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Diabetes Overview

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.

There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has pre-diabetes or diabetes, health care providers conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either test can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. The American Diabetes Association recommends the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.

With the FPG test, a fasting blood glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dl signals pre-diabetes. A person with a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher has diabetes.

In the OGTT test, a person's blood glucose level is measured after a fast and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich beverage. If the two-hour blood glucose level is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, the person tested has pre-diabetes. If the two-hour blood glucose level is at 200 mg/dl or higher, the person tested has diabetes.

Major Types of Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes
Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them. It is estimated that 5-10% of Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes
Results from insulin resistance (a condition in which the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency. Most Americans who are diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes affects about 4% of all pregnant women - about 135,000 cases in the United States each year.

Pre-diabetes
Pre-diabetes is a condition that occurs when a person's blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. There are 54 million Americans who have pre-diabetes, in addition to the 20.8 million with diabetes.

Depression Basics

Some people say that depression feels like a black curtain of despair coming down over their lives. Many people feel like they have no energy and can't concentrate. Others feel irritable all the time for no apparent reason. The symptoms vary from person to person, but if you feel "down" for more than two weeks, and these feelings are interfering with your daily life, you may be clinically depressed.

Most people who have gone through one episode of depression will, sooner or later, have another one. You may begin to feel some of the symptoms of depression several weeks before you develop a full-blown episode of depression. Learning to recognize these early triggers or symptoms and working with your doctor will help to keep the depression from worsening.

Most people with depression never seek help, even though the majority will respond to treatment. Treating depression is especially important because it affects you, your family, and your work. Some people with depression try to harm themselves in the mistaken belief that how they are feeling will never change. Depression is a treatable illness.

Bi-Polar Basics

" Let me begin by saying that the conditions I'm about to discuss cannot be
diagnosed over the Internet. One must have a careful evaluation by a
Healthcare professional with extensive experience and knowledge working with these potential problem areas.

I'm often asked whether or not a patient may be depressed, have bipolar
disorder, adult attention deficit (ADD), or ADD with hyperactivity (ADHD).
These questions are not so easily answered unless a careful assessment of a person's thought process is actually put to paper, a careful history is
taken which includes a detailed family history, and a careful physical exam
must be performed. Many tests have been developed to help make the
distinction between these disorders, but many Physicians do not employ them to better understand the patients state of mind.

Simply put, deciding whether or not a patient has a "mood disorder" should
not be decided by anyone who has limited or no knowledge of depression or
other emotional states. I know many patients say to me " I have a friend
who says I might have ADD" . For those who know me they will know that my
next response is " oh really, and what kind of Dr. Is this person".
Typically the response is a chuckle or a glass and would precede to a
better understanding my patients state of mind.

Similarly another patient may say that they may be depressed. And my
response would be the similar. I won't say that these questionnaires are
razor sharp in helping to dissect a patient's emotional state. I won't even
go so far to say that they have pinpoint accuracy in helping determine what
a patient may need. I will say, and many of my patients have heard me say
this, we'll get a "hand grenade's" closeness to a better understanding to
what emotional state or psychological nation a patient may have.

I will tell you that most people do not want to be bipolar. Of course no
one wants to have it any "dis-ease" , but it is unfortunate as well because
this is a common condition and one of the most treatable. Bipolar simply
means "two poles". Many people described been "high on life" or "elevated",
or "driven". This does it feel bad and it doesn't feel good. But people
seem to be able to get more done. Typically these individuals are so
intense in their elevated load state that no one wants to be around them.

The unfortunate thing is that this mood won't last in these individuals.
What will happen fairly commonly in this condition is the stations will
become "depressed" or "down", Or emotionally labile to the point that they
don't want to be a around other people.

Each of these conditions land themselves to a propensity for alcoholism and
drug addiction. Consider this: if you had an emotional state, state of mind
for a mood disorder that white and Wayne like a depression or bipolar might
do, then it's very easy to see how a person might seek out alcohol or other
drugs to be in another emotional state of mind. This doesn't feel better,
it just feels different. But sometimes this "different" might be good
enough because bipolar disorder, depression, ADD or ADHD can each cause an individual to feel terrible."

Take a moment to click on the link and take the three questionnaire to see
if any of these conditions may affect you. Again, remember, none of these
conditions can be adequately assessed unless you have a formal evaluation
before a Healthcare professional can make a diagnosis and began appropriate therapy. These Internet tools I provide are simply a cursory and ever so brief look at the potential cause for a person's inability to feel
emotionally well.

I'm often asked whether or not a patient may be depressed, have bipolar
disorder, adult attention deficit (ADD), or ADD with hyperactivity (ADHD).
These questions are not so easily answered unless a careful assessment of a person's thought process is actually put to paper, a careful history is
taken which includes a detailed family history, and a careful physical exam
must be performed. Many tests have been developed to help make the
distinction between these disorders, but many Physicians do not employ them to better understand the patients state of mind.

Simply put, deciding whether or not a patient has a "mood disorder" should
not be decided by anyone who has limited or no knowledge of depression or
other emotional states. I know many patients say to me " I have a friend
who says I might have ADD" . For those who know me they will know that my
next response is " oh really, and what kind of Dr. Is this person".
Typically the response is a chuckle or a glass and would precede to a
better understanding my patients state of mind.

Similarly another patient may say that they may be depressed. And my
response would be the similar. I won't say that these questionnaires are
razor sharp in helping to dissect a patient's emotional state. I won't even
go so far to say that they have pinpoint accuracy in helping determine what
a patient may need. I will say, and many of my patients have heard me say
this, we'll get a "hand grenade's" closeness to a better understanding to
what emotional state or psychological nation a patient may have.

I will tell you that most people do not want to be bipolar. Of course no
one wants to have it any "dis-ease" , but it is unfortunate as well because
this is a common condition and one of the most treatable. Bipolar simply
means "two poles". Many people described been "high on life" or "elevated",
or "driven". This does it feel bad and it doesn't feel good. But people
seem to be able to get more done. Typically these individuals are so
intense in their elevated load state that no one wants to be around them.

The unfortunate thing is that this mood won't last in these individuals.
What will happen fairly commonly in this condition is the stations will
become "depressed" or "down", Or emotionally labile to the point that they
don't want to be a around other people.

Each of these conditions land themselves to a propensity for alcoholism and
drug addiction. Consider this: if you had an emotional state, state of mind
for a mood disorder that white and Wayne like a depression or bipolar might
do, then it's very easy to see how a person might seek out alcohol or other
drugs to be in another emotional state of mind. This doesn't feel better,
it just feels different. But sometimes this "different" might be good
enough because bipolar disorder, depression, ADD or ADHD can each cause an individual to feel terrible."

Take a moment to click on the link and take the three questionnaire to see if any of these conditions may affect you. Again, remember, none of these
conditions can be adequately assessed unless you have a formal evaluation before a Healthcare professional can make a diagnosis and began appropriate therapy. These Internet tools I provide are simply a cursory and ever so brief look at the potential cause for a person's inability to feel
emotionally well.