In Australia, nearly two thirds of men and half of all women are overweight or obese. This is a key factor in the alarming rise of type 2 diabetes. Yet up to 60 per cent of diabetes cases could be prevented, or at least delayed, by people maintaining a healthy weight. The main keys to long-term weight loss and reducing your waist measurement are healthy eating and regular physical activity.

National Diabetes Action Program (NDAP)
The National Diabetes Action Program (NDAP) is Diabetes Australia’s national type 2 diabetes awareness and prevention initiative. It supports and links with diabetes programs and health promotion initiatives undertaken by Diabetes Australia’s state and territory organisations. Type 2 diabetes often runs in families.

The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK)

Many Australians, particularly those over 40, are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes through lifestyle factors such as nutrition and physical activity. Family history and genetics also play a role in type 2 diabetes.

The Type 2 Diabetes Risk Evaluation is available to people aged 40 to 49 years (inclusive) who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. ‘High risk’ is determined following completion of the Australian type 2 diabetes risk assessment tool and its review by a doctor.

The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK)

Please note that The Deaprtment of Health and Ageing is currently reviewing AUSDRISK.

Victorians
Diabetes Australia – Vic is coordinating the Victorian Government funded program called Life! Taking Action on Diabetes and is a new evidence-based type 2 diabetes prevention program targeting people 50 years of age and over. Lifestyle courses have been shown to prevent type 2 diabetes in up to 58% of people at high risk. Visit the website for more information.

Thanks to our friends at Diabetes Australia

For more information or check-ups on Diabetes.  Please visit your local Terry White Chemists

Do you suffer from chronic disease such as diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, heart failure or indeed any condition that may cause you to collapse or be taken ill suddenly? Or do you know somebody who does?

Developed in Australia, the flashID® Emergency Identification System™ has been developed to provide a simple and accurate means of identifying people in the case of accident, collapse, or loss of consciousness for whatever reason.

It is a portable USB device that can be plugged into almost any computer and there is no need for internet connection or access to a central database.

The owner has total control over the content of the completed Microsoft Word document which is designed to carry the following information:

• name & personal information
• blood group, allergies & drug reactions
• implants & medical devices
• existing medical conditions
• current medications & dosage
• next-of-kin, doctor or other emergency contacts
• recent photograph

Three Great Models

1. The original flashID Classic – Carry on a keyring, a lanyard around the neck, or in a handbag, etc;
2. A smart wristwatch, the falshID Watch, with the USB key cleverly built into the wristband;
3. Convenience-plus with the all-new credit card sized flashID Card – fits into a wallet, purse or handbag.

Available at your local Terry White Chemists Stores

Self-monitoring plays an essential part in treating Diabetes. It allows you to eat normally and to enjoy a healthy life. The results from your self-monitoring will give you and your Diabetes care team the information that they need to adjust your therapy.

It also allows you to manage stress and illness much better.

Does self-monitoring decrease Diabetes complications?

If you test your blood glucose frequently, you will have better control over your Diabetes and therefore fewer complications. Trials such as the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) show that:

• More frequent self-monitoring can significantly help decrease or slow the development of complications in people with Type 1 Diabetes
• Intensive therapy designed to lower blood glucose levels actually reduces the risk of complications such as eye, kidney and nerve damage by up to 75% for people with Type 1 Diabetes
• Better blood glucose control for people with Type 2 Diabetes reduces the risk of:

* Major Diabetic eye disease by 25%
* Early kidney damage by 33%
* Death from long-term Diabetes complications by 33%
* Strokes by more than 33%

Check out Good Healthy Advices new video library on how to use Accu-Chek Blood Glucose Meters.

Source: Medica

New compounds that act like the red wine ingredient resveratrol may offer a new formula for type 2 diabetes drugs and other age-related diseases, researchers at US drug maker Sirtris Pharmaceuticals said.

"The excitement here is that we’re not talking about red wine anymore. We’re talking about real drugs," said David Sinclair, an associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Sirtris.

"This is the first time that real drugs have been designed to go after diseases through the genes that control aging," said Sinclair, whose research appears in the journal Nature.

"One of the drawbacks of resveratrol is the doses need to be large. Now this paper says you can reduce it into a little pill taken once a day," he said in a telephone interview.

Sinclair and researchers at Sirtris have been looking for drug compounds that mimic the effects of resveratrol, the chemical in red wine that has been shown in several studies to prolong the life of mice and reduce the advance of age-related disease.

They tested some 500,000 molecules to isolate a handful that would have the same effect as resveratrol on the seven genes called sirtuins that have been found in several studies to control the aging process.

Their latest research shows these experimental drug compounds – which are 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol – helped reverse diabetes symptoms and reduce insulin sensitivity in two different studies in diabetic mice and one in rats.

"When you see it work in those three models, you have increased confidence that it will have a universal effect on organisms," Sinclair said.

He said that is enough to begin human testing, which the company plans for the first half of 2008.

"The chances of success in humans is estimated at 80 to 90 per cent. We’ll know next year," he said, depending on when the company gets the go-ahead from the US Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials.

The discovery may have implications well beyond diabetes drugs, which is itself a $US19 billion ($A21.59 billion) global market.

"We will make a drug to treat one disease, but it will, as an added bonus, protect you against most of the other diseases of the Western world."

Those age-related diseases could include cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, he said.

While Sinclair and company executives have high hopes for the compounds, they acknowledge that many compounds that hold great promise in animals fail to work in humans, either because they are toxic or because they do not work.

Type 2 diabetes, the kind that comes from too little exercise and a poor diet, accounts for about 90 per cent of the 180 million cases of diabetes around the world, according to the World Health Organisation.

