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Diabetes Monitoring Article Archives
May 2012
Researchers in Taipei, Taiwan, report that they have identified the top three drugs for reducing A1C levels in type 2 diabetes: biphasic insulin, GLP-1 analogs, and basal insulin. They hedged a little on their endorsement of GLP-1 analogs, however, by saying that although they are not decisively better at controlling A1Cs than other oral diabetes drugs, they have the advantage of helping to reduce weight without adding to the danger of hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted May 16, 2012
With tens of millions of American facing life with type 2 diabetes and many millions more at risk of the disease, scientists are scrambling to unravel novel treatments. The latest breakthrough could come from California's Salk Institute.
0 comments - Posted May 13, 2012
For people with diabetes, breakfast is more than just a morning meal. According to recent research, it may hold the key to good blood glucose numbers for the rest of the day.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2012
It may be better for older people with type 2 diabetes to have less stringent A1C goals than younger type 2s, according to new guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
5 comments - Posted May 3, 2012
About 16 years ago, after some routine blood work, I was told by my doctor that he wanted me to see an endocrinologist because he suspected diabetes. I went to see the endo, and, sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed. I had type 2 diabetes, and I had some serious changes to make.
2 comments - Posted May 2, 2012
April 2012
As an orthopedic surgeon, I have many patients with diabetes who tell me, "I can't have surgery because I won't heal." That is certainly not the case, however. Diabetes does affect the small blood vessels and the function of immune cells when blood sugar is high, but with proper nutrition and blood sugar management, people with diabetes are very safe to undergo knee replacements, abdominal surgery, and many elective procedures.
1 comment - Posted Apr 28, 2012
My oldest nephew, James, has a double whammy to deal with. His aunt, yours truly, has type 1 diabetes, and so does his father. I was in the room when my sister had an ultrasound during her pregnancy with James, and I clearly remember the doctor asking her if anyone in her family had diabetes. We shared a look as she informed the doctor of my diabetes and her husband's diabetes. I know we also shared a silent prayer as the reality hit us that diabetes might be passed on to her children.
3 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2012
The US Food and Drug Administration has okayed US sales of Bayer HealthCare's CONTOUR® Next EZ blood glucose monitoring system. The new BGM, currently available in other countries as the CONTOUR XT, will be available in the US market this summer.
1 comment - Posted Apr 25, 2012
As we approach the summer season, our thoughts turn to barbecues, picnics, amusement parks, and road trips to the beach. It is a season of fun, but it can be hard for people with diabetes to enjoy the festivities and still maintain healthy eating habits.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2012
Research has shown that a few people with Type 1 diabetes are at an increased risk for having traffic accidents due to low blood sugars.
Possibly, we can help the diabetes community.
Researchers at the University of Virginia are conducting a study evaluating internet tools designed to:
• • Anonymously assess risk for ALL drivers with Type 1 diabetes of being in an accident and
• • Potentially help reduce the chance of high-risk drivers being in a future collision.
1 comment - Posted Apr 21, 2012
MinuteClinic, a division of CVS Caremark Corporation, is helping patients with diabetes stay on top of their condition this spring by offering a free monitoring visit. This service helps patients with diabetes keep their health in check between visits to a primary care provider, and is available seven days a week at the walk-in medical clinics inside select CVS/pharmacy stores across the United States.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2012
Some people are perfectly happy divulging their three-month blood sugar average, known as an A1C, but I'd rather walk barefoot across hot coals than share my A1C number. It's funny, because I'm actually kind of proud of it these days. It's by no means perfect and could definitely stand to be lower, but I've come a long way. There was a time in my life when my diabetes was out of control and my A1C results were shameful. I felt so embarrassed and disappointed in myself, and the worst part was, I felt hopeless. Thankfully, I have maintained a substantial A1C drop for years now.
12 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2012
The challenges of pregnancy are daunting on their own, but when you're diabetic, they can seem insurmountable. That's one of the reasons Cheryl Alkon wrote a book on the subject. Having type 1 diabetes herself, Alkon knew firsthand the challenges of controlling her disease during pregnancy, and of raising the kids who followed.
3 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2012
To love a diabetic is to be a doctor. It means helping her to remember her medications. It means driving her for an hour to the only 24 hour pharmacy when she's gotten the flu and can't take the Nyquil in the refrigerator. Or driving her to the hospital when the simple flu turns into bronchitis and her blood turns acidic.
37 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2012
North Carolina-born chef Sam Talbot first came to national attention when he placed third in the Season 2 run of Bravo's Top Chef TV competition. Sam, who has type 1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump, held the executive chef position at several New York City restaurants, including Black Duck, Williamsburgh Cafe, and Punch, before opening his current restaurant, the acclaimed Surf Lodge, in Montauk on Long Island.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2012
An examination of several studies that included a total of 350,000 people has linked high consumption of white rice with an increase in type 2 diabetes. A comparison of the studies that were conducted in China and Japan, where white rice is a staple, indicated that people there were 55 percent more likely to develop the disease than Asian people who ate the least rice.
2 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2012
As I listen to the news of the recent Mega Millions jackpot of over $600 million, my dreams aren't about fast cars, vast mansions, or plush vacations. My thoughts revolve around my diabetes. How awesome would it be to have the best care that money can buy?
7 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2012
March 2012
Readers occasionally ask us for advice about drugs they are taking. When they do, we refer their questions to a medical professional. In the question below, a Florida reader expresses concerns about the interaction of her diabetes drug with the medicines she takes for asthma.
0 comments - Posted Mar 29, 2012
It's spring break again, when thousands of people head to the beach. A lot of wonderful things come with being out and about on spring break, but if you have diabetes, there are also several things you should consider. There's going to be more traffic, fewer parking places, lots of people, an abundance of uncalculated carbohydrate sources, and longer waits for everything, to name just a few.
2 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2012
After my recent heart attack, it got harder to keep my diabetes under control. No matter how hard I try, I'm always struggling with my sugar levels these days. Checking them at every meal and at bedtime is a job, but it keeps me healthy and alive. So many people I know have died from diabetes, in part because they failed to do the daily maintenance that came with controlling their condition.
When I was told that I have coronary artery disease, I was baffled. After all, I am only 36, and CAD is a condition of the elderly, or so I thought. The heart specialist, however, let me know that anyone may be susceptible to the condition. Coronary artery disease is caused by a buildup of plaque in the arteries of the heart. Uncontrolled blood sugar levels increase the risk of heart attack because the sugar in the blood damages blood vessels throughout the body, including the heart.
2 comments - Posted Mar 23, 2012
A little more than 25 years ago, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2012
Massachusetts researchers have found that even years after they are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, some people continue to possess functioning beta cells. This finding departs from the conventional thinking that in type 1 diabetes beat cell activity inevitably ceases--the result of attacks on the cells by the body's immune system.
1 comment - Posted Mar 19, 2012
If you are newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and don't take insulin, a new study says that you are likely to have better A1Cs if you have access to blood glucose testing supplies and use them. The finding comes from a large Cochrane review of previous studies that took place in many countries.
1 comment - Posted Mar 17, 2012
One quarter of patients with diabetic neuropathy undergo unnecessary, expensive tests, according to a study by Brian Callaghan, MD, of the University of Michigan Medical School. When Dr. Callaghan and his team looked at 1996-2007 Medicare claims of patients diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, they found that the most common test performed was an MRI of the brain or spine. There were far fewer instances of glucose tolerance tests. Other tests that were done, but much less often, included fasting glucose levels, A1Cs, vitamin B12 levels, and serum protein electrophoresis.
0 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2012
Sometimes I feel like an idiot. It usually happens when I read a blog by one of my favorite "D" parents telling about how their children are handling life with type 1 diabetes. These brave kids put up with the same things that adults with diabetes do, and some are literally too young to even understand what's going on. Reading about these little warriors makes me regret even more the fact that I wallowed in self pity all afternoon just because my blood sugar didn't cooperate flawlessly during my daily walk.
2 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2012
As I was sitting in the hospital after a heart attack, my cardiologist walked in and said, "You have to stop eating meat." "Red meat?" I asked hopefully. "All meat," he replied firmly. It was disconcerting, to say the least, because meat has been in my life since I could feed myself. But my cardiologist explained, "If you don't want to end up back here again, you will start on an plant-based diet immediately." That day, I stopped eating meat. In fact, I asked the hospital food service to switch me to a vegetarian diet.
26 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2012
Maryland-based Telcare, a mobile health app provider, is offering a free application for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users. MyTelcare Diabetes Pal, which synchronizes with the company's wireless blood glucose meter, allows diabetes patients and caregivers to see the readings sent to them by the Telcare BGM blood glucose meter. They can combine those readings with other patient data about medications, nutrition, and activities, thereby generating a comprehensive overview of their progress with the disease.
0 comments - Posted Mar 4, 2012
LifeScan has announced the voluntary recall of its OneTouch Verio IQ Meter in the United States and Canada. The company reports that under very specific circumstances, the meter turns itself off when users attempt to access the "Results Log" to view stored test results. When the meter is turned back on, it enters the "set up" mode and requires users to confirm the date and time settings before being able to test again.
According to LifeScan, this issue has no effect on the accuracy of test results or functions such as on-screen pattern notifications, averages, result tagging, or downloading, and data are not lost. If the user does not confirm all settings, however, testing is not possible. As a result, treatment may be delayed or a treatment decision made without a blood glucose reading.
0 comments - Posted Mar 2, 2012
February 2012
The unconditional love of a dog can be an amazing source of strength and resilience for its owner. Eight-year-old Madalaine Hembraugh and her foster dog, Petey, are living proof of that. They both have type 1 diabetes, and they have formed a bond that is helping to heal them both.
1 comment - Posted Feb 27, 2012
A team of neurologists has issued a new set of recommendations for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy, including drugs and other treatments that have been found to be the most effective therapies for the condition.
13 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2012
A survey of type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany indicates that more than one in every five have arrived late at work or not shown up at all because of a hypoglycemic episode the night before.
18 comments - Posted Feb 21, 2012
Up to seven years before she becomes pregnant, a woman's risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy can be identified based on routinely assessed measures of blood sugar and body weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the online issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
2 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2012
There are lots of articles about diabetes, as well as all kinds of information about anemia. But what if you have both? About 25 percent of people with diabetes have some level of anemia. This article explains how the two conditions interact.
2 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2012
Using a log book can be cumbersome, but it has many benefits. Tracking your blood sugars allows you to spot trends and provides a landscape view of how your body reacts to changing circumstances. It’s crucial to understand your body’s responses to food, illness, stress, and simply over-indulging in festive activities. Keeping track of these variables helps you better manage your diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 15, 2012
Wiped out and dejected, that's my state of mind this morning. I had a really low blood sugar, and it's left me feeling like I've been in a fight. My arms and legs feel heavy, and my "low" headache lingers, but I remind myself that it could be worse. I'm fine, I treated it, and my day will go on.
12 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2012
My best friend from high school, Katherine, married a wonderful man who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a little over two years ago. John Schaaf, now 60, lives with Katherine in Berkeley, Calif., and works for Chevron Corporation in nearby Richmond.
4 comments - Posted Feb 13, 2012
Cinnamon, chromium, and alpha-lipoic acid are dietary supplements that have been studied for diabetes management, but are not commonly found in daily multivitamins. Chromium* and cinnamon have the least supportive evidence of efficacy, while some studies have found alpha-lipoic acid to be promising, at least subjectively, in reducing the discomforts of peripheral neuropathy.
1 comment - Posted Feb 12, 2012
My son learned to crawl last month. As a part-time stay-at-home dad, I found it both exciting and terrifying. Through crawling, my son has entered a new stage in life. He might have rolled or scooted a few feet before, but now he can see something in another room and make up his mind to go there.
1 comment - Posted Feb 10, 2012
Barley has more beta glucan fiber than any other grain, and it has repeatedly established positive clinical results with regard to diabetes control. It not only boosts immune function by supporting macrophages and neutrophils, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and helps control obesity, but also attenuates postprandial glucose levels, improves insulin sensitivity, and promotes a feeling of satiety.
6 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2012
Due to the rising rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases related to obesity, children are expected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents for the first time in modern history. One in every three children aged two to 19 years is overweight or obese, and one-third of all children born in the year 2000 are expected to develop diabetes during their lifetime.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2012
Two years ago, I was a different woman. I was just beginning to come out of my diabetes shell, assessing my confidence with strangers by testing in public and telling friends about my disease. I can still feel the panic rising in my throat as I told people that I have diabetes and need to take injections multiple times per day. I was afraid of rejection, afraid that they would treat me like a sick person. But after eleven years of fighting for my life with type 1 diabetes, I was tired of being afraid. The more people I told, the easier it got.
7 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2012
January 2012
The first time I worried about traveling with diabetes was after the 9/11 tragedy. I had been offered a trip to New York to attend a writer's conference. I jumped at the chance, looking forward to the conference, sightseeing, shopping, and seeing the musical The Producers on Broadway.
9 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2012
Animas Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson that manufactures insulin pumps, has been reprimanded by the FDA for not reporting serious problems resulting from use of its equipment. The parent company was warned that it could face fines and more for selling faulty insulin pumps and failing to disclose serious injuries to diabetic patients who used the OneTouch Ping and 2020 insulin pumps. According to reports, J&J continued to sell the pumps even after the company knew that some had failed.
1 comment - Posted Jan 29, 2012
Until now, drawing blood has been an unavoidable component of being tested for prediabetes and diabetes. Nobody enjoys the process, and it probably makes many people shy away from undergoing diagnosis at all.
1 comment - Posted Jan 28, 2012
CHICAGO, IL -- January 24, 2012 -- The news of celebrity chef Paula Deen having diabetes has triggered a national conversation about how diet affects people with diabetes or those who are at risk of getting it.
0 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2012
The FDA has given Roche the go-ahead to market its Accu-Chek® Nano SmartView blood glucose monitoring system. The Nano, which uses Accu-Chek SmartView test strips, will be available to US consumers within the first half of this year. It is part of the same product line as the Accu-Chek Aviva Nano and Accu-Chek Performa Nano systems, which Roche has already launched in several overseas markets.
3 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2012
I wake in the morning with the taste of sour milk on my tongue. I'm sweating, extremely weak and disoriented. My muscles ache at the thought of moving. I have a sick feeling in my stomach, and it's threatening to come up my throat. I'm not sure what day it is. Nausea hits in a wave, sending chills down my spine.
28 comments - Posted Jan 17, 2012
Ethan Lewis, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12, founded GlucoBrands only 11 years later. The company produces a portable, inexpensive, tasty, fast-acting glucose gel that people can take to quickly restore healthy blood sugar levels when they experience hypoglycemia.
1 comment - Posted Jan 16, 2012
LifeScan has introduced the OneTouch® VerioTM IQ, a meter that not only tracks and displays blood sugar patterns, but also announces them with messages, such as "Looks like your blood sugar has been running LOW around this time."
2 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2012
Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion on the subject of testing your blood sugar and taking insulin shots in public. A shocking number of people on social networks have commented that their family members don't want them to test their blood sugar or take their shots in public. They report having to inject in restrooms or even through their clothing to avoid drawing attention or offending their families. One hypersensitive husband even objected when his recently diagnosed wife took a shot in the relative privacy of their car.
38 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2012
Professional snowboarder Sean Busby started competing at age 14 and began training for the Winter Olympics at 16. But in 2004, at age 19, Sean's troubling bouts of thirst and weariness were revealed as symptoms of type 1 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jan 10, 2012
Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Inc., has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has given it the go-ahead to market its mySentry monitor, which allows caregivers to check the blood sugar of a diabetic person sleeping in another room. The bedside monitor, which costs around $3,000, works in tandem with Medtronic's MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time RevelTM System, a combined insulin pump/continuous glucose monitor unit.
3 comments - Posted Jan 9, 2012
Canadian researchers report that just 30 minutes of intense exercise per week can reduce blood sugar levels for up to 24 hours after each exercise session and help prevent post-prandial spikes in patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2012
What's it really like to have type 1 diabetes? Every morning I start the day with a finger prick and two insulin injections. It doesn't matter if I don't feel like it. It doesn't matter if I'm tired. There is simply no room for pre-coffee dosage errors, excuses, or whining. Some mornings are good and some are bad, based upon my blood glucose reading. Its level varies greatly depending on whether my liver has released large stores of glucose during the dawn hours.
25 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2012
December 2011
Diagnosed with diabetes at age 15, Brandy Barnes went on to a successful career as a pharmaceuticals salesperson, but she deeply missed having other diabetic women in her life to whom she could relate. Finally, after a difficult pregnancy, long thought, and prayer, she founded DiabetesSisters (www.diabetes.sisters.org), a North Carolina-based nonprofit organization that provides education and support to women of all ages with all types of diabetes. DS offers conferences, websites, blogs, and a "sister match" program, all designed to lessen feelings of isolation and deepen bonds of connection among women with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 28, 2011
An article in an Indiana newspaper documents an alarming rise in diabetes among Arizona's Hispanics, especially along the US border with Mexico. The Republic, published in Columbus, Indiana, reports that 13.5 percent of residents in Arizona's Yuma County had diabetes in 2010. Almost 60 percent of the border county's nearly 200,000 residents are Hispanic.
0 comments - Posted Dec 24, 2011
Even the best known actors can't make a hit movie on their own. They need people behind the scenes. Just like those stars of the silver screen, the standard insulin pump can't do its job all by itself. No, the classic-model pump needs an infusion set to deliver its insulin to patients.
0 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2011
We are a tight-knit community. I'm not talking about my neighbors in my hometown of Chicago. I'm talking about my worldwide neighbors in the diabetic online community. Anyone dealing with diabetes knows the bond that it brings. When a person with diabetes is wronged, the rest of us feel the sting. Most of us living with diabetes have stories about people badgering our diet choices, saying inappropriate or insensitive things, and, sadly, crossing the line even further.
5 comments - Posted Dec 20, 2011
In some US markets, people with diabetes who are covered by Medicare cannot get the mail order diabetes testing supplies that Medicare promised.
