More Teens Than Ever with Type 2 Diabetes

Be active, eat well and lower your risk!

What once was thought of as a disease that just struck adults is now hitting more and more teens. The disease? Type 2 diabetes.
What is type 2 diabetes?

Diabetes means that blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Glucose comes from the food you eat and is needed to fuel your body. Glucose is also stored in your liver and muscles. Your blood always has some glucose in it because your body needs glucose for energy. An organ called the pancreas makes insulin. Insulin helps glucose get from your blood into your cells. Cells take the glucose and turn it into energy.
If you have diabetes, the pancreas makes little or no insulin or your cells cannot use insulin very well. Glucose builds up in your blood and cannot get into your cells. If blood glucose stays too high, it can damage many parts of the body such as the heart, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
If you have type 2 diabetes, you may need to take insulin or pills to help your body’s supply of insulin work better.

How can I lower my risk for getting type 2 diabetes?
There are several ways to lower your risk:

• Stay at a healthy weight.
• Be more physically active.
• Choose to eat the right amounts of healthy foods.

What puts you at risk?
You are at risk if you:

• are overweight
• don’t get enough physical activity
• have a mom, dad, or other close relative who has type 2 diabetes
• are American Indian, Alaska Native, African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, or Pacific Islander

FACT: Eating too much sugar DOES NOT cause diabetes.
Know the warning signs:
If you have type 2 diabetes, you might:

• urinate a lot
• be very thirsty
• lose weight without any reason
• feel tired
• have patches of thick, dark skin that feels like velvet on your neck or under your arms

Some teens do not notice any of these warning signs. They find out they have diabetes when they go to their doctor for a checkup. That’s why getting a checkup every year is important. Through the state’s TENNderCare Program, checkups are free for TennCare members under the age of 21.

Source: National Institutes of Health

High Price Paid for Cheap High

Household Cleaners Not for Sniffing

Sniffing. Huffing. Bagging. Whatever you call the practice of inhaling chemical vapors of common household items to get a mind-altering effect, the practice can be deadly.

Inhalants are very effective poisons. They enter the bloodstream quickly and are then distributed throughout the brain and body. They have direct effects on both the brain and spinal cord and the nerves in the body. They may be addictive.

How severely can inhalants harm you?
They can affect your ability to:

• Think
• Talk
• Remember
• Hear
• Walk

In addition, they can cause convulsions and damage to the:

• Lungs
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Heart
• Bone marrow
• Muscles

One Time Could Be Last Time
Just one time can be one too many with inhalants, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. In an otherwise healthy person, a single session of abusing highly concentrated amounts of certain inhalants can lower oxygen levels enough to cause death.

Popular inhalants include a variety of household, beauty and office products from paint thinners, to solvents in magic markers to aerosol sprays and fingernail polish, to name a few.

Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, can be as dangerous as any other inhalant when abused. When used as a painkiller in a dentist office, nitrous oxide is mixed with oxygen. Nitrous oxide that fills balloons is usually in its pure form and can be dangerous when inhaled. Another popular balloon filler, helium, can also be dangerous to inhale. So play it safe – skip the silly voice.

It’s important to let your friends know the dangers of sniffing toxic vapors.
For help with a drug problem, call your doctor.

Source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse

Smoking Hurts Your Teeth and Overall Health

Most of you know that smoking is bad for your health. Tobacco in all forms not only hurts your health but causes many dental problems. Smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer. Smokeless tobacco also causes mouth cancer, tooth loss and other health problems.

Using tobacco increases your risk of oral cancer, gum disease, cavities and hot/cold sensitivity. Tooth stains from tobacco can not be removed by regular brushing and can cause a build up of tartar. Staining and tartar build up could mean more dental cleanings.

Tobacco is very harmful for teens because your body is still growing and changing. The 200 known poisons in smoke affect how you grow and can cause diseases.

