No More Heart Disease » Diabetes

Prevent Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes!

Dan Hammer — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:03:19 +0000

Diabetes has grown to epidemic proportions and so have the cardiovascular complications of diabetes. According to the most recent statistics (2011) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes. However, what makes this “America’s largest healthcare epidemic” is that 79 million Americans are in a pre-diabetic condition, where their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

This means that 35% of the American population is either in a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition and this is creating an enormous health challenge. Even just being pre-diabetic raises a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke. High blood sugar causes oxidative stress or damage to your endothelium resulting in the following cardiovascular complications of diabetes:

Poor Circulation Leading to Lower-Limb Numbness and Amputations
Poor Kidney Function
Cardiovascular Disease
High Blood Pressure
Increased Potential for Strokes and Heart Attacks

Two Most Devastating Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes!

While the cardiovascular complications of diabetes are staggering, there are two that pose the greatest risk to a person’s health and longevity. Statistics can change over time but these two have been pretty consistent. They are:

66% of Diabetics Have High Blood Pressure!
66% of Diabetics Die From a Heart Attack or Stroke!

Two-thirds of all diabetics are confronted with this daily reality. It is why Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast, a noted clinical expert in this area, made the following statement:

“Many people still think diabetes is a disease about sugar. It’s not the sugar! It’s the complications!”

Dr. Prendergast is not discounting the need to control your blood sugar. That’s critically important. What he’s trying to get people and the medical profession to understand is that unregulated glucose (blood sugar) causes high levels of oxidative stress, which directly damages the endothelium and its ability to properly produce nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system. To prevent the cardiovascular complications of diabetes you must repair this damage, and any future damage, to the endothelium.

How to Address Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes!

To address the cardiovascular complications of diabetes you must put in place a program to repair and properly nourish your endothelium. This program is in addition to learning how to control your blood sugar levels. Both are equally important. Unfortunately little is done in the area of endothelial cell health.

Why? Because most people have never heard of the endothelium and most physicians do not understand how to treat it. Briefly, your endothelium lines all of your cardiovascular system. It is only one-cell thick yet it regulates many of the functions of the cardiovascular system.

This area is so important that the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three American researchers who discovered how your endothelium converts the amino acid L-arginine into nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system.

How Nitric Oxide Impacts Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes!

Nitric oxide impacts cardiovascular complications of diabetes in two extremely specific ways. First, nitric oxide regulates the muscle tone of blood vessels to have a major impact on controlling blood pressure. In fact, nitric oxide is your body’s most powerful vasodilator. It causes the smooth muscle of your vascular wall to relax. This helps to reduce blood pressure by improving blood flow through the vascular system.

Since 66 percent of all diabetics have high blood pressure, by improving their ability to properly produce nitric oxide you can aid them in better regulating their blood pressure. Because high blood pressure is the major cause of a stroke you will also help them to substantially reduce this risk.

Second, nitric oxide keeps blood platelet cells from grouping together to form a clot. This helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. According to Nobel Laureate in Medicine Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, nitric oxide:

“. . . is produced by the body specifically to help keeps arteries and veins free of the plaque that causes stroke and to maintain normal blood pressure by relaxing the arteries, thereby regulating the rate of blood flow and preventing coronaries. Nitric oxide is the body’s natural cardiovascular wonder drug.”

This means that you can use proven and natural methods to address these two specific issues of cardiovascular complications of diabetes. Proper supplementation with therapeutic levels of the amino acids L-arginine and L-citrulline can have a profound effect on repairing and properly nourishing your endothelium for therapeutic increases in nitric oxide production. This would help millions of diabetics to reduce their risks for these cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

Additional Resources to Help You Understand How to Address the Cardiovascular Complications of Diabetes!

To help you better understand how the endothelium impacts your cardiovascular health, please click here.

To help you better understand how the endothelium controls blood pressure, please click here.

To help you better understand how nourishing and repairing your endothelium will improve its ability to properly improve nitric oxide, and how this directly impacts many of the cardiovascular complications of diabetes, please click here.

By directly putting into place a plan of action that will improve endothelial cell health and function, especially in the area of improved nitric oxide production, you can substantially reduce the risk for the two major cardiovascular complications of diabetes. If you found this information helpful then please share this on Facebook and Twitter.

