Home
- Just Don't Do Nothing
You can view the current or previous issues of Diabetes Health online, in their entirety, anytime you want.
Click Here To View
See if you qualify for our free healthcare professional magazines. Click here to start your application for Pre-Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Pharmacist and Diabetes Health Professional.
Latest Blood Glucose Articles
Blood Glucose Article Archives
April 2012
The US Food and Drug Administration has okayed US sales of Bayer HealthCare's CONTOUR® Next EZ blood glucose monitoring system. The new BGM, currently available in other countries as the CONTOUR XT, will be available in the US market this summer.
1 comment - Posted Apr 25, 2012
NeuroMetrix, Inc., a Massachusetts-based medical device company, has filed a 510(k) form with the US Food and Drug Administration for the SENSUSTM, a pain therapy device for people who suffer diabetic neuropathy. A 510(k) is a "premarket notification" of a company's intent to market a medical product. The FDA then tests the product and provides feedback to the manufacturer. Once the FDA clears the product, its maker can introduce it to the US market.
1 comment - Posted Apr 24, 2012
As we approach the summer season, our thoughts turn to barbecues, picnics, amusement parks, and road trips to the beach. It is a season of fun, but it can be hard for people with diabetes to enjoy the festivities and still maintain healthy eating habits.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2012
The challenges of pregnancy are daunting on their own, but when you're diabetic, they can seem insurmountable. That's one of the reasons Cheryl Alkon wrote a book on the subject. Having type 1 diabetes herself, Alkon knew firsthand the challenges of controlling her disease during pregnancy, and of raising the kids who followed.
3 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2012
February 2012
A study of medical claims data from more than 136,000 men shows that men with diabetes are much more likely to require invasive therapies for erectile dysfunction than men without diabetes. The therapies, which are the next steps beyond oral treatments, are second-line suppositories or injections and third-line surgeries to implant prostheses.
1 comment - Posted Feb 23, 2012
December 2011
Vaginal yeast infections are annoying, not dangerous, but they can seriously hamper your sex life, especially if you have diabetes. What's the connection, and what can you do to prevent and treat yeast infections?
3 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2011
November 2011
People with diabetes may want to have their hearing checked, based on a study that found hearing problems twice as common among them as among people without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 19, 2011
Heather Shields was thrilled when she got the opportunity to dance with the famous Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. At 11 years old, she dreamed of one day becoming a professional ballerina, and this trip would bring her dream a little closer. A long way from home for this California girl, Heather traveled with her family to the "Big Apple" for the month of July. During that month she remembers dancing six to seven hours a day in the heat of the summer. She began losing weight, but shrugged it off, assuming she'd caught her mom's stomach bug.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2011
Final weeks of pregnancy! The third trimester brings about many more ultrasound scans and measurements taken to judge the growth and health of your child. You'll likely be visiting your OB/GYN or maternal fetal medicine office twice per week for non-stress tests to ensure that your baby is healthy and active.
3 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2011
October 2011
News from Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk reinforces the growing trend toward using a two-drug combination in the early treatment of type 2 diabetes. (See "A Conversation About Janumet and Earlier Combination Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes" for more discussion about this phenomenon.) In a study it released in Lisbon, Portugal, at the recent meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Novo said that combining its recently released drug Victoza® (liraglutide) with another drug early in therapy helps recently diagnosed type 2s achieve greater blood glucose control than they can with a single drug.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2011
September 2011
A couple of factors lead to increased risk of insulin shock comas during the first trimester. For many, insulin sensitivity increases and the pancreas isn't yet producing the hormones associated with insulin resistance. In addition, many type 1s will be taken off of their current basal insulin if it is not yet approved for use during pregnancy.
4 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2011
Imagine if you could keep diabetes at bay for another three or four years with lifestyle changes. Would you change what you ate? Would you commit to an exercise program, maintain a food journal, and join a support group? Imagine if you could take these simple steps and save money. How quickly would you say "Sign me up"?
1 comment - Posted Sep 26, 2011
Claire Duncan is one of many people with type 1 diabetes who wears a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump, in this case, an Animas® VibeTM. In an age of almost routine medical marvels, Duncan doesn't really seem to be an exception.
2 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2011
An estimated 34 million Americans will be on the road during Labor Day weekend, many of them with type 2 diabetes. Road travel can interfere with blood sugar management and lead to low blood sugar, which can cause serious complications, such as loss of consciousness, if not treated quickly.
1 comment - Posted Sep 6, 2011
Carbohydrates can increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, as well as contribute to weight gain. A recent study shows that eating two ounces of raw, dry, or roasted nuts daily as a replacement for two ounces of other carbohydrates may control blood sugar levels and cholesterol in type 2 diabetes without packing on the pounds.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2011
When people are diagnosed with diabetes, things can seem pretty overwhelming. In a short time, they have to absorb a daunting amount of information and start making significant decisions about the way they live their lives.
0 comments - Posted Sep 3, 2011
August 2011
US Action Follows Stop-Ship That Began in June
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2011
Many women with diabetes feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of family, work, and personal health. Balancing the minutiae of everyday life with the nonstop demands of blood glucose monitoring, exercise, and thoughtful meal planning takes time and effort. So it comes as no surprise that many women with diabetes put off talking to their doctors about breast cancer screening.
1 comment - Posted Aug 20, 2011
A study in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that type 2s who received once-daily or thrice-weekly injections of degludec, a very long-acting insulin, maintained blood glucose levels similar to patients receiving daily doses of insulin glargine. The results point the way to a possible reduction in the number of injections that type 2s who take insulin would need over any seven-day period. In both the United States and the United Kingdom currently, about one in every three type 2 patients injects insulin at least once daily.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2011
July 2011
How many times has this happened to you? You're driving somewhere and something feels off. You suspect that your blood sugar level may be dropping, but you plow ahead. Now, imagine your car sounding the alarm: "Attention: This is your car speaking. Your blood sugar is low. Pull over and eat a snack."
3 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2011
Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly have begun sales of Tradjenta, a drug for type 2 diabetes, in U.S. pharmacies. The drug (generic name linagliptin) comes in tablet form and is intended to compete with Amylin Pharmaceuticals' Byetta, which is injected, and Merck's Januvia, which also competes with Byetta. Both are well-established in the U.S. market.
2 comments - Posted Jul 27, 2011
I am excited to have this opportunity to write a diabetes-focused blog for Diabetes Health about living and thriving with type 1 diabetes. First of all, I am extremely passionate about racing road and mountain bicycles, running 5K runs and sprint triathlons, and doing other activities that I find to compete in for Team Type 1. But before I start blogging, I would like to tell a little about myself.
3 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2011
Anne Findlay has been racing road bikes for three years and just joined Team Type 1 this year. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1988, at age 14. For more information about Anne and Team Type 1, go to www.teamtype1.org.
1 comment - Posted Jul 25, 2011
With severe weather predicted for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Meredith Cummings thought carefully about where to park her car-eyeing the large trees in her historic neighborhood-when she arrived home on the afternoon of April 27. As she walked to her door, she reassured herself: Those trees had been there for more than 100 years. What were the odds of them coming down today?
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2011
Nipro Diagnostics, Inc., and NeuroMetrix, Inc., have announced that they will seek opportunities to sell their soon-to-be-introduced NC-stat® DPNCheckTM neuropathy test in retail medical clinics nationwide. The test, conducted onsite, evaluates neuropathies, including diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2011
Nobody thought for even a second that Crystal Bowersox's second-place finish on "American Idol 2010" meant that the 26-year-old was headed back to her native Elliston, Ohio, to resume a quiet life.
1 comment - Posted Jul 14, 2011
If you have diabetes, you're more likely to be depressed than people without the disease.
5 comments - Posted Jul 5, 2011
Roger Hurdsman lives in Roy, Utah, surrounded by women. His wife of four years, Hilary, is there, along with his two young daughters, Bonnie and Tess. He seems to be handling the estrogen well though, perhaps because he devotes his days to designing software for the Department of Defense. He is able to spend time with computers and gadgets before being inundated with tea parties and dress-up when he gets home.
1 comment - Posted Jul 4, 2011
"Good news," my diabetes nurse educator says to me. "Your new insurance covers continuous glucose monitoring supplies!" I give her a half-smile as my brain screams at me, "CGM? Really? Something else to deal with on top of this damn disease, an insulin pump, exercise, and nutrition?" But I comply, and a CGM is added to the rest of my paraphernalia.
26 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2011
June 2011
In the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to be aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
71 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2011
"My pump, my pump, my lovely little pump!" My sister invented her own version of the Black Eyed Peas' song, "My Humps" to poke friendly fun at my insulin pump.
20 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2011
Medtronic and Ford Motor Company have teamed up to develop a prototype device that will allow people with diabetes to monitor their blood glucose levels as they drive. Using Bluetooth technology, the system will connect readings from Medtronic's continuous glucose monitor to Ford's onboard communications system, called "Sync."
8 comments - Posted Jun 22, 2011
Over the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to become aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
2 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2011
A few months ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Australia to present at a conference of athletes with diabetes. During the meeting, prizes were awarded to everyone who scored exactly 5.5 mmol/L (99 mg/dL) on their glucose meter. You should have seen it! Anyone who measured close to 5.5 was testing again and again, hoping for that magic number to pop up. Fingers were suffering, but the test strip manufacturers were making out like bandits.
1 comment - Posted Jun 5, 2011
Amylin Pharmaceuticals has announced that it will collaborate with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to test a combination of Symlin and insulin in injectible form as a type 1 therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2011
May 2011
French drug maker Sanofi-aventis says that results from a Phase III trial of its experimental type 2 diabetes drug lixisenatide show that the drug successfully lowered patients' blood glucose levels and body weight, but did not increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted May 23, 2011
Albertson's LLC, a nationwide supermarket chain with more than 200 stores, has announced that it will participate in the Diabetes Control Program (DCP) of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. The DCP works through trained pharmacists to provide education and support to people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2011
April 2011
Medtronic, Inc., says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the marketing of the company's CareLink® Personal 5.4 Therapy Management Software for the Mac OS platform.
4 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2011
A new study has proven that use of a blood glucose meter with advanced features, when paired with diabetes education, more effectively manages blood glucose than using a basic feature meter. This information was presented at the recent 46th European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
4 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2011
What if there were a technology that could make people with type 1 diabetes feel absolutely wonderful, completely healthy, better than they ever realized was possible? And what if it were about to disappear? Well, there is such a technology, and it is in serious jeopardy. It's called the implantable insulin pump, currently made by Medtronic. This is the story of four people who have been using this device for 20 years, and their desperate crusade to keep it from disappearing forever.
117 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2011
Three weeks out of every month, my diabetes is well controlled. But the fourth week, the one before my period, is a nightmare. My sugars are astronomically high--I can't even look at a carbohydrate without my sugar spiking. I'm exhausted and cranky, and I can't get comfortable.
8 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2011
Italian and Greek researchers conducting a meta-analysis* of the diets of more than 500,000 people have concluded that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that are common precursors to type 2 diabetes. Those factors include overweight or obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high "bad" cholesterol.
The Mediterranean diet is high in fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods, and low-fat dairy products. Proteins include fish, legumes, poultry, tree nuts, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids from olive oil. Alcohol intake is moderate and almost always in conjunction with meals. Red meat is only an occasional menu item.
The scientists looked at 50 studies that involved more than 500,000 people, then extrapolated the effects of a Mediterranean diet from them. Although the meta-analysis pointed to the usefulness of the Mediterranean diet in fending off metabolic syndrome, its authors said that their conclusion is tentative, given the need for more research on the topic.
The study was published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
* A meta-analysis looks at a number of similar studies and tries to derive new and useful results from them by detecting common patterns among them.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2011
Jeff and Natalie Kolok live in northwestern Vermont with their three children: Naomi, 16, and Johanna and Nicholas, each ten years old. Both Johanna and Nicholas have type 1 diabetes, Johanna since age four and Nick since age six.
1 comment - Posted Apr 7, 2011
Prodigy Diabetes Care is an aptly named company, a very young enterprise with the talents of a much older organization and a future that promises prodigious rewards. It was founded in 2006 by Ramzi Abulhaj and Rick Admani, two brothers from Palestine who are its sole owners. In the five years since then, they have built a company that is successfully competing against the diabetes old guard by focusing on engineering and a unique marketing strategy.
8 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2011
March 2011
This List defines terms that people with prediabetes commonly encounter as they learn more about the condition.
1 comment - Posted Mar 29, 2011
Weight loss can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar and avoid potential health risks associated with the disease. Did you know that losing even seven percent of your body weight can lower blood sugar, reduce blood pressure, and improve cholesterol levels1?
"Consider diabetes as a disease that has different phases--with the central feature a disorder of insulin production and insulin use," said Roberta Anding, MS, RD/LD,CSSD,CDE. Anding is a clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "To better control and lose weight safely with type 2 diabetes, it is important to consider the type and amount of food on your plate."
4 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2011
My almost 20 years as a diabetes educator have been memorable in many ways, but certain moments stand out more than others. Because blood glucose testing is an important part of diabetes management for everyone I see, I try to assess each person’s skills and habits in this key area. I’ll never forget the time I asked a client how often he changed his lancet. He had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about four years earlier and was checking regularly, so it seemed like a reasonable question. He proceeded to look at me with a puzzled expression and say, “You mean you’re supposed to change those things?”
0 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2011
Ten years ago, an astute physician diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes. I exhibited none of the classic symptoms of rapid weight loss, extreme thirst, and frequent urination. I attributed fatigue to my job. For about a year before diagnosis, I experienced what I thought were yeast infections and treated them with over-the-counter medications. I later learned that this condition is a symptom of diabetes. I am non-insulin dependent.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2011
February 2011
A couple of diabetes recalls are in the works, one for a group of insulin cartridges manufactured by Animas and another for the entire line of ACCU-CHEK® FlexLink Plus infusion sets, manufactured by Roche.
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2011
In two recent head-to-head year-long trials, one testing gastric bypass surgery versus lap band surgery and another pitting gastric bypass surgery against sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass came out ahead with regard to resolving the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Both studies were published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2011
Researchers at the Children's Hospital in Boston, led by Umut Ozcan, MD, have found a regulatory protein that lowers blood sugar when it is high due to either lack of insulin or a decreased sensitivity to insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2011
Everywhere you look, there seems to be a great tasting high carb meal, dessert, or snack staring back at you. While away at college last fall, I found a t-shirt picturing a cupcake above a skull and crossbones. For me, that image really sums up how we need to deal with being diabetic while being constantly tempted by sugary treats.
4 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2011
Nearly one in six people in the United States has no health insurance. If you have diabetes, that's a very tough position to be in. There are, however, resources that can cut the costs that you have been paying out of pocket for medicines and supplies.
0 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2011
According to a new study published in Diabetes Care, your finger-prick blood glucose test may be "abnormally and significantly high" if you test after handling fruit without first scrubbing your hands thoroughly and vigorously.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2011
It's hard enough to be pregnant, but pregnancy with diabetes is especially challenging because it's so difficult to keep blood sugar within a normal range at a time when hormones are surging. All women try their best with the tools that they have, but even so, about half of all babies born to mothers with type 1 diabetes are overweight or obese at birth because of too much sugar in their mothers' blood. Mothers with high blood glucose levels also increase their child's risk of congenital malformation, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, and neonatal admission.
0 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2011
January 2011
It doesn't matter if you're a computer geek or complete technophobe: If you've ever made the effort to download your blood glucose meter, you probably don't have a clue about what to do with the data once you've gotten it. That needs to change. Those of us who live with diabetes need to become more adept at analyzing our own data, to see what's working and what isn't both for our own sake and that of our time-strapped healthcare providers. .
2 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2011
Self-management is the key to healthy living with diabetes, but there are always challenges to maintaining optimum blood glucose levels. Lagging motivation and focus can be obstacles, and adjusting diet and medications to meet changing conditions is challenging. If you have ever wished for a person to help you improve your skills, someone who could offer informed guidance between appointments with your doctor - you may have been wishing for a diabetes coach. Diabetes coaches are personal trainers for individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes. This unique branch of diabetes education delivers ongoing, one-on-one consulting from a trained certified diabetes educator.
0 comments - Posted Jan 24, 2011
Most type 2 meds work by increasing insulin production in one way or another. The extra insulin lowers blood sugar by ushering it out of your bloodstream and into your cells, where it may, unfortunately, make you fat. Wouldn't it be nice if instead, you could lower your high blood sugar by just flushing it right down the toilet?
2 comments - Posted Jan 17, 2011
Infopia USA's Eocene System is a diabetes management system with a data collection device that gathers data from a meter, blood pressure cuff, and a thermal scale. Readings are stored on Infopia's network and available to you and your health team. See the video on Diabetes Health TV here.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2011
The Diabetes Research Institute Foundation (DRIF) announced a new, first-of-its-kind partnership aimed at helping the more than 200,000* Broward County, Florida, residents affected by diabetes. Diabetes Research Institute Live Well Broward County is a joint effort of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, Walgreens in South Florida, LifeScan and a cadre of local physicians that will help residents "Manage Well, Stay Well and Live Well" with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2011
The crowd in the small Boston theater laughed and clapped. The comedy show was a good one, and I was enjoying it from a cramped seat in the balcony. It was October 29, a Friday, and while it was brisk outside, winter hadn't yet clamped down.
0 comments - Posted Jan 11, 2011
A full third of adult Americans are pre-diabetic, and a third of those will develop type 2 diabetes before they're ten years older. Unfortunately, only about seven percent of them have been tested for pre-diabetes and warned of their condition; the rest are ignorant of the road they're on. By losing just 10 to 15 pounds, the whole group could cut their chances of getting type 2 by half. The problem is, how to alert them in time for them to stop their progression to type 2?
7 comments - Posted Jan 10, 2011
Sitagliptin (Januvia) has long been used to reduce blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, but a new study indicates that it can do the same for those with type 1 diabetes. Sitagliptin is a DPP-4 inhibitor; that is, it inhibits, or temporarily prevents, the enzyme DPP-4 from destroying a helpful hormone called GLP-1. GLP-1, which is released by the gut when food arrives there from the stomach, lowers blood sugar by causing the release of insulin, reducing the secretion of glucagon, and slowing stomach emptying and nutrient absorption.
3 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2011
Talk about a win-win situation! It seems that many aphrodisiacs--herbs that boost sexual energy and function--can also bring down blood sugar, cholesterol, and/or blood pressure. At least four herbs have shown these double benefits in scientific studies.
1 comment - Posted Jan 6, 2011
December 2010
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City has received a $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to study the effects of resveratrol on lowering impaired glucose tolerance in older adults.
2 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2010
Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai Inc. recently released results of a phase 3 clinical trial for lorcaserin, a weight-loss drug they are developing in partnership. The trial, called BLOOM-DM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management- Diabetes Management), targeted patients with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or obese.
2 comments - Posted Dec 28, 2010
Abbott Diabetes Care today announced that it has initiated a recall of 359 lots (approximately 359 million strips) of Precision Xtra®, Precision Xceed Pro®, MediSense® Optium, Optium, OptiumEZ and ReliOn® Ultima Blood Glucose Test Strips in the United States and Puerto Rico.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2010
Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes means a lot of change in your daily life. From blood glucose monitoring to watching what you eat to losing weight, it's hard to keep track of the changes you need to make to keep diabetes under control. One aspect of diabetes care that sometimes falls through the cracks is oral health care, which, if ignored, can lead to serious health complications.
2 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2010
Research firm Frost & Sullivan, a leading international healthcare consulting company, released a market study analyzing and estimating the demand for Pepex Biomedical Inc.'s new biosensor technology for blood glucose monitoring for diabetes sufferers worldwide. The researchers interviewed diagnosed diabetics, diabetes educators, endocrinologists, and manufacturers of biosensors, blood glucose meters, or other clinical diagnostic or patient monitoring equipment suppliers for the study. The Frost & Sullivan report concluded that the Pepex Trio technology has the "potential as a new standard for measuring blood glucose levels."
6 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2010
If you have type 1 diabetes, you know that the process of obtaining life insurance or long-term care insurance has been a long, tough road, most often leading to the dead end of declined coverage. In fact, most insurance companies have classified anyone with type 1 as an automatic decline, without any consideration of each case individually.
7 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2010
November 2010
The competition for a continuous glucose monitoring system that can replace the classic finger prick blood tests for diabetes is heating up. Several new products have come to the market this year that use various techniques to test blood glucose levels continuously without the need for a blood test, but several have faltered with complaints of inaccurate readings and skin irritation.
2 comments - Posted Nov 29, 2010
Insulet Corp., the leader in tubing-free insulin pump technology with its OmniPod® Insulin Management System, recognizes the outstanding achievements of Christopher Gorham, age 12, of Waterford, Michigan for bringing home both silver and bronze medals in the Sparring and Forms competitions at the 2010 World Karate/Kickboxing Council World Championships held in Albufeira, Portugal. Chris is a 2nd degree black belt in training for a 3rd degree black belt; he has been in martial arts since he was four years old, competing all over the world.
0 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2010
A new drug for type 2 diabetes started showing up in drugstores this week, according to manufacturer Santarus. The FDA-approved drug, called Cycloset, takes an distinctive -- and not well understood -- approach to reducing blood sugar levels. The pill apparently works by increasing dopamine activity in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a big role in people's behavior, mood, and ability to sleep. Scientists theorize that glucose intolerance and insulin resistance may in part result from abnormal activity of this chemical, and that upping dopamine activity may iron out these problems.That's the theory, at least: the drug's exact workings aren't known. But it seems to do the trick.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2010
Get ready for a major change to the way you can use your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Staring in 2011, you won't be able to use your FSA to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) medications unless you have a prescription from your doctor. By the year 2013, FSAs will also be capped at $2,500, down from the $5,000 currently allowed under the program. These changes, which are the result of the Affordable Care Act, could have a significant impact on both the revenues of the federal government and your wallet.
1 comment - Posted Nov 23, 2010
Imagine a pandemic. A disease comes into a community and then spreads across borders, causing disability and death in its path. Scientists fight to contain its spread, and doctors try to mitigate its effects. Most people associate this kind of scenario with a pathogen: a virus or bacteria, like HIV or avian flu, that has found a way to exploit the human body. In fact, however, the overwhelming majority of pandemics are the result of noncommunicable diseases that are not spread by pathogens: conditions like cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 12, 2010
New technology is popping up all over in the medical community, from new diagnostic machines, to new ways of administering drugs, to an almost endless supply of self-monitoring devices such as blood glucose meters. But a technology often overlooked is one that could have the most impact-electronic medical records.
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2010
October 2010
Regular physical activity and exercise are recommended for the general population for overall improved health. However, exercise of moderate intensity increases the risk of hypoglycemia during and following exertion in those with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Accordingly, exercise guidelines for T1DM focus on prevention of exercise-induced hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2010
As flu season approaches, many people are debating whether they should get a flu shot. As everyone knows, getting the flu is not fun. In fact, it can be downright miserable. But for those with diabetes, the flu can mean more than a cough, running nose, and body aches--it could mean more severe complications, and sometimes even death.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2010
Nearly 1,200 Rite Aid stores nationwide will host Diabetes Solutions Days on Nov. 2, 3 or 4 offering free health screenings and self-management solutions to patients living with diabetes, care-givers and those concerned about diabetes. Visitors also can get vaccinated against flu and/or pneumonia for $24.99 or $50 respectively, although many insurance plans including Medicare cover the cost. Vaccinations are especially important for diabetes patients because flu and pneumonia combine for the deaths of 10,000 to 30,000 diabetes patients annually, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
0 comments - Posted Oct 26, 2010
An intensive lifestyle intervention program designed with weight loss in mind improves diabetes control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes. These are the findings of the four-year Look AHEAD study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity on the incidence of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular-related death.
0 comments - Posted Oct 25, 2010
Getting enough magnesium in your diet could help prevent type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ka He of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have found that people who consumed the most magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements were about half as likely to develop diabetes over the next 20 years as people who took in the least magnesium.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2010
JACKSONVILLE, FL - October 13, 2010 - The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today published a consensus statement for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) online, and will be published in the next issue of the association's official medical journal Endocrine Practice.
0 comments - Posted Oct 14, 2010
The holidays are known as a time for family gatherings, catching up with relatives, and sometimes even the occasional family conflict. Like drama at the holiday dinner table, in many ways your health is influenced by your family-for better or for worse. This year, why not start a conversation that benefits everyone? Gather your family health history.
0 comments - Posted Oct 4, 2010
Last week, sanofi-aventis announced the upcoming launch of the blood glucose meters BGStar® and iBGStarTM (developed by sanofi and its partner AgaMatrix), which should be available in early 2011.
1 comment - Posted Oct 4, 2010
September 2010
I’m back. I started working with Diabetes Health 10 years ago. At that time, Diabetes Health was the one publication open enough to talk about a subject that was controversial at that time… Lower Carb Options. That was my column, and I got a lot of slack from it. I didn’t understand why. People with diabetes want and need lower carb options. What was the problem with giving people options? That’s what Diabetes Health is all about – teaching people there are healthy options. Now it’s common to see lower carb options for people who have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2010
Sanofi-aventis announced the upcoming launch of the blood glucose monitoring (BGM) devices BGStar® and iBGStarTM, developed by sanofi-aventis and its partner AgaMatrix. Due to their convenience, accuracy and ease-of-use, BGStar® and iBGStarTM will help the decision-making process for people with diabetes and their healthcare professionals, with the aim of improving patient self-management. iBGStarTM connects to the iPhone® or iPod touch®. This is an important step towards sanofi-aventis' vision of becoming the leader in global diabetes care by integrating innovative monitoring technology, therapeutic innovations, personalized services and support solutions. BGStar® and iBGStarTM are planned to be made commercially available in the first markets in early 2011.
0 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2010
Children who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes might be identified earlier by way of tell-tale genetic indicators known as biomarkers. Some of those new biomarkers might be pinpointed in research led by Nancy F. Butte and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Institutes of Health.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2010
New research findings reveal that one of America's favorite colorful fruits, blueberries, have properties that help to improve factors related to pre-diabetes and decrease inflammation in obese men and women. Chronic low-grade inflammation related to obesity contributes to insulin resistance, a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. "This is an excellent example of the importance of clinical trials to building our knowledge-base in helping to improve public health," said Steven Heymsfield, PBRC Executive Director
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2010
The JDRF is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. A lot has changed in the past four decades. One change has to do with the organization's name. JDRF stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Years ago we called what we now know as type 1 diabetes, Juvenile Onset Diabetes Mellitus (JODM). We called it that because we knew (or thought we knew) it was the kind of diabetes that occurred in children. We now know that type 1 diabetes occurs in people of all age groups. There was a lot we didn't know 40 years ago, one of which was that type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2010
If you are meeting a friend for a drink after work or attending a holiday party where alcohol is being offered, is it a health risk or a benefit? The medical and nutrition literature reports that moderate consumption of alcohol can offer some health benefits, particularly for your heart. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 defines drinking in moderation as no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men. One drink, by definition, is a 12-ounce beer, eight-ounce glass of malt liquor, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, lower the risk of developing gallstones, and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in people with pre-diabetes. Studies show that those benefiting from moderate consumption are middle-aged and older adults. It is not recommended, however, that anyone begin drinking or drink more frequently on the basis of health considerations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2010
In type 1 diabetes, the body relentlessly attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. But a study by Joslin Diabetes Center scientists now has firmly established that some of these cells endure for many decades in a small group of people with the disease-offering clues to potential treatments for preserving and even restoring the crucial cell population.
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2010
On July 2, 2010, when Lt. Jose Lopez took the podium at the recent Children With Diabetes Friends for Life Annual International Conference in Orlando to speak to the parents of children with diabetes, his goal was to use his own story to reassure them about their children's future. "What I most wanted to convey to them was that people with diabetes, especially children, can do normal stuff and live their dreams. I am not a super hero - and I did it."
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2010
In my office, there is a box. Nothing fancy, just a plain brown box filled with a collection of "old school" diabetes stuff: "boil and re-use" syringes, urine test tape, screw-driven insulin pumps, medieval injection aids and lancing devices, and so on. Of course, no such collection would be complete without an array of classic blood glucose meters. The oldest one I have is a plug-in-the-wall model called a "Dextrometer" that featured test strip rinsing solution and a red LED display that could burn the retina of anyone within six feet.
0 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2010
Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease are two distressing, but increasingly common, diseases seen in our aging population. At some point in the future, they may well overwhelm the healthcare system.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2010
The routine breakdown of old bone during skeletal growth has an important role to play in regulating blood sugar, according to Columbia University Medical Center researchers. The process, known as resorption, goes on throughout life. It stimulates insulin release and sugar absorption, helping healthy people maintain normal blood glucose levels. The new study, published in Cell, suggests that skeletal changes could causes diabetes for some and that possible treatments for type 2 diabetes could come from the bone-insulin connection.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2010
The Holy Grail pursued by all diabetes researchers is a complete cure for both the type 1 and type 2 forms of the disease. But until then, the "artificial pancreas," a combination of glucose monitoring and insulin dosing technology, may be as close as they get to a final breakthrough in treating diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 3, 2010
Results of brain surgery on a small group of type 2 diabetes patients point the way to a possible new approach for treating the disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2010
August 2010
MannKind Corporation announced that the company will supply its novel, ultra rapid acting insulin AFREZZATM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) for use in a study being conducted by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as part of its Artificial Pancreas Project. The planned two-year study in patients with type 1 diabetes will leverage the unique rapid action of AFREZZA for use in a closed-loop blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery system, termed the "artificial pancreas" by the JDRF. The study will be managed in conjunction with the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
0 comments - Posted Aug 29, 2010
Working toward the goal of unifying patients' diabetic treatment information in a single place, the PositiveID Corporation hopes to patent a new device that monitors insulin pens. The Insulin Tracker would attach to a user's insulin pen and record the times and amounts of injections. That information would then be sent to a database that allows for comprehensive monitoring. Insulin pens come in disposable and cartridge-replaceable flavors; the tracker can be moved easily from one pen to another.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2010
In the early days after my type 1 diabetes diagnosis, I sentenced a lot of foods to what I came to think of as my personal DO-NOT-EAT list, often with only slight provocation.
1 comment - Posted Aug 25, 2010
Novo Nordisk announced today the availability of NovoDoseTM - the first-ever mobile insulin dosing guide for physicians to look up dosing guidelines and blood glucose goals for their patients with diabetes, a disease that affects nearly 24 million Americans. The guide is available as an application on iTunes and is specific to Novo Nordisk's modern insulin analog portfolio: Levemir® (insulin detemir [rDNA origin] injection), NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection), and NovoLog® Mix 70/30 (70% insulin aspart protamine suspension and 30% insulin aspart injection, [rDNA origin]).
0 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2010
Jennifer Dyer, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has developed and completed a pilot study that uses weekly, customized text messages to remind adolescent diabetes patients about their personal treatment activities. At the conclusion of the study, Dr. Dyer found an increase in overall treatment adherence and improved blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 13, 2010
"The objective of this clinical trial (research study) is to determine if the medications can rescue the few beta cells that remain soon after the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes; and whether new beta cells can even be regenerated," commented Alex Rabinovitch, MD, Principal Investigator of the trial and Associate Director of The Sanford Project. "The investigational combinations of these medications could possibly allow patients to decrease or no longer need to inject insulin to keep their blood levels under proper control."
0 comments - Posted Aug 12, 2010
Two recent research studies on humans indicate that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and peanuts, increases insulin sensitivity in older and obese people. A third study, done on mice, shows that resveratrol may someday become a powerful tool in therapies directed at macular degeneration and other retinal maladies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2010
July 2010
We are always investigating new ideas, research findings, treatment options, and educational materials to share with you. This issue is very exciting because we were able to talk with experts and those with diabetes, and write about everything from traveling with type 1 in Italy to investigating why hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are so dangerous.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego and GlySens Incorporated have developed an implantable glucose sensor and wireless telemetry system that continuously monitors tissue glucose and transmits the information to an external receiver. The paper, published in the July 28, 2010 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, describes the use of this glucose-sensing device as an implant in animals for over one year. After human clinical trials and FDA approval, the device may be useful to people with diabetes as an alternative to finger sticking, and to short-term needle-like glucose sensors that have to be replaced every three to seven days.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
Unfortunately, dental treatment and vision care are rarely included in basic health insurance plans. I don't know how insurance companies concluded that the eyes and the teeth are not parts of the body, but they managed it somehow. If you have diabetes, however, it's especially important to realize that contrary to the rationalizations of insurance executives, both your eyes and your teeth require attention and care.
0 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2010
Learn Your Risk for Diabetes and Take Steps to Protect Your Health. If you are diagnosed in the early stages of diabetes, you can take better care of yourself and get treatment. If you have pre-diabetes, you can take steps to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 23, 2010
Type 1 diabetes often strikes children. Children love to play video games. Putting two and two together, diabetes educators have created a string of diabetes-themed video games over the years. The latest evolution of that simple equation--the Bayer Didget meter-game combination--arrived in U.S. drugstores this year.
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2010
From environmentally friendly hybrid cars and heating with solar power to organic or natural foods, our culture is increasingly embracing green strategies. "Using natural dietary supplements to support healthy blood sugar levels and minimize the impact of glycation is a rational continuation of this green philosophy," says Steven Joyal, MD, vice president of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for the Life Extension Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (www.lef.org). He is also author of the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2010
Looking for novel ways to help improve patient outcomes, the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute is using innovative adult education techniques to train diabetes educators around the world. While the cultural and epidemiological differences in each region can be challenging, David L. Horwitz, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, Chief Medical Officer of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, feels confident this program can make a positive impact to help improve patient outcomes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2010
Overview: 57 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition in which a person's blood sugar (glucose) level is above normal but below a level that indicates diabetes. Pre-diabetes may have no outward symptoms, and is diagnosed with a blood glucose test.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2010
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Joint Meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee has completed their evaluation of the scientific research available on the safety of rosiglitazone. The deliberations of the panel reflected the complexity of the issues, with several members voting to add additional warnings or to withdraw the drug from the U.S. market. Ultimately, the final recommendation was to allow Avandia to remain on the market. Now that the expert panel has concluded its meeting, the FDA will review their recommendations and make the final decision on whether the drug remains available to patients.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2010
A massive study involving 485 people with type 1 diabetes at 30 locations across North America shows that the combination of an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor helps patients achieve significantly lower A1c levels than multiple daily insulin injections.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2010
AFREZZA TM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder, a well-tolerated, investigational ultra rapid acting mealtime insulin, as part of a diabetes treatment regimen, provides long-term glucose control comparable to usual insulin therapy but with a significantly reduced incidence of hypoglycemia and less weight gain in patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a two-year study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 70th Scientific Sessions.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2010
In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found. The intensive glucose treatment was compared with standard glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2010
June 2010
It raises fasting blood sugars. It increases the risk for type 2 diabetes. Millions of people suffer from it. And many don't even know they have it.
1 comment - Posted Jun 30, 2010
One of the factors that increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes is excess body fat. So it makes sense that losing weight has always been one of the first lines of defense against the disease. Yet people who are slender -skinny, even- sometimes develop type 2. Why is that? Does the fact that a slender person can acquire type 2 negate the need for weight control?
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2010
A Canadian study that tracked 207 patients suggests that a low-dose combination of metformin and Avandia can reduce the development of type 2 diabetes by 66 percent in people at high risk for the condition.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2010
May 2010
Abbott announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips. The new FreeStyle Lite test strips minimize interference during blood glucose testing and are designed to offer a better testing experience.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2010
Tattoos aren't just an art form or a way of making a personal statement anymore: They are beginning to save lives.
1 comment - Posted May 20, 2010
A new study released by the Children's Hospital of New Orleans has found that black children with type 1 diabetes scored higher on A1c tests than white children who had similar blood glucose levels. Such ethnic disparity has already been shown in previous studies with adults.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2010
Rhode Island-based CVS/pharmacy, which operates more than 7,000 pharmacies and drug stores in the United States, has announced three diabetes-related initiatives:
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2010
Over 80 years ago, famed diabetologist Elliot Joslin said about the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes: "Ketoacidosis may kill a patient, but frequent hypoglycemic reactions will ruin him." Unfortunately, hypoglycemia continues to be the most difficult problem facing most patients, families, and caregivers who deal with the management of type 1 diabetes on a daily basis. Frequent hypoglycemia episodes not only can "ruin," or adversely impact the quality of life for patients, but also, when severe, can cause seizures, coma, and even death.