Source: Heart Foundation

Your heart needs care for life. A healthy heart is about enjoying a healthy lifestyle and making this a part of your everyday life. It is also about taking positive steps to reduce risk factors.

Everyone can do something to help prevent heart disease, including people who already have heart disease or who have had a heart event. The good news is that if you lead a healthy lifestyle, as outlined below, you can reduce your risk of developing heart disease.

The best ways to reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and to help prevent it getting worse if it already exists is to reduce or remove the risk factors over which we have some control.

To do this, have ongoing heart disease risk assessments with your doctor and lead a healthy lifestyle as outlined below. Being male, increasing age and having a family history of early death from heart disease are also risk factors for developing heart disease, but are much more difficult to control or change!

1. Be smokefree

Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood and damages the artery walls. Stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease. For more information on quitting smoking, call the Quitline on 131 848.

2. Enjoy healthy eating

Cholesterol and fat contribute to the deposits which build up in the artery walls and cause disease. You can help lower your blood cholesterol level and limit further artery clogging by reducing the amount of saturated fat you eat.

Saturated fat is found in fatty meats, full cream dairy products, butter, two vegetable oils (coconut and palm oils), most fried take-away foods and commercially baked products.

Replace saturated fats with moderate amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as canola, olive, sunflower and soybean oils.

3. Be physically active

The body is designed to move, and regular, moderate physical activity is good for the heart. Being active is also a great way to have fun.

Physical activity can also help control other risk factors such as high blood pressure and being overweight.

The Heart Foundation recommends that people include 30 minutes or more of moderate intensity physical activity (such as brisk walking) on most, if not all days of the week, for health benefits. The amount of activity can be accumulated in shorter bouts, e.g. three 10-minute walks.

4. Control blood pressure

High blood pressure can strain your heart and speed up the process of coronary heart disease.

Have regular blood pressure checks. If your blood pressure is high, reduce salt intake, limit alcohol to two drinks or less daily and follow your doctor’s advice. Long-term medication may be required to manage high blood pressure.

5. Maintain a healthy weight

Being overweight and carrying too much weight around the waist are risk factors for coronary heart disease and diabetes. Healthy eating and being physically active assists weight loss.

Your doctor can advise you on your waist measurement goal.

Source: WHO

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or alternatively, when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.

Hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes and over time leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.

Type 1 diabetes
(previously known as insulin-dependent or childhood-onset) is characterized by a lack of insulin production. Without daily administration of insulin, Type 1 diabetes is rapidly fatal. Symptoms include excessive excretion of urine (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly.

Type 2 diabetes
(formerly called non-insulin-dependent or adult-onset) results from the body’s ineffective use of insulin. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess body weight and physical inactivity. Symptoms may be similar to those of Type 1 diabetes, but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, once complications have already arisen. Until recently, this type of diabetes was seen only in adults but it is now also occurring in obese children.

Gestational diabetes
is hyperglycaemia which is first recognized during pregnancy. Symptoms of gestational diabetes are similar to Type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes is most often diagnosed through prenatal screening, rather than reported symptoms.

Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) and Impaired Fasting Glycaemia (IFG) are intermediate conditions in the transition between normality and diabetes. People with IGT or IFG are at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes, although this is not inevitable.

DIABETES FACTS
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. This number is likely to more than double by 2030.

In 2005, an estimated 1.1 million people died from diabetes. Almost 80% of diabetes deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Almost half of diabetes deaths occur in people under the age of 70 years; 55% of diabetes deaths are in women.

WHO projects that diabetes deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years without urgent action. Most notably, diabetes deaths are projected to increase by over 80% in upper-middle income countries between 2006 and 2015.

WHAT ARE COMMON CONSEQUENCES OF DIABETES?
Over time, diabetes can damage the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

Diabetic retinopathy is an important cause of blindness, and occurs as a result of long-term accumulated damage to the small blood vessels in the retina. After 15 years of diabetes, approximately 2% of people become blind, and about 10% develop severe visual impairment.

Diabetic neuropathy is damage to the nerves as a result of diabetes, and affects up to 50% of people with diabetes. Although many different problems can occur as a result of diabetic neuropathy, common symptoms are tingling, pain, numbness, or weakness in the feet and hands.

Combined with reduced blood flow, neuropathy in the feet increases the chance of foot ulcers and eventual limb amputation.

Diabetes is among the leading causes of kidney failure. 10-20% of people with diabetes die of kidney failure.

Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. 50% of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease (primarily heart disease and stroke).

The overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double the risk of their peers without diabetes.

WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC BURDEN OF DIABETES?
Diabetes and its complications impose significant economic consequences on individuals, families, health systems and countries.

WHO estimates that over the next 10 years (2006-2015), China will lose $ 558 billion in foregone national income due to heart disease, stroke and diabetes alone.

HOW CAN THE BURDEN OF DIABETES BE REDUCED?
Without urgent action, diabetes-related deaths will increase by more than 50% in the next 10 years.

To help prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:

Achieve and maintain healthy body weight.  Be physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity on most days. More activity is required for weight control. Early diagnosis can be accomplished through relatively inexpensive blood testing.

Treatment of diabetes involves lowering blood glucose and the levels of other known risk factors that damage to blood vessels. Tobacco cessation is also important to avoid complications.

Interventions that are both cost saving and feasible in developing countries include:

Moderate blood glucose control. People with type 1 diabetes require insulin; people with type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, but may also require insulin; Blood pressure control; Foot care.

Other cost saving interventions include:

• Screening for retinopathy (which causes blindness);
• Blood lipid control (to regulate cholesterol levels);
• Screening for early signs of diabetes-related kidney disease.

These measures should be supported by a healthy diet, regular physical activity, maintaining a normal body weight and avoiding tobacco use.