Diabetes and The Importance of Following a Physician's Advice

The onset of diabetes is marked by intense thirst, the drinking of huge quantities of water, and a corresponding excessive urine output. All B vitamins including vitamin B and many other nutrients- are readily lost in the urine; and the more urine excreted, the greater the losses. Though vitamin B6 may have been temporarily lacking before the onset of the disease, such a deficiency would thus immediately be made worse. Excessive urine production also rapidly induces a magnesium deficiency.

Even after insulin is given, sugar frequently spills into the urine. To dilute this sugar, water is withdrawn from the blood, and again excessive urine is formed. Much needed vitamin B6 and other nutrients which readily dissolve in water are therefore lost whenever the urine shows a positive test for sugar . A person whose diabetes is not well controlled might thus easily have vitamin-B6 and magnesium deficiencies even though his intake appears to be adequate.

When the pancreas has been so damaged that it can no longer produce sufficient insulin, sugar can neither enter the cells nor be changed into body starch or fat. Sugar coming from digesting foods therefore accumulates in the blood until, when perhaps three or four times above normal, it spills into the urine. Conversely, insulin given to a person with diabetes causes the sugar to pass into the cells and the amount in the blood to fall. The quantity of insulin needed, however, varies with each individual and from time to time, depending largely on the carbohydrate intake. If too much insulin is given or too little food eaten, the symptoms Ii of low blood sugar-weakness, nervousness, wooziness, perhaps headache, trembling hands, and loss of consciousness, I or blackout--can be brought on with such lightning speed that they are spoken of as an insulin reaction, or insulin shock. To prevent such a reaction, the quantity of food prescribed by the physician must be eaten.

Whenever the blood sugar drops below normal, the alarm reaction of stress is set off. The adrenal hormones cause body protein to be broken down into fat and sugar and still more fat from storage depots to be released into the blood. If insulin is still excessive, this sugar also enters the cells too quickly; the blood sugar is again reduced, and further proteins are destroyed. Simultaneously the blood fats, unusually excessive in persons with this disease, soar even higher; in diabetics with atherosclerosis, the stage is set for a heart attack.

To prevent insulin shock, needless destruction of body protein, and excessive blood fat, a doctor carefully balances the type and amount of food recommended against the insulin dosage.

If insufficient insulin is given, sugar cannot enter the cells. Certain acids and acetone, formed from incompletely utilized fat, accumulate in the body and cause acetone acidosis. The acids are neutralized by combining with sodium and potassium, and the salts thus formed are excreted in the urine. Acetone, gives a characteristic odor to the breath of patients with uncontrolled diabetes. Even mild acidosis can cause headache, fatigue, nervousness, and nausea. Severe acidosis can rob the body of so much potassium that unconsciousness, or diabetic coma, and even death can result. Because it is difficult for patients to adhere to strict diets, physicians have sometimes attempted to adjust the insulin dosage to the foods diabetics select for themselves. Such freedom, however, has usually proved to be disastrous. More than go per cent of patients allowed "free diets" have been found to develop serious complications in a relatively short time.

A diabetic skis a slalom course between insulin shock and diabetic coma. A physician, however, can prevent both of these reactions provided the patient follows his directions. Any changes made to improve the nutritive value of food eaten must be done within the framework of the diabetic diet he recommends.

Although diabetic specialists are expert in adjusting insulin dosage to the diet recommended, it is a tragic fact that few have become sufficiently interested in nutrition to make an all-out effort to stimulate maximum insulin production or to prevent devastating complications.

About The Author

David Crawford is the CEO and owner of a Male Enhancement Products company known as Male Enhancement Group which is dedicated to researching and comparing male enhancement products in order to determine which male enhancement product is safer and more effective than other products on the market. Copyright 2010 David Crawford of http://www.maleenhancementgroup.com This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.