[acb-diabetics] FW: [blind-diabetics] Fw: How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

This from another list, but interesting.  	

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Subject: [blind-diabetics] Fw: How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels
and Your Drugs?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Park" <pageforpage at gmail.com>
To: "Michael Park" <pageforpage at hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 8:20 AM
Subject: How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?


>I have for some time wondered if all type II diabetics feel the heat as 
>badly as I do in summer, and if so, how authentic are the claims that there

>is a link between exposure to heat and excessively high blood sugars?
>
> this past week-end, I was urged to look at this question even closer. 
> Normally, my blood sugars range between 5 and 8 Mmol/l, which, in North 
> American terms, translates into a range of between 90 and 126 MG/DL, and 
> with the luxury of rounding up, perhaps, even, between 90 and 130 MG/DL.
>
> We have just experienced an excessively hot and humid week-end, and my 
> fasting sugars were higher than my accepted norm which is between 5 and 6 
> or between 90 and 110. The one on Saturday morning, which ran at 6.7 
> (121), I attributed to the fact that I was at a braai the previous night, 
> promoting the meat of a particular butchery and that I enjoyed myself 
> there a tad more than I ought to have. While I recorded readings which 
> were rather close to the top end of my range for the remaining two tests 
> of the day, I was not over due concerned. What did concern me however, is 
> the fact that at this time of the year, I seem to have a huge battle on my

> hands, trying to keep my fasting sugar levels between 5 and 6 (90 and 110)

> and more often than not, I have been losing this battle.
>
> My fasting sugar on the Sunday was 6.6 and I had not done anything 
> outrageous the previous day. The reading did puzzle me a bit as did many 
> of my other unacceptably high fasting sugars, but I was not concerned 
> enough to really get up and look into the matter. I just assumed that it 
> could possibly be attributable to the heat and left the matter at that.
>
> I went to church and nearly fainted in the service on account of the heat.

> I came home afterwards and just collapsed on the bed till lunch time. 
> However, when I did my test, I got scared out of my bracket, for the 
> result returned, was 11.3 (203). On account of just feeling faint on 
> account of the heat, I decided to stay at home on Sunday night. Despite my

> efforts to just keep quiet, my evening result was even worse, being 11.6 
> (209).
>
> This morning, my fasting sugar was 4.7 which represents a 6.9 drop from 
> last night. Needless to say, I had no energy nor the desire to do anything

> and even writing this email, is a huge effort on my part.
>
> Nevertheless, I was finally motivated to try and get my backside into gear

> and research this question on Google. I came up with an article, which I 
> must say, must not be treated as the absolute definitive authority on the 
> question, although it is a valuable piece of information to keep at the 
> back of your head as a diabetic in the event of extreme hot summer's days.

> I have come to the conclusion that there is not a precisely determined 
> result that heat has on blood sugar levels, but that at least, there is a 
> very definite impact that heat does have on blood sugars, possibly leading

> to higher readings and even possibly leading to lower readings.
>
> The explanation for the higher readings could be that the body sweats and 
> that there is a loss of fluid increasing the sugar levels in the blood 
> stream. Even if you are not a prolific sweater, it should also be 
> remembered that it is an established physiological fact (and I studied 
> physiology as one of my matric subjects at school, where we learnt these 
> things, even back in the 70's), that there is something called an 
> invisible persperation. In otherwords, a person may perspire, but because 
> there is not an excessive amount of liquid with the persperation, the bit 
> that there is, evaporates quickly and is therefore not obviously 
> noticeable.
>
> The explanation for lower sugar readings during excessively hot and humid 
> spells of weather is the fact that a lower metabolism rate, which may also

> be prevalent in the previous instance mentioned, is more dominant than the

> sweat factor. It should be understood that the one does not exclude the 
> other. On the contrary, for one or the other to be valid, they would have 
> to both co-exist.
>
> Lower metabolism means that less glucose is needed by the body, with the 
> result that less glycogen is converted into glucose, giving rise to higher

> insulin levels and therefore, there is less glucose in the blood stream, 
> giving rise to the possible scenario that even though the body still needs

> glucose, there might actually be insufficient glucose to be consumed by 
> the body cells, leading to hypoglycaemia, or blood sugars which are too 
> low.
>
> For the reasons I have just mentioned, the article below, cannot be 
> regarded as a definitive answer to the question as to what effect 
> excessive heat and humidity have on blood sugar levels, but it can be 
> accepted for Gospel, that it does have an impact on blood sugar levels.
>
> Before reproducing this article, I have also checked the author out. It 
> would appear that the author is talking sense since there is nothing in 
> the article itself, that strikes me as being out of the ordinary. Much of 
> what is written there, I already knew.
>
> I have not only written this email to folks who I know, are diabetic and 
> people who are involved with diabetes, but I have also blind carbon copied

