What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

Increased blood pressure…

Higher than normal insulin or blood sugar levels…

Excess body fat, particularly around your waist…

Abnormal cholesterol levels – and that means both “good” and “bad” cholesterol…

If you have not just one but all of these conditions, you may have Metabolic Syndrome. And that increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

If you know you have one of these symptoms, you may have others and not know it.  Do any of these sound familiar?

1.    Obesity – Are you carrying excess weight, particularly around your waist? Do you have an “apple shape”?

2.    Elevated Blood Pressure – If your systolic (the top number) blood pressure is higher than 120 or your diastolic (the bottom number) is higher than 80, you have blood pressure issues that you need to talk to your doctor about.

3.    Abnormal Cholesterol Levels - If you have high triglycerides (blood fat) and low “good” or HDL cholesterol, you need to ask your doctor about treatment.

4.    Insulin Resistance – If your body doesn’t properly regulate the amount of sugar in your blood, you could be on your way to becoming diabetic.

If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have others.  With the exception of obesity, any of these could be silent symptoms that remain undetected without proper medical testing.

What Causes Metabolic Syndrome?

diabetesicons What You Need To Know About The Silent Killer Metabolic Syndrome

Sometimes Called Pre-Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome is rampant in our society...

As the name implies, Metabolic Syndrome is linked to your body’s metabolism and could be caused by your body’s inability to properly regulate the amount of insulin in your bloodstream.  Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it helps control the amount of sugar in your blood.

If your body is operating normally, your digestive system breaks down the food you eat into sugar (what doctors normally refer to as glucose).  Your blood then carries the glucose to your tissues where the cells use it as fuel.  Insulin helps the glucose enter the cells.  If you’re insulin resistant, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin and glucose can’t enter the cells as it should.

The body reacts by producing more and more insulin thinking that will help the glucose get into the cells, sort of like pumping the gas pedal in your car to get more fuel to the carburetor.  Just as that can flood the engine in your car, the result is higher than normal levels of insulin in your blood.  And that can, and often does, lead to diabetes.

Even if you don’t develop diabetes, elevated glucose levels can raise your triglyceride levels or interfere with how your kidneys work.  All of which puts you at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and a host of other conditions.

Think You May Have Metabolic Syndrome?

If any of these symptoms or conditions applies to you, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have the others before they cause serious health problems.

If you’re not sure what to ask your doctor, here are some basic questions:

•       Are the symptoms I’m experiencing now related to metabolic syndrome or some other condition?

•       What kinds of tests do I need to best manage my conditions?

•       What else can I do to improve my health?

•       What other options do I have to manage the conditions that cause metabolic syndrome?

•       How do best manage all of these conditions together?

•       What restrictions do I need to follow?

•       Where can I get more information on metabolic syndrome or any of the conditions I currently have?

One More Thing to Think About

We’re seeing more and more metabolic syndrome in younger patient populations.  And one of the first symptoms they experience is peripheral neuropathy.  Because nerve tissues are especially vulnerable to damage from diseases that affect the body’s ability to transform nutrients into energy or produce some of the components of cell repair (think diabetes), nerve damage and the resulting peripheral neuropathy is very common.

Classic symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are:

•       Tingling and/or burning in hands and feet

•       Neuralgic-like pains

•       Loss of the sense of touch or an inability to feel vibration

•       Temperature changes in the flesh – do your extremities feel excessively warm or cold?

•       Serious sleep disturbances with resultant depression or side effects from pain medication

If you have a confirmed diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and are now experiencing any of these symptoms, you don’t have to just live with it.  Contact us today for information on how peripheral neuropathy can be treated, your suffering lessened and exactly how to find a NeuropathyDR Treatment Center in your area.

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

Increased blood pressure…

Higher than normal insulin or blood sugar levels…

Excess body fat, particularly around your waist…

Abnormal cholesterol levels – and that means both “good” and “bad” cholesterol…

If you have not just one but all of these conditions, you may have Metabolic Syndrome. And that increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

If you know you have one of these symptoms, you may have others and not know it.  Do any of these sound familiar?

1.    Obesity – Are you carrying excess weight, particularly around your waist? Do you have an “apple shape”?

2.    Elevated Blood Pressure – If your systolic (the top number) blood pressure is higher than 120 or your diastolic (the bottom number) is higher than 80, you have blood pressure issues that you need to talk to your doctor about.

3.    Abnormal Cholesterol Levels - If you have high triglycerides (blood fat) and low “good” or HDL cholesterol, you need to ask your doctor about treatment.