1 comment - Posted Dec 19, 2011
On July 21, Claire Duncan was one of three people with type 1 diabetes on a six-person relay team that swam across the English Channel. The team, swimming to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, covered the 22-mile route in 13.5 hours, starting from a beach between Folkestone and Dover in England and finishing in France near Cap Gris Nez, between Boulogne and Calais.
0 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2011
"I have type 2 diabetes, diagnosed five years ago, and am 67 years old. I have worked very hard to manage this disease, but without the success I would like."
0 comments - Posted Dec 16, 2011
I wish there were a fail-safe manual for diabetes. Just when I'm thinking about how great my blood sugars have been, bam! I see a 300 on my meter, or a 40. It's so hard to know why: The off numbers could be due to hormones, stress, sickness, an incorrect carb count, varying activity levels, or any combination thereof. With diabetes, you really do learn as you go. Here are a few things I have learned along the way.
2 comments - Posted Dec 13, 2011
Here's the scenario: You're a famed prosecutor who happens to be on an insulin pump. One of the criminals you put away years ago has been released from prison, and he's eager for revenge. This is a particularly cunning criminal, so he hatches a subtle plan. He hacks into your insulin pump, giving you a massive dose of insulin without warning. As you drive to work one day, you begin to feel woozy. That's odd, you think, looking down to where the pump attaches to your stomach. I just ate....
1 comment - Posted Dec 12, 2011
Will the federal government kill the artificial pancreas? The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is raising the alarm over FDA guidelines that could stifle the technology necessary for the development of an artificial pancreas.
11 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2011
Attention, those who use the OneTouch UltraLink meter: You can now get a free Nova Max Link meter instead. This offer is being made because the company that supplied the OneTouch glucose meter has terminated its agreement with the manufacturer. If you are or were a Medtronic MiniMed user and want the Nova Max Link replacement, call the Nova customer care line at 800-681-7390.
0 comments - Posted Dec 5, 2011
Forensic scientist Mark Ruefenacht, who has type 1 diabetes, tells Diabetes Health publisher Nadia Al-Samarrie how he realized that dogs can be a major defense against life-threatening episodes of hypoglycemia. That insight led him to found Dogs for Diabetics ("D4D"), a Concord, California-based organization that trains dogs to alert their masters when they sense low blood sugar. D4D's website is located at www.dogs4diabetics.com/
3 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2011
Jeff O'Connell is the author of "Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit and the Simple Way to Beat It." I discovered his book while browsing the shelves of my local library, and I could hardly put it down. Though I have type I diabetes and O'Connell's book focuses on type 2, I found many of his thoughts applicable to my own health. His book is no doubt controversial, so I wanted to delve deeper into his daring claims and share his responses with the diabetic community. After reading my interview with Jeff, please leave a comment below to let Diabetes Health know what you think.
10 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2011
November 2011
Earl "the Pearl" Monroe was one of the greatest guards in the history of the National Basketball Association, playing from 1967 through 1980 for the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks. A member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, he was enshrined in the league's Hall of Fame in 1990. The Knicks retired his jersey number, 15, in 1986.
0 comments - Posted Nov 29, 2011
There's nothing quite like wondering how you're going to pay for prescriptions. I find it odd that we usually don't know what our out-of-pocket cost will be until we're standing in front of the pharmacy staff and praying that we have enough in our wallet to cover it. I often feel like a reality show contestant waiting for the grand total. My pharmacy-based reality show would probably be called "The Biggest Payer," or perhaps "The Amazing Guess," or, aptly, "Survivor." If you've ever walked away from the pharmacy counter embarrassed, panicked, or depressed, you know the feeling I'm referring to. It's a pain no prescription can cure.
37 comments - Posted Nov 26, 2011
Mike Golic is the co-host of ESPN's wildly popular radio show, "Mike and Mike in the Morning." Before beginning work as a broadcaster in 1995, he played for nine years as a defensive tackle in the National Football League, including stints with the Houston Oilers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami Dolphins. About five years ago, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Since then, he has become involved in getting the word out about type 2, including the potential danger of hypoglycemia. He is a spokesman for "Blood Sugar Basics," a website and outreach program co-sponsored by Merck and the American College of Endocrinology.
3 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2011
A sleek new version of the humble blood pressure cuff is turning heads. The Withings Smart Blood Pressure Monitor just won a 2012 iF product design award for its maker, the French company Withings. The iF product design award is an international prize, sometimes called the "Design Oscar," that is awarded by a German group.
0 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2011
In one of Devon Inglee's artworks, a teddy bear, the symbol of childhood innocence, lies flat on its back with three menacing syringes piercing its furry tummy. In the background, the bear's owner, a small girl, stands above the teddy eating an apple. Inglee writes, "In ‘Tit for Tat,' a sweet girl contently eats an apple while hiding a large syringe behind her back, oblivious to her beloved, yet murdered toy. This piece deals with the process of anger, mourning, and denial associated with my personal diagnosis of a chronic disease." For the 33-year-old art student, this work is about mourning and letting go of preconceived notions and ideas of what the future will be.
0 comments - Posted Nov 22, 2011
Living with diabetes, you are already hyper-aware of food, but the holidays seem to heighten that awareness. Faced with your aunt's delicious homemade cornbread and your grandma's famous sweet potato casserole, you may find yourself digging through your closet for your old carbohydrate-counting books and guessing at your insulin adjustments. Who wants to go through the holidays with the added stress of high blood sugars and associated mood swings, especially when your family is already driving you nuts? No, thanks.
4 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2011
It's hard being the new person at work. It's even harder when you're the new person and you have diabetes. Whenever I start a new job, thoughts race through my mind: Will I go low while I'm training? Will I have quick access to snacks? Will I be able to check my blood sugar without an audience? How about taking an insulin injection at the lunch table? It isn't easy feeling forced to expose so many personal details to people you just met.
2 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2011
Heather Shields was thrilled when she got the opportunity to dance with the famous Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. At 11 years old, she dreamed of one day becoming a professional ballerina, and this trip would bring her dream a little closer. A long way from home for this California girl, Heather traveled with her family to the "Big Apple" for the month of July. During that month she remembers dancing six to seven hours a day in the heat of the summer. She began losing weight, but shrugged it off, assuming she'd caught her mom's stomach bug.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2011
Want a simple way to find out if you or someone you know is likely to develop type 2 diabetes? Just answer these three simple questions!
0 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2011
I thought I had seen it all as a person with diabetes. Going to college, marriage, moves, career changes, you name it. I had soldiered on through them all, my control shifting from tight to loose to somewhere in the middle as the situation changed. I had adapted pretty well, I told myself.
2 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2011
Having diabetes means attending medical appointments regularly. It's entirely possible that at some point, you experienced an incident in which a medical professional hurt your feelings, made a mistake, or told you something completely incorrect. Medical mistakes do happen. While most doctors and nurses are amazing and professional, they are also human. Errors and inappropriate comments can occur. Some simply don't understand all aspects of diabetes.
17 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2011
Final weeks of pregnancy! The third trimester brings about many more ultrasound scans and measurements taken to judge the growth and health of your child. You'll likely be visiting your OB/GYN or maternal fetal medicine office twice per week for non-stress tests to ensure that your baby is healthy and active.
3 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2011
When doctors hand out a diagnosis of diabetes, I wish they'd give you a list of tips that can make life happier living with the illness. After my diagnosis, I felt ashamed of my diabetes, ashamed of my inability to control it with diet and exercise even though I literally worked out every single day for nine months straight. I skipped nearly all carbohydrates and didn't eat meat at the time, so all I ate was nuts, cheese, eggs, and vegetables. The doctor didn't put me on insulin right away because I was eighteen, and she wasn't sure if I had type 1 or type 2. But nothing I did was working. It was soon apparent that I was type 1 and that insulin injections were unavoidable. I had no idea that it wasn't my fault. I felt hopeless, hungry, exhausted, and alone.
2 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2011
If you've had diabetes for a number of years, chances are that you remember when there was no Internet access and no diabetes online community. You had no way to look up information online and no instant connection to millions of others around the world living with diabetes. Unless you had a friend nearby with diabetes, there was no one to understand how you felt when your blood sugar numbers were less than stellar, and no one to sympathize with how hard it can be to get your A1C down.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2011
October 2011
The one time I needed a glucagon injection, I didn't have any. I had never been given a prescription for it, had no idea how to use it, and was absolutely clueless about what it did.
1 comment - Posted Oct 29, 2011
All blood tests are tools. Some are to diagnose diabetes, some are to help you manage your diabetes on a daily or long term basis and some are to keep you safe.
0 comments - Posted Oct 28, 2011
Wrongly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when he was 30 years old, Chris Angell spent several frustrating weeks trying to make sense of his condition and not understanding why he wasn't getting any better. His diagnosis was eventually changed to type 1 diabetes, but Chris never received the necessary education to get his blood sugars in control. "I didn't know what I was supposed to be eating or how to count carbs, and I really felt isolated," he says.
1 comment - Posted Oct 25, 2011
Technology now under development would allow people with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar through their contact lenses. Researcher Babak Parviz of the University of Washington in Seattle invented the lenses, which monitor the amount of glucose in tear fluid. That fluid tracks blood glucose levels closely, and Parviz hopes to have the lenses communicate wirelessly with some sort of auxiliary meter.
0 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2011
Trying to lose weight as an insulin-injecting person with type 1 diabetes couldn't be more frustrating. It gets on my last nerve that exercise can trigger mind-numbing lows, lows that cause me to inhale a portion of those recently burned calories. That said, I don't skip exercise to avoid lows. I just check my blood sugars more often, use caution with my insulin dosing, and follow the advice of my doctors.
22 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2011
It is raining today. Kolumbo, my hypoglycemia alert dog, hates the rain. I think I have the only Labrador in the world that hates getting wet. I opened the screen door this morning to feel the breeze and hear the rain. Unfortunately, while the door was open, a fly decided to come inside. When I say that Kolumbo is a lazy dog, I really mean it. He lay on his bed and watched the fly go around and around. then opened his mouth, thinking that the fly might just go in. I heard the snap of his teeth as he tried to get the fly.
13 comments - Posted Oct 19, 2011
Need to take control of your diabetes and your health? Going to the doctor frequently might be just what the doctor ordered, according to a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital published last month. The researchers looked at how long it took type 2 patients to reach their goals in three areas: A1C levels, blood pressure, and LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Those who interacted with doctors frequently -- every week to two weeks -- achieved their goals far more quickly than those who interacted with doctors every three to six months.
0 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2011
The answer to the looming threat of obesity and cardiovascular disease could be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. Indeed, according to a new campaign from managed-care giant Kaiser Permanente, walking has benefits in the short and long term.
0 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2011
September 2011
Being a rookie driver on the fast-paced IndyCar racing circuit is pressure enough for any 26-year-old. But for Charlie Kimball, one of four wheel men on businessman Chip Ganassi's IndyCar race team, there's the added need to manage type 1 diabetes while roaring around the track at speeds that often exceed 200 miles per hour.
0 comments - Posted Sep 25, 2011
It's that time of year again: flu season. I never thought much about getting a flu shot until fourteen years ago, when I ended up in the emergency room with the flu and a staggering blood sugar of over 800 mg/dL. I had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a few years before and had never discussed a sick day plan with my doctor. But during this experience, I discovered that diabetes and the flu get along about as well as a house cat and a junkyard dog.
5 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2011
Claire Duncan is one of many people with type 1 diabetes who wears a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump, in this case, an Animas® VibeTM. In an age of almost routine medical marvels, Duncan doesn't really seem to be an exception.
2 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2011
It may sound silly to say this, especially in this era of computing and high technology, but in our house, one of the most important tools in managing diabetes is a notebook, an ink pen, and three brightly colored magic markers. Of course, I'm talking about the logbook. That's not to say we don't also rely on complicated software to help track our daughter's blood sugars. But when it comes to understanding and using the data to our advantage, there is some truth to the age old belief in hands-on training.
1 comment - Posted Sep 16, 2011
When you live with diabetes, there's a lot to do. Checking blood sugars. Counting carbs. Exercising. Not to mention all those fun-filled doctors' appointments. So the last time your physician or diabetes educator suggested ketone testing, it's completely understandable that your head was nodding but your mind was thinking "No way, Jack." But before abandoning the idea completely, there are a few things you should know.
5 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2011
An estimated 34 million Americans will be on the road during Labor Day weekend, many of them with type 2 diabetes. Road travel can interfere with blood sugar management and lead to low blood sugar, which can cause serious complications, such as loss of consciousness, if not treated quickly.
1 comment - Posted Sep 6, 2011
Carbohydrates can increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, as well as contribute to weight gain. A recent study shows that eating two ounces of raw, dry, or roasted nuts daily as a replacement for two ounces of other carbohydrates may control blood sugar levels and cholesterol in type 2 diabetes without packing on the pounds.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2011
When people are diagnosed with diabetes, things can seem pretty overwhelming. In a short time, they have to absorb a daunting amount of information and start making significant decisions about the way they live their lives.
0 comments - Posted Sep 3, 2011
When diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was eighteen years old, scared, and confused. Although bone thin, I was older than the usual juvenile diabetic, so the doctor didn't know if I had type 1 or type 2 diabetes. At first, the doctor gave me pills to lower my blood sugar. I avoided carbohydrates and threw myself into exercise, then watched helplessly as the numbers on my blood sugar meter continued to rise.
10 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2011
August 2011
Utah-based Essential Preparedness Products (EPP) offers an emergency storage case for people with diabetes, called Diabetic med-EcaseTM. The yellow cases, made of high-impact material, are waterproof, airtight, and can float. Buyers of the $69.99 product receive foam inserts for both type 1 and type 2 needs and can outfit the case accordingly.
5 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2011
Carbohydrates have become the ugly stepsister in the family photo album of healthy eating. Standing in the grocery aisle, consumers study ingredients and food labels, counting and analyzing the carb content of their foods. In the last decade, the popularity of low carb diets rose to dramatic heights as Americans gravitated toward the South Beach, Atkins, and Zone diets. Fruits were forsaken for plates piled high with steak and eggs.
7 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2011
Walking down the aisle of our church, I held onto my Dad's arm and tried to breathe deeply, but the flutters in my stomach and beads of sweat sliding down the back of my legs made me wonder if my blood sugar was dropping. When I reached the front of the church, I took my future husband's hands and saw that he was shaking too. I breathed a sigh of relief and realized it was just nerves.
1 comment - Posted Aug 23, 2011
I recently finished reading Amy Stockwell Mercer's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Diabetes. In Chapter 1, the author discusses a topic that I find critical to the well-being of people with diabetes: Developing a personal diabetes philosophy.
3 comments - Posted Aug 22, 2011
For people with type 1 diabetes, having the "bad" variety of the disease comes with some issues. You're constantly managing your blood sugars, warding off complications, and explaining your situation to others. But how about some good news for a change? Researchers now say that people with type 1 live nearly as long as people without diabetes!
14 comments - Posted Aug 21, 2011
Many women with diabetes feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of family, work, and personal health. Balancing the minutiae of everyday life with the nonstop demands of blood glucose monitoring, exercise, and thoughtful meal planning takes time and effort. So it comes as no surprise that many women with diabetes put off talking to their doctors about breast cancer screening.
1 comment - Posted Aug 20, 2011
Scientific studies -- and our own common sense -- tell us that staying motivated and engaged helps control our diabetes. We know what we should resist temptation at the dinner table, monitor our blood sugars avidly, and get regular check-ups. But knowing all of these things, and knowing that self-motivation is the way to achieve them, isn't quite enough.
1 comment - Posted Aug 19, 2011
As a dad, do you tend to be authoritative and have high expectations of your child's self control? Do you set clear limits and command respect, without bulldozing him or her? If so, you may be helping your child with type 1 diabetes stick to his or her treatment regimen.
0 comments - Posted Aug 16, 2011
In 2004, pro snowboarder Sean Busby was on the top of the world.
12 comments - Posted Aug 8, 2011
A Boston-based study has found that vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes by improving their beta cell functioning.
2 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2011
July 2011
People with type 2 diabetes often find visits with their physicians frustrating. Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick, MD, FACE, FACP, Secretary of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), observes, "Many times when patients come to the doctor, the first thing that they say is really what's on their mind--that's their top priority. But oftentimes physicians don't address that at all. Instead, they move on to what's on their own agenda."
3 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2011
How many times has this happened to you? You're driving somewhere and something feels off. You suspect that your blood sugar level may be dropping, but you plow ahead. Now, imagine your car sounding the alarm: "Attention: This is your car speaking. Your blood sugar is low. Pull over and eat a snack."
3 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2011
I am excited to have this opportunity to write a diabetes-focused blog for Diabetes Health about living and thriving with type 1 diabetes. First of all, I am extremely passionate about racing road and mountain bicycles, running 5K runs and sprint triathlons, and doing other activities that I find to compete in for Team Type 1. But before I start blogging, I would like to tell a little about myself.
3 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2011
Anne Findlay has been racing road bikes for three years and just joined Team Type 1 this year. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1988, at age 14. For more information about Anne and Team Type 1, go to www.teamtype1.org.
1 comment - Posted Jul 25, 2011
With severe weather predicted for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Meredith Cummings thought carefully about where to park her car-eyeing the large trees in her historic neighborhood-when she arrived home on the afternoon of April 27. As she walked to her door, she reassured herself: Those trees had been there for more than 100 years. What were the odds of them coming down today?
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2011
A recent article in the New York Times says that such old prescription diabetes drugs as metformin and generics such as glimepiride are often as effective as or even more effective than newer, more expensive drugs.
9 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2011
Erin lay on a bed in the emergency room, finally serious about getting help. Her second episode of diabetic ketoacidosis in a single year had sent her to the hospital shaking and vomiting. For the past seven years, she had been driven by one desire: to lose forty pounds. She refused to give herself her full dose of insulin, fearing weight gain. She hadn't seen her endocrinologist or checked her blood sugar for a year or two.