> it to my forwards list in general, since this is a thing which I believe, 
> if not recognised, could have consequences of tragic proportions. Chances 
> are that people on my forwards list will come across diabetics and could 
> find this little piece of information very useful.
>
> Finally, if you are having problems with this kind of thing, don't take my

> word on the subject as being the definitive word. I still want to conduct 
> a couple of experiments on myself, to validate the claims--my 
> experimentation being confined to implementing the recommendations of the 
> article below, implied or otherwise, strictly and monitoring the results. 
> I would suggest that if you have this problem, you should test regularly, 
> and discuss the matter with your doctor, diabetic nursing practitioner or 
> diabetic counsellor, as the case may be.
>
> I have reproduced the link and, for the benefit of those who work on 
> computers where access to the internet is restricted, the text of the 
> article below my signature. In the meantime, for those of my readers who 
> are currently experiencing hot and humid weather, keep cool, calm and 
> collected; and for the rest, keep warm.
>
> -- 
> Michael Park
> "I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God Than dwell in the 
> tents of wickedness." (psalm 84:10 NKJV).
>
> We support NVDA, a free screenreading program for the blind, giving high 
> quality computer access to many commercial applications, as well as 
> portability.
>
>  NVDA 2010.2 has been released.
>
> How Does Heat Affect Your Blood Sugar Levels and Your Drugs?
>
http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Does-Heat-Affect-Your-Blood-Sugar-Levels-and-Y
our-Drugs?&id=4693679
>
> Type 2 diabetics are especially susceptible to the effects of summer heat.

> If blood sugar levels are not kept in check, dehydration is a very real 
> danger. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of type 2 diabetics have to 
> make a trip to the emergency room to be re-hydrated... and millions of 
> type 2 diabetics ruin their medications or testing supplies by exposing 
> them to the heat.
>
> Most Type 2 diabetics don't realize that the temperature outside does not 
> have to be 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) or even more before

> there is a danger of heat-related illness. Most diabetics have an impaired

> ability to sweat. If there is high humidity, even 80 to 90 degrees F (27 
> to 32 degrees C), can bring on heatstroke or dehydration. Every year 
> people with Type 2 diabetes die because they did not know they could not 
> stand a "little" heat.
>
> Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include:
>
> . dizziness or even fainting
> . muscle cramps
> . cool, clammy skin
> . headaches
> . nausea
> . a rapid heartbeat
>
> Three Tips to Help Avoid Dehydration:
>
> 1. Check your blood sugar levels often when it is hot; both high and low 
> blood sugar levels can be be a problem during the heat.
>
> 2. Take care with exercising... it is best to exercise early in the 
> morning or in the evening when the temperatures are lower... miss exercise

> during the daytime altogether when the temperatures are high.
>
> 3. Drink plenty of water, add lemon slices to help it taste refreshing. 
> Fruit juice and sports drinks are loaded with sugar and can add to the 
> problem.
>
> Medications Can be Affected by the Summer Heat Also:
>
> 1. Summer heat is also harmful to diabetic medications, especially 
> insulin. More than about an hour of exposure to 98 degree F (37 degree C) 
> heat ruins insulin. Leaving a vial of insulin in your car with the windows

> rolled up can ruin it in minutes. Heat inside an unventilated vehicle can 
> run as high as 140 to 160 degrees F (50 to 60 degrees C). But insulin is 
> not the only medication that can be ruined by heat.
>
> 2. Oral diabetes medications, test strips, and test meters likewise can be

> ruined by heat.
>
> The solution is not to leave these supplies at home during the summer. It 
> is best to carry a glucometer with you, especially if there is danger of 
> uncontrolled high blood sugars that accompany deadly dehydration. Keep 
> these supplies in insulated totes that you cool with a "blue ice" pack, 
> and always keep a back up supply of blue ice in the freezer at home. For 
> occasions when it is not possible to use a refrigerator, keep a supply of 
> water-activated Frio to keep insulin, oral medications, and diabetes 
> supplies cool without refrigeration when there is no electricity or the 
> electricity goes out. (Ask Escom).
>
> With careful planning you can still enjoy summer and have stable blood 
> sugar levels.
>
> Beverleigh Piepers RN... the Diabetes Detective.
>
> Beverleigh Piepers is the author of this article. This article can be used

> for reprint on your website provided all the links in the article are 
> complete
>
> 



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