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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Compiled by Carol Aloysius Living with diabetes Diabetes essentially means high blood sugar levels. It is important to keep blood sugar under control, because lack of control can lead to various complications. Q: What is Diabetes? A: The food we eat is eventually turned into glucose. Our body uses this glucose to produce Energy. The Pancreas, an organ near the stomach produces a substance called insulin. Insulin is necessary for the effective utilisation of Glucose. A person develops diabetes when the body does not produce enough insulin or it can't use the insulin properly. This can lead to Hyperglycemia (consistent high levels of glucose in the blood). This condition is termed as diabetes. The normal level of fasting blood glucose is less than or equal to 126 mg/dl and the normal level of blood glucose 2 hours after meals (post prandial) is less than 200 mg/dl. If the blood glucose levels are above this, the person is termed diabetic. Q: Are there different types of Diabetes? A: Yes. Diabetes is usually of two types: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes is also known as IDDM (Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus). A person with Type 1 diabetes does not produce enough insulin. This develops more frequently in children and adolescents and may also occur in adults. In order to live a normal life they have to take insulin regularly. Less than 10 per cent of all diabetics belong to this category. Type 2 Diabetes Type 2 diabetes is also known as NIDDM (Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus). Adults are generally more prone to get type 2 Diabetes, but it is also a major concern in the adolescent age group in many parts of the world. A person with type 2 diabetes is essentially unable to utilize the insulin produced by the pancreas, which also produces only a relatively lesser quantity of insulin. Patients with type 2 diabetes have to depend on Oral Medications to control blood glucose levels Other Specific types: Gestational diabetes: This develops in pregnant women who do not have diabetes prior to pregnancy. Around 2.5 per cent of pregnant women might develop such a type of diabetes, which disappears when the pregnancy is over. There are, however, high chances that women who have gestational diabetes might develop type 2 diabetes later. Others: There are Specific types of diabetes where the cause is known to range from genetic defects in insulin action to uncommon forms of immune related diabetes. Anyone can develop diabetes irrespective of cast, creed, religion or nationality. Childhood and adolescence, genetic and environmental factors are risks for developing type 1 diabetes. Whereas being overweight or of an older age, having a family history of diabetes, lack of physical exercise, prior history of gestational diabetes, race/ethnicity and stress are the risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Q: What are the Symptoms of Diabetes? A: Type 1 Diabetes: The symptoms vary in intensity and include excessive thirst, excessive passing of urine, weight loss, lack of energy and recurrent infections. Type 2 Diabetes: The symptoms of Type 1 diabetes may also be evident in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Very often there are no early symptoms that might allow diagnosis several years after the onset of the condition. Q: Could Diabetes be Life Threatening? A: Yes, if not managed properly, diabetes can seriously affect the quality of life. It can lead to diseases of the heart and the kidney, blindness, impotence and lower limb amputation. Q: Which sort of complications are associated with diabetes? A: Complications caused by diabetes are divided into two groups namely short-term and long-term complications. Hypoglycaemia: This is a condition characterized by abnormally low levels of blood glucose. This can be caused either by an overdose of anti-diabetic medication or too much exercise and insufficient food intake. This condition can be corrected by eating some sugar or anything else that is sweet. Ketoacidosis: This is a serious condition caused by the lack of insulin. The blood in this condition becomes acidic. Ketoacidosis is also known as diabetic coma and is generally associated with type 1 Diabetes. Bacterial/Fungal infection: Diabetics are more prone to infections like boils, athletes foot, ringworm and vaginal infection. Eye disease (Retinopathy): Retinopathy causes damage to the Retina. It is the commonest cause of blindness in people aged 30-69 years. One Fifth of the patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes have retinopathy. After 15 years, almost all patients with type 1 diabetes and two thirds of those with type 2 diabetes develop retinopathy. Kidney disease (Nephropathy): This is one of the major complications associated with diabetes. By the age of fifty, majority of the people with type 1 Diabetes have been found to develop severe Kidney disease. Such a condition could require dialysis or even Kidney transplantation. Nerve disease (Neuropathy): Neuropathy affects 40-50 per cent of patients with diabetes. It leads to pain and lack of sensation in the legs and feet, causing injury and infection. It can also cause Impotence in men besides damaging nerves in the heart, lungs, bladder, stomach and intestine. Foot ulcers caused due to neuropathy can effect 15 per cent of all diabetics. In severe cases, foot ulcers might require amputation of the foot or lower leg. Heart disease (Cardiovascular disease): Heart disease is the leading cause of death among diabetics. The chances of heart disease are two to five times higher in diabetics. Q: Can Diabetes be cured? A: Diabetes is a disorder which cannot be cured but if properly managed through lifestyle modification and/or your medication, a diabetic can lead a healthy and normal life. Q: What should be done to manage Diabetes? A: The Key is to keep blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible. This