5 comments - Posted Jul 18, 2011
Nipro Diagnostics, Inc., and NeuroMetrix, Inc., have announced that they will seek opportunities to sell their soon-to-be-introduced NC-stat® DPNCheckTM neuropathy test in retail medical clinics nationwide. The test, conducted onsite, evaluates neuropathies, including diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2011
Body fat is like two twins: one evil and one good. In this case, white fat-the kind that likes to cluster around the abdomen and hang on to calories-is the bad stuff. The "good" fat is brown, and it has been found to assist the body in burning calories, thus helping keep weight down.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2011
Nobody thought for even a second that Crystal Bowersox's second-place finish on "American Idol 2010" meant that the 26-year-old was headed back to her native Elliston, Ohio, to resume a quiet life.
1 comment - Posted Jul 14, 2011
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on June 25, 2009. At the time, I was a few weeks shy of my nineteenth birthday and had just finished my first year of college at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
6 comments - Posted Jul 12, 2011
Victoza, a drug aimed at type 2 diabetes, may turn out to be a boon for type 1 diabetes patients as well. A small clinical study shows that patients with well-controlled type 1 who took Victoza daily for just one week experienced a 15 percent drop in their blood sugar levels. Patients who took the drug over a full 24-week test period needed less and less insulin, decreasing their average mealtime dose by seven units and their all-day insulin requirement by eight.
2 comments - Posted Jul 11, 2011
As I write this, my nineteen-year-old son is in the intensive care unit because of a heroin addiction. He is trying to stop, and the withdrawal is wreaking havoc. His body is bruised and battered beyond belief.
15 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2011
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York is working on a new approach to blood sugar monitoring that could open the door to an artificial pancreas. The plan is to develop an automated monitoring system so sophisticated that it can take into account the often great differences in blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity among people with type 1 diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2011
Recently, we published an article by Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, titled "From Old Dogmas to New Realities. "In the article, Hope voiced the opinion that a low carb diet is not the only dietary option for people with diabetes, and that, in fact, such thinking is an "old dogma." In response, we received a number of strongly worded comments advocating the low carb diet as the only way to go.
48 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2011
If you have diabetes, you're more likely to be depressed than people without the disease.
5 comments - Posted Jul 5, 2011
"Good news," my diabetes nurse educator says to me. "Your new insurance covers continuous glucose monitoring supplies!" I give her a half-smile as my brain screams at me, "CGM? Really? Something else to deal with on top of this damn disease, an insulin pump, exercise, and nutrition?" But I comply, and a CGM is added to the rest of my paraphernalia.
26 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2011
June 2011
One of the classic effects of cannabis on people is raging hunger-the "marijuana munchies." The drug has been used to good effect on people with diseases that diminish appetite, helping them to regain a healthy interest in food. So it is a bit ironic that British drug maker GW Pharmaceuticals has created a cross-bred cannabis plant whose appetite-suppressing qualities could be used to treat type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2011
With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to stop for a moment and reflect on what dads do for us, especially dads who have diabetic children. The pressure and emotional aspects of diabetes can be overwhelming, not to mention the stress it can put on a family. For every needle prick, shot, and counted carb my father (and mother) helped me with, I want to say thanks.
21 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2011
Over the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to become aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
2 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2011
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that starting on November 18, 2011, it will restrict retail pharmacy sales of three diabetes drugs manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline: the stand-alone Avandia (rosiglitazone) and the combination drugs Avandamet (rosiglitazone and metformin) and Avandaryl (rosiglitazone and glimepiride).
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2011
A few months ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Australia to present at a conference of athletes with diabetes. During the meeting, prizes were awarded to everyone who scored exactly 5.5 mmol/L (99 mg/dL) on their glucose meter. You should have seen it! Anyone who measured close to 5.5 was testing again and again, hoping for that magic number to pop up. Fingers were suffering, but the test strip manufacturers were making out like bandits.
1 comment - Posted Jun 5, 2011
Amylin Pharmaceuticals has announced that it will collaborate with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to test a combination of Symlin and insulin in injectible form as a type 1 therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2011
May 2011
U.S. insulin pump maker Medtronic and blood glucose monitoring system maker LifeScan have reached the end of their three-year contract in which LifeScan was an exclusive provider to Medtronic.
1 comment - Posted May 29, 2011
A monitor attached to a mobile device helps people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood pressure more than simply having a blood pressure monitor available in the home. That's the conclusion of a year-long study conducted by the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. The study showed that type 2 patients whose blood pressure was actively reported to their doctors via a Bluetooth-enabled device enjoyed lower blood pressure than patients whose readings were not passed on to doctors.
1 comment - Posted May 26, 2011
Meet the latest superfood: maple syrup. Wait a minute...maple syrup? The super-sugary stuff poured on pancakes and waffles and used to glaze hams? That maple syrup?
9 comments - Posted May 24, 2011
French drug maker Sanofi-aventis says that results from a Phase III trial of its experimental type 2 diabetes drug lixisenatide show that the drug successfully lowered patients' blood glucose levels and body weight, but did not increase the risk of hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted May 23, 2011
You're heard the doctors. You've read the articles. You know all about tight control.
25 comments - Posted May 20, 2011
Meet Mary,* a 16-year-old girl with type 1 diabetes. When her parents ask her how her blood sugar is, she always has a good number. She keeps a tidy logbook of her blood sugars, and they look fine, although her last A1C was inexplicably high. It's been a long time since she was diagnosed, and her parents are confident that she knows how to care for herself. She has been somewhat less energetic for quite awhile, but her parents attribute that to growing pains, as Mary has grown from a chubby child into a very slender young woman. She appears a little dehydrated and flushed sometimes, but she always drinks a lot of water and goes to the bathroom frequently, so her parents aren't concerned. They have also noted a fruity odor about her, which she attributes to a new lip gloss.
5 comments - Posted May 14, 2011
Dr. Jonathan Beach is a 35-year-old emergency medicine physician who has had type 1 diabetes for 31 years. He owns and operates Urgicare, a wellness center that includes The Northeast Center for Diabetes Care and Education in Plattsburgh, New York, an isolated rural community that has few other resources for diabetes. This is his story of his life with diabetes and his professional experience with the insulin pump.
5 comments - Posted May 12, 2011
Gene Thornton was in the Army in Germany when he got type 1 diabetes. It was 1965, 46 years ago, and he was 24 years old. This is his story, in his own words.
5 comments - Posted May 10, 2011
Recently, we published an article about the implantable pump "A Miracle Technology for Type 1s: Can It Be Saved?" Following the appearance of this article on the Diabetes Health website, over 100 readers commented, most of them expressing a heartfelt desire for access to this technology in the U.S.A. To read the original article click on link below:
A Miracle Technology for Type 1s: Can It Be Saved?
34 comments - Posted May 5, 2011
Molly Martin is a vibrant and energetic 18-year-old from Texas who's had type 1 diabetes since the age of two. Five years ago, Molly took up motocross racing. She says, "I love riding motocross---it's just you and the bike. I feel free when I ride, like I don't have to think about diabetes. I do have to make sure that I test before I get on and during breaks, to make sure my sugar is doing what it's supposed to be doing. But when I get out there, it's just me and the bike, going."
1 comment - Posted May 5, 2011
Ryan Shafer is a 44-year-old professional bowler from Elmira, New York, who was 19 when he developed type 1 diabetes. For a couple of weeks, he experienced the usual symptoms of weight loss, lethargy, extreme thirst, and frequent urination, as well as vision problems. "Being that age," he says, "I was afraid to go to the doctor. I thought it would just go away." When he finally saw his family physician and was diagnosed, he says, "I was actually relieved--not that I thought diabetes was a piece of cake, but I was glad to know what was wrong with me."
3 comments - Posted May 1, 2011
April 2011
Kent David is a 47-year-old licensed civil engineer who has had type 1 diabetes since 1981. This is Kent's diabetes story in his own words.
5 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2011
Chase Pelletier is an up-and-coming kart racer from Canada who is 14 years old. When he got type 1 diabetes just before his eleventh birthday, he recalls, "It was pretty overwhelming at first. But me and my family decided early on that we're not going to get down on diabetes in general, and we're going to try to think of positive ways to deal with it."
0 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2011
We all know by now that fat isn't necessarily a bad thing. Enough advertisements and recommendations for fish oil and omega-3 supplements have appeared over the past few years to make that clear. But what if "good fat" isn't just about eating fish or a taking a fishy-tasting supplement? What if that good fat can be found in a common cooking oil?
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2011
Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Barbara Davis Center's "Management of Diabetes in Youth" conference, held every other year in beautiful Keystone, Colorado. The focus is on all of the latest and greatest in type 1, and it's a real treat to have so many of the best names in this field gathered in one place. The Barbara Davis Center (BDC) is one of the premier programs in the world focusing on type I diabetes management, and the one (Dr. Peter Chase, to be precise) who brought us the famed" Pink Panther" book, Understanding Diabetes - the reliable handbook of type 1 diabetes that many parents of newly diagnosed kids rely on.
3 comments - Posted Apr 25, 2011
Phil Southerland's autobiography is an inspirational coming-of-age memoir about a type 1 baby who wasn't supposed to live. But his doctor's dismal prediction didn't take into consideration his mother's indefatigable determination that her baby would thrive no matter what, and Phil's own fierce drive to conquer every single challenge he encountered, including his diabetes. It's an engrossing book, a sports adventure story with a medical subplot and a roster of dynamic characters, the most dynamic of whom is Phil himself. If we could harness his energy, our dependence on foreign oil would be a thing of the past.
2 comments - Posted Apr 20, 2011
Mike Fisher is a 23-year-old from Ontario, Canada, who's been snowboarding since he was 13 years old. At the age of 18, he was involved in a motorcycle crash that necessitated the amputation of one leg below the knee. He says, "At first, I felt that my life was coming to a crashing halt. But I just pushed myself to recover as fast as possible and get my life back on track, go to school, get back into snowboarding and motorcycles-just anything so that my life wasn't affected at all. I had a lot of support, and I would say that I was pretty optimistic about it and took it almost as a challenge. By the time that I was 19, I was happy. I was walking again, I was back in college in London, Ontario, and everything was good. The accident was a minor setback to me, and I rose above it. I was just continuing with my life."
12 comments - Posted Apr 19, 2011
A new study has proven that use of a blood glucose meter with advanced features, when paired with diabetes education, more effectively manages blood glucose than using a basic feature meter. This information was presented at the recent 46th European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
4 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2011
What if there were a technology that could make people with type 1 diabetes feel absolutely wonderful, completely healthy, better than they ever realized was possible? And what if it were about to disappear? Well, there is such a technology, and it is in serious jeopardy. It's called the implantable insulin pump, currently made by Medtronic. This is the story of four people who have been using this device for 20 years, and their desperate crusade to keep it from disappearing forever.
117 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2011
Three weeks out of every month, my diabetes is well controlled. But the fourth week, the one before my period, is a nightmare. My sugars are astronomically high--I can't even look at a carbohydrate without my sugar spiking. I'm exhausted and cranky, and I can't get comfortable.
8 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2011
Greetings from Philadelphia International Airport! Airports are fascinating places...great for seeing what people look like and how they act under unusual circumstances. At this moment, I see a lot of truly overweight people. Most folks are treating the moving walkway like a ride at Disney World–just standing there, inching slowly along and staring blankly at the passing drywall. I don’t know…maybe the two sights are related. Have we really become this lazy? Have we “convenienced” our way out of being in shape? Have electronic toilet flushers, soap dispensers, and water faucets taken away our last opportunity to burn any calories at all?
0 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2011
Italian and Greek researchers conducting a meta-analysis* of the diets of more than 500,000 people have concluded that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that are common precursors to type 2 diabetes. Those factors include overweight or obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure, and high "bad" cholesterol.
The Mediterranean diet is high in fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods, and low-fat dairy products. Proteins include fish, legumes, poultry, tree nuts, and mono-unsaturated fatty acids from olive oil. Alcohol intake is moderate and almost always in conjunction with meals. Red meat is only an occasional menu item.
The scientists looked at 50 studies that involved more than 500,000 people, then extrapolated the effects of a Mediterranean diet from them. Although the meta-analysis pointed to the usefulness of the Mediterranean diet in fending off metabolic syndrome, its authors said that their conclusion is tentative, given the need for more research on the topic.
The study was published in the March 15 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
* A meta-analysis looks at a number of similar studies and tries to derive new and useful results from them by detecting common patterns among them.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2011
After comparing results from 24 studies, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong found little evidence that increasing soy intake improves people's blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2011
Jeff and Natalie Kolok live in northwestern Vermont with their three children: Naomi, 16, and Johanna and Nicholas, each ten years old. Both Johanna and Nicholas have type 1 diabetes, Johanna since age four and Nick since age six.
1 comment - Posted Apr 7, 2011
Prodigy Diabetes Care is an aptly named company, a very young enterprise with the talents of a much older organization and a future that promises prodigious rewards. It was founded in 2006 by Ramzi Abulhaj and Rick Admani, two brothers from Palestine who are its sole owners. In the five years since then, they have built a company that is successfully competing against the diabetes old guard by focusing on engineering and a unique marketing strategy.
8 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2011
As we wrote back in 2008, the EndoBarrier is a very clever way to simulate the effect of a gastric bypass without the unpleasant scalpel part. It looks like a long clear plastic stocking, and it's simply threaded through the patient's mouth and stomach, down to the small intestine, where it lines the intestine's upper section (the same part that is bypassed in traditional surgery). Food slips right through it, but digestive enzymes are trapped on its other side. The two don't get to join forces until a couple of feet further downstream, so the effect on diabetes is a lot like that of a bypass: It resolves the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2011
March 2011
Francisco Zepeda is a 54-year-old native of El Salvador who owns an insurance agency in San Francisco. Type 2 diabetes runs in his family. He says, "My grandmother lived with diabetes for about 30 years, and my father has it as well. I heard about diabetes all that time, but I never thought that it was going to happen to me. And I still hope that I'm not really diabetic. They say that once your blood sugar goes up, then you are diabetic, but I don't want to believe that I'm diabetic, you know what I mean?"
0 comments - Posted Mar 31, 2011
The recently launched U.S. Diabetes Index (USDI) has revealed that 80 percent of all diabetes cases are located in just 20 percent of zip codes. Dr. Gary Puckrein, USDI developer and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum, hopes that the USDI will help the United States direct its resources to the most affected areas.
7 comments - Posted Mar 30, 2011
This List defines terms that people with prediabetes commonly encounter as they learn more about the condition.
1 comment - Posted Mar 29, 2011
A New York University research team has won a pilot grant to see if blood from dental procedures could be used in conjunction with the A1C test to detect diabetes or pre-diabetes. The A1C test, which is becoming healthcare providers' preferred test for detecting the disease, typically uses blood extracted from finger pricks to make its analysis. The NYU team will see if the blood that flows from gum tissue during dental work can be used for the same purpose.
5 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2011
Michael Hamman is a 63-year-old contractor. He recalls, "I first was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five or six years ago. I probably had elevated blood sugar well in advance of that, but I was unaware of it. I don't remember how high my blood sugar was at the time, but I think my A1C was 7.5%. My blood sugar's never really been awful. Since I started monitoring myself, my sugar readings are normally between 150 and 165. I think it was pushing 200 before I was medicated, but the medications brought it down. They started me on glyburide and I took that for a long time, and then the A1C was moving up again, so they added the metformin. The A1C now is down in the mid-sixes. They consider it controlled, not well controlled or as good as it could be, but certainly for someone my size, it's probably as good as you can get."
1 comment - Posted Mar 25, 2011
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted an application to review dapagliflozin, a drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes that is being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca.
0 comments - Posted Mar 22, 2011
Tony Flores is a 50-year-old native of El Salvador who works as a construction foreman. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 12 years ago, after an eye doctor told him it would be a good idea to get his blood sugar checked. He recalls, "I did the test, and they got all freaked out and told me, ‘Oh my god, your A1C is at 12%. You have diabetes type 2. You've got to cut the sugar, you've got to stop drinking orange juice and soda."
1 comment - Posted Mar 15, 2011
Weight loss can help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar and avoid potential health risks associated with the disease. Did you know that losing even seven percent of your body weight can lower blood sugar, reduce blood pressure, and improve cholesterol levels1?
"Consider diabetes as a disease that has different phases--with the central feature a disorder of insulin production and insulin use," said Roberta Anding, MS, RD/LD,CSSD,CDE. Anding is a clinical dietitian and certified diabetes educator at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as a national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "To better control and lose weight safely with type 2 diabetes, it is important to consider the type and amount of food on your plate."
4 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2011
Edward Danielson developed type 1 diabetes 79 years ago, in 1931, only a decade after the discovery of insulin. Edward's wife of 67 years, Dorothy, recalls, "In the spring of 1930, when Edward was ten, his teacher told his mother that he ought to be checked by a doctor because something seemed to be wrong. His mother got on the streetcar with Edward and they went down to see the doctor, who said, ‘There's nothing wrong with him. He's just slow.' So they went home. In the fall of the same year, his new teacher said, ‘Something's wrong with Edward--he ought to be checked out by a doctor.' So they went back, and that doctor diagnosed him with diabetes. They kept him in the hospital for a month because the doctors then didn't know that much about diabetes 1."
1 comment - Posted Mar 10, 2011
You know that awful feeling when a sugar low is coming. I break out into a cold sweat, feel panicky, get nauseated, and have trouble answering extremely simple questions like "Do you need to eat?" Well, I was feeling it again, and again, and I didn't know why. That's what I hate the most: When things go wrong, but I think I've been doing everything right.
1 comment - Posted Mar 8, 2011
My almost 20 years as a diabetes educator have been memorable in many ways, but certain moments stand out more than others. Because blood glucose testing is an important part of diabetes management for everyone I see, I try to assess each person’s skills and habits in this key area. I’ll never forget the time I asked a client how often he changed his lancet. He had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about four years earlier and was checking regularly, so it seemed like a reasonable question. He proceeded to look at me with a puzzled expression and say, “You mean you’re supposed to change those things?”
