| Welcome to the July issue of the Access
Digest newsletter. This month, we discuss
nephropathy or otherwise known as kidney disease.
As with most complications associated with diabetes,
managing your glucose level, blood pressure, and
cholesterol can greatly reduce the risks associated
with diabetes. In this issue, we take a closer look
at the causes of nephropathy, and how to prevent
it. |
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In
This Issue |
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Diabetic nephropathy is a disease of the kidneys
that takes several years to develop. The kidneys
filter your blood and remove waste products through
thousands of tiny blood vessels that act as filters.
Since diabetes may cause significant fluctuations
in blood glucose, these blood vessels may become
damaged or destroyed. Once they are damaged,
the kidneys can no longer filter the blood properly
and the patient develops "End-Stage Renal Disease",
ESRD. ESRD is a condition that requires a
kidney transplant or dialysis in order to live.
Diabetic nephropathy is a frequent complication
of diabetes for both type 1 and type 2 diabetic
patients and often ends in ESRD. Ten to twenty-one
percent of people with diabetes have nephropathy.
Essential
treatments for kidney disease includes tight control
of blood glucose and reducing blood pressure.
A mild rise in blood pressure can quickly put
a great deal of stress on your kidneys.
You can reduce blood pressure by losing excess
weight, reducing alcohol consumption, avoiding
tobacco, reducing salt in your diet, and
getting regular exercise. The New England Journal
of Medicine, September 30, 1993 study found, "The
Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT),
a 10-year study which ended in June 1993, proved
among type 1 patients that improved blood glucose
control can prevent the onset and delay the progression
of diabetic nephropathy. Therapy that keeps blood
glucose levels as close to normal as possible
reduced damage to the kidneys by 35-56%."
The common theme for significantly reducing the
complications of diabetes is to maintain a proper
diet. Diet applies to all complications
of diabetes including nephropathy. This does not
mean that people should go on a crash or fad diet
to lose weight. Many of these diets will
have more detrimental affects then the potential
benefits. The key to losing weight and maintaining
a proper diet is making a life style change. It's
essential to eat a healthy diet everyday that
will help reduce the potential complications of
diabetes. I'm always amazed that people will put
High-test gasoline in their cars but put Low-test
food in their bodies.
Last
month we received several questions from our readers.
We have posted some of the more common questions
for everyone to read. If you have questions or
comments, please email them by clicking on the
link in that section of the newsletter and send
them to us.
We
hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter and
thank you for choosing Access Diabetic
Supply as your choice for diabetic supplies. |
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Kidney Disease - Nephropathy |
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What is Nephropathy?
The American Diabetes Association defines Diabetic
Nephropathy as a progressive disease that takes
several years to develop. Many tiny blood vessels
in the kidney act as filters to remove wastes, chemicals,
and excess water from the blood. In diabetic nephropathy,
these blood vessels are damaged, become leaky, and
protein eventually spills into the urine (proteinuria).
Eventually, the damaged filters are destroyed, putting
more stress on the remaining filters and eventually
causing them to become damaged. When the entire
filtration system breaks down, the kidneys fail
to function, and this is called end-stage renal
disease (ESRD). ESRD is a condition where the patient
requires dialysis or a kidney transplant in order
to live."
Read more
The Statistics (source: American Diabetes Association)
- Ten to 21% of all people with diabetes
have nephropathy.
- Approximately 43% of new cases of ESRD
are attributed to diabetes.
- ESRD incidence attributed to diabetes is
increasing more rapidly than ESRD due to other
causes. From 1988 to 1991, diabetes accounted
for 33.8% of new ESRD cases, up from 23% of
new cases in 1982. By 1999, this number reached
43%.
- In
the United States, the incidence of reported
ESRD in people with diabetes is more than 4
times as high in African Americans, 4 to 6 times
as high in Mexican Americans and 6 times as
high in Native Americans than in the general
population of diabetes patients.
Read more |
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Nephropathy Prevention
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There are several things you can do to help
prevent Nephropathy.