10 comments - Posted May 13, 2010
Dr. Richard Hays announced today that he is now recruiting children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes for Protégé Encore, a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial. This is the second of two Phase III studies testing the safety and efficacy of an investigational drug called teplizumab. The first study, known as Protégé, has completed enrollment of more than 530 subjects with type 1 diabetes. There is currently no approved therapy to slow the progression of type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 12, 2010
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have developed a molecule that can block the breakdown of insulin. Their discovery could lead to development of a new class of drugs to help treat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2010
Most women with gestational diabetes know that taking steps to manage the disease during pregnancy is critical for the health of both mother and child. What many women don't realize is that those steps need to continue even after the baby is born.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2010
My last ten tips were meant to give you an idea of what to think about before you plan your day (Tyler's Top Ten Tips). Now I'm going to give you my top ten tips for how to manage your blood glucose levels while playing sports. These should help you keep everything in control and allow you to relax and have fun while playing.
4 comments - Posted May 5, 2010
April 2010
NEW YORK, April 27, 2010 - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced today that it is partnering with Living Cell Technologies (LCT), a New Zealand-based biotechnology company focused on developing cell based therapeutics, in a Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of transplanting encapsulated insulin-producing cells from pigs as a treatment for type 1 diabetes with significant hypoglycemia unawareness.
1 comment - Posted Apr 28, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I am a 60 year old married woman who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes eight years ago. In the last two years, I have lost interest in sex. I just don't feel like it, although I still like hugs.
3 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2010
We continue to monitor the progress of studies to determine the effectiveness of salsalate, a generic aspirin-like drug, to reduce inflammation and lower blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. As previously reported here in October 2008 and January 2009, researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University are conducting clinical trials to determine if this well known and proven drug for joint pain can be added to the list of diabetes drugs. Recently, results from a three-month trial were announced online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, showing that those who took salsalate demonstrated significantly improved blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2010
March 2010
Dr. Stan De Loach is a bicultural, trilingual, Certified Diabetes Educator (one of the first 13 in Mexico) and clinical psychologist, not to mention a pianist, composer, and writer. Born and educated in the U.S., he has been a resident of Mexico for decades, and his first love is the annual bilingual diabetes camp that he co-founded, the four-day Campamento Diabetes Safari in Mexico..
3 comments - Posted Mar 30, 2010
Over the past few months, there has been a discernible shift of opinion among healthcare providers about which test best reveals a high risk of acquiring diabetes. The old standby, fasting glucose, seems to be giving way to the hemoglobin A1c test as the preferred method.
1 comment - Posted Mar 26, 2010
Experience is a great teacher, but sometimes it's not the best way to learn, especially when it comes to your medical needs. Smart people learn from their mistakes, but wise people learn from other people's mistakes. In my ten years with diabetes, I have found that to eliminate problems, you need to anticipate your needs. A few moments of preparation can ensure a great afternoon of fun with your friends, a better grade on a test, or participation in a sporting competition without any complications.
7 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2010
Suggested revisions in the benchmarks used to assess dangerously high blood sugar levels in pregnant women could lead to a doubling or tripling of the number of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes*. That's the conclusion of an international study led by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2010
I grew up around the corner from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In high school, long ago, I thought that NIH scientists were "bad guys" who mistreated animals in the name of medical research. I later moved to the West Coast and became a registered obstetrical nurse. Over the years, along with sharing the joys of new moms and new babies, I cared for patients with devastating conditions like cancer and quadriplegia, people whose lives could potentially be saved or improved by medical research., Yet it wasn't until many years later, after moving back to the DC area, that I really began to see the NIH in a new light.
4 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2010
According to Duke University researchers, a mutation that causes the lack of an insulin-controlling molecule may be a factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. The molecule, ankyrin B, is activated in response to the smell and taste of food and leads to the production of insulin in preparation for food intake.
1 comment - Posted Mar 19, 2010
In a study that tracked 1,402 people with pre-diabetes, researchers found that only about half of them responded to the diagnosis by trying to shed weight or increase their level of exercise.
7 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2010
At a two-day meeting (March 16 and 17, 2010) to review blood glucose meters, Food and Drug Administration officials and staff pointed to a number of issues that can prevent people from getting proper treatment and sought input from medical experts and industry on ways to improve test results with the widely used devices.
1 comment - Posted Mar 18, 2010
An article by Scottish researchers, published in the British medical journal Lancet, says that although people taking statins are nine percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, that risk is outweighed by the drug's ability to lower cholesterol and protect against heart disease.
2 comments - Posted Mar 14, 2010
Allen, Texas - When Pam Henry's daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2003, she never even thought she would be part of something that could revolutionize health care. "When Sarah was diagnosed, my only goal was to do all I could to keep her as healthy as possible. What I created was something just to help keep her that way."
4 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2010
A controversial New York doctor is poised to begin surgical trials on non-obese diabetes patients in an attempt to reverse their disease with gastric bypass surgery. Dr. Francesco Rubino, the chief of gastrointestinal surgery at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, believes that because gastric surgery has been shown to be highly effective in remitting diabetes symptoms, the procedure should now be allowed among non-overweight type 2s.
4 comments - Posted Mar 11, 2010
February 2010
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has received Food and Drug Administration permission to begin marketing its type 2 drug Victoza® in the United States.
Victoza, the brand name for liraglutide, is a GLP-1* analog that is taken one a day by injection to help control blood sugar-and in some cases, help with weight loss-in patients with type 2 diabetes.
5 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2010
Bayer's A1CNow SELFCHECK, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year, is the first and only system of its kind with at-home results in five minutes. It enables patients to more closely watch their A1C level in between doctor visits so they may have a more informed discussion with their healthcare provider to ensure their diabetes plan is working.
2 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2010
Feb. 11, 2010 - At the 3rd International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) in Basel, Switzerland, Roche Diabetes Care, the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), and Sansum Diabetes Research Institute announced their expanded collaboration in the Artificial Pancreas Project sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
3 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2010
Sacramento- February 10, 2010 -- Assistant Speaker pro Tempore Isadore Hall, III (D- Compton) today introduced AB 1802, which would clarify existing law by allowing, but not requiring, a parent/guardian-designated teacher, administrator or school employee to administer insulin to a diabetic student while on a school campus.
3 comments - Posted Feb 11, 2010
In addition to diagnosing type 2 diabetes based on fasting blood glucose levels or a glucose tolerance test, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) have now approved the use of A1c as an additional diagnostic criterion for type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2010
CHICAGO, IL - On Thursday, February 4, Oprah, Dr. Oz, Bob Greene, Art Smith, Dr. Ian Smith and more reveal the staggering human cost of the growing diabetes and pre-diabetes epidemic on a special episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Before a studio audience comprised of all diabetics and their families, Oprah and Dr. Oz reveal the latest facts and figures, share stories of those affected, and hold a no-holds-barred, revealing conversation about risk factors, diet and lifestyle.
17 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I'm 26 years old and engaged to a woman I've known since college. We live together, love each other, and have good sex, but now I'm having doubts. A year ago, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She started taking insulin, and it has been rough. Four times now she has started sweating and shaking and saying strange things. Twice this happened during sex.
11 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2010
January 2010
Clinical and basic science researchers from around the world will convene in Hong Kong from January 28 to 30 for the First International Congress on Abdominal Obesity: "Bridging the Gap between Cardiology and Diabetology." The congress, sponsored by the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk (ICCR) (http://www.cardiometabolic-risk.org), is the first-ever specialized forum for sharing new insights and evidence about abdominal obesity and its clinical and public health implications.
2 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2010
Novo Nordisk announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new drug application for Victoza (liraglutide injection), the first once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Victoza is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
4 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2010
Researchers at Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and University of California, Santa Barbara have concluded that changing the height of a conventional insulin pump in relation to its tubing and infusion set can significantly impact expected insulin delivery rates. Such changes can occur during routine daily activities like dressing, sleeping or showering. The study, "Siphon Effects of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Pump Delivery Performance," evaluated the siphon or hydrostatic pressure action effects on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion and was published in the January issue of Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.
11 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2010
An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jan 23, 2010
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) announced today an innovative program aimed at improving the treatment of type 1 diabetes by developing novel insulin delivery products to enhance the use of insulin pumps.
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2010
Living with a chronic condition like diabetes can be a challenging and stressful experience. Unfortunately, all the worry about blood glucose and the constant effort to balance insulin against food intake and exercise can itself raise blood glucose levels. But stress management can help control the stress hormones that affect blood glucose levels. Yoga practice, for example, can have a calming effect and play a major role in stress management.
1 comment - Posted Jan 21, 2010
A five-year study of 2,613 people treated for diabetes at Italian clinics shows that tight blood sugar control may not be the number-one priority for patients who have other medical problems.
5 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2010
MADISON, Wis. - Using one of the two major national diabetes screening guidelines misses about one-third of those with diabetes, consequently putting them at risk for serious health complications, according to surprising research findings at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2010
"People who give up smoking are prone to developing diabetes because they gain weight," TheTimes reported. It said a study has found that quitters are twice as likely as smokers, and 70% more likely than non-smokers, to have type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2010
BEDFORD, Mass. and BURGDORF, Switzerland, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Insulet Corporation (Nasdaq: PODD), the leader in tubing-free insulin pump technology with its OmniPod® Insulin Management System, and Ypsomed AG (SIX Swiss Exchange: YPSN), a leading independent diabetes specialist and technology provider of innovative injection systems for self-medication in Europe, today announced an exclusive agreement for the distribution of the OmniPod Insulin Management System in nine countries across Europe, as well as China and Australia.
0 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2010
The first time that my fiancé Richard and I got, um, "intimate," I had some explaining to do. "Er, that's for my diabetes. So's that. And this thing. Oh, and this too." Richard was a bit overwhelmed. I think his exact words were, "Are you bionic or something?"
2 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2010
Using a pedometer as part of a structured education programme could reduce the chances of Type 2 diabetes by more than 50 per cent in those at risk of developing the condition, reveals a new Diabetes UK-funded study1 out today.
1 comment - Posted Jan 5, 2010
"You have diabetes." Have you just heard these words? Or maybe you recently heard it about your son or daughter. The oxygen rushes out of your body. A knot forms in your stomach. "What now?"
11 comments - Posted Jan 4, 2010
ROSEMONT, IL - Exercise is a critical piece of a healthy lifestyle, however those who suffer from diabetes may see an even greater impact, according to a study published in the January/February 2010 issue of Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Authors confirm that exercise can aid in diabetes treatment by improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
1 comment - Posted Jan 4, 2010
December 2009
December 29, 2009 - The American Diabetes Association (ADA) revised clinical practice recommendations for diabetes diagnosis promote hemoglobin A1c (A1c) as a faster, easier diagnostic test that could help reduce the number of undiagnosed patients and better identify patients with prediabetes. The new recommendations are published December 29 in the January supplement of Diabetes Care.
2 comments - Posted Dec 31, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - Dec. 23, 2009 - Cells in your body are constantly churning out poisonous forms of oxygen (oxidants) and mopping them up with a countervailing force of proteins and chemicals (anti-oxidants). This balancing act of oxidative stress is particularly likely to go haywire in beta cells, the insulin-producing cells that malfunction and then start to die off in type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Combining artificial sweeteners with the real thing boosts the stomach's secretion of a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar, new research shows.
2 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2009
A 20-year study that tracked 704 women from before their first pregnancy onward suggests that the first year mothers breastfeed, they reduce their risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes within the next 15 years by 15 percent. Each subsequent year of breastfeeding further reduces the risk by 15 percent. For example, a mother who has two children and breastfeeds each for a year could enjoy a 30 percent reduction in her risk of type 2 over a 15-year period.
2 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2009
The dictionary defines a sugar plum as a small round or oval piece of sugary candy. But for most of us, visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads conjures up a far vaster array of sweet holiday treats. From cakes, cookies, and pies, to sugar-laced seasonal beverages, and yes, plenty of sweet confections, the holiday season is arguably the sweetest time of the year - and the most difficult when one is trying to keep carbohydrates and calories in check.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2009
Dr. Bill Polonsky, PhD, CDE, knows diabetes. Among other things, he has served as Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, as a Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and as an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the founder and president of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute (BDI) in San Diego, California, and a member of Diabetes Health's Advisory Board.
18 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2009
November 2009
Dr. Jennie C. Brand-Miller, from the University of Sydney stated that, "The food insulin index (FII) may provide a better way to adjust insulin dose in Type 1 diabetes.... In time, it may also enable us to design diets to prevent diabetes."
2 comments - Posted Nov 26, 2009
For 2,000 years, diabetes has been recognized as a devastating and deadly disease. A Greek by the name of Aretaeus described its destructive nature in the first century AD, naming the affliction "diabetes," the Greek word for "siphon." Eugene J. Leopold, in his text "Aretaeus the Cappodacian," described Aretaeus' diagnosis: "...For fluids do not remain in the body, but use the body only as a channel through which they may flow out. Life lasts only for a time, but not very long. For they urinate with pain, and painful is the emaciation. For no essential part of the drink is absorbed by the body, while great masses of the flesh are liquefied into urine."
4 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2009
Q: How do I lower my blood sugar when it goes over 200 mg/dl? I have type 2 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2009
PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly one-third of doctors surveyed said they did not have enough time and did not receive sufficient reimbursement to provide comprehensive care to their patients with diabetes, according to the results of a study of endocrinologists and primary care doctors published in American Health & Drug Benefits.
4 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration has given ARKRAY, Inc., a 510(k)* clearance to begin marketing its new GLUCOCARD® VitalTM blood glucose monitoring system in the United States.
3 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2009
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the College of Endocrinology (ACE) released online a one-page resource for physicians and healthcare providers for the management of glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2009
I recently ran into Theresa Garnero at the California AADE annual meeting and discovered that Diabetes Health had not yet reviewed her book, Your First Year with Diabetes: What To Do, Month By Month. We regret the oversight because it's a great resource for anyone dealing with the shock of a diabetes diagnosis. And Garnero is the perfect author for a book like this. She's an award-winning certified diabetes educator (CDE) and advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) with board certification in advanced diabetes management (BC-ADM), and she earned an Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). She is also a former national educator of the year, a cartoonist, and the 2008 global recipient of Inspired by Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2009
Fingertip blood-oxygen monitors, called pulse oximeters, measure oxygen in the blood using light and color. The noninvasive device, which clips onto a fingertip or earlobe, typically has a pair of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) facing a sensor. Light of a certain wavelength (a certain color) travels through a translucent part of the body like the fingertip or an earlobe, and is picked up by the sensor. The amount of oxygen in the blood (actually, oxygenated hemoglobin) affects how much light from each diode finally makes it through the finger and reaches the sensor. The result is an effective measurement of the amount of oxygen in the blood.
6 comments - Posted Nov 5, 2009
The California Association of American Diabetes Educators held its second annual meeting October 22 through 24, 2009, in Monterey, California, and Diabetes Health was there. The clinical and educational program, put together by Debra Norman and Kim Higgins, was called "Tidal Wave of Diabetes." The invited speakers shared innovation, research, and new techniques with the attendees.
2 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2009
October 2009
Dear Diabetes Health, Hello! I am 60 years old and have had type one for about 24 years. It has been quite some time since I had a relationship, and now I have one coming at me. The problem is, I am very dry. The commercially sold products don't seem to help, and Intercourse isn't comfortable. What do you recommend that I try? And what about a libido enhancer? I need this relationship to work because living alone is tough, and my partner likes his intimacy. Please!!!
2 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2009
The statistics are chilling. Children born today have a one-in-three chance of developing type 2 diabetes. For Latinos, however, that risk is one-in-two.
2 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2009
A South African university pharmacologist has found that simultaneous consumption of metformin and grapefruit juice raises lactic acid to dangerous levels in rats (and conceivably in people) with type 2 diabetes. Too much acid in the blood can cause low pH levels that interfere with the body's metabolic functions. Conceivably, says Dr. Peter Owira, a pharmacologist at the University of KawZulu-Natal, such low levels could be fatal.
5 comments - Posted Oct 26, 2009
A recent and contentious meeting of diabetes experts at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna, Austria, has continued the intense international debate over whether bariatric surgery should become a treatment for type 2 diabetes or continue to be reserved only for the extremely obese.
13 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2009
The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health (CDC) recommends that everyone, especially people with diabetes and other diseases, get both a seasonal flu vaccination and an H1N1 flu ("swine flu") vaccination this year.
6 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2009
"Self-monitoring blood glucose" (SMBG), a staple in the lives of most people with diabetes who take insulin, involves consistently monitoring and recording blood glucose levels before and after specific activities, such as eating, exercising, sleeping, and taking insulin. By observing the effects of certain foods and activities on their blood glucose levels, patients can learn exactly what works to raise or lower them. Thus, SMBG affords a kind of "fine tuning" approach to diabetes that empowers patients to adjust their medicine, modify their behavior, and manage their disease without always needing expert intervention.
1 comment - Posted Oct 13, 2009
A law signed by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine that allows teachers to give emergency glucagon shots to students with diabetes has parents elated but has drawn strong opposition from teachers and nurses. The law also allows students with diabetes to test their own blood glucose levels and use insulin pumps while they are in the classroom, two activities that were not previously allowed.
15 comments - Posted Oct 12, 2009
Hyperglycemia is known to cause microvascular damage, which then creates complications such as proliferative retinopathy. However, this microvascular damage may also affect cognitive functioning even before it is reflected by more easily observed complications such as retinopathy. A study carried out by Eelco van Duinkerken and colleagues in the Netherlands found that "functional connectivity", which is "an indicator of functional interactions and information exchange between brain regions," was different in type 1's as compared to controls.
0 comments - Posted Oct 10, 2009
In these challenging economic times, when unemployment is so high and insurance coverage is being lost, many people find themselves having to miss doctor's visits, skip preventive care, and do without their prescriptions. Change is in the air, but in the meantime, there are programs that can help.
3 comments - Posted Oct 8, 2009
Nature is wonderfully complex. During the second trimester of pregnancy, when the fetus is growing rapidly, hormones from the placenta begin to reduce the ability of the mother's insulin to bind with insulin receptors. Because the mother's insulin is consequently less able to shuttle glucose out of her bloodstream, the growing fetus is guaranteed a good supply of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2009
Dear Aisha and David - I am a 22-year-old woman with type 1, on a pump. I've only had one real boyfriend, and we broke up two months ago. He said that my diabetes didn't have anything to do with it, but I'm not sure. I think that the lows scared him. Sex with him was good, but I don't have much to compare it with.
7 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2009
In August, I had the pleasure of traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) annual meeting. I sat in on several seminars, the most interesting of which are summarized here.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2009
September 2009
The way information is presented to us makes a big difference in whether we are able to integrate that information into our daily lives. Although graphs and numbers may sway some people, putting educational materials into a culturally relevant context can be more effective. A recent study, for example, has found that a dietary program based on the Medicine Wheel Model for Nutrition can change eating patterns among Native Americans, who have the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease of all ethnic groups.
2 comments - Posted Sep 26, 2009
Even if they don't lose weight, a moderate aerobic exercise program can improve insulin sensitivity in obese adolescents who are sedentary.
4 comments - Posted Sep 23, 2009
For a while now, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has been conducting clinical trials on the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for people with type 1 diabetes. Last year, they issued their first two reports on their findings, showing that CGMs can improve control even for people who already have A1c's below 7%. That information has already had a powerful impact: It's convinced a number of large health insurers (including Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, United Healthcare, and Wellpoint) to cover CGMs for type 1s, and it's led to the inclusion of CGMs in national standards of care for type 1 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2009
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the night before Thanksgiving, and my family and I were driving to my parents' house for the holiday weekend. I am usually the one who drives, but this time my wife insisted on taking the wheel because I was so dizzy and light-headed that I could hardly stand upright. Over the course of the previous week, I had not been feeling well. I had been getting up frequently at night to use the bathroom, was insatiably thirsty, and had been so dizzy that I had actually fallen down several times.
7 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2009
Juice extracted from North American lowbush blueberries, biotransformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit, holds great promise as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetic agent. The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, was conducted by researchers from the Université de Montréal, the Institut Armand-Frappier and the Université de Moncton who tested the effects of biotransformed juices compared to regular blueberry drinks on mice.
3 comments - Posted Sep 10, 2009
The famous Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, known to its friends as the DCCT, was the first to prove the power of "intensive control" of blood glucose to reduce the complications of diabetes. Although the ten-year study ended in 1993, researchers have continued to follow about 90 percent of the nearly 1,500 original DCCT volunteers. And the follow-up study, called the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC), is measuring up to its illustrious parent in terms of demonstrating the value of tight control. According to results published in the July 27, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, microvascular and cardiovascular complications of type 1 diabetes are cut in half for patients with near-normal glucose.
11 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
August 2009
Canadian scientists have reported that a hormone found in the gut has the power to lower glucose production by signaling the brain and liver to do so. When the researchers activated its receptors in lab rats, they found that the hormone, called cholecystokinin (CCK) peptide, rapidly lowered the animals' blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against the use of GDH-PQQ blood glucose test strips by people with diabetes who are taking medications that contain non-glucose sugars. [Note: GDH-PQQ is the abbreviation of "glucose dehydrogenase pyrroloquinoline quinone," a chemical that reacts with the non-glucose sugars maltose, galactose, and xylose, which are contained in some therapeutic products.]
10 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2009
In June, I attended the ADA's 69th Scientific Sessions Conference that was held in New Orleans this year. Among other presentations, I listened to Mary Sullivan's very interesting talk offering practical advice on better inpatient diabetes care. We've written numerous times online about how hospital glycemic control needs to be improved. For example, you can read our article on DiabetesHealth.com called, "U.S. Academic Medical Centers Are Not Cutting the Mustard."
0 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2009
Only a handful of studies have examined the relationship of a woman's menstrual cycle to her blood glucose control, but they have one finding in common: menstruation's effect on blood glucose is as varied as each individual's disease. As a result, blood glucose testing remains the only way to know how a woman's monthly cycle affects her diabetes control.
9 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
Onglyza (saxagliptin), a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor produced by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
This year the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) went deep south for its annual conference, hosting the event in Atlanta, Georgia, from August 3rd through August 9th. Diabetes Health was there, hobnobbing with thousands of attendees and hundreds of companies, and it was an amazing experience.
0 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
Now there's an iPhone and iPod Touch app for diabetes. AgaMatrix, Inc., the makers of the WaveSense line of blood glucose monitoring products, has announced the launch of the WaveSense Diabetes Manager, an electronic diabetes logbook software application that runs on the two Apple products.
The WaveSense Diabetes Manager, in development and testing for over a year, lays the foundation for a series of upcoming products that will take advantage of the iPhone and other mobile platforms to help people with diabetes manage the disease. AgaMatrix reports that the WaveSense app provides users with the following features:
2 comments - Posted Aug 12, 2009
Initially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Rob subsequently discovered that he had type 1. Knowing that he needed to exercise more, he returned to professional surfing. Today, he is a sponsored professional athlete who uses a CGM.
10 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2009
In April of 2008, our healthy nine-year-old son, Gaspar, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After his two days in the ICU and a week in the hospital, a new life began for all of us. Although we couldn't immediately grasp all its implications and were simultaneously dealing with our shaken world, we gave the situation a "think outside the box" approach. When the endocrinologist told us, "That's the way it is. Just focus on the controls and all will be fine," we asked whether the condition might be cured or attenuated if we acted quickly at the beginning. We were met with the usual answer: "There's nothing you can do. Just focus on the controls."
8 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2009
It's very likely that you, like most people, believe many myths about diabetes. If you do, you might actually be doing yourself harm. Learning the truth can empower you (as it did me) to make choices and take actions that increase the quality and length of your life.
9 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
In 1994, Kelli Kuehne was on a roll. That year, she won the United States Girls Junior Amateur Golf Championship and a year later, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur Golf Championship, repeating that win in 1996 while also taking the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship. The roll continues. Today, Kelli Kuehne is still playing matches in the LPGA and, through it all, has never allowed type 1 diabetes to beat her on the golf course or in her life.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
July 2009
A protein that builds up in the pancreases of baboons and leads to the suppression of insulin-producing beta cells, may provide one of the most significant indicators yet for predicting the onset of type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 28, 2009
After experiencing blurry vision and excessive thirst, Mr. R visits his primary care doctor, who tests him and diagnoses diabetes and high lipid levels. Mr. R is placed on hypoglycemic and statin medications and sent to a dietitian for nutritional advice, but he is confused about to how to shop and cook according to the new recommendations. In the next weeks, he experiences dangerous blood glucose swings and inadequate improvement in his LDL level. His primary care doctor refers him to an endocrinologist, but the next available appointment is three months away. What now?
6 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2009
A man who has been married for 15 years suddenly begins losing weight and buying new clothes. He starts staying late at work and taking weekend business trips, unusual behaviors for him. His wife thinks he is having an affair. Why?
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2009
Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. is recalling some lots of its Quick-set infusion sets over concerns that they may cause insulin pumps to deliver too much or too little insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jul 21, 2009
The Organic Center (TOC), a leading research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming, announced that a balanced, organic diet-both before and during pregnancy-can significantly reduce a child's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese or developing diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 17, 2009
Medicare offers: Screenings for people at risk, Diabetes self-management training, Medical nutrition therapy services, Hemoglobin A1c tests, Glucose monitors, test strips, lancets, insulin, and some insulin pumps, Glaucoma tests, Foot exams, foot treatment, and therapeutic shoes, Flu and pneumonia shots, and Cholesterol and lipid checks.
1 comment - Posted Jul 15, 2009
Obesity has always been one of the major precursors to type 2 diabetes because of its ill effects on the body's ability to properly use insulin. But until now, scientists haven't been able to say with certainty just what happens in obese people to increase their insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Jul 14, 2009
People often ask me, "Why limit diabetes-related services to the iPhone when there are so many other cell phones out there?" I always answer them by asking, "How many applications have you downloaded onto your cell phone?"
15 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2009
Roche Diabetes Care Announces Unique Coaching Program for Diabetes Educators as Part of Long-Term Commitment to Fight the Disease
1 comment - Posted Jul 8, 2009
UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals has entered into a strategic alliance with Professor Mike Cawthorne and the Clore Laboratory, University of Buckingham, to research the use of cannabinoids-chemical compounds derived from marijuana-in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Jul 5, 2009
By inhibiting the expression of a gene called sirtuin 1, Yale researchers have been able to reduce blood glucose levels, decrease the liver's production of glucose, and increase insulin sensitivity in rats conditioned to exhibit type 2 symptoms. A happy byproduct of their research is a simultaneous lowering of cholesterol levels.
0 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2009
June 2009
Every time I return from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions conference, my head is so full of information that I need a week or two to sort through it. But now I've had a chance to choose what I think are the top five things that you need to know. Here they are...
0 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2009
Until now, care for insulin-dependent diabetes has focused on the delivery of insulin combined with frequent blood glucose (BG) testing. Keeping your A1c down is, and always will be, the name of the game. But numerous studies have shown us in the last few years that having access to continuous glucose data has a huge impact. How you deliver the insulin doesn't necessarily matter-you can use a pump, a syringe, or an insulin pen, it's knowing your personal BG trends that makes all the difference.
11 comments - Posted Jun 29, 2009
The American Heart Association (AHA) has added weight training to the list of exercises it recommends for people with type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart and blood vessel diseases account for nearly 70 percent of deaths among type 2s.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2009
One of the fondest hopes of people with type 1 diabetes has long been for the creation of an artificial pancreas, a reliable combination of automated glucose monitoring and insulin delivery that could serve in place of a defunct pancreas.
16 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2009
In 1993, I published an article entitled "Is non-compliance a dirty word?" in The Diabetes Educator in which I expressed my sadness that people with diabetes were actually getting blamed by their health care providers for not following treatment advice (1). I suggested that the patient's failure might really be a failure in the partnership (or lack thereof) between patient and provider. Fifteen years ago, I challenged diabetes educators to work together with medical practitioners to change noncompliance from a dirty word to a rare occurrence. So how are we doing today?
21 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2009
In 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published strong warnings that the type 2 diabetes drug exenatide (trade name Byetta) might increase risk of acute pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas. The FDA's action came in the wake of reports that 30 exenatide users had come down with pancreatitis and that six of them had died from the condition.
1 comment - Posted Jun 19, 2009
I hear voices in my surroundings as the cloud of confusion gradually begins to lift. "Curtis, can you hear me?" "Curtis, what was the score of the football game?" "Curtis, do you know where you are?"
6 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2009
I attended the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), held from May 14th to 18th, 2009. Here's a re-cap of the buzz about ICU glycemic control, prediabetes, and vitamin D.
0 comments - Posted Jun 17, 2009
Gale Fullerton is a 65-year-old Californian who has the distinction of being a Joslin 50-Year medal winner. Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., knew that good self-management was the key to minimizing long-term diabetes complications, and the medal program was designed as an incentive for those committed to good diabetes care. In 1970, Joslin Diabetes Center expanded the program and began awarding a 50-year bronze medal. They presented the first 75-year medal in 1996.
24 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2009
Obese lab mice with severe type 2 diabetes had their blood glucose levels restored to normal and experienced a doubling in physical activity when sensitivity to the hormone leptin was restored to a portion of their hypothalamus.
3 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2009
As Congress and President Obama get set to tackle healthcare reform, the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) has begun a multi-front battle to seek Medicare designation for all certified diabetes educators (CDEs).
1 comment - Posted Jun 5, 2009
CRx-401, an insulin sensitizer intended to assist metformin in type 2 diabetes therapy, has successfully completed a Phase 2 clinical trial in which patients taking it saw their fasting plasma glucose drop by 12 mg/dl after 90 days.
1 comment - Posted Jun 3, 2009
Here’s a handy meter to have if reading your meter is a challenge. The Prodigy Autocode meter speaks your test results in seconds, and it’ll do so in English or Spanish. The audible function also promotes team work by allowing you to hear your child’s or spouse’s test result from across the room and work together as a team to manage diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2009
May 2009
In a recent 16-week randomized, open-label pilot study, 169 patients were randomized to receive Welchol (n=57), Januvia (n=56), or Avandia (n=56).1 The results demonstrated that Welchol (colesevelam HCl) significantly improved glycemic control and reduced mean LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) when added to metformin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the study, Januvia® (sitagliptin) and Avandia® (rosiglitazone) also significantly improved glycemic control, but LDL-C increased in patients on both of these treatment regimens.
0 comments - Posted May 29, 2009
Researchers at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan have found that a common blood test for triglycerides may allow doctors to predict which patients with diabetes are more likely to develop neuropathy.
5 comments - Posted May 29, 2009
Wow. It's like discovering that the orchestra's second violinist, who does a good job but just isn't as glamorous as the first violinist, also has a fantastic operatic singing voice. In this case, the surprise comes from metformin, the solid performer that since the 1950s has been the first non-insulin drug that doctors prescribe to newly diagnosed type 2s.
4 comments - Posted May 27, 2009
Smoking has severe effects on your diabetes and your health. Quitting smoking will give you more energy, better control of your diabetes, and less chance of a heart attack or stroke.
5 comments - Posted May 21, 2009
My husband, Simon, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in October 2004. It was managed via oral medication at first, but his blood sugar levels were hard to control, and his doctor prescribed insulin to stabilize his condition.
0 comments - Posted May 21, 2009
Smoking increases the harmful effects of diabetes by increasing insulin resistance and worsening diabetes control. It raises the likelihood of microvascular and macrovascular complications associated with diabetes. The risk of death from heart disease and stroke is increased, as are the possibilities of neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy.
3 comments - Posted May 12, 2009
Brave. Fight. Grandpa. Life. Alive.
Those words are some of the answers to the question "What would people living with diabetes or with somebody who has it tell you is the one word that sums up their own experience with the disease?"
3 comments - Posted May 7, 2009
The European Union's drug regulation agency has recommended that the EU approve the marketing of "Victoza" (liraglutide), a type 2 drug developed by Novo Nordisk.
2 comments - Posted May 6, 2009
Voglibose*, a generic drug often used in combination with sulfonylureas to control blood glucose levels, appears to delay or even prevent the onset of diabetes in people who are predisposed to the disease.
6 comments - Posted May 1, 2009
April 2009
Long before Joy Pape, RN, BSN, CDE, WOCN, CFCN, served a stint as the clinical editor and contributing columnist for Diabetes Health Professional, she was a seasoned diabetes expert who knew her way around almost every aspect of the disease.
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2009
Understanding which proteins help control blood glucose during and after exercise could lead to new drug therapies or more effective exercise to prevent type 2 diabetes and other health problems associated with high blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2009
Pregnant women who have gum disease run a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes than pregnant women who have healthy gums, says a study from the New York University College of Dentistry.
2 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2009
The majority of U.S. adults are worried about being able to afford medical care and prescription medications.1 In addition, a recent study reveals that one in seven children and working-age Americans went without needed prescription medications in 2007 due to cost concerns, up from one in 10 in 2003. Experts predict these statistics are likely to get worse in 2009, and this could present even greater hardships for those Americans with chronic conditions such as diabetes.2
3 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2009
March 2009
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) released a statement last week in response to the study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine which suggested that intensive blood glucose control for critical care patients with hyperglycemia doesn't improve outcomes and is associated with an increase in deaths.
1 comment - Posted Mar 31, 2009
I hear voices in my surroundings as the cloud of confusion gradually begins to lift. "Curtis, can you hear me?" "Curtis, what was the score of the football game?" "Curtis, do you know where you are?"
5 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2009
If you get less than six hours of sleep per night, your risk of developing impaired fasting glucose rises by a factor of 4.56, according to a report from the American Heart Association.
2 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2009
The FDA has announced that starting in early April, its Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee will begin looking into two new drugs for type 2 diabetes: saxagliptin tablets from Bristol-Meyers Squibb and liraglutide, an injection drug from Novo Nordisk.
1 comment - Posted Mar 24, 2009
Sanofi-aventis U.S., a maker of insulin as well as many other pharmaceuticals, announced last month the launch of their new YouTube diabetes channel that's designed to challenge the barriers, myths, and misperceptions about insulin use and empower people living with type 2 diabetes to make better-informed decisions for managing their condition. The channel is part of their broader GoInsulin campaign, a multi-media resource for people living with type 2 diabetes to help dispel the myths about insulin.
0 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2009
Scientists at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, laboratory who set out to develop a tattoo for tracking heart health may now be on track for developing a tattoo for people with diabetes that changes color as blood glucose levels rise and fall. If it becomes a workable approach, the tattoo technology could spare millions of people the tiresome, often painful routine of pricking themselves throughout the day to produce blood samples for their glucose monitors.
15 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2009
It was in the spring of 2005 that I received a call from the director of the diabetes camp in the state where I lived and worked as a sales rep for a blood glucose meter company. He was calling to ask if I would volunteer as a counselor at the week-long camp, which served around 200 campers, the vast majority with type 1 diabetes. I'd known for years that counselors were always in demand at the camp, but had never stepped forward to volunteer. I'd heard the stories of how tough and exhausting it was keeping up with your group, performing 2:00 AM blood sugar checks, and ensuring that they all stayed safe and had fun. Frankly, I'd always had serious doubts as to whether I was up to it. This, however, was the first time that I had been directly asked to volunteer, and something inside me made me grudgingly agree. As I drove to the campsite to begin that week in June, though, I'd be lying if I did not admit to being as nervous as any of the kids who were attending.
5 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2009
A few quick, intense bursts of energy, such as 7.5 minutes per week of sprints on a stationary bicycle, may be just as good as 30 minutes per day of moderate exercise in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. In fact, say researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, such short bursts may be even more effective.
2 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2009
A few years ago a young man named Jeff came into my office seeking help to lose weight. He was 5'10" tall and weighed 130 pounds. Jeff denied starving himself, denied making himself throw up, and denied over-exercising. I tried to convince him that he was actually 30 pounds underweight. As I looked for the most effective ways of motivating him to restore his health, he brought up the fact that he had type 1 diabetes. Jeff said that he rarely gave himself insulin and that he had "diabulimia." I had never heard of diabulimia and had no idea what I was dealing with. I gave him a list of clinicians and asked him to call me back after he made appointments with an endocrinologist and a psychotherapist.
13 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2009
February 2009
Editor's note: We recently received the following heartbreaking letter. The article that follows was first published in May, 2006. Little has changed.
13 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2009
Baxter International, Inc., which produces the peritoneal dialysis solution Extraneal (icodextrin), has teamed with MedicAlert Foundation International to encourage peritoneal dialysis patients to add a warning to their MedicAlert bracelets regarding the fact that icodextrin may cause false readings on non-specific glucose monitors.
