Type 2 Diabetes - Menopause In Women With Diabetes

Are you going through the medical moment in time known as menopause? Although socially the word menopause refers to a process, medically menopause does indeed refer to a precise moment: the date of your last period. The time leading to and following menopause amount to a huge change for women, both physically and socially.

Do you experience symptoms of impending menopause such as hot flashes, erratic periods, and vaginal dryness? Do you know these physical problems associated with the menopausal stage manifest more in the presence of a concomitant Type 2 diabetes problem? Are you aware menopause can greatly affect blood sugar levels and vice versa?

Menopause is the cessation of menses for twelve or more consecutive months. In previously menstruating women whose ovaries were both surgically removed, menopause begins the very minute after the operation.

Johns Hopkins Point-of-Care Information Technology states that Type 2 diabetes is the most common health problem in women in their postmenopausal period. In fact, 20 percent of all postmenopausal women have this metabolic problem. The changes during menopause such as the:

increased tendency to central obesity,increased levels of blood LDL,decreased HDL levels, andincreased insulin resistance

contribute to the occurrence of Type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance in the face of a stable insulin-secreting pancreas during the menopausal stage also contributes to the problem. Women with Type 2 diabetes during their premenopausal stage experience more problems during their menopausal period. They experience more hot flushes and vaginal dryness compared to women without this blood sugar problem.

What are the important pointers in the management of Type 2 diabetes after the menopausal?

1. The risk for cardiovascular disease increases after the menopausal period according to a study conducted in Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington and published in the June 2003 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Therefore, women in their postmenopausal stage should be encouraged to control the risk factors associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases.

2. Weight management and prevention of weight gain should be emphasized in patients during their perimenopausal period because weight gain has a very strong influence to the development of type 2 diabetes, says the said study published in the June 2003 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

3. Women with diabetes during their perimenopausal stage should use hormonal replacement therapy to decrease the symptoms of an impending menopause. The study published in the July 2009 issue of Maturitas states that lowest effective dose of hormonal replacement therapy is generally recommended for this population.

4. Women with Type 2 diabetes are in greater risk for the development of endometrial cancer compared to women without diabetes. Therefore, in women with intact uterus, estrogen therapy should be coupled with progesterone therapy, says the said study published by Maturitas.

5. In women with cardiovascular disease and other risk factors, non-hormonal treatment management is recommended for hot flushes. Vitamin D, biphosphates and calcium may be used for osteoporosis.

Blood Sugar Levels: Decreasing levels of estrogen and progesterone in your bloodstream lead to decreased blood sugar levels as your body's responsiveness to insulin improves. As a result, you may need to adjust your diabetes medication or insulin regimen if you require insulin.

You may also need to make adjustments to your meal and exercise plan as menopause slows down your metabolism. In other words it will be easier to gain weight whilst eating fewer calories or kilojoules.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments

Diabetes Symptoms in Women - Be Aware Of These Diabetes Symptoms Before They Kill You

Are you experiencing some diabetes symptoms? Are you scared of being diagnosed with diabetes? If your answer is yes; then I am not surprised as generally women are termed as scary as well as weaker by men.

However being a woman I believe that women are much more sensible as well as stronger mentally. This is true that it is slightly difficult to manage a diabetic life; however overall it is good as well as healthy lifestyle. All a diabetic person requires is patience with a little bit of management. The most important thing here is to start the treatment the moment diabetes is diagnosed. The early treatment for diabetes is not possible without the proper diagnosis and understanding of diabetes symptoms in women.

If the problem is diagnosed at an early stage one can easily avoid the severe intensity of diabetic complications. The hectic lifestyle has made diabetes a common disease. The ratio of women suffering from diabetes has also considerably increased in the past few years. The symptoms of diabetes differ from one woman to another. One of the most common diabetes symptoms in women is sexual and hormonal disorder. Diabetic women are more prone to complications during menstruation and yeast infection in vagina. Other diseases linked with sexual organs are most commonly found in diabetic women.

There are three types of diabetes

Diabetes type 1Diabetes type 2Gestational diabetes

The women who are suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes have to be very careful about their diet. The chief factors of diabetic diet management are time as well as quantity of the meals. It is important that diet must contain healthy as well as nutritious food items. Only a prescribed quantity of diet should be consumed at the recommended time. Poor eating habits and obesity are two most major causes of diabetes onset. Other contributing factors are poor lifestyle habits, stress, no exercise and inadequate sleep

The third type is the gestational diabetes. It occurs during pregnancy and is naturally cured after the birth of the baby.

Type 1 diabetes symptoms are developed quickly within a very short time span; whereas the symptoms for diabetes type 2 onsets slowly. People who suffer from mild case of diabetes are unable to detect the symptoms.

There are chances that they do not experience any notable diabetes symptoms for a very long time period. It is critically important for all women to be aware of the diabetes symptoms so that they can detect the problem as soon as it arrives. Following are the most common diabetes symptoms in women;

Unquenchable thirstSudden weight lossExcessive urinationBlurriness in visionSlow healing of woundsDry as well as itchy skinRecurrent vaginal infectionsIncrease in appetiteSwelling of feetNumbness and tingling in hand and feet

Any diabetic woman at one time may suffer from all or none of the above mentioned symptoms. So it is extremely important to listen to the body. If there is even more than one diabetes symptom then it is advisable to consult the doctor so that the problem can be detected as early as possible.