Can Plasma be derived from Herbal Sources

Can Plasma be derived from Herbal Medicinal resources for treatment of Corona Infection- Explained by Dr Rajesh Kesari...

What are Antibodies explained by Dr Rajesh Kesari

Antibodies are like sentries present in our Blood- they recognize disease causing pathogens and destroy them, getting rid of them and healing our body. In Plasma therapy these Antibodies are taken from a person who has healed from Corona or COVID 19 infection and given to a recently infected person who's at high risk for infection. It has been shown that this improves the outcome of disease and people who have been given Plasma Therapy for CORONA infection get well faster. See this excerpt of interview of Dr Rajesh Kesari on Zee TV to learn more....

Vegetables are a boon for Diabetics

Green vegetables play a major role in our diet. They are natural multivitamins as they provide us vitamins, minerals & fibers.These are very necessary for a healthy body as they reduce levels of bad cholesterol, improve vision, boost our immunity and help in maintaining weight. They are the good source of fiber & water, which keeps our digestive system good. 

Advantages:

• Low Calories- Eat as much as you want
• Rich in Vitamins, Micronutrients and Antioxidants
• Plenty of Iron Calcium and other Minerals
• Easily available - require minimum processing
• Round the year availability
• Help in weight loss
• Increase HDL Cholesterol - protect heart

Dark Leafy vegetable-Rich in Vitamin A, B, C & K , magnesium, iron, protein, potassium, calcium, dietary fiber are good for diabetic patient. Leafy green include spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, amgula, romaine lettuce. Millions of people around the world have an increased risk of blindness, and other health problems because of adequate dietary vitamin A from leafy vegetables. Lutein & zeaxanthin, carotenoids found in these, play an important role for muscular region of the retina.

Tomatoes contain Lycopene, an anti-oxidant, rich in calcium, phosphorus, Vitamin A, C & K, Folate, Potassium & dietary fiber. All tomato based product are low in carbohydrates.

Bell peppers-These are available in various colours-yellow, red, orange, green &purple. They are also packed with vitamins A and C, potassium, phosphorus, calcium & dietary fiber.

Carrots-Rich in antioxidants beta carotene, vit A, B, C & K, magnesium, folate & dietary fiber. It comes under low to moderate GI vegetables and control blood glucose having lower risk of weight gain.They are good choice if you have diabetes as vitamins content helps protect your eyes from diabetes retinopathy or damage to the blood vessels in the eye from long term diabetes. They are a great low carbohydrates, crunchy snack.

Green vegetables have very low calory content and can be consumed freely by Diabetics, even excessive consumption of these does not cause high Blood Sugar levels or weight gain.

Stress and Diabetes

WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress is a natural feeling that is created in the mind, and is the way the body responds to a particular threat. Stress triggers physiological, emotional and chemical reactions in the body through a complex signaling pathway between neurons and body cells-either mental or physical. Physically it can be injury or illness and mentally problems in personal or professional life.

In our lives reason of stress can be many - family, job, finance, relationship or illness. If someone is having stress, it may cause following symptoms:

•          Changes in eating habits- Loss of appetite or binge eating
•          Disturbance in sleep
•          Weight gain or loss
•          Anxiety - Becomes nervous easily
•          Muscle tension
•          Feeling depressed
•          Increased irritability-Anger
•          Common problems like constipation, diarrhea, indigestion
•          Loss of interest in sex
•          Feeling weak
•          Sweating

Stress & Diabetes

Managing the stress with diabetes is essential as it can alter the blood glucose levels. Generally mental stress raises the glucose level in diabetics but with type 1 diabetes it show the varied reactions, like in stress there glucose levels can go down and it may leads to hypoglycemia.

The relationship between diabetes and stress has other causes like:

• —  Lifestyle changes
• —  Fear of diabetes related complications in future
• —  Frustration of having diabetes
• —  Depressed about following the diabetic diet
• —  Worry about blood glucose levels
• —  Distress of insulin dependence
• —  Lack of family support
• —  Challenges in social group
• —  Increased Financial burden
• —  Medication

How can Stress Be Harmful?

Diabetes management can get disturbed by stress due to elevated blood glucose levels, provoking negative thoughts, difficulty in decision making, or changing eating habits. Continued stress also leads to elevated levels of Cholesterol, raises Blood Pressure and increases Heart rate. These all work together to push a Diabetic person into vicious cycle of poor control and increasing complications. So Stress management should be an inherent part of any Diabetes management plan.

Women and Diabetes

This is the story of Manisha, who's just celebrated her 34th birthday and is a mother of 2, she works in an MNC as an accounts executive.  She works for long hours and is constantly under stress to manager both her professional and personal responsibilities. She visited Total Care Control- Diabetes Care Centre three months ago, complaining of frequent urination and excessive hunger, weight gain and excessive fatigue. I advised her to get the blood glucose level checked. She was hesitant at start, saying she cannot develop this endemic disease. Also, her family had no history of diabetes. When, Diabetologist in Delhi Dr Rajesh Kesari saw her report, her blood glucose level were alarming. She immediately had to start medication along with strong lifestyle modification that included diet plan, physical activity and stress management. After 3 months, she stills follows all the medication and diet, but has her Blood Sugar level under control.