Did you know that tobacco causes:

• Cavities
• Bone loss
• Bad breath
• Mouth sores
• Hairy tongue
• Shrinking and bleeding gums
• Loss of taste and smell
• Clothes and hair to smell
• Teeth and fingernails to yellow
• You to look pale and unhealthy
• A hacking cough
• Your energy for sports and other favorite activities to be zapped
• Even death

If you don’t use tobacco, don’t start. If you are using tobacco and want to quit here are some helpful hints to get you started:

• Set a quit date.
• Put it on paper.
• Hang out with friends who don’t smoke.
• Practice saying no.
• Be prepared for cravings.
• Join a support group.
• Consider stop-smoking medications.
• Learn from your mistakes.
• Talk to your parents, they can help.

           
If you have TennCare, you have TENNderCare (EPSDT) dental services until you become 21 years old. These services include FREE regular 6-month checkups, fluoride treatments and sealants.

Just for Girls

What You Need to Know about Pap Tests

You may have heard of Pap tests, but do you know what they are or when you should have one?

Listen up. A Pap test – sometimes called a Pap smear – looks for abnormal cells on a woman’s cervix, which could become cancer over time. The cervix is the opening to the uterus, at the very top of the vagina. If the results of a Pap test show there are abnormal cells that could become cancer, your doctor can begin treatment to prevent cervical cancer.

The doctor usually uses a small spatula or tiny brush to collect cells from the cervix. You may feel a little discomfort, but it doesn’t last long.

When should you have a Pap test?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that women should have their first Pap test within three years of first having sex or at age 21, whichever comes first.

Cervical cancer often does not cause symptoms until after it is too late to do anything about it. That’s why getting screened for cervical cancer is important. 

There is now a vaccine that will protect girls and women from getting cervical cancer and genital warts due to a common virus. This virus is known as HPV or human papillomavirus. The vaccine is given in three doses. And TennCare pays for it if you are a BlueCare or TennCareSelect member.

Ideally, girls should get this vaccine before their first sexual contact. The CDC recommends that girls between the ages of 9 and 26 get the vaccine.

Breast Health

Good news! Breast cancer is rare in teenage girls.

But what about all of those lumps and bumps? Not to panic. This is common as your breasts develop and grow.

Breast cancer is probably the farthest thing from your mind. However, it’s a good idea to develop some good practices for good breast health in the future. If you become familiar with the normal look and feel of your breasts now, you will be able to tell if there are changes later.

You should start doing monthly self exams of your breasts at age 18 to 20, or ask your doctor when you should begin. And ask your doctor the best way to do self exams.

Do your self exam at the same time every month. About a week after your period is a good time since your breasts are then less tender. If you feel a lump that does not go away, check with your doctor.

Unless your doctor tells you, teenagers do not need to get mammograms, an X-ray of the breast.

According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of getting breast cancer increases as you get older. Plus, just being a female is the main risk factor for getting breast cancer. Men can also get breast cancer, but the disease is about 100 times more common among women than men.

Although you can’t do anything about your gender or aging, you can help reduce your risks of getting breast cancer by eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise.

What do you know about chlamydia?

When is being ranked as one of the top 10 states not good? When the ranking concerns the number of reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In a report released earlier this year on 2006 STD cases, Tennessee ranked 9th among all the states for the highest number cases of chlamydia. This is one of the most common STDs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 2.8 million people are infected each year.

What is chlamydia?
It is a bacterial infection that you can get during vaginal, oral or anal sexual contact with an infected partner. However, in about 70 percent of persons infected, there are no symptoms. But it can still cause serious problems.

The infection, if severe, can prevent women from having a baby. Or it can cause newborn babies of infected mothers to be born with infections. It can also cause painful urination and yellowish discharge from the vagina or penis.

Diagnosis and Treatment
If you are sexually active, you should have a test every year to see if you have chlamydia. This test is free to TennCare members. If you do have chlamydia, it can be treated with antibiotics. It is important to take all of your medicine, even after symptoms disappear. Tell your sex partners that you have chlamydia so they can be tested and treated, if necessary.

Prevention
The surest way to avoid chlamydia, as well as other STDs, is to have no sexual contact. If you do have sex, you should have only one partner who has been tested and is not infected and has no other partners. If you have sex, you can reduce your risk of getting chlamydia by using a latex condom.
Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Heads up
Guys, take heed. Chlamydia can affect both women and men.