0 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2011
A new report recently published in the American Chemical Society's bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry adds a new punch to the power of garlic in the fight against heart disease. The report concludes that garlic has "significant" potential for preventing cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that is a leading cause of death in people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2011
Ten years ago, an astute physician diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes. I exhibited none of the classic symptoms of rapid weight loss, extreme thirst, and frequent urination. I attributed fatigue to my job. For about a year before diagnosis, I experienced what I thought were yeast infections and treated them with over-the-counter medications. I later learned that this condition is a symptom of diabetes. I am non-insulin dependent.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2011
Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have type 2 diabetes, and more than a third of working adult Hispanics do not have health insurance. For this audience, Jane Delgado, PhD, has written The Buena Salud Guide to Diabetes and Your Life. Available in both Spanish and English, it's a culturally sensitive and reassuring book that dispels myths and presents detailed science while gently guiding readers toward the right path in caring for their diabetes. The tone is conversational, as Dr. Delgado speaks to her readers like a family member who knows them well and has their best interests at heart.
0 comments - Posted Mar 2, 2011
February 2011
Researchers at the Children's Hospital in Boston, led by Umut Ozcan, MD, have found a regulatory protein that lowers blood sugar when it is high due to either lack of insulin or a decreased sensitivity to insulin.
0 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2011
When a young person with type 1 diabetes leaves home for the first time, it's often a difficult adjustment for the parents as well as their child. Tyler Stevenson is 20 years old, in his second year at Florida State. This is what he told us about his life in college with diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2011
Folks who need that morning cup of coffee to get going may be protecting themselves from type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. UCLA researchers wrote in the journal Diabetes last month that drinking four cups of coffee a day reduced women's chance of developing type 2 by a bit less than half. What's more, the scientists point to a specific reason why all that java has a beneficial effect: a protein known as sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Scientists have suspected for some time that SHBG was connected to diabetes development.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2011
Everywhere you look, there seems to be a great tasting high carb meal, dessert, or snack staring back at you. While away at college last fall, I found a t-shirt picturing a cupcake above a skull and crossbones. For me, that image really sums up how we need to deal with being diabetic while being constantly tempted by sugary treats.
4 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2011
Can't make insulin? That might not be a problem, according to Dr. Roger Unger, the lead researcher on a mouse study out of UT Southwestern Medical Center. As Dr. Unger stated in a press release, his findings "suggest that if there is no glucagon, it doesn't matter if you don't have insulin....In adulthood, at least with respect to glucose metabolism, the role of insulin is to control glucagon. And if you don't have glucagon, then you don't need insulin...If diabetes is defined as restoration of glucose homeostasis to normal, then this treatment can perhaps be considered very close to a ‘cure.' "
1 comment - Posted Feb 16, 2011
The final patient has performed the last visit of the main study period in Diamyd Medical's European Phase III study. Treatment with the antigen based therapy Diamyd® is made to investigate whether beta cell function and thereby blood sugar control can be preserved in children and adolescents with new onset type 1 diabetes. The top line results from this study are expected to be reported as planned, in late spring 2011.
0 comments - Posted Feb 15, 2011
According to a new study published in Diabetes Care, your finger-prick blood glucose test may be "abnormally and significantly high" if you test after handling fruit without first scrubbing your hands thoroughly and vigorously.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2011
It's hard enough to be pregnant, but pregnancy with diabetes is especially challenging because it's so difficult to keep blood sugar within a normal range at a time when hormones are surging. All women try their best with the tools that they have, but even so, about half of all babies born to mothers with type 1 diabetes are overweight or obese at birth because of too much sugar in their mothers' blood. Mothers with high blood glucose levels also increase their child's risk of congenital malformation, stillbirth, neonatal death, preterm delivery, and neonatal admission.
0 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2011
In a new book, "Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health," Dartmouth researchers and physicians H. Gilbert Welch, Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin argue that the medical establishment's embrace of early diagnosis and treatment as the key to keeping people healthy actually does the opposite.
0 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS and NEW YORK - Eli Lilly and Company and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) today announced that they have signed an agreement to fund early-stage research that could enable patients with type 1 diabetes to regenerate insulin-producing cells destroyed by the disease.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2011
January 2011
Insulin has a companion, and it's called amylin. Amylin is a small hormone that is released along with insulin by the beta cells of the pancreas in response to a meal. When people are insulin-deficient, they are amylin-deficient as well. Amylin wasn't even discovered until 1970, and it was not until the 1990s that scientists began to figure out what amylin does. But they now know that it partners with insulin to help control blood sugar levels, each in its own way:
1 comment - Posted Jan 28, 2011
It's Labor Day weekend in Pittsburgh, just outside of the Steelers' Heinz Field, and the Bret Michaels Band has come home for some hard-driving rock and roll. The 20,000 screaming fans are a generational mix, shrieking 16-year-old girls side-by-side with moms and dads who have temporarily abandoned their parental roles to dance, sing the familiar words to "Look What the Cat Dragged In," and howl into the nighttime air. On stage is Bret Michaels, the boy from Butler, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town just an hour north.
16 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2011
Your young primary care doctor may not know a lot about diabetes, according to a study led by Stephen Sisson, MD, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. "When I graduated from residency here, I knew much more about how to ventilate a patient on a machine than how to control somebody's blood sugar, and that's a problem," said Sisson in a press release. "The average resident doesn't know what the goal for normal fasting blood sugar should be. If you don't know what it has to be, how are you going to guide your diabetes management with patients?"
2 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2011
The kuriously named Kombiglyze XR, a combination of Onglyza (saxagliptin) and the old reliable metformin, has arrived at pharmacies and is available by prescription to people with type 2 diabetes. It's similar to Janumet, an older medication that's a combination of Januvia (sitagliptin) and metformin.
0 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2011
It doesn't matter if you're a computer geek or complete technophobe: If you've ever made the effort to download your blood glucose meter, you probably don't have a clue about what to do with the data once you've gotten it. That needs to change. Those of us who live with diabetes need to become more adept at analyzing our own data, to see what's working and what isn't both for our own sake and that of our time-strapped healthcare providers. .
2 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2011
You'd think the world would be running through the streets in a movie-style panic. An epidemic of unprecedented proportions is inexorably advancing. In our lifetimes, half of us may develop a devastating disease that could cause us to go blind, lose a leg, or die far too soon. But we aren't in a panic. The authorities are talking it up, of course, but most of us aren't doing much at all to prevent type 2 diabetes. We're getting fatter by the year, and we're moving less and less. Many of us who already have type 2 diabetes are not making the changes that could keep its consequences at bay. Why not?
1 comment - Posted Jan 24, 2011
Self-management is the key to healthy living with diabetes, but there are always challenges to maintaining optimum blood glucose levels. Lagging motivation and focus can be obstacles, and adjusting diet and medications to meet changing conditions is challenging. If you have ever wished for a person to help you improve your skills, someone who could offer informed guidance between appointments with your doctor - you may have been wishing for a diabetes coach. Diabetes coaches are personal trainers for individuals with insulin-dependent diabetes. This unique branch of diabetes education delivers ongoing, one-on-one consulting from a trained certified diabetes educator.
0 comments - Posted Jan 24, 2011
Keeping the lights on all night might keep away the monsters under the bed, but it also keeps away the "hormone of darkness," melatonin, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Melatonin, which is secreted into the blood by the brain's pineal gland at night, is involved in the circadian rhythm. Scientists believe that disrupting circadian rhythms can contribute to metabolic disease. Specifically, melatonin receptor genes have been linked to type 2 diabetes. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant that may help prevent cancer.
3 comments - Posted Jan 19, 2011
On the outskirts of Quito, the capital of Ecuador, meals are likely to be based on white rice, potatoes, sugar, and white bread. Given their reliance on high carbohydrate foods that are low in essential nutrients, many of the residents are overweight and malnourished at the same time. The lack of vitamin C in their diet may contribute to metabolic syndrome, according to researchers from the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and the Corporacion Ecuatoriana de Biotecnologia. The researchers also concluded that vitamin E may have a protective effect against metabolic syndrome.
0 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2011
Most type 2 meds work by increasing insulin production in one way or another. The extra insulin lowers blood sugar by ushering it out of your bloodstream and into your cells, where it may, unfortunately, make you fat. Wouldn't it be nice if instead, you could lower your high blood sugar by just flushing it right down the toilet?
2 comments - Posted Jan 17, 2011
Infopia USA's Eocene System is a diabetes management system with a data collection device that gathers data from a meter, blood pressure cuff, and a thermal scale. Readings are stored on Infopia's network and available to you and your health team. See the video on Diabetes Health TV here.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2011
The Diabetes Research Institute Foundation (DRIF) announced a new, first-of-its-kind partnership aimed at helping the more than 200,000* Broward County, Florida, residents affected by diabetes. Diabetes Research Institute Live Well Broward County is a joint effort of the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, Walgreens in South Florida, LifeScan and a cadre of local physicians that will help residents "Manage Well, Stay Well and Live Well" with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2011
The crowd in the small Boston theater laughed and clapped. The comedy show was a good one, and I was enjoying it from a cramped seat in the balcony. It was October 29, a Friday, and while it was brisk outside, winter hadn't yet clamped down.
0 comments - Posted Jan 11, 2011
A full third of adult Americans are pre-diabetic, and a third of those will develop type 2 diabetes before they're ten years older. Unfortunately, only about seven percent of them have been tested for pre-diabetes and warned of their condition; the rest are ignorant of the road they're on. By losing just 10 to 15 pounds, the whole group could cut their chances of getting type 2 by half. The problem is, how to alert them in time for them to stop their progression to type 2?
7 comments - Posted Jan 10, 2011
Introducing "Type-1 University" (T1U) - the online school for people with diabetes who use insulin, including parents and caregivers. The school can be found only in cyberspace - at www.type1university.com
2 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2011
Sitagliptin (Januvia) has long been used to reduce blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, but a new study indicates that it can do the same for those with type 1 diabetes. Sitagliptin is a DPP-4 inhibitor; that is, it inhibits, or temporarily prevents, the enzyme DPP-4 from destroying a helpful hormone called GLP-1. GLP-1, which is released by the gut when food arrives there from the stomach, lowers blood sugar by causing the release of insulin, reducing the secretion of glucagon, and slowing stomach emptying and nutrient absorption.
3 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2011
Talk about a win-win situation! It seems that many aphrodisiacs--herbs that boost sexual energy and function--can also bring down blood sugar, cholesterol, and/or blood pressure. At least four herbs have shown these double benefits in scientific studies.
1 comment - Posted Jan 6, 2011
RALEIGH, NC- DiabetesSisters is pleased to announce that registration for the 2011 Weekend for Women Conference in Raleigh, NC will open on January 1, 2011 at 8am. The Conference, a revolutionary national weekend conference designed specifically for women with diabetes, will take place April 29 - May 1, 2011 at the Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh.
0 comments - Posted Jan 5, 2011
My trip began as I flew from Dallas to my home town of Philadelphia and then caught an early Amtrak train to New York City. Growing up in the Philadelphia area had given me an appreciation for U.S. history, but today I was going to learn something new: the history of diabetes. My daughter, Sarah, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2003, yet I didn't know much about the history of the disease. Living every day with the stress and worry that many parents have, I felt I had no time to spend learning how we got to the modern treatments we have today. I had focused only on doing my job as caregiver and supporter of my daughter. I was looking forward to learning something new.
10 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2011
December 2010
Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai Inc. recently released results of a phase 3 clinical trial for lorcaserin, a weight-loss drug they are developing in partnership. The trial, called BLOOM-DM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management- Diabetes Management), targeted patients with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or obese.
2 comments - Posted Dec 28, 2010
A new study finds that combining the newer diabetes drug exenatide with insulin provides better blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes than insulin alone and helps promote weight loss.
1 comment - Posted Dec 27, 2010
Abbott Diabetes Care today announced that it has initiated a recall of 359 lots (approximately 359 million strips) of Precision Xtra®, Precision Xceed Pro®, MediSense® Optium, Optium, OptiumEZ and ReliOn® Ultima Blood Glucose Test Strips in the United States and Puerto Rico.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2010
Research firm Frost & Sullivan, a leading international healthcare consulting company, released a market study analyzing and estimating the demand for Pepex Biomedical Inc.'s new biosensor technology for blood glucose monitoring for diabetes sufferers worldwide. The researchers interviewed diagnosed diabetics, diabetes educators, endocrinologists, and manufacturers of biosensors, blood glucose meters, or other clinical diagnostic or patient monitoring equipment suppliers for the study. The Frost & Sullivan report concluded that the Pepex Trio technology has the "potential as a new standard for measuring blood glucose levels."
6 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2010
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates-- One in three United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents could have diabetes or prediabetes by the end of the decade, according to a new analysis from international health and well-being company UnitedHealth Group, released at the World Health Care Congress Middle East meeting in Abu Dhabi.
0 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2010
A 10-year study by Harvard University scientists found that diabetes puts people at risk for depression and that depression puts people at risk for type 2 diabetes. The two-way connection between the diseases was discovered in 55,000 nurses surveyed over the decade.
1 comment - Posted Dec 17, 2010
Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, has partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC to create the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing team for the 2011 IZOD IndyCar season. The team will sponsor a new entry in the series driven by American racecar driver Charlie Kimball. This partnership makes Kimball one of the first drivers from the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series to move up the official "Road to Indy" with a full season sponsorship.
0 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2010
Women who experienced sexual or physical abuse in childhood and adolescence-whether moderate or severe-run a higher risk of type 2 diabetes than women who were not abused, according to results from a study recently reported online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
1 comment - Posted Dec 16, 2010
If you have type 1 diabetes, you know that the process of obtaining life insurance or long-term care insurance has been a long, tough road, most often leading to the dead end of declined coverage. In fact, most insurance companies have classified anyone with type 1 as an automatic decline, without any consideration of each case individually.
7 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2010
"Don't leave home without it" has a whole new meaning this holiday season. With holiday travel up from last year and increased security- and consequent delays- at airports, it's more important than ever for those with diabetes to properly prepare for their holiday travel.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2010
An estimated two million Latinos in the United States have type 2 diabetes, a full 10 percent of the Latino population. Facebook, the fourth most popular Internet site among Latinos, reaches nearly 45 percent of the Latino population that goes online. Put those two facts together, and you have the audience for a new online game, HealthSeekerTM Explorando tu Salud, Paso a Paso ("Exploring Your Health, Step by Step").
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2010
November 2010
The competition for a continuous glucose monitoring system that can replace the classic finger prick blood tests for diabetes is heating up. Several new products have come to the market this year that use various techniques to test blood glucose levels continuously without the need for a blood test, but several have faltered with complaints of inaccurate readings and skin irritation.
2 comments - Posted Nov 29, 2010
The economic recession has hammered people with diabetes, according to a new survey. Many say that their health has been harmed by the crisis, and more expect their health to suffer in the future. What's more, most don't expect the government's health reform bill to improve their situation.
1 comment - Posted Nov 28, 2010
Insulet Corp., the leader in tubing-free insulin pump technology with its OmniPod® Insulin Management System, recognizes the outstanding achievements of Christopher Gorham, age 12, of Waterford, Michigan for bringing home both silver and bronze medals in the Sparring and Forms competitions at the 2010 World Karate/Kickboxing Council World Championships held in Albufeira, Portugal. Chris is a 2nd degree black belt in training for a 3rd degree black belt; he has been in martial arts since he was four years old, competing all over the world.
0 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2010
A new drug for type 2 diabetes started showing up in drugstores this week, according to manufacturer Santarus. The FDA-approved drug, called Cycloset, takes an distinctive -- and not well understood -- approach to reducing blood sugar levels. The pill apparently works by increasing dopamine activity in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a big role in people's behavior, mood, and ability to sleep. Scientists theorize that glucose intolerance and insulin resistance may in part result from abnormal activity of this chemical, and that upping dopamine activity may iron out these problems.That's the theory, at least: the drug's exact workings aren't known. But it seems to do the trick.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2010
A friend of mine recently remarked that she wants her family to eat healthier, but she just doesn't know that much about nutrition. Though I can sympathize with her in some ways (nutritional education is a daunting and never-ending process), I do feel that the overall American attitude toward food is that ignorance is bliss. It reminds me of the preteen character in the movie Son-In-Law, who puts his sister's bra cups over his ears and tells his parents in a taunting voice, "I can't hear you!" Unfortunately, what you don't know CAN hurt you, and not just you, but also your family.
3 comments - Posted Nov 22, 2010
When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 23 years ago, I remember being told that having children would be a very difficult challenge. I was seven years old at the time - still a child myself - and had no interest in becoming a mom. My own mother was very distressed at this news, but I didn't pay it any mind. I had other things to focus on: trees to climb, bikes to ride, and friends to play with.
1 comment - Posted Nov 18, 2010
Solianis Monitoring AG is developing a groundbreaking device for the diabetes community- a noninvasive continuous glucose monitoring system that delivers reliable and consistent data.
4 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 10, 2010 --- Diabetes experts at a meeting convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) took the next step in advancing efforts toward the development of an artificial pancreas: putting forth clinical recommendations to ensure the safe and effective testing of artificial pancreas technology in real-life situations. We are pleased at today's meeting there was a strong consensus among leading clinicians, researchers and industry leaders regarding the path toward outpatient studies for both low-glucose suspend and artificial pancreas systems.
5 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2010
Over the years, I have had many exercisers with diabetes ask me why they're gaining weight instead of losing it. There are two possible answers to that question. One answer is that muscle is heavier than fat, so if you are gaining muscle while losing fat-especially in the early stages of a new exercise program-your scale weight probably doesn't reflect your positive changes in body composition (i.e., less fat, more muscle).
2 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2010
With just a few days left to 14 November, we imagine that a lot of you are making those final touches to your World Diabetes Day celebrations or have already started your awareness activities. Here's a further look at what will be taking place around the world to mark the day:
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2010
October 2010
Regular physical activity and exercise are recommended for the general population for overall improved health. However, exercise of moderate intensity increases the risk of hypoglycemia during and following exertion in those with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Accordingly, exercise guidelines for T1DM focus on prevention of exercise-induced hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2010
Tarra Robinson was afraid that she was going to lose her job. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 18 months old, Tarra had recently developed hypoglycemic unawareness, which affects about 17% of type 1 diabetics. Tarra was passing out at work, and once she even crashed her car when her blood sugar dropped unexpectedly. She went on a pump and tried a CGM, but nothing seemed to help. She was still having frequent, dangerous lows.
