About Me

Note from Maria: I am a Registered Dietitian with a Master of Public Health Degree in Nutrition from UNC at Chapel Hill. I have a passion for helping people with nutrition & wellness, especially moms. Women & moms provide care for everyone else often at the expense of considering their own needs. I hope to provide good resources to you to help you make nutrition and wellness a priority.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Go see your doctor!!

For anyone who doesn't get a check up regularly....this is for you!

I have seen more than one patient in the hospital who had diabetes and did not know it. Also, many people who are diagnosed with diabetes also don't seem to understand the consequences of not controlling their blood sugar. This is a huge problem!! Uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes causes sugar to remain in your blood and because it cannot get into your muscle and fat cells. This excess sugar in your blood wreaks havoc on the body by building up in places it should not - such as your kidneys, eyes, arteries, etc. This is why people with uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes have trouble with their vision, may loose feeling in their extremities, have increased risk for heart disease, have "sick" toes, get kidney disease/kidney failure, etc.

Risk factors for diabetes:
  • Overweight
  • Inactivity
  • Age >45 years
  • Family history of diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Low HDL or high triglycerides
  • Some ethnic/racial groups including Hispanics, African descent & American Indians
  • Previously having gestational diabetes

If you want to take a risk test for diabetes....follow this link:
http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/?loc=DropDownDB-RiskTest

Symptoms of diabetes:
  • Frequent urination
  • Excessive thirst
  • Extreme hunger
  • Irritability
  • Unusual weight loss
  • Recurring infections or wounds that won't heal
  • Dark velvety skin in folds of the body called acanthosis nigricans, click here for more info and for a picture of what it looks like  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acanthosis-nigricans/DS00653

For more info on diabetes, check out the website for the American Diabetes Association
http://www.diabetes.org/

Take care of yourself by having a regular wellness check up completed once each year. Be sure to ask your doctor what screening tests you need!

Stay well!!


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