4.    Insulin Resistance – If your body doesn’t properly regulate the amount of sugar in your blood, you could be on your way to becoming diabetic.

If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have others.  With the exception of obesity, any of these could be silent symptoms that remain undetected without proper medical testing.

What Causes Metabolic Syndrome?

diabetesicons What You Need To Know About The Silent Killer Metabolic Syndrome

Sometimes Called Pre-Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome is rampant in our society...

As the name implies, Metabolic Syndrome is linked to your body’s metabolism and could be caused by your body’s inability to properly regulate the amount of insulin in your bloodstream.  Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it helps control the amount of sugar in your blood.

If your body is operating normally, your digestive system breaks down the food you eat into sugar (what doctors normally refer to as glucose).  Your blood then carries the glucose to your tissues where the cells use it as fuel.  Insulin helps the glucose enter the cells.  If you’re insulin resistant, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin and glucose can’t enter the cells as it should.

The body reacts by producing more and more insulin thinking that will help the glucose get into the cells, sort of like pumping the gas pedal in your car to get more fuel to the carburetor.  Just as that can flood the engine in your car, the result is higher than normal levels of insulin in your blood.  And that can, and often does, lead to diabetes.

Even if you don’t develop diabetes, elevated glucose levels can raise your triglyceride levels or interfere with how your kidneys work.  All of which puts you at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and a host of other conditions.

Think You May Have Metabolic Syndrome?

If any of these symptoms or conditions applies to you, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have the others before they cause serious health problems.

If you’re not sure what to ask your doctor, here are some basic questions:

•       Are the symptoms I’m experiencing now related to metabolic syndrome or some other condition?

•       What kinds of tests do I need to best manage my conditions?

•       What else can I do to improve my health?

•       What other options do I have to manage the conditions that cause metabolic syndrome?

•       How do best manage all of these conditions together?

•       What restrictions do I need to follow?

•       Where can I get more information on metabolic syndrome or any of the conditions I currently have?

One More Thing to Think About

We’re seeing more and more metabolic syndrome in younger patient populations.  And one of the first symptoms they experience is peripheral neuropathy.  Because nerve tissues are especially vulnerable to damage from diseases that affect the body’s ability to transform nutrients into energy or produce some of the components of cell repair (think diabetes), nerve damage and the resulting peripheral neuropathy is very common.

Classic symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are:

•       Tingling and/or burning in hands and feet

•       Neuralgic-like pains

•       Loss of the sense of touch or an inability to feel vibration

•       Temperature changes in the flesh – do your extremities feel excessively warm or cold?

•       Serious sleep disturbances with resultant depression or side effects from pain medication

If you have a confirmed diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and are now experiencing any of these symptoms, you don’t have to just live with it.  Contact us today for information on how peripheral neuropathy can be treated, your suffering lessened and exactly how to find a NeuropathyDR Treatment Center in your area.

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

Increased blood pressure…

Higher than normal insulin or blood sugar levels…

Excess body fat, particularly around your waist…

Abnormal cholesterol levels – and that means both “good” and “bad” cholesterol…

If you have not just one but all of these conditions, you may have Metabolic Syndrome. And that increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

If you know you have one of these symptoms, you may have others and not know it.  Do any of these sound familiar?

1.    Obesity – Are you carrying excess weight, particularly around your waist? Do you have an “apple shape”?

2.    Elevated Blood Pressure – If your systolic (the top number) blood pressure is higher than 120 or your diastolic (the bottom number) is higher than 80, you have blood pressure issues that you need to talk to your doctor about.

3.    Abnormal Cholesterol Levels - If you have high triglycerides (blood fat) and low “good” or HDL cholesterol, you need to ask your doctor about treatment.

4.    Insulin Resistance – If your body doesn’t properly regulate the amount of sugar in your blood, you could be on your way to becoming diabetic.

If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have others.  With the exception of obesity, any of these could be silent symptoms that remain undetected without proper medical testing.

What Causes Metabolic Syndrome?

diabetesicons What You Need To Know About The Silent Killer Metabolic Syndrome

Sometimes Called Pre-Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome is rampant in our society...

As the name implies, Metabolic Syndrome is linked to your body’s metabolism and could be caused by your body’s inability to properly regulate the amount of insulin in your bloodstream.  Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it helps control the amount of sugar in your blood.

If your body is operating normally, your digestive system breaks down the food you eat into sugar (what doctors normally refer to as glucose).  Your blood then carries the glucose to your tissues where the cells use it as fuel.  Insulin helps the glucose enter the cells.  If you’re insulin resistant, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin and glucose can’t enter the cells as it should.