0 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2009
Back in 1993, I published an article titled "Is Noncompliance a Dirty Word?" in which I expressed sadness that people with diabetes were being blamed by their healthcare providers for not following treatment advice (1). I suggested that the patient's "failure" might really be a failure of the partnership (or lack thereof) between patient and provider. Fifteen long years ago, I challenged diabetes educators to work with medical practitioners to change noncompliance from a dirty word to a rare occurrence. So, how are we doing today?
20 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2009
January 2009
We first reported on salsalate, an aspirin-like drug discovered in the nineteenth century, last October. At that time, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston discovered that it appears to reduce inflammation and lower blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2009
Nearly every time that I mention islet transplantation in a conversation about diabetes, the person I'm with responds with a sniff that it's never going to work because of the immune suppression problem.
12 comments - Posted Jan 24, 2009
The treatment of diabetes has come a long way since Dr. Elliot Joslin wrote The Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus in 1916. But Dr. Joslin's idea that diet, exercise, and insulin (when it became available as therapy in 1922) are the keys to managing diabetes remains true today. This doesn't mean that diabetes is not a complex illness requiring ongoing education and individualized care. People with diabetes benefit greatly from the services of a team of health care professionals including a certified diabetes educator and an endocrinologist--a doctor who specializes in treating disorders of the endocrine system.
7 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2009
You've been diagnosed with diabetes because there is too much glucose (a kind of sugar) in your blood.
7 comments - Posted Jan 16, 2009
One of 2008's most interesting developments was the change in one long-standing recommendation for treating diabetes in people who have had the disease for a long time: Work intensely on getting blood sugar levels as low as possible.
11 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2009
As the 76-million-member Baby Boomer generation ages-its oldest members are now 63-nursing homes are bracing for an unprecedented demand for their services. Along with increased pressure from the sheer number of patients, nursing homes will also have to deal with the skyrocketing number of seniors with type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2009
They start in your forties as periodic mental hiccups where you suddenly lose the thread of a thought. By your fifties, they happen often enough to make you jokingly introduce the phase "senior moment" to your vocabulary. And by the time you enter your sixties, there's not a lot of humor in them any more. Senior moments become an often exasperating stall in conversations and thought.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
December 2008
Here at Diabetes Health, we've learned the hard way that specific resolutions are the way to go. General plans like "I'll watch my weight" or "I'll check my blood glucose more often" tend to be less successful than the more specific: "I'll eat x number of carbs each meal" and "I'll check my BG before and after every meal."
2 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Every type 1 fears having a hypoglycemic event. Because people are usually more accustomed to dealing with highs, however, a sudden low often catches them unaware. Use this fictional yet typical story to find out what might happen medically during a low and what you need to know to keep hypoglycemia in check.
10 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Diabetes may be described as a disease of glucose intolerance: high blood glucose is both the characteristic indicator and the cause of complications.
120 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
About a year ago, Cheryl Tooke found herself in the last place she ever wanted to be. She weighed 268 pounds, and her doctor had just diagnosed her with type 2 diabetes.
84 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Obesity in the United States is increasing in epidemic proportions. This is true in children as well as adults. It's estimated that the healthcare costs associated with obesity and its related complications will exceed $130 billion this year.
52 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended that companies manufacturing diabetes treatment drugs provide evidence that their products will not increase cardiovascular risks.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2008
A common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) decreased the average glucose level during sleep of type 2s who were newly diagnosed with OSA. After seven weeks of the therapy, known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the diabetic patients' average BG level fell 20 mg/dl.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2008
For 2,000 years diabetes has been recognized as a devastating and deadly disease. In the first century A.D. a Greek, Aretaeus, described the destructive nature of the affliction which he named "diabetes" from the Greek word for "siphon." Eugene J. Leopold in his text Aretaeus the Cappodacian describes Aretaeus' diagnosis: "...For fluids do not remain in the body, but use the body only as a channel through which they may flow out. Life lasts only for a time, but not very long. For they urinate with pain and painful is the emaciation. For no essential part of the drink is absorbed by the body while great masses of the flesh are liquefied into urine."
45 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
Take this test on insulin and see if you can get a higher score than hospital doctors and nurses.
19 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
It has been rags to riches for singer Elliott Yamin. With his naturally soulful singing voice, listeners feel his raw emotion and they like it. When you hear him, you know immediately that few guys in any musical genre sing with this kind of authenticity.
29 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
Most people with diabetes will tell you this: Everything about having it is a hassle, an annoyance and sometimes utterly overwhelming. Endless worrying over meal plans, carbohydrate counting, finger-stick checks, pills, injections, lab tests, prescriptions, supplies and doctors’ appointments are nobody’s idea of fun.
7 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
Bob Cleveland wondered if he’d live when he went to the hospital as a 5-year-old. In 1925, hospital visits were made for dire reasons.
3 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
An international team of researchers reports that a mutation in a gene that controls a person's body clock can cause higher blood sugar levels, leading to a 20 percent increased risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2008
Many people think of heart disease as something that mostly afflicts men. But heart disease actually kills more women in the United States than anything else, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. And diabetes plays a stronger role in risk for heart disease in women than it does in men.
1 comment - Posted Dec 15, 2008
The end of the year can be a difficult time because for many of us, it’s not just a day or two but whole weeks of merrymaking. We all know people who throw caution to the winds and give up all semblance of healthy behavior when holiday or vacation time comes around. It is not uncommon for these people to still be struggling to get back on track by March of the following year.
1 comment - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Sometimes happy holiday dreams and dazzling parties turn into nightmares of stressful schedules, impulse eating and battered blood glucose. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or the winter solstice, bountiful food and holiday stress can affect your festive mood and your health.
2 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Need gift ideas? Holiday gift-giving can be a challenge. Some people like surprise gifts, some make “must have” or “wish” lists. I don’t always know what is on someone’s list, or if they would enjoy a surprise.
1 comment - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Hanukkah treats? Christmas traditions? Kwanzaa celebrations?
2 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
A doctor is trying to get his patient, an overweight man with diabetes, to lose some weight. "I want you to eat what you always do for two days, then skip a day, then repeat this for two weeks. When you come back, you should have lost five pounds." A month later when the patient returns, he's lost 20 pounds. The doctor is amazed. "Was it hard to follow my instructions?" he asks. "Well, on the third day, I thought I'd die," the man replied. The doctor nodded. "From hunger? " "No," the man replied, "From the skipping."
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
The first time I presented medical research findings, I was not yet a physician. The year was about 1975. I was in my early forties and a mid-career engineer. The forum was a scientific symposium on diabetes. At the time, I felt that I had discovered the holy grail of diabetes care and was eager to share what I had learned.
22 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Older men who are worried about insulin resistance can take heart from a Tufts University study which shows that higher than normal doses of vitamin K slow development of the condition. (Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body increasingly cannot use insulin properly and blood glucose levels rise. It is a major precursor to type 2 diabetes.)
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Last week we published an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Sheri Colberg's revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg has a PhD in exercise physiology, is a Diabetes Health board member, and is herself an athlete with diabetes. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
November 2008
Diabetes Health board member Sheri Colberg, PhD, has published a completely revised, updated, and expanded version of her 2001 book, Diabetic Athlete's Handbook: Your Guide to Peak Performance. Dr. Colberg, a diabetic athlete herself, has a PhD in exercise physiology. Her book draws upon the experiences of hundreds of athletes with diabetes to provide the best advice for exercisers with diabetes, either type 1 or type 2.
2 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have found that two drugs used to treat cancer can prevent or cure type 1 diabetes in mice.
7 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
A study published in the August 25 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that people with type 1 diabetes "may not judge correctly when their blood sugar levels are too low and may consider driving with a low BG." In the study, "low" was defined as less than 70 mg/dl.
15 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
Even as diabetes researchers worldwide strive for total control over-or even an outright cure of-type 1 diabetes via gene therapy, altered cells, or surgical intervention, other researchers continue to press toward creation of a functional "artificial pancreas."
1 comment - Posted Nov 3, 2008
October 2008
David Kliff of Diabetic Investor was the first to report last week that Animas, the Johnson and Johnson unit that makes the OneTouch Ping blood glucose monitor, is recalling the Ping. The brand-new Ping received FDA clearance this past summer on July 1. According to reports, there is a small problem with the Ping that has nothing to do with the Animas 2020 insulin pump it works in concert with. The bolus calculator on the Ping does not work properly when it isn’t synched with the pump. When the two are synched, it works fine. Animas says the problem has been corrected and they are sending new units to customers to replace the defective ones.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
If you use more than 200 units of insulin a day (or your child needs more than three units of insulin per kilogram of body weight per day), and you aren't reaching your blood glucose goals, you may want to consider U-500 insulin.
4 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
LifeScan, the maker of OneTouch blood glucose meters, recently announced Global Diabetes Handprint, a new collaboration with the Diabetes Hands Foundation. The project encourages people with diabetes to post an image of their hand, decorated with words and graphics depicting their personal expressions about living with diabetes (or decorate a virtual hand online). The project is designed to help people with diabetes use self-expression to connect with each other and feel less isolated.
1 comment - Posted Oct 27, 2008
Novo Nordisk recently announced results from its LEAD 6 study showing that once daily liraglutide was significantly more effective at improving blood glucose control (as measured by A1c) than exenatide, a GLP-1 mimetic administered twice daily.
4 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
Diabetes Health has always been ambivalent when it comes to reporting diabetes research that involves mice. For one thing, although the critters are mammals, it's a stretch to say that what happens in a mouse can be duplicated in a human.
6 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2008
In gastric bypass surgery, the surgeon basically lops your small intestine in two and then hooks it back up again in such a way that it's much shorter than before. With the first section of your small intestine out of commission, food flows directly from your stomach to the middle of your small intestine. When less intestine is available to absorb food, less food is absorbed, not surprisingly. It works, but it's not pretty.
3 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2008
An aspirin-like drug discovered 132 years ago may prove to be a powerful weapon against type 2 diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes peaks at 13 to 14 years of age, but at any age it immediately requires children and adolescents to learn many complex facets of glycemic self-management. Dr. Elliot Joslin's belief of 85 years ago, that education is not just part of the treatment of diabetes, but rather the treatment itself, still holds true.
1 comment - Posted Oct 6, 2008
Heritage Labs has introduced the Appraise® Home A1c Kit, a product that allows people with diabetes and pre-diabetes to measure their average blood glucose level over a three- or four-month period.
5 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2008
November is National Diabetes Awareness month. It's a good time to reflect on your blood glucose successes and have compassion for what you may view as failures. What's in a glucose reading anyway? It's just a number. It gives you feedback for a certain time period. Everyone struggles with maintaining good blood sugars. The important thing to remember is that you are not alone. In this issue, you will find everyday heroes who are committed to reminding other people that we are all in this together. Since dialog is what it's all about when dealing with your diabetes, I am happy to tell you about a new section of our popular web site, Diabetes Health Forums. It's a place where you can participate in an existing discussion or start a new one of your own. Learn more at www.diabeteshealth.com/forums.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2008
September 2008
Bret Michaels was only six years old when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now 44 years old, he's a twenty-year veteran of the rock and roll scene as the lead singer of the eighties band "Poison."
64 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
A professional doctors' group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require that Avandia's warning label include a statement that a low-fat vegan diet is a safer, more effective approach to lowering blood sugar levels than the drug itself.
20 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Many people know that it is beneficial to eat your morning meal, but it can be challenging for many reasons. Breakfast is not the meal to miss, especially when you feel stressed, since it can set the mood for the entire day. The truth is that what you eat for breakfast may be more important than if you eat breakfast at all.
6 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Originally ice cream consisted of milk, cream, sugar, flavoring and lots of air. But modern brands adhering to this original recipe are few and far between.
1 comment - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Gastroparesis doesn't sound good, and it isn't. Literally "stomach paralysis," it is a form of diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage, that is a common complication of diabetes. The damaged nerve in question is the vagus nerve, named for its vagabond-like wandering nature.
27 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
I remember the call from the doctor's office two weeks after a long overdue annual physical. I sat in the examining room expecting to hear the usual "lose weight" diagnosis. I had been feeling tired and had been making more than a few daily trips to the bathroom. But in spite of the fact that my grandmother, father, cousin, and brother all suffered from type 2 diabetes, I was not prepared for my doctor's stern warning: My sugar had been totally out of control for several months. I needed to adjust my diet and lifestyle immediately. I was a 40-year-old chocoholic and totally calorie clueless. I also weighed 255 pounds. The doctor prescribed an oral medication and told me that monthly visits for testing would now be required. I thought, OK, I can do this.
1 comment - Posted Sep 18, 2008
The OneTouch® UltraMini® Meter by LifeScan, Inc., is now available in Purple Twilight and Blue Comet.
3 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2008
People who tightly control their blood sugar-even if only for the first decade after they are diagnosed-have lower risks of heart attack, death, and other complications ten or more years later, a large follow-up study has found.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2008
Diabetes educator Cindy Young used case studies to illustrate the many little things that can have a big effect on your blood glucose-or just on the readings you get with your meter.
7 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
A Canadian clinical study has delivered a double dose of good news for proponents of exenatide (sold commercially as Byetta), a drug used by more than 700,000 Americans to control blood glucose, ease food cravings, and, incidentally, lose weight.
3 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
A study sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation confirms that many older type 1 patients achieve better control of their blood sugar levels by using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) than by conventional monitoring with a meter and finger pricks.
1 comment - Posted Sep 11, 2008
This is a worst case scenario.
This is the untrained trying to do the unknown.
This is 20 minutes of hell.
11 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
With 21 million U.S. residents now officially diagnosed as having diabetes, healthcare professionals are looking at another statistic that is causing them many a sleepless night: The Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 57 million people with pre-diabetes in the United States. (Pre-diabetes is defined as impaired fasting glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dl, impaired glucose tolerance of 140 to 199 mg/dl, or both.)
6 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
Bayer Diabetes Care and teen pop sensation Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers are inviting people with diabetes to enter the "Walk In Nick's Shoes" (W.I.N.S.) sweepstakes, which runs through October 1, 2008.
9 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
August 2008
Imagine someone pressing a pillow over your face while you sleep. You wake up and struggle for air. After 10 seconds, you're allowed to breathe again. But pretty soon, the pillow goes back over your face.
2 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
My husband and I have nine children. Elliott is our oldest and when he was diagnosed with type 1 at age 11 in 1996, we were blindsided. Neither my husband, nor I, nor anyone in our extended family had diabetes. Elliot had all of the classic symptoms: excessive thirst, frequent urination, uncontrollable hunger, occasional blurry vision, and (something I think a lot of parents don't recognize as a sign) bedwetting.
11 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
I was forty-five years old when I found out that I had type 2 diabetes. I don't know why I was shocked. Diabetes ran like a river through my family. My father had type 1. He died at the age of forty-one from a heart attack, but my mother always insisted that it was partly because he didn't "manage" his diabetes well.
2 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Diabetes educator Mary M. Austin reported that many people are paying for blood glucose test strips even though their insurance plans would cover them. "There is a lot of misunderstanding," she said. For example, a client of Austin's got a free meter at a health fair. He then paid for strips on his own for six months, until he found out that his insurance plan would cover them if he got a prescription for the strips from his healthcare provider.
3 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Researchers Adeola Akindana and Laura Want explained that diabetes education may be an integral part of a clinical study, as it was in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) and the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). But most diabetes studies have an education component even when it isn't specified in the study's protocol. For example, in a drug study in which participants must check their blood glucose levels, they may need to be taught the correct technique.
0 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
You know how important it is to control the sugar and carbohydrates in your diet. So you read food labels and listen to your body cues to make sure you’re getting what you need to stay healthy.
52 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Do you want to lose weight and improve your blood glucose levels? Do you want to do it without having to weigh your portions and count your calories? Try a low-fat vegan diet. A vegan diet is one with no animal products: no fish, no eggs, no dairy, and, of course, no meat.
22 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
The hemoglobin A1c test (HbA1c) is a staple among people with diabetes attempting to map out their long-term blood glucose levels. However, it is not a standard test for non-diabetics, even those whose doctors suspect they may have the disease.
14 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
After it saved the lives of diabetic mice, a drug used to treat tuberculosis and cancer is now being tested in humans at Massachusetts General Hospital as a possible cure for type 1 diabetes.
21 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
When the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) hosted its convention June 30 through July 5 in Dallas, Texas, it awarded the Access Plus (A+) Award to Diagnostic Devices, Inc., makers of Prodigy® blood glucose monitoring systems. “The A+ Award program was designed to reward companies that make consumer products that are truly accessible for blind people,” said Eileen Rivera Ley, Director of Diabetes Initiatives for the NFB. The A+ Award is for products that afford the blind the same convenience and features available to everyone else and is awarded only to products and services that meet the highest standards of accessibility.
0 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
I just returned from the American Diabetes Association’s 68th Scientific Sessions held in San Francisco in June and I’d like to share some highlights:
0 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
July 2008
You’ve got type 2 diabetes. A few years ago, you started using a long-acting insulin once a day, and your fasting glucose levels and your A1c came down. But now your A1c is creeping back up. Your doctor tells you that you need to add a mealtime insulin to your plan.
2 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
Hostility and anger are associated with higher blood glucose levels in non-diabetic single men, new research shows.
2 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
Before diabetes, I was a normal teenager whose greatest worry was whether I’d get an A or a B on a test. I was strong and healthy. Somehow, I took for granted all the freedoms that diabetes took away from me. Last year, at the age of fifteen, I learned that every day, even every breath, that we are given is a true gift.
4 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
WakeMed Health & Hospitals Children’s Diabetes ENERGIZE! program has won the coveted NOVA Award from the American Hospital Association (AHA).
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2008
Have you heard the story of the little boy who was on the beach after a storm? Thousands of starfish had washed ashore, and he picked up one after another and threw them back into the sea. A man watched him work and after some time said to the boy, “Look at all these starfish. You’re never going to be able to save them all. Do you think all your work will make a difference?” The boy thought for a minute as he looked up and down the beach. “I don’t know,” he said as he picked up another starfish and flung it into the brine, “but it sure will make a difference to this one!”
4 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
In the wake of its clearance by the FDA, Animas Corporation says it will make its new OneTouch® Ping™ glucose management system available to people with diabetes by mid-August.
3 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
The Diabetes Center at the University of California at San Francisco is currently seeking to enroll patients in five studies of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and three related studies of non-diabetics:
1 comment - Posted Jul 3, 2008
June 2008
Every pilot’s nightmare is the thought of losing his medical certification and being stopped from flying. That happened to me in May of 1986, when I was diagnosed with type 1. In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices, Canada, along with every other country in the world, would not allow insulin-dependent pilots to hold any type of pilot’s license. My short eight-year career with Air Canada came to an abrupt end, and I was told in no uncertain terms that I would never be allowed to fly an aircraft again.
9 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Years ago, John Bantle, MD, gave brownies to people with diabetes. Brownies made with real sugar. And their blood glucose levels…did not skyrocket.
27 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
An impermeable liner inserted non-surgically into a portion of the small intestine produces rapid weight loss and remission of type 2 diabetes, according to a Montana endocrinologist.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Tekturna Reduces Kidney Disease Indicator
The blood pressure medicine Tekturna (aliskiren) may have a beneficial side effect for people with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure who are at risk of kidney disease. According to a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, the drug reduces proteinuria, a key indicator of kidney disease, by 20 percent in patients with type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Diabetes treatments are now the leading driver of prescription drug spending growth, displacing lipid-lowering drugs, which tumbled in price after a reign of 10 years in the top position. Generic drugs are cutting the cost of treating high cholesterol.
2 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2008
Dear Diabetes Health,
After reading the story in the April/May Diabetes Health about the mother and daughter who won approval from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to pay for the continuous monitor, I wanted to share our story.
5 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2008
May 2008
With annual worldwide sales topping 1.3 billion dollars, insulin pumps are one of the most popular devices in the treatment of diabetes. Not only do they allow people with type 1 diabetes to more easily manage their blood glucose levels, but they also help users regain their freedom and enjoy a more normal life.
14 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
HealthDay reports that according to a University of Miami study, people with type 1 diabetes who received transplanted islet cells from human donors lived insulin-free for up to two years.
1 comment - Posted May 30, 2008
Is it possible that a dip in the hot tub can cause a dip in the blood sugars? According to a pilot study that appeared in the September 16 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), "hot tub therapy" helped a group of type 2s reduce their blood sugars, lose weight and improve sleep patterns.
11 comments - Posted May 23, 2008
In the current era of “zero tolerance,” public school students who have diabetes have been caught in a frustrating crossfire.
13 comments - Posted May 22, 2008
Dear Editor, I am a medical student in the M.D. program at Oregon Health and Sciences University and a type 1 diabetic of almost 10 years. I use a Medtronic pump and I also use their continuous glucose monitoring system (Paradigm Real-Time).
34 comments - Posted May 22, 2008
Newswise — “The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists applauds the FDA’s efforts to protect the safety of children and adolescents who are using insulin pumps,” said Dr. Richard Hellman, the Association’s President.
1 comment - Posted May 15, 2008
A word of caution about the values used below. This study was conducted using people without diabetes. Some people with diabetes experience symptoms at higher glucose levels than the study suggests. Other people with diabetes appear to function well with blood sugars in the 30's and 40's (mg/dl). Therefore, the values in the study should only be used as an approximation. This study also used plasma glucose levels. Your values done at home might be 20 percent lower or higher than these lab values. For example, epinephrine release in someone without diabetes would begin at about 63mg/dl with a home blood glucose meter.
43 comments - Posted May 1, 2008
April 2008
Hi, Keith,
One of our most popular articles right now is about the many, many folks who accidentally mix up their insulin bottles and take a huge dose of fast-acting insulin by mistake, thinking they are taking long-acting. (See the article and the 22 reader comments here.)
10 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
The FDA has cleared the OneTouch UltraLink wireless meter as the only meter certified by Medtronic to wirelessly communicate with its diabetes management products in the United States. The meter uses Medtronic-certified wireless technology to transmit glucose readings directly to MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps and the Guardian® REAL-Time continuous glucose monitoring system. This makes bolus dosing more accurate and easier for patients compared to the manual entry of blood glucose readings.
8 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Here is a troubling finding that you will want to discuss with your opthamologist and cardiologist: Type 2 diabetics who already have retinopathy when they are diagnosed are 2.5 times more likely to develop heart failure than type 2’s who are diagnosed without it.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2008
It is estimated that nearly 3 million African-Americans have diabetes – 17 percent of all diabetes patients in the United States. That figure is growing as the proportion of African-American patients diagnosed with diabetes consistently increases year to year, according to research from GfK Market Measures’ Roper Global Diabetes Group.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
LifeScan, a Johnson & Johnson company that manufactures OneTouch blood glucose meters, is sponsoring an online sweepstakes for children with diabetes that will offer the opportunity to attend a diabetes camp for free this summer.
2 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
Years from now, when we’re looking for significant milestones in the struggle to get insurers to cover the cost of continuous glucose monitors, keep this one in mind: Medtronic has just announced the sale of its one millionth sensor from its line of CGM products.
7 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2008
In November 2005, with an A1c of 7.5%, I was told that I had type 2 diabetes. It shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to me because my mother has type 2 and her mother died from complications due to her uncontrolled diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2008
When Dee Brehm was diagnosed in 1949 with type 1 diabetes, her prospects were not bright: a permanent chronic condition, a reduced life span, potentially devastating complications and perhaps no children. She married Bill Brehm in 1952, and they began a partnership knowing that together they would have to manage her disease. Dee subsequently defied the dim outlook for her life: She has two children and six grandchildren, and she has surpassed the half-century mark with this disease having been spared the ordeal of complications.
23 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2008
March 2008
Fifteen-year-old Californian Laura Miller, a brittle diabetic, and her mother, Gillian, thought they had a strong case when they asked Blue Cross in late 2007 to pay for a continuous glucose monitor for her.
15 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
Perhaps more than anyone, people with diabetes know that the motto “Just say no” often doesn’t work.
28 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
Blood sugar control is the heart and soul of diabetes management. How you handle it determines what will be the consequences of your diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
NEW YORK – Growing evidence shows that surgery may effectively cure type 2 diabetes – an approach that not only may change the way the disease is treated, but that introduces a new way of thinking about diabetes.
18 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
For the first time, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) came out in support of low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to manage their weight. The ADA announced this landmark decision in December 2007 with its 2008 clinical practice recommendations. The latest recommendation is in sharp contrast to decades of promoting only low-fat/high-carb diets.
2 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2008
A Diabetes Health advisory board member offers advice on how to treat your feet well and avoid wounds and infections that could lead to amputation.
2 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2008
Continually revved up insulin production, the kind that results from overeating and obesity, slowly dulls the body’s response to insulin. As a result, blood sugar levels start to creep up, setting the stage for diabetes-associated complications such as blindness, stroke and renal failure. To make matters even worse, chronically elevated blood sugar concentrations exacerbate insulin resistance.
1 comment - Posted Mar 6, 2008
February 2008
A1c tests, the standard measurement of blood glucose, underestimate the amount of glucose in people who are on kidney hemodialysis, says a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center study.
2 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2008
Just after a massive U.S. study dropped its aggressive treatment of blood glucose levels because of increased deaths among type 2 patients, international researchers announced that their similar intense study of tight blood sugar control showed no increased risk of death.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2008
A Texas endocrinologist who recently put the recently FDA-approved Medtronic iPro continuous glucose recorder through its paces with diabetic patients calls the tool a major step forward in doctors' ability to accurately monitor the disease.
10 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the newest continuous glucose monitoring system from diabetes management device manufacturer Medtronic.
0 comments - Posted Feb 15, 2008
After seeing an increase in deaths among type 2 participants, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has halted the intense blood sugar control portion of its years-long study on controlling cardiovascular risks to people with diabetes.
14 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2008
Pioneering low-carb diet advocate Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has responded to the American Diabetes Association's recent support for low-carb diets with a critique of several of the ADA's most cherished notions.
30 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2008
Recently, meal-replacement bars, powders and beverages have been touted as a popular way of providing nutritious options for today's busy lifestyles, as well as aids for weight loss and poor appetite.
0 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2008
I don't know if you watched this show that aired the week of January 20 here in Rochester, N.Y., on WXXI Public TV. The program included a short segment where a 12-year-old type 1 diabetic relied upon a medical dog to avoid seizures. It was very incomplete and misleading.
5 comments - Posted Feb 2, 2008
January 2008
I just had a frightening experience. A severe hypoglycemic, I took my regular 5 units of R Humulin 30 minutes before lunch. Instead of my normal sandwich and milk at lunch, I drank a glass of Slim Fast with milk. I carefully read the label and figured out that it was almost identical to the sandwich in calories, carbs and sugars.
11 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2008
"It feels like you accidentally pricked yourself with a pin, only it's not accidental and you have to do it over and over again in the same areas."
34 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2008
To successfully treat any disease, one must know what disease to treat. Treating only a symptom of the disease will leave the underlying disease unchecked and possibly worse. For example, we evolved the "runny" nose to help us clean out upper respiratory infections. So taking a decongestant to eradicate the symptom of a "runny" nose is actually counterproductive for the underlying disease.
23 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2008
Startling statistics are only one reason sufferers should get help and why research into this lethal combination must continue. On the list of deadly diseases in the United States, diabetes ranks fifth. And for so many reasons: major killers like heart attack and stroke are among a slew of diabetes' potentially lethal complications.
15 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2008
The National Athletic Trainers Association has issued a seven-element plan for helping athletes with type 1 diabetes maintain proper blood sugar levels while competing, training or traveling.
2 comments - Posted Jan 10, 2008
You and everybody else alive encounter stress, daily, hourly and minute by minute. As unavoidable, inscrutable, and sometimes as aggressive as the IRS, stress is part of the human condition. It is not just a sense of being tense but is any event that causes a complex physiologic response called the "stress response."
4 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2008
Because scientists often tend to dismiss what they don't fully understand, many of them used to think that C-peptide had no physiological function. But while it's true that C-peptide does nothing to lower blood sugar, recent research is finding that it might have a role in preventing diabetes complications.
19 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, July 21 - Eli Lilly and company today announced that it has begun limited testing in healthy human volunteers of biosynthetic human insulin produced by recombinant DNA technology. The company also announced that it has started construction of the world’s first manufacturing facilities—at a cost of $40 million—to employ recombinant DNA technology to produce the biosynthetic human insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2008
December 2007
We can only conclude that the universe is being perverse again when it comes to the way it treats type 2s: Diabetes writer David Mendosa has reported there are new studies show that the caffeine in coffee causes moderate increases in glucose levels.
11 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2007
Bayer Diabetes Care has recalled 230,000 bottles of Contour TS test strips after finding that the strips resulted in blood glucose readings 5 to 17 percent higher than actual levels.
0 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2007
Recently on "Good Morning America," a friend of mine (and fellow A1c champion) watched author Gary Taubes talk about his new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. My friend sent this email around: "Taubes says that exercise makes us hungry for carbohydrates and that carbohydrates cause insulin secretion, which creates fat."
49 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2007
There's now plenty of evidence that U.S. ethnic minority groups tend to have higher A1c levels than whites. (Your A1c is the percentage of your hemoglobin cells that are glycated - have sugar stuck to them. The higher your blood sugars are, the more sugar sticks to your hemoglobin over time, and the higher your A1c is.)
1 comment - Posted Dec 24, 2007
The name insulin comes from the Latin insula, for islands. It refers to the pancreatic islets of Langerhans that contain the beta cells.
1 comment - Posted Dec 20, 2007
In healthy people, beta cells are like tiny factories that churn out insulin. Proinsulin, which is the raw material for finished insulin, is produced in the endoplasmic reticulum deep within the beta cells.
0 comments - Posted Dec 18, 2007
Conversation Maps look like a set of very large and colorful children's placemats. Three feet wide and five feet long, each map is covered with a kids-book-style landscape painting illustrating one of five topics:
0 comments - Posted Dec 16, 2007
To conclude our pump survey, we asked you how you'd like to see pumping improved. As usual, you came up with a plethora of intriguing suggestions, although some were a bit more visionary than others: One reader said, "I wish someone would invent a device that could be waved over a meal, and it would display the number of carbs in the meal."
43 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2007
November 2007
I learned that I had type 2 diabetes in February 1994. A dozen years later, I knew I had to make a change. Technically speaking, I was "morbidly obese." I'm tall - 6 feet, 2½ inches - but I tipped the scales at 312 pounds and had a body mass index (BMI) of 40.
7 comments - Posted Nov 28, 2007
Many medications, both oral and injectable, exist to manage blood glucose in type 2 diabetes. Even insulin has many different formulations, including fast-acting and long-acting analogs as well as various pre-mixed combinations of faster and slower acting insulins in the same vial.
9 comments - Posted Nov 27, 2007
Once upon a time in a land called Sweeten, there lived a beautiful princess named Princess Tootsweet. She had long flowing hair, large dark eyes, and a lazy pancreas.
7 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2007
Many tests try (and many fail) to accurately predict whether a person will eventually develop type 2 diabetes. But they often test for single conditions, like impaired glucose tolerance, that don't appear until the road to diabetes is already well begun.
0 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2007
It's well known that dogs can somehow sniff low blood sugars. Many people credit their dogs with waking them up when they were dangerously low. How the dogs do it has been a mystery, but now there's evidence that they may be sniffing methyl nitrates on their owners' breath.
1 comment - Posted Nov 18, 2007
Parents have always said that they can tell when their children's blood sugar is high by their kids' behavior, which tends to change, and not for the better, when their sugar is high. Now a formal study has confirmed just that.
6 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2007
Diabetes educators are no less than a lifeline for patients, providing vital insights into the self-care behaviors that keep diabetes in check: managing blood sugar, dosing medications and insulin, exercising, and understanding all the numbers involved.
30 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2007
A recent study has found that the combination of metformin and sitagliptin lowers A1c's better than either drug alone, apparently because their different mechanisms work together synergistically.
0 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2007
SoLo Gi® Low Glycemic bars are delicious. We can vouch for that because we've eaten our way through all five flavors. And because they're clinically validated to have a very low glycemic index, they don't raise your blood sugar like other snack bars.
0 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2007
Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and fires strike fast, creating challenges that can be especially difficult for people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 9, 2007
In research reports, they're always talking about glucose clamps. Two types of clamps are quite commonly used, but they have nothing to do with the common definition of the word clamp. Instead, they are used to measure either how well you metabolize glucose or how sensitive you are to insulin.
1 comment - Posted Nov 7, 2007
Researchers recently followed 38,000 healthy women for ten years to learn if their initial blood pressure influenced whether they developed type 2 diabetes later.
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2007
El Paso, Texas, October 31, 2007 - Diabetes has become the leading cause of death in Mexico and the third-leading cause of death among those living along the U.S. side of the border, according to a new study presented today by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
1 comment - Posted Nov 2, 2007
October 2007
This morning, a major meter manufacturer announced that its blood glucose meters will now operate on Microsoft's HealthVault. HealthVault is an online service that allows a patient to store and manage his health records without paying a fee.
32 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2007
When calculating glycemic index (GI) values, glucose is arbitrarily given the highest GI value: 100. To assign a GI value to another type of carb, a complex process is used to compare the blood sugar response elicited by the test carb to the blood sugar response provoked by glucose.
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
The take-home message from the Tufts study is that the GI value of white bread is 70. That's nothing new: The same value has been found in dozens of other studies around the world (1).
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
Chip Sullivan is a golf pro. This June he played his best game ever, beating the top club professionals in the country and qualifying for the fourth time to play against the likes of Tiger Woods in the PGA championship tour.
2 comments - Posted Oct 17, 2007
The higher your blood glucose is during pregnancy, the greater your child's chances of growing up to be obese, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2007
Josephine Kulman has had type 1 diabetes for 45 years, ever since she was five years old. For much of her life, her blood sugars were rarely in control.
32 comments - Posted Oct 11, 2007
Want a meter that matches your ensemble of the day? LifeScan has the very thing. Now you can get their OneTouch UltraMini blood glucose meter in pink, black, silver, or green.
4 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2007
According to Pulse, the UK's leading medical weekly, a review of the evidence has concluded that for type 2s on oral medication whose A1c's are below 7.5%, blood glucose monitoring offers "little advantage and may increase the likelihood of hypoglycemia."
7 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2007
September 2007
In August, a number of august organizations agreed to report the A1c in a new way, as a number called an A1c-derived average glucose, or ADAG.
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2007
Until now, there were only two blood sugar numbers you had to worry about: your A1c and your fasting glucose level. The first, according to IDF guidelines, should be 6.5% or below, and the second 100 mg/dl or below.
6 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2007
It will soon be November, and National Diabetes Month will be here once again. It's a time when I like to reflect upon my past with diabetes and try to look into the future.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2007
Swaying in rhythm like drunk fans singing their team fight song, we campers bellowed our camp theme, clapping and banging on dining tables: "Shock, shock for Camp Firefly! We take the insulin - try not to cry!"
7 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2007
For at least 12,000 years, Peru has been inhabited by descendants of the Inca civilization. For countless generations, the farmers of the Peruvian Andes have lived on potatoes, cornmeal cakes, and alpacha, or goat meat.
1 comment - Posted Sep 8, 2007
We recently wrote about a study which concluded that blood glucose meters are a waste of time for people with type 2 diabetes who are not using insulin ("Is Using a Meter a Waste of Time for Type 2s?"). Our readers vehemently disagreed with that conclusion.
2 comments - Posted Sep 6, 2007
August 2007
People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes have about three-quarters less thiamine (vitamin B) in their blood than people without diabetes, according to new research out of Warwick Medical School in England. And it's not because they're not eating enough thiamine.
5 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2007
A meta-analysis of 29 studies, none longer than six months, has shown that incretin therapies (like Byetta and Januvia) are moderately effective in lowering blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes, especially after meals.
0 comments - Posted Aug 16, 2007
Everyone knows that for meter manufacturers, a meter is simply a means of selling a lifetime of strips. The Eocene blood glucose meter is no different in that respect, but it does have something extra to offer.
1 comment - Posted Aug 14, 2007
A study of 2,375 middle-aged British men reports that those who drank at least a pint of milk a day were 62 percent less likely than non-milk-drinkers to have metabolic syndrome (defined as raised levels of two or more of the following: blood glucose, insulin, blood fats, body fat, and blood pressure).
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2007
Diabetes is a chronic yet manageable malady; as such, it requires constant interaction between the person and the disease. You must pay attention to the endless flow of information produced by your various management tools.
