Schizophrenia may cause type 2 diabetes, new study finds

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "People with schizophrenia tend to die up to 30 years earlier than the general population. Many of these untimely deaths are due to physical disorders, including heart attacks and stroke, for which diabetes is a major risk factor. Antipsychotic drugs are known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, but there are other things that make schizophrenics particularly susceptible to the disorder, including poor diet and a lack of exercise. However, our latest study found that the risk of developing diabetes in people with schizophrenia remains high even when we take these factors into account. People with long-term schizophrenia are three times more likely than the general population to have diabetes. The link between schizophrenia and diabetes was first made back in the 19th century. This was long before the use of antipsychotics, and in an era when diets were less likely to cause diabetes. This could suggest that there is a causative link between schizophrenia and diabetes. Our study examined whether diabetes risk is already raised in people at the onset of schizophrenia – before they’ve started taking antipsychotic drugs or when they’ve only just started taking them."I do not know if I was susceptible to diabetes before I received this mental illness. My grandma and two aunts had it.  Although my parents do not have it or my brothers and sisters. I am susceptible to it and have had it although I tell my doctors it is diet controlled for the last three years.
The article goes on to say: "We pooled data from multiple studies that examined evidence of diabetic risk in blood samples from people with early schizophrenia prescribed little or no antipsychotic medication. Diabetes is characterised by elevated blood glucose. The higher the level of glucose in the blood, the higher the risk of diabetes. We demonstrated that compared with healthy individuals, people with schizophrenia had higher levels of glucose in the blood. We also looked at levels of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that triggers the movement of glucose from blood into tissue. Raised insulin levels are seen in type 2 diabetes. We demonstrated higher levels of insulin, and increased levels of insulin resistance in individuals with early schizophrenia. Hints of a direct role of schizophrenia in diabetes. These results remained statistically significant even when we restricted our analysis to studies where people with schizophrenia were matched to healthy controls with regards their diet, the amount of exercise they engaged in and their ethnic background. This suggests that our results were not wholly driven by differences in lifestyle factors or ethnicity between the two groups, and may therefore point towards a direct role for schizophrenia in increasing risk of diabetes."  I walk at least three miles three days out of the week.  I also take 1000 mg of cinnamon every morning with breakfast. What the cinnamon does it knock down your diabetes number.  Mine before I took cinnamon was 5.6 and after I take cinnamon everyday at breakfast and my number drops to 5.4 which is even better. 5.7 is pre-diabetes.  Some places they only sell the cinnamon in 500 mg then you take two.  Here I only found it at Rite Aid.
The article ends with: "There are several factors that could increase the likelihood of developing both conditions. These include a shared genetic risk, as well as shared developmental risk factors. For example, premature birth and low birth weight are recognised as risk factors for the development of both schizophrenia and diabetes later in life. Raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol is also a risk factor for diabetes. It is possible that the stress associated with developing schizophrenia, which sees levels of cortisol rise, may also contribute to higher diabetic risk. These findings are a wake-up call that we need to rethink the link between diabetes and schizophrenia and start prevention right from the onset of schizophrenia. It is a case of treating the mind and the body right from the start." That is what they need to do is start checking right away and start people exercising and  watching all they eat.  I did splurge during the holidays and was worried when I took my labs this December.  This disease I do not know why I have it.  It was blow to find out I had a mental illness.  Then when I stopped smoking and my weight increased and my doctor checked I had diabetes. I do not know if it was the weight gain.  Since then I have lost around thirty pounds my walking and taking care of what I eat.

I'm 43 and schizophrenic. According to the statistics, I'll be dead in 17 years

That is the title of this article I am reviewing today. "'You’ve got a choice. You can either buy cigarettes, or get food to see you through the week. For most people it’s a no-brainer. Of course you’d buy food. But if you’re suffering from schizophrenia, living on the disability support pension and facing other psycho-social challenges, then the choice isn’t so clear. 'Some of my patients will choose cigarettes over food, my clinical specialist nurse told me. They also drink huge amounts of coffee. I’ve even seen people eating dried coffee from the tin.' So what’s going on here? I’m schizophrenic, and aside from dealing with the symptoms of the illness, there’s another statistic which I’m struggling to come to grips with. People with schizophrenia tend to live between 14 and 20 years less than the general community. 'With schizophrenia, my thoughts can be like pieces of a mismatched jigsaw puzzle'  Joshua Gliddon

People are often afraid to ask questions about my illness. In Schizophrenia Awareness Week, I want to set the record straight – it’s nothing to fear Every year, 9,000 Australians with a serious mental illness will die prematurely. We face higher incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, very high levels of unemployment, and many of us are in temporary housing. It’s not a good mix.