The body reacts by producing more and more insulin thinking that will help the glucose get into the cells, sort of like pumping the gas pedal in your car to get more fuel to the carburetor.  Just as that can flood the engine in your car, the result is higher than normal levels of insulin in your blood.  And that can, and often does, lead to diabetes.

Even if you don’t develop diabetes, elevated glucose levels can raise your triglyceride levels or interfere with how your kidneys work.  All of which puts you at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and a host of other conditions.

Think You May Have Metabolic Syndrome?

If any of these symptoms or conditions applies to you, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have the others before they cause serious health problems.

If you’re not sure what to ask your doctor, here are some basic questions:

•       Are the symptoms I’m experiencing now related to metabolic syndrome or some other condition?

•       What kinds of tests do I need to best manage my conditions?

•       What else can I do to improve my health?

•       What other options do I have to manage the conditions that cause metabolic syndrome?

•       How do best manage all of these conditions together?

•       What restrictions do I need to follow?

•       Where can I get more information on metabolic syndrome or any of the conditions I currently have?

One More Thing to Think About

We’re seeing more and more metabolic syndrome in younger patient populations.  And one of the first symptoms they experience is peripheral neuropathy.  Because nerve tissues are especially vulnerable to damage from diseases that affect the body’s ability to transform nutrients into energy or produce some of the components of cell repair (think diabetes), nerve damage and the resulting peripheral neuropathy is very common.

Classic symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are:

•       Tingling and/or burning in hands and feet

•       Neuralgic-like pains

•       Loss of the sense of touch or an inability to feel vibration

•       Temperature changes in the flesh – do your extremities feel excessively warm or cold?

•       Serious sleep disturbances with resultant depression or side effects from pain medication

If you have a confirmed diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and are now experiencing any of these symptoms, you don’t have to just live with it.  Contact us today for information on how peripheral neuropathy can be treated, your suffering lessened and exactly how to find a NeuropathyDR Treatment Center in your area.

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

What You Need To Know About “The Silent Killer” Metabolic Syndrome

Increased blood pressure…

Higher than normal insulin or blood sugar levels…

Excess body fat, particularly around your waist…

Abnormal cholesterol levels – and that means both “good” and “bad” cholesterol…

If you have not just one but all of these conditions, you may have Metabolic Syndrome. And that increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

If you know you have one of these symptoms, you may have others and not know it.  Do any of these sound familiar?

1.    Obesity – Are you carrying excess weight, particularly around your waist? Do you have an “apple shape”?

2.    Elevated Blood Pressure – If your systolic (the top number) blood pressure is higher than 120 or your diastolic (the bottom number) is higher than 80, you have blood pressure issues that you need to talk to your doctor about.

3.    Abnormal Cholesterol Levels - If you have high triglycerides (blood fat) and low “good” or HDL cholesterol, you need to ask your doctor about treatment.

4.    Insulin Resistance – If your body doesn’t properly regulate the amount of sugar in your blood, you could be on your way to becoming diabetic.

If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have others.  With the exception of obesity, any of these could be silent symptoms that remain undetected without proper medical testing.

What Causes Metabolic Syndrome?

diabetesicons What You Need To Know About The Silent Killer Metabolic Syndrome

Sometimes Called Pre-Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome is rampant in our society...

As the name implies, Metabolic Syndrome is linked to your body’s metabolism and could be caused by your body’s inability to properly regulate the amount of insulin in your bloodstream.  Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas and it helps control the amount of sugar in your blood.

If your body is operating normally, your digestive system breaks down the food you eat into sugar (what doctors normally refer to as glucose).  Your blood then carries the glucose to your tissues where the cells use it as fuel.  Insulin helps the glucose enter the cells.  If you’re insulin resistant, your cells don’t respond normally to insulin and glucose can’t enter the cells as it should.

The body reacts by producing more and more insulin thinking that will help the glucose get into the cells, sort of like pumping the gas pedal in your car to get more fuel to the carburetor.  Just as that can flood the engine in your car, the result is higher than normal levels of insulin in your blood.  And that can, and often does, lead to diabetes.

Even if you don’t develop diabetes, elevated glucose levels can raise your triglyceride levels or interfere with how your kidneys work.  All of which puts you at higher risk for heart disease, stroke and a host of other conditions.

Think You May Have Metabolic Syndrome?

If any of these symptoms or conditions applies to you, talk to your doctor about testing to make sure you don’t have the others before they cause serious health problems.