Our country has many such Manisha’s who are not aware that they are suffering from diabetes. India presently has 62 million diabetic patients out of which 29 million are women. People are not even aware that they are suffering from a disease that exposes them to:

•          Heart attack
•          Stroke
•          Amputations
•          Nerve damage
•          Blindness
•          Kidney disease

Thus, it becomes imperative to raise awareness about diabetes in Indian women.

Women in India with diabetes die at an average age of 57.4 years. Thus, Indian women with diabetes have an average life of 9.5 years shorter than women without diabetes.

Women more at the risk of diabetes are those

·         who lives in poverty

·         obese/overweight

·         less physical active

·         Stress

As hormones and inflammation respond differently in women it is very difficult to diagnose symptoms of diabetes in them. The unique symptoms of diabetes seen specifically in women are:

•                     vaginal infections and vaginal thrush

•                     urinary infections

•                     female sexual dysfunction

•                     polycystic ovary syndrome

Diabetes specialists  in Delhi and NCR recommend both men and women to watch out for these symptoms of Diabetes:

•                     increased thirst and hunger

•                     frequent urination

•                     weight loss or gain that has no obvious cause

•                     fatigue

•                     blurred vision

•                     wounds that heal slowly

•                     nausea

•                     skin infections

•                     patches of darker skin in areas of the body that have creases

•                     irritability

•                     breath that has a sweet, fruity, or acetone odour

•                     reduced feeling in your hands or feet

Pregnancy and diabetes

Preexisting diabetes in pregnancy is also called pregnancy complicated by diabetes. In these cases, women already have diabetes and then become pregnant. Careful monitoring of blood glucose level are to be tracked before and during pregnancy which will results in good outcomes for both mother and child. It is consider as high risk pregnancy      

Pregnancy induced diabetes is called as gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes occurs in latter stage of pregnancy, generally develops around 24-28 weeks of pregnancy. This increases the risk to both the mother and the foetus. Women with gestational diabetes are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.

Preventive measures

There are certain lifestyle modifications which can be adopted to prevent or delay diabetes.

·         Lose weight/ exercise

·         Don’t smoke

·         Good nutrition

·         Say no to stress

·         Do meditation

·         Regular monitoring of blood glucose levels

·         Knowledge about symptoms and complications of diabetes.

Diabetes is not a Handicap

Diabetes has grown into and epidemy, according to the results of a study conducted by ICMR recently approx 65 million people may be suffering from Diabetes and another 200 million may be in the prediabetic stage which effectively means that 1/3^rd of them may develop Diabetes in next 3 years.

According to Diabetologists in Delhi many Diabetes patients perceive their illness as a heavy burden both on the individual and the family, some patients and their family members sometimes consider imposing restrictions on the working or studies – which may not be true or required at all.

Diabetes Specialistin Delhi says Persons with Diabetes can perform very well in all spheres of life, just as any other healthy person without Diabetes. Diabetes disease by itself is not a handicap and does not require any restrictions to be imposed on individuals. Diabetics should take all necessary steps to keep their Blood Sugar, Cholesterol and Blood Pressure levels under control. This can be done by Lifestyle management and some patients may require medications or Insulin injections as well. Lifestyle management is the modification of all daily activities of persons in such a way as to help achieve the primary goals of Diabetes. Diabetes doctors consider Diet and physical activity to be the two main factors which are important for Diabetic patients.

Dr Rajesh Kesari Diabetologist inDelhi is personally of the opinion that Diabetes can infact be a boon on disguise. Persons who are getting proper treatment and counseling understand the importance of lifestyle management and are hence bound to lead a more disciplined lifestyle, they get up early in the morning, go out for walks regularly- this reflects in their performance in other spheres of their life as well.

So its better to control Diabetes and lead a Happy and Active life- yes Diabetes can be controlled and should ALWAYS BE CONTROLLED

Low Sugar-Hypoglycemia- as Bad as High

We all knew that High Blood Sugar levels are bad and they cause lots of Complications like those of Heart ( Heart Attacks, Stroke Paralysis), Kidneys ( Renal failure), Eyes (Retinopathy, Glaucoma, Cataract), Nervous System ( Peripheral Neuropathy, Autonomic Neuropathy - Silent Angina, Gastropathy, Uropathy), Sexual Dysfunction in Males and Females, but we never paid adequate attention to the Low Blood Sugar levels.