1 comment - Posted Aug 10, 2007
Central adiposity, visceral fat, intra-abdominal fat, or a big belly, they all mean the same thing: increased risk of insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2007
According to a University of Oxford study led by Dr. Andrew Farmer, home monitoring of glucose with a meter did not improve glucose control in non-insulin-requiring people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2007
July 2007
This issue, we lay out the many devices with which diabetic people must poke themselves: syringes, pen needles, and lancing devices. And we top them off with a sprinkling of sugar: a chart outlining all the sources of fast-acting glucose.
0 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2007
A life-time resident of the Syracuse, New York, area, Gerald Cleveland has had a history of not quite coming out on top - at least until now.
2 comments - Posted Jul 19, 2007
Lantus and Levemir have a lot in common. Both are basal insulin formulas, which means that they last for a long time in the body and act as background insulin, with a slow feed that mimics the constant low output of insulin produced by a healthy pancreas.
103 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2007
An A1c assesses glycated hemoglobin; that is, it tells you how many of your red blood cells have glucose stuck to them. The higher the percentage of hemoglobin cells that are sugared up, the higher your average BGs were over the preceding three months.
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2007
Two-thirds of pregnancies in women with diabetes are unplanned. How long after conception do those women realize they're pregnant? They may be eight weeks into their pregnancy before they know it's happened.
5 comments - Posted Jul 14, 2007
It's a fact that Byetta reduces A1c's, post-meal and fasting glucose levels, and weight in people with type 2 diabetes. The drawback is that it's another injection twice a day. In response, Amylin, the maker of Byetta, has developed exenatide LAR, a form of Byetta that is injected only once a week.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2007
Recently we wrote that Living Cell Technologies (LCT), a New Zealand company, was about to begin transplanting pig islets into humans in a year-long Phase I/IIA clinical trial in Moscow, Russia ("Piglet Islets Soon Tested in Humans").
1 comment - Posted Jul 12, 2007
How elevated does your blood sugar have to be before you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes? Not near as elevated as we used to think, according to the findings of the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study.
0 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2007
You have made a point of checking your blood glucose and getting your annual eye and foot checkups. You track your blood cholesterol and blood pressure. But now the pain in your hip is unbearable and interfering with your walking program, so your doctor suggests hip surgery. You will be admitted to the hospital for hip surgery, not diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2007
Sidney, NY, July 6, 2007 - A study by the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston has found that the AT-A-GLANCE® Balance & Stretch® Day Planner is an effective tool in improving the management of type 1 diabetes in children. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) highlighted the results of the study at its 67th Scientific Session in Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Jul 7, 2007
If you like cinnamon on your pudding, you could be in luck. In a Swedish study of fourteen healthy pudding-eating subjects, a teaspoon of cinnamon sprinkled on top dampened the post-meal blood glucose rises usually seen after a pudding fest.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2007
Colorado Springs, CO, July 2, 2007 - LifeScan, Inc. announced the 2007 recipients of the LifeScan Prize for Athletic Achievement on June 30 at the annual meeting of the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association (DESA).
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2007
June 2007
Do you think you might have carpal tunnel syndrome? If you have diabetes, your assumption is more likely to be correct, because carpal tunnel syndrome is fifteen times more common in people with diabetes than in the general population.
1 comment - Posted Jun 29, 2007
Kevin Powell is an athlete, first and foremost. Twice a year, he competes in an Ironman event, a grueling test of endurance that entails a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike ride, topped off by a full marathon of 26.2 miles.
2 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2007
Adolescents don't always check their blood glucose levels as often as they should. Because frequent monitoring is a keystone of diabetes care, this can make their parents frantic.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2007
Prickly pear pads, otherwise known as nopales, are a staple of Mexican cuisine: People in mid- to low socioeconomic populations in Mexico tend to eat them about three times a week. Apparently they're pretty tasty when stripped of their prickles and boiled up in bite-sized pieces.
0 comments - Posted Jun 22, 2007
The results of our pump survey are in, and we had 841 respondents! Clearly, people are passionate about pumping, both pro and con. In fact, they seem to be more passionate about pumping than about sex, judging by the far greater response we got to this survey than we did to our survey about women and sex!
9 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2007
A company called Sugarest has developed a pill made from the Indian herb Gymnema sylvestre that purports to deaden your ability to taste sugar, thereby rendering sweets tasteless.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
Imagine your delighted shock if, after living with type 1 diabetes since infancy, you suddenly learned that you weren't type 1 after all. If you were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the first six months of life, especially if your birth weight was low, there's a chance that instead you have permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus (PNDM).
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
May 2007
Analysis of several recent studies indicates that Avandia (rosiglitazone), a type 2 diabetes medication that's been taken by more than six million people worldwide, is associated with a 43 percent increased risk of heart attack and with a borderline-significant increased risk of heart attack-related death.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 2007
Two new meters that purport to measure your blood glucose without a fingerstick are currently in the works–again. The road to a non-invasive meter is one that many have traveled before, but no one, thus far, has ever reached the market.
7 comments - Posted May 30, 2007
That long snout on a typical dog is there for a very good reason. It gathers up scent molecules and sends them deep down to special sniffing cells that hold 25 times the number of scent receptors that we humans have. Dogs can sense complex odors that are 100 million times weaker than our little noses can. Among those scents is the chemical mix that bodies manufacture when they are getting dangerously low on blood sugar.
1 comment - Posted May 29, 2007
A type 1 diabetic, 21 years old, pedals a bicycle for nine straight days, nine hundred miles from Tecumseh, Michigan, to Grand Island, Nebraska.
0 comments - Posted May 24, 2007
Meters have come a long way since 1969, when the first meter went on the market. The meter measured the amount of light reflected off a Dextrostix, a paper strip that turned various shades of blue, depending on blood glucose level, after a large drop of blood was placed on it and then washed off.
0 comments - Posted May 24, 2007
Aggressive management of diabetes can lead to more episodes of severe low blood sugar, but a new study has found that these episodes apparently don’t impair cognitive (thinking) function.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2007
While much of the diabetes community eagerly anticipates the latest research and treatment, many diagnosed with the disease struggle to gain access to doctors and the most basic supplies because they are poor or uninsured.
1 comment - Posted May 17, 2007
Eight New Zealanders with type 1 diabetes are hoping to receive pig islet transplantations by the end of the year, now that the company Living Cell Technologies (LCT) has surmounted the first of three regulatory hurdles in pursuit of permission for a twelve-month trial in New Zealand.
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2007
Sanofi-aventis and the Patient Mentor Institute are looking for people with diabetes to become patient mentors with the A1C Champions® program – a unique, patient-to-patient approach to diabetes education.
2 comments - Posted May 12, 2007
Let’s start from the beginning. First, you’ve got the endothelium. What’s that, you ask? Well, endo means “internal” and thelium means “cellular layer.” The endothelium, therefore, is the layer of cells that lines the heart, blood vessels, and certain other cavities in the body.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2007
Continuous Glucose Monitors Are Revolutionary - I’ve always believed that if I could give myself insulin conveniently and constantly knew my blood glucose, I could control my blood sugar almost as well as a non-diabetic person. Nine years ago, an insulin pump made the first condition come true. Since then I have been waiting for the magic blood sugar machine.
2 comments - Posted May 10, 2007
Ever try to check one meter against another by testing with both at the same time and seeing if their results match up? Ever wonder why they might not?
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2007
The 21st century may be remembered as the time when diabetes became a worldwide epidemic. However, it may also be known as the time when the disease was cured.
8 comments - Posted May 3, 2007
Last summer our family changed forever when Lauren, our nine-year-old daughter, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A whirlwind of shock, anger, and worry engulfed me as I watched an incurable chronic illness move into our home.
5 comments - Posted May 1, 2007
April 2007
The crack of the bat on Opening Day at Fenway Park is a sure sign that summer is on its way. From the Green Monster seats to the dunes of Cape Cod, summer means bright sun, ultraviolet rays and of course, sunglasses. But did you know that people with diabetes need more than sunglasses to protect their eyes?
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2007
Carbs and carbs alone, not fat, increase body weight. It doesn't matter whether the carbs are from sugar, bread, fruit, or vegetables: They’re all rapidly digested and quickly converted to blood glucose. A short time after a carb-rich meal, the glucose in your bloodstream rises rapidly, and your pancreas produces a large amount of insulin to take the excess glucose out.
26 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Let’s be realistic and take a long-term perspective in this “which diet is best” debate, rather than wasting time quibbling over extremes—from low-carb to vegan. You’ll have type 2 diabetes for the rest of your life, and you’ll likely struggle with weight management throughout your life as well. The major challenge in weight loss, and even more so in weight maintenance, is long-term adherence.
12 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Dismal Predictions - In 1949, at the age of 13, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I was told that I would have to take shots for life and that my life would probably last only 25 years longer. Furthermore, I could eat no candy, and all my children would be diabetic.
2 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2007
A lot of new medicines have come out, with a pile of new acronyms: GLP-1, DPP-4, BYOB…well, that last one is probably familiar, but a little background on the other two might not be out of place. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of them in the future, and it’ll help to be on speaking terms.
1 comment - Posted Apr 20, 2007
Milpitas, CA, March 30, 2007 – LifeScan, Inc., maker of OneTouch® Brand Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems, is offering customers that own one of several models of OneTouch Brand Systems a no-charge meter upgrade to one of the company's latest, most innovative meters.(1)
0 comments - Posted Apr 20, 2007
The story of Doug Burns’ arrest during a low blood sugar episode has generated a lot of comments from the diabetes community. How did it happen, why did it happen, and how could it have been handled differently?
1 comment - Posted Apr 19, 2007
GlucoLight's continuous, non-invasive device is a novel approach to glucose monitoring in the acute care environment. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the device is able to measure blood glucose levels through a unique anatomical area in the skin that shows physiological changes that directly correlate to changes in blood glucose. The GlucoLight monitor displays real time glucose measurements with an initial single point calibration.
0 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2007
Obviously, risk factors for Type 2 diabetes show up long before clinical diagnosis of the disease. For women, however, this risk can be detected much earlier than previously thought.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2007
Women with diabetes are up to five times more likely than the general population to have a baby with birth defects, especially of the heart and spinal cord, organs that form within the first few weeks of pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2007
A December 2006 review of clinical studies on chromium picolinate, published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, confirmed that chromium picolinate improves blood glucose control and lipid levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
Upcoming research in the Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reveals that Pycnogenol (pik-naw-jin-all) that many-talented extract of pine tree, is 190 times more effective than the prescription medicine acarbose (Precose) in slowing uptake of glucose after a meal, thereby preventing after-meal glucose spikes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
There's an ancient Greek myth about a man named Sisyphus who was cursed to roll the same rock up a hill, then see it roll down, then roll it up again, for eternity. There's something a bit like diabetes self-care in that myth.
4 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2007
What’s the most important goal for kids and families dealing with diabetes? Learn all you can, and then strive for the best possible blood glucose levels without excessive hypoglycemia. This is a tough goal to attain. Our tools, food, insulin, and monitoring, while the best they have ever been, are still imprecise. And although optimal glucose control is critical for immediate and long-term health, one must always be wary of severe and recurring hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2007
Dr. Bernhard Hering of the University of Minnesota is recognized the world over as the premier expert on pancreatic islet transplants. He sees islet transplantation as the best hope for the cure of type 1 diabetes, and his optimism is supported by his research.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2007
To the general public, the mood swings of a teenager are the wildest personal roller coaster around. But there’s another roller coaster out there that puts that kiddie ride to shame: the mood swings of a diabetic person like me. In an average teenager, hormones cause mood swings.
1 comment - Posted Apr 11, 2007
It’s well known that people with uncontrolled diabetes sometimes suffer from ketoacidosis, in which their breath gives off the strong odor of nail polish remover. Well, nail polish remover is made of acetone.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2007
Here are some useful tips to help you choose a meter that’s right for you - and continue to use it successfully.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2007
March 2007
Medtronic has received FDA approval for pediatric models of both of its REAL-Time continuous glucose monitors, the MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time System and the Guardian REAL-Time System. Previously approved only for adults, both pediatric models will be appropriate for kids ages 7-17.
0 comments - Posted Mar 29, 2007
BOSTON - March 23, 2007 - Did you know that diabetes is the number one cause of preventable vision loss and blindness? Did you also know that an annual eye exam can lead to early detection of diabetic retinopathy and other eye disease, a frequent complication of diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2007
Q: Are there any long-term side effects of the popular drugs to treat type 2 diabetes?
2 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2007
Boston - March 5, 2007 - Over the past several years, Joslin Investigator Mary R. Loeken, Ph.D., and her colleagues at Joslin Diabetes Center have unlocked several mysteries behind what puts women with diabetes more at risk of having a child with birth defects.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2007
BOSTON - March 1, 2007 - A new study from Joslin Diabetes Center may shed light on why some people can eat excessive amounts of food and not gain weight or develop type 2 diabetes, while others are more likely to develop obesity and this most common form of diabetes on any diet.
0 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2007
NEW YORK - Feb. 28 - Duane Reade Holdings, Inc., the leading drug store chain in the New York metropolitan area, today announced the launch of the Diabetes Resource Center, a comprehensive training and educational facility for patients with diabetes mellitus.
0 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2007
If Professor Brent Cameron has his way, people with diabetes will soon be able to measure their blood glucose by simply shining a light into their eye.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2007
February 2007
BOSTON - Feb. 27, 2007 - It is widely recognized that the teenage years are often a challenging time for youth with diabetes to maintain good blood glucose control. Hormonal changes, peer pressure, food temptations, and resistance to following good health practices are among the factors that make it difficult for many youngsters. Unfortunately, poor diabetes control places youth at increased risk of developing complications from diabetes later in life.
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2007
On October 10, 2006, Roche Diagnostics announced the launch of the first ACCU-CHEK branded insulin pump—the ACCU-CHEK Spirit insulin pump system.
1 comment - Posted Feb 28, 2007
BETHESDA, MD - February 21, 2007 - The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) is calling for the medical and public health community to increase alarmingly low influenza vaccination rates among persons with diabetes – the fifth deadliest disease in the U.S.
0 comments - Posted Feb 23, 2007
Six people are about to receive pig islet transplantations for the first time, as a New Zealand company called Living Cell Technologies (LCT) begins a year-long Phase I/IIA clinical trial in Moscow, Russia.
1 comment - Posted Feb 22, 2007
Nancy was totally blindsided when she found out she had diabetes. A 56-year-old lab technician at the time, Nancy was doing some work in the lab. She tested her own A1C and found a reading of 7.3%.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2007
Data presented at the November 2006 Diabetes Technology Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, found that the Contour Blood Glucose Meter from Bayer accurately detects hypoglycemia.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2007
On November 6, 2006, Bayer HealthCare issued a news release that addressed the issue of miscoded blood glucose meters.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Medtronic MiniMed’s Guardian RT is being called a “useful and important diagnostic tool for a phenomenon known as nighttime ‘late-onset hypoglycemia’.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Roche Diagnostics recently announced the launch of the first ACCU-CHEK branded insulin pump—the ACCU-CHEK Spirit insulin pump system.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
UK researchers says that breastfeeding in infancy is associated with “a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, with marginally lower insulin concentrations in later life, and with lower blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations in infancy.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
U.K researchers say that twice-daily injection of insulin glargine (Lantus) helps to alleviate blood glucose rises in the late afternoon and drops toward the end of a 24-hour period that are frequently seen in type 1s who inject Lantus once daily with a meal-time fast-acting insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
In kids with type 1, higher BGs can mean higher rates of affected emotion and behavior. That was the finding of Australian researchers.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
It’s not easy to navigate the crowded waters of type 2 oral medications. There are dozens of them, and their names have a lot in common with tongue twisters. They’re hard to pronounce, and harder to remember. But they’re necessary. Of the 20 million Americans with diabetes, 90 to 95 percent have type 2. Although some people with diabetes are able to manage their condition through diet and exercise alone, the majority cannot control their blood sugar without medication. According to the CDC, among adults diagnosed with diabetes, 57% take oral medication; 16% take insulin; 12% take both insulin and oral medication; and only 15% take neither insulin nor oral medication.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
You might know me as the publisher of Diabetes Health. I’m also a mother of two, the daughter of a woman who died of type 2 diabetes, and a theater buff. But from now on, I hope you’ll come to know me as someone who brings important stories to you every issue, stories about people who are making a difference in diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Although most research about the effect of diabetes on sex has focused on men, some studies report that women are at higher risk for sexual dysfunction than diabetic men. It’s high time that the woman’s side of the story was given the attention that it deserves.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2007
December 2006
The new ezManager Plus from Animas Corporation is an upgrade from the older ezManager product, and adds the ability to download information from the Animas IR1000/1200 insulin pumps and numerous blood glucose meters. The ezManager Plus is actually two programs— one for a PDA and one that runs on Windows-based PCs. The Palm OS (PDA) application lets you count carbohydrates, calculate insulin dosages (carbohydrate dosages, too) and log meals, insulin, blood glucose and activity.
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
In November 2006, Insulet Corporation, maker of the OmniPod Insulin Management System, announced that it had won a Nixon Peabody/Smith & Nephew Medical Device Innovation Award from the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC).
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
LifeScan promotes its new OneTouch UltraMini meter for people with diabetes who don’t have health insurance coverage.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
As any fan of the mega-hit television show American Idol knows, making it through the first stage of auditions is not easy. Contestants wait in line for up to 12 hours to get the chance to sing a few bars before the discerning ears of judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
3 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
November 2006
The idea for this article came to me one night after attending a diabetes support group at a local hospital. During the meeting, the discussion of serious complications became so graphic that there was an air of melancholy and hopelessness permeating the entire room. I thought, "What we really need is the good news." I tried to imagine whether I would miss any part of having diabetes if I could be cured today.
2 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
October 2006
I have two teenagers! If you’re a parent of a teenager, you know why I used the exclamation point. Everything is changing fast in their world, and I try to keep up.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A low-fat vegan diet was found to improve blood glucose and lipid control in type 2 diabetics, according to researchers at George Washington University School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
‘You wouldn’t believe how much I ate. Every night, besides dinner, I ate one of those big poppers full of popcorn with lots of butter and salt on it.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A common misunderstanding regarding the metabolic effects of low-carbohydrate diets concerns the formation of ketone bodies. The presence of ketones caused by fat burning is often confused with ketoacidosis resulting from uncontrolled diabetes, starvation or certain alcoholic conditions.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
Diabetes and school make a difficult combination. Dealing with temporary basal rates, tests (for both BGs and academics), lunch, recess, and so on can all throw a student’s diabetes management a major-league curve.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
Have you dreamed of having a low-cost diabetes management program to track daily nutrition information, exercise, medication and blood glucose levels? D-Diabetic Software from Sugar World offers these features and more.
3 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
Going low during exercise can be frightening. Preventing low blood glucose involves two strategies: decreasing insulin dosage or increasing carbohydrate intake. Sounds simple, but in reality it takes time for each individual to find the right combination that works for him or her.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A German company has developed the world’s first blood glucose meter that can wirelessly transmit your blood glucose test results. The GlucoTel is the first meter to support Bluetooth wireless technology.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
September 2006
Walking to Work Decreases Type 2 Risk Japanese researchers say that the duration of a walk to work is associated with a decreased risk of incidence of type 2 diabetes in Japanese men.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Real-Time Pump and CGMS Technology Given the Go-Ahead by the FDA
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Women With Diabetes Suffer Worse Neuropathy Symptoms
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2006
As I get older, I get more calls from friends and family members telling me about their recent diabetes diagnosis. A little over a year ago, my first cousin Jeannie called to announce her inclusion in the growing type 2 club.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
DexCom’s real-time continuous sensor—the DexCom STS—burst on the scene in March 2006.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
As little as 15 years ago, drinking fluids during sports practice or exercise was considered a sign of weakness. In fact, water was often withheld from athletes as punishment or as an attempt to make them “tough.”
2 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
What are your expectations when it comes to pump training? Are they realistic? Do you want improved blood glucose control, improved health and flexibility in choosing when and what to eat? Or, do you just want to avoid frequent intensive insulin injections? Are you a “set it and forget it” type?
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Everyone with diabetes can agree on one thing: Life needs to be a whole lot easier. To find that ease, we support research funding, we fight for access and we push for innovation.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Was that person arrested for drunk driving truly under the influence of alcohol—or could it be that he was simply a diabetic having a low? The similarity in symptoms caused by alcohol intoxication and low blood glucose levels is striking and commonly leads to easy—but false—conclusions by law enforcement officers.
5 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Ron Mason was a workaholic. He spent six, sometimes seven days a week crafting and installing high-quality cabinets and furniture in and around Santa Cruz, California, where he owned and managed a small, homegrown woodworking business. Mason, who describes his product as “high-end, low-volume,” said that for a number of years, putting in a 70-hour workweek was not atypical—it was merely life as usual.
2 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Weight-Loss Books Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars, by Richard K. Bernstein, MD (Little Brown, 2003)
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
August 2006
Byetta, which came on the market last year, was developed to help people with type 2 diabetes who weren’t getting adequate blood glucose control using other drugs. Any associated weight loss was only incidental.
16 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Blaine Pharmaceuticals of Fort Wright, Kentucky, has announced the availability of its DiaSense family of nutritional supplements specifically for those living with or at risk for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
“I can bend over and paint my own toenails now,” says Annie, who had bariatric surgery on February 5, 2005.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
One of the common criticisms of the lower-carb lifestyle is that it doesn’t provide adequate nutrition. Is this really true?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects about 50 million individuals in the United States and about 1 billion worldwide. It is the most common diagnosis, associated with 35 million office visits and a risk factor for heart disease, stroke and renal failure.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
“The 7 Step Diabetes Fitness Plan: Living Well and Being Fit With Diabetes, No Matter Your Weight” (Marlowe & Co., 2006) is the book I hoped would be there for me one day if I were to be diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Medtronic MiniMed has linked an insulin pump with a continuous glucose monitor. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April, the pump part of the combination is already available. The company expects the monitor component to be available by the end of August.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Stevia is a bush native to South America that has been used for centuries by the natives of Paraguay, where it’s grown primarily as a sweetener and for medicinal uses. The stevia leaf is usually a component of Paraguayan teas, including the widely popular beverage yerba mate.
3 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
1. How do these oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) work?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
I am always willing to discuss diabetes with anyone who is interested. And since I openly perform my blood glucose tests and administer insulin shots in public, it is fair to say that many people around me do become interested.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
July 2006
I just discovered your May 2005 article, “Why Did the JDRF Try to Discredit Cure Research?” That, and lingering resentment over my own futile correspondence with Van Etten and Ahearn, inspired me to dig deeper into some points you made and some reasonable suspicions your article aroused.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Novo Nordisk announced that Levemir is now commercially available in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Eli Lilly and Co. has launched a new premixed insulin, Humalog Mix50/50 (50 percent insulin lispro protamine suspension, 50 percent insulin lispro injection of rDNA origin).
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
What’s New LifeScan, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, has introduced its OneTouch Ultra2 Blood Glucose Monitoring System. LifeScan says the new meter is designed to help diabetics see the impact of their food and portion choices on their blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Bayer Diabetes Care of Tarrytown, New York, announced that its Ascensia Breeze blood glucose–monitoring system received an ease-of-use commendation and a product seal from the Arthritis Foundation. According to Bayer Diabetes Care, Ascensia Breeze is the first blood glucose meter to be recognized by the Arthritis Foundation for a design that is user-friendly for the more than eight million Americans with arthritis who also have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
For Ed, diabetes wasn’t only a wake-up call—it was an alarm clock.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
At intervals of five days after giving birth and then four months after giving birth, Danish researchers interviewed 102 women with type 1 about breastfeeding. The type 1 women’s breastfeeding habits were then compared to a large random sample from the general population of Danish women.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
If the usual no-pain no-gain kinds of exercise don’t appeal to you, practicing the martial art known as tai chi (or qigong) may be the perfect alternative.
2 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Pump Expeditions from Medtronic MiniMed is a CD-ROM-based program that offers users both entertainment and education.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2006
Years ago it was common for women to indulge their food cravings during pregnancy, and usually without ill effect. Now it is vital that women of childbearing age understand the importance of good nutrition before pregnancy and how to decrease their risk of diabetes during pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
This may well go down in history as the Year of the Meter. Not since Tom Clemens patented the first blood glucose meter in 1971 have we seen such significant advances.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
As David Mendosa points out in his feature article this month, ‘The Year of the Meter,’ 2006 is barely more than half over and we have already an abundance of new blood glucose meters. Well, it’s not only meters that are in abundance this year, but other diabetes drugs, devices and technologies as well. So much so, that there haven’t been enough pages in Diabetes Health to cover all of the new products.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
June 2006
It used to be called late- or adult-onset diabetes; now it is called type 2. Instead of occurring primarily in people in their 60s or 70s, it is now found in people of all ages—even youngsters in grade school.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
According to a survey conducted by the Whole Grains Council and a manufacturer of whole grain products, it was found that 68 percent of adults are unaware that they should consume at least three daily servings of whole grains. In addition, more than one-fifth of the public (22 percent) was unable to name any of the benefits of eating whole grains.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
Two and a half years ago, the journal Science published results from Denise Faustman’s groundbreaking study in which type 1 diabetes was reversed in non-obese diabetic mice injected with a combination of an immune adjuvant and spleen cells. Recently, researchers at the University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis and Harvard’s Joslin Clinic all partially replicated Dr. Faustman’s research.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
On January 31, 2006, GenExel-Sein, Inc., of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, announced it had received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for its Duo-Care device, which combines a home-use blood glucose monitor with a wrist blood pressure monitor—eliminating the need for two separate devices.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
On March 13, 2006, Abbott Diabetes Care of Alameda, California, announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market its FreeStyle Freedom blood glucose-monitoring system for consumer use.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
A noninvasive meter that measures glucose in perspiration instead of glucose in blood is being developed.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2006
Problems with blood glucose control need to be prevented and solved when using an insulin pump. When something goes wrong, do you blame it on the pump or suspect you made an error? Do you assume there is a pump problem with each alarm?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
In 1998, Eli Lilly & Co.’s rapid-acting insulin analogue lispro (Humalog) appeared on the U.S. market, followed in 2000 by Novo Nordisk’s rapid-acting counterpart aspart (NovoLog). Joined now by sanofi-aventis’ glulisine (Apidra), these rapid-acting insulins offer both convenience and improved blood glucose control to people who require bolus insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2006
May 2006
This month, we hear from Rachel, who will tell us about the process she is going through right now.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
By October of this year, Merck & Co., Inc., expects the FDA to rule on its novel type 2 drug Januvia (sitagliptin phosphate). On February 15, 2006, the FDA accepted Merck’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Januvia for standard review.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
My life depends entirely on getting little squirts of insulin into my bloodstream on a regular basis. Too little, and high blood glucose hijacks my moods—tired and cranky are the watchwords here. Too much insulin makes my BGs plummet—and shakiness and confusion take over until I eat something containing sugar.
3 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
The Body Journal software from Berkeley Medical is a new entry to the market and is not simply for managing your diabetes information: It allows you to record, save and share complete health information for your entire family.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
Choosing the right insulin pump and infusion set can be a daunting task for prospective users, and the number of options available may be overwhelming.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
Who says the low-carb lifestyle is dead? You would never believe that after spending a weekend with experts in the field.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2006
When retired NBA center Chris Dudley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1981, the high school sophomore’s first concern was whether he would be able to continue playing sports.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
April 2006
Why are today’s insulin syringes and pen needles better than ever?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Why are today’s meters better than ever?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
With the new basal-bolus insulin landscape, what is the most important thing that endocrinologists and primary care physicians need to know so that their insulin-using patients can follow the best possible regimen?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
John H. Holcombe, MD, is a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and medical fellow, diabetes, for Eli Lilly and Co.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Mary is a 64-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for 14 years. She is obese at 220 pounds. Mary has been treated with a sulfonylurea (a medication that stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin, such as glypizide and glyburide) for the past 10 years. Her glucose control for the past three or four years has not been good. A recent A1C was 9.5% (normal range is 4% to 6%, with a goal of 7%). Metformin (Glucophage) and rosiglitazone (Avandia) were added to her sulfonylurea. Both her pre-meal and post-meal glucose values improved and her A1C came down to 7.8%. However, her fasting blood glucose levels were in the upper 100 mg/dl to low 200 mg/dl range. She was afraid of “the needle” and did not want to start on insulin. In addition, Mary was recently diagnosed with early diabetic eye disease (retinopathy) and nerve disease (neuropathy).
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Several months ago, I met Sophia, a woman in her mid-40s who had been struggling to manage her type 2 diabetes for years. Her blood glucose levels were typically well above 300 mg/dl, and she had an equally high A1C of 12.5%. She made it clear that the last thing she wanted was insulin.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Last fall, Bob was surprised when his primary care doctor called to tell him that his recent blood tests showed that he had type 2 diabetes. The doctor immediately put Bob on 15 milligrams of Actos each day and advised him to stay away from sugar and to come back in three months for more blood work.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
High blood glucose coupled with inflammation is a one-two punch that researchers say is associated with an “advanced early carotid atherosclerosis progression and increased risk of new vascular events in diabetic as well as nondiabetic subjects.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
For patients with the metabolic syndrome, Iranian researchers say the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet can likely reduce most of the risks associated with the condition.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
French researchers say that dietary fiber plays a protective role against cardiovascular disease, and they are calling for increased fiber consumption.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Although they are equally effective when it comes to delivering insulin, more insulin-using patients expressed a preference to continue using an insulin pen after trying one.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Adding the sulfonylurea glimepiride (Amaryl) to insulin therapy results in “sustained improvement of glycemic control in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes,” according to researchers at the department of endocrinology and metabolism at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
New Zealand researchers say that in clinical trials of people with type 2 diabetes, Actos as stand-alone therapy or in combination with metformin, repaglinide, insulin or a sulphonylurea induced “both long- and short-term improvements in [blood glucose] control and serum lipid profiles.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Dutch researchers say that treatment of diabetes in pregnant women should be aimed at achieving A1C levels within the range of 6% or less. They add that “a minimum of 10 self-monitored blood glucose determinations daily is necessary to obtain adequate information of all daily glucose fluctuations.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
LifeScan researchers say that at any given time, “there may be differences between palm and fingertip glucose values because of glycemic instability and/or test methodology.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
A majority of diabetes patients cannot accurately estimate their blood glucose levels, leading researchers to suggest that home testing is a necessary part of diabetes self-care.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
For people with type 2, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is associated with decreased diabetes-related problems, leading researchers to suggest that SMBG “may be associated with a healthier lifestyle and/or better disease management.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
For people with type 2, Lantus in combination with oral medications can be a cost-equivalent alternative to conventional insulin therapy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
In three comparative randomized trials, researchers at the department of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, demonstrated that type 2s who used premixed insulins were more likely to reach blood glucose goals than those using only Lantus once daily.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Although people with diabetes use many different approaches to help them adhere to treatment regimens, researchers say that there is little evidence that they are effective. However, in a study they conducted, they found that some “adherence aids” do work and lead to better diabetes control.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Australian researchers emphasize that therapies that inhibit the formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) or that “remove established AGE modifications” will be an important part of treating diabetics with kidney problems.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
For pediatric patients with type 1, researchers are saying that prolonged moderate exercise results in a “consistent reduction in plasma glucose and the frequent occurrence of hypoglycemia when pre-exercise glucose concentrations are less than 120 mg/dl.” They add that treatment with 15 grams of oral glucose is “often insufficient to reliably treat hypoglycemia during exercise in these youngsters.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
In 1998, Eli Lilly & Co.’s rapid-acting insulin analogue lispro (Humalog) appeared on the U.S. market, followed in 2000 by Novo Nordisk’s rapid-acting counterpart aspart (NovoLog). Joined now by sanofi-aventis’ glulisine (Apidra), these rapid-acting insulins offer both convenience and improved blood glucose control to your patients who require bolus insulin.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Recent developments in the treatment of diabetes mellitus have shown that “tight” control and intensive therapy are necessary to prevent complications, increased morbidity and mortality. We are all familiar with the findings of the DCCT and various UKPDS studies and sub-studies. The importance of these “landmark” studies does not need any further discussion at this time.
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Blood glucose meters have become too much of a good thing. It’s nearly impossible to keep track of the many different meters now available. My directory at www.mendosa.com/meters is the most comprehensive, and I think that there are currently 50 different meters from 15 different vendors on the American market.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
On January 7, 2006, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Ava Grace Baker. She was 8.4 pounds and 20.25 inches long. It took 30 hours, but it was worth every moment. Well, almost every moment.
7 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Ernest had high triglycerides and his blood glucose was rising. He thought he was doing all right, so you can imagine what he thought when I recommended that he increase the amount of fat and protein in his diet and decrease his carbohydrate intake.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
As I discussed in the February 2006 issue, the Atkins Nutritional Approach has four phases, ranging from the most restrictive Induction phase to the Lifetime Maintenance phase.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Abbott Diabetes Care is already looking beyond continuous sensing. More than two years ago it asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve its FreeStyle Navigator Continuous Glucose Monitor; that application is still pending.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 2006
This month we take a look at a Web-based product called DiabetEase from DiabetEase, Inc. DiabetEase, like other diabetes management software programs, provides you with tools to save, track and graph blood glucose data.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Pramlintide (Symlin) is a synthetic amylin analogue. First described in 1987, amylin is a neuroendocrine hormone produced by beta cells, which also produce insulin. This hormone is absent in type 1 diabetes and decreased in type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
While people with diabetes know that they face a long list of possible complications, it looks as if there’s one more to worry about: We now know that diabetics also face a higher risk of colon cancer. However, there is some consolation in knowing that colon cancer can often be prevented with proper testing.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
If you have ever dreamed of taking your insulin without needles, your dream came true on January 27, 2006. That was when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Exubera (insulin of human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder for treatment of adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
March 2006
Have you ever thought, “No one understands me or my problems”? You felt alone. You felt overwhelmed. You struggled intensely.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
People are constantly being told that the only way to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight is to control calorie intake. It does not matter so much where the calories come from as long as one is eating less and burning more. Is this true? It is to some extent, but not completely.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Insulow is an all-natural oral supplement that, according to its manufacturer, “addresses the root of the problem for diabetics and pre-diabetics: the correct balance between insulin production and glucose uptake.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
If you can read Diabetes Health, you don’t need a SensoCard Plus meter. But there’s a good chance that a friend or someone in your family does.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
I wish “Think Like a Pancreas: A Practical Guide to Managing Diabetes With Insulin” (Marlowe & Co., 2004) had been available in 1993 when I was first diagnosed with type 1.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Dennis Robinson, a University of Missouri economist, says, “Give me a challenge, make it make sense, and I can do almost anything. That’s how I could lose 60 pounds and keep it off, and even take insulin.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Are you an expectant mother with diabetes? If so, are you wondering about the disappearance of infusion sites as your baby grows and your abdomen expands? Do you anticipate that “pinching an inch” will become more of a challenge? Are you concerned about the angle and depth of insertion, and how often you should rotate insertion sites? Here are a few suggestions for you:
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
This month we are taking a look at Accu-Chek Compass from Roche Diagnostics. This diabetes management software works with their Accu-Chek line of glucose meters.
11 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
For six seasons, actor Aida Turturro has played the role of Tony Soprano’s sister Janice on the award-winning and critically acclaimed HBO series “The Sopranos.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
If you are like me, you test your blood glucose at least four times per day, and you have been noting your blood glucose readings in a logbook. While this certainly helps to keep track of blood glucose data, I normally look only at how to manage the current reading.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
Anne Peters, MD, is director of the clinical diabetes programs at the University of Southern California (USC). Her latest book, “Conquering Diabetes” (Hudson Street Press, April 2005), has been hailed as one of the most “real” and readable diabetes guidebooks to date.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
February 2006
For Deb it was a vicious circle. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 33 years ago at age 20. It was four weeks before her marriage. You can imagine the stress she endured at that time. “I have lived on a diabetes rollercoaster ever since, until about eight months ago,” she says.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
The Atkins Nutritional Approach (ANA) is a plan that teaches you to personalize your eating plan over the course of four phases. The plan begins with Phase 1, which initiates weight loss, and progresses through Phase 4, which helps you to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime. In addition to the food plan, the ANA includes supplementation and regular exercise. It is a permanent lifestyle change, rather than a “diet” that you go on and off of.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
HemoCue knows accuracy. And precision. But Americans with diabetes don’t know HemoCue. Yet. That’s about to change.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
This month, we are taking a look at the Precision Link Direct program from Abbott Diabetes Care.