Together we can work to save a million lives by helping to educate others about endothelial cell health and how therapeutic levels of nitric oxide can directly address the two greatest cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

Dan Hammer

Dan Hammer has a background in biology, chemistry, and exercise physiology. He used to run one of the largest health club operations in the Chicagoland area and has been helping people with their wellness issues for more than 25 years.

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information about cardiovascular complications of diabetes has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Complications of Diabetes – Part 2!

Dan Hammer — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:24:59 +0000

As we learned in the previous article Complications of Diabetes – Part 1 there is a one-celled thick organ called the Endothelium that is constantly being damaged by high blood sugar levels. This damage to the endothelial cells reduces their ability to proper produce Nitric Oxide the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system.

Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast has pioneered a natural approach to repairing and nourishing your endothelium so that your endothelial cells can regain their ability to produce nitric oxide. This article will continue our video series to help you understand how you can take a proactive approach to reducing the complications of diabetes.

Nitric Oxide Can Dramatically Reduce The Complications of Diabetes!

If you want to improve your circulation, improve your kidney function, decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease, help bring your blood pressure back into a normal range, and lessen the potential for strokes and heart attacks, then you need to understand the importance of nitric oxide. Simply stated you could not live without nitric oxide. It is critical for proper cardiovascular function.

In his 2005 National Bestseller entitled NO More Heart Disease, Nobel Laureate Dr. Louis J. Ignarro made the following statement:

“NO – as it is know by chemists – is produced by the body specifically to help keep arteries and veins free of the plaque that causes stroke and to maintain normal blood pressure by relaxing the arteries, thereby regulating the rate of blood flow and preventing coronaries. Nitric oxide is the body’s natural cardiovascular wonder drug.”

This video will help you understand how nitric oxide can directly address many of the complications of diabetes:

Addressing The Hidden Enemy That Can Compound the Complications of Diabetes!

There is a hidden enemy that can compound the complications of diabetes. This hidden enemy is seldom addressed but affects everyone – especially the African American community. This hidden enemy is an enzyme called arginase.

Arginase is used by your liver to help detoxify you. Unfortunately, arginase also destroys L-arginine. As you learned in a previous video, L-arginine is the primary amino acid used by your endothelial cells to create nitric oxide. This means that the enzyme arginase can reduce nitric oxide production by destroying L-arginine before it can be converted to nitric oxide.

Our next video will help you understand that your endothelial cells have an alternative pathway for the creation of nitric oxide. This alternative pathway centers on having an adequate supply of the other amino acid L-citrulline:

A Clinically Proven Natural Product and Alternative for Reducing the Complications of Diabetes!

Controlling blood sugar levels is vitally important for a diabetic. This has been the standard approach for most people with diabetes. However, this approach doesn’t address the damage caused by blood sugar to the endothelium. Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast has pioneered a second approach to addressing the complications of diabetes.

This second approach centers on the repair and proper nourishment of your endothelial cells. This approach allows them to heal and properly produce nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system. Dr. Prendergast has been using this approach since 1991. He has combined Nobel Prize winning science with cutting edge vascular research out of Stanford School of Medicine’s Cardiovascular Research Center to develop a clinical application that has benefited thousands of his patients and tens of thousands of people around the world.

This final video highlights this natural approach. How Dr. Prendergast has combined L-arginine with L-citrulline and other heart healthy vitamins and nutrients resulting in no strokes, no heart attacks, and less than 1% hospital admissions for cardiovascular issues in over 7000 of his patients:

If you would like to try a clinically proven product that can repair your endothelial cells and improve their ability to properly produce nitric oxide, then you can order ProArgi-9 Plus by clicking here. I’ve set up an ordering system that offers you wholesale pricing with free shipping to those with US zip codes. Please click here for more information on ordering.

If you found the above videos helpful, then please share this information on Twitter and Facebook so that others can benefit.

Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information and videos about the complications of diabetes has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Complications of Diabetes – Part 1

Dan Hammer — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 13:44:16 +0000

Complications of Diabetes

Diabetes has grown to epidemic proportions. With this increase has come an increase in the complications of diabetes. Most of these complications center on poor cardiovascular health.

According to the June 26^th issue of The Lancet, diabetes appears to double the risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke, or other heart conditions.

These series of videos will help you understand that it doesn’t have to be this way! Listen to this first video as I set the stage on helping you control the complications of diabetes.