I’m also 43. The average life expectancy for a non-Indigenous Australian male is around 80 years, a bit longer for women. I smoke, and weigh more than I should. According to the statistics, I’ve got about another 17 years left in me. That’s quite sobering." That is the truth when I smoked most of my social security check went on cigarettes and I was thin for that reason. Coffee I had to quit because I drank so much it affected the Moban I was taking and my symptoms would show up. For me coffee was harder to quit than cigarettes my body went through changes when I quit.  Now that I am on Geodon I can drink coffee again but I do not crave like before I only have two cups in the morning and that is enough for me now.
The article goes on to say: "Professor Amanda Baker, a senior researcher at the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) specialising in schizophrenia, told me there are a number of reasons why people with schizophrenia have reduced life expectancies. The big ones are poor lifestyle, unemployment and social isolation. She said that around 85% of people with schizophrenia smoke, compared with approximately 20% of the general population. One of the main reasons people smoke, she said, is that the medications used to treat the illness are often sedative and dulling, and so people use tobacco and caffeine heavily because they’re stimulants. The medications also have other side effects. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, the anti-psychotics used to treat schizophrenia have a negative effect on metabolism. When I was first put on Olanzapine, a potent anti-psychotic, I put on about 25 kilos in a matter of months. I’ve moved onto a different medication since then, but it’s also weight unfriendly, and despite doing moderate exercise, I’ve never been able to shake the weight I gained. According to Baker, until recently there wasn’t a lot of attention paid to the physical health aspects of serious mental illness. Clinicians didn’t discourage patients from smoking because there was a pervasive attitude that you 'don’t upset the schizophrenics.'" When I quit smoking I put on a lot of weight I lost a lot by walking although the most recently lost was because of the three surgeries for lung cancer. I am trying not to put it back on again.
The article ends: "Not so long ago it was also OK to smoke in psychiatric institutions. Public facilities have clamped down on that, but smoking is still common in private hospitals.
Is there anything that can be done?  'People with schizophrenia are generally more dependent, and have less coping skills than the general population, and that makes it very hard for them to give up or make lifestyle changes,' Baker said. Brain’s immune cells hyperactive in schizophrenia New research links the onset of psychosis to the brain’s inflammatory response.  So the initiative needs to come from both patients and their care team. While psychiatrists in the past were only focused on medication and the mind, these days, said Baker, they are being encouraged to have a wider view of their patient’s health, both physical and mental. What needs to happen is a greater focus by clinicians on the overall wellbeing of their patients. Baker said this is finally occurring. 'Psychiatrists are being encouraged to look after the physical, as well as mental health of their patients, and that means addressing smoking, as well as diet and exercise,' she said. That’s a good start, but for the meantime, people with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia will continue to die young. And that is a major downside of being sick.'" I know if they pass this new tax on cigarettes it is the mental ill that some just will not quit and use all their money to buy the cigarettes.  I know I used to be the same way.  I had  a reason to quit because I wanted my granddaughter to always come over my house.  My daughter did not want her around smoking.  Which I see now was good.