3 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Valentine’s Day is the single biggest day for chocolate sales. Among the many kinds of chocolate now available for gift giving are sugar-free as well as dairy-free varieties. Today, sugar-free chocolates may also be labeled “lower carb.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Kris Freeman, 25, is a three-time national champion and the number one cross-country skier in the United States. In the history of American cross-country skiing, Freeman is the second most successful skier of all time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Dr. Bernstein says that the biggest problem with losing Lente and Ultralente is that we are now left with fewer insulin-diluting options for children or adults who require very little insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Since his type 1 diagnosis 20 years ago, Doug Frazer of Forest Knolls, California, had been using Lente as his basal insulin. His regimen of Humalog at mealtimes coupled with Lente at bedtime provided him with what he considered great control.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
January 2006
“Higher fasting plasma glucose levels within the [normal blood glucose] range constitute an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes among young men, and such levels may help, along with body mass index and triglyceride levels, to identify apparently healthy men at increased risk for diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
It was the belle of the ball at last summer’s ADA Scientific Sessions in San Diego. Now it appears that muraglitazar (Pargluva) is clinging to life after a scathing report recently published by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
You may not believe it by looking at me now, but I have weight issues. I’ve had them since I was a child. I’m telling you this because I know it’s hard to relate to someone who tries to help you with your weight problems if that person is not overweight herself.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
PBM Products of Gordonsville, Virginia, has launched GlucoBurst, a fast-acting, paraben-free glucose gel sold in single-serving packets.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Exenatide (Byetta) and insulin glargine (Lantus) achieve similar improvements in overall blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes who were not being controlled sufficiently on oral combination therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Over the past 20 years, a group of researchers at the University of Virginia Health Science System have developed and tested a training program, called Blood Glucose Awareness Training (BGAT), for adults with type 1 diabetes. This research was funded both by the National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta have just finished their first study of blood glucose meters. They found that meters could vary significantly.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
The development and progression of diabetes is slow and insidious. However, as Dr. Robert Atkins observed through decades of evaluating patients with blood glucose abnormalities, it can be divided into six distinct stages. His observations are similar to those of researchers published in the March 1992 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
We would probably all agree that diabetes is anything but a one-size-fits-all condition. This disease takes its own form in each of our bodies and requires different levels of care and treatment.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
When Daisy Herrera of Orlando, Florida, was 13 years old, she breakfasted on two bowls of Lucky Charms cereal or three chocolate glazed Dunkin Donuts. She drank two 2-liter bottles of Pepsi every couple of days and cartons of chocolate milk. She binged on candy and potato chips while hiding under the bed. She ate an average of four McDonalds or Burger King meals each week. She stood 4’8” tall and weighed 130 pounds. Her mother, Maria, called her a “little round ball.” Daisy’s blood glucose level often topped 400 mg/dl. Even though she was still a child, Daisy was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes—a condition formerly known as “adult-onset diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
For Scott Verplank, staying on top of his diabetes with frequent blood glucose testing means staying on top of his game for the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour.
8 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Spinning is a popular indoor cycling group exercise class that is taught in nearly every health club across America. Even if you have never participated in a class, you have undoubtedly heard about it or seen one as you peek in on a darkened gym full of people riding shiny chrome bikes, facing their instructor and intently listening to every cue that can be heard above the music.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
December 2005
Glumetza, a once-daily extended-release formulation of metformin hydrochloride, was granted FDA approval in June 2005 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Japanese researchers say that adolescents and young adults who have poor blood glucose control can add one more weapon to their control arsenal: a type 2 drug.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
What is Roche Diagnostic’s position in the diabetes care industry?
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Most of the products reviewed in this column over the past few months have come from glucose meter and insulin pump manufacturers and independent software companies. This month, we will take a look at an offering from one of the major insulin manufacturers: DiabetesWatch, a Web-based product from Aventis Pharmaceuticals.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Not everyone with diabetes leads an active lifestyle and tests often. But my guess is that the readers of this magazine are on the go more than most people and monitor their blood glucose when they are away from home.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
You remember the American Express commercial, “Don’t leave home without it”? After some recent experiences of three of my diabetic patients, I tell them the same thing about fast-acting glucose.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Could it be that when it comes to diabetes and the workplace, honesty isn’t always the best policy?
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
In a recent journal article, researchers noted that early exposure to and high frequency of severe hypoglycemia “negatively affects long-term spatial performance” in children with type 1.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
November 2005
This month, our focus is on giving thanks, or at least, thinking about the good things in life. Being able to plan and eat a Thanksgiving dinner and still maintain blood glucose control is an obvious topic.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
We have so many blood glucose meters to choose from that it’s hard to know which one to use. I count 43 home meters for sale in the United States right now.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
While treatment options for severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia have improved greatly over the past few decades, there is increasing concern among clinicians and researchers that a certain class of antipsychotic medication may have disturbing side effects.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
To look at actor Mark Consuelos, the first thing you would think is that he is a man who has it all. He’s young, good looking, healthy, an accomplished actor, married to another television star and the father of three children.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Think of last year’s holiday season. What do you remember most about it?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Banaba is a variety of crepe myrtle that grows in the Philippines, India, Malaysia and Australia. A tea made from the leaves is used to treat diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Ampalaya (Momordica charantia), also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a medicinal herb that is traditionally used as a home remedy for various illnesses. For diabetics, it has been demonstrated to have blood glucose-lowering qualities, according to studies published in a 1999 issue of the Bangladesh Medical Research Council Bulletin.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Swedish researchers contend that adding dairy whey to meals with rapidly digested and absorbed carbohydrates stimulates insulin release and reduces after-meal blood glucose excursion.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Early recognition and lifestyle interventions are vitally important if we are to make progress in the prevention of type 2 diabetes in people of all ages.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
The OmniPod Insulin Management System, which was introduced at the August 2005 American Association of Diabetes Educators Conference in Washington D.C, is a two-part system consisting of the OmniPod and the Personal Diabetes Manager (PDM). The System features automated cannula insertion, a fully integrated design including an integrated blood glucose meter that uses blood glucose test strips, and no tubing.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
“The use of flexible multiple daily insulin [FMDI] therapy with glargine [Lantus] among preschool-aged children with type 1 diabetes mellitus was associated with improved overall glycemic control and decreased frequency of severe hypoglycemia.”
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death in people with diabetes. As important as it is to keep blood glucose in line, maintaining a healthy lipid profile is also tantamount to healthy longevity.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Dear Ann Landers,
With all due respect—you blew it!
10 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
He grew up among country folks in Mississippi. As a child, he performed on street corners for dimes, sometimes in four towns each night. That was only the beginning for the man who ended up being perhaps the most successful blues musician of all time.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
October 2005
Come October, I immediately start thinking about Halloween and trick-or-treating with my children. I always allow myself a few chocolates—if I can get them away from my kids as we go door to door. “May I have a piece?” I ask them, sweetly. “Sure, Dad,” they say, as they let me rummage through their bulging goody bags. I choose a piece of plain chocolate, like a mini Hershey bar, or one with nuts, but I stay away from anything with caramel in it. Depending on how much I eat, I will need two to five extra units of fast-acting insulin this night.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
I have some exciting news: As of January 2006, there will be another human being in our household.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
There are so many food products containing artificial and alternative sweeteners on the market today that they have become a topic of great interest among diabetic patients and health professionals.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Will Cross has taken diabetes to new heights—literally. The Pittsburgh-based expeditioner and former high school principal became the first person with diabetes to reach the South Summit of Mount Everest, with a successful summit on May 31.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
In hospitalized people with type 2 diabetes, Glucerna was found to have a “neutral effect on [blood glucose] control and lipid metabolism . . . compared with a high-carbohydrate and a lower-fat formula.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Actos (pioglitazone HCl) is an oral agent for type 2 diabetes belonging to the thiazolidinedione (TZD) class of drugs. TZDs help lower insulin resistance, a core dysfunction in people with type 2. They act by helping the body use its available amounts of insulin more effectively. Actos is known as an “insulin sensitizer” because it directly targets insulin resistance, a condition in which the body cannot use the insulin it produces efficiently.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) effectively raised the bar on diabetes control by lowering the level of the A1C standard.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Is it possible that type 1 may be reversible? Los Angeles researchers seem to think so.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Improving the health of your teeth and gums can also improve your diabetes control, according to Turkish researchers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
It takes lots of work to make an effective continuous blood glucose monitor. It also takes performance standards.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
The makers of ExtendBar announced new products, benefits and flavors at the August 2005 American Association of Diabetes Educators conference in Washington, D.C.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
According to a recent study, soy-based meal replacement plans (MRs) yield greater weight loss and better blood glucose control than American Diabetes Association-recommended individualized diet plans (IDPs).
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
September 2005
Diabetes professionals from all over the world descended on San Diego, California, this past June for the 65th Annual American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. Some brought with them the latest drugs, meters, pumps and software. Others came armed with research.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
On June 17, 2005, Novo Nordisk received word from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that their long-acting insulin analog, Levemir (insulin detemir), had received approval. Levemir will join Lantus (insulin glargine) as a basal insulin option for people with diabetes who take insulin.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
If you are following a lower-carb lifestyle and are planning to be in the San Diego area in the near future, be sure to put Indulgence Bakery and Café on a your list of places to visit.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Overweight type 1s may improve their blood glucose control without increasing their insulin dosage by supplementing their control regimen with the type 2 insulin-sensitizing drug Avandia (rosiglitazone), say Dallas, Texas, researchers.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Because of outbreaks of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections associated with improper use of glucose monitoring equipment, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend that these devices be restricted to individual use only.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Actos, an insulin sensitizer in the glitazone class of type 2 oral diabetes medications, was found to reduce carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as well as insulin resistance in a German study.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Holy basil, or Ocimum sanctum, is an herb native to India and is regarded as one of the most important plants used in Ayurvedic medicine.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Diabetes Cure May Reside in Adult Stem Cell Research
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Guidelines for Injecting Insulin Comfortably and Safely
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Type 1 Kids Do Well on Pumps
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Diabetes researchers at the American Diabetes Association’s 65th Annual Scientific Sessions in San Diego made thousands of presentations this year. Of the 2,851 available abstracts, 55 were about blood glucose testing. That’s a small percentage of the total. But after winnowing through them, I found lots of gold.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Does monitoring your blood glucose readings and trying to figure out your insulin dosages intimidate you? Do you have trouble keeping enough data for your diabetes care team to analyze?
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Do disappointing blood glucose results make you feel like a failure? Don’t let them. They aren’t report cards, and you can’t pass or fail. These numbers are not there to hurt you, but to help direct you.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2005
August 2005
Thousands of people will prepare for school this month with the comforting ritual of buying folders, book covers, pencils and clothes. In the spirit of that preparation, I must ask, What about diabetes? What steps are you going to take to avoid the stress highs, mid-morning lows and the unexpected this school year?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Researchers in Italy say that ype 1s who undergo a successful pancreas transplant alone, without having a kidney transplant as well, have improved kidney function as well as restored normal blood glucose levels without the need for insulin therapy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Summer activities are in full swing with ball games in the park, family reunions and vacations. The warm weather draws us to the great outdoors for fun as well as mealtimes. Picnics, potlucks, sack lunches and travel meals are a part of our summer routine that can sometimes make blood glucose harder to manage.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Recently Diabetes Health asked experienced pump users, What are the most important things a new pumper or a potential pumper should know? What advice would you give someone who is frustrated with the pump learning curve while trying to achieve the goal of improved blood glucose control?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
A dozen companies market blood glucose meters in the United States, but Accu-Chek, by Roche Diagnostics, is number one in sales both in the United States and worldwide. They were also one of the first brands of blood glucose meters. The original Accu-Check bG came out in 1982.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Most of the products reviewed in this column over the past few months have come from glucose meter and insulin pump manufacturers and from independent software companies. This month, we will take a look at an offering from one of the major insulin manufacturers: Keeping Well With Diabetes, a Web-based product from Novo Nordisk.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Each time you exercise, you are placing a stress on your body for which an appropriate response is necessary. This article discusses the body’s response to exercise for the diabetic who is on insulin therapy or insulin secretagogues such as glyburide, glipizide, Glucotrol XL, Amaryl, Prandin or Starlix. It also addresses steps to prevent diabetes-related complications, hypoglycemia in particular, during exercise. Maintaining safe blood glucose levels during and after exercise is accomplished through a correct balance of medications, diet and exercise.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
There is no doubt that living with type 1 diabetes is a fulltime job. But like any job, the more knowledgeable and skilled you become, the better your chances of success.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
He trains about 22 hours during the average week—not counting the additional seven hours of workouts on weekends. Through his twice-daily workouts, he totals nearly 120 miles of bicycling, about 10 miles of swimming and between 50 to 100 miles of running each week. For Ironman triathlete Jay Hewitt, training and diabetes have something in common: Working at them every day is critical to achieve his goals.
1 comment - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Remember Zeus, Athena and Medusa? The mythological stories we learned as schoolchildren entertained and thrilled us, but we knew from the start that they were pure fantasy. Diabetes myths, however, are believed by many and can lead to inappropriate treatment choices and behaviors.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
July 2005
The new Insulin Helper from Mistebar is designed to be an easy reference for your insulin-dosing needs.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
To examine the use of a topical testosterone gel to help manage blood glucose levels in men with diabetes and low testosterone, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced it has initiated a proof-of-concept trial to evaluate the efficacy of AndroGel.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
Although the complications of diabetes are well known, scientists don’t fully understand the mechanisms that underlie them. However, a key to the mystery lies in what are known as advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs).
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
Stress, anxiety, burnout—whatever you choose to call it, it’s clear that Americans have it.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
This month we take a look at the Dana Magic Bolus Calculator from Dana Diabecare USA. These are the folks who make the Dana Diabecare II insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
The temperatures are climbing; does this mean trouble for you and your insulin pump? Will your insulin’s potency be affected? Will your glucose levels climb or drop in the warmer weather?
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
So, you have decided you want to do all it takes to get your type 2 diabetes in control—by the end of the summer. Congratulations! But how?
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
“People who are no longer successful on oral agents can now add Byetta [exenatide] instead of insulin,” says Anne Peters, MD, director of the USC Clinical Diabetes Programs.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2005
June 2005
On March 16, 2005, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of San Diego, California, announced it had received FDA approval for Symlin (pramlintide acetate) injections to be used in conjunction with insulin to treat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
What is Disetronic’s role in the pump market right now?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
What is a triglyceride, and why do some physicians refer to it as the “ugly fat”?
5 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
When insulin first became available in 1922, the treatment goal in diabetes management was to minimize ketoacidosis and high blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
If you want to know how well you are controlling your diabetes, you have had only two options. You can check your current blood glucose level with a meter, or you can check your average over the past two or three months with an A1C test. Now there’s a third and quite promising option—the GlycoMark test.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2005
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of kidney failure, which soaks up a large part of the national health care dollar. However, kidney disease is preventable and treatable once present.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
1. Have a complete medical examination and obtain your physician’s approval before starting an exercise program. This is even more important if you have never exercised or if you want to increase the intensity of your workouts.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
Have you ever wondered how to count the carbohydrates on a food label? Does it really matter how many grams of sugar are in a food? Do “sugar free” and “calorie free” mean the same thing? Do you need to count the fiber in your breakfast cereal as carbohydrate?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
May 2005
In 2001, researchers led by Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reversed and cured type 1 diabetes in mice. The development and refinement of a bioassay is part of their ongoing research to bring these findings to human trials. Their first human trial, an FDA-approved trial using a bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, is expected to start later this year once sufficient funding has been raised.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
• A grandmother in Tampa, Florida, who knocked her A1C down two percentage points
• A female bodybuilder on an insulin pump
• A 12-year-old who estimates that he has tested his blood glucose more than 100,000 times in the past three years
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
I have noticed in online discussions about insulin pump therapy that prospective pumpers tend to be much more curious about pumps than they are about infusion sets. But once they start pumping, reality sets in: Getting a pump may be like climbing into the driver’s seat of your diabetes management, but finding the right infusion set for your body and your lifestyle is like putting the key in the ignition. You’re getting somewhere with insulin pump therapy only if the insulin is getting into you reliably and comfortably.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
A1C Author Did Not Prepare or Endorse A1C Chart
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
The following is excerpted and adapted from the book “Taking Control of Your Diabetes,” by Steven Edelman, MD, and friends, 2001.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Ivy gourd (Coccinia indica) is a unique tropical plant that is a member of the family of Cucurbitaceae. It grows well in India and Thailand as well as in tropical areas such as Hawaii.
5 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
It’s news whenever a new blood glucose meter becomes available. Two new blood glucose meters from a new company is even bigger news. The biggest news is that one of these new meters works with a device that automatically uploads your readings to family or healthcare professionals—all without using a computer.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Being the parent of a child with type 1, I was anxious to evaluate Diabetes Education for Kids by Dbaza, Inc. This software explains the different elements of diabetes and shows the child how to manage them.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Although most adults with insulin-treated diabetes usually follow their prescribed insulin regimen, experiencing A1Cs higher than 7% suggests that an individual’s insulin use, regimen or both are inadequate to achieve optimal blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
In many adults with diabetes, hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) is associated with mild cognitive dysfunction.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Q: I change my lancet once a month. How often do you recommend changing lancets?
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2005
April 2005
In February 2005, Insulet Corporation of Bedford, Massachusetts, announced that its OmniPod Insulin Management System received FDA approval.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
People with type 2 and obesity who are considering gastric bypass surgery first need to learn what exactly is a gastric bypass operation.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Nopal (Opuntia streptacantha), also known as prickly pear, is a member of the cactus family native to Mexico.
4 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
What’s so great about the glycemic index?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
When we think about Medtronic MiniMed, insulin pumps usually come to mind. That makes sense, because MiniMed was among the first to market an insulin pump and today dominates the U.S. market with more than a 70 percent share.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 2005
I spent some time this month reflecting on the products I have reviewed over the past year and realized that diabetes management software is getting more and more sophisticated. I have been asked if there is any “basic” software out there for diabetes management.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
It isn’t too early to be thinking about diabetes summer camp for your child.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
The MiniMed continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) may have an advantage over self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) when it comes to revealing daily glucose trends, according to Texas researchers.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Caution: Consult with your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
If you watch television or see an occasional movie, chances are you’ve seen—and maybe even identified with Wilford Brimley.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
I am devoting this month’s column to the most important sight-saving information that you should know as a person living with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Carbohydrate counting and new sugar substitutes, food products and medications have given people with diabetes an array of strategies and resources to help them manage their blood glucose. However, for some people, following a structured diabetes meal plan may not work.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Recent correspondence and commentary in “My Own Injection” in this publication reinforce what most of us who inject insulin daily know all too well about diabetes: so-called “professional” advice is either contradictory or just plain wrong. The common, well meaning, but just plain wrong admonition: "Don't inject through clothing” is a fine example. Another is “Don’t reuse needles because you may develop an infection.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
Have you ever quit soon after starting an exercise program? If you have, you are not alone. Lots of people start a new activity with the best of intentions, but before long, they stop. If you are sitting on the sidelines, here are some tips to help you get back on track:
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
March 2005
A while back, a friend of mine who is very overweight went to see his doctor and was found to have an A1C of over 9%. He also had high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and arthritic knees.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2005
In the simplest terms, hemoglobin A1C (known as HbA1c or A1C) is measured in people with diabetes to provide an index of average blood glucose for the previous three to four months.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
There are many components of a “positive attitude.” Several studies, including a recent report from the Mind Body Institute of the National Institutes of Health (http//www. mbib.org/default.asp), suggest that the people who live to be over 100 tend to be those who have a positive attitude and handle stress well. They embrace stress as a motivating and positive force rather than something to dread.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
A: Fiber can help stabilize your blood glucose. There are two major types of fiber: water soluble and insoluble. Foods high in soluble fiber in particular cause fewer rises in blood glucose after meals, because the fiber is digested slowly, delaying the absorption of carbohydrates.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Vitasoy USA of Ayer, Massachusetts, is offering what it calls “the first fiber-smart, calcium-smart, calorie-smart and carb-smart soymilk.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Before 1981, all patients diagnosed with diabetes were given dietary exchanges to follow when planning their meals or snacks. While exchanges were formulated for all food groups, the main focus for glycemic control was on carbohydrates. At the time these guidelines were established, focusing on portions seemed appropriate since the Nutrition Facts Label was not available.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Ginseng is a root that has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. There are two different forms that have been used for diabetes: Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) as well as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
It’s pretty much a truism that video games are bad for children’s health. They hold their minds hostage, promote sedentary behavior and can even desensitize them to violence.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
What do you get when you cross a pelican with an albatross?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
The sixth major complication of diabetes is periodontal disease.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Last year, Stacey Martin, a 41-year-old real estate agent from East Hampton, New York, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. At 270 pounds, the medical community considered her “morbidly obese.”
8 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Jan and Kevin were starting to “get romantic” when Jan noticed that Kevin was, uncharacteristically, losing interest. His skin had become moist and clammy and his movements slowed. Jan ran for his monitor. Kevin checked his blood glucose—it was in the low 50s. Fortunately, he had some glucose tablets at the bedside and quickly treated his low.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
February 2005
A friend recently asked me what I have in the diabetes pack that I carry everywhere.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
For many years, people with diabetes have had to follow meal plans that limit their consumption of sweet treats, making them feel like outlaws for enjoying a piece of pie or candy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Not even 20 years ago, it was uncommon for a woman with diabetes to choose to have children of her own. Many doctors discouraged attempting pregnancy based on the high incidence of complications that both a mother and an infant could suffer due to poor blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Containing no refined white sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or trans fats, Sweet Abandon Personal Cakes are sweetened with fructose, which, according to Benchmark Foods, the manufacturer of the cakes, has a slower effect on the rise of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
In November 2004, the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) asked national health bodies around the world to consider the urgent implementation of proactive albumin (protein) screening in urine.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Note: This is the second part of a two-part series. The first part was published in our January 2005 issue
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Iranian researchers suggest that increasing intake of whole grains may reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, meds might need to be decreased and blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Glucose monitoring systems that continuously plot the course of blood glucose promise much greater control over blood glucose levels. Detecting when you are going low is just one benefit, but it is the most immediate reward.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is also known as bitter gourd, bitter cucumber, bitter apple, karolla and karela.
5 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Choose combinations of foods with carbohydrates for quick energy and choose protein foods for sustained energy. Plan healthy snacks for your daily menu.
3 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Be it on Broadway, the Silver Screen or your television set, you have probably seen actor Victor Garber in some role or another. After all, he played Jesus in “Godspell.”
2 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Carbohydrates are the body’s fuel of choice. Although we ingest calories from carbohydrates, proteins and fats, it’s the carb calories that the body turns into its readily available form of energy, glucose.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 2005
January 2005
Dan Stephens has mastered his game. The University of Pittsburgh football player is a star on and off the field as he steps up to the challenges he loves: balancing athletics, academics—and diabetes control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
It seemed that every time we gave something a try and it didn’t quite work out, Mom and Dad always had a cliché at the ready to cushion the blow.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
In people with higher A1Cs, rapid-acting insulin analogs NovoLog (insulin aspart) and Humalog (insulin lispro) are more effective in achieving optimal blood glucose control when administered with insulin pumps rather than via multiple daily insulin injections (MDII), according to University of Toronto researchers.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
S. William Levy, MD, is a dermatologist with more than 50 years of experience treating diabetes-related skin conditions.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, meds might need to be decreased, and blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Do you plan to go sledding, skiing, ice skating or snowshoeing this winter?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a plant product that has been used for a variety of medicinal and other purposes, and may be used in the treatment of diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Smiths Medical of St.Paul, Minnesota, is now shipping the CozMore Insulin Technology System.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Note: This is the first part of a two-part series. The second part will appear in the February 2005 issue of Diabetes Health.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
What are the biggest challenges facing the insulin pump market today?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Do you currently use a Hypoguard glucose meter such as the Hypoguard Advance or QuickTek?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
It has long been our dream to have some sort of device that would test blood glucose without breaking the skin to take a drop of blood.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Many of the “lifestyle” magazines and television programs that you see from now until February are likely to feature New Year’s makeover diets. These diets will be promoted as “the one” sure to make you slim for life and to be easier to follow than all the rest.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
December 2004
I recently spoke at the Diabetes Camping Association’s annual meeting for healthcare professionals and camp directors. This group serves a network of more than 150 organizations providing summer vacation camp for children, and adults, with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
• Eat at regular mealtimes. • Grab a snack or quick meal before going shopping or to a party if it’s later than your usual dining time.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Lancing devices are critical tools for obtaining blood samples for glucose measurement. While good diabetes management requires frequent blood testing, the pain and inconvenience involved in lancing can prevent a person with diabetes from undertaking the appropriate number of daily blood glucose tests.
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
What are the biggest challenges facing the insulin market today?
4 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
In combination with intermediate-acting NPH insulin, twice-daily injections of Apidra (insulin glulisine)—a rapid-acting insulin analog— can provide small improvements in blood-glucose control compared with Regular human insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Since the early 1980s, people with diabetes have needed accessory cases to carry their testing and insulin supplies with them. As the goal of better blood glucose control led to more frequent glucose testing, multiple daily injections and insulin pumps, keeping supplies and life support systems handy has become ever more important.
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Maple Grove Farms of Vermont offers a pancake and waffle mix that has only 100 calories, 2 grams of fat and 11 grams of carbohydrate per serving and no trans fats.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Caution: Always confer with your healthcare provider before taking supplements. In some cases supplements may interact with other medications or cause low blood glucose (hypoglycemia).
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Check with your doctor or diabetes educator for a recommendation about how often and what times a day are best for you to check blood glucose levels. In general, the more often you check, the better. Most diabetes specialists recommend that patients with type 2 diabetes who are on oral agents check their blood glucose one or two times per day, often varying the times between the morning, before supper and two hours after a meal. Patients who inject insulin may need to test four or more times per day. Checking your blood glucose provides information about how well the treatment of your diabetes is working, as well as about how things you do during the day affect your blood glucose levels. Paying attention to the results can help you learn how to keep your diabetes under control. I take pills for my diabetes, while my friend uses insulin to treat her type 2 diabetes. Is her diabetes “worse” than mine?
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Inhaled insulin offers the same blood glucose control as conventional subcutaneous insulin for people with type 2 diabetes that was previously managed with at least two insulin injections a day. It’s also as effective and is well tolerated and safe.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Q: My 6-year-old granddaughter is receiving insulin injections. Are there any booklets I can get that have sample menus for a child that young? She is coming to visit me, and I would like to have the proper foods available.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Low-fat, high-fiber diets promoted weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes without causing unfavorable alterations in plasma lipids or blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Do you use a personal computer running on the Windows operating system?
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
A Japanese study shows that elevated after-meal plasma fructose levels are linked to proliferative retinopathy in type 2 diabetics.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
During acute hyperglycemia, mood state deteriorated and cognitive function was impaired in a study of people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
A new study indicates that diabetics with gastroparesis, an autonomic nervous system disorder that results in delayed stomach emptying, may find relief with botulinum toxin treatment.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
For people living with diabetes, constant vigilance is required in order to stay healthy. But when a person with diabetes has a child, the parent must balance the demands of taking care of children while also attending to his or her own health needs. From one parent living with diabetes to another, here are a few suggestions: 1 Manage Your Stress
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Hockey players often joke about the rugged nature of their sport by touting the popular mantra, “Give blood, play hockey.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
The accuracy—or typically the lack thereof— of blood glucose meters is a big concern of mine. I have written several articles on this topic. But first of all, you have to know if your meter is precise.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Understanding the federal government is complex, and the Medicare program can be even worse.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
One of the most powerful and simple methods to take control of your diabetes is to follow a “diabetes warranty program.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Living With Diabetes, an interactive series of motivational seminars and workshops, is offering a learning cruise of the western Caribbean.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
November 2004
Foot disorders are the number one reason that people with diabetes spend time in the hospital.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
This article is by no means an endorsement for consuming alcohol. Every person with diabetes should check with his or her healthcare professional about the use of alcohol. In addition to the effects of alcohol on diabetes control, including potentially causing hypoglycemia, there are possible interactions with other medications.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Developed specifically for people with diabetes by endocrinologist Francine Kaufman, ExtendBar now has a new formula, available in Chocolate Delight and Peanut Delight flavors.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
I have heard that if I have diabetes and am over age 40, I should take a statin, even if my cholesterol is normal. What are your thoughts on this?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
James Jopling of Monroe, Louisiana, has had type 1 diabetes for 39 years. Two of his sons also have type 1.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Q: I am a 54-year-old woman with diabetes, trying to lose a substantial amount of weight. I want to be healthier and want nutrition that will help my goal. I seem to be at a standstill. Can you give me some easy nutrition ideas?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
There is growing interest recently in the potential benefits of using cinnamon for treating diabetes.
30 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Patti LaBelle says she is thankful that she passed out on stage during a concert performance 10 years ago.
6 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Susan B. Sloane, BS, Rph,CDE, has been a registered pharmacist for more than 20 years and a certified diabetes educator for 15 years.
2 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
October 2004
Always inform your healthcare professional about any and all herbals or supplements that you may be taking.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
We asked a few pump “veterans” what they love and hate about their pumps. Here is what they had to say.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Q: I just noticed that my strips are code 10, but I forgot to change my meter, which is still set at code 2. My meter is a LifeScan OneTouch Ultra. I don’t know how many bottles of strips I have gone through at this wrong setting.
Have my readings been too low, or too high? And by how much have they been off?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Baseball, football, soccer, basketball, and hockey are all sports that proclaim, “It’s autumn.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Some researchers believe that having type 1 children practice at estimating their blood glucose (BG) levels is not an effective way to increase accuracy and “may be contraindicated.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
1. Smoking doubles your cardiovascular risk
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Swedish researchers say that smoking is associated with both poor blood glucose control and microalbuminuria (protein in the urine) that indicates early kidney disease and increased heart disease risk.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Swedish researchers say that smoking is associated with both poor blood glucose control and microalbuminuria (protein in the urine) that indicates early kidney disease and increased heart disease risk.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Some researchers believe that having type 1 children practice at estimating their blood glucose (BG) levels is not an effective way to increase accuracy and ‘may be contraindicated.’
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
September 2004
New Generation of Abbott Monitor Sports Extra Features
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
This month, we feature Allen Bennett King, MD, CDE, FACP, FACE, assistant clinical professor at the University of California Natividad Medical Center. Dr. King is the cofounder and medical director of the Diabetes Care Center in Salinas, California.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
The following are summaries of studies presented at the June 2004 ADA Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
As part of our Food for Thought section, we will begin profiling a nutritional supplement every month.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2004
Safety first: Remember to check with your healthcare team before starting any new exercise program.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
Alcohol tends to lower blood glucose. This means you do not need to take extra insulin or medication to cover the alcohol you drink. In fact, it can be dangerous to do so.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
Young people with type 1 diabetes, like other people with diabetes, want to lead a normal life without making diabetes their top priority. Their philosophy is, "I’ll do what it takes to keep from going too low and embarrassing myself in front of my friends, but I don’t want to be too ‘nerdy’ about it."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
If you are type 2, elderly and have peripheral neuropathy, resistance training may be just what you need to improve your health, say Kentucky researchers.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
August 2004
For years, researchers have been suggesting the glycemic index for achieving better blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Insulin detemir, the long-acting insulin analog from Novo Nordisk, has a more predictable blood glucose-lowering effect than both long-acting insulin glargine (Lantus) and NPH.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Pre-diabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Diachrome, a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, significantly lowers coronary risk factors in type 2s. According to a small study presented at an American Heart Association meeting, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB), held in May in San Francisco.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Heart disease is the number one killer of all Americans, and it plays a role in the deaths of nearly 80 percent of people who have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
July 2004
A Spanish study found that in type 1s, pre-breakfast and pre-dinner blood glucose levels have more influence on A1C levels than at other times of the day.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
This month’s column is for anybody interested in understanding the terms used with insulin pump therapy. Clip and save this for your reference.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Dick Clark has had diabetes for at least 11 years—but he only made it public this past spring.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
When was the first time you asked yourself, “Am I getting old?” Was it that time you felt your heart beating faster as you climbed the stairs? Or the time your legs began to shake just carrying the grocery bags from the car? Or when your joints and muscles felt stiff when you woke up one morning?
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Not only are many people who want to lose weight jumping on the low-carb caravan, so are some people who have diabetes. Some wonder why, since the message seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Diabetes and heart disease are so closely related. Can a lower-carb meal plan help improve the odds? We’re learning.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Hot summer days, peaceful lakes, get-away adventures, time to reconnect and relax with family and friends.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
It’s always a case of Murphy’s Law for me. Whenever I am without my glucose tabs or other quick-acting carbohydrate , I seem to have a low blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
There are two main types of cholesterol, LDL and HDL.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Blood glucose control with detemir, a long-acting insulin analog, is better than NPH insulin.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
One of the promises of technology is to be connected to other people without actual physical contact.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Do you remember “American Bandstand”?
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
June 2004
An increase in white blood count (WBC), an indicator of inflammation, is associated with impaired glucose tolerance. Reduced insulin sensitivity, say researchers in Germany, can mostly explain this.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
So, you aren’t pleased with your blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Would you like to be able to share your blood glucose information with your doctor between scheduled visits?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
A few years ago, the International Diabetes Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, compared meter systems. What I remember most about the comparison was the cost of blood glucose test strips—they were so close.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Imagine going to a spa-like resort to spend 19 days focusing on your health and diet and learning how to cook tasty foods for weight loss. Throw in some massages, nearly countless hours of physician attention and a guaranteed improved lifestyle when you return home.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Since Lantus first appeared on the market in 2001, it has been praised as the best basal insulin for good blood glucose control, primarily because it has a flat, peakless action. It fills a need for people who desire consistent insulin action around the clock, but like other basal insulins, it has to be set, tested and adjusted to match the user’s need.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Nicole Johnson doesn’t know how to take it easy. An admitted type A personality, Johnson—who enjoyed the national spotlight as Miss America 1999—serves as a consultant or spokesperson for about a dozen different organizations.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
The prevalence of obesity in the United States is reaching epidemic proportions. In middle-aged individuals, the problem is often labeled “creeping obesity.”
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
United Kingdom researchers argue that testing blood glucose at the forearm “is an acceptable alternative to finger-prick testing for blood glucose measurement in children and adolescents.”
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
May 2004
Mindy Mendenhall plays basketball the way a bull browses a china shop. She’s all muscle and emotion under the hoop, and she’s manic enough to launch her body across the court after loose balls.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2004
If you provide them they will test…
15 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
Does your child have diabetes? Do you communicate well with him or her?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
The terms “adolescent” or “young adult” are not differentiated by age but by the responsibilities that separate them.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
According to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, of the 17 million Americans with diabetes, 90 to 95 percent have type 2.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
Lots of new low-carb cookbooks are available. It’s easy to convert traditional high-carbohydrate recipes into lower-carb versions. Before we had the luxury of all the lower-carb cookbooks that are now available, I would look at a recipe and identify the higher-carb ingredients; then I’d try to decrease them in quantity, omit them entirely, or replace them with something else that would work as well and would still taste good.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
The number of people opting for insulin pump therapy grows. Worldwide, the number is approximately 300,000.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
A 12-week Scandinavian comparison study involving 107 nonsmoking patients with type 2 diabetes concluded that inhaled insulin administered via the AERx system achieved the same blood glucose control as insulin injected into the skin.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
A Novo Nordisk-sponsored study demonstrated that eight out of 10 elderly people with diabetes who have visual and motor difficulties preferred the Novolin Innolet doser to vials and syringes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
April 2004
Since October 2003, meter maker LifeScan has been partnering with pump manufacturer Animas Corporation.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
One of the largest physician organizations in the country has developed a new guide for self-testing of blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
“Diabetes case management can help reduce disparities in diabetes health status among low-income ethnic populations,” writes Lois Jovanovic, MD, endocrinologist and researcher at Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, California.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
“Using Insulin” may soon become the new bible for “everyone who wants to end blood glucose highs and lows.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
By far, the most important medical legislation passed in 2003 was the Medicare Reform Act
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 2004
The race is on! Since 1986, the contestants—more than 100 start-up biotech companies—have been competing for the prize: a chunk of the billion-dollar market that awaits the manufacturer of a reliable, FDA-approved, noninvasive glucose monitor.