The Complications of Diabetes Can be Dramatically Improved When You Understand This Approach!

It’s estimated that 23.5 million American adults have either Type I or Type II diabetes. High blood sugar causes damage to your cardiovascular system resulting in the complications of diabetes. These complications include poor circulation, poor kidney function, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and the increased potential for strokes and heart attacks. All are life threatening.

It doesn’t have to be this way and this video will help you begin to understand a natural approach pioneered by Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast. This approach has resulted in no strokes, no heart attacks, and less than 1% hospital admissions for cardiovascular issues in over 7,000 patients. What’s even more amazing is that 80% of these patients are diabetics. This video will introduce you to this approach:

To Reduce the Complications of Diabetes You Must Pay Attention to This Organ!

Most people think that you must concentrate on your heart if you want to reduce the complications of diabetes. While your heart is critically important to your health, it’s not the key organ. The key organ that you must properly nourish and repair is your endothelium.

Most people have never heart of the endothelium yet this organ ultimately controls all of your cardiovascular system. It’s so important that the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine was award to three American researchers who discovered how this one-celled thick organ produces the master signaling molecule of your entire cardiovascular system. This video will help you better understand this critical organ:

Two Amino Acids are Key to Reducing the Complications of Diabetes!

Before we can discuss nitric oxide we need to look at the two natural amino acids that your body needs on a daily basis. These two amino acids are L-arginine and L-citrulline. One is fairly common and one is not.

When properly repaired and nourished, your endothelial cells will convert these two amino acids into nitric oxide to help prevent the complications of diabetes. It’s important to note that by combining these two amino acids together you create a synergistic effect. This video will help you understand this process and which foods are good sources for these daily nutrients:

We’ll continue this video series on reducing the complications of diabetes in my next article. We will talk about how nitric oxide specifically addresses several health issues common to diabetics. One of the videos will examine the hidden enemy in your bloodstream that can cause additional problems for diabetes. I’ll show you a natural way to overcome this hidden enemy. Plus, we’ll look at a natural product that can make a huge difference in reducing the complications of diabetes.

If you found the above videos helpful, then please share this information on Twitter and Facebook so that others can benefit.

Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information and videos about the complications of diabetes has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Vitamin D and Diabetes!

Dan Hammer — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 18:50:45 +0000

Over the last seven years there has been a huge amount of research that has shown a direct link between vitamin D and diabetes. Unfortunately, most diabetics know little about this connection. The purpose of this article is to help educate you with current information. Information that will help you use this relationship between vitamin D and diabetes to reverse the diabetic epidemic facing Americans today.

It is estimated that 23.5 million American adults have either Type I or Type II diabetes. And this number is growing. In the book, The Vitamin D Solution, Dr. Michael F. Holick discussed a Finland study. During the 1960s children received 2,000 IU of vitamin D a day during their first year of life. These children were followed for 31 years. For this population group they reduced their risk of developing Type I diabetes by 88%.

It is because of this type of remarkable results that more needs to be learned about vitamin D and diabetes. Here are some current studies to help you understand this connection between vitamin D and diabetes.

More Current Studies on Vitamin D and Diabetes

Most people understand that vitamin D is crucial to bone health. Recent research is also suggesting that vitamin D plays an extremely important role in cardiovascular health and cancer prevention. Now the literature is making a direct connection between vitamin D and diabetes. Here are two examples:

Example 1 – Esther Krug, MD, is an endocrinologist at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. At the ENDO 2010 annual meeting of The Endocrine Society, Dr. Krug presented information showing that vitamin D deficiency was found in people with poor diabetes control. Participants in the study were placed into four categories ranging from normal to mild deficiency to moderate deficiency to severe deficiency. As their vitamin D deficiency worsened, so did their diabetes control.

Based on these observations, one of Dr. Krug’s suggestions was that aggressive screening of vitamin D levels is crucial for people with diabetes.

Example 2 – Joanne Kouba, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.N. and Sue Penckofer, Ph.D., R.N. of the Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing co-authored a review article published in Diabetes Educator. This review article suggests that vitamin D plays an integral role in both insulin sensitivity and secretion. One of the studies evaluated looked at 3,000 people with Type I diabetes. This study found that those who took vitamin D supplements had a decreased risk in disease. In observational studies of people with Type II diabetes, it was noted that supplementation may be important in the prevention of diabetes.