- Frequent monitoring
by your Health Care team - it is vital to visit
your doctor regularly
- Maintain tight glucose control
- Reduce high
blood pressure - this has a dramatic affect
on kidney function
- Lose weight
- healthy diet
- Eat less salt
- Avoid alcohol
and tobacco
- Regular exercise
- Doctors may
prescribe ACE inhibitor drugs to help reduce
high blood pressure and kidney disease
Read more
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Healthy Living:
Monthly Recipe & Lifestyle Changes |
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Eating
healthy for many people means making dramatic changes
in their diet. If you're accustomed to eating
unhealthy foods like soda (diet or regular), sweets,
potatoes, eggs, pastries, etc. - making significant
changes are very difficult. Experts recommend
making very small changes to improve your overall
health. This is not for the short-term but
a lifestyle change for life. Take it slow
and easy - there are many foods that are not only
good for you, but taste good as well. You
need to try many new things and find the ones you
prefer.
Start by educating yourself and learning the types
of food that are healthy. We have several
Helpful Links on the right side of this newsletter
that pertain to diet. Once you have a little
bit of knowledge, start making small changes like
eliminating soda (diet or regular - they are both
bad), potatoes, and limiting your sugar intake.
Every few weeks change something else - try eating
oatmeal for breakfast. If oatmeal doesn't
first appeal to you, try adding small amounts of
fruit, like strawberries, blueberries, or even peaches
- they will sweeten the oatmeal and you might actually
like it. I also like adding chopped almonds
to add extra protein - it also makes it more crunchy
and improves the taste.
The keys to improving your diet are:
- Education - Learn the proper
foods to eat
- Read ALL food labels - you'll be
amazed what they are putting in your food
- Slowly make changes in your diet
- Make changes every few weeks
- Constantly try new foods - the worst
that can happen is that you don't like the taste.
You don't have to like or eat everything
- Vary your diet - variety is the
spice of life - try to rotate your foods every
4 days.
- Eat a lot of leafy greens like romaine
salad
- Reduce the amount of foods high
in cholesterol - such as red meat
- Reduce your salt intake
- Work with a dietician to
help plan your meals
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This month, our feature recipe is a very healthy
entree - Vegetable Lasagna. This entree
includes pasta and vegetables which are both very
low on the glycemic index. This recipe is very nutritious,
low in calories, fat, cholesterol, and carbohydrates.
It is a healthy meal any time.
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Vegetable
Lasagna
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Vegetable Lasagna -
Source: American Diabetes
Association
Ingredients
- 1 cup - sliced carrots
- 1 cup - sliced zucchini
- 1/2 cup - diced red pepper
- 1 cup - chopped spinach
- 1 cup - low-fat cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup - part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2 ea. - egg substitute
- 1 tsp - minced fresh basil
- 1 tsp - minced fresh oregano
- 1 ea. - fresh ground pepper to taste
- 2 cups - low-fat, low-sodium marinara sauce
- 9 ea. - uncooked lasagna noodles
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Directions
- To prepare the vegetables, steam the carrots
over boiling water for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini
and steam 2 more minutes. Add the red pepper
and steam 2 more minutes. Add the spinach and
steam 1 more minute. Remove the vegetables from
the heat. Combine all remaining ingredients
except the marinara sauce and lasagna noodles.
- To assemble the lasagna, place a little
sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish. Place
3 noodles on top of the sauce. Add a layer of
vegetables and cover with a layer of the cheese
mixture. Add some sauce. Repeat. Add the last
layer of noodles and top with some sauce. Refrigerate
overnight. The next day, preheat the oven to
350 degrees. Bake the lasagna for 40 minutes
until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes prior to
serving. Cut into squares and serve. (If you
prefer to bake the lasagna immediately, cook
the pasta before layering it.)
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Nutritional
Information - Vegetable Lasagna |
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| Amount
Per Serving (serving size 1/2
cup of cooked pasta) |
Calories
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271 |
| Calories
from Fat |
16 |
| Total
Fat |
2g
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| Saturated
Fat |
1g |
| Cholesterol |
10mg |
| Sodium
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520mg |
| Total
Carbohydrates
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46g |
| Dietary
Fiber |
4g
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| Sugars |
11g |
| Protein
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18g |
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Questions
& Answers - Ask the Experts |
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Each
month our staff will provide answers to questions
and take your feedback. If you have urgent questions
about your order or your meter, we encourage you
to call our customer care department at 1-800-276-5712.
We will do our best to provide answers to all
your questions, and we encourage you to also consult
your physician.
Below
are a few of the common questions our customer
care department answered from our last newsletter.
We hope you find them helpful.
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Access
Diabetic Supply |
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