Symptoms of Diabetes

Diabetes is a fairly common disease which involves abnormally high levels of sugar in the blood. This disease can last for the entire lifetime and may cause several other problems.
The only way to treat diabetes is early detection and appropriate precautions. Read on to know more about the various symptoms of diabetes.

1. Frequent Urination

If more often than not, you feel the urge to pee then there is a possibility that you may have diabetes. The spike of sugar levels in the blood increases its osmolality, which causes increased amount of fluids in bloodstream. As this puts more pressure on the kidney, it also causes it to create more urine and thus the person needs to urinate more frequently.

2. Excessive Thirst

A diabetic person may feel an unquenchable thirst at all times. As the body gets rid of its fluids rapidly, it needs more water to replenish the loss. Generally, excessive thirst and frequent urination in combination is a more definite indicator of diabetes.

3. Blurred Vision

A diabetic may experience blurred vision as high levels of glucose pulls fluid out of the blood and tissues, including the tissues in the eyes. This affects the ability of the eyes to focus properly. If diabetes goes untreated, it can lead to loss of vision and even blindness.

4. Loss of Weight

This is a more common symptom of type-1 diabetes. The body breaks down the fatty tissues for energy which can lead to weight loss as cells are not getting enough glucose.

5. Fatigue

As the body is not able to utilize sugar for its need of energy, a diabetic may experience fatigue and weakness. Cells become low on energy as they are not able to absorb the glucose present in the bloodstream without insulin.

6. Numbness in Hands

High levels of sugar in the blood can significantly damage the nervous system. If diabetes remains undetected for a long period, it can lead to symptoms such as a tingling sensation or loss of any feeling in the hands.

7. Bruises, Cuts Heal Slow

This is one of the most common signs in all diabetics. The ability of the immune system to function properly is compromised with high levels of sugar in the blood. The irregular water balance in the tissues also delays the healing of cuts and wounds.
The symptoms of diabetes can be many but none of them are conclusive. It is best to get your blood sugar levels checked every once in a while as symptoms of diabetes can stay hidden for a long time.

How to Prevent Daytime Sleepiness

You have so much work to be done, but well, you feel like taking a nap.
At the back of your head lurks that feeling that the nap will not remain just a “nap” once you doze off! Blame it on your poor sleeping habits, you have fallen prey to daytime sleepiness. Well, daytime sleepiness is fine, till the time it isn’t against your wishes. But once it gets in the way of your daily chores, it can be quite a menace.

The main reason for this sleep disorder is a set of poor sleeping habits . Lack of proper sleep during the night can make you feel all groggy and crabby in the morning which is primarily because your brain and your body have been deprived of the kind of rest they require. Hence, having a good night’s sleep is a critical component to avoid daytime sleepiness. Following are a few ways you can ensure good sleep in the night:

Get Adequate Sleep at Night

Regardless of how obvious it might sound, many people have a tendency to cut down their sleep in the morning or at night to do other things. Most adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep, while teenagers need complete nine hours. So, block those hours for sleep every night.

Keep Distractions Away

Experts unequivocally state that your bed is a place to sleep or have sex. You shouldn’t read, watch TV, play video games or use laptops in bed. Doing your bills or having arguments in the bed might leave you sleepless in the night.

Avoid Drinking Just Before Hitting the Bed

People usually think that consuming alcohol just before hitting the bed helps them sleep better. But here’s a reality check: it robs you of deep and peaceful sleep which is essential for feeling well-rested and refreshed next day. Now, the effect of alcohol might wear out in a couple of hours in the night, but after that you’d probably be wide awake, unable to sleep, leaving you all groggy and tired the next day. Or you may even wake up with a terrible hangover in the morning.

Don’t Sleep Late in the Day

Dozing off late in the afternoon can make the usual daytime sleepiness worse as it interferes with your nighttime sleep. If you’ve had a good nap, you might not feel sleepy at the regular time in the night. You'll be ending up sleeping late in the night and then getting up late and feeling groggy throughout the day, and thus, turning your body clock upside down.

Set Consistent, Healthy Meal Times

Eating a healthy breakfast and lunch on time prevents energy deficits during the day that aggravate your sleepiness. Try to finish your meal two to three hours before the bed time.

A Guide to Push Ups

Pushups. They look incredibly easy, uncomplicated and almost childish when compared to arsenal of fitness machines and free weights at the gym.

Before the Push Up

Warm up with a bit of cardio; options include skipping rope, jumping jacks, jogging. The physically active can even combine a bit of the three. However, don’t wear yourself out in the warm up process in the zealous enthusiasm of fitness; the purpose here is to get blood pumping through your arms, chest and back, optimizing your ability to support your frame when you get down to it.

What is a push up?

Remember to exhale while raising your body, and pause a moment, and hold the push up pose before raising your body back to prone position. Keeping this rhythm of breathing enables optimum oxygen levels. And more oxygen means better workouts.

A Contingency Plan

Factoring in people who don’t have the shoulder/chest strength yet to perform a ‘proper’, sustained pushup, it is advisable to bend the knees so that they touch the floor during the push-up. This will create more surface area for the body to bear the weight.

Alternatively, beginners can also perform inclined pushups. This is an inclined push-up.

Alternatively, you can lean on a vertical surface (like a wall)

Why do pushups?

With regular push-ups over a long period of time, you can create massive changes in how your abs, triceps, shoulder and torso look. If the monotony of the basic pushup might get you thinking of it as just another exercise, try this. To work specifically on your chest, widen the position of your hands a bit further. For triceps, bring ‘em closer. See, with just two tiny changes in your stance, you emphasize two different muscle groups!