3 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Robert Guillaume is best known for his work in television, where he earned two Emmy Awards and four NAACP Image Awards for his role as Benson DuBois on “Soap” and “Benson.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Mulberry leaves aren’t just for silkworms anymore: When fed to diabetes-induced rats, they have been shown to improve glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
The American Academy of Family Physicians now publishes a diabetes treatment guide for clinicians that offers what it calls “practical advice for treating patients with diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Total HDL and LDL cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, are higher in type 2s than in type 1s.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Islet transplantation offers promise, but it still shows risks of complications and loss of islet function over time.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
March 2004
If you are reading this column, you have probably decided to try the lower-carb approach to your diet—or you are at least thinking about it.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
On January 13, 2004, Abbott Laboratories bought TheraSense, Inc. for $1.2 billion.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Medtronic MiniMed’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) improved kids' control by providing them with accurate data—for adjustment of insulin treatments—and by promoting better communication and motivation.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
For the purpose of detecting low blood glucose, researchers say you should test at the fingertip.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
The mainstream medical community is starting to take notice: High-protein diets work! Researchers at the University of Minnesota say a high-protein diet lowers after-meal blood glucose 40 percent in type 2s and improves overall glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
I struggle to understand why you are publishing information recommending low-or no-carb meals for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Calcification, or hardening, of the arteries occurs in all populations but can be particularly damaging to people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
People with diabetes aged 65 and older receive better diabetes care than do younger patients.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Looking for an inexpensive software package to help track your diabetes-management data? Do you want a Web-based program? How about the ability to e-mail the data directly to your doctor or certified diabetes educator (CDE)? Diabetes Assistant, a software program from Roche Diagnostics Corporation, might meet your needs.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Medtronic MiniMed announced the introduction of its Paradigm 712 insulin pump, which incorporates a larger reservoir for diabetes patients who require more insulin. The pump also performs complex diabetes calculations and recommends correct insulin dosages.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
It was the scariest thing Kathy Yokum ever did.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
A September 2003 decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Oregon determined that eating is a “major life activity,” for the purpose of establishing a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Today’s finger-piercing lancets draw much less blood than their predecessors did. But they still hurt, say some. Today’s insulin needles are models of precision engineering. But they’re still not comfortable for everyone—especially if they hit a nerve.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Nearly 10 years ago when Chris Smith was 27, he got bad news in the form of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis. Now known as the Diabetic Chef, Smith is making the most of having diabetes by “re-teaching America to cook.”
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2004
February 2004
So you want to lose weight. Prepare for war!
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
I know that it’s already February, but I am writing this column in January and I am still thinking about my New Year’s resolutions.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
You’ve gone through all the diabetes education classes. The insurance company pays for them.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Suddenly it seems that sugar-free products are everywhere.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
January 2004
I never gave much thought to the issue of how to care for my meter until my three-year-old daughter decided to dunk my Ascensia Elite XL in a glass of water.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
The landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed that the risk of complications such as eye disease, kidney disease and nerve damage in people with type 1 diabetes is closely related to blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
In 1978, after prolonged hospitalization, my father died from consequences of diabetes associated with abnormal lipids and high blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
While most practitioners tend to start out slow and build up dosages when prescribing oral medications for people with type 2 diabetes, Allen B. King, MD, FACE, CDE, prefers to use what he calls the “Blast and Taper Fast” method.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
People with diabetes know that we are all supposed to check our blood glucose. But it’s sometimes frustrating to look at the results and see a number that’s too high or too low.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
December 2003
Della Reese’s positive attitude has always helped her survive—overcoming childhood challenges of poverty, struggling to carve her place in America’s entertainment industry, and dealing with her type 2 diagnosis nearly four years ago while filming the CBS TV show “Touched by an Angel.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2003
November 2003
Chocolate! Although millions love it, chocolate has always gotten a bad rap in the diabetes community.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2003
July 2003
In 1999, Crystal Jackson feared for the life of her daughter, Devin, who has type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2003
May 2003
There is nothing like a family member's health crisis to totally shake up your world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
Insulin pump users can get sick, just like everyone else.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
Make sure that when you inject the glucagon, you push down on the plunger with lots of force," said the nurse practitioner. "It's very important that you remember to do that!"
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
Fourteen years ago, when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, Douglas Cairns was forced to give up his dream of being a military flight instructor. He was told he could never fly again.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2003
The hardest part was not the climbing," says Midge Cross, 59, of her attempt to scale Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. "It was the tedium."
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
John Dennis, 58, says that self-monitoring to control his type 2 diabetes comes naturally because he is used to "going it alone." After all, taking care of himself is as much a solo responsibility these days as sailing his 50-foot boat around the world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
Abnormally high exposure to static electricity could cause Medtronic MiniMed's Paradigm insulin pump to "freeze," the company states in its Winter edition of Positive Pumping. This problem could result in insulin delivery being interrupted without an accompanying alarm or other warning.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
If you have type 1 and take Humalog (insulin lispro) with meals and NPH at night, you might want to go to bed with some starch and protein in your stomach if your bedtime blood-glucose reading is below 126 mg/dl.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
John Dennis, 58, says that self-monitoring to control his type 2 diabetes comes naturally because he is used to "going it alone." After all, taking care of himself is as much a solo responsibility these days as sailing his 50-foot boat around the world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
A new educational tool is now available to help people with diabetes learn virtually firsthand the impact of using insulin pump therapy to achieve tight blood-glucose control.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
April 2003
Children with type 1 diabetes who followed a low glycemic index (low-GI) diet for one year ate approximately the same amount of macronutrients and variety of foods as a group that followed the traditional carbohydrate-exchange diet, say researchers in Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
A middle-aged man with a "beer belly," unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and elevated blood glucose is three times more likely to die from cardiovascular problems and twice as likely to die from other causes as a man who doesn't have this metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
I feel conflicted just reading the title of this column. "Fats"—the word just seems to have a nasty ring to it. How could fats be good?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
"We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
With the concepts of glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) influencing the way many people with diabetes eat, four leading researchers on the glycemic index have written a book to help people better understand this approach.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
A recent study by French researchers demonstrated that taking an injection of Humalog (insulin lispro) before lunch can lower dinnertime blood-glucose levels in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Boys in particular also saw improved overall blood-glucose control after adding the lunchtime Humalog.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
It's no secret that exercise is good for you. On an almost regular basis, people with type 2 diabetes hear the rhetoric that exercise and weight loss will all but cure them of their condition.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
We don't use them anymore," said my certified diabetes educator (CDE) when I asked for a copy of the exchange lists used for meal planning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
March 2003
Not so long ago, there were two insulin pump companies—MiniMed and Disetronic. In the past couple of years, however, new companies seem to come along every few months. Now we have Medtronic MiniMed, Disetronic, Animas, Dana, Deltec and soon Nipro.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
"If you're being admitted to the hospital, you might want to write 'Person With Diabetes' across your forehead with a permanent marker."
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
Better get your blood glucose under control before you even think about getting pregnant.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
In Defense of Non-Western Medicine. I was disappointed with Ron Zacker's editorial in the December 2002 issue ("Keep Your Eyes on the Prize," p. 46). It seemed that Zacker lost sight of the prize with his statement, "Too much information and too many options can distract us from what's really important."
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
I can't wait to see what my next A1C will be! My last one was 7.3%, with my blood glucose up, down and all around. I was low, I was high, and just way out of control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
If you're being admitted to the hospital, you might want to write 'Person With Diabetes' across your forehead with a permanent marker."
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
February 2003
In today's busy world, it's difficult enough for most of us to get a meal on the table at all—let alone follow a healthy meal plan every day.
2 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Insulin-to-carbohydrate (I:C) ratios, which are used to calculate the insulin doses people with diabetes need for specific amounts of food containing carbohydrate, are an important part of any intensive diabetes management program.
5 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Q: I was wondering whether you could have someone discuss "type 1.5."
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Reasons for choosing a particular blood-glucose meter are as varied as the users. Some users want it simple, some want all the bells and whistles and many want something in between—as long as the meter and strips are affordable and accurate. Not to mention fast!
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Waking up with high blood pressure isn't good for you if you have type 2 diabetes, say researchers in Japan who studied the incidence of micro- and macrovascular complications in 170 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants in the study were treated with medications to lower blood glucose and blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
People with type 2 diabetes who do not take insulin saw their A1C levels improve after testing their blood glucose, keeping a diary of their results and their eating habits and receiving counseling on self-testing, say researchers in Germany and Austria. Control subjects were given counseling on diet and lifestyle only.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
You're out on a date. Things are going smoothly, and you are surprisingly at ease. Is it time to introduce your diabetes, or should you keep it hidden?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Q: I was wondering whether you could have someone discuss "type 1.5." I am especially interested in how diabetes "type" and C-peptide numbers are related. I was 28 when I first started having symptoms of diabetes (thirst, weight loss, fatigue). Two years later, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After a year or two, some confusion arose about what type of diabetes I had. (I needed a rather low total daily insulin dose of 25 units for my weight of 140.) A C-peptide test was run. My blood sugars were kind of high at the time, and the C-peptide came back as 0.2. The doctor told me I was definitely type 1. I am still requiring rather low doses of insulin (a daily total of 30 units for a weight of 170).
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
In today's busy world, it's difficult enough for most of us to get a meal on the table at all - let alone following a healthy meal plan every day.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
January 2003
People with diabetes know that we are all supposed to check our blood glucose. But some of us do a better job of it than others. Frankly, it's sometimes frustrating to look at the results and see a number that's too high or too low.
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
If you test your blood glucose regularly, you probably think you have a pretty good idea of how high or low your numbers rise and fall during a typical day and night. However, what if you had 288 blood-glucose readings every 24 hours, instead of only a handful?
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2003
People who live in poor neighborhoods may be at higher risk for Insulin Resistance Syndrome (IRS), regardless of income or education levels, according to results from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Although more people with diabetes are taking measures to prevent or delay diabetes-related complications, the number still falls short of recommended national health objectives, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
German researchers who compared insulin lispro (Humalog) and insulin aspart (NovoLog) report that the two insulins are equally effective in controlling after-meal blood glucose in people with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
December 2002
Elimination of infection by the gastric organism Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in people with type 1 diabetes might be associated with better control of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Do high blood-glucose levels lead to more severe strokes? Or does having a high blood-glucose level mean that you had a more severe stroke? Researchers studying the puzzle say their results suggest the former.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When I worked as a consultant for one of the "Big 5" consulting firms a few years ago, I was always traveling around the country to different destinations. At each destination, I was confronted with decisions that affected my diabetes management—or lack thereof.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When you first started insulin pump therapy, your doctor gave you a basal rate (or rates) and bolus doses to help you get started. You tested your blood glucose frequently, and the basal rates were correspondingly changed to prevent wide fluctuations while fasting. Then the bolus doses were adjusted to prevent post-meal hyperglycemia (or hypoglycemia). Once your blood-glucose values were stabilized, you might have felt as if you were "set for life."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Knitters know that, for a perfect match, you need to buy all the yarn for a project from the same dye lot to eliminate subtle changes in color that can make your solid red sweater come out looking like it has stripes. The reason? Minute changes in dyes that cause just the slightest difference in hue.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
There exists today an unprecedented amount of medical information for people with diabetes: the magazine you are holding, the Internet, television, radio—even billboard ads. We are inundated.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Warning: This article contains language of an adult nature and is not recommended for our young readers.
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2002
LeCarb frozen desserts, which have 3 grams of sugars per serving—compared to 14 grams in regular ice cream—are now available at Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country and at Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods and Ole Foods stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Do high blood glucose levels lead to more severe strokes? Or does having a high blood glucose level mean that you had a more severe stroke? Researchers studying the puzzle say their results suggest the former.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When combined with NPH insulin taken at bedtime, Glucophage (metformin) provides slightly better glucose control with less weight gain and improved satisfaction with diabetes treatment than Prandin (repaglinide) plus NPH, say researchers in the United Kingdom.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Knitters know that, for a perfect match, you need to buy all the yarn for a project from the same dye lot to eliminate subtle changes in color that can make your solid red sweater come out looking like it has stripes. The reason? Minute changes in dyes that cause just the slightest difference in hue.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
You know the routine: Go to the lab, have somebody stick a needle the size of a telephone pole in your arm and draw up a test tube full of blood. Then you wait for the doctor to tell you how your average blood glucose levels have been over the past three months or so.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When I worked as a consultant for one of the "Big 5" consulting firms a few years ago, I was always traveling around the country to different destinations. At each destination, I was confronted with decisions that affected my diabetes management-or lack thereof.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
LeCarb frozen desserts, which have 3 grams of sugars per serving-compared to 14 grams in regular ice cream-are now available at Wal-Mart Supercenters across the country and at Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods, and Ole Foods stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Amylin Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, California, have formed a global agreement to collaborate on development and sale of a potential new treatment for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Macintosh users who have been bemoaning the lack of diabetes management software designed for their operating system now have access to a new program.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
November 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
A committee of experts from the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) reports that as many as one in three Americans have Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or pre-diabetes—a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
It's inevitable. Every time Hollywood releases a movie with a character who has diabetes, those of us "in the know" sit with clenched teeth, noting every inaccuracy and wondering whether the powers-that-be in Tinseltown have any clue at all. Are they going on misconceptions that "everybody" believes to be true? Do they bother to research diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
As an insulin pumper, are you prepared for unexpected (or expected) events? For instance, there might be a time when you are not using your insulin pump—either by choice or by necessity. Is this a time for panic?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
It's fortunate that Gillian Larner was at her 11-year-old son's bedside in the hospital after his surgery in May 2002.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2002
In 1999, the first association between markers of inflammation and the subsequent development of type 2 diabetes was reported. Today, researchers are positing a definitive link between the two and suggesting that treatments to reduce inflammation might be a means of preventing or forestalling illness.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2002
This year, 17 million people in the United States lived with diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
A shift in fat distribution from visceral (the internal abdominal area) to subcutaneous (under the skin) could be the reason the insulin sensitizer Actos (pioglitazone) helps to lower blood glucose levels in people with insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
A committee of experts from the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) reports that as many as one in three Americans have Insulin Resistance Syndrome, or pre-diabetes - a condition that can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Most people associate sweetness with happiness, good times and good food. In fact, the average American goes so far as to consume an estimated 20 teaspoons of sugar each day.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
In 1999, the first association between markers of inflammation and the subsequent development of type 2 diabetes was reported. Today, researchers are positing a definitive link between the two and suggesting that treatments to reduce inflammation might be a means of preventing or forestalling illness.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
October 2002
Researchers in Canada studying barriers to self-monitoring of blood glucose discovered that—surprise!—people who were given free strips tested more often than those who had to pay for them. An added benefit of more frequent testing was better blood-glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Telling the world you have diabetes is not the easiest proposition. Coming "out of the closet," so to speak, could bring support or condemnation from others.
2 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Because fingerstick testing generally detects low blood glucose earlier than tests performed with capillary blood from arms or thighs, alternate-site testing should be avoided when blood-glucose levels are apt to be undergoing rapid changes, such as up to two hours after meals and after an insulin injection.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Frequently now I come across an article or a quote or a joke that my mother would like, and I reach for the phone to share it with her.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
As a nation, we are aging. By the age of 65, two-thirds of us take one or more medications a day—and a lot of us take as many as three.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
As a nation, we are aging. By the age of 65, two-thirds of us take one or more medications a day-and a lot of us take as many as three.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
September 2002
Vicki Abbott, a 65-year-old medical transcriptionist from Portland, Oregon, has taken the idea of tight diabetes control to heart. She adheres to a control regimen that is almost militaristic in its method, and her goal is perfect blood glucose.
4 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Chicago, Illinois, using the Medtronic MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) conclude that the variable glucose profiles generated during endurance competitions such as marathons "indicate the need for intensive and accurate glucose monitoring."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Many of us with diabetes run numbers in our heads all day. We balance carb counts, insulin units, exercise and increments of time as if we were computers, sometimes making extraordinary calculations to safely incorporate 35 CHO of birthday cake into an afternoon.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Everyone needs to start giving kidney dysfunction and cardiovascular disease equal standing as complications in diabetes mellitus.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Combination oral contraceptives may do more than prevent unwanted pregnancies—they also may help prevent diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Type 2 diabetes can be predicted by increases in microalbuminuria (a measure of protein in the urine). In addition, microalbuminuria, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease develop together over a period of more than two decades, leading researchers from the Framingham Offspring Study in Massachusetts to believe that the three conditions have a common cause.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Spain who wrote a letter to Diabetes Care report studies showing that pre-meal blood glucose averages better predict A1Cs in people with type 1 diabetes than after-meal readings do. But they add that if after-meal blood glucose averages are more predictive of heart disease, as some studies suggest, it could mean that A1C results do not accurately reflect the harmful effects of high blood-glucose levels on diabetes-related cardiovascular complications.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Chicago, Illinois, using the Medtronic MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) conclude that the variable glucose profiles generated during endurance competitions such as marathons "indicate the need for intensive and accurate glucose monitoring."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
August 2002
Starting next month, Bayer will change the name of its line of Glucometer blood-glucose meters to Ascensia.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Will Lantus Give Me the Same Flexibility the Pump Does?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Every year around this time, three words that kids hate—and parents love—to hear make their way into television commercials and print ads:
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Once again, Diabetes Health has read through more than 2,500 abstracts of research presented at the American Diabetes Association's annual Scientific Sessions and selected a few of the more interesting ones to pass along to you as part of our annual "Research Extravaganza" feature.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Over the past seven years, the number of oral drug therapies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes has dramatically increased. Of the six basic types of medication that can help normalize your blood glucose, five are available as oral drugs.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Bayer Diagnostics announced on May 28, 2002, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of its complete line of blood glucose meters for alternate-site testing.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Over the Fourth of July weekend, my family and I went to the county fair. It was a great day, but the noise really started to bug me, and I began to get cranky. How dare the barkers at the carnival shout so loudly! Why did the rides have to play music incessantly? My children wanted money for this ride and that toy, and I wanted to yell at them and tell them they couldn't have one more nickel!
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
July 2002
Many educational materials are available that can help a person who has diabetes make healthy food choices. Nutrition labels on various foods can be especially useful for preparing and analyzing a meal plan and choosing foods that are right for your individual needs.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
When Charles H. Raine III, MD, director of the Diabetes Control Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, learned he had type 2 diabetes, he went straight to insulin as his preferred method of control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
The actions of Dawn Prindall's preschooler brought home to her the importance of diabetes education for people with diabetes and their families.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
"When I think of how long I have waited for the GlucoWatch Biographer, I could just cry!"
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
The Sleep Sentry Monitor, a battery-powered device worn like a wristwatch and used to detect nighttime low blood glucose, was introduced by Teledyne Avionics more than 20 years ago. Teledyne Avionics then sold the device to Eric Orzeck, MD, in 1983, and it has been largely unavailable since the early 1990s.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
When Charles H. Raine III, MD, director of the Diabetes Control Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, learned he had type 2 diabetes, he went straight to insulin as his preferred method of control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
June 2002
Scott W. Lee, MD, Saima Sajid, MD, and Michelle Cao, MD, of Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, have reported two case studies on square-wave and dual-wave bolusing.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
Normal bolus! Extended bolus! Square-wave bolus! Combination bolus! Dual-wave bolus!
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
Why Have I Lost Depth Perception in My Vision?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
People who inject insulin can confuse Lantus (insulin glargine) with short-acting Regular insulin or rapid-acting Humalog (insulin lispro) or NovoLog (insulin aspart) because they are all clear in color, warn doctors from the Yale University School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
In a small study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands, a drug normally used to treat asthma and bronchitis helped to improve awareness of hypoglycemia in people with type 1 diabetes. Hypoglycemia unawareness can be a dangerous condition—a person with diabetes who cannot detect an episode of low blood glucose cannot take quick action to correct it.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
Last night, I woke up a little before 3 a.m. and tested my blood glucose. It was 52. I had to get up and eat. Here I am, going to Weight Watchers, exercising, trying to take off another 15 pounds, and my efforts are being thwarted by diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
"Clearly no diet works reliably," says Jan Harper of San Jose, California. Harper, who has type 2 diabetes, takes oral medications to control her diabetes and tries to adhere to a "good diet"-the advice most often given to people who have type 2. However, as Harper laments, what is a "good diet" or the "right diet" for a person with type 2 diabetes? Does such a thing actually exist?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
May 2002
When it comes to exercise, there's literally no place but home for some of us. Many people cite a lack of transportation, finances or time as reasons for not going to a gym or fitness center. And many rural areas simply don't have gyms or fitness centers. Whether real or perceived, these problems do bring one option to the fore—exercising at home.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Whether or not people with diabetes can test in public places is a nonissue. Every person with diabetes is entitled to his or her respective life, liberty and pursuit of good blood-glucose control—despite the occasional stare of a passerby.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
What do the school nurse and the education staff of your child's school know about insulin pump therapy? What should you tell the school system?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
"Breastfeeding is the optimal way of providing ideal food for the health, growth, and development of human infants while simultaneously benefiting the lactating mother."
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
It is not uncommon to read an article about physical activity that advises you to eat a snack before you exercise. Sometimes the article also advises you to perform the exercise after a meal or to avoid activity while insulin is peaking.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Beauty, Grace and Diabetes: Ballerina Zippora Karz, now 37, started studying dance at the age of 7. At 18, she was invited to join the New York City Ballet—one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Things were not going along "swimmingly" for Gary Hall Jr. in 1999. He recalls feeling "like I had the flu. I'd get better, then shortly I'd get sick again."
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
If hunting alligators in pitch darkness doesn't make Todd Sievers jumpy, then it's no wonder he can unflinchingly kick field goals in front of a packed crowd with a game on the line.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
This past December, Jason Johnson, 28, a starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles baseball club, was the co-winner of the Tony Conigliaro Award. The award is presented annually to a major league player who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2002
Russ Berrie and Company, Inc., of Oakland, New Jersey, is now making its diabetes bears available for retail purchase and plans to give a portion of its proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Ruby and Rufus are beanbag bears with heart appliques that indicate areas to test blood glucose and inject insulin.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Children with type 1 diabetes need intensive insulin therapy to help them achieve better long-term blood-glucose control and avoid complications later in life, according to Swedish researchers writing in the October 2001 issue of Diabetes, Nutrition & Metabolism.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Routine A1C tests conducted by physicians may help detect type 2 diabetes in people who haven't been diagnosed, according to researchers from Duke University.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
The heroes featured in this issue have two things in common: They've achieved top success in their various fields, and they have diabetes. I'm inspired by these people, who face the same challenges that I do with diabetes. It's too easy, sometimes, to use diabetes as an excuse not to try. Seeing these individuals reach the top encourages me to do as much as my capabilities allow.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Are you planning to start your child on an insulin pump during summer vacation? While this may be a great time to get comfortable with a pump, the next challenge will come when the child returns to school.
2 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
April 2002
A noninvasive blood-glucose monitor has long been awaited. People with diabetes do not look forward to monitoring their blood glucose every day, as it involves pricking their fingers to obtain blood samples.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
A type of weight-loss surgery called the LAP-BAND has been successful in putting type 2 diabetes in remission, according to researchers in Australia. Doctors from Monash University in Victoria found that the majority of people with type 2 diabetes who were treated with the stomach-reduction surgery achieved better blood-glucose control one year afterward. Results of the study were published in the February 2002 issue of Diabetes Care.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 2002
For the first time in years, I bought something from the Misses Department, not the plus sizes!" exclaims Sue Felton, a woman of 43 who's been battling obesity and type 2 diabetes for the past five years.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
“You shouldn't have to futz around with shots,” says Wendy S. Lane, MD, of Asheville, North Carolina. ”[If I had my way], newly diagnosed type 1s would be put right on pumps, if it weren't for insurance companies.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
Researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology have been awarded a $75,000 grant to begin developing a noninvasive device for measuring blood glucose from the eye, as part of a system that could simulate pancreatic function.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
LDL (bad) cholesterol is more likely to become oxidized in people who have poorly controlled type 1 diabetes, according to researchers in Italy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
Having type 1 diabetes does not mean that a child will perform poorly in school. Researchers at the University of Iowa found that children with diabetes performed just as well—if not better—in school than their siblings and classmates who did not have diabetes, although those with diabetes had more school absences and displayed more behavioral problems.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
Focusing on the patient's perspective when it comes to intensive diabetes treatment can help the patient achieve better glycemic control and prevent diabetes complications, according to researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
Back in December 1992, two years after we started Diabetes Health, I was shocked to learn that Mom had developed diabetes, too. I wrote in these pages about how she had complained to me that she was tired and couldn't get off the sofa. She was depressed, and sometimes she slept all day. Then she got worse. She was sick, lethargic, had tingly feet and blurry vision. I was concerned for her health and suspected that she had diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
You keep your A1Cs in line by testing your fasting and before-meal blood-glucose levels, but could you have a time bomb ticking in your body by failing to keep after-meal glucose levels down?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
March 2002
The Accu-Chek Advantage blood-glucose meter could sometimes save a test result incorrectly in its memory feature, Roche Diagnostics has announced. The incorrect storage of a reading in the meter's memory could occur once every seven days.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
The evolution of insulin has taken a turn that even Banting and Best could not have foreseen when they discovered the hormone back in the 1920s.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Researchers have begun nationwide clinical trials for a new treatment for diabetes based largely on the discoveries of a professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
It's not exactly the tortoise versus the hare, but in the effort to get islet transplantation and a closed-loop artificial pancreas to the market, there seems to be a race.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Living with diabetes means living in a world of limitations—some imposed by society and some by the disease itself. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 5, I've spent the last 35 years trying to break free of those limitations.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Carbohydrates seem to be in the news a lot these days. You either hear or read that if you want to lose weight, you shouldn't eat carbohydrates, or that if you want to control your blood-glucose levels, there are some specific carbohydrates you should not eat. The question, then, is to sort out what's important.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
It's happened again. You test and the number that pops up on your meter is low. Way too low! But you feel fine. Shouldn't you be experiencing that fuzzy-headed, heart-pounding, shaky-bodied, world-swirling feeling that goes with hypoglycemia?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Q: I am a 52-year-old person with type 1 diabetes who is at least 40 pounds overweight. I have tried many ways to lose the extra weight, but I can never seem to get my blood glucose under good enough control so that I don't have too many lows.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Q: Are pancreas transplants very successful for someone who has had a previous successful kidney transplant? I have been considering a pancreas transplant, but several doctors have told me the success rates are not that good and that, in some cases, the individual develops a milder form of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
People with type 2 diabetes often have blood-glucose levels of 200 mg/dl or higher after meals, even if they are maintaining good A1C control, according to the results of a new study.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Giving children certain drugs to treat psychotic illness can put them at risk for high blood glucose, which could lead to diabetes, according to the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a researcher at Duke University.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
A little boy wanted ice cream after dinner one night. Because his parents had already counted his carbohydrates and given him a carefully calculated dose of insulin, his mother tried to dissuade him.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
While someone with type 1 diabetes needs insulin from the beginning of the disease, people with type 2 diabetes have some residual insulin secretion. However, first-phase insulin response-the initial surge of insulin that normally occurs when food is ingested-is lost, resulting in high blood-glucose levels after meals. Nat-ural insulin production also is insufficient to handle insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
February 2002
Wanna be an athlete? Wanna be a rock star? Lauran Gangl has done a little bit of both—without letting her type 1 diabetes get in the way.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
First Human Trials With a Novel Noninvasive, Nonoptical Continuous Glucose Monitoring System
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Who says the people who invent computers, cell phones and other devices that make our life easier should have all the fun?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Whether you are a beginner or a veteran of insulin pump therapy, a new book called "Optimal Pumping: A Guide to Good Health With Diabetes" could prove to be a valuable resource.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
People with unstable type 1 diabetes may experience severe headaches after an episode of low blood glucose, according to a researcher from Dartmouth. Daniel E. Jacome, MD, from the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, found that hypoglycemic episodes caused migraines in a man with unstable type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Giving intensive insulin therapy to patients with elevated blood-glucose levels in the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital significantly reduces their chance of death, even if the patients did not previously have diabetes, say researchers in Belgium. Greet Van den Berghe, MD, PhD, and colleagues reported their results in the November 8, 2001, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
As you may be aware, NovoLog (insulin aspart) is the new rapid-acting insulin analog from Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Inc. On paper, its action is supposed to be similar to Lilly's Humalog (insulin lispro). However, my experience, as well as the experiences of other people I've talked to who are using it in pumps, is very different.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Who says the people who invent computers, cell phones and other devices that make our life easier should have all the fun?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
January 2002
If you have diabetes, having friends who also have diabetes is an important part of life. Those friends provide support and, often, a sense of humor about what it means to live with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Managing your blood-glucose levels is not the only treatment needed to avoid diabetes-related complications, according to several health advocacy groups. Controlling blood pressure and cholesterol is also important in preventing heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death for people with diabetes, say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Another study is suggesting that continuous glucose monitoring could be a superior testing method for determining optimal control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
You might be seeing a great pump doc now, even if you aren't using insulin pump therapy. An endocrinologist or diabetologist will suggest a pump if you meet the criteria for insulin pump therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
When Will Medicare Cover the Cost of Insulin Pumps for Type 2s?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
December 2001
A low-lit bar with warm brown leather couches and an audience that's captured, utterly amused. That's the kind of crowd that Jackie Payne, blues singer with a career spanning over three decades, faces every Friday evening. Not such a bad deal for a musician whose livelihood was seriously threatened six years back, when he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Diabetes food! Just the words can conjure up past images of long treks down the pharmacy aisle—past the orthopedic shoe supports, and toward the sparse, deserted shelf of "sugar-free products."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Food and gifts! What would the holidays be without them? From the traditional dishes we prepare every year to the unusual and exotic specialty, from the highly frivolous gift to the perfect one matched exactly to the needs of the recipient, we strive to make the holidays wonderful by providing food and gifts for the people we love.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Someday, a cure for diabetes will be found. But the question still remains about it how it will happen. By regenerating our own cells? Or maybe by transplanting islets from pigs into humans?
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
After 40 years on insulin, Bob Teskey, 56, could no longer keep his blood-glucose levels under control. As his condition worsened, his hypoglycemic (low blood-glucose) episodes became more and more intrusive on his life. Teskey talked to his doctors, but there was nothing they could do except tweak his insulin regimen, which did not solve the problem. He continued to collapse unexpectedly, as his blood-glucose levels dropped without warning.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Pharmaceutical giant Roche Diagnostics has now added an alternate-site-testing meter to its arsenal of products after acquiring the company that pioneered the technology itself.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Generex Biotechnology of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced the results of four studies showing the effectiveness of Oralin in treating type 2 diabetes. Oralin is a new oral insulin spray that is absorbed into the bloodstream. Pankaj Modi, PhD, chief scientific officer at Generex, presented the studies' findings at the September 9-13 meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Glasgow, Scotland.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
The aldose-reductase inhibitor fidarestat may be an effective treatment for altering the progression of painful diabetic neuropathy.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Correction: In the Letters to the Editor of the November issue (p. 61), we made an incorrect statement about the use of Lantus. The sentence should read "..those who take three meal-time shots of short-acting insulin plus basal Lantus will take four shots of insulin a day." We apologize for this error.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
November 2001
One of Diabetes Health's most popular sections is its "Question & Answer" column. Our readers ask questions that cannot always be answered in a 10-minute office visit, and we pose these questions to our arsenal of diabetes professionals who offer their expertise.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
It wasn't the marriage proposal you think of—you know, the one where your Prince Charming falls to his knees and promises undying love. And yet, it held a very attractive promise to somebody who has diabetes: A good health-insurance policy.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
For decades, people with diabetes have known the drill: prick your finger, get a good-sized drop of blood, apply the drop of blood to a meter, wait for the result and adjust your insulin, eating or exercise regimen accordingly.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
On August 1, pump maker Animas Corporation received the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) award for its long-term implantable optical blood glucose monitor.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2001
For type 1s who fast during Ramadan, it was discovered that blood-sugar control—measured by after-meal readings—was improved and hypoglycemia significantly reduced when using insulin lispro compared with Regular human insulin.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Tarrytown, New Jersey announced the results of three phase I studies for two new medications for the oral delivery of insulin. Representatives, who presented the data at Investor Day In New York City and released a written statement on September 7, said the trials showed that the drugs were successfully absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and significantly reduced blood glucose levels in study subjects.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
October 2001
There's a new way to keep your "eye" on blood-sugar levels and it doesn't use needles.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Now, doctors and patients can access all the information they need regarding the patient's health with the InSight Professional. In August 2001, Disetronic Medical Systems Inc. of St. Paul, Minnesota, launched the online diabetes management program that allows users to create a personal database of their insulin intake, blood-sugar levels and more. Patients can upload information directly from their insulin pumps and blood glucose meters from their home computers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
How do I know my three-year-old meter is still providing me with accurate test results?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
It's that time of year again—the cold and flu season—when millions of people run to their medicine cabinets for relief.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2001
iMetrikus of Carlsbad, California, announced its partnership with Home Diagnostics Inc. (HDI) to offer a new system for people with diabetes to test blood sugars and track the results in a format that can be provided to their doctors.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Eat a low-fat diet, take a brisk walk or ride a bike for 30 minutes a day five days a week and your risk of getting type 2 diabetes will be reduced by 58 percent. Also, taking the type 2 drug Glucophage can also cut the risk of developing type 2 by 31 percent, say researchers in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Studies in California comparing readings from a continuous blood glucose monitor with A1c readings show that average levels are predicted differently in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Jane Seley, RN, MPH, MSN, GNP, is a doctoral candidate from New York City and a good friend of mine. Jane has served on our advisory board since the very beginning, over 10 years ago.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
September 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child, and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
"I think the InDuo is the cat's meow," says Jane Seley, RN, NP, CDE, a doctoral candidate at New York University. "It's fast, easy and accurate."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
According to a recent survey conducted by the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE), 75 percent of people with type 2 diabetes do not know their Hemoglobin A1c (A1c) level. In addition, 77 percent could not name a good test result. Also, a 2000 survey published by the National Quality Control Association states that 75 percent of people with diabetes are not getting their A1cs tested.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
Abbott Labratories S/B, MediSense Products announced that its new test strips have received marketing approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2001
August 2001
Everyone, including your neighbor, manicurist and racquetball partner, seems to be jumping enthusiastically onto the "supplement bandwagon." Should you and your diabetes climb aboard?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
There may come a time when your health-care provider wants to have some tests done to help diagnose a condition or to decide the most appropriate course of action. A diagnostic test is a laboratory, or other non-invasive, invasive or imaging procedure. Non-invasive diagnostic tests include urine tests, electrocardiograms, simple X-rays, MRI and CAT scans. Invasive diagnostic tests include any non-surgical procedure that includes an insertion of a medical device or medication for the purpose of evaluating or measuring a physiological function or response.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
It may no longer be necessary to visit your doctor to get advice and the results of blood tests, according to researchers in Creteil, France, who presented their findings at the American Diabetes Association's scientific sessions in June. Using e-mail to send data from self blood glucose monitoring to your doctor and ask questions is efficient and economical, they say.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
On May 15, Roche Diagnostics of Indianapolis, Indiana, introduced its new software package for tracking blood sugar levels and presenting them in formats that help patients better manage their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
Nine out of 10 primary-care doctors in this country could not correctly name the top three tests that a person with diabetes requires on a regular basis to stay alive—tests that could save patients' lives.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2001
July 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
Karl Smith, a type 1 for 79 of his 85 years, remembers having type 1 diabetes as a child but not having any insulin with which to treat the disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
You might be familiar with the two types sugar levels in the body: fasting blood glucose (FBG)—measured first thing in the morning—and two-hour blood glucose (2h-BG)—measured two hours after a meal. Despite the fact that both accurately measure sugar levels, how do they compare in terms of predicting death, particularly for people who were not diagnosed with diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
Stomach Stapling Not a Cure for Type 2 Diabetes
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
I am in my 32nd week of pregnancy with my second child and I wonder if I have developed gestational diabetes. Diabetes does not run in our family, and I am not overweight. Furthermore, I did not develop gestational diabetes with my first child.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2001
June 2001
Many new technologies have recently become available to help manage type 1 diabetes. Among these, insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors are proving to have great benefit, even in young children.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
"Camps offer a support system that isn't available in other places because [kids] are meeting other kids with diabetes," says Suzanne Apsey, program director for Triangle D Camp of Northern Illinois.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
According to Instrumentation Metrics, a manufacturer of medical devices, results of a recent trial demonstrated that a new non-invasive testing technology using light successfully measured BG levels.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Because of the obesity epidemic in this country, the disease formerly called "adult-onset" diabetes is no longer given that label. Type 2 diabetes, we have learned, is fair game for people of all ages.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Carla Elliot liked to keep busy. A bright and outgoing 14-year-old girl, Carla involved herself in as many activities as she could. Whether it was swimming, cheerleading, softball, 4-H club meetings or simply running around the neighborhood, Carla was there.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Many new technologies have recently become available to help manage type 1 diabetes. Among these, insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors are proving to have great benefit, even in young children.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
Camps offer a support system that isn't available in other places because [kids] are meeting other kids with diabetes, says Suzanne Apsey, program director for Triangle D Camp of Northern Illinois.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2001
May 2001
Cygnus, Inc. of Redwood City, California, has finally completed its long journey to receiving FDA approval for its GlucoWatch Biographer. People with diabetes, however, should expect to wait until the end of 2001, or later, before being able to purchase one.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the One Touch Ultra blood-glucose monitoring system. Manufactured by LifeScan of Milpitas, California, the One Touch Ultra offers a number of features to support better diabetes management.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2001
April 2001
Managing diabetes is hard work. It can also be very discouraging when you are making a consistent effort to manage your blood glucose, and your efforts are rewarded by unpredictable high and low blood-glucose readings.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
I am 72 years old and have been a type 2 for 21 years. I keep my blood sugar under control and get lab work done every three months. My A1c remains at 6%. Despite these measures, every year I get neuropathy on a different part of my body that lasts from winter until spring. Currently, I have it in my right buttocks and the back of my thigh. It is very painful. My doctor doesn't know what to do other than to prescribe painkillers that irritate my stomach.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
It is possible to have type 1 diabetes without displaying common symptoms, according to a study published in the February issue of Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
NIDDK-supported research, including basic discoveries in immunology and cell and transplant biology, laid the groundwork for the Edmonton advance.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2001
March 2001
While exercise can improve your body's sensitivity to insulin, it can also complicate blood glucose (BG) control. Normally, exercise causes your body to use more blood sugar without insulin. Therefore, when insulin users participate in physical activities, they frequently need to make insulin adjustments to keep BGs normal.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
The letters we print in our "Letters to The Editor" section are among the most passionate and controversial letters you will read anywhere. If you don't want to get your passions aroused, then maybe you should skip this section.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association have established general clinical practice recommendations for exercise and diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
When your mother tells you to eat your broccoli, you should listen.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2001
February 2001
Hypoglycemia is defined as a blood glucose level of less than 60 mg/dl. Many type 2s, however, may be well above this level but still say they feel "low." A common mistake for type 2s is to eat sweets because you feel low, only to later find they have a very high blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
Researchers have discovered that injecting a specialized gene into diabetic rats and mice can put type 1 diabetes into remission, according to a November 22, 2000 press release from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
The blood glucose (BG) meter is the "single most important thing" in the life of a person-type 1 and 2-with diabetes, says Jane Seley, RN, CDE, MPH, MSN, GNP, a doctoral candidate at New York University.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
Diabetes Health asked some of its readers which blood glucose meter they used. According to a response from 61 people, we discovered the following:-
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
Home Diagnostics, Inc (HDI) of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, announced on December 13, 2000 that in less than one year, several top retailers have started co-branding with its Prestige Smart System (PSS) blood glucose monitor. The result, according to a HDI press release, has allowed customers to save on diabetes testing supplies.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
TheraSense, Inc. of Alameda, California, received word on December 13, 2000 that its FreeStyle blood glucose monitor has received FDA clearance for testing on the upper arm, thigh, calf and anywhere on the hand. The FDA had recently cleared the FreeStyle for testing on the forearm.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2001
January 2001
For the past 25 years we have been hearing that the cure for diabetes is "right around the corner."