Just for Guys

Thumbs up for injury-free texting

Who would have thought it? Texting is not without health risks. Especially if you spend lots of time every day sending text messages exclusively with your thumbs. Or if you spend lots of time playing computer or hand-held games. You could develop repetitive stress injuries (RSI). This includes carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tendonitis and many other conditions.

Repeated, uninterrupted motions can lead to painful swelling and inflammation of the overused soft tissues such as tendons and muscles. Over time, RSIs can cause temporary or permanent damage.

Treatment
Treatment usually includes reducing or stopping the motions that cause the painful symptoms. Options include taking breaks to give the affected area time to rest. Applying ice to the affected area may help reduce swelling. Your doctor may also suggest medicine for pain or inflammation.

Stretching exercises may also help. Take a look at these tips and suggested exercises from Virgin Mobile:

Tips

• If texting starts to hurt, stop. Use the other hand, or call instead.
• Vary the hand you use.
• Vary the digits you use.
• Don’t text for more than a few minutes without a break.

Exercises
Stop these exercises if you feel any pain because you could do more harm than good.
In your texting hand:

• Tap each finger with the thumb of the same hand. Repeat 5 times.
• Pull your thumb firmly with the other hand. Repeat 5 times.
• Wrap an elastic band around the tips of fingers and thumb and force apart. Repeat 20 times.
• With palms down, wrap an elastic band around each thumb and force apart. Repeat 20 times.
• Reach up high with both arms and shake your hands. Reach down low with both arms and shake. Repeat 3 times.

Heads up
Girls, take heed. Guys aren’t the only ones that can suffer injuries from texting.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Losing Your Cool

Note to girls
Guys aren’t the only ones who get angry. You can try these tips, too!

It is totally normal to be angry sometimes — everyone gets mad at some point. And as a teen, the changes in your body can cause you to feel mad for what seems like no good reason sometimes.
The idea is to deal with your anger in a good way. Cool down first, and then focus on positive ways to fix the problem. This will help you to deal better with the people in your life, and you can even earn more respect along the way. So, the next time something really has you fired up, try these steps:

1. Try to calm yourself down before doing or saying anything.

When you are afraid that your anger will get the best of you, try exercising. Taking a walk or going for a run will get your mind off the problem. Sometimes you just need to get away for a while and cool down.

1. Tell the other person why you’re angry and how you feel.

What we say when we are angry can hurt more than anything else. So, think about what you're going to say before you say it. Make sure you’re not saying something you are going to feel bad about later.

1. Try to think about the reason you’re angry.

We often become angry because of other people’s actions. But most of the time, these people didn’t act out of spite. They just weren't thinking about how their actions may hurt others. Be honest with yourself and admit that you can be mean at times yourself, and then be willing to forgive.
The next time you feel really angry, ask yourself if the reason you’re angry is going to be important to you years from now. If not, just let it go.

How’s Your Driving?

So, you just got your driving license – and you’re feeling like the “king” of the road. Just make sure you’re not a king of terror.

A license to drive is not a license to show off to friends by driving fast, squealing tires, weaving in and out of traffic or tail-gating.

Sadly, the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among 16- to19-year-olds than among any other age group. The crash rate per mile driven for this age group is four times the risk for older drivers, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Risk is highest at age 16.

Other statistics for male teen drivers:

• The motor vehicle death rate for 16- to 19-year-old male drivers was more than one and a half times that of female drivers of the same age in 2004.
• The presence of male teenage passengers increases the likelihood of risky driving behaviors among teen male drivers.
• Among male drivers between 15 and 20 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 38 percent were speeding at the time of the crash and 24 percent had been drinking.
• Male high school students (12.5 percent) were more likely than female students (7.8 percent) to rarely or never wear seat belts. Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use.

So, make up your mind to defy poor driving records of male teens. It’s better to drive safely than to become a crash or injury statistic.

Mike the Myth Slayer Myth:Prescription drugs are safer and less addictive than street drugs. Fact: Prescription dugs can be harmful if they are used wrong or used by someone they aren’t prescribed for. When they are used with certain other drugs, including over-the-counter drugs, deadly reactions can result.