can be achieved by a combination of the following: Diet: Food raises blood glucose levels. Therefore foods with sugar content should be avoided. Physical Exercise: Exercise lowers the blood glucose by stimulating the muscles to utilize the glucose. Exercise also causes weight-loss, which is important for people with type 2 diabetes. Medication: If diet and exercise fail to control diabetes then medicines are administered. Depending on the type of diabetes appropriate medicines are recommended. It is important to note that a proper balance between all the elements as described above is necessary to control diabetes. To get best results, a firm commitment to adhere to the above elements is necessary for both the patient and his/her relatives. Q: Can Diabetes be prevented? A: Yes. Modifying lifestyle early in life can prevent type 2 diabetes. Lifestyle changes aimed at weight control and increased physical activity are vital in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Besides, people with type 2 diabetes should have checkups regularly. This is because early detection and treatment can substantially reduce the risk of developing complications. It is important to note that management of high blood pressure and raised blood fats is equally important. Try to manage your diabetes by keeping your blood glucose levels under control. This can be achieved by adherence to the diet. Exercise and Drug therapy as determined by your doctor. (Courtesy: IPCA Laboratories Ltd.) ###### 'Vital force' is key to well-being
Homoeopathy recognises Vital Force (bioenergy, life force, subtle spirit, life field, life energy and animal spirit) as the specific, dynamic and sentient energy on which depends the orderly state or health of the individual. Vital Force It is the spiritual power present in the living beings. On account of this power each individual is different in his behaviour to environmental influences. This power keeps the hormonious function of the body. Without this power no sensation, no function and no self preservation is possible. It is all - powerful autocracy. It animates the organism. It bestows individuality to a person and differentiates one person from another. The peculiar, uncommon and characteristic response to a stimulus is due to vital dynamics. Susceptibility, allergy, excitability peculiar to an individual is also due to vital dynamics. Counteraction, resistance, adaptation, active immunity, resolution, canalisation, repair and regeneration - depend on the vital dynamics. Expression of peculiar, striking, uncommon and characteristic symptoms also depend on dynamic state of the sick individual. Infact Homoeopathy belongs to the dynamic plane. The causes and effects both belong to the dynamic plane. The law of similiar also belongs to this plane. Our Vital Dynamics is deranged by inimical influences for which we are susceptible only. Individual susceptibility, idiosyncrasy, reactivity and suppression form our Vital Dynamics. When these faculties are disturbed and deranged due to natural or artificial causes the disease forms the sickness of the individual. The sickness can only be perceived by the physician on the basis of characteristic totality of symptoms, idiosyncrasies, response to remedies and suppressions. Sickness may be defined as the disturbed state of Vital Dynamics. Suppressed Vital Dynamics may cause lack of formation of immune bodies in acute diseases leading to incurable or malignant conditions and death. Suppressed Vital Dynamics may also cause lack of canalisation and metabolic disturbances of chronic nature. Thus Psora which is due to suppression of the Vital Dynamics is called the fundamental cause of chronic diseases. Nowadays, we would seek to explain the Vital Force in terms of the Neuro-Immuno-Endoctrine system and the homoeopathic remedies acting upon it. by Dr. Y. M. Mousoom ###### Holistic Therapy Now we can do something in return for our feet, as well as the overall well-being of our body by treating them to Reflexology treatments.
What is reflexology? Reflexology is a method of stimulating reflex areas in the feet, hands or ears that correspond to each and every gland, organ and part of the body. Correct stimulation of reflex areas, relieves stress and tension deeply relaxing the whole body for Reflexology is similar to acupuncture, where it locates weaknesses, stimulates the connecting energy system to the problem area and improves health in an enjoyable and effective manner. What can reflexology do? Reflexology is used primarily to relieve stress and tension and produce a deep therapeutic relaxation. By reducing stress and tension, Reflexology improves blood and lymph circulation, normalises body functions, facilitates the body's natural healing processes and thereby enhances the overall health of the body. Reflexology is a unique method of using specific thumb and finger pressure techniques to nerve ending reflex areas. Reflexology is a powerful therapy that can help relieve stress, tension and anxiety, promote relaxation and healthy sleep, cleanse toxins from the body, improve circulation, help alleviate pain, help eliminated many common ailments like migraine, insomnia, digestive problems, constipation, backache, sinusitis, hayfever and sciatica. Reflexology helps to balance all the body systems, stimulating an underactive area and claming an overactive one. It is harmless and non-invasive, as all body parts are closely interrelated. Anything which affects one part will ultimately affect the whole Reflexology works on a number of levels, physical, physiological, psychological. Courtesy Woman's own ###### Alternative medicine : Mind your mind for better health by Dr. S. Seneviratne Epa, President/Sri Lanka Medical Association 'A woman who conquered her cancer through meditation' is what I wrote to a newspaper 16 years ago. What is your reaction when you see a story like this today? In most probability it would be one of skepticism - because the health model we follow today has no provision for such beliefs.
