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Diabetes and Adoption
Rachel and her husband chose to adopt a baby instead of meeting the challenges of handling a high risk pregnancy and Rachel’s type 1 diabetes at the same time. She shares their thought process and ultimate happy ending about the decision to bring a child into their lives.
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Chris Matthews Makes Time for Diabetes
Hosting Hardball on MSNBC and The Chris Matthews Show keep Chris Matthews working long hours. But Matthews got a lesson in priorities and made some life changes when he was diagnosed with type 2.
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A Chihuahua with Diabetes
Olivia and her dog both have diabetes and today they comfort and encourage each other through the rigors of dealing with the disease. Plus, find out what it means when your domestic pet is diagnosed with diabetes.
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Smoking and Diabetes
Smoking has severe effects on your diabetes and your health. Learn why diabetes and smoking are an especially bad combination and get some tips from the experts on how to quit.
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Continuous Glucose Monitors
CGM is a relatively new technology, but the information it provides is invaluable. Find out what CGM offers and whether it could help you.
The must-have resource for physicians, educators and medical professionals who focus on the treatment of diabetes.
Finally! A fresh take on the “professional” journal. Each bi-monthly issue cuts through the jargon and presents the most important information you need to enhance your practice and assist your patients.
Each bi-monthly issue of Diabetes Health Professional is a self-contained handbook covering products, educational resources and the latest diabetes research, complimented by balanced editorial focused on medical news, drug prescription information, clinical practice recommendations and changing treatment options.
Each quarter we send you the latest, most updated research guides, product guides and educational resource guides available for you and your patients.
Each week the Diabetes Health E-Newsletter delivers links to the very latest in news, reviews, blogs and videos from Diabetes Health direct to your inbox.
As a subscriber you'll get access to the amazing Diabetes Health Digital Advantage™ so you can read the current issue of Diabetes Health magazine online wherever you are!
Latest Homepage Articles
Article Archives
July 2009
Scientists have identified five genetic biomarkers that predict how well a type 2 patient will respond to the drug Actos. Their work could be the first step toward a system that would allow doctors to predetermine which drugs will best help each person with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 3, 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
How many times during your work with young people and their families have you wished that you could really help them through a rough time in their lives? Young people with diabetes and their families often feel overwhelmed, both physically and emotionally, by all that they must learn and manage. They can feel very alone if they don't know anyone who can understand their diabetes fears and trials.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2009
Patriotism, parades, parties, and pyrotechnics - July Fourth is a high intensity day of celebrations and national pride. In many towns, families move from one exciting event to the next, and the day can be very unpredictable. Still, parents of children with diabetes want carefree time with their families, and children don't want to think about diabetes details. A bit of advanced planning and packing can make this festive day much easier.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2009
Genentech, a bioscience firm famous for its development of antibodies designed to combat cancer, has entered a $350 million agreement with Bayhill Therapeutics to assist in development of BHT-3021, a drug that treats type 1 diabetes by reducing or stopping immune system attacks on pancreatic beta cells.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 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.
1 comment - Posted Jun 29, 2009
The National Changing Diabetes Program (NCDP) is an organization working within the healthcare community to elevate diabetes on the national health agenda and improve the lives of people with this devastating disease. Recently, the NCDP commissioned a new study on the growing influence of diabetes on the U.S. economy and population. The NCDP also is taking steps to reduce the increasing impact of diabetes on the United States.
1 comment - Posted Jun 26, 2009
Rachel and her husband adopted a beautiful baby girl in November of 2008. Their daughter is now seven months old. You can read Rachel's article about diabetes and adoption here.
5 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2009
In May, 2009, a jury in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) discriminated against Jeff Kapche when it refused to hire him as a Special Agent because of his diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 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.
14 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2009
With Type 2 diabetes emerging as an epidemic, primary care clinicians need to become savvy at initiating and adjusting insulin. Given the nationwide shortage of endocrinologists, referring all patients on insulin for endocrine appointments is not realistic in most areas of the country.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2009
A surgeon who has been at the forefront of exploring bariatric surgery as a potentially curative treatment for type 2 diabetes is calling for it to be made accessible to more people.
4 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has learned that some stolen vials of the long-acting insulin Levemir made by Novo Nordisk Inc. have reappeared and are being sold in the U.S. market. Three lots or a total of 129,000 vials of this product were stolen in all. These stolen insulin vials may not have been stored and handled properly and may be dangerous for patients to use.
1 comment - Posted Jun 22, 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
This is a nice salad to serve with a summer barbecue. It also makes a wonderful addition to a summer picnic. Double the recipe to serve more people.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2009
The A1c test (also called the HbA1c test), which establishes average blood sugar levels over a three-month period, should replace fasting plasma glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests as the standard for diagnosing diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Jun 17, 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
Introduced to South Africa by the Cape Malays, this Indonesian curried meat loaf is to South Africa what Moussaka is to Greece and Lasagne is to Italy. Traditionally, Bobotie is served with yellow rice (add turmeric), chutney and banana slices dipped in milk. This is a tasty meat loaf to pack in the cooler for a summer picnic.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 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.
22 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2009
Drug companies spend billions of dollars on research, and it's obvious that they spend more billions on advertising. Well, according to the New York Times, they spend the most billions on giving nice things to doctors: pens, samples, banquets, trips, and educational opportunities among them. For doctors, in fact, there is a free lunch: Pharma companies spend as much as a billion a year just on lunches for doctors. And over 90 percent of doctors have accepted at least some of this largesse from the industry.
5 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2009
Patients with type 2 diabetes reduced their risk of having a foot amputated by 36 percent when they took fenofibrate, a drug designed to lower blood fat levels.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2009
A previously unknown human protein, called CHC22, may give scientists a powerful new tool for understanding type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and Harvard Medical School.
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2009
Bayer Diabetes Care's new A1c monitor enables people with diabetes to check their A1c levels at home. The FDA-approved A1CNow SELFCHECK is not considered a replacement for a healthcare provider's A1c test, but rather a tool with which to monitor A1c levels between doctor visits. A1c's provide an average assessment of blood sugar levels over the past three months and are an indicator of how well diabetes is being managed
5 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2009
The World Health Organization (WHO) is still deciding whether to declare a global pandemic
0 comments - Posted Jun 10, 2009
Over the years, gastric bypass surgery has proven an effective means of controlling-and even reversing-type 2 diabetes in
"super-obese" patients (those with a body mass index of 50 or above; usually more than 200 pounds above ideal body weight).
2 comments - Posted Jun 10, 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
University of Cambridge researchers are reporting that people with type 2 diabetes who maintain strict control of their blood sugar-defined as lowering their A1c levels by 0.9% over a five-year period-can lower their risk of non-fatal heart attacks by 17 percent.
2 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2009
As you probably know by now, President Obama's first nominee to the Supreme Court is Judge Sonia Sotomayor. If she is confirmed to the lifelong post, Sotomayor will be not only the first Hispanic to sit on the high court, but also the first Justice with type 1 diabetes.
58 comments - Posted Jun 5, 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
Spanish university researchers have isolated a new species of bacteria-which they found in sewer sludge-that is able to break down cholesterol.
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 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
The 2009 North American Diabetes Exercise & Sports Association's North American Conference will be held June 25th to 28th at the Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.
0 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2009
Novo Nordisk has announced that results from a study show that almost 60 percent of type 2 patients taking once-daily doses of its Levemir insulin analog were able to reach the average blood sugar level recommended by the American Diabetes Association.
3 comments - Posted Jun 2, 2009
The polls are open for voting for new members of the AADE board, AADE officers, and the nominating committee. The good news is that you can vote for three people! Diabetes Health wishes Board of Directors candidates and former DH Guest Editors, Jane Jeffrie Seley, Kim Higgins, and Deborah Greenwood, the best of luck.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2009
As the article in this issue discusses, smoking and diabetes is a dangerous combination. Smoking is bad enough on its own. I am writing to you as a former smoker of eight years. I started smoking in France in the 1970’s in a Parisian café. I thought smoking Gauloises at the age of 15 made me sophisticated and in vogue. I imagined I looked stylish and mature like the adults I knew who smoked. Their smoking seemed to justify my habit. It never occurred to me that I was risking my health or that I was starting something that would take me years to quit.
