Saturday, March 8, 2014

Need to Reboot Your Health? Try Juicing

The right combinations of fruit and vegetable juices can help you detox your blood and tissues and restore balance and health to your entire body. The benefits of this waste removal?
Great-looking skin, energy and an overall sense of well-being.
Skin-Detoxing Juice Recipe: 1-2 cucumbers. Add a small piece of apple for sweetness.
Anti-Aging Juice Recipe: 
1 1/2 cups of water or milk,
1 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup strawberries , 1 large leaf kale (thick stem removed) , 1/2 medium beet.
Libido Boosting Juice Recipe: 2 cups coconut water , 2 stalks celery , 1/2 banana, a small piece of ginger, 1/2 avocado, a handful of basil, 3 figs
Immune Boosting Juice Recipe:
1 small beet , 3 carrots , 8 stalks celery, 1 stalk broccoli, 2 cloves garlic
Stress Relieving Juice Recipe: 2 large spinach, 3-4 stalks of broccoli , 3-4 stalks celery , 1 large or 2 small carrots
To read this article in its entirety, go here

The Truth About Pre-Diabetes: Are You At Risk?

While diabetes occurs in people of all ages and races, some groups have a higher risk for developing the disease than others, including: African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, as well as seniors.
This means these groups are also at increased risk for developing prediabetes.
What is Prediabetes?

Before most people develop full-blown diabetes, they likely suffer from prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar is higher than normal but not so high that an individual is considered diabetic.
People with prediabetes are at greater risk for heart disease, and as many as 65 percent of prediabetics go on to develop type 2 diabetes. The problem is that very few people know they have it
There are three different tests your doctor can use to determine whether you have prediabetes:
  • The A1C test
  • The fasting plasma glucose test (FPG)
  • or the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)
The blood glucose levels measured after these tests determine whether you have a normal metabolism, or whether you have prediabetes or diabetes.
If your blood glucose level is abnormal following the FPG, you have impaired fasting glucose (IFG); if your blood glucose level is abnormal following the OGTT, you have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Both are also known as prediabetes.
If you would like to learn how to get tested, please read this article in its entirety at Blackdoctors.org.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Link Between Obesity and Diabetes

There are two kinds of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 is also known as juvenile diabetes and is usually diagnosed in childhood. It is the body's cells and the pancreas" inability to produce enough insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the body's inability to produce enough insulin for the body or the body is not making proper use of the insulin that is available.

Many studies and doctors have linked an increasing number of people being diagnosed with diabetes to obesity. Being overweight or obese can overtax the pancreas (the organ that produces insulin), which can lead to Type 2 diabetes.   Being obese is a risk factor for diabetes but it does not mean you will develop the disease if you are obese. By losing weight and leading a healthier lifestyle you can gain control of this risk factor either by reducing it or eliminating it altogether.

There are other risk factors associated with Type 2 diabetes including age and race but of course there is no control over these factors. Studies have shown that over half of the people diagnosed with diabetes are considered clinically obese. People who are obese and work hard to lose weight can better manage their diabetes through diet or oral medications instead of insulin injections. Incorporating a healthy eating plan and regular physical activity will also help to manage the disease.


In addition to being at a higher risk for developing diabetes people who are obese are at an increased risk for other life-threatening diseases too. Namely heart and cardiovascular diseases, it is in an individual's best interest to maintain a healthy weight for their body type and health in order to reduce the risks to their health. Medical support is available through your health care provider if needed.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Truth About Heart Murmurs

A heart murmur is an extra or unusual sound heard during your heartbeat.
Murmurs range from very faint to very loud and sometimes sound like a whooshing
or swishing noise. Normal heartbeat sounds–”lub-DUPP” or “lub-DUB”–are the
sounds of valves closing as blood moves through the heart. (Go to the section on
“How the Heart Works” for more information about how the normal heart
works.)
A heart murmur is not a disease; it is a sound that the doctor hears with the
stethoscope. It may be normal for your child, or it could be a sign that
something may be wrong. Most heart murmurs are harmless. Some are a sign of a
heart problem, especially if other signs or symptoms of a heart problem are
present.

TYPES OF MURMURS

Innocent (harmless) murmurs. A person with an innocent murmur has a
normal heart and usually has no other symptoms or signs of a heart problem.
Innocent murmurs are common in healthy children.
Abnormal murmurs. A person with an abnormal murmur usually has other
signs or symptoms of a heart problem. Most abnormal murmurs in children are due
to congenital heart disease–heart defects present at birth. In adults, abnormal
murmurs are most often due to heart valve problems caused by infection, disease,
or aging.

OTHER NAMES FOR HEART MURMURS

INNOCENT HEART MURMURS

  • Normal heart murmurs
  • Benign heart murmurs
  • Functional heart murmurs
  • Physiologic heart murmurs
  • Still’s murmur
  • Flow murmur

ABNORMAL HEART MURMURS

  • Pathologic heart murmurs
Go to BlackDoctors.org to read this article in it entirety!

Diabetes Awareness: What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has problems producing or using insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.
Compared to the general population, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes:
  • 4.9 million (an increase from 3.7 million in 2007), or 18.7% of all African Americans, aged 20 years or older, also have diabetes.
  • African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non Hispanic whites.
  • 25 percent of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.
  • 1 in 4 African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.

Diabetes is associated with an increased risk for a number of serious, sometimes life-threatening complications, and certain populations experience an even greater threat. Good diabetes management can help reduce your risk; however, many people are not even aware that they have diabetes until they develop one of its complications.
  • Blindness. African Americans are almost 50 percent as likely to develop diabetic retinopathy as non-Hispanic whites.
  • Kidney Disease. African Americans are 2.6 to 5.6 times as likely to suffer from kidney disease with more than 4,000 new cases of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) each year.
  • Amputations. African Americans are 2.7 times as likely to suffer from lower-limb amputations. Amputation rates are 1.4 to 2.7 times higher in men than women with diabetes.
  • Heart Disease and Stroke. Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths in people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about 2 to 4 times higher than adults without diabetes. The risk for stroke is 2 to 4 times higher and the risk of death from stroke is 2.8 times higher among people with diabetes.
Go to BlackDoctors.org to continue reading this article, read here.