0 comments - Posted Oct 28, 2010
As flu season approaches, many people are debating whether they should get a flu shot. As everyone knows, getting the flu is not fun. In fact, it can be downright miserable. But for those with diabetes, the flu can mean more than a cough, running nose, and body aches--it could mean more severe complications, and sometimes even death.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2010
An intensive lifestyle intervention program designed with weight loss in mind improves diabetes control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes. These are the findings of the four-year Look AHEAD study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity on the incidence of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular-related death.
0 comments - Posted Oct 25, 2010
Imagine that you're a miner. Imagine you have diabetes (that, at least, shouldn't be too hard). Now, imagine that you have to spend two months trapped underground with other miners. How would you do?
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2010
Patients who cannot discuss their diabetes with a doctor in their own language may have poorer health outcomes, even when interpreter services are available, according to a new study by researchers at UCSF and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
0 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2010
Getting enough magnesium in your diet could help prevent type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ka He of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have found that people who consumed the most magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements were about half as likely to develop diabetes over the next 20 years as people who took in the least magnesium.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2010
Reducing the cost of low-carbohydrate foods for people with diabetes could significantly reduce medical costs associated with the disease that affects more than 23 million Americans, according to a recent study.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2010
European researchers have reported that when they transplanted fecal matter from healthy thin people into obese people with pre-diabetes, the latter group's insulin sensitivity notably increased. (Insulin sensitivity is the body's ability to properly use the insulin hormone to regulate the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. Pre-diabetes exists when increasing resistance to insulin creates higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, a precondition to the onset of full-blown type 2 diabetes.)
1 comment - Posted Oct 19, 2010
Calibra Medical has announced that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its FinesseTM insulin patch-pen for up to three-day use with Novo Nordisk's Novolog® rapid-acting insulin. This much-anticipated step closer to market release follows the announcement in January that Calibra received FDA clearance for the device for use with Eli Lilly's Humalog® rapid-acting insulin.
1 comment - Posted Oct 18, 2010
A meta-analysis* of 87 studies involving 951,083 patients, performed by a Canadian research team, shows that the pre-diabetic condition known as metabolic syndrome increases the risk of heart disease or stroke in patients by a factor of more than two.
0 comments - Posted Oct 17, 2010
University of Michigan scientists have identified events inside insulin-producing pancreatic cells that set the stage for a neonatal form of non-autoimmune type 1 diabetes, and may play a role in type 2 diabetes as well. The results point to a potential target for drugs to protect normally functioning proteins essential for producing insulin.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2010
JACKSONVILLE, FL - October 13, 2010 - The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today published a consensus statement for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) online, and will be published in the next issue of the association's official medical journal Endocrine Practice.
0 comments - Posted Oct 14, 2010
The day I learned that I had type 1 diabetes was no doubt one of the most heart-wrenching, confusing, and angry days of my life. But I quickly decided that I had to channel those feelings into something productive, something worthwhile. I gained confidence as a person with diabetes, and even though, yes, the shots stung, I wasn't going to flinch. Welcome to my life.
0 comments - Posted Oct 11, 2010
A Web-based tool that extracts information from the electronic medical record helps primary care physicians improve care and manage their entire panel of patients. Those are the findings of two new Kaiser Permanente studies - the first to examine the effectiveness of a population care tool in a large, diverse patient population.
0 comments - Posted Oct 9, 2010
Have you ever worried that in case of emergency, first responders will not know that you or a loved one has diabetes? Or concerned that a low blood sugar may be interpreted by law enforcement officials as intoxication--especially behind the wheel of a vehicle? What if you wear a Medical ID, but they cannot get to you right away in the case of an accident?
0 comments - Posted Oct 8, 2010
Dance Out Diabetes is a non-profit organization that addresses a critical component missing in most diabetes programs: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY! Our mission is to help individuals prevent or manage diabetes through dance and education.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2010
We all know of Paul and Mira Sorvino, the legendary father and daughter actors who have graced the small and big screens for decades. Paul has played such classic characters as Paulie Cicero in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the TV series Law & Order and is a well-known chef and singer, while Mira has starred in over 30 movies and won an Academy Award in 1995 for her role as Linda Ash in Mighty Aphrodite.
0 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2010
The holidays are known as a time for family gatherings, catching up with relatives, and sometimes even the occasional family conflict. Like drama at the holiday dinner table, in many ways your health is influenced by your family-for better or for worse. This year, why not start a conversation that benefits everyone? Gather your family health history.
0 comments - Posted Oct 4, 2010
Last week, sanofi-aventis announced the upcoming launch of the blood glucose meters BGStar® and iBGStarTM (developed by sanofi and its partner AgaMatrix), which should be available in early 2011.
1 comment - Posted Oct 4, 2010
Twenty years ago, when I opened Sugar Happy Diabetes Supplies in San Francisco, people would open the front door, lean in, and ask, “I’m curious. Are there enough people with diabetes for you to stay in business?” My reply was always, “You would be surprised by how many people have diabetes.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2010
September 2010
Sanofi-aventis announced the upcoming launch of the blood glucose monitoring (BGM) devices BGStar® and iBGStarTM, developed by sanofi-aventis and its partner AgaMatrix. Due to their convenience, accuracy and ease-of-use, BGStar® and iBGStarTM will help the decision-making process for people with diabetes and their healthcare professionals, with the aim of improving patient self-management. iBGStarTM connects to the iPhone® or iPod touch®. This is an important step towards sanofi-aventis' vision of becoming the leader in global diabetes care by integrating innovative monitoring technology, therapeutic innovations, personalized services and support solutions. BGStar® and iBGStarTM are planned to be made commercially available in the first markets in early 2011.
0 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2010
Diabetes research is on the cusp of new advances in treatment options and in understanding the underlying causes of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Among those are potential treatments using stem cells to regenerate a patient's ability to produce insulin, as well as upcoming clinical trials of a vaccine that potentially could prevent type 1 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2010
Do you ever wish you could leave your diabetes at home? Maybe you're at a holiday party, chit chatting with your buds gathered around the bar enjoying an adult beverage (or two), maybe grazing at the table of cookies, cakes and other tempting morsels. "Oh, I think I'll try one of those. Maybe one of those too. I didn't bring my diabetes with me, so I don't have to think about it tonight." Diabetes is not last year's outfit you can leave at home, or a bad relationship you can dump and move on. It is more like a tattoo. It goes everywhere with you.
0 comments - Posted Sep 24, 2010
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it will significantly restrict the use of the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) to patients with Type 2 diabetes who cannot control their diabetes on other medications. These new restrictions are in response to data that suggest an elevated risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, in patients treated with Avandia.
0 comments - Posted Sep 23, 2010
For the first time, scientists have found that blood levels of some ribonucleic acids (microRNAs) are different among people with type 2 diabetes and those who subsequently develop the disease compared to healthy controls, according to research reported in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2010
Children who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes might be identified earlier by way of tell-tale genetic indicators known as biomarkers. Some of those new biomarkers might be pinpointed in research led by Nancy F. Butte and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Institutes of Health.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2010
New research findings reveal that one of America's favorite colorful fruits, blueberries, have properties that help to improve factors related to pre-diabetes and decrease inflammation in obese men and women. Chronic low-grade inflammation related to obesity contributes to insulin resistance, a major factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. "This is an excellent example of the importance of clinical trials to building our knowledge-base in helping to improve public health," said Steven Heymsfield, PBRC Executive Director
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2010
The presence of amyloid protein may produce a chain reaction which destroys vital insulin-producing cells. Researchers based in Dublin, writing in the journal Nature Immunology, say future drugs could target this process. Amyloid is implicated in many other diseases - most notably Alzheimer's.
0 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2010
In late July, five teenagers and five adults hiked to the summit of Mount Shavano, one of Colorado's famed 14,000-foot peaks. For this particular group, the journey to the top of Shavano was designed to be an intensive educational experience on the topic of diabetes management. Each teenager had type 1 diabetes, and the adults were mentors dedicated to helping the teens feel more in control of the disease. The team made it to the summit by performing countless blood sugar tests, counting carbs, and experimenting with insulin pump basal rates. The outfit behind the expedition was Testing Limits, an outdoor adventure club just for people with diabetes, operated by the non-profit Insulindependence.
0 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2010
The JDRF is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. A lot has changed in the past four decades. One change has to do with the organization's name. JDRF stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Years ago we called what we now know as type 1 diabetes, Juvenile Onset Diabetes Mellitus (JODM). We called it that because we knew (or thought we knew) it was the kind of diabetes that occurred in children. We now know that type 1 diabetes occurs in people of all age groups. There was a lot we didn't know 40 years ago, one of which was that type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2010
If you are meeting a friend for a drink after work or attending a holiday party where alcohol is being offered, is it a health risk or a benefit? The medical and nutrition literature reports that moderate consumption of alcohol can offer some health benefits, particularly for your heart. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 defines drinking in moderation as no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men. One drink, by definition, is a 12-ounce beer, eight-ounce glass of malt liquor, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, lower the risk of developing gallstones, and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in people with pre-diabetes. Studies show that those benefiting from moderate consumption are middle-aged and older adults. It is not recommended, however, that anyone begin drinking or drink more frequently on the basis of health considerations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2010
On July 2, 2010, when Lt. Jose Lopez took the podium at the recent Children With Diabetes Friends for Life Annual International Conference in Orlando to speak to the parents of children with diabetes, his goal was to use his own story to reassure them about their children's future. "What I most wanted to convey to them was that people with diabetes, especially children, can do normal stuff and live their dreams. I am not a super hero - and I did it."
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2010
The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is still unknown, but international researchers have found a link between the blood sugar disorder and a network of immune system genes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 13, 2010
Going back to school can be a little scary for someone with diabetes. There are a lot of things to think about when it comes to making it through the school day without having problems with your blood sugar levels. In school, we strive for that all important "A" on a test; to score 100. The same is true about blood sugar/glucose levels; the closer I come to keeping my blood sugar level at "100," the better for my health and the better for my grades; high and low blood sugars aren't helpful in keeping a clear, quick-thinking mind.
0 comments - Posted Sep 10, 2010
In my office, there is a box. Nothing fancy, just a plain brown box filled with a collection of "old school" diabetes stuff: "boil and re-use" syringes, urine test tape, screw-driven insulin pumps, medieval injection aids and lancing devices, and so on. Of course, no such collection would be complete without an array of classic blood glucose meters. The oldest one I have is a plug-in-the-wall model called a "Dextrometer" that featured test strip rinsing solution and a red LED display that could burn the retina of anyone within six feet.
0 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I am 62 years old. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1997, and I am doing OK on metformin. My last A1c was 7.2 %. About a year ago, they put me on medicine for my blood pressure (which was 142/90) and for cholesterol. I started having less interest in sex, which I had really liked before.
0 comments - Posted Sep 7, 2010
Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease are two distressing, but increasingly common, diseases seen in our aging population. At some point in the future, they may well overwhelm the healthcare system.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2010
The routine breakdown of old bone during skeletal growth has an important role to play in regulating blood sugar, according to Columbia University Medical Center researchers. The process, known as resorption, goes on throughout life. It stimulates insulin release and sugar absorption, helping healthy people maintain normal blood glucose levels. The new study, published in Cell, suggests that skeletal changes could causes diabetes for some and that possible treatments for type 2 diabetes could come from the bone-insulin connection.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2010
The Holy Grail pursued by all diabetes researchers is a complete cure for both the type 1 and type 2 forms of the disease. But until then, the "artificial pancreas," a combination of glucose monitoring and insulin dosing technology, may be as close as they get to a final breakthrough in treating diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 3, 2010
Results of brain surgery on a small group of type 2 diabetes patients point the way to a possible new approach for treating the disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2010
August 2010
The Flamingo Flock diabetes awareness campaign is the brainchild of 9-year-old Noah Brokmeier, "The Diabetes Dude." Noah's blue flamingos are landing on lawns nationwide and appearing at big events like the Boston Marathon. Wherever they go, the birds pose for pictures, which are then posted on Noah's website, www.thediabetesdude.com. The location of the birds is also flagged on his "official flamingo tracking map," to show the progress and growth of the campaign.
0 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2010
MannKind Corporation announced that the company will supply its novel, ultra rapid acting insulin AFREZZATM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) for use in a study being conducted by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as part of its Artificial Pancreas Project. The planned two-year study in patients with type 1 diabetes will leverage the unique rapid action of AFREZZA for use in a closed-loop blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery system, termed the "artificial pancreas" by the JDRF. The study will be managed in conjunction with the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
0 comments - Posted Aug 29, 2010
Working toward the goal of unifying patients' diabetic treatment information in a single place, the PositiveID Corporation hopes to patent a new device that monitors insulin pens. The Insulin Tracker would attach to a user's insulin pen and record the times and amounts of injections. That information would then be sent to a database that allows for comprehensive monitoring. Insulin pens come in disposable and cartridge-replaceable flavors; the tracker can be moved easily from one pen to another.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2010
NaturEra, (http://www.NaturEra.com) a dietary supplements emerging leader, this month announced the launch of its new Sugar Crush dietary supplements would take place at the American Association of Diabetes Educators meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Sugar Crush research has been accepted for Poster presentation at the AADE meeting. The full clinical research study (http://www.naturera.com/Manuscript.pdf) shows that NaturEra's 'Sugar Crush' and 'Sugar Crush Daily' dietary supplement formulas used in combination lower and maintain healthy blood sugar levels for people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Aug 26, 2010
In the early days after my type 1 diabetes diagnosis, I sentenced a lot of foods to what I came to think of as my personal DO-NOT-EAT list, often with only slight provocation.
1 comment - Posted Aug 25, 2010
PPARy is a protein that regulates the body's production of fat cells. However, obesity can modify how PPARy works, leading to decreased insulin sensitivity and the development of metabolic syndrome. (Metabolic syndrome is the cluster of factors, including insulin resistance, overweight, high blood pressure, and abnormal blood sugar levels, that is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.)
0 comments - Posted Aug 22, 2010
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared Baltimore-based health software company WellDoc to begin marketing the DiabetesManager® System, a mobile phone application designed for patients and healthcare providers who are dealing with type 2 diabetes. The company, founded in 2005, plans to start selling the product early next year.
0 comments - Posted Aug 19, 2010
(Reuters) - Genetic testing might have helped identify people who would become depressed or suicidal while taking Sanofi-Aventis' weight loss drug Acomplia, which might have helped keep the drug on the market, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
0 comments - Posted Aug 19, 2010
"Absolutely not. I'm not going to mess with that."
0 comments - Posted Aug 18, 2010
Laser eye surgery is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people look to free themselves from their glasses or contact lenses. There are two main types of laser eye surgery, Lasik and Lasek. The vast majority of people choose to have Lasik because it has a far quicker and more comfortable recovery period. Most people can return to work and normal activities within 48 hours of having Lasik, whereas it can take up to a week to recover from Lasek surgery. In some instances your surgeon may insist that you have Lasik--if, for example, you are involved in contact sports.
1 comment - Posted Aug 16, 2010
Women who deal with gestational diabetes in their first or second pregnancy are far more likely to develop the condition again in their third pregnancy, according to a new study from Kaiser Permanente that examined the electronic medical records of 65,132 women. The study was published online in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology last month.
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2010
Insulin-resistant obese women lost more weight after 12 weeks on a low-carbohydrate diet than they did on a low-fat diet, according to a study conducted by the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno. (The study was funded by Jenny Craig, a company that sells diet foods.)
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2010
Novo Nordisk presented results demonstrating that once-daily Victoza® (liraglutide [rDNA] injection) achieved significantly greater improvements in blood sugar control compared to placebo among African-American patients with type 2 diabetes. The meta-analysis of phase 3 data from the Liraglutide Effect and Action in Diabetes (LEAD) trials were presented at the 2010 National Medical Association Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly.
0 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2010
We can all come up with plenty of excuses not to test our blood sugar. For one, yeah, it stings a little (No pain, no gain, the angel on my shoulder whispers in my ear). For another, testing isn't convenient, no matter how quickly the meter works or how small it is. While seemingly everyone else is carelessly enjoying a meal or leaping into the swimming pool, you are on the sidelines trying to ignore your diabetes. And of course, sometimes, we just do not want to know what the number will be. It's easier to ignore the ugly truth than face it.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2010
July 2010
Now that it's summer, I'm enjoying a typical teacher's vacation: summer break. I have three months of freedom, which for many is a dream come true. However, I live in the sweltering Midwest, where it's typical to see mid-summer temperatures of one hundred degrees or more, with an even higher heat index. These oppressive temperatures can continue into late October.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego and GlySens Incorporated have developed an implantable glucose sensor and wireless telemetry system that continuously monitors tissue glucose and transmits the information to an external receiver. The paper, published in the July 28, 2010 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine, describes the use of this glucose-sensing device as an implant in animals for over one year. After human clinical trials and FDA approval, the device may be useful to people with diabetes as an alternative to finger sticking, and to short-term needle-like glucose sensors that have to be replaced every three to seven days.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
Unfortunately, dental treatment and vision care are rarely included in basic health insurance plans. I don't know how insurance companies concluded that the eyes and the teeth are not parts of the body, but they managed it somehow. If you have diabetes, however, it's especially important to realize that contrary to the rationalizations of insurance executives, both your eyes and your teeth require attention and care.
0 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2010
Last summer, I led the third annual swim-run biathlon for the Barton Center for Diabetes Education, which hosts two Massachusetts camps for children with type 1-Camp Joslin for boys and Camp Clara Barton for girls. It was at Camp Joslin that I met a memorable eight-year-old boy who exemplifies what being a diabetes hero is all about. I'll call him "Adam."