1 comment - 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
For generations, people have run hot and cold on the usefulness of vibrating exercise machines. There are plenty of comedy sketches in 1930s movies that portray overweight people being violently shaken around the midriff by a vibrating machine in the hope of strengthening their muscles and metabolizing fat. Those who have disdained such machines have reasoned that they substitute a mechanism's work for the work that exercisers should be doing themselves. After all, how can a machine do for you what you won't do for yourself?
1 comment - Posted May 28, 2009
United Way recently presented the 2009 United Way Spirit of America award, its highest national award, to Eli Lilly and Company. "In these challenging times, it's more important than ever to have generous partners like Lilly who are committed to strengthening our nation's communities," said Brian Gallagher, president and CEO of United Way. "Whether it's serving as a ReadUP tutor or donating life-saving medicines, Lilly and its employees understand that improving lives in this environment requires resources coupled with active and dedicated volunteers. United Way is proud to honor them with our highest national award."
0 comments - Posted May 28, 2009
A study of Merck's Januvia (sitagliptin), a drug for patients with type 2 diabetes, has found that its use can lead in some patients to a low-grade form of pancreatitis and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in the long term. However, the study, conducted at the Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center at UCLA, also found that the risks associated with Januvia as a monotherapy are removed when the drug is used in conjunction with metformin (trade name Glucophage). Metformin, a low-cost drug that controls glucose production by the liver, is one of the oldest and most benign standbys in the anti-diabetes arsenal.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 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.
3 comments - Posted May 27, 2009
Pump Wear has a new product called a "Draw Pak"-it's a pump pack that you can truly make your own. The pack, which is made of black cordura, has a white vinyl front that your can decorate yourself with "Sharpie" permanent markers. (Hint: Costco sells a package of every color you could possibly need.) Want to practice your picture? Use washable markers to play with your ideas, then wipe it clean until you're ready for the final design. Test your creativity and create your own sports design, fun fashion design, or special events logo-it's all up to you.
1 comment - Posted May 26, 2009
If you have type 2 diabetes, you know that regular sustained exercise is one of the best and easiest ways to manage the disease. At the same time, proper nutrition-eating low glycemic foods, avoiding carbohydrates, and taking supplements, such as vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids-is the other key to non-medicinal control of blood sugar levels.
6 comments - Posted May 26, 2009
Sometimes complex problems have simple answers. Take the alarming rise in obesity in the United States since 1970. Researchers have speculated in the past that the cause might be a combination of factors, perhaps a lack of exercise working in concert with the spread of cheap high-calorie junk food.
3 comments - Posted May 23, 2009
Doctors who treat diabetes must often feel like moms who spend 18 years reminding their kids to pick their socks up off the floor. "It just takes two seconds, and your reward is a clean room and a less grumpy mother."
1 comment - Posted May 22, 2009
On May 1, 2009, American Diabetes Wholesale paid tribute to Joyce Malaskovitz, PhD, RN, CDE, the winner of their 2nd Annual Diabetes Educator of the Year contest. They also recognized esteemed Diabetes Educator of the Year finalists Suzanne Laws, MS, RD, LD, CDE, and Laura Terrio, RN, BS, CDE.
1 comment - Posted May 22, 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
Humanin (HN) is a mitochondrial peptide* that in some research has shown the ability to protect against the death of neurons, the devastating consequence of diseases like Alzheimer's. According to the leader of a research team at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in the Bronx, however, it also significantly improves the insulin sensitivity of diabetic rats and sharply drops their glucose levels.
2 comments - Posted May 20, 2009
Significant relief for people with type 1 diabetes could soon come in the form of a device made from a thermoplastic resin commonly used as a coating for cookware, gaskets, and hoses.
2 comments - Posted May 20, 2009
A ten-year study that tracked 652 women with type 1 diabetes found that 35 percent of them reported some sort of sexual problem, including loss of desire (57 percent of those reporting problems), problems experiencing orgasm (51 percent), pain during intercourse (21 percent), reduced arousal (38 percent), or decreased vaginal lubrication (47 percent).
3 comments - Posted May 19, 2009
The polls are open for voting for new members of the AADE board, AADE officers, and the nominating committee. Diabetes Health wishes Board of Directors candidates and former DH Guest Editors, Jane Jeffrie Seley, Kim Higgins, and Deborah Greenwood, the best of luck.
1 comment - Posted May 19, 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
1. Don't smoke any number or any kind of cigarette. Smoking even a few cigarettes a day can hurt your health. And if you try to smoke fewer cigarettes but do not stop completely, soon you'll be smoking the same amount again.
3 comments - Posted May 12, 2009
Dear Sex & Diabetes, I have had type 1 diabetes since the age of ten. When my husband and I were first married, I had no trouble with my sex drive. After the births of our three children, however, I noticed a big decrease in desire. I have also had a hysterectomy and have gained 50 pounds since we were first married. Do you think my weight has something to do with it? I really don't feel it is fair to put my husband through my lack of desire. He still seems to want me.
3 comments - Posted May 12, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just approved the marketing of Cycloset, a type 2 diabetes drug that works by affecting a brain chemical that helps govern metabolism. In doing so, it helps reduce the rise in blood sugar levels that typically occurs after meals. Cycloset will be offered as a monotherapy or in conjunction with sulfonylureas, metformin, or other combination type 2 drug therapies.
2 comments - Posted May 12, 2009
After American and Brazilian researchers implanted 23 newly diagnosed type 1 patients with their own adult stem cells, 12 of the patients became insulin-free for periods lasting from 14 to 52 months (the mean was 31 months).
15 comments - Posted May 12, 2009
It has been an interesting month for San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., the co-manufacturer of Byetta (exenatide) with Eli Lilly & Co., and Alkermes Inc. First, the company announced that it will reduce its sales force by 35 percent-200 employees-in hope of saving $20 million this year and $45 million annually starting in 2010. The company plans to retain 325 representatives to sell its diabetes products to doctors and endocrinologists. At the same time, Amylin has petitioned the FDA to approve the marketing of Byetta LAR, a form of the type 2 drug that requires injection only once a week.
1 comment - Posted May 11, 2009
Diabetes educators and their supporters nationwide are being asked to rally behind congressional legislation that would establish a "national diabetes report card," promote better training of doctors with regard to reporting diabetes as a factor in births and deaths, and set federal standards requiring doctors to achieve a level of diabetes education before they can be licensed or certified.
7 comments - Posted May 8, 2009
Rachel Humphrey, a Manhattan Beach, CA, teenager with type 1 diabetes, was granted her biggest wish (well, almost) when she came face to face with her hero, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. Rachel, 13, was selected to appear on the number 1 new syndicated talk show, "The Doctors," but she had no idea that she would meet Nick Jonas on the set! The segment, titled Giving is Good Medicine, will air on Friday, May 8th.
6 comments - Posted May 8, 2009
Thanks to sponsorship from the Medtronic Foundation, the Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) and the Diabetes Camp Leadership Development Council (DLEAD) are offering a diabetes retreat for young people with type 1 diabetes who are between the ages of 18 and 25. The retreat, which will take place at Villanova University from May 29th to 31st, is completely free and includes accommodations, meals, and participation in activities. All you have to provide is your own travel and incidentals. Join them for an awesome weekend!
4 comments - Posted May 8, 2009
Dental researchers are reporting that resolvins, products derived from omega-3 fatty acids, may have the ability to restore the soft tissue and even bone lost in periodontal (gum) disease.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 6, 2009
"I think I'm the only blind principal in Los Angeles," stated Connie Gibson after she developed diabetic retinopathy, which later led to sudden vision loss after complications from laser surgery. Now age 59, Gibson is currently legally blind, but has been able to move forward with her life. She continues working and living an active lifestyle despite her disability.
5 comments - Posted May 6, 2009
The connection between smoking and cancer is well documented. Less well known, however, is the fact that smoking exacerbates complications for people with diabetes. Smokers with diabetes are eleven times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than people who don't have diabetes and don't smoke.
1 comment - Posted May 5, 2009
The second annual "Caring and Sharing Weekend" was held last weekend at the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne, New York. The free three-day weekend, which is organized by Pump Wear Inc., offered 15 families in the diabetes community an opportunity to relax, bond, and become inspired. The families, who either recommended themselves or were recommended by someone else, enjoyed beautiful weather, horseback riding, swimming, campfires, lots of hugs, and memories.
