NaturalHealthGuru.co.uk

Natural Health GuruDr Sarah Brewer

Sarah, experienced GP and Hospital Doctor, trained at Cambridge University. She has a special interest in nutritional health and the safe use of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements. As well as her medical qualifications (MA, MB, BChir) she is completing a masters degree in Nutritional Medicine. Sarah writes regular health columns for a variety of newspapers and magazines.

Treatment

Diabetes is treated with a combination of education, diet and exercise, with hypoglycaemic drugs or insulin replacement therapy added in as necessary. Maintaining good control of your glucose levels helps to reduce the risk of long-term complications.

The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial looked at the outcomes between two different treatment regimes for 1440 people with Type 1 diabetes. More

The UK Prospective Diabetes Study looked at the outcomes of two different treatment options in 3867 people with newly-diagnosed, Type 2 diabetes. More

Target Blood Glucose Levels

The suggested target blood glucose levels for people with diabetes are:

• 4-7mmol/l (72-126mg/dl) before meals
• Less than 9mmol/l (162mg/dl) 1½ - 2 hours after a meal.

More

Monitoring your progress

When you have diabetes, a number of regular checks are needed to monitor your general health. Some must be carried out daily, by yourself, others every one to three months (by yourself or a healthcare professional) and yet others on an annual basis by your doctor.

Key nutritional tips from Dr Sarah Brewer

Clinical trials suggest that losing weight, boosting activity levels and improving diet can delay the onset of type-2 diabetes and reduce your risk of developing it by 58%. Exercise increases insulin sensitivity of muscle cells and burns up more glucose, so less has to be ‘handled’ in other ways. Maintaining a healthy weight also increases the insulin sensitivity of fat cells – perhaps because they have more room to store excess glucose as fat, rather than trying to keep it out.

Here are my Top Ten ways to help ward off diabetes and reduce its complications More

Supplements

A number of supplements are beneficial for people with pre-diabetes (metabolic syndrome) or diabetes. More

Each of the programs in Natural Health Guru provide a full list of vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements to take, and the optimum doses, whether you are following the Gentle, Moderate or Full-Strength programs.

Remember, always monitor blood glucose levels carefully when starting to take a supplement and discuss any changes in your glucose control with your GP.

Only use supplements under the supervision of a medical herbalist or doctor if you are already taking drugs to lower blood glucose levels; this is important to avoid low blood glucose (hypoglycaemic) attacks

Daily, quarterly and annual medical checks

When you have diabetes it is important to have regular health checks. Some should be performed daily, others every 3 to 12 months. More

Check your cholesterol levels

When you have diabetes, you need to keep an eye on other heart disease risk factors such as your cholesterol, triglyceride and homocysteine levels. Your doctor can arrange these blood tests, or you can have them done privately. Print out the following chart to record your key results now and in the future…. More

Maintaining a healthy weight

This chart helps you work out the optimal healthy weight range for your height, for which you should aim.

IMPERIAL CHART

METRIC CHART

Keeping on track

While following my Natural Health Guru programs, you need to record your weight, blood glucose control and blood pressure regularly to chart your improvement, using a chart such as the one provided here. More

Remember, your doctor and complementary healthcare professionals are there to help. Don’t struggle on your own – seek help if, despite your best efforts, your health profile is not improving as well as you would wish.