If you’re not sure what to ask your doctor, here are some basic questions:

•       Are the symptoms I’m experiencing now related to metabolic syndrome or some other condition?

•       What kinds of tests do I need to best manage my conditions?

•       What else can I do to improve my health?

•       What other options do I have to manage the conditions that cause metabolic syndrome?

•       How do best manage all of these conditions together?

•       What restrictions do I need to follow?

•       Where can I get more information on metabolic syndrome or any of the conditions I currently have?

One More Thing to Think About

We’re seeing more and more metabolic syndrome in younger patient populations.  And one of the first symptoms they experience is peripheral neuropathy.  Because nerve tissues are especially vulnerable to damage from diseases that affect the body’s ability to transform nutrients into energy or produce some of the components of cell repair (think diabetes), nerve damage and the resulting peripheral neuropathy is very common.

Classic symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are:

•       Tingling and/or burning in hands and feet

•       Neuralgic-like pains

•       Loss of the sense of touch or an inability to feel vibration

•       Temperature changes in the flesh – do your extremities feel excessively warm or cold?

•       Serious sleep disturbances with resultant depression or side effects from pain medication

If you have a confirmed diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and are now experiencing any of these symptoms, you don’t have to just live with it.  Contact us today for information on how peripheral neuropathy can be treated, your suffering lessened and exactly how to find a NeuropathyDR Treatment Center in your area.

What You Need To Know About Hypoglycemia and Autonomic Neuropathy

 

mail 5 What You Need To Know About Hypoglycemia and Autonomic Neuropathy

If you have diabetes and a low blood glucose count, you have a serious problem.

That problem is hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia can occur in anyone with diabetes if they’re taking medication to lower their blood glucose.  If you have type 1 diabetes and you’re insulin dependent, you stand a good chance of developing hypoglycemia.

The symptoms can be mild and easy for you to recognize.  A quick fix is to load up on carbohydrates and go on your way; however, the symptoms can be severe enough to cause you to lose consciousness, possibly even diabetic coma and death.

If those prospects concern you, they should.  The really frightening thing is this -

You Might Not Even Know You Have A Problem

Most people expect hypoglycemic episodes to come with classic symptoms[1]:

∙           Tremor

∙           Sweating

∙           Heart palpitations

That doesn’t always happen.  If you’ve had type 1 diabetes for a long period of time and try to keep your blood glucose levels close to normal, you may not even realize you have a problem.

Here’s why:

If you have type 1 diabetes, when your blood glucose levels fall, your insulin levels don’t decrease and your glucagon levels don’t increase.  They just reflect your body’s absorption of insulin.  When that happens, your body loses its first two lines of defense against the imbalance in your system.  Your body’s normal response is impaired.

What Causes the Impairment[2]?

Several things –

∙           Your brain may have become used to hypoglycemia because it’s been dealing with it for awhile. If you’ve had frequent episodes, the system in your body that’s responsible for transporting adrenaline to where it’s needed no longer senses a great need.  It just doesn’t respond.

∙           You may be using medications that mask your hypoglycemia symptoms and not even know it.  For example, if you take medications that are beta blockers, they’re designed to lessen the effects of adrenalin on your body.  You may not experience the tremors or heart palpitations that a normal person would during a hypoglycemic episode.  Beta blockers also block the liver from producing glucose so you’re giving your body a double whammy to deal with.

∙           You may have autonomic neuropathy.

What Is Autonomic Neuropathy?

Autonomic neuropathy in itself is not a disease.  It’s a type of peripheral neuropathy that affects the nerves that control involuntary body functions like heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and perspiration.  The nerves are damaged and don’t function properly leading to a breakdown of the signals between the brain and the parts of the body affected by the autonomic nervous system like the heart, blood vessels, digestive system and sweat glands.

The autonomic nervous system is the body’s back up plan for dealing with hypoglycemia.  When it malfunctions, it can lead to a world of problems.  Imagine your body being unable to regulate your heart rate or your blood pressure, an inability to properly digest your food, urinary problems, even being unable to sweat in order to cool your body down when you exercise.  In your case as a patient with diabetic hypoglycemia, your autonomic neuropathy is probably keeping your liver from producing insulin.

If you have diabetes, you need to take every precaution to maintain proper glucose levels.  Make sure you report any change in your condition to your doctor immediately.  If you’ve developed autonomic neuropathy as a result of your hypoglycemia, prompt treatment is your best bet to avoid serious and possibly deadly complications.  Early intervention with a NeuropathyDR® clinician is a good place to start.  If you already have symptoms, start treatment immediately.  If you take beta blockers or you’ve had frequent episodes of hypoglycemia in the past, see your doctor immediately and make sure you’re on a good preventative regimen.