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
Q: My concern is related to slow absorption and decay of lispro insulin used in an insulin pump. My diabetologist, NP/ CDE and I have determined that the infusion site/rotation is not the problem. If my BG is 80mg/dl before a meal and the appropriate bolus delivered, it is necessary that I wait half an hour before eating in order to hold the after-meal spike to 150 points (BG of 230 mg/dl). If pre-meal BG is elevated, perhaps at 130 mg/dl, and meal bolus plus corrective insulin bolus is given, the wait could be 90 minutes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
Disetronic Medical Systems earned a global ranking of 30 among small companies. Forbes magazine bestowed the honor on the pump-supply company from St. Paul, Minnesota, in its October 30, 2000 issue.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
On November 20, 2000, Abbott Laboratories of Bedford, Massachusetts announced it had received U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing clearance for its Sof-Tact. This diabetes management system, according to Abbott, is the first automated glucose monitor to offer lancing, blood collection and glucose testing with a single press of a button.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
In November 2000, three new products for people with diabetes were demonstrated at the 17th Congress of the International Diabetes Federation in Mexico City.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
New research is showing that what matters after dinner is not dessert. In a study published in the September 2000 issue of Diabetes Care, a team of researchers say their findings show that good postprandial (after-meal) glucose levels are key to overall control and lowering HbA1cs.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2001
December 2000
Recently, I was leafing through the latest research findings of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Israel. I found a lot of interesting research on diabetes that I would like to share with you.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has yet to issue a final ruling on its standards for Medicare reimbursement. For many, however, the writing on the wall is clear: to qualify, it's the ADA's way or the highway.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
In an effort to combat the seriousness of the rising type 2 diabetes epidemic, Bristol Myers-Squibb has launched a weekly radio program called "Diabetes Diner Talk."
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
Normally a stranger to such parts, diabetes was at the top of the marquee at this year's American Chemical Society, held in Washington, D.C. Three studies conducted by pharmaceutical companies revealed potential for glucagon-receptor-blocking compounds as a means of controlling type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
Chai-Na-Ta Corporation of Langley, British Columbia, announced on September 12 that a research study using its North American Ginseng significantly reduced the blood glucose level of patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
A new study by chemists at Ohio University and the University of Iowa suggests that people with diabetes can use light to measure blood glucose values. The scientists involved in the study feel they have edged one step closer to the development of a glucose-measuring device that uses light instead of a blood sample.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
On September 18, the Disetronic Group announced it had reached an agreement with TheraSense of Alameda, California, to market and distribute the innovative FreeStyle blood glucose monitor.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2000
October 2000
Many of you probably record your blood glucose in a diary or logbook, which you bring to your healthcare team on routine visits. This logbook has been an important component of diabetes treatment programs since the days of Dr. Elliot Joslin (Joslin Diabetes Center), the late pioneering diabetes specialist. Dr. Joslin believed important events in a person's life and diabetes treatment should be entered into a diary that both that person and his health care team could refer back to for treatment decisions.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Acupuncture has been used in China for years to improve the body's use of sugar. Centuries of personal experience support this claim, but few scientific records on the efficacy of these methods exist.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Q: My 11-year-old son is using an insulin pump. Sometimes, especially at night, I will give him a bolus correction for an unexpected "high" BG number. For example, for a BG of 200, I would give him a bolus of one unit, aiming for a BG of around 100 to 120. Oftentimes, however, his BGs are the same, or even higher, two hours later, even after the bolus. Sometimes this problem persists through two such corrections, and then, suddenly, the next bolus will work as expected. At the next set change, the cannula looks fine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
Exercise for people with diabetes is crucial for good glycemic control. Type1s can reduce their insulin doses and type 2s can reduce the risk of numerous complications. But exercise for people with diabetes also requires special attention because it has special risks.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
In addition to being an assistant professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia and DIABETES HEALTH's exercise advisor, Sheri Colberg, PhD, can add "author" to her list of credentials.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
On August 9, FlexSite Diagnostics of Palm City, Florida, announced the availability of the A1C At Home Test Kit to consumers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2000
September 2000
Scott King: We have been reporting on the GlucoWatch since 1995. Can you tell us how the industry is viewing this product?
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
I recently went to hear yet another brilliant and well-known research physician speak to yet another lay audience about what is new in diabetes research, and why it's important for them to send more money.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Barbara Nelson, CDE, of Boise, Idaho, recently noticed that many of her patients were using the book "Sugarbusters!" for their dietary guidelines, usually at the recommendation of their health care providers. She wrote in asking for our thoughts on this book, and we got the following answer from Joy Pape, RN, CDE:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
Parents who are concerned about the insulin pump's relative complexity but relish the possibilities of the increased control it can offer children may finally have the solution to their problem. A recent study suggests that part-time pumping can offer improved control for younger children without requiring them to operate the pump on their own.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
The Components of an Artificial Pancreas
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
On June 6 and 7, academic and industry researchers joined in San Jose, California, for a two-day Artificial Pancreas Symposium. The tone of the conference was to discuss technology capable of monitoring glucose and automatically delivering the correct amount of insulin for the control of blood glucose in people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
On June 27, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) joined as plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit charging the City of Philadelphia with denying people with diabetes proper medical treatment while in police custody.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2000
August 2000
Active people living with diabetes love the flexibility and finite control that using an insulin pump provides. Life no longer revolves around timed snacks and meals. Long-acting insulin peaks no longer control you. Even exercise participation can become spontaneous again. Whether you are new to pumping or a veteran, there are things to consider when you manage exercise blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
Can someone tell me what causes muscle spasms?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
Patients who measure their glucose levels from one to four times per day and their fructosamine levels once per week can significantly improve their BG control and lower HbA1c. Called the IN CHARGE, LXN Corporation of San Diego, has a GlucoProtein test which can provide both tests.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
If you ever think, "I never go anywhere without my meter; it's like my wallet," think again. How many of us have forgotten our wallets? If it is prudent to own spare car keys, why not own a spare meter? Why not own two meters, one for the home and a spare meter for your workplace? If you exercise at the gym regularly, keeping a third spare meter in your locker is also advisable.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
If doctors were able to place healthy, insulin-producing islets into a person with diabetes in a minimally invasive procedure that needs to be repeated only occasionally, diabetes care as we know it would be finished. Patients might occasionally need insulin, and would of course want to keep an eye on their blood glucose levels, but the often-grueling regimen many of us now follow would be a thing of the past.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2000
July 2000
Years ago, restaurant eating was reserved for special occasions. It was a time for celebration and overindulging in foods not typical of our normal fare. Today, eating out has become second nature for many, a by-product of our fast-paced life on the run.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2000
The Food Guide Pyramid does not prescribe a universal diet, but needs to be interpreted differently according to individual needs. Here are two people of very different backgrounds, and a sample menu of what they might consume to stay within the boundaries of the Pyramid. In all cases, the need for snacks should be dictated by blood glucose levels and physical activity:
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2000
June 2000
Getting lost in the Amazon rain forest without a backpack is bad news for a person with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
There was an outcry from insulin users when Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly decided to withdraw animal-derived basal insulins from the market and replace them with biosynthetic NPH and Ultralente, which many consumers consider inferior. These same critics are hoping that a new generation of basal insulins such as HOE901, Basulin and Lantus will prove to be more effective.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Short of finding a cure for diabetes, the next best thing is probably perfecting a "closed-loop" insulin delivery system with an implanted glucose sensor capable of continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels. This would reduce the incidence of hypoglycemia, a risk faced by people who are on intensive insulin therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Jean Betschart MN, RN, CDE is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She has also written many books and articles for children with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Diabetes Camp-The Best Thing to Happen to My Son
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
There are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 young people who attend diabetes camps each summer. Summer camps provide young people, ages 6 to 18, an opportunity to effectively manage their diabetes in an environment that is educational, safe and fun.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
Kumetrix Inc. of Union City, California, has entered into an agreement with Bayer Diagnostics to further develop Kumetrix's silicon micro-needle device for diabetic blood glucose monitoring.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2000
May 2000
Editor's note: Before changing your treatment plan, always advise your physician or health care practitioner.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
In a follow-up study of the 10-year DCCT (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial), it was found that people who intensively managed their blood sugar significantly reduced their risk of developing retinopathy and kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
In the February 26 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), it was reported that U.S. insurance companies may not pay for new devices such as the GlucoWatch monitor.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
Is diabetes driving you crazy? If so, welcome to the club. In fact, a very large club.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
DIABETES HEALTH: The latest figures show that only five percent of people with diabetes see a diabetes specialist. Is there something seriously wrong here?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2000
April 2000
A small Italian trial tested the accuracy of two popular blood glucose monitors at an altitude of nearly 10,000 ft. The Glucometer Elite II and the LifeScan One Touch II were tested on six type 1s who all had good glycemic control and no diabetes-related complications. The readings from the meters were compared to the results from venous blood samples. The findings were reported in the January issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
Major stressful events such as the death of a partner, long-lasting financial problems or a move may sharply increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in middle age, according to researchers at the Vrije University in Amsterdam. Their findings were published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
Through gene therapy, scientists at Ariad Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have come up with a way to store insulin in cells that can be released only when a pill is taken. Published in the February issue of Science, the findings hold promise not just for the treatment of diabetes, but for other medical problems which require a timed-release technique.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
The Capital Care Group project is an attempt by a Canadian group of nursing homes to reduce the high rates of diabetes-related complications among residents of its facilities. The findings were published in the December 1999 issue of the Canadian Journal of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
I thought Daniel Trecroci's foot care feature in the February issue ("Does the Shoe Fit? Important New Products for the Diabetic Foot") was very well written and organized. It is always good to express opinions from a variety of specialties.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
I thought Daniel Trecroci's foot care feature in the February issue ("Does the Shoe Fit? Important New Products for the Diabetic Foot") was very well written and organized. It is always good to express opinions from a variety of specialties.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
Renowned researcher Aaron Vinik, MD, PhD, believes that the ability to generate new insulin-secreting islets from a patient's own pancreatic cells represents a potential cure for diabetes, without the need for antirejection medications.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2000
March 2000
Kidney disease, retinopathy, angiopathy, neuropathy and delayed wound healing are the more commonly known complications of diabetes. Consider periodontitis, or gum disease, to be the sixth complication of diabetes, an important risk factor that needs to be controlled in order to improve your overall dental health. The more diabetes-related complications you may have, the more likely you are to develop others. Periodontitis has been linked with complications such as retinopathy, angiopathy and kidney disease. Periodontal disease can be monitored and controlled with careful attention to your at-home oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2000
While rigorous glycemic control is important for all diabetic patients, it's especially important after surgery. Better glycemic control after surgery reduces the rate of bacterial infections; and high post-surgery BGs often lead to more infections.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2000
Twenty years ago, the first blood glucose meters used 30 microliters of blood. When the One Touch came out 10 years ago, it only required 10 microliters of blood. Today, the FastTake, Advantage, Elite and Precision QID only use 2 or 3 microliters of blood. As Bayer claims in its "Size Matters" print ad for the Elite and Elite XL, "less blood means fewer errors, fewer punctures, less pain" resulting in "...reduced wastage and reduced cost."
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2000
February 2000
A promising drug trial at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center needs children, aged 8 and older, who have recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, to participate.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
Many people with diabetes assume that there is a strong correlation between their mean blood sugar level and their glycosylated hemoglobin levels. Some researchers, however, are sounding a warning: some people with identical glycosylated hemoglobin levels have been shown to have very different average blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
Excessive weight gain is a fear that haunts many adolescents and young adults, and contributes to the prevalence of eating disorders in this age group. For young people with type 1 diabetes, however, the fear of gaining weight, coupled with the perception that insulin is fattening, may prompt them to reduce their insulin intake. This results in poor blood glucose control and exposes them to the complications associated with it.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
In addition to numbness and tingling in the extremities, diabetes-induced nerve damage can also lead to problems with control of high blood pressure and cause incontinence, impotence, chronic diarrhea and constipation. This kind of autonomic neuropathy occurs when the branching extensions of nerve cells swell and block normal communication between the cells.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
Exercise impacts everyone differently. A minority of people with diabetes who exercise may find it unnecessary to make any insulin or dietary changes to accommodate their exercise regime, like the NPH user who does aerobics early in the morning before her breakfast or morning insulin. Most, however, will probably need to make some adjustments.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
You may not be a dummy, but chances are you are overwhelmed by all the diabetes information you are bombarded with, information that can be highly complex, technical and fast-changing. Information about diabetes can be difficult to incorporate into a healthy life.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2000
January 2000
If you're a person with diabetes who suspects your beta cells may still be hard at work, you may be more right than you know. Most people with diabetes, including type 1s, are still producing at least trace amounts of insulin. And while BGs and HbA1cs may be the foundation for any good diabetes treatment, when it comes to showing insulin production, they don't necessarily paint the full picture.
2 comments - Posted Jan 9, 2000
Medisense, Inc. has begun sales of its Precision Xtra meter, which measures blood ketone content as well as monitoring glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2000
An international team of researchers announced its discovery of the root cause of all serious diabetes complications the April 13 issue of the journal Nature reported.
0 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2000
A British study published in the April issue of Diabetes Care has put caffeine under the microscope again. After a two-year study, researchers conclude that caffeine can intensify the warning symptoms of hypoglycemia without affecting a patient's glycemic control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2000
For all children, the time between 6 and 12 years of age is marked by dramatic growth in many areas. For this reason, these years have been called the "I can do anything years."
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2000
Do you feel overwhelmed trying to keep track of blood glucose readings and figure out insulin dosages? Do you have trouble collecting all the data your doctor needs for analysis and for your care? To address these problems, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) has developed BD Diabetes Software, an easy-to-use program for tracking and analyzing patterns of blood glucose readings and insulin dosages.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
Ramadan is an annual month of fasting observed by as many as 1 billion Muslims globally. During Ramadan, which takes place this year from December 9, 1999 to January 8, 2000, Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. Although Islamic leaders allow exemptions on medical grounds, many devout Muslims with diabetes prefer to fast during Ramadan. As a result, they must make adjustments to their insulin dosages to avoid hypo- or hyperglycemia. Previously, doctors had reservations about allowing people with diabetes to fast but recent research indicates that fasting can be done safely as long as proper self-monitoring and close professional supervision are guaranteed.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
Pancreas Tonic, a new herbal treatment for people with diabetes, is drawing conflicting opinions from different quarters of the diabetes community. In 1999, Pancreas Tonic was hailed during an episode of the NBC television program EXTRA as "…the cure for diabetes" by William Taylor, MD, an internist. In additon, testimonials were given by people with diabetes who said that Pancreas Tonic really worked for the treatment of their blood sugars. According to transcripts from the EXTRA episode, Taylor added that Pancreas Tonic could be "one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the century."
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
An advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously recommended approval of the GlucoWatch monitor on December 6, 1999. The advisory panel, which approved the GlucoWatch monitor with conditions, said that the monitor could offer a tremendous benefit by measuring glucose far more often than blood tests can.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
LifeScan has upgraded its Windows-based software by introducing IN TOUCH Diabetes Management Software, Version 1.31. This new software, available for both the patient with diabetes and their health care provider, can download patient blood glucose data from any of LifeScan's current consumer meters. This makes it easier for health care providers to manage many patients and help them better control their blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
Kumetrix Inc., a privately held medical device company located in Union City, California, recently announced that it will receive $194,000 in state funds to further develop its painless blood glucose (BG) monitoring device.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2000
December 1999
How Will My Blood Sugars React To Being Pregnant
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1999
Though it does not test blood, the accuracy of the GlucoWatch monitor compares well with existing blood glucose meters, researchers have concluded.
3 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1999
In the October 20 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Frank Hu, MD, of the Harvard School of Public Health, writes that people can cut the risk of type 2 diabetes nearly in half by engaging in one hour of moderate-intensity activity each day, which doesn't have to be all at once. This moderate-intensity activity can be accomplished with a walk to the bus stop in the morning, a walk up several flights of stairs in the afternoon, and housework in the evening.
4 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1999
Can-Am Care Corporation has announced the availability of the new Excel GE blood glucose test strips, for use with Glucometer Elite blood glucose meters.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1999
November 1999
I attended a party this weekend at a friend's house. The hostess said, "Scott, I want you to meet my brother-in-law, Alan. He has diabetes, and you two should talk."
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
I am 28 years old and I've had juvenile diabetes for 21 years. I want to try for a family. I'm concerned about my frequent dropping out with low blood sugars at any given time, for a hundred different reasons (hormone levels is one). My big question is, how low can your blood sugars go before it starts to harm a fetus? Or, is it a matter of how long you have a low blood sugar?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Does anyone know of an over-the-counter spray that would help neuropathy in the feet? As things go, I am using gabapentin (Neurontin) and capsaicin creams or roll-ons. I also take tramadol (Ultram) and hydrocodone for arthritis pain. None of this stuff takes the pain away completely.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Dr. Ann Simpson and colleagues at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, have found a way to genetically engineer liver cells to mimic the insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas. The process, known as gene therapy, involves implanting the human insulin gene into liver cells, giving the cells the ability to synthesize, process and store insulin.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Researchers suggest that getting less chromium than what you need may contribute to the onset of type 2 diabetes over the long term. Rats given a diet low in chromium had insulin levels twice as high as a group of rats fed a diet high in chromium. The results of the study were published in the August issue of Metabolism.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
I am a 39-year-old type 1. What is a good strategy for controlling BGs during the night?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
When 5-year-old Jennifer Peurrung woke up hourly and started begging for a drink in the middle of the night, her mother Victoria told her to stop drinking and go back to bed. Jennifer started to cry.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Here is a sample of the software available to help keep you on track with your diabetes control.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
Q: One of my students is 9 years old and has diabetes. Many times, the student's BG is greater than 200 mg/dl at lunch time. My reaction would be to take insulin. Are these high BG readings normal for children that age?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
I am president of a diabetes association in which we have lots of members who would like information on islet transplantation. What is the latest news on the success of islet transplantation?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1999
October 1999
In 1993, Ross Adler of Lakewood, Washington, was 58 years old and taking a four-shot-per-day regimen of NPH and Regular insulin for a total of 110 units per day. His HbA1c was 8.4%, and his fasting C-peptide was 3 ng/mL which strongly suggested type 2 diabetes was caused by insulin resistance. Obviously, with such a high HbA1c, his injected insulin was not lowering his blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
In a January 1991 issue of Diabetes Care, it was demonstrated for the first time that vitamin E in patients with diabetes reduces protein glycoslation, which is a process where glucose attaches itself to the hemoglobin inside your red blood cells, contributing to complications. Also, a study conducted by vitamin manufacturer Hoffman-LaRoche of Switzerland reported that doses as low as 200 IU of vitamin E significantly reduced glycoslation.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
Blood Glucose Awareness Training (BGAT) is a private institute developed over 18 years ago to teach patients how to better recognize low blood glucose symptoms. BGAT was started by Daniel Cox, PhD, William Clarke, MD, and Linda A. Gonder-Frederick, PhD, of the University of Virginia. All three are authors of the article in the August 25 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, which studied people with diabetes and their decisions to drive. The institute sells manuals, gives workshops and teaches people how to do BGAT.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1999
For 30 years, diabetes specialist John Hunt, MB, BS, FRCP, has been trying to get his patients at the University of British Columbia to understand the importance of good control. Nothing worked, until six months ago, when Hunt hung this sign in his office:
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 1999
September 1999
According to the July issue of Diabetes Care, high doses of supplementary vitamin C may cause an unexpected elevation of blood sugar levels and false diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
Choosing a glucose meter is like choosing a home. You have your dream home in your head, but it does not exist in the real world, just like a noninvasive meter. Then, even among the existing homes, what you really want, (for most of us) you cannot afford. Similarly, the meter that has all the features you are looking for may not be covered by your health insurance. Yet, just when you've given up hope, it all comes together and you find the one you want. After some work, your home, and your meter, become sources of protection and comfort. Most importantly, your meter becomes your lifeline.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
LifeScan, manufacturer of blood glucose self-monitoring products, has updated its One Touch Basic meter.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
Doctors Say "Noncompliant" is an Irrelevant Term
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 1999
Every Thursday night before she goes to sleep, Lynn Dempsky, a 42-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes, uses an Acculink modem. With the push of a button, her whole week of glucose readings is faxed to her doctor. If a follow-up is required, she hears from her doctor the next morning. Dempsky says the new modem system has improved her communication with her doctor and is helping her keep better control of her disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
In a new book, "The Diabetes Cure," author Vern Cherewatenko, MD, claims that an herbal compound, hydroxycitric acid (HCA), coupled with a chromium supplement, plus some serious dieting and exercise, is the cure for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1999
August 1999
The following studies on insulin pump therapy were presented recently at the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions in San Diego:
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
German researchers say that using Regular insulin prior to every meal improves blood glucose control without causing weight gain in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Their research was presented at the American Diabetes Association's scientific sessions in June.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Instead of a sugar-free diet, people with diabetes might do better on a hang-up-free diet.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes can have healthy deliveries if they maintain a good HbA1c during early pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Researchers at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital in Dorset, United Kingdom, discovered that alcohol consumption in people with type 1 diabetes is less than average, and that at least half of them experience some form of acute blood glucose change when drinking.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
DI: First, we have a message to pass along. Shannon Openshaw called us, from Bemidji, Minnesota. Her 11-year-old daughter, Adrienne, was diagnosed with diabetes in March. Shannon and Adrienne want to tell you that you gave her courage. She was feeling like she was going to have to give up a lot, but you changed that. They say, thanks.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Several years ago, I had a severe insulin reaction while vacationing in the mountains. This was the result of exercising a lot more than usual. Pharmacists often spend eight to 12 hours a day, six days a week behind the prescription counter. On vacation, however, with the combination of increase in exercise, altitude, less stress and changes in food patterns, I went into a convulsion around 3 a.m. My wife could not awake me, and I had forgotten to inform her that I had a Glucagon injection with me. I awoke just in time for her to tell me the paramedics were on the way. I drank orange juice, ate glucose tablets, used a tube of Insta-Glucose and scolded her for telephoning for help.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
There's a buzz in the diabetes community from a recent islet transplantation success with a drug called anti-CD154. Given to monkeys once per month after islet transplants, anti-CD154 kept the islets working, and kept the monkeys free of insulin injections, and other harmful immunosuppressive drugs, for one year.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Two patient reminders are more effective than one reminder in improving diabetic retinal exam rates in a managed care setting.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
Exercise Improves Diabetes and Cardiovascular Control, but Maintenance is Necessary. It is well known that good diet and exercise habits reduce the risk of heart disease and improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes. Knowing that diet and exercise programs are extremely difficult to follow, researcher Fannie Smith enrolled overweight type 2 patients in an intensive, 16-week program called "Fit N' Healthy."
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1999
July 1999
Walking could be the easiest, least expensive exercise, and it is proven to help shed pounds and improve glucose levels. An Australian study looks at post-menopausal type 2 women, and how walking changed their health.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
Imagine if a free glucose meter showed up at your door. You'd be thrilled, right? Well, it happened to David Fogarty, but he wasn't thrilled. This Berkeley, California, father was fuming mad. Fogarty's HMO, Health Net, sent a free Precision Q.I.D. meter to his 11-year-old son, Lucas, and to all its other members with diabetes. The catch was, Health Net would soon stop covering strips for Lucas's One Touch Profile.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
A compound isolated from a fungus controlled blood glucose levels in mice bred to develop diabetes. Researchers are saying that if the fungus, collected from a plant in the Republic of Congo, demonstrates the same effects in humans with diabetes, then millions of people would be freed from taking insulin.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
Visually Impaired Need Braille on Insulin Vials
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
A Canadian company claims that its insulin patch has reduced blood glucose levels in diabetic rats. Helix BioPharma Corp. is conducting clinical experiments in bringing to market the Biphasix, which the company says is similar to a nicotine patch.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1999
June 1999
It was discovered that HbA1c measurements in adolescents went up during the summer months by .73% and declined by .75% in the fall.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
Researchers say that combining some NPH insulin with each injection of lispro (Humalog) has several benefits. It improves 24-hour blood glucose, lowers HbA1c values, and reduces hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
Gary was excited to make the junior varsity crew team. The team usually met at 5:30 a.m., rowed until 6:30, showered, dressed, grabbed some breakfast and got to school by 8. Gary wasn't sure how to swing insulin and breakfast, but he thought his blood glucose levels would be okay. Gary also told his coach that he didn't want special favors or attention because of his diabetes. He and his parents had been well educated about adjusting insulin, and were encouraged by their medical team to see what worked best. Unfortunately, things didn't work out as he planned.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
NutraSweet Manufacturer: Beware Internet Rumors, Not Us
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
It can be difficult coping with diabetes, especially if you're a child. Luckily, there are educational toys and other products that help children conquer some of the mountains that diabetes can create. Here are a few that you may want to look into.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1999
May 1999
Electroacupuncture (EA) is from a traditional Chinese therapy that combines traditional needle acupuncture and massage.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
Q: If an individual with diabetes has numbers that are all within normal when compared to a healthy nondiabetic, are there adjustments that must be made in terms of diet? By normal numbers, I mean fasting blood glucose less than 100, HbA1c less than 5.3%, body mass index less than 23 percent, and a lipid panel within normal.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
A study published in the January 1999 issue of the journal Ophthalmology revealed that proper control of blood glucose could significantly reduce cortical cataracts in people of African descent.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
Readers Sweet On Aspartame Article but ADA Sour
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
For people with type 2 diabetes, exercise is an imperative companion piece to managing blood sugars. For people with type 1 diabetes, however, it is a more difficult proposition.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 1999
MiniMed's continuous glucose monitor appears to have passed through the first phase of FDA approval. An advisory panel, which makes initial recommendations to the entire agency, voted unanimously to recommend approval to the entire FDA.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1999
April 1999
I never thought I would weigh over 200 pounds in my life, yet I stepped on the scales one day and weighed 214 pounds!
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
You rely on your physicians to recommend the best therapy, but how much do they know about vitamins and nutrition?
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
Q: Is the Dr. Atkins low-carbohydrate diet bad for me? I was around 200 pounds last year. I went on a diet and lost 20 pounds by eating a lot of meat, vegetables and eggs, and drinking a lot of diet soda. When I reached 180 pounds, I quit the diet and lost another 20 pounds. Soon thereafter, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
While insulin pens have made blood glucose management easier and more flexible for many individuals with diabetes, they are also susceptible to technical malfunctions. Such malfunctions could result in extraordinarily high blood glucose (BG) levels, and impair the diabetes patient's health.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 1999
Readers Desperate to Hang On to Animal Insulin
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
A study published in the December 1998 issue of the Canadian Journal of Diabetes Care says that regular exercise is an important component of the treatment regimen for all people with diabetes. Gayle Lorenzi, RN, CDE, who conducted the study at the University of California, San Diego, says that exercise, when combined with dietary management and drug therapy, generally contributes to improved blood glucose control, as well as decreased cardiac risk, blood pressure control, lipid profiles and psychological well-being. Oftentimes, however, initiating an exercise program is a tough sell for most diabetes physicians and educators. The decision to start an exercise program requires motivation to get started, and then a commitment to maintaining the program.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1999
March 1999
I recently spoke to 200 people at the Desert Diabetes Club in Palm Springs, California. The talk went great, and the Question & Answer part of the speech was the best part for me because it gave me an opportunity to see what was on the minds of people with diabetes. I learned that what people with diabetes wanted the most was tips and information they could use for the treatment of their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
Approximately 3 percent of Americans between the ages of 20 and 74 are unaware that they have type 2 diabetes. In some instances, people can go for years without knowing they have the disease, which leads to an increased rate of diabetes-related complications.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
Q: I just finished reading the November 1998 issue of DIABETES HEALTH regarding the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF) islet transplantation $20 million advance. I didn't see anything about the cloning of islets, however, which I had read about in a previous issue of DIABETES HEALTH. I am curious to know how realistic the cloning process is, and when we might see it actually take place.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
Editor's Note: We get many questions about treatments for painful neuropathy. We invited Aaron Vinik, MD, a renowned neuropathy expert, to detail various treatments for neuropathy.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
Exercise has always been prescribed as a companion therapy to insulin, drug, or diet therapy in individuals with type 1 and 2 diabetes, yet, in the past two decades, the importance of exercise has been reexamined time and time again.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
It's an incredibly tense race, and in its wake are literal and figurative trails of blood.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 1999
The results of a 20-month study on metformin (Glucophage) use were published in the January 1999 issue of Diabetes Care. Data collected from researchers at the health maintenance organization Kaiser Permanente revealed that there seemed to be good adherence to prescription guidelines, as well as an improvement in glucose control and rare incidence of lactic acidosis, in patients taking metformin.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1999
February 1999
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are suggesting that high blood glucose levels help cause cataracts in older patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
Q: I cannot find any information on the effect of short-term spikes in blood sugar (i.e., 115 before breakfast, 170 one hour after breakfast). How dangerous are swings? Currently, I am not on any medication and I am simply trying to control my blood sugar through diet and exercise. I am not overweight (6 feet tall, 175 pounds), and I walk four miles about four to five times a week. Even with all of this, I still cannot control my blood sugar into the nondiabetic range. Any suggestions?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
Over five years, patients taking pravastatin showed a 25 percent reduction in risk for coronary events compared to patients taking a placebo. Furthermore, patients taking pravastatin showed a 32 percent decrease in coronary bypass operations compared to the placebo group.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
Patrick Lustman, PhD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues recently conducted a study of people with diabetes who were suffering from depression. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects that depression might have in managing blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
In a speech delivered at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago last June, Mayer B. Davidson, MD, of King-Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles outlined the current state of diabetes research and diabetes care in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
Rezulin, a type 2 diabetes drug manufactured by Warner-Lambert, has been receiving its fair share of black eyes recently. Many in the diabetes community, however, are standing by Rezulin as an effective agent in treating type 2 diabetes. Others are making plans to treat their type 2 diabetes through other means.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 1999
The first continuous glucose monitor could be on its way to doctors' offices. MiniMed will ask the FDA this month to approve its application for the continuous glucose monitoring system.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1999
January 1999
The Food and Drug Administration has given marketing clearance to Bayer Corporation's pharmaceutical division to use Precose in combination with insulin or metformin for treating people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1999
Most parents never consider the possibility that their child will develop diabetes. Yet every year over 13,000 children are diagnosed with diabetes, more than all forms of childhood cancer combined. Every year 13,000 children struggle to learn diabetes control while 13,000 families fight against diabetes' control over their lives.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 1999
Adapted from article entitled "Childhood Diabetes and the Family," by Tim Wysocki and Wynola Wayne, from Practical Diabetology, June 1992, pg. 31.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1999
PharmaTerra Inc. has staked a claim with its herbal remedy, ProBeta, which, if legitimate, could be the most profound treatment of diabetes to date.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 1999
December 1998
Q: Last week, we had a speaker at our pump group who talked about hypoglycemia awareness and its difficulties. When she asked how we treated hypo situations, I commented that I shut down my pump and consumed some quick-acting and complex carbohydrates.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Jean Chediac has type 2 diabetes and had not taken his medication for a week, running his BGs up to double their normal level. He finally went to his health care provider, who gave him his medicine. Within a day, his BGs were back to normal.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
According to a survey conducted by Consumer Health Sciences (CHS), only 70% of people with type 1 and 2 diabetes who are insured have coverage for glucose meters. It was also revealed that 88% have coverage for test strips; 80% have pharmaceutical coverage; 55% have insurance coverage for syringes and only 12% have coverage for insulin pumps.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Visually impaired people with diabetes now have a glucose monitor, called the Accu-Chek Voicemate, that talks them through their tests. Manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company and Roche Diagnostics, the Voicemate's voice tells people their blood sugar levels and which type of insulin they are using.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) demonstrated that intensive insulin treatment could lead to severe hypoglycemia in adults with type 1 diabetes. The study, however, did not address the effects of intensive insulin treatments and their effects on type 1 children. While it has been documented that severe hypoglycemia causes neurological damage in adult type 1 patients, there has been no conclusive evidence of what it does to children.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
DIABETES HEALTH reported in the October 1998 issue that the Durable Medical Equipment Regional Carriers (DMERC) had established an interim policy on Medicare coverage of glucose monitors for people with type 1 and 2 diabetes ("Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Glucose Monitors").
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
Meals 'n Carbs is a new CD-ROM designed by two diabetes educators to help people plan their meals with diabetes management in mind. The CD-ROM begins with basic information about digestion, diabetes and carbohydrate counting for people recently diagnosed with diabetes. It then progresses to a meal planner, in which you use your mouse to add foods to a meal and print out your nutritional information.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1998
November 1998
How do you know the differences between a new pump user, and a not-so-new pump user?