0 comments - Posted Jul 29, 2010
NEW YORK, NY, July 26, 2010 - Recalling the desperate fight for life that used to be waged by juvenile diabetes patients, and commemorating the events of 1921 that inaugurated a new era of hope for them and their families, the New York Historical Society will present the exhibition Breakthrough: The Dramatic Story of the Discovery of Insulin from October 5, 2010 through January 31, 2011. Exploring the roles of science, government, higher education and industry in developing and distributing a life-saving drug, the exhibition will bring to life the personalities who discovered insulin and raced to bring it to the world and will tell the story of one extraordinary New York girl-Elizabeth Evans Hughes, daughter of the leading statesman and jurist Charles Evans Hughes-who was among the very first patients to be saved.
0 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2010
I was in the parking lot of the mall, walking past wheelchair parking, when I noticed a man using the lift gate of his specially equipped van. There he was, lowering himself and his motorized wheelchair down to the ground all by himself. As I walked through the mall that day, I couldn't get the man in the wheelchair off my mind.
0 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2010
Hardly a day goes by that I am not asked a question related to diabetes. I'm a "heart on my sleeve" diabetic. Because one of my jobs, writing articles and guest blog posts, centers on the subject of diabetes, I'm known, in part, by my disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2010
Learn Your Risk for Diabetes and Take Steps to Protect Your Health. If you are diagnosed in the early stages of diabetes, you can take better care of yourself and get treatment. If you have pre-diabetes, you can take steps to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 23, 2010
Type 1 diabetes often strikes children. Children love to play video games. Putting two and two together, diabetes educators have created a string of diabetes-themed video games over the years. The latest evolution of that simple equation--the Bayer Didget meter-game combination--arrived in U.S. drugstores this year.
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2010
From environmentally friendly hybrid cars and heating with solar power to organic or natural foods, our culture is increasingly embracing green strategies. "Using natural dietary supplements to support healthy blood sugar levels and minimize the impact of glycation is a rational continuation of this green philosophy," says Steven Joyal, MD, vice president of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for the Life Extension Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (www.lef.org). He is also author of the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2010
Overview: 57 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition in which a person's blood sugar (glucose) level is above normal but below a level that indicates diabetes. Pre-diabetes may have no outward symptoms, and is diagnosed with a blood glucose test.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2010
Having discovered a dramatic increase of an easy-to-detect enzyme in the red blood cells of people with diabetes and pre-diabetes, Johns Hopkins scientists say the discovery could lead to a simple, routine test for detecting the subtle onset of the disease, before symptoms or complications occur and in time to reverse its course.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2010
There's nothing quite like a dip in the Mediterranean Sea at sunset. The warm, clear water, shimmering clouds, and sound of families enjoying aperitifs at beachside cafes--it was the perfect start to a late-summer Italian holiday. We were visiting my boyfriend's brother, who had moved from England to Genoa a few years prior. It was my first time across the Atlantic, so my boyfriend Dunstan and I tried to make it count with 10 days filled with dinners, family celebrations, a road trip to Rome, hiking, and plenty of swimming.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2010
A massive study involving 485 people with type 1 diabetes at 30 locations across North America shows that the combination of an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor helps patients achieve significantly lower A1c levels than multiple daily insulin injections.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2010
My diabetes and I have traveled a lot of miles together in nineteen years. Racing Ironman triathlons in Australia, Europe, the Carribean and all over North America, climbing and camping at the top of 14,000 foot Mt. Whitney, and of course dozens of family vacations and business trips. Packing equipment and supplies for an Ironman triathlon and 3 weeks in Australia requires a bit of planning and preparation, but when you have diabetes you feel like you do that for just a weekend out of town. Meters, strips, insulin, syringes, infusion sets, pump supplies, snacks . . . a simple weekend trip becomes a lunar expedition.
1 comment - Posted Jul 10, 2010
When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the disease became my entire life. I was drowning in paperwork telling me who to pay, what to eat, how to medicate, and what to do if I got sick. But as months and years passed, diabetes management became just a part of my goal to live healthfully. I realized that I couldn't compartmentalize my health. I cannot pinpoint when my obsession with all things healthy started, but once it did--well, I've never looked back.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2010
Data from the massive ACCORD study on intensive blood sugar control shows that lowering blood sugar levels in people with longstanding type 2 diabetes to near-normal may delay the appearance of signs that point to damage to nerves, eyes, and kidneys, but does not stop their progression toward it.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2010
AFREZZA TM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder, a well-tolerated, investigational ultra rapid acting mealtime insulin, as part of a diabetes treatment regimen, provides long-term glucose control comparable to usual insulin therapy but with a significantly reduced incidence of hypoglycemia and less weight gain in patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to a two-year study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 70th Scientific Sessions.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2010
In a recent study of the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and glucose intolerance in people with type 2 diabetes, more than 90 percent of the type 2 diabetes patients were found to be deficient in vitamin D, with their control over the disease worsening as their deficiency increased.
0 comments - Posted Jul 4, 2010
Summer has arrived, and for many, that means it's time to take that long-awaited vacation. Visions of sunny beaches, gourmet meals, mountain resorts, adventurous excursions, and campgrounds dance in our minds. The word "vacation" is typically a synonym for "letting it all go." No worries. No cares. Just pure indulgence. But for people with diabetes, an upcoming vacation can bring on anxiety and stress. For many of us, our disease thrives on routine and predictability, and vacations do not adhere to our everyday lives.
0 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2010
In people with longstanding type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack and stroke, lowering blood sugar to near-normal levels did not delay the combined risk of diabetic damage to kidneys, eyes, or nerves, but did delay several other signs of diabetic damage, a study has found. The intensive glucose treatment was compared with standard glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 2010
A diet including coconut oil, a medium chain fatty acid (MCFA), helps combat insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the inability of cells to respond to insulin and take in glucose for energy. The pancreas tries to compensate for insulin resistance by producing even more insulin, but eventually glucose accumulates in the bloodstream. Over time, insulin resistance and obesity can lead to pre-diabetes or full-blown type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2010
June 2010
It raises fasting blood sugars. It increases the risk for type 2 diabetes. Millions of people suffer from it. And many don't even know they have it.
1 comment - Posted Jun 30, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I have been married for 14 years. I am 36 and my husband is 39, and we have a seven-year-old daughter. About six months, ago my husband found out that he has type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 29, 2010
White rice and brown rice are reminiscent of those old dramas about identical twins, wherein one turns out to be angelic and the other turns out to be bad news.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2010
One day as I was multi-tasking (making dinner, washing dishes, supervising my daughter, returning phone calls), I suddenly grew very annoyed at the music we were listening to. I had recently purchased a children's CD for my daughter, and it hit me that all the songs sounded the same. What a waste of twelve dollars, I thought, as I headed toward the CD player to shut it off. As I reached down to hit the "off" button, I noticed a small, unfamiliar icon on the display screen. I crouched down to further examine and then laughed aloud.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2010
A Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that only school nurses can give insulin shots to children in public schools who have diabetes. The decision by Judge Lloyd Connelly overturned a 2007 California State Department of Education decision that allowed trained school staff, as well as nurses, to administer such injections.
1 comment - Posted Jun 25, 2010
Diabetes is often perceived as a physical disease, an issue with one's body. But those of us with diabetes know that it affects every area of our lives, including our emotional, spiritual, and mental health. People with diabetes are more likely to experience depression than the average person, and it doesn't take a doctor to explain why. Diabetes is daunting, complicated, and confusing. There's no one-size-fits-all explanation or treatment plan, and even when we arrive at something that works, diabetes throws us a curveball and we are forced to reinvent our treatment regimen---time, and time, and time again.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2010
One of the factors that increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes is excess body fat. So it makes sense that losing weight has always been one of the first lines of defense against the disease. Yet people who are slender -skinny, even- sometimes develop type 2. Why is that? Does the fact that a slender person can acquire type 2 negate the need for weight control?
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2010
There are so many weight loss programs out there, sometimes it is hard just to keep track of them, let alone choose one that will work. Add in the factor of diabetes, and the path to weight loss becomes harder to navigate and often contains land mines that we never even knew existed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2010
A Canadian study that tracked 207 patients suggests that a low-dose combination of metformin and Avandia can reduce the development of type 2 diabetes by 66 percent in people at high risk for the condition.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2010
One of the most inspiring personalities of the 2010 Vancouver Games, Olympic cross-country skier Kris Freeman sheds his skis and poles this week to kick off his 6th annual diabetes summer camp tour with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly Diabetes). Freeman, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 10 years ago at age 19, will share his amazing comeback story from coast to coast and encourage children with diabetes to continue pursuing their dreams.
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2010
BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), a leading global medical technology company, announced today the launch of BD Ultra-FineTM Nano-the world's smallest pen needle. The BD Nano pen needle is proven to be as effective as longer needles for patients of all body types and proven to offer a less painful injection experience for the more than 5 million people in the United States who inject insulin or GLP-1 to manage their diabetes.[1]
0 comments - Posted Jun 10, 2010
It's a cool Sunday evening, and I'm sitting in a lively Italian restaurant. My husband is across the table. We've just placed our orders, and we're engaged in easy conversation.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2010
I've been told by my medical team, those who work hard to make sure I live a healthy life with my diabetes, that I am a "good patient." They are pleased that I do what I am supposed to: check my blood sugar, keep my appointments, eat healthy foods, and exercise. They also remark that they wish all their patients took their diabetes management as seriously as I do.
0 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2010
With the rise of the iPhone and the creation of hundreds of thousands of iPhone applications, it's only natural that several wonderful apps have appeared to make life easier for diabetes patients. Here is a quick look at 10 FREE applications, in no particular order, to help you choose the right ones for you.
1 comment - Posted Jun 2, 2010
BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), announced today the U.S. launch of the BD Vacutainer® Push Button Blood Collection Set with Pre-Attached Holder. The ready-to-use product has been designed to help protect healthcare workers from accidental needlestick injuries (NSIs) during the blood collection process and to prevent reuse of the tube holder.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2010
It's early on a Thursday morning in a hotel ballroom in downtown Oakland, and attendees at a breakfast of the annual meeting of the California Dietetic Association are still working on getting fully awake. That problem is solved two minutes after Jay Hewitt, the breakfast's inspirational speaker, takes the stage. Hewitt, a 41-year-old lawyer who was diagnosed with type 1 in 1991, knows his audience is an experienced group of professional dietitians that has dealt with every type of patient and heard every kind of excuse for failure.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2010
May 2010
Both genetic components and environmental factors play a role in most chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes. In the same way that researchers use a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) to evaluate the role of genetic factors in disease, scientists at Stanford University have used an Environmental-Wide Association Study (EWAS) to evaluate environmental factors on diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 29, 2010
Abbott announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new FreeStyle Lite blood glucose test strips. The new FreeStyle Lite test strips minimize interference during blood glucose testing and are designed to offer a better testing experience.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2010
As awareness of pre-diabetes grows, the list of conditions that can lead to it seems to be growing. Along with obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, researchers may start listing lack of sleep as another danger signal. Two recently published studies conclude that sleep deprivation can lead to insulin resistance-a precursor for diabetes-and even increase the risk of early death.
0 comments - Posted May 26, 2010
A Seattle-based study has found that people with diabetes run a 40 percent increased risk of developing a common type of abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation*. The study also shows that as people with diabetes take drugs for the disease, their risk for developing atrial fibrillation increases three percent for each year that they use such medications.
0 comments - Posted May 25, 2010
People with diabetes who have limited health literacy are at higher risk for hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA.
0 comments - Posted May 20, 2010
Tattoos aren't just an art form or a way of making a personal statement anymore: They are beginning to save lives.
1 comment - Posted May 20, 2010
A new study released by the Children's Hospital of New Orleans has found that black children with type 1 diabetes scored higher on A1c tests than white children who had similar blood glucose levels. Such ethnic disparity has already been shown in previous studies with adults.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2010
Phil Southerland was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was seven months old. Now 28, he has always taken an aggressive approach to managing the disease. He recalls, "My mom scared the daylights out of me when I was six years old by letting me know about the severe complications of diabetes if you don't take care of it. That has motivated me to never let those complications fall on my shoulders."
0 comments - Posted May 17, 2010
Rhode Island-based CVS/pharmacy, which operates more than 7,000 pharmacies and drug stores in the United States, has announced three diabetes-related initiatives:
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2010
Most people who have diabetes quickly learn that one of the worst side effects of the disease is pain caused by damage to the hands and feet. High blood sugar inflames nerves, leading to tingling and numbness, and often, severe pain. Researchers at the Comprehensive Pain Center at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland have learned that onset of nerve pain may have a daily rhythm, with the worst occurring late at night around 11 p.m. Their study, which they characterized as "preliminary," tracked 647 people with diabetic neuropathy. The results showed that the typical pattern for people with the condition was to experience the greatest pain from it after sunset, peaking at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.
1 comment - Posted May 14, 2010
Over 80 years ago, famed diabetologist Elliot Joslin said about the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes: "Ketoacidosis may kill a patient, but frequent hypoglycemic reactions will ruin him." Unfortunately, hypoglycemia continues to be the most difficult problem facing most patients, families, and caregivers who deal with the management of type 1 diabetes on a daily basis. Frequent hypoglycemia episodes not only can "ruin," or adversely impact the quality of life for patients, but also, when severe, can cause seizures, coma, and even death.
10 comments - Posted May 13, 2010
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have developed a molecule that can block the breakdown of insulin. Their discovery could lead to development of a new class of drugs to help treat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2010
I woke up on the floor of my living room, soaked in sweat. I could not stand, or even sit up. I could not raise my arms or control my hands enough to grasp anything. Forget reaching for the telephone, even if my brain could have formulated the thought to try. I could not speak, but I lived alone, so there was no one to hear anyway. I did not know what day it was, but the hot July 4th late afternoon sun was shining brightly through the windows. After an unknown period of time, my brain must have had a flash of coherence that I was having severe hypoglycemia.
8 comments - Posted May 8, 2010
My last ten tips were meant to give you an idea of what to think about before you plan your day (Tyler's Top Ten Tips). Now I'm going to give you my top ten tips for how to manage your blood glucose levels while playing sports. These should help you keep everything in control and allow you to relax and have fun while playing.
4 comments - Posted May 5, 2010
A Danish analysis of data from 21 research studies on the effects of saturated fat intake has concluded that swapping refined carbohydrates, such as pasta and white bread, for fat causes spikes in blood sugar that are harmful to the heart. However, cutting down on saturated fats while increasing consumption of whole-grain breads and vegetables-low glycemic index* foods-had a discernible positive impact on heart health.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 2010
Clinical studies at 52 different sites nationwide have shown that combining standard laser treatments with injections of the drug ranibizumab (Lucentis) offers substantially better results for treating macular edema than laser treatments alone. The research showed that almost 50 percent of patients treated with the combination therapy showed substantial improvement in their vision after one year, compared with 28 percent of patients who had been treated solely with laser.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2010
April 2010
Are you the parent of a child with type 1 diabetes? Do you often wish that you could find a babysitter who understands the "ins-and-outs" of type 1 so that you could enjoy an evening out, assured that your child is in good hands? Or are you a teenager with type 1 who is looking for a way to help children manage their disease, while making a little extra money at the same time? Then look no further than www.SafeSittings.com. Launched over six years ago in Manhattan by teenager Kimberly Ross, www.SafeSittings.com is a free online service that matches type 1 families with babysitters who also have the disease.
4 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2010
NEW YORK, April 27, 2010 - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced today that it is partnering with Living Cell Technologies (LCT), a New Zealand-based biotechnology company focused on developing cell based therapeutics, in a Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of transplanting encapsulated insulin-producing cells from pigs as a treatment for type 1 diabetes with significant hypoglycemia unawareness.
1 comment - Posted Apr 28, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I am a 60 year old married woman who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes eight years ago. In the last two years, I have lost interest in sex. I just don't feel like it, although I still like hugs.
3 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2010
Bayer Diabetes Care today announced the introduction of the DIDGETTM blood glucose monitoring system in the United States. The DIDGET meter is unique because it is the only blood glucose meter that connects directly to Nintendo DSTM and DS Lite gaming systems to help kids manage a lifelong disease by rewarding them for building consistent testing habits and meeting personalized blood glucose target ranges. Bayer's DIDGET meter is now available for purchase in the U.S. through CVS.com, Drugstore.com and Walgreens.com.
1 comment - Posted Apr 26, 2010
In the early hours of Saturday, February 27th, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile, eventually leaving 1.5 million displaced from their homes. At 6 a.m. that same morning, Hawaiians awoke to the news that a tsunami was barreling towards them and evacuation was necessary. Within minutes, many had left their homes for safe ground.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2010
The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, adds to evidence that metformin, a generically available drug commonly used for type 2 diabetes, may have anti-cancer effects.
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2010
Conference Task Force Members will meet with policymakers, healthcare providers, payers, patients, and other stakeholders to discuss how to tackle the diabetes epidemic and reverse its economic impact on our nation's healthcare system.
0 comments - Posted Apr 22, 2010
Admit it, Type 1s. In weaker moments, you look down your noses at the Type 2 diabetics. You know that their disease can result from poor lifestyle choices. You know that their treatment regimen, compared with yours, is simple.
35 comments - Posted Apr 19, 2010
The first human trials of the latest design of an artificial pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes found the device worked without causing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
8 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2010
Four risk factors-all of them preventable-reduce life expectancy among U.S. men by 4.9 years and among U.S. women by 4.1 years, according to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. (According to U.N. figures, current U.S. life expectancy is 75.6 years for men and 80.8 years for women.)
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2010
Successful clinical trials of a topical drug called mecamylamine may lead to a potent new treatment for the diabetes-induced eye disease known as macular edema. Diabetic macular edema* involves the part of the retina called the macula. High blood sugar levels inflame its blood vessels, leading to leakiness and fluid accumulation. Left uncontrolled, those symptoms can lead to blurriness, impaired vision, and even blindness.
