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Ayurvedic habits you must adopt to escape from the clutches of Diabetes | Health

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Diabetes has been one disease that may not show immediate symptoms or even a cure but scares the best of us nonetheless and although it cannot be cured, high blood sugar is a rather prevalent lifestyle condition that can be managed. The pancreas insulin is in charge of keeping the blood’s glucose levels stable but Diabetes results from abnormally high blood sugar levels due to a lack of insulin, its ineffective manufacture or its improper use.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Kriti Soni, Head- R&D at Kapiva, insisted, “There is no single cure for diabetes; instead, a number of lifestyle adjustments must be made on a regular basis. Sustainable prevention strategies must be put in place in addition to these lifestyle changes to help not just manage but also prevent diabetes.”

According to a study, one of the most effective methods for treating the underlying causes of diabetes is Ayurveda. Dr Kriti Soni shared, “Ayurvedic remedies, which use natural medicines, can help manage the debilitating symptoms of diabetes based on the idea that prevention is better than cure. By bringing blood sugar levels down to non-diabetic ranges, these medicines can effectively cure the disease at its source.”

Ahead of World Diabetes Day, which is marked annually on November 14, she suggested some cutting-edge approaches to controlling diabetes should be planned as part of these preventative actions and lifestyle modifications:

1. Ayurveda-approved juices

Natural diabetes management is made possible by ayurvedic drinks and their superior blend of pure herbs. The greatest natural method of regulating blood sugar levels is thought to be juices made from a combination of amla, jamun seeds, and karela. Both type 1 and 2 diabetics can benefit from karela juice, which can be consumed early in the morning. These juices assist general digestion, increase energy levels, and control carbohydrate metabolism in addition to controlling blood sugar levels. For best results, make sure you take these supplements after speaking with an Ayurvedic physician.

2. Managing stress

A major contributor to heart disease is now stress. Nowadays, people are continually exposed to high amounts of stress at work and at home, so it’s crucial to maintain low-stress levels. Ayurveda claims that meditation can aid in stress management and reduction. Chanting and breathing exercises can both support maintaining a healthy blood sugar level.

3. Maintaining a healthy diet

Adopting a healthy food routine is one of the fundamental steps in managing diabetes and may positively impact a person’s health. Changing one’s diet would entail choosing foods with a lower glycemic index. This would entail consuming entire grains and healthy fats while limiting red meat and processed sugar-based liquids.

4. Regular physical activity

Regular exercise or engaging in physical activity, even for an hour, could prevent the early onset of diabetes in our hectic and busy lives. Breaking the cycle of your hectic routine becomes crucial if you want to prevent subsequent medical traumas like hypertension, excessive cholesterol, etc.

These are a few modern practices that are based on an in-depth study on healthy ways to not only manage diabetes but also prevent it by utilizing preventative measures.

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Dementia risk linked to blood sugar, cholesterol levels at 35

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A new study suggests cholesterol and blood sugar at age 35 help predict Alzheimer’s disease, which is one of the leading causes of death among Americans 65 and older. Dani Ferrasanjose/Getty Images
  • Researchers recently investigated the link between cardiovascular measures and Alzheimer’s disease.
  • They found that low high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol), high triglycerides, and blood glucose levels from age 35 are associated with increased Alzheimer’s risk.
  • The authors conclude that early intervention to maintain healthy HDL, triglyceride, and glucose levels may lower Alzheimer’s risk.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the fifth leading cause of death among Americans age 65 and older. There are no proven ways to prevent or slow cognitive decline caused by AD.

Studies show that while vascular risk burden from age 55 predicts AD, whether or not this link is present in younger individuals is unknown.

Knowing how early this link begins could help researchers understand more about AD as a life-course disease.

Recently, researchers from Boston University investigated the relationship between AD and vascular measures using longitudinal data.

They found that low HDL cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, and high glucose levels in the blood from age 35 are linked to AD later in life.

The study appears in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

“Many people know high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease and other health conditions, but they don’t realize it’s a risk factor for dementia too,” Dr. Katy Bray, public engagement manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, who was not involved in the study, told Medical News Today.