Those with Severe Mental Illness Rarely Tested for Diabetes Despite High Risk

That is the title of this article I am writing about. "Despite the fact that individuals with severe mental illness (SMI) are two to three times more likely to have type II diabetes than the general population, low-income patients on Medicaid are rarely screened for it, according to a new study led by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).  The findings support growing efforts to integrate mental health services with primary care to improve diagnosis and treatment of health issues associated with mental illness, the researchers said.  Although many factors contribute to the increased risk, treatment with antipsychotic medication raises the risk for diabetes even further. The American Diabetes Association and American Psychiatric Association both recommend that physicians conduct annual diabetes screening for any patients taking antipsychotic medications, but until now it has been unclear how often screenings actually occur.  For the study, researchers examined diabetes screenings in a group of 50,915 publicly insured adults with SMI who were on antipsychotic medication. The findings showed that over 70 percent of these patients did not receive a diabetes-specific test. However, those who had at least one primary care visit in addition to mental health services were twice as likely to be screened.  Our health care system is fragmented for people with mental illness. For example, the mental health electronic medical record is totally separate from their primary care electronic record, truly limiting the quality of care this vulnerable population can receive,' said Christina Mangurian, M.D., M.A.S., associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the UCSF School of Medicine and lead author of the study."I have labs done every three months. I diet controlled diabetes.  My doctor said because of the antipsychotic medicine I have to work harder to control that it does not come back. I walk and watch the corn fructose syrup that is a bad one I try and stay away. I do not like the taste of diet pop either.
The article goes on to say: "As a community psychiatrist, I see so many people who are untreated or under-treated for physical health problems because of this lack of integration.'  'Many of these patients are dying of premature cardiovascular disease,' said Mangurian. 'They tend to smoke cigarettes, hardly exercise, and may deal with food insecurity as a result of financial problems.'
Even further, their antipsychotic medication disrupts metabolic function, causing them to gain weight rapidly, which can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes.  The study is the first to examine diabetes screening in this high-risk population served in community mental health clinics. In an effort to integrate primary care and mental health, the California Department of Health Services’ Data and Research Committee combined public mental health and medical records during a State Quality Improvement project. This allowed the researchers to compare individuals across the two datasets.
The findings showed that about 30 percent of the patients with severe mental illness received a diabetes-specific screening and about 30 percent received no medical tests at all. Patients who had at least one primary care visit were more than twice as likely to be screened for diabetes as those who did not.  Integrated health care would make it easier for patients to get screening and treatment, said study co-author Penelope Knapp, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at University of California, Davis." I hope people with mental illness take this serious because it is.  Last week I told people in the blog that I was worried because of my lungs. I still am worried but I thought about it last night whatever is wrong I will beat it I have overcome so much in my life. I will overcome this also. Like I always say those grand kids need me and I need them.
The article ends: "'We can do better,' Knapp said. 'It’s really important for individuals with medical and mental health problems to have their health care in one system. It’s a no-brainer that these should be integrated.'  There are many factors that could explain why the majority of SMI patients in this study were never screened for diabetes, Knapp said. The study examined people with Medicaid, a program that provides health and medical services for low-income individuals and families.
'One of the barriers for not-so-wealthy people is that they can’t see two providers on the same day. If the psychiatrist prescribes antipsychotics, that person may not be able to take off work another day for a followup appointment with a physician,' Knapp said.  An integrated health care system would allow mental health and medical records to 'talk' to each other, an essential asset for patients with mental illness. If the physician could access mental health records, they could see the diagnosis and prescription and immediately understand the risk of diabetes, Mangurian said. This is especially important for young patients.  “The young adults who develop a psychotic illness in college or high school — they are the ones I’m worried about,” Mangurian said.  “Diabetes in a young adult is not on a primary care doctor’s radar. These doctors need to learn that if their patient has a diagnosis of schizophrenia or is taking an antipsychotic medication, they are at increased risk.” I let my doctor know that I am taking antipyschotic medicine and that I have paranoid schizophrenia.  It is important that you share everything if you want to get treated in the right way. You don't want something that will cause a reaction with your other medicines.

Wellness Advice Often Lacking for Mentally Ill

That is the title of this article I am writing about.  "A new study finds health care providers often fail to provide dietary and exercise advice to patients with diabetes, or to those who display symptoms of mental illness.  People with mental illness are often at high risk for diabetes as well as other “lifestyle” diseases.  During the investigation researchers discovered more than half of patients with symptoms of mental illness, and nearly one-third of those who also had diabetes, failed to receive appropriate health education.  The study has been published in the journal Diabetes Educator.
Although exercise and dietary recommendations have been a mainstay of diabetic care, researchers say those with mental illness can also benefit from a wellness lifestyle. Appropriate amounts of physical activity and healthy dietary choices can improve the quality of life and prevent debilitating health problems for diabetics and for those with mental illness. Providers should not miss the opportunity to advise people with mental illness on health promotion and lifestyle changes, said researcher Xiaoling Xiang of the University of Illinois. 'It is important that providers counsel people in this population as early as possible about exercise and nutritional changes that reduce the risks associated with diabetes — before risk factors such as hypertension and high cholesterol manifest,' said Xiang, a doctoral candidate in social work. People with mental illness have significantly higher rates of health problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol that could be prevented or alleviated with lifestyle modifications. They are also at increased risk of premature death, according to the study." People need to know before they develop theses diseases.  I know for one I do not want any health problems in my life.  I know that walking helps and I do walk.  The treadmill also helps.
The article goes on to say: "In the current study, participants ranged from 18 to 70 years old. The prevalence of diabetes was 15.6 percent among people in the data sample who had symptoms of serious psychological distress, compared with 7.9 percent of their peers.  Rates for all of the clinical conditions that predispose patients to diabetes were significantly higher among participants with symptoms of mental illness than among their counterparts.  More than 70 percent of those with mental illness had body mass indexes above 25, compared with 64.3 percent of their peers. They also had significantly higher rates of hypertension (42.1 percent, compared with 25.6 percent), hyperlipidemia (42 percent, versus 30.6 percent), and cardiovascular disease (29.7 percent, versus 14.7 percent).  People with symptoms of psychological distress who had not been diagnosed with diabetes at the time of the study had an average of more than three diabetes risk factors, compared with their counterparts, who averaged 2.4 risk factors.  The likelihood of patients receiving lifestyle counseling increased in accordance with their number of risk factors, however. While only 10.4 percent of patients who had no diabetes risk factors said they had received dietary advice from their health care providers, more than 65 percent of people with five or more risk factors had received dietary counseling." I know that before I had a mental illness and stopped smoking I hardly had to worry about my weight.  Now I have to lose a least twenty pounds and I still will not be at the weight I was before all this happened.
The article ends with: "'Given the elevated risk for diabetes among individuals with symptoms of psychological distress, even greater numbers of clinicians in the study sample should have been providing lifestyle counseling,' Xiang said.  'However, the increase in the rates of diabetes and diabetes risk factors seems to have outpaced the increase in the rates of provider advice for this population.' Because people with mental illness tend to utilize outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services at much higher rates than the general population, clinicians have increased opportunities to educate patients about the benefits of a healthy diet and physical activity, Xiang said.
Researchers used data from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. This survey interviews a nationally representative sample of participants multiple times over a two-year period about their health and use of medical services. Subjects in the data sample who had symptoms of mental illness had scored 13 or higher on the six-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, also called the K6, a screening tool that has been shown to be strongly predictive of serious mental illness." I do not want diabetes.  I do what I have to make sure I do not get it. I do need to walk more or get on the treadmill more than I do.  I will just have to make the changes to make sure I do.