0 comments - Posted May 5, 2009
The American Diabetes Association has released a list of "superfoods" it says "have necessary nutrients for good diabetes management, including fiber, potassium, healthy fats, magnesium and antioxidants."
22 comments - Posted May 5, 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.
5 comments - Posted May 1, 2009
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has issued a call for proposals through its national program, Project HealthDesign: Rethinking the Power and Potential of Personal Health Records. Grant recipients will work to assess and test the potential of "observations of daily living" (ODLs) to help patients and physicians better manage chronic illnesses.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2009
April 2009
What do you eat in a 140 mile Ironman triathlon? I get that question a lot. It's been said that the Ironman race is 10% fitness, and 90% nutrition. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but for those of us with diabetes, that's our daily life. Nutrition affects everything we do. Exercise, sleep, driving a car, all of those activities require a person with diabetes to think about the carbohydrates they have consumed and when they will eat or drink them again
2 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2009
Nick Jonas, who has type 1 diabetes, and Bayer Diabetes Care are working to inspire young people with diabetes to achieve Simple Wins: small, everyday victories for managing diabetes that can lead to big differences over time. Their "Express Your Simple Win Creativity Contest" is designed to show kids that, like Nick, they don't have to let diabetes get in the way of their dreams. Nick wrote the song "A Little Bit Longer" about having diabetes, and he considers his Simple Wins to be writing lyrics, performing, and making music.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2009
Experts have been warning of a worldwide outbreak of a horrific influenza ever since 1997, when the first human cases of so-called H5N1 avian influenza were reported in Hong Kong.
25 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2009
When Smiths Medical announced in late March that it was discontinuing the manufacture and sales of its Deltec Cozmo insulin pumps, the company's annual sales of that product were about $36 million. In contrast, Medtronic, manufacturer of the Minimed line of insulin pumps reported sales of $727 million in the nine months from April 2008 to January 2009.
8 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2009
Although researchers reporting the phenomenon can't quite put their fingers on how it works, a newly released study says that severe hypoglycemic episodes requiring hospitalization among older people with type 2 diabetes create a greater risk-32 percent-for developing dementia.
1 comment - Posted Apr 29, 2009
Insulin pens have been very popular in Europe for quite some time and interest is building steadily in the United States. Many people prefer an insulin pen over the standard syringe and vial because the pens are more convenient and more accurate. Pre-filled disposable insulin pens are the easiest of all, because you don't never have to install a new cartridge when the pen is empty-you just toss it out.
3 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2009
Diabetes Health has joined the social networking sphere. Join us as a fan on Facebook, talk to us on Twitter, and subscribe to our RSS feed. Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Nadia Al-Samarrie wants to hear your thoughts and she'll be reading what you have to say with great interest.
1 comment - Posted Apr 28, 2009
Many people with diabetes who have ditched multiple daily injections in exchange for an insulin pump regret not doing so sooner. Ask them why they didn't, and arguably the most common answer has something to do with vanity. Still, while many might feel overjoyed by their optimum blood sugar control, they're not in love with their new appendage and may struggle with self-image as a result.
1 comment - Posted Apr 25, 2009
Women hate their bodies. At least, an overwhelming collection of statistical data suggests as much. Consider the following facts compiled by Liz Dittrich, Ph.D, at About-Face.org, which aims to combat negative and distorted images of women:
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2009
Three studies just published in the New England Journal of Medicine have discovered that most adults have several grams of brown fat sequestered in little pockets on their necks and backs. It's a tiny amount, but it's big news because brown fat is not your everyday fat, the unwelcome white variety that stores calories and makes us hate mirrors. Brown fat is a busy little heat-producing fat that actually burns calories. It's brown because it contains special mitochondria, tiny factories within the fat cells that produce heat, lots of it, when activated by cold.
2 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2009
In an Australian study that tracked 11,140 people with diabetes, researchers found a strong relationship between the presence of atrial fibrillation-abnormal heart rhythm-and an increased risk of cardiovascular problems and death.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2009
The following list shows 50 of the ways we have "convenienced" ourselves into diabesity. Before the technology boom, most Americans were active at work, at home, and at play. Much of what we did was manual, so we burned off the calories that we took in. When you consider that we did many of these activities on a regular basis, it is easy to see how we were able to remain trim. Obviously, no single one of these activities burns a large amount of calories by itself, but taken together, it is easy to see that the number of calories burned really begins to add up. (By the way, if you remember any of the things on this list, you don't have to tell anyone.)
12 comments - Posted Apr 23, 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
The 18th annual Napa Valley Tour de Cure will take place this year on Sunday, May 3rd. It's the nation's largest cycling event that raises money for finding the Cure and helping people with diabetes. This year they have a special Red Rider program: If you are a cyclist with diabetes, the Tour is recognizing your "participation, spirit, struggles, courage, and discipline" by awarding special issue jerseys made for the event. (Participants must raise a minimum of $200.)
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2009
Well, it's official: If you're elderly and fat, you're more likely to have problems getting around than if you're thin and elderly. A new study proves it. But here's the real kicker: If you're thin and elderly, but you used to be fat, you're more likely to develop problems getting around than people who were never fat. As a matter of fact, you're almost as likely to have mobility problems as people who are fat and elderly. Apparently, you just can't win for losing.
3 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2009
Well, this is a surprise. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 contains a little known section, Section 1013, that has actually led to something really useful: Up-to-date information about diabetes culled from real research and presented in language that we all can understand. Section 1013 authorizes the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to difficult health problems and to make that information accessible and understandable to "decisionmakers": that is, you, me, and our doctors. And diabetes is one of the difficult health problems to which the AHRQ is directing its attention.
1 comment - Posted Apr 21, 2009
The need to investigate and determine normoglycemia in Mexican children under the age of six begins with a lack of relevant published data. Another motive for reviewing the currently recommended glycemic goals for children and adolescents with type 1 stems from the well-known observation that children and adolescents who do not have type 1 do not develop microvascular diabetic complications. Today, thanks to insulin analogs and basal/bolus therapy regimens, children with type 1 have the option of achieving true euglycemia and of potentially benefiting from its advantages.
14 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2009
There is an old schoolyard chant that starts out with an image of two people "sitting in a tree" and "K-I-S-S-I-N-G." This is followed by, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage." The natural progression of life is to find one's "soul mate," tie the knot, and then have children.
35 comments - Posted Apr 17, 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
Results from DURATION-2, a 26-week test comparing the diabetic drugs Januvia, Actos, and experimental long-acting Byetta (Byetta LAR) show that Byetta produced lower A1c's and more weight loss than the other two drugs.
4 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2009
A study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism of The Endocrine Society says that low birth weight could be associated with a higher incidence of inflammation in adulthood, setting the stage for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Apr 15, 2009
Two-and-a-half years ago, my seven-year-old granddaughter, Liliana, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. In less than a day, I was on an airplane to Portland so that I could be there to support my daughter and son-in-law. The week that followed was a heart-wrenching experience for all of us. I stayed with Liliana as much as possible so that her parents could go through extensive education and instruction on what would be in store for them. I wanted to learn more about type 1, but I felt that there was time for that. It was more important that they became the experts, and I became the shoulder on which to lean.
2 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2009
Welcome to Diabetes Health's new column on sex and diabetes, by David Spero RN and Aisha Kassahoun. Once a month, we'll publish questions submitted by our readers, along with David and Aisha's responses. Send your questions to love@diabeteshealth.com and watch for their answers to appear in this column.
8 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2009
Finally some good news!
1 comment - Posted Apr 10, 2009
Are adults with diabetes better able to manage their disease if they can schedule same- or next-day appointments to see their doctors rather than sticking to appointments made in advance? The conventional wisdom goes that if people with diabetes can more quickly get in to see their doctors whenever problems comes up, the sooner they can receive treatment for it. However, an Indiana University School of Medicine study of 4,060 adults with diabetes being treated at 12 clinics showed that open-ended scheduling produced no benefit and, when it came to blood pressure control, actually worsened patients' conditions.
