• Healthy Aging
• Reducing Risk Factors
• Healthy Living
• Q & A
• Helpful Links
• Diabetes News

Welcome to the March 2006 issue of Access Digest. Recent medical breakthroughs have dramatically improved our prospects for living longer, healthier lives. People with diabetes are certainly no exception. This month we'll look at some of the ways we can improve our longevity. We call it "Healthy Aging".

Our featured recipe of the month is for delicious Marinated Lamb Chops. 

As always, when you see "Read More" at the end of an article, or something that is underlined, you can click on it to be linked to another Web site where you'll find more information. When you find a site that you may want to visit again in the future, you can bookmark it.

Each month we receive questions from our readers. We post some of the more frequent questions and answers for everyone to read. If you have questions or comments of your own, please email them to us at the end of this issue.

We hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter. Thank you for choosing Access Diabetic Supply as your choice for diabetic supplies.

Healthy Aging: Improving Your Memory

Better control of type 2 diabetes can improve your "working memory" -- the type of memory people use to keep information in their minds for short periods of time and to complete day-to-day activities. 

Many people with type 2 diabetes have mild cognitive dysfunction. Better control of glucose (sugar) levels can lead to an improvement in learning and memory ability. A recent study led to significant reductions in blood sugar after 24 weeks, with a significant improvement in working memory.

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Healthy Aging begins long before you hit old age. Now a large study has confirmed that, suggesting a new approach for those hoping to live a long and healthy life. People with diabetes and others should aim to reach age 50 with as few risk factors for heart disease and stroke as possible. Not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, controlling diabetes, and lowering blood pressure and cholesterol can drastically reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease -- and add 10 years to your life. 

The results were based on findings from 3,564 men and 4,362 women, and strongly support the need for modifying your risk factors as early in life as possible. The lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease among 50-year-old men with two major risk factors was almost 69 percent, compared with 5 percent in those with fewer risk factors; for women, those with two or more risk factors had a 50 percent lifetime risk, compared with 8 percent in those with fewer risks. 

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People participating in a study of intensive diabetes therapy showed improvements in their neuropathy symptoms, according to a report in Diabetes Care. The study involved 1,257 subjects. The intensive approach involved at least three injections of insulin per day, while the conventional approach involved no more than two. 

After being followed for an average of 6.5 years, all of the subjects were encouraged to use the intensive therapy. The patients were then evaluated annually for neuropathy and other complications. Signs and symptoms of neuropathy were also less common in the first intensive therapy group. Patients who received intensive therapy were 64 percent and 45 percent less likely to have symptoms and signs, respectively, of neuropathy compared with those who received conventional therapy. This benefit persisted for at least eight years after the end of treatment. 

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Lifestyle Change: What can I do to promote Healthy Aging?

Adopting healthy behaviors such as eating nutritious foods, being physically active, and avoiding tobacco use can go a long way toward achieving a goal of Healthy Aging. These include:

• Regular physical activity greatly reduces a person's risks for heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It also helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; helps to relieve the pain of arthritis; reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression; and can decrease the need for hospitalizations, physician visits, and medications. 
  

• Good nutrition, including a diet that is low in saturated fats and contains five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day helps reduce the occurrence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, some types of cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
  

• Avoiding tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Tobacco use increases the risk for diseases of the heart and cancer. Smoking cessation has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages, regardless of whether they have a smoking-related disease.
  
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Below are a few of the typical questions our customer care department has answered on this month's theme. Each question is linked to a Web site that gives an answer and provides more detail. We hope you find this section helpful.