Schizophrenia is not a fatal illness, yet suffers are still dying 20 years to soon

That is the title of this article I am writing about. “We have to go beyond the well-meaning commitment to ‘combat stigma’ and be willing to share our time – that extra twenty years we currently have to ourselves – even when we are unable to measure what this will mean. In the UK today, people with schizophrenia have the same life expectancy as the general population of 1930s Britain.  Schizophrenia is not a fatal illness.  It can be hard to treat and the severity of symptoms can vary enormously.  It should not, however, kill you.  On the other hand, here are some things that can: heart disease; diabetes; respiratory disease.  Schizophrenia sufferers are dying prematurely, not from the disease itself but from conditions that are treatable and often preventable.  This is why today, at the start of Schizophrenia Awareness Week, Rethink are launching their +20 campaign, so called because sufferers of severe mental illness die, on average, 20 years earlier than the rest of the population.  You may be assuming that the main cause of premature death in schizophrenia is suicide. It is not.  Most deaths have physical causes, arising due to a mix of factors, such as failure to manage the side-effects of medication, unhealthy lifestyle and poor health monitoring.” I am writing about this because it is important if you want to live a full life that you monitor your health.  I have said before that this disease does not run in my family.  I was wrong to forget my cousin. We both were released from a state hospital about the same time. His was in Oregon.  They told him the same thing that was told to me if you do not make it on the streets you will be back and for life. He committed suicide when it looked like he was going to have to go back there. He was younger than me and did not know there is always hope.  Although it would be change of lifestyle for him.  I also knew a guy in the state hospital that committed suicide there.  I finally met his dad where I used to live.  This disease has downfalls.
The article goes on to say: “A fourth factor is ‘diagnostic overshadowing’, where a physical condition is overlooked or not taken seriously due to the patient’s mental state.  As sibling of a schizophrenia sufferer, this last one in particular resonates with me.  I know that doctors have done this to my brother; I have done it to him myself.  In theory it should be easy to accept that suffering from severe mental illness does not make one immune to the same ailments which affect the rest of the population.  In practice, however, this can seem ‘a bit much’.  Mental illness can be so overwhelming and so all-consuming, it can be hard to believe there is space for anything else.  Physical health then becomes subordinate to disease management.  Anti-psychotic drugs are necessary, therefore the side-effects must be borne without complaint.  Smoking is a comfort, therefore the normal rules of harm do not apply.  These are just some of the assumptions that Rethink are seeking to challenge, in what is a drive not just to promote healthy lifestyles, but to show that physical health matters for everyone.  Schizophrenia sufferers do not merely have symptoms to manage but lives to life.  And by that one doesn’t  have to mean getting a job/ partner// whatever else passes for ‘normality’ – it can simply mean living a life that is of value to you, with as much joy and as little pain as possible.” It is hard for a person with this disease alone to figure out if they are having something wrong with them.  Let alone have someone believe them.  The people who have this disease are just trying to cope with it besides being unwell.
This article ends with: “When I first heard the ’20 years earlier’ figure, I’ll admit that some small part of me felt relief.  So it’s 55 rather than 75, or 66 rather than 86.  How bad is that really, given how much pain and suffering the intervening year could contain? You can almost kid yourself it’s a mercy killing.  A slow, painful death, borne of ignorance and neglect, can be repositioned – by the living- as what was meant to be.  We can pretend it is a rational play-off between quality and quantity of life. It’s not that anyone has sat down and reviewed the pros and cons of all these needless deaths; no one has to. Collectively, as a society, we’re making all the little decisions which mean we never have to face the big one at all. Oh look! It’s just happened! How terrible! The drip-drip effect of not caring quite enough permits us to pretend the end result is out of our hands.  And yet however awful schizophrenia is – and when it is treatment resistant, with not periods of respite, it can be awful- so many other things are entirely within the control of the society surrounding the sufferer: whether you can walk down the street without being feared or mocked; whether anyone visits you when you are too afraid to leave the house; whether anyone cares that you are healthy and secure; whether you find places – any places at all – where there are people with whom you can talk and laugh.  None of this can be achieved by some vague but well-meaning commitment to ‘combat stigma’ on the part of non-sufferers. We have to be willing to share our time- that extra twenty years we currently have to ourselves- even when we are unable to measure what this will mean.  Even if there is a point at which empathy fails, we have to push onwards.  I am frightened of the future, but I want to face it with my brother. I want him to grow old with me and to live through that extra twenty years – the twenty years I simply expect – with as little fear as possible, I don’t believe any human being loses the ability to be happy, or to feel the warmth that comes from others.  Much as I’d like to picture old-aged us by some cosy fireside, exchanging fond reminiscences on 1980s TV, I know it’s unlikely to be that way.  But it is possible to imagine life and hope, and for some to be denied this due to stigma is a disgrace.”  As I have said before I want to see my grandkids grow up.  I do not want to suffer anymore though. I do not want to be a burden now that I am self-sustaining. I have always pictured when I get old to reminisce with my old friends to remember what we with through and talk about our kids.