3 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2009
Scientists at Jilin University in Changchun, China, have used an ancient trick, employing sugar-loving bacteria, to produce a low-sugar, low-calorie vegetable juice aimed at people with diabetes and pre-diabetes who have abnormally high blood sugar.
4 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2009
The Insight Foot Care Scale is a unique bathroom weight scale designed to help people with diabetes check their feet every day. As most people with diabetes know, daily foot observation is an important step in managing diabetes. Neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes, can cause complete loss of sensation in the extremities, which makes it possible for minor cuts and sores to go unnoticed until they are problematic.
1 comment - Posted Apr 8, 2009
Diane Helms has spent most of her life struggling with her weight. She's tried just about every diet you can name and, despite them all, has watched the pounds pile on year after year.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2009
Buoyed by its recent successful phase 1 human clinical trial of a patch that delivers basal insulin through the skin, Atlanta-based Altea Therapeutics says it will work with Eli Lilly and Company and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to develop a daily transdermal patch that deliver sustained levels of Byetta (exenatide). The patch, in a 12- and a 24-hour form, will use the company's proprietary PassPort Transdermal Delivery System. Lilly and Amylin will fund all development, manufacturing, and marketing activities for the product.
2 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2009
A new research report by the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) reviews three decades of the Food and Drug Administration's performance and concludes that the agency is over-funded, over-staffed, and denies hundreds of thousands of Americans timely access to new medicines. Leviathan's Drug Problem: The Federal Monopoly of Pharmaceutical Regulation and Its Deadly Cost was authored by John R. Graham, Director of Health Care Studies at PRI.
5 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2009
A 12-month university study of 130 persons who ate either a USDA food pyramid-inspired high-carb diet or a diet moderately high in protein showed that members of the higher protein group lost 23 percent more weight and 38 percent more body fat than their high carb counterparts.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 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
Last week we published an article about how the CDC says too many people are still smoking. The federal government has a Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing adult smoking rates to 12 percent or less by 2010. Of the 50 states, only Utah has thus far achieved that goal.
1 comment - Posted Apr 2, 2009
Being overweight is something all doctors and most laypeople know significantly increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes. In fact, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) says that more than 90 percent of people who are newly diagnosed with type 2 are overweight. But why does excess fat increase the risk of diabetes? Isn't the disease, after all, one that involves the body's inability to metabolize glucose?
3 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2009
University of Cambridge researchers are reporting that people with type 2 diabetes who maintain strict control of their blood sugar-defined as lowering their A1c levels by 0.9% over a five-year period-can lower their risk of non-fatal heart attacks by 17 percent.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2009
My whole childhood, I was a bit of a pudgy girl. At the age of eight, I weighed over 110 pounds, wore a woman's size 8, and stood a mere five feet tall. I wasn't grossly obese, by any means, but it was enough to keep me off the cheerleading squad and out of the popular crowd at school. I didn't really have any health issues besides the weight.
27 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2009
Canadian scientists studying the effects of glucose on cellular aging have discovered an unusual effect that could change how doctors treat diabetes and even address the human lifespan.
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2009
March 2009
The following is a Q&A with Judith Waldrop, who participated in Living Well, a week-long residential program designed for women with type 2 diabetes. The program is a joint effort of the healthy weight loss pioneers at Green Mountain at Fox Run and the Joslin Diabetes Center. This year, Living Well will take place April 19-25, 2009.
1 comment - Posted Mar 31, 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
One of the most impressive feats of endurance in the animal world is performed by the sled dogs that run up to 100 miles per day in such races as Alaska's Iditarod, a grueling 1,161-mile trek from Simpson to Homer.
0 comments - 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?"
4 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2009
AR9281, a drug developed by the University of California at Davis and now under further development by a California-based pharmaceutical company, has entered Phase II of human clinical trials.
1 comment - Posted Mar 27, 2009
New guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force state that daily low doses of aspirin-75 milligrams to 81 milligrams-are as effective as higher doses (100+ milligrams) in preventing heart attacks among men and strokes among women.
3 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2009
The first time Chris Matthews heard the words "high blood sugar" was in 2002 at a doctor's office in Washington, DC, where he was being treated for malaria after a trip to Zimbabwe. He didn't pay a lot of attention to the warning about his glucose levels after a blood test. The malaria was subsequently cured, and he continued at his usual rapid-fire pace, traveling the country giving speeches about his best-selling books ("Life is a Campaign" is his latest; "Hardball" is his best known) and his work both inside the White House, where he was a speechwriter for President Carter, and outside, where he was administrative assistant to House Speaker Tip O'Neill on Capitol Hill. Then there's his work on television, where he is host of Hardball on MSNBC and the Chris Matthew Show, which airs on Sundays just before Meet the Press on NBC. He stayed busy, and his schedule remained overbooked. He let the warning about high blood sugar go into the background-so far back it was out of sight and definitely out of mind. Besides, there just wasn't any room in his life to deal with it.
8 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2009
If you fancy cat naps and think that they might be a handy way to circumvent the ill effects of too little sleep at night (see Sleeping Less Than 6 Hours a Night? Your Risk of Developing a Type 2 Precursor Is Nearly 5x Higher), think again: A British study of the napping habits of more than 16,000 people in China has concluded that taking a nap even once a week can increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 26 percent over people who never take naps.
7 comments - Posted Mar 25, 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
Differences in the way tobacco is marketed and promoted and differences in tobacco control programs are some of the reasons why more than twice as many adults smoke in some states as in others, according to a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2009
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Why not find out today whether you or your loved ones are at risk for type 2 diabetes. Take our easy Diabetes Risk Assessment test to estimate your risk of having diabetes by collecting information about your BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose levels, etc.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 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
There's a perception out there that people with type 2 could control their disease if they just tried hard enough. But self-control and will power are not the whole story. A new study published in this month's Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness includes "eating out, lack of social support and high-risk lifestyles" as just a few of the roadblocks that stop patients with type 2 diabetes from controlling their condition.
8 comments - Posted Mar 23, 2009
In a study funded by Novo Nordisk, researchers at Ohio State University have found that type 2s who move from oral meds to insulin would be wise to start with an insulin pen rather than a syringe.
15 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2009
This marks the beginning of a new era of living with diabetes! The time has come to end the limited way in which we view, address, and manage diabetes. The perspective that diabetes is solely a medical condition is archaic and is limiting our progress toward improving the lives of all those who live with diabetes. One's experience with diabetes is not determined exclusively by one's medical care. As those who live with diabetes know all too well, diabetes affects nearly every area of their lives. To date, there have been virtually no concerted efforts made to assist people with the array of "non-medical" components that come along with living with diabetes: that is, until now.
14 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2009
Physicians who treat people with type 2 diabetes face difficult choices when selecting the best medical therapy for each patient. The decision process is further complicated by the fact that because type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease, therapeutic agents that were initially successful may fail five or ten years later.
148 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2009
Amy's Kitchen is a remarkable natural frozen food company located in Petaluma, California, just 30 miles north of the Diabetes Health offices. The company was founded in 1987 by Rachel and Andy Berliner, who named it after their young daughter Amy. They started on the proverbial "shoestring" budget, working out of their house and using their barn as headquarters.
1 comment - Posted Mar 20, 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
A report commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is being published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, the National Kidney Foundation's journal. Led by kidney specialists Dr. Andrew S. Levey at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dr. William McClellan at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, the panel of experts designed a comprehensive public health strategy to prevent the development and complications of chronic kidney disease in the U.S.
1 comment - Posted Mar 19, 2009
New cases of adult type 2 diabetes have increased by more than 90 percent in the past 10 years, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease and Prevention.(1) Equally troubling is the dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes among children. Recent reports reveal a 200 percent increase in hospitalizations for children with type 2 diabetes, a condition that was rarely diagnosed in children decades ago.(2) In the words of the CDC, "Diabetes is common, disabling, and deadly."(3)
2 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2009
Novo Nordisk has redesigned the FlexPen®, the number one selling pre-filled insulin pen in the world, to not only require less force when pushing the button to inject insulin, but also to clearly identify each type of insulin with prominent color branding. The FlexPen® is available with three Novo Nordisk insulin products: 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]).
