It can even make your insulin resistance worse. Further, eventually your pancreas can lose its ability to produce insulin altogether, putting you at dangerous risk of high blood sugar levels and their associated complications.

So type 2 diabetes is a dangerous disease, not one to be ignored or taken lightly. As the CDC reported in their most recent 2011 Fact Sheet, diabetes is:

• The leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among U.S. adults

• A major cause of heart disease and stroke

• The seventh leading cause of death in the United States

If you have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, it’s important you find out about the natural treatment options available that can help you restore your health — often without insulin and without drugs. And, if you have any risk factors for diabetes and pre-diabetes, it’s also important that you take proactive, lifestyle-based steps now to stay healthy and avoid becoming the next diabetes statistic.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2011 (PDF)

Yahoo News January 26, 2011

Yahoo News/AP January 26, 2011

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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Should You Get This Simple Blood Test to Screen for Pre-Diabetes?

The hemoglobin A1c test, a blood test you can receive at virtually any physician’s office, may be a simple way to find out if you have pre-diabetes, according to a new study.

The test measures your average blood glucose level over the past two to three months, revealing if you’re suffering from pre-diabetes in just one visit. Currently, fasting blood tests, which require two doctor visits and fasting, are often used for the screening.

Experts from the American Diabetes Association, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and the International Diabetes Federation all recommend the A1c test as a primary way to diagnose pre-diabetes, as well as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The test is also used to help monitor how well you’re managing your blood sugar once you’ve been diagnosed.

An estimated 57 million Americans have pre-diabetes, a stepping-stone to the actual disease, but it’s reported that only 7 percent of them know it.

In pre-diabetes your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

Simple tests like the A1c test are important because the sooner you know your blood sugar is out of control, and you’re heading for pre-diabetes or full-blown diabetes, the sooner you can take steps to get better. If left untreated, the majority of pre-diabetes cases will progress to type 2 diabetes within 10 years.

But, with diet and lifestyle changes, you can reverse the course of the disease. In fact, researchers reported that in those with pre-diabetes, losing just 10-15 pounds by eating better and exercising can cut your risk of getting diabetes in half.

If you have any of the following risk factors, you should be screened for pre-diabetes:

• Overweight
• Non-exerciser
• Age 45 or over
• Family history of type 2 diabetes
• African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander
• History of gestational diabetes or gave birth to a baby that weight 9 pounds or more
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• High blood pressure

If you think you’re at risk of diabetes, keep in mind, too, that most physicians test for blood sugar levels and A1c levels and not much else.

At the Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado we’ve designed an integrative testing approach that goes into much more depth, and we use these detailed findings to individually tailor and customize a treatment plan for each patient based on his or her own underlying causative factors.

So if you’re concerned about diabetes or pre-diabetes, call to schedule a free diabetes assessment today.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine January 2011; 40(1):11-7.

Science Daily January 7, 2011

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The Functional Endocrinology Center of Colorado is passionate about improving the lives and lifestyles of individuals with Type II Diabetes and Hashimoto’s Disease. Call us at 303-302-0930 to schedule your complimentary consultation.