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1998
Five years ago, Nicole Johnson, 24, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after contracting a flu virus. Up until that point, blood glucose management was probably something to which she had never given much thought. She learned that her daily life would be forever altered as a result of the disease.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1998
In early September, researchers concluded a landmark, 20-year study on type 2 diabetes. The $38.6 million study, known as the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), examined the effects of various therapies on patients with type 2 diabetes. The study is considered the first of its kind in relation to examining diet, oral drug and insulin therapies for patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1998
October 1998
According to the August 1998 issue of Diabetes Care, a recent study supports the belief that blood circulation problems in people with diabetes can be avoided through good glucose control. The study went on to further say that the best way to maintain good blood circulation is through the use of an insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
Q: The subject of treating diabetes with a low carbohydrate diet is virtually untouched by other publications. I would like to see a series of articles about it. Of course, a quicker way would be to read Dr. Richard K. Bernstein's book Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1997).
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
How does the cost of increased blood glucose testing and more injections affect those with lower incomes? According to the third National Health and Nutrition Survey, "those without health insurance are twice as likely to suffer a lack of food as those who have health insurance."
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
Christine Klemp of West Bend, Wisconsin, received a shock when she opened her box of insulin on August 16. A message printed in red ink said, "This insulin will be discontinued. Contact your physician to change to another insulin." Klemp was horrified, because this particular insulin (Iletin I beef-pork) is the only insulin that works well for her. "My life is about to come to an end. I just could not believe this was happening."
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
When peering over the edge of Half Dome, one of the signature peaks of Yosemite National Park, it is hard not to worry about falling. When Paul Wiersma reached this precipice, he had other falls to worry about as well. In the Sierra heat of this past summer, Paul, who has type 1 diabetes, had to worry that a combination of exertion and insulin would cause his blood glucose levels to fall too low. Overdosing on insulin and exertion can be dangerous anywhere, but it is especially unforgiving on a mountain trail with perilous drops only a misstep away.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
Many people are dissatisfied with a new interim Medicare policy. The policy was considered to be a breakthrough for Medicare patients because for the first time it will cover patients who are not being treated with insulin injections. Prior to July 1, 1998, these patients were not covered by Medicare for their diabetes testing supplies.
2 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
The Food And Drug Administration has given marketing clearance for a special laser finger perforator for kids.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
Diabetes treatment has made its way into the high-tech age! A new prescription bottle with a "brain" and a beeping alarm clock will help remind patients when to take their medications. It also beeps when it is time for people with diabetes to check blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1998
September 1998
Caroline was 29 when she first came to my office in October 1994 for evaluation of her type 1 diabetes. Just over 5 feet tall and weighing 122 pounds, she was a petite and vivacious woman, happily married with one child, and working part-time.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
Helping space aliens and controlling blood glucose may sound like an odd mix, but in a new educational software program produced by the Starbright Foundation, a non-profit organization, the two work together to help teach kids about diabetes. The program, funded by Eli Lilly & Company, is just one example of the computer software products available to help people of all ages manage their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
Vince Brewerton has had type 1 diabetes for nine years. By using a software program that was compatible with his glucose meter, he was able to learn how to tighten his control. The software allowed him to see how his glucose levels changed throughout the day and, in turn, adjust his insulin doses accordingly.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration claims that the Johnson & Johnson company is failing to adequately warn the public about the dangers of using certain defective SureStep blood glucose meters. As reported in DIABETES HEALTH (see "290,000 SureStep Meters Recalled," July 1998, p. 10), J&J recently began recalling its SureStep meters sold before August 1997. The monitors failed to measure blood sugar levels in excess of 500 mg/dl. At such levels, the meters display an "ER 1" error message instead of the glucose concentrations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1998
August 1998
Yes, it's almost back to school time. If you have been using your pump successfully over the summer, you can continue to do so during the school year. Here are a few things which can help make the first day of school, and the rest of the year, go smoothly.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
It's impossible to pick out the "best" research, particularly when there is so much interesting scientific work to choose from. My choice of what to include in this report, while necessarily arbitrary, was guided by what seemed most interesting to me. So if you've been involved in a particular research project that I've omitted, please accept my apologies. Here are the new findings that I would like to share.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
Sifting through the research findings from Chicago, we found many exciting new developments. Some of the results, which we have reviewed below, offer new insights into the complications and associated conditions that come with diabetes. Some of these discoveries offer the possibility of radical new therapies that can help mitigate, if not eliminate, certain damaging effects. Here is a sample of the more interesting reports we found.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
Before eating lunch at a restaurant, Jim loads his foil packs of insulin into a device about the size of a large flashlight. He then presses a button which releases a cloud of insulin into the clear chamber of the device. He takes a slow, deep draw of powdered insulin into his lungs.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
Two things that affect every aspect of one's life are having diabetes and becoming a senior citizen. When these happen together their impacts can become even more pronounced. As if this isn't enough, seniors with diabetes have to confront less-than-flattering stereotypes every day. This can be especially frustrating, and potentially damaging, when dealing with health care providers. Despite these added challenges, the plight of seniors with diabetes is often overlooked.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is seeking individuals age 65 and older to participate in the three-year study. The investigation will examine whether medication (glucophage) or diet and exercise can help to prevent type 2 diabetes in people at risk for the disease. Individuals eligible to participate must have high blood glucose levels-fasting glucose levels should be between 95 and 125 mg/dl-but not yet have diabetes. Twenty-seven medical centers across the United States are involved in the study. To find out if you can participate, call (888) DPP-JOIN (377-5646) or visit the web site at www.preventdiabetes.com.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
As of July 1, 1998, Medicare began covering the cost of home blood glucose monitoring for people with diabetes who do not use insulin-the program had previously covered only those treated with insulin. Medicare now pays the cost of a glucose meter and up to 25 blood test strips per month for Part B program enrollees. People using insulin are covered for the cost of their meters and 100 glucose test strips per month. All applicable Medicare deductibles and co-payments apply to these benefits.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
Amira Medical, formerly Mercury Diagnostics, is close to releasing its At Last Blood Glucose Monitoring System, which promises to offer a pain-free method for sampling and monitoring blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
A series of new studies has shown that Prandin (repaglinide), a new oral antidiabetic drug, is effective in providing 24-hour control of blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Prandin stimulates beta cells within the pancreas to produce insulin and is taken just before each meal, when insulin is needed. The drug reduces risk of hyperinsulinemia (excess insulin) or severe hypoglycemia (low glucose levels) by allowing insulin levels to return toward baseline between meals and at night.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1998
July 1998
Summer is when pump wearers need to plan ahead and take special precautions. Sun, sand, heat and water are just a few of the hazards that come with the job of summer fun that can impair your pump's performance. If you spend a significant amount of time outdoors, here are a few tips on how to make your pump time worry-free. Have a sensational summer!
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
According to Monica Ramirez Basco, PhD, perfectionism should take a back seat when diabetes management is involved. She notes that, "while it could be argued that perfect control is a great goal, most people with diabetes find it impossible to consistently achieve." For a perfectionist, inability to achieve perfect control can lead to great frustration which may in turn cause even greater problems.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
The role that type 1 diabetes may or not play in the growth of kids with type 1 diabetes has been studied for some time. According to a study in the May issue of Diabetes Care, the timing of the pubertal growth is normal in type 1 children, but the magnitude of this growth is reduced in girls.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
According to a study presented last month at the ADA's 58th Annual Scientific Sessions, people with type 1 diabetes often have serious, symptomless cardiovascular problems much earlier in life than would be expected in people without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
Diabetes control is the place where two worlds collide - the world of the known and the world of the unknown. You know certain things affect your blood sugars - what you eat, how much insulin you take, when you take it and the exercise you do. When you take charge of these areas, you often have good blood sugar readings.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
In 1984, the critically ill infant Baby Fae sparked debate with the news that a baboon heart had been implanted in her tiny body. Sadly, Baby Fae died 22 days later from complications of her illness.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
The new FastTake blood glucose meter from LifeScan promises to make blood glucose readings less time consuming. The novel egg-shaped meter delivers readings within 15 seconds and requires the smallest blood drop of any meter currently on the market.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan is voluntarily recalling and replacing its SureStep glucose meters sold before August 1997. The monitors failed to measure high blood sugar levels in excess of 500 mg/dl. At such levels the meters display an, "ER 1" error message instead of the glucose concentration. The problem, which is software related and not in the machine itself, does not exist in units sold after August 1997.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1998
June 1998
Researchers in the Netherlands recently found that well controlled type 1s on multiple injection therapy have less variable fasting blood glucose levels and a lower total frequency of hypoglycemia when nighttime pump therapy is substituted for their bedtime NPH insulin injection. In addition, warning signs of hypoglycemia were enhanced and aspects of the counter-regulatory hormonal response to hypoglycemia were improved when subjects were on nocturnal pump therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
Q: I am a mother with type 1 diabetes and read with interest the "My Own Injection" column in March 1998 ("The Diary of a Diabetic Dad") describing Scott King's trials and tribulations as a dad with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
Fish oil may lower triglyceride levels by almost 30 percent, according to an analysis of 26 published clinical trials performed by researchers at the Ziekenhuis der Veije University in the Netherlands. All trials studied included more than five diabetes patients (both IDDM and NIDDM) and looked at the effect of fish oil and docosahexaenoic acid on serum lipids and glucose tolerance.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
Ethnic and racial differences may play a role in insulin response, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care. In a group of 153 men with type 2 diabetes put on intensive therapy, African-Americans achieved an improvement in HbA1c levels with less insulin than other ethnic groups. The differences could not be explained by differences in body weight, activity levels, use of other medicines or the insulin secretion ability of the pancreas.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
Sixty-seven-year-old Gerald Lundstrom thinks it's his hearty Swedish stock that has something to do with his good health after fifty years of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
When the first pancreas transplant was performed in 1966 at the University of Minnesota, doctors considered it a risky venture at best. Three decades later and over a 1,000 people in the United States undergo a pancreas or simultaneous pancreas/kidney transplant every year. Still, a cloud of misinformation surrounds the procedure.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
The following is a greatly abridged list of quotes from respected medical journals on the financial and medical impact of various diabetes practices and products. These can be used in letters to HMOs and purchasers of HMO plans to impress upon them the importance and financial good sense of providing good diabetes care. Again, this list is just a short list of the many facts gathered on the subject. The more you investigate and the more you learn the stronger the case you can present to get the coverage you need and deserve.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
Are you a member of a HMO but not getting the coverage you need for proper diabetes care? After finding a primary care physician who is sympathetic to your needs, you may need to contact your HMO and appeal for coverage for the services and equipment you need for good preventative care.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1998
May 1998
How full did that meal you just ate make you feel? Did it satisfy your hunger, or did it make you feel like you'll need a snack later?
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
This month DIABETES HEALTH posed a few questions to an expert in pump therapy, Bruce W. Bode, MD, of the Atlanta Diabetes Association. Bode first became familiar with pump therapy in the '70s and has been putting people on the pump in his own practice since 1985. To date, Bode has started over 800 patients on insulin pump therapy. He also maintains the largest database in the world on people who have undergone pump therapy.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
The vitamin known for numerous health-related benefits may also aid circulation in patients with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
NASA and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation brought together leading figures from academia, NASA, and the diabetes industry for a two day think tank in Washington D.C. on noninvasive and minimally invasive blood glucose testing.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
Type 1 diabetes may play a role in delayed development of general intelligence and certain learning and information processing skills in children, according to a study published in the March 1998 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
Agents from the U.S. Attorney's Office searched the offices of LifeScan Inc., located in Milpitas, Calif., then confiscated documents as part of an FDA investigation of LifeScan's SureStep meters.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1998
April 1998
Work, or academic performance, is not affected by a hypoglycemic episode the night before, according to a study in March's Diabetes Care. Low blood glucose at night can have an affect on feelings of well-being, vitality and sleep. The "hung over" feeling many people with diabetes experience may actually be caused by the interruption in sleep brought on by the hypoglycemia, not the hypoglycemia itself.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
A study published in the November/December 1997 issue of Practical Diabetes International found that one in six patients interviewed had used some form of complementary, or alternative, medicine. Other studies show that 25 to 49 percent of the general population have made use of alternative medicines.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
Could there be more than beauty in the eye of the beholder? How about an accurate blood glucose reading? That's what Visionary Medical Products Corporation (VMPC) in Carson City, Nevada, is hoping for - a noninvasive test that will determine BG levels through minute blood vessel changes in the retina.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
Several companies are actively working on technologies to improve blood sugar testing and thereby capture a share of the two- to three-billion dollar blood sugar testing market. The goal is to make testing easier, more convenient and, the hope of many, continuous without sticking the finger. Here are some of the companies trying to become the first to offer improved testing and how they plan to do it:
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
If your child's blood glucose readings are erratic, have his doctor check his tummy. A recent study in the March issue of Diabetes Care cited an increased incidence of slow emptying of the stomach in children with diabetes as a possible cause of poor glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1998
March 1998
Neuropathy is one of the three most common complications of diabetes (along with retinopathy and kidney disease). As its name implies, neuropathy affects the nervous system. It can result in pain and/or a dangerous lack of sensation.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1998
While all the specific causes of neuropathy are not fully understood, medical professionals and researchers agree the most effective treatment for neuropathy is the stabilization of blood glucose levels.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 1998
No one enjoys going to the dentist, but for people with diabetes, getting that cleaning and check-up are especially important. The link between diabetes and oral health can't be ignored. In fact, dental problems in people with diabetes are so rampant that Mark Finney, DDS, believes oral disease should be referred to as "the sixth 'opathy' of diabetes," deserving of the attention given to retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy and the like.
4 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1998
The Accu-Chek Complete blood glucose monitor, Boehringer Mannheim Corp.'s latest addition to its Accu-Chek line, will be available throughout the United States this month.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1998
February 1998
I was seventeen years old when the doctor told me I had diabetes. In the weeks that followed I heard many strange things about my new disease. Friends, neighbors and relatives had plenty to say about my diabetes and very little of it was positive.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
Susan has type 2 diabetes and is under the care of diabetes specialist Nancy Bohannon, MD. Like many other type 2s she is also hypertensive, has high cholesterol and suffered a heart attack. She has arthritis, is postmenopausal and is trying to quit smoking as well. To cover all these conditions she is on a list of pharmaceuticals that might have made even Elvis Presley take a step back.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
A battle over who developed the technology for a noninvasive glucose monitoring system has erupted between Americare Diagnostics and Technical Chemicals & Products, Inc.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
In November, President Clinton signed the "Food and Drug Modernization Act of 1997," a new law intended to streamline the regulatory process and improve the regulation of medical devices. One section of the law specifically advocates Congress to encourage the development of safe and effective noninvasive blood glucose meters.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1998
January 1998
Last month I excitedly reported that a march on Washington had been announced. However, it grew so fast that the planners had to step back and take a second look. They are now calling it a "Political Impact Rally," and the date might be changing. For more information, a toll free number has been set up by volunteer Robin Harrison. Call (888) 253-7144 to find out more about this emerging, grassroots advocacy campaign.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1998
Developing intimacy involves trusting and learning to understand the other person. Unfortunately, sexual issues, especially for women with diabetes, are often kept in the dark.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 1998
Naturally, people with diabetes want to avoid labels that imply that there is something wrong with them. Because of this, many in the diabetes community are hesitant to wear medical ID. While this aversion to being labeled is understandable, ID provides medical workers with valuable, potentially life-saving information in an emergency.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1998
Once the DCCT results were published showing the benefits of tight control, the importance of self-monitoring to a successful diabetes control regimen was solidified. The BG diagnostics market has boomed as a result. United States revenues for 1997 are expected to top out at $877.2 million, and by the year 2004, they are expected to reach $2.25 billion.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1998
It can be difficult enough being a child, not to mention a child with diabetes. Luckily, there are educational toys, products and information that can help children with diabetes conquer some of the mountains that diabetes can create. DIABETES HEALTH looked into various products and logged onto a web site for children with diabetes - www.castleweb.com/diabetes/ - to ask parents of children with diabetes firsthand how they deal with the day-to-day challenges of diabetes. Here are a few products and parents' tips that you may want to look into.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 1998
Getting a child with diabetes to adhere to his or her BG control regimen can feel like pulling teeth at times. However, recent research shows that something as simple and enjoyable as touch can help kids relieve stress, make them more resistant to disease and improve their BG control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1998
December 1997
Imagine this. You enter a grocery store and on the directory directly above "Diapers" is "Diabetes". This aisle contains every food made for people with diabetes. And thankfully, a number of choices exist in this land of sugar-free sweets, sweeteners and snacks.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1997
Health Care Professional Calls to Save Insulin
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1997
It's called the Diasensor 1000. The company that built it, Indiana, Pa.-based Biocontrol Technology Inc., claims it's the answer to diabetics' prayers.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 1997
November 1997
Looking for a bloodless, painless way to test for glucose levels, researchers have turned to the skin. Between the layers of skin is a fluid called dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) that, according to a report in September's Diabetes Care, contains enough glucose to be an accurate measure of BGs.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1997
November 1: Diabetes is the reason for the season. November is National Diabetes Month, for more information about events and resources available to you check with your local diabetes care and education center.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1997
Boehringer Mannheim is currently developing a blood glucose monitoring system that it hopes will measure BGs continuously and as painlessly as possible. Boehringer would like to see its minimally-invasive product, the Komo System, on the market by the year 2000.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1997
October 1997
Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of 80 percent of America’s insulin is planning to take Iletin I (beef/pork) insulins off of the market.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1997
Rezulin, Warner-Lambert's type 2 diabetes drug, has recently been approved by the FDA for use in conjunction with sulfonylureas.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1997
Are babies born small at a higher risk of developing diabetes? Yes, according to French researchers who published their findings recently in the British Medical Journal .
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1997
Last May, DIABETES HEALTH ran a story about 13-year-old Eric Carr who was suspended and branded a drug dealer by his Missouri middle school for passing out glucose tablets. We received many letters and phone calls from readers shocked by the school's ignorance.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1997
September 1997
Laura Greenfield has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 18 years. When told by health professionals that exercise would help her control BGs she tried it. Unfortunately, Laura discovered that exercise is a tricky balancing act and not simply a matter of physical exertion. At first, she found it made it even more difficult to maintain stable BG levels.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1997
August 1997
If you have an eating disorder and need help, contact the American Anorexia/Bulimia Association (AABA) at (212) 575-6200 or write them at 165 West 46th Street, Suite 1108, New York, NY 10036. You can also contact psychologist William Polonsky, PhD, CDE, for referrals at (619) 965-5659 or he can be contacted by e-mail at WHPolonsky@aol.com.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
It is well known that poor BG control leads to greater risk of infections. In the first clinical study of this relationship, heart surgery patients with the highest blood glucose levels were found to be 70 percent more likely to develop post-operative complications like wound and urinary tract infections.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
The DCCT showed that there is a strong relationship between HbA1c values and the risk of developing chronic diabetes complications. But this information is of limited benefit to people with diabetes in setting up day-to-day glycemic goals if they don't understand the relationship between HbA1cs and mean blood glucose levels (MBG).
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
The Spanish know how to live, in more ways than one. A recent study published in the July issue of Diabetes Care suggests that the Spanish diet, which is high in fat due to the prevalence of olive oil, may be a healthy one for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
It's been 20 years since the standards for the diagnosis of diabetes were set. Things have changed.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
The following case study was submitted by board member, Steven Edelman, MD an endocrinologist at the Veterans Hospital in San Diego.
3 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1997
July 1997
A recent survey of diabetes educators found that they feel the telephone is a valuable tool to help patients with their diabetes care regimes. However, the survey also determined that years of experience and certification were factors that significantly affected the topics covered in their phone conversations.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1997
In addition to their many lifesaving skills, paramedics must also have expertise in treating people with diabetes in emergency situations. For instance, about once a year 36-year-old Craig Lloyd's sugars plunge unexpectedly into the 30s and he loses consciousness.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1997
At this point, the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial's (DCCT) finding that intensive insulin treatment reduces the number of long-term diabetes complications is, hopefully, only news to the recently diagnosed. What is less commonly known is that the same tight BG control that reduces the risk of complications has a darker side. The intensive insulin therapy (IIT) described by the DCCT presents a three fold risk of severe hypoglycemia - sometimes with dire consequences.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 1997
June 1997
The Diabetic Man: A Guide to Health and Success in All Areas of Your Life
by Peter Lodewick, MD, June Biermann and Barbara Toohey
(Lowell House, $16)
To purchase call Prana Publications at (800) 735-7726.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1997
May 1997
Antioxidants, a main selling point for countless nutritional supplements and multi-vitamins these days, are drawing the attention of health experts.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1997
Boehringer Mannheim Corp. (BMC) has released a new meter that can provide BG readings as well as monitor cholesterol levels. The new palm-sized monitor, the Accu-Chek¨ InstantPlusª System, can provide a cholesterol reading in three minutes and a blood glucose reading in 12 seconds.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1997
A host of new diabetes start-ups are trying to develop alternatives to finger-stick home glucose testing. It is their hope that an alternative to the finger-stick will bring high acquisition valuations like those paid for LifeScan by Johnson & Johnson and for MediSense by Abbott Laboratories Inc.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1997
April 1997
Everybody is talking about Enter The Zone these days. They are referring to the popular book on nutrition and diet by Barry Sears. But there are other zones as well - the "treatment zones" for type 2 diabetes. Knowledge of these zones will help you better understand how and why your particular treatment program was designed.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
During a recent trip to visit my sister and brother-in-law I hit a piece of metal on the interstate and my front left tire was ruined. Changing the tire wasn't a difficult process, but it used energy that was not accounted for in my calculations of exercise, insulin and food intake.
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
Human ultralente is being used presently in our pediatric population with great success. To understand how to use human ultralente effectively, one must understand the action of insulin. Animal regular insulin peaks in two to four hours and lasts four to six hours. Animal NPH insulin begins working in one to one-and-a-half hours and peaks in eight to twelve hours with detectable serum levels at twenty to twenty-four hours. In practice, there is little effect on blood glucose after twelve hours. Human insulin appears to work faster than its animal counterparts.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
Islet cell transplants, a treatment that could reverse diabetes, is no longer a pipe dream. Success has been demonstrated in about 30 patients at a number of institutions worldwide.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
Biocontrol is once again going to bat for their Diasensor 1000 non-invasive blood glucose meter. Defending its much-plagued meter is nothing new for Diasensor at this point. What is different is that the company is employing more intense measures in its clash with the media.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
Good diabetes control protects against diabetes complications. In the case of children with diabetes, good control should start immediately after diagnosis with frequent blood glucose testing (usually four to six times a day).
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1997
March 1997
A normal blood sugar level is the primary goal of all treatment options for people with diabetes. It is especially important for young adolescents because poor control can be very problematic at that age.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
The supreme importance of daily blood glucose (BG) monitoring for proper blood sugar control is well documented. It is quite possibly the single most important step that individuals with diabetes can take to reduce their chances of developing complications.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
Exercise for people with diabetes is crucial for good glycemic control. Type Is can reduce their insulin doses and type 2s can reduce the risk of numerous complications. But exercise for people with diabetes also requires special attention because it has special risks. The following list of recommendations should help you avoid any unnecessary risk when it comes to all forms of exercise - from dancing to jogging.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
Exercise can increase contractions in pregnant women with diabetes leading to pre-term labor. But this does not mean that exercise has to stop altogether. Leona Dang-Kilduff, a pregnancy adviser at the Diabetes and Pregnancy Center at the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, recommends that women who continue their exercise program into pregnancy maintain an acute awareness of their contractions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
Balance PC Diabetes Software, a new product from MediLife Inc., has received a "Favorably Reviewed" seal from the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). The software is "a complete health management" system for insulin and oral medication users.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
Interested in learning more about how to control your diabetes? Steven Edelman, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California at San Diego, is directing a series of conferences specifically designed for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
In early December 1996 Diagnostic Solutions Inc. (DSI) stopped their shipping of Chronimed's Quick Check One blood glucose test strips after the FDA questioned the strips' reliability.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1997
February 1997
New findings on the consumption of certain sugars may lead to greater dietary flexibility, at least for a small subset of people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
Last month Diabetes Health reported on men, sex and diabetes. In this issue, we look at some of the concerns women with diabetes may have about sex.
1 comment - Posted Feb 1, 1997
What would you do for an extra five years of life, eight years of sight, six years free from kidney disease and six years free from nerve damage and the risk of amputation?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
Is your blood glucose meter giving you accurate readings? Testing under certain circumstances may be giving you misleading results. While most users expect accurate readings from their meters at all times, recent studies have found that many meters on the market today are inaccurate during hypoglycemia and when used at high altitude.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
There is a new medication for people with type 2 diabetes on insulin that could help reduce, and in a few cases possibly eliminate, the need for insulin. The drug appears to resensitize the body to insulin and makes it easier for glucose to be absorbed from the bloodstream.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
Some criminals will go to enormous lengths to beat a rap. The Palm Beach Post reported a Florida man, Wesley Shaffer, attempted to convince a jury that he was an undiagnosed diabetic who had been driven insane by eating large amounts of cotton candy. The jury didn't buy it. Mr. Shaffer was convicted on burglary charges, and then promptly escorted to jail-far from the tempting dangers of cotton candy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 1997
January 1997
People with diabetes are taking steps to enhance their lives and feel better using complementary therapies in conjunction with their prescribed medical treatments. Practicing complementary therapy is a way of integrating non-western treatments with conventional medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
The Philadelphia-based Exocell, Inc. has recently signed an agreement with Eurand International for the clinical development of an orally administered compound that could help prevent diabetic kidney disease. The compound, EXO-226, will be produced and supplied by Eurand for use in the first phase of clinical trials for FDA approval. Exocell anticipates that these trials will begin in early 1997.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
Knowledge Leads to Advancements
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
Since ancient times, diet has been acknowledged as the cornerstone of diabetes management. NutriGenie, a company established by a group of Stanford University researchers, has developed software for use on Windows that combines age old methods of diet maintenance with 20th century technology.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
A study, conducted at the University of Wisconsin Medical School at Madison and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in March of 1996, found that hypertension is significantly related to high HbA1c levels in people with diabetes who are taking insulin. The study concluded that controlling high blood sugars may reduce the risk of developing hypertension.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
Improvements in the lives of people with diabetes usually come by way of the latest technology. In the late 1970s, the ability to self-monitor daily blood glucose (BG) levels dramatically improved BG management and is now indispensable. Now, the HbA1c test, which has been around for years, has re-emerged with the same promise of indispensability, but fails to be fully understood or utilized.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 1997
Twenty First Century Health Inc., a new products development company, has announced their acquisition of the exclusive rights from Milton Fuller and Solid State Farms to develop a non-invasive monitor that measures hemoglobin A1c.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 1997
November 1996
DIABETES HEALTH is proud to announce our newest column. In every column a case study about someone with diabetes will be presented by one of our advisory board members. By sharing start-to-finish experiences of people with diabetes we hope to examine problems both rare and common, and show how those problems can be tackled and solved.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
The Security Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed suit against Futrex and its president Bob Rosenthal-the makers of the proposed "Dream Beam" non-invasive glucose meter-alleging that the company made false and misleading claims to investors.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
Gary Freitag is frustrated by his three-year-old son William's blood glucose numbers. Diagnosed just this past February, William's BGs frequently bounce between 65 and 300. At night when William goes to bed, even if his blood sugar is as high as 400, Gary and his wife must give William a snack or by morning his blood sugars will be down to 50.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
1000 B.C.- An Indian physician, Susruta, discovers diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
Almost immediately after complaining to a congressional subcommittee that it was unfairly treated by the FDA during its first 510(k) submission, Biocontrol Technology, Inc. announced that it submitted a new revised 510(k) pre-market notification for its Diasensor 1000 non-invasive glucose sensor.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
Medisense announced the release of their newest home blood glucose monitor-the ExacTech RSG-at the American Association of Diabetes Educators' annual meeting in August.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 1996
October 1996
Like many people with diabetes, Ted Wright doesn't always wait 30-40 minutes to eat after injecting his regular insulin.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
The prospect of developing cheap generic test strips for blood glucose monitors earned Selfcare a $10 million vote of confidence this past August, when the company completed its initial public offering.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
Charges of espionage filled the pages of a lawsuit filed in federal court on June 19 by German corporation Boehringer Mannheim against LifeScan, a diabetes product subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
The unfortunate consequence of healthcare cost-cutting is that patients are often shuffled out the door without all their questions answered. Not fun for anyone, especially patients just diagnosed with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 1996
September 1996
My mom and I were on the phone last night talking about our diabetes. She's a type 2 on insulin and really struggles keeping her blood sugars down.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1996
The future of animal insulin looks grim. Now that 90 percent of people with type I diabetes are taking human insulin, no one denies that the era of animal insulin may be coming to a close. But for those who have come to depend on it, the availability of animal insulin is vital.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1996
There came a point in Evelyn Narad's life when she knew it was time to get serious about losing weight. She was 75 years old and had been diagnosed with type II diabetes 22 years ago. A broken shoulder and hand in the summer of 1995 kept her from exercising, and every inactive day she spent inside her house seemed like another pound gained.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 1996
August 1996
Neuropathy is one of the three most common complications suffered by people with diabetes (along with retinopathy and kidney disease). As its name implies, neuropathy affects the nervous system.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
A new book which may revolutionize the way people with diabetes analyze food is being published out of Australia and Canada. The book, The G.I. Factor: The Glycaemic Index Solution, is a definitive look at an underutilized tool.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
While the specific causes of neuropathy are not fully understood, medical professionals and researchers agree the most effective treatment for neuropathy is the stabilization of blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
Until recently, 21-year-old Don Fitzreiter didn't have any problems with his diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
People who have a difficult time recognizing when their blood sugar is dropping may have to look no further than a cup of coffee for help.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
The day began with a crisp breeze buffeting over the desert. Men and women clad in sweatshirts and neon spandex spoke quietly to each other while stretching; others checked their blood sugars next to their bicycles. Though the group of roughly 60 people had come from such scattered locations as Washington state, Montreal, Canada and Papua, New Guinea, each person dealt with diabetes every day. The bicyclists spread out along the road that morning like a long line of ants, bound for Tempe, Arizona 125 miles away.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 1996
July 1996
There has been much debate in recent years surrounding the use of animal vs. human insulin. Since the introduction of human insulin over 10 years ago, the reputation of animal insulin has taken a beating. Critics have derided it as an antiquated, impure and a less desirable alternative, and in many countries it has been taken off the market completely. This trend, however, may be unwarranted and depriving some people of an insulin which suits them best. New research is answering many questions about this controversy.
2 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
Though results from the DCCT study showed that intensive therapy can reduce complications of type I diabetes, it also showed that it can increase the chance of hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
One reason people with type 2 diabetes have difficulty controlling their blood glucose levels may be because their stomachs empty too fast.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
Nobody has a greater battle to fight with diabetes than Native Americans. Even with combined government, tribal, and private industry effort, type 2 diabetes on Indian reservations is nothing less than an epidemic.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
Research from Finland indicates that high doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) helps people with type 2 diabetes maintain glycemic control.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 1996
An on-going follow-up study of the original DCCT patients found those with poor insurance coverage had poor blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
Two studies identifying shortcomings in physicians' approaches to improving patient self care were identified at the American Diabetes Association's 56th annual sessions.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
Now that HMOs have become the most popular choice of health plan for employers, some employees-especially those with diabetes-have found themselves disappointed with the care they receive. Many HMOs do not provide lancets, blood test strips, alcohol swabs or syringes. Many do not cover the cost of specialists such as podiatrists or ophthalmologists.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 1996
June 1996
Not satisfied just working 40 hours a week in diabetes care, Eva Bradley, RN, BSN, CDE, designed a remarkable new exercise routine for people with diabetes in her spare time. The program, which Eva calls "Spiritualcise," combines the physical needs of self-care with the emotional needs of self-esteem.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
In a statement released this past March, Abbott Laboratories and MediSense, Inc. jointly announced that Abbott would acquire MediSense by buying 100% of MediSense's outstanding shares-a value of $876 million.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
LifeScan will soon release a new, easier to use, blood glucose monitoring meter.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 1996
May 1996
Even before the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), people were interested in tight control of their blood sugars. The big problem then, as well as now, was how to keep accurate track of blood glucose levels in order to develop a regimen. Fortunately, in this age of technology keeping track of blood sugars can be done simply and thoroughly using a personal computer.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1996
In general, when people with diabetes exercise, they require less insulin for good control. This is due both to a more rapid absorption of insulin from exercised sites and to an increase in the effectiveness of the insulin. You must, therefore, reduce your insulin when you exercise, but there are few guidelines to help you. Some people only need to reduce their insulin a little, some need to reduce it by as much as half.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 1996
A major challenge in diabetes therapy is to match the insulin with food and exercise. Changes in the amount of time that it takes for insulin to be absorbed into the bloodstream can be a critical factor in obtaining diabetes control. Both the amount of insulin and its timing are critical, and both of these can be influenced by a wide range of variables. Here is a list of factors which every person taking insulin should be aware of.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 1996
April 1996
I have been sifting through the pages of several diabetes medical journals from all over the world over. My impressions are mixed. A very few articles are clear and significant for people with diabetes, while most are written only for a select few. These have titles so complicated, I have to get out the medical dictionary even to read them. I don't question their validity, but with titles such as "Anglotensin-converting enzyme polymorphism and development of diabetic nephropathy in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus," it makes it difficult to know whether I'm looking at the next cure or maybe a stepping-stone for someone to get their next grant. I read through over 300 articles and selected the seven which follow. I felt these had relevant information to help people with diabetes make better informed choices.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 1996
In 1993 Terri Hopkins was diagnosed with diabetes and placed on insulin. Until only recently, Terri was miserable. Not only was she trying to accept her diabetes (a process that took about two years), but she gained weight. Her blood glucose levels averaged 260 mg/dl, and with an A1c of 9.8, she realized that she would never feel comfortable about having a baby.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 1996
The new Accu-Chek Instant is now the fastest blood glucose monitor available. The 12-second test is quicker than other meters whose tests take anywhere from 20 to 45 or more seconds to produce a result.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
Biocontrol Technology, Inc. has been receiving a great deal of attention regarding its Diasensor 1000 non-invasive blood glucose meter. Stockholders have been calling the (DIABETES HEALTH) office asking if we know what is going on with Biocontrol-when will the device be ready to market?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
As a parent, you know the treatment your child deserves at school. Children are entitled to a safe educational environment where the knowledge of the staff can guarantee responsible management of their diabetes. A child with diabetes deserves the same sense of safety that non-diabetic children feel away from home.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
Kids take first priority in Sherry Trunnel's life. As the only diabetes educator at Blank Specialties Clinic of Children's Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, Sherry skips vacations when the hospital admits a new child with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
MediSense has forged to the forefront in biosensor technology with products like the Precision Q.I.D. Blood Glucose Testing System.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
Despite Polymer Technology International's legal struggle with LifeScan and current Chapter 11 status, its newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Matthew P. Pazaryna, is optimistic about the company's future.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
Scientists in Paris and at the University of Kansas have developed an implantable blood glucose sensor. The device, inserted with a needle much like the cannula on an insulin pump, can remain in place beneath the skin for up to four days. A wire connects the sensor to a pocket-sized monitor.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 1996
Do you feel overwhelmed or defeated by the responsibilities of self-care? Do you worry incessantly about your poor care, but still feel unmotivated to do something about it?
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 1996
March 1996
According to some reports, chromium picolinate can lower insulin requirements. In fact, some people swear by it, and there are athletes that take more than 800 mcg of the substance every day.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Go to any bookstore and look at the diet and cookbook section. You'll find book after book of lowfat diet plans and cookbooks. Go to any market and you'll see shelf after shelf of lowfat products. You'd think the lowfat lifestyle was the only way to go. The Fickle Finger of food facts can't abide by this. It just has to swivel in the opposite direction. And strangely enough, that swivel is starting right here in Diabetesland.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
The FDA has given approval to a new drug for people with type 2 diabetes. Precose (acarbose tablets) received marketing clearance in September 1995.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
For the majority of Americans who suffer from type 2 diabetes, a new sulfonylurea drug, Amaryl (glimepiride tablets) may be an exciting option. Recently approved by the FDA, is the only drug of its kind indicated for use either on its own or with insulin, although the combined use may increase the potential for hypoglycemia. Amaryl binds to a different insulin receptor site than other sulfonylureas to provide sustained glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Currently there are an estimated 16 million people with diabetes in the United States. Perhaps ten percent are insulin-dependent-the rest have type 2 diabetes, which they control with diet, exercise, oral medications, and insulin.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 1996
Q: How and why do certain foods raise my blood sugars more than others? I find that pizza causes higher BGs than candy.