6 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2009
These amazing teens-selected from 20,000 entries nationwide-were named State Honorees (along with 102 other state winners throughout the U.S.) in the 14th annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a national program honoring middle and high school students for their outstanding acts of volunteerism. The program is conducted by Prudential Financial and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Over the past 14 years, they have honored more than 80,000 young volunteers at the local, state, and national levels.
0 comments - Posted Mar 17, 2009
"Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident," said President Obama, as he signed an executive order lifting the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is celebrating President Obama's new policy. They recently released this statement by Mary Tyler Moore, the International Chairman of the JDRF:
8 comments - Posted Mar 17, 2009
Obesity has long been accepted as a risk factor for diabetes. The results of four recently published studies, however, have revealed that the real risk factor may be the insecticides present in that fat. The initial investigations showed that the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance was absent in people who had low levels of organochlorine insecticides in their blood (1, 2). However, the expected association between obesity and diabetes/insulin resistance increased with levels of these insecticides. In the last year, two additional studies have linked these insecticides with diabetes (3, 4).
10 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2009
The old joke has a man going to the doctor and saying, "It hurts when I do this. What should I do to make it go away?"
5 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2009
Eric Devine, a 30-year-old English teacher and writer who's lived with type 1 diabetes for 18 years, has written a young adult novel, This Side of Normal, that will be published this month by Long Tale Press.
9 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2009
Researchers funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation have found two chemical compounds that can trigger the growth of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The discovery could become the basis for medicines designed to regenerate the pancreas in people with type 1 diabetes.
9 comments - Posted Mar 11, 2009
Whenever Diabetes Health publishes an article about high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), we receive mountains of printed material from corn industry advocates. They argue that the effects of HFCS cannot be extrapolated from research because the "studies look at the effects of fructose independently." They claim, in the words of Christopher Mohr, MS, RD, LDN, of the Corn Refiners Association, that "the absence of glucose makes pure fructose fundamentally different from HFCS."
11 comments - Posted Mar 11, 2009
If you live in California and have been denied insurance coverage because you have diabetes, you'll probably have to wait to enroll in the state-run program that's supposed to offer you health benefits. But California Republican Senator Sam Aanestad of Grass Valley hopes to change that with legislation he introduced January 20th. Aanestad says his bill, Senate Bill 57, would alter that program in ways that will allow more people access to coverage.
1 comment - Posted Mar 10, 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.
11 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.
4 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2009
Chances are that you know somebody who can pack away the highest-fat foods-marbled steak, cheese, butter, and ice cream-and never gain weight. If you've always shrugged it off and said, "It must be genetic," it turns out that you may be right.
2 comments - Posted Mar 5, 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
I was diagnosed with type 1 relatively late in life, at age 24. People sometimes remark to me, with genuine kindness, that it must have been harder on me. Perhaps they think I recall what it was like to be a "normal" child and young adult, to do and eat what I wanted without insulin, checking blood sugar, or worrying about highs and lows or long-term complications. I appreciate their sincerity, but I always correct them. Diabetes is not harder for me. It is hard on everyone. Whether you were diagnosed as a child or an adult, it complicates your life and the lives of your family.
1 comment - Posted Mar 4, 2009
All 15 experimental coordinated care programs launched by Medicare in 2002 failed to generate net savings, and only two of them reduced hospital admission rates among patients with chronic diseases, including diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Mar 4, 2009
US Camps Camp Name Type Session Start Date
2 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2009
A complex sugar derived from glucose during the body’s metabolic processes could be a way to reliably detect a pre-diabetes condition, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. If it does, the “biomarker” (an indicator of an organism’s state of health) could provide enough early warning that patients nearing the onset of type 2 diabetes could take steps to slow or even halt it through lifestyle changes.
1 comment - Posted Mar 3, 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.
7 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2009
February 2009
We recently published an article about how you can avoid losing money in insurance claims. The article gave helpful hints on how to deal with your insurance company including an sample appeals letter. We promised to publish in the near future a sample CGM appeals letter. Here they are!
0 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2009
Do infusion sets refuse to stick to your skin?
7 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2009
Too little production of a molecule called LSR (lipolysis-stimulated lipoprotein receptor) in the liver sends blood fat soaring to pathological levels in mice with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, say scientists at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.
1 comment - Posted Feb 26, 2009
DM-99, a drug under development by the Canadian drug company DiaMedica, Inc., has just finished a phase 2a "proof of concept" trial with 40 type 2 patients in Europe. Although the company did not release performance figures from the trial, it found them sufficiently encouraging to move further into phase 2 testing.
0 comments - Posted Feb 26, 2009
A report in the February 4, 2009, issue of Cell Metabolism says that babies born with neonatal diabetes might be able to avoid irreversible damage to the pancreas if doctors treat them quickly with sulfonylureas rather than insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2009
Georgia researchers believe that a powerful enzyme that inhibits or modifies immune system response could be the basis for a vaccine administered to children at high risk for developing type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2009
Avanafil, a pill that may permit diabetic men who are experiencing erectile dysfunction to engage in intercourse without the restrictions on food or alcoholic intake associated with other ED treatments, is entering a second phase 3 study-the crucial step before a drug manufacturer seeks FDA or European approval to market.
5 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2009
I admit it: I've had diabetes for seven years, and only recently did I even think about buying a medical alert ID. It's not like me to be this irresponsible, but diabetes crept up on me, rather like type 2 does, although I'm a type 1. My diabetes is a slowly progressing adult-onset form, sometimes called type 1.5. For the first five years after my diagnosis, I controlled the disease with diet.
10 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2009
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been considered a promising way to generate human stem cells for therapeutic applications for more than a decade. The shortage of human donor eggs has led to efforts to substitute animal oocytes. However, a new study published online in Cloning and Stem Cells, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., demonstrates that animal oocytes lack the capacity to fully reprogram adult human cells. (The paper is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/clo.)
2 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2009
Dear Editor,
You are right when you wrote that CDE's were becoming an endangered species, but were you aware that the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators (NCBDE) is part of the problem?
11 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2009
Data from a phase 3 study of the Novo Nordisk drug liraglutide shows that when it is used in combination with glimepiride, it is more effective at reducing A1c's than glimepiride by itself or glimepiride in combination with the drug rosiglitazone.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2009
Sanofi-aventis U.S. and Children with Diabetes have announced the arrival of a multimedia resource, called the KidCare Kit, which gives families the tools and information they need to get through the challenging first 30 days after a diagnosis of type 1.
0 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2009
Over the past few years, Team Type 1, a team of elite and professional cyclists living with type 1 diabetes, has competed in races like the Tour of Georgia and the AT&T Austin Downtown Criterium, and it has twice won the ultra-endurance, 3,052 mile Race Across America (RAAM).
0 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2009
In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.
0 comments - Posted Feb 17, 2009
Can you imagine a hospital where the floors are carpeted, so you feel soothed and protected? Where the doors open silently so as not to jar your nerves? Where vending machines are filled with fresh fruits, and the healthier the meal in the cafeteria, the less it costs? How about elevator doors covered in exotic floral motifs, or a diabetes center where you never wait more than ten minutes to be seen?
8 comments - Posted Feb 17, 2009
Editor's note: We recently received the following heartbreaking letter. The article that follows was first published in May, 2006. Little has changed.
10 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2009
Bone marrow cells that the body normally uses to restore blood vessels can be cultured to stop neuropathy and restore nerve function in diabetic mice, according to researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
11 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2009
Mansour Alzaharna is known to his neighbors in Barrow, Alaska, as the deli and food court manager at the local Alaska Commercial store, according to The Arctic Sounder, a newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska. Every year, the parent company of the AC store for which Alzaharna works sends a team of runners to the Walt Disney World Marathon, in which runners speed through the four Disney theme parks in Orlando, Florida, to raise money for charitable causes. This year, Alzaharna was among them, and he raised $12,000 for the American Diabetes Association in the process.
1 comment - Posted Feb 12, 2009
Responding to a slowdown in fundraising and cuts in federal funding of diabetes research, the Alexandra, Virginia-based American Diabetes Association has eliminated 86 staff positions, about 10 percent of its workforce.
1 comment - Posted Feb 11, 2009
Keep this letter-number sequence in mind: CXCL10. You'll probably be reading a lot more about it.