According to Dr. Kouba, “Management of vitamin D deficiency may be a simple and cost-effective method to improve blood sugar control and prevent the serious complications associated with diabetes.” Dr. Penckofer added this additional comment,

“Vitamin D has widespread benefits for our health and certain chronic diseases in particular. This article further substantiates the role of this nutrient in the prevention and management of glucose intolerance and diabetes.”

Just The Tip of Information on Vitamin D and Diabetes

As more studies are conducted and existing studies are reviewed it has become clear that vitamin D deficiency is widespread throughout the American population. Much of this deficiency is due to poor nutritional choices coupled with a reduced exposure to sunlight. To help you see one additional relationship between vitamin D and diabetes we need to look at type II diabetes.

The beta islet cell that makes insulin has a vitamin D receptor. Adequate amounts of vitamin D stimulate these cells to properly produce insulin. Fat cells also have vitamin D receptors. There is growing evidence that vitamin D may directly help fat cells improve their insulin sensitivity. This means that vitamin D plays an active role in both insulin production, as well as enhancing insulin sensitivity. According to Dr. Holick, one study showed that for men and women who had the highest vitamin D intake there was a 33% reduced relative risk of developing Type II diabetes.

To put this 33% reduced relative risk in numbers you’re looking at preventing as many as 8 million new case of diabetes. That’s a huge health benefit for the individual as well as our health care system.

Some Conclusions on Vitamin D and Diabetes

Just as adequate levels of vitamin D improve heart and bone health, adequate levels of vitamin D also reduce the risk for diabetes and diabetic complications. I would highly suggest that you pick up a copy of Dr. Holick’s book The Vitamin D Solution if you or a loved one has diabetes. Your body will thank you if you apply his suggestions.

Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information about Vitamin D and diabetes contained in this article has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Fiber, Cholesterol, and Other Health Benefits!

Dan Hammer — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:44:34 +0000

If you read my post “Fiber and Cholesterol Reduction” you know how important fiber can be in helping to lower the “BAD” LDL cholesterol to prevent the cardiovascular disease atherosclerosis. Fiber is also important in reducing the risk for certain types of cancer, helping control blood sugar for diabetics, reducing the risk for stroke, improving elimination, and can be a useful tool in weight management.

Because fiber is so important to your general health and wellness I’ve put together a list of good sources of fiber. Please use this fiber list as a general guide in helping you to find some foods and food groups that appeal to you and your taste buds. For simplicity, I’ve grouped these items according to grams per serving.

Serving sizes can vary and so can calories per serving so you will need to read the nutritional label. This list is not complete but it will help you when you go to the market.

2 to 4 grams of fiber per serving:

Almonds: ¼ cup is 2.4 grams

Applesauce: ½ cup is 2.7 grams

Apricots: 2 halves dried are 1.7 grams

Avocado: ½ average sized is 2.8 grams

Banana: 1 medium is 3.0 grams

Boston Brown Bread: 2 slices are 4.0 grams

Broccoli: 1 cup cooked or raw is 3 grams

Brussel Sprouts: 1 cup is 4.0 grams

Cabbage: 1 cup cooked is 4.0 grams

Carrots: 1 cup cooked is 4 grams

Cauliflower: 1 cup cooked is 2.5 grams

Celery: ½ cup raw is 4.0 grams

Coconut: 1 tablespoon dried is 3.4 grams

Corn: 1 cup cooked is 4 grams

Cornbread: 1 square (2 ½”) is 3.4 grams

Cornflakes Cereal: 1 cup is 3.5 grams

Cracked Wheat Bread: 2 slices are 3.6 grams

Cranberries: ½ cup in sauce form is 4.0 grams

English Muffin (Whole Wheat): 1 whole muffin is 3.7 grams

Okra: 1 cup fresh or cooked is 3.2 grams

Orange: 1 large is 2.4 grams

Parsnip: 1 large cooked is 2.8 grams

Peach: 1 medium is 2.3 grams

Pear: 1 medium is 4.0 grams

Puffed Wheat Cereal: 1 cup is 3.3 grams

Pumpernickel Bread: 2 slices are 4.0 grams

Rice (White): ½ cup before cooking is 2.0 grams

Strawberries: 1 cup is 3.0 grams

Turnip: ½ cup cooked is 2.0 grams

Watermelon: 1 thick slice is 2.8 grams

Wheaties Cereal: 1 cup is 2.0 grams

Zucchini: ½ cup raw or cooked is 3.0 grams

4.1 to 6 grams of fiber per serving:

Apple: 1 large raw is 4.5 grams

Artichokes: 1 large is 4.5 grams

Beets: 1 cup cooked is 5.0 grams

Blackberries: ½ cup is 4.4 grams

Bran Flakes Cereal: 1 cup is 5.0 grams

Bran Flakes with Raisins Cereal: 1 cup is 6.0 grams

Bran Meal: 3 tablespoons are 6 grams

Dark Rye Bread: 2 slices are 5.8 grams

Flatout Wraps: 1 wrap has 5 grams of fiber or more

Green Beans (Snap): 1 cup is 4.2 grams

Idaho Baked Potato: 1 medium with skin is 5.0 grams

Macaroni (Whole Wheat): 1 cup cooked is 5.7 grams

Mashed Potato: 1 cup is 6.0 grams

Noodles (Whole Wheat Egg): 1 cup cooked is 5.7 grams

Raspberries: ½ cup is 4.6 grams

Rice (Brown): ½ cup before cooking is 5.5 grams

Sauerkraut (Canned): 1 cup is 4.6 grams

Seven-Grain Bread: 2 slices are 6.5 grams

Shredded Wheat (Spoon Sized): 1 cup is 4.4 grams

Spaghetti (Whole Wheat): 1 cup cooked is 5.6 grams

Sweet Potato: 1 medium is 5.5 grams

Whole Wheat Bread: 2 slices are 6.0 grams

Whole Wheat Raisin Bread: 2 slices are 6.5 grams

6.1 to 10 grams of fiber per serving:

Bran Chex Cereal: 1 cup is 7.5 grams

Buckwheat Groats (Kasha): 1 cup cooked is 9.6 grams

Cracklin’ Bran Cereal: 1 cup is 8 grams

Fruit N’ Fiber Cereal: 1 cup is 7 grams

Greens (Collards, Beet Greens, Kale, Turnip Greens): 1 cup cooked is 8.0 grams

High-Bran “Health” Bread: 2 slices are 7.0 grams

Lentils: 1 cup cooked is 6.4 grams

Nabisco 100% Bran Cereal: 1 cup is 8.0 grams

Peas (Green): 1 cup is 7 grams

Rutabaga (Yellow Turnip): 1 cup is 6.4 grams

Yams: 1 medium is 6.8 grams

10.1 and above grams of fiber per serving:

All Bran Cereal: ½ cup is 10.4 grams

Baked Beans: 1 cup is 16 grams

Black Beans: 1 cup cooked is 14 grams

Bran Buds Cereal: ½ cup is 10.4 grams

Chickpeas (Garbanzos): 1 cup cooked is 12 grams

Figs: 3 dried are 10.5 grams

Great Northern Beans: 1 cup is 16 grams

Kidney Beans: 1 cup cooked is 19.4 grams

Lima Beans: 1 cup canned or cooked is 11.6 grams

Navy Beans: 1 cup cooked is 18 grams

Oatmeal Cereal: 1 cup is 10.3 grams

Pinto Beans: 1 cup cooked is 18.8 grams

Spinach: 1 cup cooked is 14 grams

Split Peas: 1 cup cooked is 13.4 grams

White Beans: 1 cup canned or cooked is 16 grams

This guide will give you a good start in finding foods that will help you increase your fiber intake. However, due to its complexity, laboratory technicians have not yet been able to ascertain the exact fiber content of many foods. Because of this, you may find discrepancies from one source to another. Add to the fact that there are varying sizes of fruits and vegetable, as well as growing conditions, and you can begin to understand why there might be some variations in the number of grams of fiber listed for different food items.

Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this blog is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information contain in this blogging website has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Nitric Oxide and Diabetes!

Dan Hammer — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:42:34 +0000

Diabetes has become a national health problem. Fortunately, there are clinical studies to show that nitric oxide can positively affect the complications of diabetes. This blog will help you understand the hard facts, complications, and the potential of a proper nitric oxide / l-arginine protocol to help with this devastating disease.