Smoking, Diabetes Linked to Natural Deaths in Schizophrenia Patients

That is the title of this article I am writing this blog about. “Smoking is one of the top natural causes of death in patients with schizophrenia, according to a new study.  Researchers found that schizophrenia patients were 4.7 times more likely to die within the 6.2 years of follow-up if they were smokers.” They do not say how much they smoke.  I used to smoke one and a half packs a day.  I was coughing in the elevator one day and this guy said you smoke and I said yea he said you’re not going to make it to fifty.  That is not the reason I quit.  My ex-wife was supposed to quit because my granddaughter was born and was going to live with her.
I quit because I wanted my granddaughter to be able to come and visit me.  I went to the doctor and he prescribed wellbutrin.  My friend sent me a list of the side effects from this medication and darn if I did not have all the side effects.  My mouth and tongue tasted awful.  After a month of this the doctor gave me another prescription although I did not fill it.  I had already quit and it has been fifteen years.  I was skinny and spent all my money on cigarettes not on food.  “But in half the patients with immune conditions, diabetes was also a leading cause of death.  Nearly one third of patients with schizophrenia also had urinary infections.  These findings underscore the life-shortening effects of smoking in this population and the urgent need to more vigorously promote smoking cessation, said study author Faith Dickerson of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore.” I do not want diabetes that is why I walk every day.
I have not lost any more weight because I do the same walking every day.  If I do extra like on Saturday and Sunday I work out on the treadmill.  I would keep gaining.  I also watch what I eat.  I do as I have said before I want to be there when my youngest grandson grows up.  I want to make sure they are ok before I die. “Of 517 participants in the study, six died of unnatural causes and 25 died of natural causes, primarily heart-related conditions.  Other natural causes were respiratory, neoplastic, infectious, blood disease, and mental (delirium, in one patient).” I am going to keep working out even if I get no results.
The article goes on to say: “Problems concerning the immune system were found in 20 percent of patients who died compared to 4.7 percent of those who did not- raising the risk of death to a significant 4.5-fold increase.  The most common immunologic condition was insulin-dependent diabetes, found in 16 to 33 patients with such conditions. Cardiovascular problems were most common in survivors as well as in patients who died, and were tied to a 2.5-fold increased mortality risk. Finally, genitourinary conditions, particularly urinary tract infections, were found in 32 percent of patients who died, compared with 8.6 percent of those who survived – a 4.35-fold increased mortality risk.  It is of note that urinary tract infections have been found to be highly prevalent in persons with acute psychotic symptoms, said the researchers.” Diabetes most of us get it from taking the medication. It is good to take walks or any kind of exercise to not get it. Even if you do not have grandkids it is worth it to enjoy life without a disease.  Why suffer it is not so hard to take a walk when it is getting dark and cool to enjoy the day.

Diabetes and Fatigue

Fatigue is the most disabling and most common of all diabetic symptoms.  As many people know, exhaustion can interfere with many parts of your life.  So what causes diabetic fatigue and how is it so common with diabetics?
Diabetes can cause fatigue whether the blood sugar is high or low within any diabetic person.  When the blood sugar is high, your body is getting less oxygen and its necessary nutrients; you have a drugged feeling that results in fatigue.  Lower blood sugar causes fatigue, because there are not enough nutrients for the body’s cells to work.  Inflammation through high blood sugar results with the blood vessels and when this happens immune cells flood the brain, causing once again fatigue.  If you are diabetic and you suspect that your fatigue may be the cause of your condition, you may be solely suffering from anemia and not diabetes which is a lowered blood count and deficiency of iron and certain other vitamins.  People with thyroid problems tend to have diabetes and they tend to feel tired and depressed from hypothyroidism.