1 comment - Posted Feb 11, 2009
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5 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2009
Remember that public service advertisement that showed a frying egg and then announced, "This is your brain on drugs"? Well, now American researchers think that insulin might be able to shield that brain from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.
1 comment - Posted Feb 10, 2009
Try Running Kids, a company whose mission is to teach children to live a healthy lifestyle through adventure-based interactive educational entertainment (edutainment) programs in the classroom, recently announced its "Journey To Fitness" series. It has launched in schools across 12 counties throughout Florida and is growing rapidly.
0 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2009
Cards, gifts, chocolates, flowers, and romantic gestures. Isn't that what Valentine's Day is supposed to be about? My husband Brian and I had been going on that theory until 2002, when the holiday had the audacity to come around again one month after our son Danny was diagnosed with diabetes. That year, we woke up, wished each other Happy Valentine's Day and started talking about blood sugar levels, carbohydrates, insulin, exercise and pharmacies. We hit those same topics during the day by phone, and although we vaguely planned to go out for dinner, by evening Danny wasn't feeling well, and we spent part of the night on the phone to Children's Hospital. We did remember to kiss goodnight before we collapsed into a restless sleep, but were poised for the alarm to wake us, so we could test Danny's blood sugar levels again at midnight.
4 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2009
Last March, an 11-year-old Wisconsin girl, Kara Neumann, died from diabetic ketoacidosis (a serious complication of diabetes that results when glucose is unavailable to the body as a fuel source, fat is used instead, and toxic byproducts of fat breakdown, called ketones, build up). Kara had undiagnosed type 1 diabetes. She was never treated by medical professionals because her parents believe that only God can heal the sick. They prayed for their daughter's health, but they did not seek medical attention.
11 comments - Posted Feb 6, 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
By introducing a protein called cdk6 into human insulin-producing adult beta cells via a virus, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers have induced the cells to replicate "robustly." Previously, scientists believed that beta cells could be induced to regenerate slowly at best, and usually not at all.
0 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2009
Doctors often tell people with high blood pressure to decrease their consumption of sodium. Now researchers at the Loyola University Health System in suburban Chicago have found that it is probably wise to increase potassium intake at the same time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2009
Concerned about the growing number of Americans who are developing diabetes, Sanofi-aventis U.S. has launched the "Diabetes National Alliance" to provide healthcare professionals with information on the standard of care for people living with the disease.
1 comment - Posted Feb 4, 2009
Asia, which covers an area almost twice the size of North America and is home to three billion people-half of humanity-is often seen as a homogenous entity in the minds of many Westerners, even scientists. But a land that stretches 6,000 miles from east to west is anything but homogenous. The Israelis and Arabs in western Asia, for example, are far different ethnically from the Hmong mountain people in Southeast Asia, the Ainu in northern Japan, or the Filipinos in the southwestern Pacific.
0 comments - Posted Feb 3, 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?
19 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2009
As we go to press, President-elect Barack Obama has not yet been sworn into office but he and Senator Tom Daschle, Secretary-designate for Health and Human Services, have made it clear that health care will be a top priority. They have pledged to make health insurance work for people and businesses. One suggested reform in the Obama-Biden health plan is requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so that all Americans, regardless of their health status or history, can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums. This will be good news for the diabetes community.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2009
January 2009
A study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine has found that the glucose control practices at academic medical centers are below par and fail to meet the current standards set by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
2 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2009
Finalists have been announced for the 2008 Diabetes Educator of the Year contest, sponsored by American Diabetes Wholesale (ADW). A panel of judges went through hundreds of nominations before narrowing the field down to five excellent finalists. You can read about each one and cast your vote through March 20th, 2009, by visiting the ADW website.
0 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2009
Researchers in India have found that 65 proteins in the saliva of people with type 2 diabetes have patterns unlike the patterns of the same proteins in the saliva of individuals without diabetes. Not only may the differences be a potential way to identify type 2s, but the proteins themselves are associated with immune response and metabolic regulation-two bodily functions that run afoul in type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 29, 2009
Air polluted with particulate matter at concentrations found in many U.S. metro areas may be a contributing factor in obesity and to the onset of diabetes, say researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center.
0 comments - Posted Jan 29, 2009
Syracuse University chemist Robert Doyle has taken out a patent on something that has long been a Holy Grail for insulin suppliers and users: a reliable way to take insulin orally instead of with a needle.
4 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2009
The appearance of professional football player William "Refrigerator" Perry used to bother me. It was clear that he had been encouraged to get really big, and I worried about all that extra weight he carried. There were others almost as heavy, of course, but the Fridge was especially likable-he had charisma and an obvious sense of humor. (For fun, he once boxed 7-foot, 7-inch super-skinny former NBA player Manute Bol. He even entered the 2003 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, coming in about 40 hot dogs behind the winner.) I worried about his health.
0 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2009
Remember that New Year's resolution that you made a few weeks ago? Oh yeah, that one. How's that going? If you're like most people, you may have started to slack off just a little bit. Or even worse, maybe it's already a distant memory. No worries, I won't tell. Let's get you going again.
1 comment - Posted Jan 27, 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
Utah Jazz owner, Larry H. Miller had his legs amputated six inches below the knee last week. A spokesman for the successful pro basketball team told the Associated Press that the surgery was due to complications from type 2 diabetes. The spokesman noted that Miller was already using a wheelchair before the surgery. Miller is 64 years old.
3 comments - Posted Jan 26, 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
For patients who suffer frequent sharp abdominal pain from chronic pancreatitis, antioxidants may offer effective pain relief, according to a study recently published in Gastroenterology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association Institute.
5 comments - Posted Jan 23, 2009
Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, agreed to pay $1.4 billion and plead guilty to promoting its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa as a treatment for dementia when it was not approved for that use by the FDA, according to the Justice Department.
1 comment - Posted Jan 22, 2009
Hearts in the medical community beat with considerable excitement at the discovery of leptin in 1994. A hormone produced by fat, leptin has a very useful talent: it tells the brain when to stop eating. So hopes were high that leptin would become the basis of an anti-obesity treatment. What could be simpler than to dose an obese person with a hormone that says, "You're not hungry any more, and you want to stop eating."
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 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
Current thinking has it that obese people are obese because they engage in less physical activity and burn fewer calories than their thinner counterparts. But suppose you could show that obese women burn just as many calories as their thinner, supposedly fitter counterparts?
0 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2009
Scientists at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have developed a synthetic version of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol that doctors are always nudging their patients with diabetes to monitor.
0 comments - Posted Jan 20, 2009
In a speech on January 8, 2009, President-Elect Barack Obama pledged to make all medical records electronic within five years.
32 comments - Posted Jan 20, 2009
A long list of movers and shakers in the diabetes community has started a petition whose message is clear and simple:
6 comments - Posted Jan 17, 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
Tell this to your non-diabetic friends and relatives: The next time they look in a full-length mirror, they shouldn't be too quick to dismiss their ample hips and bottoms.
0 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.
10 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
According to biologists at the Baylor College of Medicine, limiting the copies of a gene that produces a protein affecting organ development serves to decrease fat cell size in mice, enhance their responsiveness to insulin, and increase their energy level.
0 comments - Posted Jan 14, 2009
Two diets - one severely restricting carbohydrate intake but with no limit on calories, and the other emphasizing low-glycemic carbohydrates and low calories - allowed high percentages of obese type 2 patients in a university study to reduce or even eliminate their diabetes medications (95.2 percent of the patients on the extreme low-carb diet and 62.1 percent of the patients on the low-glycemic diet).
6 comments - Posted Jan 14, 2009
Now you can read Diabetes Health in over 30 languages! Look for the Google Translate button in the left-hand navigational column on any of our pages. You can translate the text on the page by clicking the language of your choice in the drop-down menu.
3 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2009
About half of young people who have diabetes report having tried to lose weight at one time or another, says a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study reported in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care.
4 comments - Posted Jan 6, 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
It's estimated that 20 percent of the United States population, or 60 million people, suffer from one or more medical disorders that cause flatulence. That's a lot of scented candles and extra-strength Febreze®.
