According to an estimated projection made by World Health Organization (WHO) in 1997, by the year 2025, the number of confirmed diabetics in Malaysia is likely to increase by 870,000. Meaning that from among our population of 25 million, as many as 1.6 million will have fallen prey to diabetes mellitus, or diabetes, in short. In other words, 6 out of every 100 individuals on average are diabetic patients. it can thus be seen that diabetes has taken a heavy and extensive toll on the everyday living of the modern people. Apart from hereditary factors, the onset of diabetes is also closely linked to excessive eating and drinking, the lack of exercise, long-term stress and so on. As such, it is necessary and imperative for those who seriously care about their physical well-being to learn more about diabetes and the ways to prevent.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic, long-term metabolic disease characterized by excessively high level of blood sugar arising from decreased insulin production or its reduced utilization. Basically, we can classify diabetes into 2 major types :
Type 1 Diabetes : Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM)
◘ As the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin are attacked and destroyed, the body loses its ability to produce insulin. the patients have to depend on daily injection of insulin in addition to observe appropriate eating & drinking habits apart from taking up regular exercise to control the blood sugar level.
◘ Type 1 Diabetes is mostly found in patients who inherit a genetic tendency from their parents or have a family history of this type of diabetes
Type 2 Diabetes : Non-insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus (NIDDM)
◘ The cause of type 2 diabetes is the insufficient production of insulin by the body or its reduced ability to utilize insulin. It is usually brought about by hereditary factors, bad eating & drinking habits, and unhealthy lifestyle.
◘ For patients who suffer from this type of diabetes, they have to rely on having appropriate diet, oral intake of hypoglycaemic agents (medicines aimed at bringin down blood sugar level), regular exercise and healthy lifestyles. To achieve the objective of controlling the blood sugar level. When the condition deteriorates, the patients may have to rely on insulin injections to control the level of blood sugar.
Patients of diabetes generally show the following symptoms :
1. Abnormally good appetite and the tendency to become hungry easily
2. Increased volume of urine and the need to urinate frequently
3. Frequent thirst
4. Losing bodyweight and the tendency to feel tired easily
About 85% of diabetic patients also suffer from other complications such as heart problems, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases, renal diseases or kidney ailments, problems in the lower limbs, a decline in visual functions, and the list goes on. As all these complications are closely related to an elevation in the blood sugar level, they can be effectively prevented or retarded if the blood sugar level is appropriately and timely controlled.
For effective prevention of chronic complications, diabetic patients have to observe the following do's in their everyday living :
1. Have the levels of blood sugar, blood lipids, and blood pressure under proper control.
2. Go for an eye check-up at least once a year.
3. Have more frequent exercises that involve the lower limbs.
4. Go for more frequent check-ups on the lower limbs and take necessary precautions to avoid feet and leg injuries.
5. Take necessary precautions to avoid infection of the urethra.
6. Go for frequent check-ups on the content of 'trace albumin' in the urine
Therapy through a nutritional approach is the key to a holistic or overall care and management of diabetic conditions. Essentially, the control of blood sugar level should begin with having a balanced diet and healthy living habits, while attentions must also paid to the following areas :
1. Maintain an ideal bodyweight.
2. Reduce the intake of oily and deep-fried food, fatty meat, chicken skin, and food with high contents of fat and cholestrol.
3. Use cooking oil of plant origin instead of animal origin for all cooking purposes.
4. Preferably cook the food by steaming and boiling, or eat fresh vegetables and salads.
5. Increase the intake of food that is rich in fibre, such as fruit & vegetables, whole grains, and anything similar.
6. Reduce the intake of food that is rich in sugar, for example sweets, carbonated soft drinks, cordials, sweetmeats, buns and others.
7. Take food that has low content of salt.
8. Avoid alcoholic drinks.
How LingZhi helps in the prevention and treatment of Diabetes?
A patient develops diabetes as a resule of problems in the secretion of insulin, which leads to disorders in metabolic activities involving carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, and electrolytes, eventually bringing about a disturbance in the physiological equilibrium of the body and subsequent onset of lesions or pathologic changes.
Since time immemorial and through the ages, LingZhi has been regarded as a top grade crude drug of exceptional helath-giving attributes. On-going development of modern sciences, relentless research work, in-depth analyses, and extensive clinical studies have proven that LingZhi is rich in a good number of active constituents, which include macro-molecular proteins. In effect, it shows remarkable curative values in promoting our physiological functions in the prevention and treatment of many modern diseases.
Taking diabetes as an example - once you have suffered from it, chances are it will continue to haunt you throughout your life. LingZhi is not only effective in bringing down blood pressure, but is also capable of elevating the concentration of insulin in the blood. It has been proven through experiments that LingZhi is notable in slowing down the speed with which the blood sugar level rises and reducing its concentration after meal. Besides, it also excites the secretion of insulin, enables the insulin in the blood to remain at a stable level of concentration for a longer period of time, and improves the utilization of glucose in the blood by tissue cells, hence achieving the objective of bringing down the blood sugar level.
LingZhi's ability in helping the prevention and treatment of diabetes is attributed to its major functions as listed below :
◘ It increases the concentration of insulin in the blood.
◘ It facilitates the utilization of glucose in the blood by tissue cells.
◘ It assists the liver in metablosing the glucose in the blood.
◘ It is effective in bringing down blood sugar level.
◘ It protects the cardiac blood vessels, thus preventing and delaying the onset of complications caused by the hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) or hardening of the micro blood vessels.
Source : ShuangHor Magazine Nov2K4 [pg22-23]