Hypoglycemia is difficult to describe in words, it is an intense craving for food, an unsatisfiable hunger, may progress to weakness, lethargy, perspiration, Palpitations- Feeling ones heartbeats further lowering of Blood Sugar may affect the brain leading to epilepsy like fits or even loss of consciousness and coma....These are very rare but may happen in a Diabetic.

These symptoms start appearing only when the Blood Sugar levels drop to less than 60 mg/dl.

The causes of Hypoglycemia in Diabetic patients can be many:

•        Skipping meals or fasting while taking Insulin or Glucose lowering medication
•         Excessive or inappropriate medication as compared to Sugar levels
•         Infections in Diabetics, specially Loose motions, Dehydration
•         Complications of Diabetes like Renal / Kidney Failure
•         Inadvertent intake of Sugar lowering medicines or Insulin
•         Sudden Exercise without decreasing Insulin or Glucose lowering medications
•         Hypoglycemia may be caused by some medications for other purposes- they should be avoided.

Hypoglycemias may occur while trying to achieve tight control of Blood Sugar. Our body has a very intricate mechanism of controlling Blood Sugar levels, At high blood glucose levels Insulin is secreted from the pancreas which lowers Blood Glucose, while at lower glucose levels – the so called counter regulatory hormones like Glucagon, Cortisol, Epinephrine are secreted which increase the Blood Glucose levels by facilitating release of Glucose from stores of the body like muscles, fat, liver cells etc. But in Diabetes both these mechanisms may be derailed, Due to prolonged uncontrolled Diabetes- mechanisms which increase Blood Glucose- the counter regulatory mechanisms may get impaired and lead to severe and  prolonged hypoglycemia. This is called Hypoglycemia unawareness, when despite decreasing Blood Glucose levels the diabetic patient does not feel any symptoms.

How to avoid Hypoglycemia in Diabetes:

• Hypoglycemia can be avoided with some simple precautions-
• If you have skipped meals or are fasting use may have to change the dosages of some medicines or skip them altogether.
• Insulin dosages should be uptitrated slowly, step by step under the guidance of an expert in prescribing Insulin, don’t lose patience…
• All infections should be proimplty and effectively treated
• Medicines which may cause Hypoglycemia should be avoided.
• Proper dose adjustment of Insulin and medications should be done before starting intense exercise.

Discuss with your doctor if you ever have the above symptoms so that the dosage of medications may be adjusted accordingly..

Hypoglycemia may be very harmful,

First of all it puts back the patients confidence by years and makes him or her over cautious, It may be a precipitating factor for Heart Attacks, Arrythmias and even sudden death. Hypoglycemia may result in falls which may cause fractures of accidents while driving.

But this does not mean that Blood Sugar need not be controlled, Judicious use of medications and with good patient education using structured programmes as is the standard practice in our  centre- Total care Control- Diabetes Care Centre;  it is possible to achieve good HbA1C control even in patients who are taking Insulin 3-4 times a day.

Dr Rajesh Kesari-  Diabetologist in Delhi

Dir. & Consultant at Total Care Control

Diabetes Care Centre

B-294, New Ashok Nagar, opp. main gate East End Appts

near New Ashok Nagar Metro Station

Tel:9899764447, 011-22710663, 9871110663

To eat or not to eat ( WHITE RICE) - that is the question!

Perhaps researchers from Britain have tried to rephrase the famous quote of Shakespeare into the Diabetes arena-and probably with same confusing implications. According to an article published in last month in the British journal of Medicine-Eating a diet rich in white rice may increase your chances of developing Diabetes . 

As the researchers have themselves remarked- white rice may not be the only cause of developing Diabetes moreover in certain Asian subgroups – the Chinese and Japanese, but it does seem to be increasing the odds of developing diabetes. The reasons suggested are many-White rice has high glycemic index meaning- it is quickly absorbed and causes a surge in glucose levels after meals- thus increasing the stress on pancreas to produce more insulin in a short period of time. The other plausible factor may be that white rice has relatively poor nutrient content, especially of those which are helpful in warding off diabetes- like magnesium etc.  

In India we have noted that the incidence of Diabetes in south Indian states is high- where diet is predominantly rice based as compared to wheat based north Indian diet.

Here are some facts and tips for rice lovers which may help them enjoy their favourite Biryani or Pulao without feeling guilty. Not all rice is high Glycemic index food, Basmati and most long grain rice varieties contain the starch amylose which is considered as moderate Glycemic index food and does not cause high levels of Blood Glucose after meals. Most of the nutrients in rice are eroded by polishing – some of those may be  present in the powder form along with the rice grains- but this is often washed or drained- so even the nutrients present in minute quantities are lost. So it is advisable to relish smaller servings than draining the boiled rice. Having rice together with vegetables or other low glycemic index foods is also beneficial as it lowers the total glucose absorption.  Vegetable biryani or pulao with plenty of green vegetables but less fat or ghee- preferably not fried at all are good options for rice eaters.