What to NOT do

With what seems a simple goal of ten pushups, you may have started optimistically. However, sometime near the seventh push up, when fatigue sets in, you might literally ‘compromise your stance’; by letting your elbow joints take the weight of your body when you rise up. Pushups are meant to exercise abs, triceps, shoulders and chest. Not elbow joints. It may seem ridiculous to even point it out, but a little detail like, if not rectified can cause seriously elbow damage. Another very popular mistake is to let the chest touch the ground when you descend. It may look cool, but it just takes away the weight from your arms.

Ditto for a desperate streak of making up for lost workout time. If, a 10 pushups a day guy misses 3 days of workout, and then decides to make up for it with 40 pushups when he gets the chance. Your body doesn’t work like that.
The holiday season seems a good excuse to chuck your fitness regime. But you can manage two minutes, cant you? Just two minutes of push-ups may seem tiny, but sometimes when we get lost, a baby step keeps us on track.

Fitness Log

Maintain a simple notebook logging down your warm-up exercise(s) & time, the number of pushups you did. Also, if you count calories, then remember that a push-up can burn up to one calorie. (mention how if you get dedicated, you can burn away your pint of beer, so stay tuned when we get advanced). And you can always use your jotted fitness stats with people who’ve been working at fitness for a while longer than you.

Stretch

Stretch your chest muscles by holding onto a wall, and then stretching away from it. Any other method by which you can feel a gentle stretch on the concerned muscles is appropriate. Just don’t overdo it - hold the stretch for a moment before coming back to original position.

Why you should have a personal accident cover policy?

You need a life insurance policy to cover the risk of death and a health insurance policy as a cushion against hospitalization expenses. While most readers are bound to be familiar with these essential covers, very few would have heard of the personal accident cover. Personal accident schemes cover the policyholder against death or disability due to an accident. All general insurance companies offer these policies, but it's very unlikely that an agent will try to sell you one. These low-priced policies are not very popular because the agent earns barely Rs 20-30 as commission from selling such a policy.

However, you should buy a personal accident policy because it plugs an important hole in your insurance portfolio. Firstly, it will provide financial support to the policyholder if he is disabled after an accident. Secondly, the magnitude of the mishap doesn't matter; even minor ones like falling off a bicycle and breaking an arm, or fracturing a leg while playing football are covered by the policy. If you thought term insurance policies were cheap, wait till you find out about the premium rates of a personal accident policy. For as little as Rs 225 a year, you can get a cover of Rs 5 lakh.

The daily cost works out to about 60 paise. However, this is the rate for a basic cover from a PSU insurer and will only cover death and permanent disability. If you want enhanced protection, you will have to shell out more (see graphic). Bundle it with other covers One way to get the agent interested is to buy it along with your health or motor insurance.

"Since agents get very low commissions, they usually try to bundle the personal accident cover with some other insurance product. However, this doesn't mean that you will pay a lower premium, though some companies may give you a discount," says Sanjay Datta, head of underwriting and claims, ICICI Lombard General Insurance. A basic personal accident cover against death and permanent total disability is already built into a motor insurance policy. You can enhance the cover by paying extra. PSU insurers offer a maximum cover of Rs 5 lakh under a personal accident plan.

Private insurance companies offer a higher cover and a wider range of benefits, but the premium rates are higher too. You can take a cover of up to 8 times your annual salary. Apart from the basic death and permanent disability cover, you can buy additional protection against partial and temporary disability, even loss of livelihood. "A personal accident policy covers the buyer against costs that can shatter him financially," says Subrahmanyam B, senior vice-president, health & commercial lines, Bharti AXA General Insurance.
Understand terms & conditions It's important to understand the terms and conditions clearly before you buy a policy. For example, hospitalisation benefit can be availed of only if the policyholder is admitted within seven days of the accident and is hospitalised for at least 24 hours. A fractured leg is a temporary disability, and if you have taken a cover against it, your policy will pay a weekly sum of Rs 5,000 for up to two years. However, this weekly cash benefit is paid only if you are unable to go to work and the payment starts only 60 days after the accident. One also has to submit proof, including a doctor's certificate for the disability that prevents one from attending work.

 



Also, be very clear about the definition of disability. When a Delhi-based policyholder lost his index finger in a car accident, the hospital gave him a certificate of 15% disability.
Yet, the life insurance company denied his claim because he had a cover against total disability. "The policy document defines the loss of hand as total disability. The loss of one digit, even though it was the index finger, was not covered," he says.

Permanent total disability is defined as total loss of sight in both eyes, or total loss of use, or dismemberment of both hands or legs, or one hand and one leg. Losing one eye is a permanent, but not total, disability. Ask the insurance company or agent to explain the exclusions clearly to you.
You may also have a group cover Most companies offer personal accident insurance to their employees through a group cover. However, this is a very basic cover and may not offer the benefits offered by a standalone policy.

"I recommend an individual policy only if one can afford it and if his company's cover is insufficient," says Jayant Pai, head, marketing, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services. You can also buy an accident cover with a rider along with a life insurance policy.

However, these riders come with strings attached and don't offer certain covers. "Since life insurance companies cannot offer anything but life cover, you will not be covered against other damages, such as hospitalisation expenses," says Sanjay Tiwari, vicepresident, strategy and product, HDFC Life. "Riders can never be as comprehensive as a standalone policy," he adds.