Allergies Are No Longer a Childhood Disease

Only a few decades ago, allergies were considered to be a childhood disease. That has all changed because today, more and more adults are developing some form of allergy. Don't be fooled into thinking that unless you have a rash, teary eyes and sneezing, you dont have an allergy. Surprisingly, fatigue, back pain and recurring colds are common symptoms indicating a recently required allergy. So, what can you do to prevent an allergy or treat an existing one? It's simple and can be achieved with one natural compound: grape seed extract.

Why is grape seed good for you?

Grape seeds contain more than 300 different natural substances. Some of the best known are the oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs). OPCs are natural compounds that have many exciting health promoting properties.

Resveratrol, found in grape seed extract and other fruits and plants, is one of the most important OPCs as it has a wide variety of health benefits including: reducing the influence of asthma provocative factors; normalizing immune response to allergens in hay fever; reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases; has highly potent cancer preventative agents; and has several different anti-inflammatory properties.

Why do we develop allergies? An allergy releases chemical reactions in the body called inflammation, which is a condition that can evolve into chronic inflammation - when our body's own anti-inflammatory defence mechanisms have given up. People develop allergies and inflammation because of increasing global pollution and a lack of detoxifying nutrients (antioxidants) and this puts a tremendous strain on their body's defence systems.

References:

• "The secret killer." The role of inflammation for developing allergy, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers and many other diseases described in TIME magazine. Source: Jack Challem.
• The Inflammation Syndrome. J. Wiley & Sons. 2005. Asthma-allergy Association. Medline 2006.
• Fairfield KM & al: Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults. Scientific Review. JAMA. 2002; 287:3116-3126 and JAMA 287(23):312-0.
• Lau, B.H. & all. "Pycnogenol as an adjunct in the management of childhood asthma." Alternative Medical Review. 41:825-32. 2004.
• Blesa, S. & all. "Oral n-acetylcysteine attenuates the rat pulmonary inflammatory response to antigen." Eur Respir. Mar21(3):394-400. 2003.
• Bagchi, D. & all. "Oxygen Free Radical Scavenging Abilities of Vitamins C and E and a Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Extract in Vitro." Res Comun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 95(2):179-98. 1997.

Type 1 Diabetes is Not Simply a Childhood Disease

Although type 1 diabetes was previously known as childhood diabetes, juvenile or juvenile-onset diabetes this is no longer the case. While type 1 diabetes often first appears in children over the age of 4, and is especially seen with the arrival of early adolescence at around 12 or 13 years of age, it can also appear in adults and is increasingly being seen in people in their late 30s and early 40s, although the onset at this age tends to be somewhat less marked than that seen in childrenType 1 diabetes is caused by the body's inability to produce sufficient insulin. The precise reason for this inability is something of a mystery, although there is almost certainly an underlying genetic cause which is triggered by a combination of different environmental factors.The body needs insulin for normal metabolism and uses it to transfer glucose, which forms one of the body's main sources of energy and is produced during the process of food digestion, from the bloodstream and into the cells of the body. In healthy people insulin is produced by cells, called beta-cells, within an area of the pancreas but, in cases of type 1 diabetes, these cells become damaged and production either cease or is reduced.

There are around one million Americans suffering from type 1 diabetes, which represents somewhere between 5% and 10% of the total number of Americans suffering both type 1 and type 2 forms of the disease. Each year, in the region of ten thousand new cases of type 1 diabetes are diagnosed in the United States. Type 1 diabetes is more common in men than it is in women and is also more prevalent among non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic Americans and African Americans.

Although not in itself life-threatening, type 1 diabetes accounts for a significant number of deaths, particularly premature deaths, from complications arising out of the condition. These can include cerebral vascular disease, renal disease, heart disease, vascular disease and gangrene in the lower limbs, visual difficulty and blindness.

There are a number of symptoms that can accompany the onset of type 1 diabetes and the most common early symptoms, which result from a buildup of glucose in the blood, are excessive urination, thirst and hunger usually accompanied by tiredness and a lack of energy. In some cases excessive blood sugar can also lead to nausea and blurred vision.

It is also common for the presence of type 1 diabetes to be detected as the result of an emergency condition known as ketoacidosis with the diagnosis being made in a hospital emergency room. Ketoacidosis arises when blood sugar levels reach an especially high level and the body begins to break down fat to get the energy that it needs. This leads to a build-up of chemicals known as ketones in the blood and produces nausea, vomiting and stomach pains. If left untreated the condition will progress and breathing can become increasingly rapid, followed by coma and death.

The main treatment for type 1 diabetes is the regular administration of insulin. As diabetes is however a metabolic disease, diet and exercise can also play a key part in keeping sufferers fit and healthy.

Diabetes Mellitus - An Introduction To This Common Chronic Disease

Diabetes has been known for centuries, although it has not been fully understood, and the disease takes its name from the Greek for "passing through" because of one of its main symptoms - excessive urine production. During the fifteenth century the word Mellitus was from the Latin for "honey" when it was noted that many patients with diabetes had high levels of sugar in their blood and urine.Diabetes mellitus, which is simply referred to as diabetes these days, is a metabolic disorder which in particular affects the metabolism of carbohydrates. The condition requires medical treatment and, more often than not, a number of lifestyle changes.To function properly the human body requires a source of energy and derives this from the food that we eat. A normal diet comprises of a mixture of carbohydrates, proteins and fats with carbohydrates accounting for up to three-quarters of this mix. There are a wide variety of high carbohydrate (sometimes referred to as high starch) foods and these include bread, bran, cereal, beans, rice and pasta.

Food is broken down by the digestive process into a variety of organic compounds and one of these, which forms the body's prime source of energy, is glucose. Glucose is then carried to various parts of the body by the blood and is transferred to the cells of the body to fuel both cell growth and cell repair.

An essential element in the transfer process is the presence of insulin in the bloodstream. Insulin is produced by specialized cells (known as beta-cells) which are located in an area of the pancreas called the Islets of Langerhans.

Diabetes sufferers fall into two broad categories - those with type 1 diabetes (formerly known as "juvenile" or "childhood" diabetes) and those with type 2 (or adult) diabetes. There is also said to be a third form of diabetes known as type 3 or gestational diabetes but, despite the fact that there are a few differences, this is basically nothing more than type 2 diabetes which occurs during, and because of, pregnancy.

In type 1 diabetes sufferers develop a problem with the insulin producing beta-cells of the pancreas and are unable to produce sufficient insulin to transfer glucose from the bloodstream to the cells of the body. This means that it is necessary to closely monitor levels in the blood and to administer insulin so that glucose can be transferred and the glucose levels in the blood returned to normal.

In type 2 diabetes the body usually continues to produce insulin normally but the body's cells develop a resistant to it and insulin levels begin to increase in the blood. In the early stages of type 2 diabetes this can often be counteracted by reducing the intake of glucose producing carbohydrates, exercising and losing weight, particularly when weight loss is aimed at removing fat from the area of the abdomen. If this approach does not do the trick then the condition can usually be controlled through the use of medication.

There is currently no cure for either type 1 or type 2 diabetes and, while treatment can usually reduce the symptoms of both considerably, most sufferers will require ongoing treatment throughout life.