1 comment - Posted Jan 6, 2009
Researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong report that having metabolic syndrome may raise the risk of chronic kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jan 6, 2009
As science peers deeper into the genetic make-up of humans, a new branch of study, nutrigenomics, seeks to explore the correlation between people's "gene expressions" and the diets best suited to them.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
Type 1.5 diabetes, also known as Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA), is an autoimmune disease that falls between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes because it has characteristics of both.
10 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2009
In a recent study, obese teens with type 2 diabetes who underwent gastric bypass surgery not only lost a third of their weight, but also experienced the complete remission of their disease.
4 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
Every year the American Diabetes Associations revises and updates its Clinical Practice Recommendations, a publication upon which many doctors and medical caregivers depend as a primary source of diabetes treatment information.
10 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Post-menopausal women hoping to avert type 2 diabetes stand a better chance of success if they rely on losing weight rather than on a low-fat diet, according to results of a 12-year study conducted by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
3 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
A study published in the September American Journal of Nursing (AJN) indicates that graduated compression stockings were used incorrectly in 29 percent of the patients and sized incorrectly in 26 percent of the patients. Compression stockings play an important role in preventing the formation of deep vein clots that can result in pulmonary complications and death
4 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
A study of the effectiveness of the drug terbutaline on controlling nighttime hypoglycemia in people with type 1 diabetes indicates that it may be a safe and useful treatment with no ill effects.
5 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Researchers at Boston-based Joslin Diabetes Center report that almost 75 percent of children and teens with type 1 diabetes lack sufficient vitamin D. As a result, they are susceptible to bone problems later in life, including an increased risk of bone fractures.
2 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2008
Are you a scientific anomaly like me? Have you or someone you know reversed the complications associated with diabetes? Did you suffer microvascular and macrovascular damage during the “growing pains” of coming to terms with having no choice but to live your life with diabetes? Then, did you turn around and find love and hope, which made you change your life? And after changing it, did you find after several years that you were healing the damage that you had incurred by your own misguided hand?
106 comments - Posted Dec 25, 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.
83 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
The Chinese mentioned cinnamon in their written work more than 4,000 years ago. The ancient Egyptians used cinnamon in their embalming process, and the Roman writer/philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote in the first century AD that cinnamon was worth 15 times more than silver of the same weight.
37 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Sandy was giving her son his evening dose of NPH insulin - something she had done many times. But as she finished pushing in the plunger, she said to herself, "That shot took too long." She immediately realized that she had given Joey the wrong dose. In other words, by mistake, she had given him a potentially lethal dose of insulin.
60 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
No less an authority than the New York Times wrote in May 2006 that Halle Berry has type 1 diabetes, listing her as one of several "stars who have type 1 - Gary Hall, the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer; Adam Morrison, the Gonzaga University basketball star; [and] Halle Berry."
67 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
One of the more common and early complications of diabetes is nerve pain or peripheral neuropathy. Symptoms are tingling, pain or numbness in the legs and feet, sometimes in arms and hands.
15 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
The day I heard "Diabetes is not the leading cause of heart attack, blindness, kidney disease, and amputation," my life changed. I had believed the opposite to be true for the 32 years I'd been dealing with diabetes. Complications had always hung like a knife over my head.
14 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2008
People's happiness depends upon the happiness of others in their lives, says research published recently on bmj.com, a publication of the British Medical Association.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2008
A Spanish university study has found that a traditional Mediterranean diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, and fish may reduce the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes by 83 percent.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2008
Avandia (rosiglitazone) and Actos (pioglitazone), two medications used to lower blood sugar in type 2 patients, double the risk of fractures in women, but not in men, says a new study.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2008
"Inspired by Diabetes" is a friendly competition that not only helps people with diabetes gain inspiration from each other, but also generates donations to diabetes treatment centers in developing countries.
3 comments - Posted Dec 22, 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
Finnish scientists have reported that children who develop type 1 diabetes experience disturbances in their lipid and amino acid metabolism months or years before the onset of the disease. Their finding of distinct markers that precede the disease could lead to treatments designed to prevent the body's autoimmune system from attacking the pancreatic insulin-producing cells.
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."
37 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
When the sun rose that morning, I was in the kitchen as usual with my daughter, preparing to take my insulin. I usually don't take it in front of her, but we were engaged in one of those frustrating conversations that were so common now that she was a teenager.
19 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
Diabetes Health magazine recently had the pleasure of interviewing Doug Burns for a lengthy feature. He is a well-spoken and forthcoming man with a good sense of humor and an easy-going manner. Altogether, he comes across as a very nice person. On Sunday, however, Doug Burns was severely beaten by police during an episode of low blood sugar that occurred at a movie theater in Redwood City, California.
12 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
We originally published this list in 2000. In the years since, many more celebrities, stars, athletes, and movers and shakers have joined the ranks of people with diabetes. Here is an updated list of the more prominent ones, divided between the living and the dead.
41 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.
6 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
It should have been a slam-dunk. My wife underwent two back-to-back surgeries to treat an eye melanoma. Through the surgeon, she had obtained written permission from our health insurance company to use his services and those of the hospital where he operated. Neither was in our specific insurance plan--in health insurance vernacular, they were out-of-network--which explains why the pre-approval was mandated.
1 comment - Posted Dec 15, 2008
British researchers have discovered genetic links between type 1 diabetes and celiac disease (a digestive disorder characterized by an impaired reaction to gluten) that have them speculating that both diseases may stem from a common underlying cause.
4 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2008
Until fairly recently, low testosterone in men (I call it "low T") was treated only in patients with severe and obvious T deficiencies, such as men with congenital hormonal conditions that affected their pituitary gland or those who had lost both testicles to trauma, tumors, or infections. However, as the medical community has learned more about the benefits of T therapy for men with less obvious causes of low T (e.g., improved sexual desire and function, energy, and body composition), there has been concomitant interest in how T relates to other medical conditions, including diabetes. It turns out that the relationship between low T and diabetes is quite involved, although the final chapter on the ultimate nature of the relationship is still to be written.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2008
Hopes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would move soon to make the diabetes drug Byetta a monotherapy are fading. It now appears that the FDA will extend its review of the drug into 2009.
5 comments - Posted Dec 15, 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
An online charity auction website, Charity Folks, reports that the Jo Bros top the list of the ten hottest celebrity draws on their site. The youngest brother, Nick, has type 1 diabetes.
4 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
How does a mother keep her sense of humor when her 12-year old son has just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes? Well, it's not easy, but...
3 comments - 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
Are you ready to celebrate the holidays? How many festivities are on your calendar this season? It’s time to navigate the minefield of situations that can throw your diabetes off course and send a joyous occasion into the dumps.
0 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
The holiday season presents many challenges for individuals with diabetes. don’t mean to rain on your fruitcake, but research indicates that weight gain during the holiday season is typically on the order of 5 to 10 pounds.
2 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Hanukkah treats? Christmas traditions? Kwanzaa celebrations?
2 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2008
Why not sing it out, sing it proud this holiday season! Singing songs with your children is always fun and if you get to both acknowledge the presence of diabetes and laugh at it a little at the same time, so much the better!
0 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."
0 comments - 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.
19 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Times are hard this year, and it's that much harder to make your holiday money stretch very far. Charities, food banks, and other causes are feeling the pinch. Food banks, for example, have more people than ever needing their assistance, and fewer people able to give. In fact, people who used to give are now forced to be recipients.
0 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
I am always impressed when people find the strength to turn their own painful experience into a way to help others. In case you are losing faith that people are out there raising money, trying to find the Cure, and taking care of each other...read on.
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
More than 60 percent of adults with type 1 diabetes are not physically active, according to a study in the November 2008 issue of Diabetes Care. Their reason is fear that exercise will bring on hypoglycemia, leading to such severe consequences as loss of consciousness or even death.
2 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Here's an interesting case that shows how diabetes research can intrude into other realms of life: The Arizona Court of Appeals has cleared the way for the Havasupai Tribe to sue the state university system for improper use of blood samples that the tribe gave researchers in 1989 to help with a diabetes study.
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
If you're like millions of type 2s and people being treated for metabolic syndrome, you take metformin to control your liver's glucose production.