“To keep the brain healthy as we age, the best evidence is to eat a balanced diet, not smoke, drink within recommended guidelines, exercise regularly, and keep blood pressure and cholesterol in check.”

For the study, the researchers included data from 4,932 individuals who were a part of the Framingham Heart Study. Participants had an average age of 37 upon enrollment and underwent nine examinations every 4 years until the age of 70.

At each examination, researchers measured participants’:

  • HDL and low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “good”)cholesterol
  • blood glucose levels
  • body mass index (BMI)
  • systolic and diastolic blood pressure
  • number of cigarettes smoked per day

From the second examination onward, the participants also underwent cognitive assessments to track the progression of cognitive decline.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found an inverse relationship between AD and HDL measured at the first, second, sixth, and seventh examinations.

The study also links AD to higher triglyceride levels at the first, second, fifth, sixth, and seventh examinations, independent of medication.

Meanwhile, high blood glucose was significantly linked to the development of AD at every exam.

The researchers also found no association between AD and LDL, BMI, smoking, or blood pressure at any examination.

MNT also spoke with Dr. Allison B. Reiss, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Long Island School of Medicine and a member of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s Medical, Scientific, and Memory Screening Advisory Board. Dr. Reiss was not involved in this research.

“The brain is full of cholesterol and needs cholesterol to develop and produce nerve cells,” she explained.

“The balance and transport of cholesterol within the brain are carefully controlled, and lipids are very important in brain function. Most prominent of the lipid-related proteins in the brain is ApoE, a protein that transports lipids in the brain and elsewhere.”

“Some HDL particles contain ApoE (apoE-rich HDL), and this type of apoE-rich HDL is most concentrated in the brain. The quality and quantity of apoE-rich HDL may partially explain the Alzheimer’s disease-HDL link,” she continued.

Xiaoling Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and biostatistics at Boston University School of Medicine, one of the study’s authors, told MNT that improved blood flow in the brain might also explain some of their findings.

She explained that HDL could increase transportation and thus reduce the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques, which are protein build-ups characteristic of AD.

When asked about the link between AD and glucose levels, Dr. Zhang said that higher glucose levels in the blood are linked to higher brain glucose concentrations and more severe plaques in AD brains.

“We know that the brain relies on glucose for energy, but excess glucose in the brain can undergo chemical reactions that make it damaging and inflammation-inducing. When glucose levels are high over extended periods, chronic neuroinflammation may result.”

– Dr. Reiss

“Another problem with high glucose is that it prompts the release of insulin to lower the glucose, and this can lead to wildly fluctuating sugar levels in the brain, which is very bad for nerve cells,” she explained.

The researchers conclude that early intervention to maintain healthy HDL, triglyceride, and glucose levels may lower AD risk.

However, they also note several limitations to their work. As their cohort was white, they say their findings may not translate to other demographics.

They further say that due to limitations in their study design, their results may not accurately reflect age-specific trends. Since the researchers did not take fasting blood samples at the first two examinations, their results may be slightly skewed.

When asked about the main practical takeaways from the study, Dr. Reiss said: “Eating less sugar and processed foods and exercising regularly are good for every organ and especially the brain and heart. Monitoring blood glucose and the lipid profile and watching HDL are great preventative measures.”

“We do not have drugs that raise HDL without causing a lot of side effects and, if the HDL is not of good quality, raising it is pointless. For now, the best way to support HDL levels is through exercise and physical activity,” she concluded.

