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Diabetes Causes – What are the Myths and Facts? by tom alter

In this Article I will tell you in detail what are the primary causes of Diabetes.


The two major causes of diabetes is the body’s malfunction to produce enough of the insulin hormone, and secondly the body develops a resistance to insulin.


• Type 1 diabetes is caused due to decrease in insulin production.


• Type 2 diabetes is caused due to resistance of insulin in peripheral tissues.


• In juvenile diabetes, the cause might perhaps be a lack of vitamin D.


Causes of diabetes -


Diabetes mellitus occurs when the pancreas does not create adequate or any of the hormone insulin, or when the insulin produced does not work proficiently. Thus, this causes the level of glucose in the blood to be higher than standard levels


1. In Type 1 diabetes, the cells in the pancreas that are responsible to make insulin are attacked and destroyed by the body’s own immune structure, causing a severe lack of insulin.

It is not exactly clear why this occurs, but probable triggers of this reaction could be -


• infection with a specific virus or bacteria;

• exposure to food-borne chemical toxins or


However, these are only supposition, and are yet to be confirmed.


Type 1 diabetes generally develops in children, teenagers or young adults. Most of the doctors and scientists believe this is a genetically caused condition and is not related to lifestyle habits.


Risk factors for developing Type 1 Diabetes include:


1. Family history - a child that has a parent or sibling with type 1 diabetes has a 2-6% possibility of developing the disease.


2. Autoimmune disorders - such as thyroid disease and celiac disease, increases the danger of type 1 diabetes.


3. Early stoppage of breastfeeding and/or exposure to cow’s milk - breastfeeding an infant for at least three months reducess the risk of type 1 diabetes. Some studies also show that exposure to cow’s milk or cow’s milk-based formula before one year of age may raise diabetes danger.


4. Ethnicity - Americans, Caucasians have a larger danger of type 1 diabetes as compared to African-Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans.


5. The past of childhood virus diseases


2. Type 2 diabetes is supposed to develop when:


• the receptors on the human cells in the body that react to the action of insulin drop short of being stimulated by it – also called as insulin resistance. In response to this, more insulin may be developed, and this over-production exhausts the insulin-manufacturing cells in the pancreas;


• There is just inadequate insulin available in the body and


• The insulin that is available may be abnormal and therefore doesn't function correctly.


The following risk factors increase the chances of developing Type 2 diabetes:


• growing age


• if it runs in the family, i.e. genetic


• obesity


• high blood pressure


• diet which is high in fat and low in fibre


• Sedentary lifestyle with no or very less physical movement.


• Any illness or disease that damages the pancreas and affects its capability to create insulin e.g. pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and thyrotoxicosis (a poisonous situation that results from an overactive thyroid gland).


• Hormone treatment, such as growth hormone, thyroid hormone and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH).


What not causes Diabetes?


It is also essential to be alert of the various myths that have arisen about the causes of diabetes over time.


Eating sweets, excess sugar or the wrong kind of food (fried and fatty food) does not cause diabetes but this type of a diet may cause obesity, and overweight people are usually prone to developing Type 2 diabetes. So, it is not the food, but the effect of food that may cause diabetes. So, if you like eating and are a foodoholic, make sure to burn out the extra calories that go on to make the flab.


Stress is not responsible to cause diabetes, while it may be a cause for the body turning on itself as in the case of Type 1 diabetes. Stress, however does absolutely make the symptoms worse for those who already have diabetes.


People with diabetes should avoid sugar and sweets. Sugar and sweets increase the blood glucose, but people with diabetes can securely eat sugar as part of their meal plan.

Diabetes is not transmissible. A person with diabetes cannot spread it on to anyone else.

The author has an exclusive website on Diabetes Mellitus. To get complete details on Causes of Diabetes visit http://www.diabetesmellitus-information.com/

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Overcoming Addictions by Gemma Bailey -

There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the reasons why addictions occur. Some believe that substances in themselves are not addictive, that it is the bodies chemical reaction to the substance to which the individual is addicted. This claim could certainly seem plausible when considering gambling or shopping addictions. There is no foreign chemical entering the body, rather that the body is creating its own chemical reaction (excitement/ adrenalin) in response to the external stimulus of gambling or shopping, and it is the feeling that the individual is addicted to, not the actual act itself.

It is also understandable that when one introduces chemicals to the body, chemical reactions occur. Some of these reactions stimulate reward centres within the brain which are triggered when a person exercises, falls in love or is praised or acknowledged.

Sometimes an addiction occurs when a person uses drugs, cigarettes, alcohol or even food, to alleviate stress and worry. In order to successfully treat these types of addiction, the person must focus on increasing their levels of self esteem so that they are able to create good feels about themselves without any need to have the feelings triggered by and external stimulus.

It is difficult to predict if one person is more likely to suffer from an addiction more than the next. Again, claims have been made that some suffer with an addictive personality. It is probably wiser to consider the social circumstances of addicts. For example, if your parents smoked, you are more likely to be yourself a smoker. If your friend take drugs, you are likely to be influenced by them. There are of course other factors. If a person is lacking in a structured life, or has experienced an over structured life, drugs can be a form of escape and detachment from a life which is perhaps, not entirely fulfilling.

Often, an addiction will increase in severity over time. This is because the body becomes regulated and used to the addictive chemical being in the body. To achieve the same level of stimulation, more of the addictive chemical is needed in the body. Many addictions can cause serious heath, social, physical and mental problems and when addictive substances are increased in a non- regulated environment, the consequences can be devastating.

Fortunately, changes can be made. Addicts do not necessarily need to be addicts for the rest of their lives. If the addict is willing and motivated to change, there are ways of easing and in some cases removing completely, the side effects when withdrawing from an addictive substance.