Infections suffered by diabetics such as bladder or urinary infections as well as other bodily infections can cause fatigue.  These infections can raise the blood sugar levels and use more energy to fight off the infections.  Be sure to get a professionals opinion if you are experiencing fatigue while diabetic because relying on a self diagnosis of having a problem even as such as fatigue or other infection, though knowing yourself is the beginning of finding a solution with the proper help, mistakes will not be made in trying to overcome the problem.

Dealing with diabetes all the time is dealing with emotional stress and these emotional upsets can lead to negative emotions which affect our blood glucose levels.  As diabetes can be a devastating illness you must also face the truth that there is no cure for it and that taking care of yourself is a challenge.  This is why living with diabetes requires coping skills, from learning to control the diabetes to working with the emotions of having the illness.  

Written by Donald S

Health

I was reading a paragraph   that said people with mental illness die at least 15 to 20 years younger than the rest of the population.  That is down from the last time I wrote on this subject, then it was twenty five years younger than the rest of the population.  The main culprit is the weight gain associated with the side effects from the antipsychotics.  What it leads to is “… higher incidence of illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”  I know when I took moban I gained at least sixty four pounds.  Lately I lost twenty pounds easy.  Then I have gained seven pounds back.  I have been walking although that does not seem to help like it did before.

I had to get back on the treadmill in my building.  I am lucky I have a fitness center where I live and it is open twenty four hours a day. Besides the treadmill I do some weight lifting.  Although these seven are hard to get rid of and stay off so I can lose more.  I want to get to one fifty.  Until I started gaining weight the highest I had been was one forty.  I do not want to go all the way to that weight though.  I am still walking Tuesday through Sunday.  I go on the pretense that I am getting a movie or going grocery shopping.
I can get my daughter to take me grocery shopping although I do not unless I am carrying heavy stuff so I can get some exercise in.  Even if I do the treadmill in the morning, I know how hard it is getting the weight off.  I remember when I could eat anything and not have to worry about gaining weight.   You just have to keep trying after spending time with my grandsons yesterday I want to lose it even more.  Do they have the energy to run and play?  I am also more physically active when they are around.  I know it will take time for me to get where I want.  I will do it that is a goal I will try to keep and not forget about it.
The guy in the paragraph lost weight and is now back surfing.  I have labs done at least every three months to check that I do not have diabetes.  That is another reason I keep walking and exercising I do not want to get it.  I want to continue walking as long as I can in this life.  I need to continue to lead an active life that is the only way I will lose this weight.  You have to keep positive and just know that you can do this obstacle.

Knowing Diabetes

It’s been suggested that mental health consumers who live with schizophrenia and/or the bipolar disorder are much more inclined to developing diabetes.  There is no direct connection between the three unless there are certain other attitudes associated, which are (1) a poor diet, (2) lack of exercise and (3) a drastic weight gain from antipsychotic medications.

The management and control of diabetes is a concern, especially when a mental health consumer has schizophrenia and at this, the managing of diabetes can be complicated.  If a person has schizophrenia, living their life with a psychosis is not exactly easy and controlling and a disease such as diabetes at the same time is just as complicated as managing their daily life with schizophrenia or a bipolar disorder.  There are certain complications that can follow a person with diabetes who is a mental health consumer, though not all will suffer any of them, many still do, as I have, such as, (1) Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), (2) Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) or (3) Diabetic Ketoacidosis (the body breaks down fat if it is starved for energy, producing a toxic acid called Ketones, which cause, heart, brain and central nervous system failure).

These are all short term complications, which results from the lack of management of the diabetes, leading to serious physical ailments or even death.  I understand I have diabetes, yet there are days I think I can “cheat” on taking care of the necessities of controlling the disease.  My wanting soda’s instead of water, or a Danish instead of a salad, candy instead of fruit warrants setting myself up for failure when I should be managing the disease and exercising with respect for my own life.  At this point I am walking myself into long term complications without the lack of sincerity to maintain and control the diabetes.

There are statistics which leave a person in fear and searching for a change in their lifestyle, yet if you are schizophrenic or bipolar you have to understand the risk factors that conceive the development of a coronary disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes.  These factors once understood can let you know if you are at risk; poor cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and excessive fat.  Finally knowing that a mental health consumer in treatment with antipsychotic medications, people with schizophrenic or bipolar, are the highest at risk for developing diabetes. One reason is some antipsychotic medications can raise blood sugars and cholesterol to very high levels and produce significant weight gain as well. This is the reason why I should be more careful about what I eat, when I eat and what I drink, so that the world around me can see that I do care about myself, even if I am a mental health consumer as the many other clients/consumers should. 