This led to the concept of Body Mind Dualism For him body and mind were two separate entities with no interaction. We in 21st century still follow the same model. The result of following this model so faithfully is that western medicine closed off the entire domain of body mind interaction from legitimate scientific inquiry. Think of two doctors with same qualifications practising in the same locality. Look at the difference in practice - one has a very busy practice (DrA) and the other almost empty (DrB). If you ask a layman to explain this difference he would say it is because of Athgunaya or Athvasiya of DrA. We doctors might say it is his good PR. The fact is that there is a difference in the two practices. DrA's practice appears to be having better healing powers to attract so many patients. Does this difference come from the medicine DrA prescribes or form the confidence and trust he creates in the minds of his patients? If it is the latter we have to accept the power of mind in healing. Let me show you another example where mind can have a healing power. The Placebo effect. Mere thought of taking a medicine can produce the very same clinical effects of that medicine in a patient. It is unfortunate that we use the term Dummy Pill Effect just to discard this effect. Mind can also produce the opposite effect of healing - i.e. causing illness or disease. Let me give you an example. This a common scene in Sri Lankan life - a scene of a funeral of a man. The woman in white who is grieving her husband's death is more likely, to die of a breast cancer than her friend who is standing by her with the husband. This is an established scientific truth - a woman is more likely to develop a breast cancer after her husband's death. This brings us to the question of how mind influences the body. One clear mechanism is through Immune modulation. NK cells or Natural Killer Cells are responsible for host defence. The state of mind influences the activity of NK cells. For example Depression reduces NK cell activity and thereby causes immune suppression. This can lead to cancer. Meditation on the other hand increases the activity of NK cells and thereby produces immune enhancement. Research has established this fact. Body vs Mind As much as the mind can have an effect on the body, body or bodily activities too can influence the mind. If we take a walk when we are angry, anger subsides. This shows that a bodily activity can influence the mind. Physical activity can also influence the immune system Regular physical activity produces immune enhancement through effects on NK cells. So both these activities, jogging and meditation produce the same effect on the immune system or on a bodily function - Immune enhancement. Both meditation and physical activity produce the same effect on mind too, concentration of mind. This sounds strange, but it is true. This is due to interaction between body and mind. Both enhance concentration of mind and lead to better output of work and also better health. Immune modulation is not the only mechanism of interaction between mind and body. Neuro endocrine systems too can be involved. So it is clear that neuro endocrine and immune systems provide the link between mind and body. This brings us to a totally new area of neuroscience: Psychoneuroimmunoendocrine system (PNIE system), also referred to as PNI system or Psychoneuroimmune system. This is a functional system that provides a scientific explanation to body mind interaction. This system came into recognition only during last two decades. In this system Immune, Endocrine and Nervous systems act as the link between body and mind. PNIE or PNI system is now well established. Recognition of this system allows us to accept the body mind interaction on a scientific basis. What we don't know yet is the exact mechanism or the neuroimmunochemistry of how this system works. But we know for sure that the system exists. It is interesting in this context to read this review which came up only last year in the International Journal of Dermatology titled "Can the brain inhibit inflammation generated in the skin?" This describes how alpha Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (a MSH) which is a centrally acting hormone, produces an anti inflammatory effect on the skin. MSH which is produced in brain, acts centrally via the central nervous system and produces an anti inflammatory response in the skin. Transection of the spinal cord abolishes this response indicating the neural pathway. The state of mind influences the level of MSH in the brain and this explains the link between mind and skin. What we now need is to acknowledge the fact that patients have what is called inner resources of healing or inner healing capacity. This is the power of mind in healing. The challenge we face in 21st century is to find ways and means of enhancing the healing powers of mind. Spiritual health is now a recognized new dimension of health. This brings us back to the question of How to mind your mind for better health? Developing mindfulness or concentration of mind seems to be the key to achieve better health in 21st century. Body mind interaction clearly shows that we can achieve this in two ways. Engaging in regular physical exercise is one way of improving concentration of mind. Meditation or engaging in some kind of spiritual activity, every day in your life is the other way of doing it. |
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Descartes of 17th century was the architect of the Biomedical or
mechanistic Health model model. He proposed the philosophical separation
of body and mind.