Now before we start you might be wondering why an endocrine disease is showing up on a web site focused on cardiovascular health. The answer is that diabetes directly affects the vascular system giving rise to most of the complications. One noted clinical expert in this area, Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast says,

“Many people still think diabetes is a disease about sugar. It’s not the sugar! It’s the complications!”

Dr. Prendergast is not discounting the need to control your blood sugar. That’s extremely important. What he’s trying to get people to understand is that unregulated glucose (blood sugar) causes high levels of oxidative stress which damages the endothelial cells and their ability to properly produce nitric oxide – the master signaling molecule for your cardiovascular system. To prevent the complications you also need to repair the damage to the endothelium.

The Hard Facts!

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce insulin (Type 1) or does not properly respond to insulin (Type 2). According to the most recent statistics from the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland (updated in February of 2009)17.9 million American have been diagnosed with diabetes.

What makes this “America’s largest healthcare epidemic” is that 57 million Americans are in a pre-diabetic condition where their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Almost 25% of the American population is either in a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition and this is creating an enormous health challenge.

Type 2 diabetes in adolescents has increased 10 times over the last decade and now represents 33% of new pediatric diabetes cases where as 20 years ago it was only 2%. This diabetic problem is even worse for African Americans since they are 1.8 times as likely to develop diabetes as whites. And, the death rates for African Americans with diabetes are 27 percent higher than for whites. It is estimated that the annual health care costs of a type 2 diabetic is 2.3 times greater than a person without this disease.

Complications of Diabetes!

If you have diabetes or if you have a family member or friend who has diabetes than you already know how challenging this disease can be. According to the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland:

Diabetes is a leading cause of adult blindness, lower-limb amputation, kidney disease and nerve damage.
40% of diabetics suffer some degree of hearing impairment.
66% of diabetics die from a heart attack or stroke.
28% of diabetics develop kidney disease
23% of diabetics have foot problems including numbness and amputations.

To put these numbers in perspective, every 24 hours 4,100 new cases of diabetes are diagnosed, 810 people will die, 230 will have a diabetes-related amputation, 120 new patients will require kidney dialysis or transplant, 55 will go blind, and nearly 65% of diabetics will die from cardiovascular disease.

How Nitric Oxide Helps!

Although there is no evidence to date that shows that Nitric Oxide (NO) improves insulin availability, there is plenty of evidence that NO can intervene to help prevent diabetic complications. A family of enzymes called Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS) generates NO from the essential amino acid L-arginine. NO is the master signaling molecule for the cardiovascular system, is an important neurotransmitter, helps to mediate pain, and is necessary in wound healing and tissue repair.

Unfortunately, NO production is often impaired in both Type I and Type II diabetics. Current research seems to indicate three limiting factors:

Limiting Factor 1 is an accumulation of asymmetrical dimethly arginine or ADMA in the blood. Under normal metabolism of L-arginine a small amount of a natural inhibitor to the NOS enzymes is formed called ADMA. Normally, ADMA doesn’t accumulate because it is eliminated in the urine through normal kidney functions. However, reduced kidney function is part of aging and both Type I and Type II diabetes accelerates this kidney dysfunction. This allows ADMA to accumulate in the blood stream and inhibit the NOS enzymes to reduce NO production.

Limiting Factor 2 is a change in pH from alkaline to acidic. The NOS enzymes are pH dependent and work best in slightly alkaline (basic) conditions. In diabetes, glycolysis and ketoacidosis are negative factors that force tissue pH towards acidic conditions. To compensate the body will use calcium to restore its proper alkaline pH. Calcium is needed to activate the NOS enzymes. Thus, this acidic change causes the NOS enzymes to become less active and efficient resulting in a decrease in NO production.

Limiting Factor 3 is adequate supplies of oxygen necessary for the NOS enzymes and NO production. Since diabetics typically have impaired circulation this reduces blood flow and the body’s ability to supply oxygen to the endothelial cells particularly in the extremities. Additionally, diabetics often experience elevated blood glucose levels. This extra glucose becomes attached to the hemoglobin to change its structure and to bind NO instead of oxygen. Once NO is bound to the hemoglobin it is not easily released which compounds the problem.

