November is Diabetes Awareness Month and we have dedicated our issue to information we think people with diabetes and their loved ones will find helpful.

MEDICAL NEWS
News and Commentary on the Use of Herbal / Vitamin Supplements in Diabetes

When I was trying to decide what to write for the Diabetes Awareness Month newsletter, I had a hard decision to make because so many different aspects of diabetes management and prevention deserve to be highlighted.

For my article, I had to settle for touching on a few tidbits here. I will discuss a couple of new therapies and what is coming down the pipeline. An exciting trial called “PROACTIVE” in Europe has released its results about heart risk reduction. And I will summarize what is known about a few herbal / vitamin supplements used in diabetes.

Read more about the use of supplements...

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEWS
Diabetes: An Inner Well of Support

Having diabetes — or any chronic disease, for that matter — is a little easier when you have support from significant people in your life. But what if those significant people have their own troubles and can’t rally to your side? What if they have grown tired of listening, for whatever reason? When you have a chronic illness, it can be easy to fall into negative thought patterns that can drag you down. Wouldn’t it be great if you could learn to be your own one-person support group?

Find out how to be your own booster...

PHYSICAL THERAPY NEWS
Physical Therapists Can Help With Diabetes Prevention

I could not be happier than to be writing to you this month about the possibilities for diabetes prevention. We keep hearing how good exercise is for us. Here is some more good news: A recent clinical trial, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), compared diet and exercise to treatment with an oral diabetes drug in 3,234 people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or “pre-diabetes”. The trial showed that diet and exercise can effectively delay diabetes in a diverse American population of overweight people with IGT. It concluded that diet and exercise resulting in a five to seven percent weight loss lowered incidence of type 2 diabetes by a whopping 58 percent.

Find out more about physical therapy and diabetes...

NUTRITIONAL NEWS
End of the Diabetic Diet

Diabetes is now affecting the lives of people of all ages, shapes and sizes. From 1980 through 2003, the number of Americans with diabetes more than doubled. There were 5.8 million in 1980 and jumped to 13.8 million in 2003. More and more of the population is being diagnosed and sometimes treatment is unclear.

As probably known, what you eat plays a major role in the status of your health. Nutrition is not only a tool, a healthy eating plan makes you feel better and can even help fight diabetes. However, a strict diet is no longer the answer.

Read these nutrition tips to find out more...

SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS
Women’s Sexuality and Diabetes

Sexual activity has an important role and function in the lives of most adult women. But both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes can affect a woman’s experience of sex in physical and emotional ways. Physical problems related to diabetes can interfere with sexual pleasure. Emotional feelings about one’s body can also contribute to sexual problems. The sexual effects of diabetes on women can be more subtle than the erectile dysfunction that men with diabetes sometimes face.

Learn more about the issues women face...

OTHER NEWS

Optimal Health 2005 Syllabus Available

We received glowing reviews from Optimal Health 2005 attendees and will definitely be repeating the event in 2006. If you were unable to attend the conference, you can still benefit by purchasing a conference syllabus. The syllabus is available at The Center for $15, or you can order it online and have it mailed at a small extra cost of $3.95 S&H. The payment will be processed through PayPal.

Order the Optimal Health 2005 syllabus now...