NLP can be used to help the client understand new perspectives about how the addiction has impacted on their lives. Techniques can be used to desensitize any negative associations from the past, and positive triggers can be installed for use when the cravings would normally occur.

Hypnosis can be used to remove habits and to create changes in the subconscious, the part of the mind responsible for creating and maintaining habits. Post hypnotic suggestions can be used to associate powerful negative feelings to the addictive act or substance, so that these powerful negative feelings are experienced in the future if ever then patient considers interacting with the addictive substance or act again.

Gemma Bailey is qualified hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner, registered with the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR), American Board of Hypnotherapy (ABH), British Board of NLP (BBNLP) and American Board of NLP (ABNLP) as well as being a member of the NHS Directory of Complimentary and Alternative Practitioners. Gemma is also a qualified trainer of NLP and runs a training company called People Building which provides NLP Practitioner and NLP Master Practitioner Training. Details of these trainings can be found at http://www.peoplebuilding.co.uk For more information on Hypnotherapy, NLP therapies and Life coaching, visit http://www.gemmabailey.co.uk

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Dropouts on the Rise in Los Angeles Schools … Many Blame New Graduation Requirements and an Unprepared Math Teaching Structure for Math by Patricia Hawke

In 2003, the Los Angeles schools implemented a new policy of graduation requirements. The intention was to graduate Los Angeles schools students that were better-educated and groomed for college and high-level jobs. Requirements included graduates to pass one year of algebra and one of geometry, or equivalent coursework.

Though the intention was good and the Los Angeles schools policy should work in theory, the reality is giving a much different and more dismal picture. Los Angeles schools students are unprepared to meet the new demands and are failing algebra by the thousands. Coursework that used to differentiate a college-bound student from those planning to attend technical schools or directly enter the workforce, algebra is now the cause of many Los Angeles schools students giving up and dropping out.

According to Los Angeles schools Superintendent Roy Romer, algebra is now the reason for more student dropouts than any other subject. The frustration of consistently failing algebra gives a sense of hopelessness. More and more students are giving up the hope of a high school diploma from the Los Angeles schools as futile. Some have even thought of committing suicide — all because of a mathematics requirement, and it will get worse before it gets better!

In the fall of 2004, 48,000 Los Angeles schools students in the ninth grade took Beginning Algebra. Of this group, 44 percent failed and seven percent received a grade of D, totaling 29,000 Los Angeles schools students either failing or just barely passing. Of those students who repeated the class in the spring, almost three-fourths failed again.

The failures and near failures, especially for students who had to repeat the class, has left many Los Angeles schools students discouraged and teachers frustrated.

One Los Angeles schools algebra teacher said that he failed 90 percent of his students, but seemed to blame the children for the failure. He noted that many students ignored their homework, rarely studied for tests, and often skipped his class. My question is this: Are the students lazy and do not care, as depicted by this teacher — or are they being taught algebra in a manner they cannot understand and have just given up, possibly long before this teacher was assigned to them?

I know from experience that not all mathematics teachers should be teaching math. I took basic mathematics coursework all through school, and then decided to attend college as an adult. This meant that I had to take a lot of extra mathematics classes to catch up to the other students’ skill level. In one class, I absolutely could not understand the instructor or the math he was teaching, which thoroughly confused me. In middle school, my math teacher told me I should have been taking advanced math, because it came so easy to me. Finally, I spoke to the college instructor after class, asking if he could explain it to me differently. His response, “If you can’t get it here, hire a tutor.” Later, in my eighth college math course of Inferential Statistics, I told my professor, who had a Ph.D. in statistics, about the incident. He said that anyone, who cannot explain mathematics at least five different ways, should not be teaching the course at any educational level.

Apparently, Los Angeles Schools Superintendent Romer agrees with my professor. He believes the fault is in the cumulative failure of the ability to teach mathematics adequately in the public school system.

With the increased mathematics requirements, there is a shortage of credentialed teachers in the Los Angeles schools at all levels — meaning that teachers are certified in their subject or had the subject as their major or minor in college. Los Angeles schools high schools have 20 percent of their math teachers who lack these credentials. Even the state has problems with 40 percent of all eighth grade teachers teaching outside of their field of expertise.

Many Los Angeles schools students are beginning algebra who cannot add fractions or convert percentages to decimals, and they do not know their multiplication tables. Algebra teachers cannot provide a review of basic math, since the Los Angeles schools mandate they teach at a rapid pace. Additionally, many students repeating algebra are assigned to the same teachers, from whom they previously did not learn.

Now, the Los Angeles schools have raised the graduation requirements again, before making the prior policy a success. By 2016, Los Angeles schools graduates, who are now in the second grade, will be required to meet the entry requirements for the University of California — whether they plan to attend college or not. This means that the 2016 graduates must pass a third year of advanced mathematics (such as Algebra II) and four years of English.

Knowing simple algebra means the difference between a menial job at near-to-minimum wage and a high-level career. Even blue-collar apprenticeship programs, such as electricians and plumbers, now require higher math skills to calculate needed materials. It is obvious that the skills are needed, so the solution for the Los Angeles schools is not a new policy that is more stringent than the first.

With some algebra being introduced now in kindergarten, the Los Angeles schools from elementary through high school must be equipped to appropriately teach it and motivate students to learn it. The “failure to graduate” threat only produces a higher dropout rate for the Los Angeles schools. The solution is credentialed teachers with a slower teaching pace and remedial math classes for students prior to repeating algebra.

Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. Patricia has a nose for research and writes stimulating news and views on school issues. For more information on Los Angeles schools visit http://www.schoolsk-12.com/California/Los-Angeles/index.html

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