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A cure for Type 1 diabetes? For one man, it seems to have worked

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Brian Shelton’s life was ruled by Type 1 diabetes. When his blood sugar plummeted, he would lose consciousness without warning. He crashed his motorcycle into a wall. He passed out in a customer’s yard while delivering mail. Following that episode, his boss told him to retire, after a quarter century in the Postal Service. He was 57.
Early this year, his ex-wife, Cindy Shelton, spotted a call for people with Type 1 diabetes to participate in a trial by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The company was testing a treatment developed over decades by a scientist who vowed to find a cure after his kids got the disease. Shelton was the first patient. On June 29, he got an infusion of cells, grown from stem cells but just like the insulin-producing pancreas cells his body lacked. Now his body automatically controls its insulin and blood sugar levels. Shelton, now 64, may be the first person cured of the disease with a new treatment that has experts daring to hope that help may be coming for many of the 1.5 million Americans suffering from Type 1 diabetes. “It’s a whole new life,” Shelton said.
Diabetes experts were astonished but urged caution. The study is continuing and will take five years, involving 17 people with Type 1 diabetes. It is not intended as a treatment for the more common Type 2 diabetes. “We’ve been looking for something like this to happen for decades,” said Dr Irl Hirsch, a diabetes expert at the University of Washington who was not involved in the study. He wants to see the result, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, replicated in more people. He also wants to know if there’ll be adverse effects and if the cells will last for a lifetime or if the treatment would have to be repeated. But, he said, “bottom line, it’s an amazing result”.
It all started with the quest of a Harvard University biologist, Doug Melton. He had never thought about diabetes until 1991 when his 6-month-old son, Sam, got sick and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. . Type 1 is lethal unless patients get injections of insulin.
Patients are at risk of going blind. People with Type 1 diabetes are at risk of having their legs amputated and of death in the night because their blood sugar plummets during sleep. In time, his daughter Emma, four years older than Sam, also developed the disease, when she was 14.
The only cure is a pancreas transplant or a transplant of the insulin-producing cell clusters of the pancreas, known as islet cells, from an organ donor’s pancreas. But a shortage of organs makes this approach an impossibility. Melton started studying diabetes, determined to find a cure. He turned to embryonic stem cells, which have the potential to become any cell in the body. His goal was to turn them into islet cells to treat patients.
The challenge was to figure out what sequence of chemical messages would turn stem cells into insulin-secreting islet cells. The work involved figuring out how islets are made in the pancreas and conducting experiments to steer embryonic stem cells to becoming islets. After years when nothing worked, a small team of researchers achieved a breakthrough in 2014. They put a dye into the liquid where the stem cells were growing. The liquid would turn blue if the cells made insulin. After hours of waiting, one researcher saw a faint blue tinge that got darker and darker. The team was ecstatic. For the first time, they had made functioning pancreatic islet cells from embryonic stem cells.



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Living With Type 1 Diabetes: Management & Misconceptions

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The hardest thing about living with diabetes is there’s simply no escape. It has the tendency to pop up at the most inconvenient times, like when I’m about to go on a walk and my blood sugar decides to drop, leaving me stuck at the house until it rebalances. Or when I’m heading to dinner and my blood sugar spikes so high that I can’t eat anything. 

Type 1 diabetes is a 24/7 illness, 365 days a year, and you always have to be thinking about your blood sugar levels, carb counting, and insulin. There is nothing you did to cause it, and there is no cure to the disease. Some days can be great, with stellar blood sugar levels all day and no issues, but some days you just want to give up and take a time out, which simply isn’t possible.

Many type 1 diabetics struggle at some point in their life with diabetes burnout, where the physical and psychological toll of the condition becomes too frustrating, leading them to give up and let their numbers run high. While friends, family and healthcare professionals are all great resources, no one will really understand the everyday struggle of diabetes without experiencing it firsthand.

One of the most helpful pieces I can offer to anyone with type 1 diabetes is to seek out support, and be willing to accept help when you need it. If I’m lying in bed with low blood sugar, too faint to get up, I’ve realized how much simpler it is to text someone who’s home and ask for a juice box, rather than fighting to get up myself. Educate your friends and family about what exactly they can do to support you!

Diabetes has taught me so much, and truly shaped me into the person I am today. I’ve learned to not only accept it, but embrace it as a part of who I am. Since my diagnosis, I’ve learned resilience in tough times, patience, acceptance of the good with the bad, and the importance of surrounding myself with an amazing support system. While I would give anything to have my condition go away—even if just for a day—I’m still hopeful for the future of technology, and will continue making do with the resources I have.

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