Diabetes creates a compounding effect which leads to a multitude of complications. As this disease causes biochemical changes in the blood stream, kidneys and surrounding tissues thru low oxygen, acidosis, and the accumulation of ADMA it reduces the production of NO. The reduction in NO reduces wound healing and tissue repair (especially affecting the endothelial cells). This reduction also limits normal vasodilation which affects the cardiovascular system. This continues to impair the production of NO which negatively affects neurotransmission and pain. Thus, many of the complications of diabetes such as heart disease and high blood pressure, retinopathy (eye problems), neuropathy (nerve damage), kidney disease, bruises to the hands, feet and legs, and poor circulation to the extremities (which often lead to amputation) are all aggravated by low NO production.

Two Fold Approach to Improved Diabetic Health!

Most people who deal with diabetes only deal with blood sugar levels. There is no question that this approach is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, the oxidative damage done to the endothelial cells is not addressed. Yet addressing this problem is critical to reducing the risk for diabetic complications. Again, I refer back to Dr. J. Joseph Prendergast and his comment at the beginning of this post:

“Many people still think diabetes is a disease about sugar. It’s not the sugar! It’s the complications!”

Dr. Prendergast has 35+ years of experience as a prominent Endocrinologist in Palo Alto California with an extremely large patient base of diabetics. His clinical studies have shown that if you implement a proper Nitric Oxide / L-arginine protocol you can effectively reduce and/or eliminate much of the oxidative stress to the endothelial cells. This results in good NO production to eliminate or reduce many diabetic complications. For example, of the 7,000 patients who have followed his Nitric Oxide / L-arginine protocol none have had serious hospitalizations, no amputations, and less than 1% has had cardiovascular issues.

Monitoring blood sugar levels will always be important for proper diabetic care. Equally important is properly nourishing your endothelial cells through diet (please read my article about the Acid – Alkaline Balance), exercise, and taking sufficient amounts of L-arginine. Each of these three lifestyle factors will go a long way to helping your endothelial cells stay healthy and produce the necessary Nitric Oxide to prevent the complications of diabetes.

Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this blog is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information contain in this blogging website has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.

Endothelial Cells and Heart Disease!

Dan Hammer — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:36:46 +0000

When people think of heart disease they rarely think about the endothelial cells that line all of your blood vessels. Most people usually associate heart disease with the heart or with problems in their circulatory system. While both of these can be major contributing factors in heart disease, for most people it is the health of their endothelial cells and their ability to properly produce nitric oxide that really determines the absence of heart disease.

To show you how little people know about these critically important cells, especially compared to other heart disease issues, I did a Google search for the following keywords (data for the month of July 2009):

Diabetes – 6,120,000
Cholesterol – 2,740,000
High Blood Pressure - 1,000,000
Heart Disease – 673,000
Erectile Dysfunction - 673,000
Nitric Oxide - 301,000
Endothelial Cells - 22,200

Over 6 million searches for information on diabetes, almost 3 million searches on cholesterol, 1 million for high blood pressure, and almost 700,000 searches for heart disease and erectile dysfunction. People are beginning to search for information about nitric oxide. But, when you add up all the searches less than 1 percent of those searches are directed at the endothelial cells.

How Sad Since Your Very Life Depends Upon The Health Of Your Endothelial Cells!

They determine your nitric oxide production and both play major roles in preventing erectile dysfunction, heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol concerns, and diabetes.

To help you learn more, I’d recommend the following four links:

http://www.aging-no-more.com/nitric_oxide.html - This is an article that I wrote for my Aging No More website. It will give you a very good overview about how your endothelial cells and nitric oxide impact your cardiovascular system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endothelium - This links you to Wikipedia and their discussion about the endothelium which is another way to describe the endothelial cells.

http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/mb140/MoreAbout/Endothel.htm - This is an excellent article by Professor John McGeachie and is posted on the School of Anatomy & Human Biology – The University of Western Australia website.

http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrary.org/cgi/content/full/91/10/3527 - This is a comprehensive 102 page review article from the Journal of American Society of Hematology that discusses in great detail all the various functions carried out by the endothelial cells.

Once considered to be simple, one-celled structures with little to no functional role, the endothelial cells have proven to be extremely complex biological structures that play critical roles in the health of your circulatory system. Learning how to protect and maintain healthy endothelial cells is critical to your overall health and wellness.

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Together we can work to save a million lives!

Dan Hammer

The information contained in this blog is for general information purposes only and never as a substitute for professional medical advice or medical exam. The information contain in this blogging website has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a qualified medical doctor.