For more information on coping with autonomic neuropathy, get your Free E-Book and subscription to the Weekly Ezine “Beating Neuropathy” at http://neuropathydr.com.

 

 

 

 

Is Your Diet Affecting Your Neuropathy?

mail 7 Is Your Diet Affecting Your Neuropathy?

The next time you have a headache…

Or indigestion…

Or even muscle cramps or twitching…

Go online and “Google” any of those terms and see what you come up with.

I’m willing to bet you’ll be terrified by the results.

For headache you’ll see anything from brain tumor to bleeding in the brain to meningitis and encephalitis.

Indigestion will lead you to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), peptic ulcer disease, cancer, or even abnormality of the pancreas or bile ducts.

And muscle cramps or twitching will run the gamut from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Your search will also give you the more common reasons for any of these symptoms.  Many people latch on to the more dramatic reasons and begin living like every day is their last.[1]

Others will downplay symptoms, assume that they have something simple to treat and go to the corner drug store and buy whatever over the counter remedy “seems” to treat their symptoms.

Either of these reactions could be courting disaster.  Especially if you have a condition that can lead to peripheral neuropathy.  Delaying treatment with your local NeuropathyDR® clinician can lead to severe lifelong nerve damage that will destroy your quality of life.

Expecting the Worst

If you fall into the “I know I’m dying” category, you will probably begin doctor shopping.  Going from specialist to specialist looking for someone to confirm the worst.  Even beyond the physical damage the stress of this process can do to your body, your emotional well-being is destroyed.

You live day to day expecting the worst with the specter of the Grim Reaper hanging over your shoulder.  That is no way to live.

The first thing you need to do is make appointment with your primary care provider, preferably a NeuropathyDR® clinician.  Tell them your symptoms and let them do some diagnostic testing.  If the results warrant it, they will get you started on a treatment protocol to not only alleviate your symptoms but treat the root cause of your medical problem.  The NeuropathyDR® treatment protocol includes nutrition counseling, diet planning, stress management techniques, and hands on adjustment to properly align your nervous system.

If you actually do have a serious condition, the earlier you start this process, the better off you’ll be.  The earlier you receive treatment for any condition that can lead to peripheral neuropathy, the less your chances of permanent nerve damage.

Ignoring the Obvious

The other end of the spectrum is the patient who does their own research, opts for the condition easily treatable with over the counter meds, and puts off seeing a specialist until their symptoms are much worse.

Let’s take the muscle twitching or cramping symptom as an example.  Yes, this could be caused by overworking the muscle or even a vitamin deficiency.   Either of those are easy to fix.

But what if it’s something more serious?

If the condition lasts longer than a few days, you need to see your local NeuropathyDR® clinician. You could have a condition leading to peripheral neuropathy.  Failing to treat the underlying cause quickly can lead to lasting nerve damage, muscle degeneration, and ultimately, even amputation of the affected limb.[2]

Something as simple as seeing a specialist well versed in conditions affecting the bones, muscles and bones, like your local NeuropathyDR® clinician, can make the difference between life in a wheelchair and getting back to normal quickly.

Cyberchondria vs. Informed Caution

Before you think we’re advocating running to the doctor every time you have a hang nail, that is definitely not the case.  We’re not advocating the spread of Cyberchondria[3] (i.e., the rising epidemic of online diagnosis and treatment), just asking that you approach any medical condition with informed caution.

An informed and educated patient is a gift for any physician.  Informed patients are much more likely to participate in their own care and keep their physician apprised of any changes in their condition.  That’s a win for both sides.

Instead of using the internet as a tool to diagnose (or, in many cases, misdiagnose) your own conditions, choose to use it as a means of educating yourself enough to provide your health care provider with all the information he needs to accurately and quickly diagnose your illness.

You’ll be making your life, and your NeuropathyDR® clinician’s life, much easier.

For more information on coping with your peripheral neuropathy, get your Free E-Book and subscription to the Weekly Ezine “Beating Neuropathy” at http://neuropathydr.com.

 

© Copyright 2012-Dr. John Hayes, Jr. Perfect Practice Web, LLC, NeuropathyDR®
Nothing on this site is intended to be construed as "labeling" relative to the FDA. The FDA has not reviewed, approved or evaluated the data on this site.