Written by Donald S.

A Cup of Coffee Please

It has been said that diabetes which is not controlled properly can affect the brain causing memory or learning problems, even incidences of dementia, though how this occurs no one knows. There have been studies with individuals with Type 2 diabetes and in these studies it has been discovered that a part of the brain called the Hippocampus is affected causing memory loss. The culprit, neurodegeneration, caused by diabetes also occurs in the first stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson disease and caffeine can possibly help.
I usually have 2-3 cups of coffee a day, though I suspect the amount of caffeine is much greater in these cases of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson disease. I do have a slip of memory loss, and being the kind of person I am with Type 2 diabetes, I have gone out of my way to try such things as coffee extracts and other supplements including changing my diet and life style to overcome not only my weight gain, yet to also improve my memory. As you know diabetes is caused by high levels of sugar in the blood. In Type 2 diabetes the body becomes resistant to insulin, which is a hormone that allows the body’s cells to take sugar from the blood using it as a “fuel”. High levels of sugar become toxic in the blood which damages nerves, blood vessels and creates other complications. As scientist and doctors alike have studied the effect of coffee/caffeine on diabetics they have found that even though the drink doesn’t cure diabetes, caffeine does in many cases lowers the risk of Type 2 diabetes. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111133958.htm
Coffee/caffeine has been studied and found to have a protective effect and has been suggested that it prevents memory loss and possibly with those with diabetes. It has been projected that nearly a third of Americans over the age of 65, nearly 11 million people, have diabetes and that by the year 2034 nearly 15 million people 65 years or older will have diabetes. Diabetes is not as simple a disease as many think with cognitive functions at risk and aging as well. Doctors or psychiatry and neurology are now studying the effects of diabetes to help find a cure or at least a deterrent to the disease, because of its ability to deteriorate mental functions at a certain age in a person’s life. Coffee please!

Written By Donald Sammons

Pre-diabetes

I have done a few blogs about diabetes and have become conscious about my Type 2 diabetes in the long run as well.  Well it’s the holiday season and the sugar, and puddings and cakes and moans and groans of not being able to partake of all the sugar and spice begins to take its toll on all my friends and my own mental health as well.  One of the ideas that came across to me from an editorial about the “early warning signs” of diabetes is, could a person have diabetes and not know it.  This is called pre-diabetes and you may not know you are experiencing its physiological stress upon your body.  Pre-diabetes is an impaired glucose tolerance, a health condition without symptoms.  It exists when the glucose levels are high yet still too low to be known as a diabetic diagnosis. Most everyone knows what can happen while having diabetes.  Blindness, heart attack, stroke, these are serious affectations of diabetes.  Having pre-diabetes is certainly present, before someone contracts Type 2 diabetes, and that includes the complications, including depression, anxiety and apathy, which are all mental illnesses, of which a therapist can be seen for. 

 Early Diabetes Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore | Live Better America

Pre-diabetes can be diagnosed and it can be prevented.  Making behavior changes such as choices of food, and changing your physical activity to help lose weight and reduce Type 2 diabetes helps in overcoming pre-diabetes and thereby overcoming the malady.  If you are over 45 years of age, overweight or not physically active, you might find these are a few of the characteristics which may bring about pre-diabetes.

When the holiday season begins, eat fresh, fruits, vegetables, grain, low fat dairy products and lean meats.  Don’t tell yourself “I’ll just have one”, if you’re offered candies, and pies and puddings and cakes, give them to someone else or wrap them up to give away at a later date, and of course it doesn’t hurt to say no.  Exercise can help you with your weight loss, if your ashamed of your weight, run in place with small five or ten pound weights, this can help you, your lungs and heart and build your self esteem as well. 

Written by Donald S.

