Welcome to M.V Hospital for Diabetes, established by late Prof. M.Viswanathan, Doyen of Diabetology in India in 1954 as a general hospital. In 1971 it became a hospital exclusively for Diabetes care. It has, at present,100 beds for the treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Does alcohol and tobacco use increase the risk of diabetes?

Answer

Yes, alcohol and tobacco use increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. While studies show that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol (one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men) may actually lower the risk of diabetes, the opposite is true for people who drink greater amounts of alcohol. Heavy alcohol use can cause chronic inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which can impair its ability to secrete insulin and ultimately lead to diabetes. Tobacco is equally harmful. Tobacco use can increase blood sugar levels and lead to insulin resistance. And the more you smoke, the greater your risk of diabetes. Heavy smokers — those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day — almost double their risk of developing diabetes, when compared with nonsmokers.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Diabetes and high blood sugar:

Complications from diabetes come on over time, and damage has often started before we realize something is wrong.

Cardiovascular System
The heart actually has the largest blood vessels in the body so why is it damaged? First of all, it is the job of the heart to pump the thick, sticky blood through all the narrowed vessels in the body. The heart also has many small vessels that feed anLinkd nourish it. When blood sugars are high, they do not get the circulation they need. So not only are we asking the heart to work twice as hard, we are depriving it of nutrition to give it strength. Cardiovascular Disease is the most common cause of death in people with diabetes. But there are support and therapy strategies that have been proven effective.

Nerve Damage and Disease

Amputations and ulcers, especially in the feet, are more frequent in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. Decreased circulation to feet and legs leads to damage and loss of nerve function. The nerves lose their ability to sense pain, pressure, touch, or temperature correctly, which results in tingling and numbess of the feet and toes (fingers, too). This condition is called peripheral neuropathy.
Autonomic neuropathy occurs when there is nerve damage affecting the automatic processes in your body such as heart rate or sweating, so they do not work as they should. The stomach may not process food correctly. The heart rate or blood pressure does not speed up or slow down in response to exercise, exertion, rest, standing, or sitting. Autonomic neuropathy also contributes to the absence of chest pain with heart attack, and can cause sweating at inappropriate times or in specific areas, leaky bladder, pupils that do not constrict or dilate as needed, sexual dysfunction, and decreased ability to sense an infection or hypoglycemia.

Vision Problems

Retinopathy, macular edema, glaucoma, and cataracts are the more common eye disorders related to diabetes.
Eye disease is typically progressive, and there are usually no symptoms until damage has occurred. You may have 20/20 vision yet one day have complete vision loss due to a hemorrhage. This is the reason a yearly eye exam is so important. An eye doctor will be able to see the changes occurring before vision is at risk. Laser surgery can destroy the abnormal vessels in the eye and prevent their regrowth.

So What's The Good News?

Believe it or not, there is some good news. The whole process of long-term complications started with sticky red blood cells. The good news is that red blood cells only live two to three months. That means that in three months of keeping your blood sugar levels nearer to normal, you have a whole new set of unsticky red blood cells. This turnover eliminates the cops, slow cars, and semi-trucks from the freeway, and prevents further damage to the road. When blood sugar levels come down, the stickiness decreases on the walls of the arteries and veins, and triglycerides and cholesterol levels are reduced. So where lanes of traffic were closed, we now have open roads. Where damage has been done, we may not be able to repair it, but with improved control, we can prevent further complications and slow or stop the progress of any existing ones. Keeping blood sugars close to normal is the best way to prevent complications. Unlike genetics, age, or sex, it is the one component we have some control over.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease

A new study says that people with rheumatoid arthritis may be as much at risk of cardiovascular disease as that of type 2 diabetes.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that causes pain, stiffness, swelling, and limitation in the motion and function of multiple joints. Apart from joints, RA can also cause inflammation in other organs as well.

While people with RA have long been known to be susceptible to cardiovascular disease, this is the first study to compare this risk with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

In the study, researchers measured the frequency of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease in 335 RA patients followed for three years, as compared to 1,852 people in the general population.

The researchers observed that cardiovascular disease occurrLinked in nine percent of patients with RA and among 4.3 percent of the general population- i.e. the incidence of 3.30 people per 100 people per year for those with RA, and 1.51 people per 100 people per year for those in the general population.

Patients with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic patients with RA have similar risk ratios for developing cardiovascular disease (2.02 and 2.22, respectively), as compared the general population,
The researchers concluded that the risk of cardiovascular disease is not only high in people with RA as compared to the general population, but it equals that of people with type 2 diabetes


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