1 comment - Posted Apr 14, 2010
We continue to monitor the progress of studies to determine the effectiveness of salsalate, a generic aspirin-like drug, to reduce inflammation and lower blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. As previously reported here in October 2008 and January 2009, researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University are conducting clinical trials to determine if this well known and proven drug for joint pain can be added to the list of diabetes drugs. Recently, results from a three-month trial were announced online in the Annals of Internal Medicine, showing that those who took salsalate demonstrated significantly improved blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2010
Using a sophisticated nanotechnology-based "vaccine," researchers were able to successfully reverse type 1 diabetes in mice and slow the onset of the disease in mice at risk for the disease. The study, co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, provides new and important insights into understanding how to stop the immune attack that causes type 1 diabetes, and could even have implications for other autoimmune diseases.
2 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2010
Tests of an experimental drug called CPSI-1306 at Ohio State University were so successful at lowering inflammation and blood sugar levels in lab mice with type 2 diabetes that scientists consider it a prime candidate to become a new therapy for the disease.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2010
(Reuters Health) - Adding soy supplements to the diet may not improve blood sugar control in older women who are at high risk of or in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2010
People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who find it difficult to trust others or reach out for emotional support may be shortening their own lives. That's the conclusion of a five-year University of Washington study that showed a 33 percent higher mortality rate among diabetes patients who did not interact well with their healthcare providers or other people.
1 comment - Posted Apr 2, 2010
March 2010
I do not conceal the fact that I love dessert. I believe that it is something that I deserve, a reward for working out that morning, keeping my blood sugar in check, monitoring my carbohydrate intake, going to work, and taking care of household duties.
15 comments - Posted Mar 31, 2010
Dr. Stan De Loach is a bicultural, trilingual, Certified Diabetes Educator (one of the first 13 in Mexico) and clinical psychologist, not to mention a pianist, composer, and writer. Born and educated in the U.S., he has been a resident of Mexico for decades, and his first love is the annual bilingual diabetes camp that he co-founded, the four-day Campamento Diabetes Safari in Mexico..
3 comments - Posted Mar 30, 2010
A University of Texas researcher who genetically modified mice with type 1 diabetes to control their disease with leptin instead of insulin is now ready to extend his experiment to human test subjects. Dr. Roger Unger, a researcher at the UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, will begin the tests as soon as leptin manufacturers can assure him of a steady supply of the hormone.
2 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2010
Over the past few months, there has been a discernible shift of opinion among healthcare providers about which test best reveals a high risk of acquiring diabetes. The old standby, fasting glucose, seems to be giving way to the hemoglobin A1c test as the preferred method.
1 comment - Posted Mar 26, 2010
According to researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine, obesity and metabolic syndrome may be partially brought on by intestinal bacteria that increase appetite and insulin resistance. The two can lead to overeating and high blood sugar levels - both important factors in the eventual onset of type 2 diabetes. Perhaps even more interesting, the scientists found that the bacteria can be transferred from one mouse to another, creating increased appetite and insulin resistance in an animal that had previously experienced neither.
0 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2010
Experience is a great teacher, but sometimes it's not the best way to learn, especially when it comes to your medical needs. Smart people learn from their mistakes, but wise people learn from other people's mistakes. In my ten years with diabetes, I have found that to eliminate problems, you need to anticipate your needs. A few moments of preparation can ensure a great afternoon of fun with your friends, a better grade on a test, or participation in a sporting competition without any complications.
7 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2010
Suggested revisions in the benchmarks used to assess dangerously high blood sugar levels in pregnant women could lead to a doubling or tripling of the number of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes*. That's the conclusion of an international study led by the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS - March 17, 2010 - Medtronic, Inc. today announced it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time RevelTM System, the next generation of the industry's only integrated diabetes management system (insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and diabetes therapy management software). The system incorporates new innovative CGM features including predictive alerts that can give early warning to people with diabetes so they can take action to prevent dangerous high or low glucose events.
3 comments - Posted Mar 22, 2010
I grew up around the corner from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In high school, long ago, I thought that NIH scientists were "bad guys" who mistreated animals in the name of medical research. I later moved to the West Coast and became a registered obstetrical nurse. Over the years, along with sharing the joys of new moms and new babies, I cared for patients with devastating conditions like cancer and quadriplegia, people whose lives could potentially be saved or improved by medical research., Yet it wasn't until many years later, after moving back to the DC area, that I really began to see the NIH in a new light.
4 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2010
According to Duke University researchers, a mutation that causes the lack of an insulin-controlling molecule may be a factor in the development of type 2 diabetes. The molecule, ankyrin B, is activated in response to the smell and taste of food and leads to the production of insulin in preparation for food intake.
1 comment - Posted Mar 19, 2010
At a two-day meeting (March 16 and 17, 2010) to review blood glucose meters, Food and Drug Administration officials and staff pointed to a number of issues that can prevent people from getting proper treatment and sought input from medical experts and industry on ways to improve test results with the widely used devices.
1 comment - Posted Mar 18, 2010
Allen, Texas - When Pam Henry's daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2003, she never even thought she would be part of something that could revolutionize health care. "When Sarah was diagnosed, my only goal was to do all I could to keep her as healthy as possible. What I created was something just to help keep her that way."
4 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2010
A scientist's discovery that dolphins have a genetic ability to turn diabetes on and off, depending on the availability of food, could lead to research into whether humans might have a similar-although dormant-gene.
1 comment - Posted Mar 13, 2010
The sooner people with diabetes start taking metformin, the longer the drug remains effective, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the March issue of Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
2 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2010
A university study of 20,000 Chinese adults aged 50 and older says that people who nap four to six days a week have a higher rate of type 2 diabetes than people who either never take a daily snooze or do so less often.
2 comments - Posted Mar 10, 2010
The demand for diabetes research funding clearly exceeds the funds available. In the United States, 23.6 million children and adults (7.8 percent of the population) have diabetes, and we spent $174 billion on diagnosed diabetes alone in 2007 (the most recent year for which data are available). It is imperative that we take action, but where is the research funding coming from? Can it possibly be sufficient, and how is it being spent?
1 comment - Posted Mar 3, 2010
February 2010
Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has received Food and Drug Administration permission to begin marketing its type 2 drug Victoza® in the United States.
Victoza, the brand name for liraglutide, is a GLP-1* analog that is taken one a day by injection to help control blood sugar-and in some cases, help with weight loss-in patients with type 2 diabetes.
5 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2010
My four-year-diabetes-diagnosis anniversary is almost here. It falls on March 24th, a day just like any other to most people, but a day full of sadness, loss, and victory for me. Will I celebrate? I'm not sure if reflection is a form of celebration. I'd much prefer a birthday-like affair featuring balloons, cards, and, of course, something sweet to eat. But I also feel as if the impending date is much like a funeral on the calendar, a time for mourning as well as reflection.
28 comments - Posted Feb 26, 2010
As part of an extensive program to support the needs of adults with type 1 diabetes, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International announced the introduction of a key support program, the JDRF Adult Type 1 Toolkit, to meet an immediate need for resources and community for adults more recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes - a chronic autoimmune disease often first diagnosed in children.
3 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2010
A hormone responsible for the body's stress response is also linked to the growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, according to JDRF- funded researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. The findings are the latest advances to underscore the potential for regeneration as a key component of a possible cure for type 1 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2010
For as long as I can remember, I have disliked meat. I believe it started with my sensitive gag reflex as a child. I could hardly chew and swallow pork chops, pineapple, or anything else that didn't go down easily. In high school I became best friends with a girl who didn't eat meat. It seemed like a really cool lifestyle, so I joined ranks with her. Instead of eating meat, we consumed french fries, fruit punch, and snack cakes. This became our definition of vegetarianism. Then, during my junior year of high school, my doctor informed me that my chronic low blood sugars might be improved by more protein consumption, so I forced myself back into the life of a carnivore, not knowing then that protein consumption didn't have to equal a slab of meat at every meal.
7 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2010
This is the third - and final - installment of our three-part series "Handing Down the Genes." Part III: "Nutrition and Exercise Tips"
1 comment - Posted Feb 19, 2010
Bayer's A1CNow SELFCHECK, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year, is the first and only system of its kind with at-home results in five minutes. It enables patients to more closely watch their A1C level in between doctor visits so they may have a more informed discussion with their healthcare provider to ensure their diabetes plan is working.
2 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2010
Thwarting a protein that carries an otherwise benign enzyme into the nuclei of cells in the retina, where the enzyme kills the retinal cells, may hold the key to preventing blindness in patients with diabetes. That's the conclusion of a two-year study by researchers at Michigan State University seeking a way to treat retinopathy, the disease that often leads to blindness in people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2010
This is the second installment of our three-part series "Handing Down the Genes." Part II: "Preventing Type 2 in Children"
1 comment - Posted Feb 13, 2010
Foods that are sugar free, no sugar added, or low carb, typically have the sugar replaced with sugar alcohol. Sugar alcohols have a significantly diminished impact on blood sugar levels as compared to regular sugar because they are incompletely absorbed into the blood stream from the small intestine. They also have fewer calories than sugar, and are not as sweet as sugar. Some common sugar alcohols are: glycol, sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and lactitol. The simplest sugar alcohol, ethylene glycol, is the sweet but notoriously toxic chemical used in antifreeze. Sugar alcohol is typically derived from fruits and vegetables.
3 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2010
Results of a 22-year study by researchers at Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales indicate that older type 2s who try too hard to drive their A1c's down to "normal" (4.5% to 6%) may significantly increase their chances of early death. In fact, the study, just published in the British medical journal The Lancet*, found that type 2s with the lowest risk of death had A1c's of 7.5% -- a figure that few authorities on the disease have recommended as ideal.
15 comments - Posted Feb 11, 2010
Steel-cut oats are whole grains, made when the groats (the inner portion of the oat kernel) are cut into pieces by steel. Also known as coarse-cut oats or Irish oats, they are golden and look a little like small pieces of rice. They gain part of their distinctive flavor from the roasting process after being harvested and cleaned. Although the oats are then hulled, this process does not strip away their bran and germ, allowing them to retain a concentrated source of their fiber and nutrients.
4 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2010
Many of us have a "BFF" (Best Friend Forever), but people with diabetes or pre-diabetes need a BFF who understands the importance of maintaining a healthy diabetic lifestyle -- a "DFF" (Diabetes Friend Forever). To honor these unsung heroes, Dreamfields Pasta is launching a first-of-its-kind contest to pay tribute to the special people who help make living with diabetes a manageable experience.
2 comments - Posted Feb 6, 2010
In addition to diagnosing type 2 diabetes based on fasting blood glucose levels or a glucose tolerance test, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) have now approved the use of A1c as an additional diagnostic criterion for type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2010
CHICAGO, IL - On Thursday, February 4, Oprah, Dr. Oz, Bob Greene, Art Smith, Dr. Ian Smith and more reveal the staggering human cost of the growing diabetes and pre-diabetes epidemic on a special episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Before a studio audience comprised of all diabetics and their families, Oprah and Dr. Oz reveal the latest facts and figures, share stories of those affected, and hold a no-holds-barred, revealing conversation about risk factors, diet and lifestyle.
17 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I'm 26 years old and engaged to a woman I've known since college. We live together, love each other, and have good sex, but now I'm having doubts. A year ago, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She started taking insulin, and it has been rough. Four times now she has started sweating and shaking and saying strange things. Twice this happened during sex.
11 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2010
January 2010
Thousands of elite athletes from around the world are making their final preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Every snowboarder, short track speed skater, ski jumper and hockey player shares a dream of standing on the medium wearing an Olympic gold medal.
7 comments - Posted Jan 29, 2010
Novo Nordisk announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new drug application for Victoza (liraglutide injection), the first once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Victoza is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
4 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2010
I have a long-standing obsession with baking. The art of creating cookies, bars, pies, and cakes got me through some of the most stressful times in my life, including holidays, college final exams, and a new job. After I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of twenty-four, however, I learned that my traditional ingredients, including white flour, sugar, and excessive amounts of chocolate, lead to high blood sugars and of course, fatigue, fogginess, and other undesirable side effects.
15 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2010
University of Florida engineers have designed and tested versions of a sensor for applications ranging from monitoring diabetics' glucose levels via their breath to detecting possible indicators of breast cancer in saliva. They say early results are promising - particularly considering that the sensor can be mass-produced inexpensively with technology already widely used for making chips in cell phones and other devices.
2 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2010
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) announced today an innovative program aimed at improving the treatment of type 1 diabetes by developing novel insulin delivery products to enhance the use of insulin pumps.
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2010
Living with a chronic condition like diabetes can be a challenging and stressful experience. Unfortunately, all the worry about blood glucose and the constant effort to balance insulin against food intake and exercise can itself raise blood glucose levels. But stress management can help control the stress hormones that affect blood glucose levels. Yoga practice, for example, can have a calming effect and play a major role in stress management.
1 comment - Posted Jan 21, 2010
Bestselling cookbook author and nutritionist Marlene Koch (pronounced, serendipitously, "cook") has been dubbed a "magician in the kitchen" when it comes to creating great-tasting, healthy recipes that everyone can enjoy, including those with diabetes!
1 comment - Posted Jan 20, 2010
The effort underway in Washington, D.C., to draft a healthcare bill is often described as "trying to get a handle on so many moving parts." At issue is this: the House passed a 1,990 page bill in December followed by the Senate passing a 2,074 page bill on Christmas Eve. Now, those two versions are being merged into one with a conference committee that would be composed of House and Senate Members while, at the same time, the White House has been pushing for a deadline by the State of the Union Address, now scheduled for Wednesday, January 27. So far, all sides believe there will be a health care bill in front of the president within the next few weeks. What it looks like is one of the "moving parts."
3 comments - Posted Jan 20, 2010
Many meaningful events, experiences, and accomplishments have gone into making me the person that I am today. In my life, most of the important milestones came and went as they do for every kid. But for some of us, life throws a curveball and introduces a trauma or an unexpected event that will forever change our lives. When my most meaningful event occurred, on May 22, 2000, there were no cheers, applause, or laughter in the room. That was the day I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
21 comments - Posted Jan 19, 2010
NEW YORK, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Montefiore Medical Center continues to expand its portfolio of options for patients in need of organ transplantation. The new Pancreas Transplant Program will treat patients with severe, end-stage diabetes. As the only Pancreas Transplant Program in the Bronx and Westchester, and one of only several in Greater New York, patients will be able to receive world-class care close to home. The program currently has nine patients medically approved and waiting for a pancreas transplant.
2 comments - Posted Jan 16, 2010
NEW YORK, January 13, 2010 - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation today announced an innovative partnership with Animas Corporation to develop an automated system to help people with type 1 diabetes better control their disease - the first step on the path to what would be among the most revolutionary advancements in treating type 1 diabetes: the development of an artificial pancreas, a fully automated system to dispense insulin to patients based on real-time changes in blood sugar levels.
9 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2010
A five-year study of 2,613 people treated for diabetes at Italian clinics shows that tight blood sugar control may not be the number-one priority for patients who have other medical problems.
5 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2010
MADISON, Wis. - Using one of the two major national diabetes screening guidelines misses about one-third of those with diabetes, consequently putting them at risk for serious health complications, according to surprising research findings at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2010
Dear Diabetes Health, I hope you can help me. I am 49 years old and was diagnosed with type 2 five years ago. My husband still wants sex. I don't even want him to touch me. He is very mean to me. He yells at me and calls me names.
16 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2010
The first time that my fiancé Richard and I got, um, "intimate," I had some explaining to do. "Er, that's for my diabetes. So's that. And this thing. Oh, and this too." Richard was a bit overwhelmed. I think his exact words were, "Are you bionic or something?"
2 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2010
"You have diabetes." Have you just heard these words? Or maybe you recently heard it about your son or daughter. The oxygen rushes out of your body. A knot forms in your stomach. "What now?"
11 comments - Posted Jan 4, 2010
ROSEMONT, IL - Exercise is a critical piece of a healthy lifestyle, however those who suffer from diabetes may see an even greater impact, according to a study published in the January/February 2010 issue of Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach. Authors confirm that exercise can aid in diabetes treatment by improving glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity.
1 comment - Posted Jan 4, 2010
December 2009
According to Marlene, finding the perfect mix of ingredients is key when creating healthier versions of your favorite foods. From composing a healthier sandwich to perfecting pasta dishes and creating delightful desserts, Marlene reveals some of her tastiest ingredient tips:
1 comment - Posted Dec 31, 2009
December 29, 2009 - The American Diabetes Association (ADA) revised clinical practice recommendations for diabetes diagnosis promote hemoglobin A1c (A1c) as a faster, easier diagnostic test that could help reduce the number of undiagnosed patients and better identify patients with prediabetes. The new recommendations are published December 29 in the January supplement of Diabetes Care.
2 comments - Posted Dec 31, 2009
I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions. This probably stems from my life experiences. Every year at my fitness club, the place is flooded with new faces from January until late February. Then, as the days tick by, the club becomes less and less crowded.
8 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Combining artificial sweeteners with the real thing boosts the stomach's secretion of a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar, new research shows.
2 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2009
Denmark-based Novo Nordisk A/S has begun phase 1 testing of an insulin pill that, if successful, could replace injections as the primary means of blood sugar control for millions of people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The company has enrolled 80 volunteer German test subjects in the study and expects to have preliminary results by the first half of 2011. The test group consists of both people with diabetes and people without it.
12 comments - Posted Dec 24, 2009
The combination of type 2 diabetes and mild heart disease is a double whammy that in many cases leads to such intrusive therapies as angioplasty* and can result in death from some sort of cardiovascular event. But a five-year university study of 2,368 type 2 patients with moderate heart disease shows that lifestyle changes and non-intrusive treatments can work just as well at lowering mortality rates as surgery.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2009
‘Tis the season to be jolly? The most wonderful time of the year? Joy to the world? Between Black Friday, meal preparations, decorating, dealing with clashing family members, and party after party, the holiday season can be one of the most stressful times of the year. The joy and jolly that we sing about in Christmas carols hardly resonates in our lives as we prepare for and then attempt to survive the stress of the holidays.
