How Sweet Are You?

Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. Most foods consumed are changed into sugar or glucose for our bodies to get energy for activities such as breathing, walking, talking, and so on. The pancreas, also called the 'long liver', makes the hormone insulin to get glucose out of the blood and into the cells. With diabetes, the pancreas is either not making enough insulin or the insulin that is made is not being used well due to the amount of fat surrounding the cells. This causes sugar in the form of glucose to build up in the blood.

When the sugar or glucose in the blood is above normal levels, the following symptoms may occur: increased hunger, increased thirst, frequent urination (especially at nights), involuntary or unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, weakness and fatigue.

Diabetes classifications:

Type 1, juvenile or childhood diabetes is usually diagnosed in children, teens or young adults. It occurs from the malfunction or destruction of the beta cells in the pancreas which results in the lack of, or depletion in the secretion of insulin. A person with Type 1 diabetes has to use insulin injections everyday to live.

Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes occurs as a result of insulin resistance and impaired beta cell function with relative insulin deficiency. It usually occurs in adulthood, but due to the current trend of high obesity rates, teens and young adults are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy between the 24th and 28th week when the body's demand for insulin increases.

Other specific types of diabetes may be as a result of specific conditions, such as medications, surgery, infections and pancreatic diseases.

Pre-diabetes is defined as impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose, otherwise called 'borderline' diabetes.

Risk factors

The risk factors for the development of diabetes include: pre-diabetes, obesity, waist circumference for women greater than 30 inches and for men greater than 35 inches, insufficient physical activity and increasing age.

Based on the Jamaica Healthy Lifestyle Survey 2008, 224,712 Jamaicans between the ages of 15 and 74 years have diabetes which is almost 14 per cent of the Jamaican population. About 53,706 Jamaicans do not know they have diabetes. Diabetes is the second leading cause of death in Jamaica.

Diabetes has no cure but can be controlled with diet, exercise/physical activities and medications along with self monitoring such as daily blood glucose checks and foot care.

Article by Marsha N. Woolery, a registered dietitian/nutritionist and adjunct lecturer at Northern Caribbean University. 

What men want

EVERY man wants an attractive woman, but a good man wants more than that. A good man wants a woman who can think and reason well, not just one who tickles his fancy. He wants a woman who knows herself and what she is about. Those who have mastered the art of knowing what men want are usually the ones who score big with men.

If you are tired of scoring low grades and you want to learn how to score big with men, here goes:

1. A man wants a woman with a brain. Do not be like those women who take submission to another level, so that instead of using their brains, they act dumb and leave the men to make all the decisions and to call the shots. A man wants a woman to help him, to take some of the stresses off his shoulders. In other words, he wants you to complement him. Do not just show him that you are beautiful, show him that you are smart as well.

2 . A man wants a woman with a heart . No man wants a woman who is cold and harsh. As a woman, he expects that you will display an affectionate and caring nature. Do not be too brash or too blunt, show your finer qualities and let him see that you are more than a woman. Show him that you are a lady.

3. A man wants to be loved. Sometimes women form the wrong opinions, believing that men are tough and are not interested in lots of love and affection. This is not true, men love to be pampered, they want to feel special, they want to give love and in return, they want to be loved.

4. A man wants a helpmate. It does not matter how career oriented you are as a woman, or how many helpers you can afford to pay or what you can or cannot do in the home. The fact of the matter is that there are some things that a man does not want his helper to do for him and he might not tell you. Anyway, the nature of a man is that he believes that some personal things should be done by the woman who wears his ring.

5. A man wants to live in peace and contentment. Some women excel at being physically beautiful but regarding a good personality, they are really lacking. No matter how beautiful you may be, if your personality turns him off, he will not even see your physical beauty. Remember that beauty is more than skin deep, so as you work on the outer beauty, work also on the inner beauty, it is very important.

Jacqueline Champier is a counselling psychologist from Mandeville.

The Art of Procrastinating

Nothing is as fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an incompleted task. Around the world many individuals have mastered the art of procrastinating. From students to teachers, even our dedicated civil servants do it. Some may even try to stipulate a reason for finding something else to do other than that which is assigned. Do you know what procrastination is? Have you ever fallen prey to its trap?

Your procrastination is not an untameable beast. Procrastination is a habit that you can overcome. There are no quick fixes, only simple strategic methods that can be followed each day. People procrastinate for different reasons. One researcher identifies three basic types of procrastinators: arousal types, or thrill-seekers, avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think that they lack effort than ability, and decisional procrastinators. Not making a decision absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events.

To cease putting off those daily tasks, it is important to understand why it is being done. We procrastinate because of fear - fear of failure, fear of success and fear of attachment. We fear failure and so we put off applying for that scholarship, or refuse to bring an idea to the boss at work. Some procrastinators fear that if they start working at their full capacity, they will become workaholics. Since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume that we will also write compulsively; we envision ourselves locked in a library carrel, hunched over the computer, barely eating and sleeping and never seeing friends or going out. Rather than fearing separation, some people procrastinate in order to create a barrier between themselves and others. They may delay to create chaos in their lives, believing that it will keep other people away.

Procrastination is a sin. It steals your time. Sadly, but true; we sometimes find reasons not to read our Bible, attend prayer meeting, and even regular church services. The Bible says that “thou shall not worship any other gods before me.”  The things that we give our time to when we know we should be at that prayer meeting or reading our Bible could be considered an idol.

There are big costs to procrastination. Health is one. Just over the course of a single academic term, procrastinating tertiary level students had evidences of compromised immune systems which lead to more influenza, more gastrointestinal problems and insomnia. In addition, procrastination has a high cost to others as well as to oneself; it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others, who become resentful. Procrastination destroys teamwork in the workplace and private relationships.

Procrastination manifests itself within every aspect of your life. Waiting until that last minute to buy those Christmas gifts, putting off seeing the dentist, getting that discomfort checked out by the physician, and filing your taxes. You forget to register to vote. You need to get an oil change. There is a pile of dishes getting higher in the kitchen. Shouldn’t you wash clothes now so you don’t have to waste Sunday cleaning everything you own? You’ll get around to it. You’ll start tomorrow. You’ll take the time to learn a foreign language, to learn how to play an instrument. Before you do though, maybe you should check your email. You should head over to facebook too, just to get it out of the way. Maybe just a few episodes of that show you like.

Procrastination steals time. When we decide to sit in-front of the television to watch cricket, football, basketball or that favourite soap opera, instead of going to church; we rob God of his time. He is not pleased. The Bible says “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL these things shall be added unto you.” ALL here denotes the desires of your heart, your dreams and aspirations. So without an investment you cannot expect to withdraw what was not deposited.

Mikki Clarke