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
My daughter Lauren was five days shy of her twelfth birthday when she was diagnosed with type 1. We were blessed with a child who could and did take the lead in her recovery and care. She never had any "teen diabetic rebellion" and never adopted a "why me?" mentality. Her health has been great, and her last A1c was 6.7%. With all the hormonal changes that can affect a teenage girl's body and thus change her insulin requirements, Lauren has always stayed on top of her care and never lost her fantastic personality.
24 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
Next week we'll publish a great article written by Dr. Richard Bernstein. MD. Dr. Bernstein is a long-term proponent of paying more attention to carbs rather than fats (though he certainly doesn't advocate that you can have all the fats you want!) While Dr. Bernstein has been telling us about the benefits of low carb for over 30 years, there is still much skepticism about his (and many other's-Gary Taubes, anyone?) low carb results. The establishment has been slow to be convinced, despite the many research trials that back up their findings.
6 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
Non-beta "progenitor" cells in the pancreas can be stimulated to turn into beta cells even after birth or autoimmune injury to the pancreas, say researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.
2 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2008
People who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes will spend substantially more in the first year on medical costs than their non-diabetic counterparts-an average of $4,174 for a 50-year-old-according to RTI International, a non-profit research institute in North Carolina.
2 comments - Posted Dec 2, 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
Once you're diagnosed with type 2, you begin a long, often trial-and-error journey toward creating a daily routine that accommodates your disease without making you feel like an invalid.
1 comment - Posted Dec 2, 2008
One of the most promising approaches to the treatment of type 1 diabetes is the transplantation of human islet cells. The major drawback to the procedure has been that even though recipients initially enjoy revitalized pancreases that pump out copious amounts of insulin, their immune systems soon act as spoilsports and reject the donated cells.
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
A Superior Court judge in Sacramento has overturned a 2007 ruling that allowed trained school staff, not just registered nurses, to administer insulin shots to children with diabetes. The ruling affects approximately 14,000 California school children.
6 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
The holiday season is here. Time to deck the halls, trim the tree, and most importantly, fire up the oven. For most Americans, the holidays mean chestnuts roasting on an open fire, homemade pumpkin pie, and turkey with all the trimmings. But what if you must cook for a family plagued with food allergies? What if you have one yourself? Does your holiday feast have to be a bland, flavorless affair? And if not, is it inevitable that you (or someone) must suffer the decidedly unfestive fate of being stuck at a dinner table full of foods that you can't enjoy?
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2008
No doubt about it: Most of us have never felt less in control of our destinies. The stock market is bottoming out and no one knows what to do about it. Jobs are down, food prices are up, and who knows what's going on with gas. To make things even more expensive, the holidays are upon us. Mix all these factors together, and you have a recipe for runaway stress and anxiety. But there is one thing you can control: your body weight. That's right. Now is the time to get fit, lose any extra pounds that might be hanging around, and develop the habits that will keep your weight at a healthful level over the long term.
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2008
According to a study sponsored by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, it cost $218 billion to treat type 1 and 2 diabetes in the United States in 2007. Of that amount, the federal government spent approximately $85 billion.
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2008
I'll never forget the afternoon of January 22, 2003. I was just leaving my classroom when my phone lit up, alerting me to a new voicemail. My heart stopped when I listened to the message. It was my son's pediatrician, asking me to call him back as soon as possible.
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
According to a global survey studying children with diabetes, current healthcare systems are failing to give adequate social and psychological support to young people with diabetes. This lack of support often leads to poor control of their disease, resulting in long-term health complications.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2008
No one knows better than people with diabetes how expensive prescription drugs are. A recent DH article reported that the annual cost for drugs to treat type 2 diabetes nearly doubled between 2001 and 2007, skyrocketing from $6.7 billion to $12.5 billion six years later.
3 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
Becoming pregnant for the first time can be overwhelming for any woman, especially if that woman has diabetes. When my husband and I decided we were ready to have children, the first thing I did was make an appointment with my endocrinologist. Diagnosed when I was fourteen, I've had type 1 diabetes for twenty-four years. My doctor explained that I would need to be in tight control for three months before I could even think about babies, so I got right to work. Learning everything I could about diabetes and pregnancy, I was pleased to discover that with education, support, and practice, a woman with diabetes has every opportunity for a healthy pregnancy.
5 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
Nick Jonas and Bayer Diabetes Care have produced dog tags that feature a lyric from "A Little Bit Longer," the song Nick wrote about his diabetes. Two versions of the dog tags are available: one for people who would like to support the cause and another specifically for people with diabetes. The dog tag for people with diabetes has the lyric on the front, but also has the word "diabetes" on the back to document their personal fight against the disease.
7 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
Dear Laura,
I just finished viewing your clip online. You seem like a very intelligent and involved mom who decided it was time to take charge. I applaud you, and I agree with many points you make, but I disagree with your position on food.
10 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
With more than 2,500 facilities serving 10,000 communities that run the gamut from big-city downtowns to small rural sites, the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) could turn out to be a powerful tool in the fight to prevent diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 17, 2008
As a child, I had an obsessive, irrational fear of going blind. At night, I lay in bed and kept opening my eyes every few minutes as I fell asleep to make sure I could still see, searching for outside lights filtering through the curtains of my bedroom window.
3 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
A compound in brown rice called acylated steryl glucoside (ASG) can significantly reduce the chances of the nerve and vascular damage that often results from type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
It turns out that donating your time to science isn't the ego booster we thought it was. There aren't a lot of thanks out there. A recent national survey of 900 adults found that while 84 percent of the public greatly admire organ donors and 68 percent greatly admire blood donors, a paltry 33 percent greatly admire people who participate in clinical trials.
2 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2008
Today is not the first World Diabetes Day. This day was designated World Diabetes Day in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been celebrated each year on November 14 since then.
0 comments - Posted Nov 14, 2008
Diabetes care creates its own culture. There is a passion that surrounds the caretakers of the diabetes community. It is the small successes that spark us to keep on until the next one. Diabetes care creates champions out of all of us. I'd like to mention just a few of the hundreds of diabetes educators I have met.
9 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Tyco Healthcare Group LP (Covidien) is recalling one lot of ReliOn sterile, single-use, disposable, hypodermic syringes with permanently affixed hypodermic needles due to possible mislabeling. The use of these syringes may lead to patients receiving an overdose of as much as 2.5 times the intended dose, which may lead to hypoglycemia, serious health consequences, and even death.
0 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
Stanford researchers have found that some genes, although they predispose people to type 1, don't necessarily "kick in" for every person who has them. Something has to happen to make the genes go "bad." But more research is required to find out what that something is.
3 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
I have been reading a lot about diabetes on the Internet ever since I was diagnosed less than a year ago, and I wanted to share my experiences.
8 comments - Posted Nov 10, 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.
14 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
Gary Hall, Jr., an Olympic swimmer and ambassador of the Inspired by Diabetes program, will host a swim clinic in conjunction with Drew University's World Diabetes Day Swim-A-Thon on Saturday, November 15, 2008. The event, which begins at 10 a.m. with a two-hour clinic given by Hall, is followed by the swim-a-thon.
0 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
The ADA has a new book out, called What to Expect When You Have Diabetes: 170 Tips for Living Well With Diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 10, 2008
It's National Diabetes Month! Why not reward yourself for all that work you've done educating yourself about diabetes, all that time you've watched your diet, and all that time you've spent exercising? Have yourself a little sugar-free ice cream!
6 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2008
The FDA has approved the fast-acting insulin Apidra (insulin glulisine) for use in children four years and older who have type 1 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 3, 2008
Have you ever thought of water exercise as a convenient and effective workout alternative? If not, now might be the time for you to leave the land and get into the water. This workout will challenge your body in a new way, increasing your endurance and muscular strength.
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2008
Metformin, the tried-and-true diabetes drug that is prescribed to many type 2s when they are first diagnosed, may decrease the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. That's the conclusion of a meta-analysis by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2008
The annual cost for drugs to treat type 2 diabetes nearly doubled between 2001 and 20, skyrocketing from $6.7 billion in 2001 to $12.5 billion six years later, according to researchers from Stanford University and the University of Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2008
When I was growing up in the South, my mother always told me, "You are what you eat." With Americans leading the pack in obesity and type 2 diabetes, it appears that she may have been right. Years of drive-through dinners and instant breakfasts have caught up with us, making us rethink every bite that passes our