3 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2009
The dictionary defines a sugar plum as a small round or oval piece of sugary candy. But for most of us, visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads conjures up a far vaster array of sweet holiday treats. From cakes, cookies, and pies, to sugar-laced seasonal beverages, and yes, plenty of sweet confections, the holiday season is arguably the sweetest time of the year - and the most difficult when one is trying to keep carbohydrates and calories in check.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2009
BOSTON, DECEMBER 8, 2009 -- In a recent study conducted by the Center for Connected Health, a division of Partners HealthCare, new data revealed that parents of children with diabetes were receptive to using novel health technology - such as a mobile phone that could collect and transmit the child's blood sugar readings to a doctor - to help manage their child's diabetes. This study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology (Volume 3, Issue 6, November 2009).
0 comments - Posted Dec 11, 2009
Dear Diabetes Health, I am 57 years old. About five years ago, I saw my doctor because I was feeling tired. My waist size was up, and I was not interested in sex. I almost never got an erection. The doctor diagnosed type 2 diabetes and put me on metformin. He also prescribed Viagra, which helped sometimes, but not all the time.
5 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2009
Dr. Bill Polonsky, PhD, CDE, knows diabetes. Among other things, he has served as Chairman of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, as a Senior Psychologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, and as an Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the founder and president of the Behavioral Diabetes Institute (BDI) in San Diego, California, and a member of Diabetes Health's Advisory Board.
18 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2009
The road to my diabetes diagnosis was anything but easy. Over Thanksgiving break during my first semester of graduate school, I fell ill with a horrific stomach virus. I was too busy to be sick, swamped with student essays to grade and papers to write for my own classes. But as the following year and half progressed, I felt worse and worse. I suffered from chronic sinus infections, drastic weight loss, extreme thirst, and constant fatigue. As I bounced from doctor to doctor, I grew increasingly discouraged. No one could figure out what was wrong with me.
16 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2009
November 2009
We hear it all the time, from the diet ads on television to the lectures from our doctors and dietitians. What matters is not only what you eat, but also how much you eat. But how can you control your portions? Is it possible to have a healthy relationship with food? How can you make sure you are full, but not stuffed? Can you keep your blood sugars under control? The answer to all these questions is yes!
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2009
For 2,000 years, diabetes has been recognized as a devastating and deadly disease. A Greek by the name of Aretaeus described its destructive nature in the first century AD, naming the affliction "diabetes," the Greek word for "siphon." Eugene J. Leopold, in his text "Aretaeus the Cappodacian," described Aretaeus' diagnosis: "...For fluids do not remain in the body, but use the body only as a channel through which they may flow out. Life lasts only for a time, but not very long. For they urinate with pain, and painful is the emaciation. For no essential part of the drink is absorbed by the body, while great masses of the flesh are liquefied into urine."
4 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2009
Q: How do I lower my blood sugar when it goes over 200 mg/dl? I have type 2 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2009
Bridgewater, NJ, November 19, 2009 - Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today that GoMealsTM, a new iPhone application (app) designed to help people living with diabetes make healthy food choices, is now available for download at the iTunes App store. GoMealsTM is a food tracking tool which allows users to search thousands of foods and dishes from popular restaurants and grocery stores to easily see the nutritional content of meals and snacks.
0 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration has given ARKRAY, Inc., a 510(k)* clearance to begin marketing its new GLUCOCARD® VitalTM blood glucose monitoring system in the United States.
3 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2009
How careful should healthcare workers and patients be in describing a total remission of diabetes as a "cure?" That's a question that has taken on increasing urgency in the wake of reports about dramatic reversals of type 2 symptoms after gastric bypass surgery and the cessation of symptoms in people with type 1 diabetes after pancreatic islet replacement. To answer it, a group of endocrinologists met earlier this year to come up with descriptions and definitions that accurately describe what happens when people with diabetes experience a reversal of symptoms.
2 comments - Posted Nov 14, 2009
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the nation marks American Diabetes Month, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a new report today, Preventing and Treating Diabetes: Health Insurance Reform and Diabetes in America. The report comes one day after Sebelius toured the East Manatee Family Healthcare Center in Bradenton, Fla. At the center, Sebelius met with patients and Floridians who care for people with diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2009
When I was a child, my mother always said, "Think before you speak." Have you heard of this before? If not, please digest my words. If you have heard of this simple yet beneficial policy, please reconsider its merit and then implement it into your practice.
34 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2009
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the College of Endocrinology (ACE) released online a one-page resource for physicians and healthcare providers for the management of glycemic control in type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Employers are signing up for a first-of-its-kind health plan by UnitedHealthcare designed to help control the escalating costs of insuring diabetic and pre-diabetic employees and their families while improving their health.
3 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2009
Fingertip blood-oxygen monitors, called pulse oximeters, measure oxygen in the blood using light and color. The noninvasive device, which clips onto a fingertip or earlobe, typically has a pair of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) facing a sensor. Light of a certain wavelength (a certain color) travels through a translucent part of the body like the fingertip or an earlobe, and is picked up by the sensor. The amount of oxygen in the blood (actually, oxygenated hemoglobin) affects how much light from each diode finally makes it through the finger and reaches the sensor. The result is an effective measurement of the amount of oxygen in the blood.
6 comments - Posted Nov 5, 2009
The California Association of American Diabetes Educators held its second annual meeting October 22 through 24, 2009, in Monterey, California, and Diabetes Health was there. The clinical and educational program, put together by Debra Norman and Kim Higgins, was called "Tidal Wave of Diabetes." The invited speakers shared innovation, research, and new techniques with the attendees.
2 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2009
October 2009
San Diego, CA (October 28, 2009) - Novocell, Inc., a preclinical stage diabetes company, today announced that it will receive a Disease Team award totaling $20 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The Disease Team includes a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), led by Dr. Jeff Bluestone, which is contracted to receive $2.8 million. The funding will advance Novocell's development of a first in kind cellular therapy for the treatment of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2009
Dear Diabetes Health, Hello! I am 60 years old and have had type one for about 24 years. It has been quite some time since I had a relationship, and now I have one coming at me. The problem is, I am very dry. The commercially sold products don't seem to help, and Intercourse isn't comfortable. What do you recommend that I try? And what about a libido enhancer? I need this relationship to work because living alone is tough, and my partner likes his intimacy. Please!!!
2 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2009
LEXINGTON, Mass., October 27, 2009 - GI Dynamics, a leader in non-surgical treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, today announced data which support the safety and efficacy of the EndoBarrierTM Gastrointestinal Liner for pre-surgical weight loss treatment, along with a positive effect on glucose homeostasis in morbidly obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. According to the study, mean excess weight loss (EWL) achieved after 12 weeks post implantation was 19.0 % for EndoBarrier patients versus 6.9 % for control patients (p<0.002). The results of this European weight loss study were published today in the advance online publication of Annals of Surgery.
2 comments - Posted Oct 29, 2009
While the relationship between Alzheimer's and diabetes is far from clear, there does seem to be an interesting connection. And that connection just became a little more complicated according to a French study published in the October 27th issue of the journal Neurology.
0 comments - Posted Oct 29, 2009
The statistics are chilling. Children born today have a one-in-three chance of developing type 2 diabetes. For Latinos, however, that risk is one-in-two.
2 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2009
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes, a new research review suggests.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2009
Eurotech, an 84-year-old technology company, recently introduced its EverywareTM Medical Gateway, a remote monitoring device that it hopes will bolster the already notable effectiveness that home care diabetes monitoring has had in reducing hospital admissions. Along with several partners, including IBM and Roche, Eurotech demonstrated the device at the October Continua Health Alliance Fall Summit and Plugfest held in Boston.
1 comment - Posted Oct 22, 2009
The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health (CDC) recommends that everyone, especially people with diabetes and other diseases, get both a seasonal flu vaccination and an H1N1 flu ("swine flu") vaccination this year.
6 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2009
The human body is an amazing machine. The biological clock that ticks inside us to keep the machine running efficiently not only prompts us to sleep and eat on regular basis, but also apparently regulates blood sugar.
1 comment - Posted Oct 15, 2009
"Self-monitoring blood glucose" (SMBG), a staple in the lives of most people with diabetes who take insulin, involves consistently monitoring and recording blood glucose levels before and after specific activities, such as eating, exercising, sleeping, and taking insulin. By observing the effects of certain foods and activities on their blood glucose levels, patients can learn exactly what works to raise or lower them. Thus, SMBG affords a kind of "fine tuning" approach to diabetes that empowers patients to adjust their medicine, modify their behavior, and manage their disease without always needing expert intervention.
1 comment - Posted Oct 13, 2009
A law signed by New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine that allows teachers to give emergency glucagon shots to students with diabetes has parents elated but has drawn strong opposition from teachers and nurses. The law also allows students with diabetes to test their own blood glucose levels and use insulin pumps while they are in the classroom, two activities that were not previously allowed.
15 comments - Posted Oct 12, 2009
Hyperglycemia is known to cause microvascular damage, which then creates complications such as proliferative retinopathy. However, this microvascular damage may also affect cognitive functioning even before it is reflected by more easily observed complications such as retinopathy. A study carried out by Eelco van Duinkerken and colleagues in the Netherlands found that "functional connectivity", which is "an indicator of functional interactions and information exchange between brain regions," was different in type 1's as compared to controls.
0 comments - Posted Oct 10, 2009
The demise of Fen-phen dealt a body blow to hopes for an obesity pill that is actually effective. Unfortunately, the fen in Fen-phen, fenfluramine, caused grave pulmonary hypertension and heart valve problems. The phen part of the drug, though, was apparently just an innocent bystander. And now phen (phentermine) has resurfaced in a new pill that has posted some amazing results in Phase III clinical trials. Patients who were treated for 56 weeks with the new drug, Qnexa, lost an average of 14.7 percent of their weight, or 37 pounds.
8 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2009
A study coming out in the November issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology is reporting that type 2 men whose blood contained a high count of eosinophils, a sign of allergic inflammation, also had albumin in their urine, which is an early indication of kidney disease. Eosinophils are white blood cells that increase in number during an allergic reaction. Albumin is a protein in the blood that helps regulate blood volume and acts as a carrier for other molecules. Albumin is not normally found in the urine, however, because when healthy kidneys filter the blood, they retain what the body needs (like proteins) and allow only smaller "impurities" into the urine. But during diabetes, too much blood sugar can damage the filtering structures of the kidneys, causing them to thicken and become scarred. Eventually, they begin to leak, and protein (albumin) begins to pass into the urine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2009
The enthusiasm for inhaled insulin has waned, to say the least, since Exubera was pulled off the market by Pfizer. Following the Exubera debacle, the development of two other inhaled insulins (AIR by Eli Lilly and Alkermes, and AERx by Novo Nordisk) was halted as well.
14 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2009
Having diabetes involves a lot of pretty complex arithmetic. You've got to calculate carbs from nutrition labels, total the calories and carbohydrates in a meal, calculate insulin dosage based on insulin-to-carbohydrate intake, and on and on. These tasks aren't simple: They require an understanding of measurement, estimation, time, logic, and multi-step operations, and the knowledge of which math skills to apply to each problem.
3 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2009
In our June/July 2009 issue, we published a letter from reader Sheila Payne, who wrote that we had been far too positive about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in our June/July article Get the Facts on Continuous Glucose Monitoring. Her letter provoked a stack of letters from people who believe that the benefits of CGM substantially outweigh its negatives. To let you in on the debate, we are reprinting Ms. Payne's thought-provoking letter here, followed by two equally thoughtful responses from readers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2009
September 2009
Even if they don't lose weight, a moderate aerobic exercise program can improve insulin sensitivity in obese adolescents who are sedentary.
4 comments - Posted Sep 23, 2009
That old dog is me (thirty-seven years living with diabetes). There's a lot to be said for teaching someone who's lived with diabetes for years new ways to manage diabetes, and some new things that have come into the marketplace recently.
9 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2009
For a while now, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has been conducting clinical trials on the effectiveness of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for people with type 1 diabetes. Last year, they issued their first two reports on their findings, showing that CGMs can improve control even for people who already have A1c's below 7%. That information has already had a powerful impact: It's convinced a number of large health insurers (including Aetna, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, United Healthcare, and Wellpoint) to cover CGMs for type 1s, and it's led to the inclusion of CGMs in national standards of care for type 1 diabetes.
6 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2009
Those of you who are familiar with the South know what kudzu is. An Asian vine that can grow a foot taller every day, it was brought to the American Southeast in the 1930s in a sadly boneheaded attempt to control erosion. Unfortunately, the little green visitor liked it here so much that in the decades since, it has colonized 10 million acres of farms and woods, becoming a massive and costly nuisance.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2009
An Italian study of people with type 2 diabetes has found that 70 percent of those who followed a low-fat diet eventually needed diabetes drugs, as opposed to only 44 percent of those who ate a Mediterranean diet.
4 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2009
Adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes generally don't take to the idea of using insulin right off the bat. They're worried about gaining weight and fear low blood sugars. They're also concerned about whether they can manage the regimen and fear that taking insulin will lower their quality of life. Those concerns, however, might be assuaged by a study recently conducted by Ildiko Lingvay and his colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern.
5 comments - Posted Sep 12, 2009
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the night before Thanksgiving, and my family and I were driving to my parents' house for the holiday weekend. I am usually the one who drives, but this time my wife insisted on taking the wheel because I was so dizzy and light-headed that I could hardly stand upright. Over the course of the previous week, I had not been feeling well. I had been getting up frequently at night to use the bathroom, was insatiably thirsty, and had been so dizzy that I had actually fallen down several times.
7 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2009
The famous Diabetes Control and Complications Trial, known to its friends as the DCCT, was the first to prove the power of "intensive control" of blood glucose to reduce the complications of diabetes. Although the ten-year study ended in 1993, researchers have continued to follow about 90 percent of the nearly 1,500 original DCCT volunteers. And the follow-up study, called the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC), is measuring up to its illustrious parent in terms of demonstrating the value of tight control. According to results published in the July 27, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, microvascular and cardiovascular complications of type 1 diabetes are cut in half for patients with near-normal glucose.
11 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Sep 2, 2009
August 2009
In our last issue, we published a letter from reader Sheila Payne, who wrote that we had been far too positive about continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in our June/July article Get the Facts on Continuous Glucose Monitoring. But her opinion provoked a stack of letters from people who believe that the benefits of CGM substantially outweigh its negatives. To let you in on the debate, we are reprinting Ms. Payne's thought-provoking letter here, followed by two equally thoughtful responses from readers.
12 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2009
Canadian scientists have reported that a hormone found in the gut has the power to lower glucose production by signaling the brain and liver to do so. When the researchers activated its receptors in lab rats, they found that the hormone, called cholecystokinin (CCK) peptide, rapidly lowered the animals' blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against the use of GDH-PQQ blood glucose test strips by people with diabetes who are taking medications that contain non-glucose sugars. [Note: GDH-PQQ is the abbreviation of "glucose dehydrogenase pyrroloquinoline quinone," a chemical that reacts with the non-glucose sugars maltose, galactose, and xylose, which are contained in some therapeutic products.]
10 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2009
Three days after a routine physical last November, 84-year-old Louis Zorich was called by his doctor and told that he had type 2 diabetes. The first words out of the seasoned actor's mouth were "There's been a mistake." Louis, who's been married to Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis for 47 years, proceeded to explain (incorrectly) to his doctor, "Men don't get diabetes. My three brothers don't have it, but my mother had it....It may be genetic, but only the female side of my family can have diabetes."
2 comments - Posted Aug 21, 2009
South African researchers have found that in areas where tuberculosis is endemic, nearly one in three children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes tests positive when given a skin test for the disease. Although the positive test results do not mean that these young people will inevitably develop active TB, they do run a very high risk of doing so.
4 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2009
Only a handful of studies have examined the relationship of a woman's menstrual cycle to her blood glucose control, but they have one finding in common: menstruation's effect on blood glucose is as varied as each individual's disease. As a result, blood glucose testing remains the only way to know how a woman's monthly cycle affects her diabetes control.
9 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
This year the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) went deep south for its annual conference, hosting the event in Atlanta, Georgia, from August 3rd through August 9th. Diabetes Health was there, hobnobbing with thousands of attendees and hundreds of companies, and it was an amazing experience.
0 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2009
Researchers have recently reported that people with the lowest levels of a protein that regulates sex hormones, "sex hormone-binding globulin," were 10 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with the highest levels of SHBG. In short, the lower a person's SHBG levels, the higher his or her risk of developing the disease.
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2009
A 43-year-old Iraq war veteran with diabetes is living in Texas with his wife and four young children when he is told that he must prepare for the amputation of one of his legs. The spreading, non-healing wounds and their complications make the amputation necessary to save not just his limb, but his life, his doctors tell him. But he refuses to proceed with the amputation surgery.
6 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2009
Last May, 24-year-old Charlie Kimball was in Car #35, taking Turn 3 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Firestone Freedom 100. He was in radio contact with his pit crew, who informed him that he had a headwind coming out of the turn and onto the 5/8 mile "straight." Charlie kept an eye on the car next to him, moving closer and beginning to crowd it on the inside. Having raced professionally for six years, he knew that he had to make a move, and soon. He shifted into sixth gear and accelerated.
2 comments - Posted Aug 8, 2009
Initially diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Rob subsequently discovered that he had type 1. Knowing that he needed to exercise more, he returned to professional surfing. Today, he is a sponsored professional athlete who uses a CGM.
10 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2009
Most clinical studies of new drugs are conducted primarily on white men, whether or not they are most affected by the disease the drug is intended to treat. African Americans, for example, are 1.6 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Why should we assume that what works for white males will also be effective for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, or, for that matter, women?
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2009
In April of 2008, our healthy nine-year-old son, Gaspar, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After his two days in the ICU and a week in the hospital, a new life began for all of us. Although we couldn't immediately grasp all its implications and were simultaneously dealing with our shaken world, we gave the situation a "think outside the box" approach. When the endocrinologist told us, "That's the way it is. Just focus on the controls and all will be fine," we asked whether the condition might be cured or attenuated if we acted quickly at the beginning. We were met with the usual answer: "There's nothing you can do. