Insufficient sleep is one of the outcrops of a fast and furious lifestyle. We talk enormously about changing our eating and exercising enough, but somehow sleeping habits are not so much talked about unless it is related to beauty. The present generation is either working or studying or partying late into the night. Consistent lack of sleep over time can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiac diseases, depression and obesity. Therefore medical researchers are now saying that a good night’s sleep should be appreciated as being equally important as exercising and eating well for good health.

The new born slumbers most of the day. As we age, our sleep requirements reduce. The healthy sleep norm is about 8 hours for an adult and a bit over 9 hours for children.

Why is sleep so important?

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Nutrition and Dietetics expert, Parvathy Radhakrishnan answers readers’ questions on nutrition. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Wednesday.

This week’s answers:

MY AGE IS 56+ MALE. I WAS DIAGNOSED ABOUT 14 YRS BACK SUGAR LEVEL OF 314 PP. OVER APERIOD OF TIME MY WT. HAS COME DOWN TO 74–75 KG. MY SUGAR LEVEL FASTING IS–116— PP–130—–145. I TAKE REGULAR MEDICINES LOKE GLIMY FORTE 2 AND GLIMY FORTE–I000MG, ECOSPRIN 75, REMIPRESS –5, CAPSULE–NURACT PLUS, ROSULIP F–5 AND CALICIUM CALCIA SACHE ONCE IN 15 DAYS. BUT I TAKE DIABETIC MEDICINE DAILY. MY LEGS AND MY BUTTOCKS BACK HAS SHRUNK ALOT. IS THER ANY NEGATIVE EFFECT OF THESE MEDICINES. MY ALL TESTS OF SUGAR, COLESTROL, URIC ACID LIPID, LFT ,RFT ECG ARE IN LIMITS. I WANT TO ADD ON SOME FAT ON MY BUTTOCKS AND LEGS. PL ADVISE BEC– IAM GETTING THINNER AND MY PANTS ARE LOOSE. PL ADVISE , GUIDE ME.
vinod
Vinod, you have not mentioned your height.So I am not able to say if your weight is normal or or if you are actually underweight. You can try strengthening exercises specific for buttocks and legs. If you need to increase weight then you need to eat more but then medications also may need to be increased accordingly.

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Whole-body vibration may keep prediabetes in adolescents at bay, significantly reducing inflammation, average blood glucose levels and symptoms such as frequent urination, researchers report.

Prediabetes is the state in which some but not all of the diagnostic criteria for diabetes are met. It is often described as the “gray area” between normal blood sugar and diabetic levels.

In mice that mimic over-eating adolescents headed toward diabetes, 20 minutes of daily vibration for eight weeks restored a healthy balance of key pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators, said Jack C. Yu, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Medical College of Georgia.

It was better than prescription drugs at reducing levels of hemoglobin A1c, the most accurate indicator of average blood glucose levels, according to a Georgia statement.

In normal mice, just four days of vibration also dramatically improved the ability to manage a huge glucose surge similar to that following a high-calorie, high-fat meal. “It’s a very good sign,” said Yu.

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Researchers from Sweden have identified a protein in blood that can indicate who is at risk of diabetes at an early stage, thereby reducing the chances of the disease to damage areas like blood vessels and eyes because of late diagnosis.

“We have shown that individuals who have above-average levels of a protein called SFRP4 in the blood are five times more likely to develop diabetes in the next few years than those with below-average levels,” Anders Rosengren, a researcher at the Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC), who led the work on the risk marker, said.

It is the first time a link has been established between the protein SFRP4, which plays a role in inflammatory processes in the body, and the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Studies at LUDC, in which donated insulin-producing beta cells from diabetic individuals and non-diabetic individuals have been compared, show that cells from diabetics have significantly higher levels of the protein.

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Dr. Shehla Sajid Shaikh is a trained Endocrinologist practising at Prince Aly Khan Hospital & Saifee Hospital.

A member of the Endocrine Society of India, Research Society for the study of Diabetes in India and American Diabetes Association, Dr. Shehla has authored several books on adolescent obesity and thyroid disorders.

She specialises in childhood obesity and its prevention, thyroid disorders, osteoporosis and structured diabetes care.

Dr. Shehla answered Sify readers’ queries related to weight loss, thyroid disorder and diabetes management in an exclusive chat. Read the chat transcript here.

My wife have fasting sugar 302 and post prandial 376(Just detected)But no other symptoms of diabetes. Can this be cured fully?She is taking Gemer p2 and ecosprin75 now.I want to loose the weight by 10 kgs. I am40,167 cms.,75 kgs. What should I do?
Diabetes can be controlled..it can not be cured at present…and for you the best option is to follow a proper diet and exercise program..

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Asparagus, a popular vegetable, can keep diabetes at bay by helping blood sugar levels stay under control while boosting output of insulin, the hormone that helps the body absorb glucose, says a study.

Type two diabetes, which accounts for 90 percent of all diabetes cases, is emerging as a major health burden worldwide.

More than a million people are already affected by it in the UK alone but don’t realise they have it, perhaps because they do not recognise symptoms such as fatigue, thirst, frequent urination, recurrent thrush and wounds that are slow to heal, the British Journal of Nutrition reported.

Left untreated, type two diabetes can raise the risk of heart attacks, blindness and amputation. But if doctors catch it early, it can be well controlled with diet and medication, according to the Daily Mail.

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Diabetics, who were warned for years that their illness could cause blindness, are in for more bad news, as doctors have claimed that the patients are more likely to lose their hearing, too.

Japanese research has found that hearing problems are far more common in diabetics than their healthy counterparts, even when other factors such as ageing and a noisy environment are taken into account, the Daily Mail reported.

Lead author of the study, Chika Horikawa of Niigata University, said: “We found that people with diabetes had more than two times higher prevalence of hearing impairment than those without diabetes.”

Several studies have investigated the relationship between diabetes and hearing impairment but their findings were inconsistent.

However, links have been made between hearing loss and other conditions such as dementia and depression.

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A diet with carbohydrates eaten mostly at dinner could benefit people suffering from severe and morbid obesity, a new research has revealed.

According to a new research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the diet influences secretion patterns of hormones responsible for hunger and satiety, as well as hormones associated with metabolic syndrome, which in a way can help dieters persist over the long run, and reduce risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The research was carried out by research student Sigal Sofer under the auspices of Prof. (Emeritus) Zecharia Madar, at the Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition at the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

Sofer randomly assigned 78 police officers to either the experimental diet (carbohydrates at dinner) or a control weight loss diet (carbohydrates throughout the day). Out of the total only 63 subjects finished the six-month program.

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If you are under the impression that diabetes is an old man’s disease, you are wrong. More and more children are falling prey to this lifestyle disease and doctors say it is best to screen children too.

The theme of this year’s World Diabetes Day, being observed Wednesday, is: “Protect Our Future”.

“There has been an increase in the number of patients coming to clinics for diabetes screening in the last decade. The number of young people falling prey to the disease is also increasing,” said I.P.S. Kochar, paediatric and adolescent endocrinologist and diabetologist at Fortis Hospital here.

Type I diabetes, which is not lifestyle-induced, is more common among children. Doctors say the issue of concern, however, is the rising cases of Type II diabetes, which occurs due to lifestyle disorders.

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Women who suffer from gestational diabetes during pregnancy may no longer need to prick themselves with shots of insulin. They can now use an insulin pump.

“The insulin pump, which has been in use in India since the last 10 years, has not yet been used by pregnant women. There is a reason for this. Gestational diabetes, which occurs in pregnant women, usually subsides after delivery. Hence, most patients do not want to buy a Rs.2 lakh insulin pump for just nine months,” explained Dr. S.K. Wangnoo, senior consultant endrocrinologist and diabetologist at Apollo Hospitals, at a press conference here Wednesday.

“We at Apollo decided to give the machine on rent as part of a pilot project. We have enrolled 12 patients in the last six months as part of the project. They used the pump and did not have any complications,” he added.

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