Mental Health and Diabetes

I had done some light reading on diabetes a month ago, with the intention of writing about mental health illness and its effect on people with diabetes. I had found out that depression is the main mental illness people suffer from after they have contracted diabetes or have suffered with for a long time even as they may not have known they had the diabetic illness. As I read sporadically during the weeks I finally came across a write-up in the MSN news about diabetics and stigma as well as facing shame. I had to stop and think after reading the editorial, even though it wasn’t intense to the degree of mentioning depression or suicide, it did mention amputation, facing the truth of having diabetes, poor eating habits, and not taking care of yourself. The lack of exercise was another of those foreboding mentioned aspects of the disease and it was at that point, that I began to feel somewhat ashamed of myself. I don’t exercise and I do slip into depression at particular times when thinking of what kind of good times am I missing because of the side effects and symptoms I am living with. When I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I remembered how I felt the shame of being fat, uneducated about what was happening to me, and the lacking of exercise which was a part of my life. I looked about the room full of people who were normal, mostly healthy, and felt the stigma of carrying diabetes and my own health. I began to feel I was fat, lazy and a junk food junkie amongst my fellow employees. The depression was real at this point, and the fears grew concerning diabetes; the amputations, the risk of heart attack, being too overweight and the shut in attitude I began living because of the effects I was living with which included my mental health medications. In short I thought eventually nothing good about the illness or my mental illness and I had no one to blame; diabetes is not a “crutch”. “Even diabetics themselves can have a blame-the-victim feeling, says Theresa Garnero, a diabetes nurse educator at the Califormia Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. “Granted, if you’re not eating healthfully, and you’re not exercising like you should – and most people don’t – there should be a modicum of truth to that.
”Hidden shame of diabetes: 'I didn't speak about it' - Health - Diabetes | NBC News  after reading this editorial, I began to have a change of mind about life and death, it’s in my hands. I began to believe that the shame I was feeling was a matter of wanting someone to cry for me, pat me on my back and walk with me. I can’t change the side effects per se of my mental health medications, yet I can be strict about my diet, and even if I don’t exercise for long hours on end, I can walk and restrain myself from some of the other bad habits I have picked up on during the course of my years. Why burden yourself with the blues of something that could harm you, and why wait for someone to hold your hand, denial is our worst enemy, hope is the word we must understand to become healthier, even mentally. Written by Donald S.

Diabetes

I came across and interesting article yesterday about diabetes. This study is about one problem that people with a mental disability have. I wrote before that people with a mental disability die twenty five years younger than the general population. One disease they get most often is diabetes. This article confirms what has been written about before.
In the article they are not sure if the medications cause weight gain to happen, and is the primary cause of diabetes. The second reason they are not sure of it is the medicine actually causing the diabetes or is it the weight gain. They really have to look into that aspect. Being mentally ill know this is important to find out which is causing diabetes. If it is the medicine even if you lost weight you would not be able to be free of diabetes. “The department review included drugs sold under the brand names Abilify, Clozaril,Geodon, Reisperdal and Zyprexa.”

They do know this is a big issue. What they do not know is if people were predisposed of getting diabetes before the medication or is it just the result of the medication. This is a quote from the article “In fiscal 2005 -- the 12-month period ending June 30 of that year -- 67,395 adults ages 18-64 were enrolled in Vermont's Medicaid system. Of those, 5,445 got prescriptions for one of the antipsychotic drugs, and 547 of those patients -- a bit more than 10 percent -- also had diabetes, the department's report said.”
I hope they find out soon although I do not know much of a difference it will make. Reading from schizophrenics about their illness, it would seem they would still continue to take the medication because it helps. Diabetes would just be another side effect. Although it could help researchers if it is the medication causing diabetes to find a way to take that side effect out of medication so we have medication that does not cause this side effect.
On a different note I am including this article on genius's that had mental illness.

Understanding Diabetes

I recently wrote about diabetes and Mental Health, without going into detail about the relationship between the physical health and the mental well being of a person suffering from diabetes, I failed to mention the avenues of the two.
Depression has many symptoms, being sad or anxious, feelings of emptiness, hopelessness or being pessimistic, intense feelings of guilt, loss of interest or pleasure, fatigue, difficulty in concentrating, remembering, making decisions, thoughts of death and restlessness, even irritability. Any of these symptoms present for a period of time, which may interfere with your daily life maybe signs of depression, often times due to a physical illness or trauma. These can be found as symptoms within people suffering from diabetes and they may be candidates for treatment for depression. Diabetes heightens the risk of depression and becoming depressed leads to poor health and a dysfunctioning mentality. Psychotherapy, MHCD, aims to treat depression and improve the well being and ability of those with depression as well as diabetes in those suffering from both diseases.
Depression might develop from stress, yet it might also develop from the result of having diabetes and its effect upon the brain. Increasing evidence is showing that diabetes has serious effects upon the brain and mind of those with diabetes. Insulin may also be related to important brain functions as well as glucose both being tied to the cells survival in the brain and low levels of glucose can lead to irreversible brain damage as well as strokes.
Diabetes can cause nerve damage, it is known as Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy. It is found in people who have high blood sugar levels. Some of the symptoms are tingling in the toes or ankles, burning sensation in the feet or pain when wearing shoes, socks or standing; these symptoms are associated with nerve damage. There are differences between nerve pain and muscle pain and the numbing or stabbing pain which comes from diabetes and the increasing electrical signals along the nerves which cause your body to feel pain. Besides nerve damage, diabetes causes blindness, dry skin and other illness ‘as well as impairing the memory in older people. Claude Messier, Asst. Director, School of Psychology
This may not be all good news, but the best news is that exercise, eating whole wheat products and Omega-3 (fish or Supplements) decreases the odds of negative brain functions, also following the advice of your doctor or therapist and maintaining a healthy diet, keeps you going a whole lot longer.
Written by Donald Sammons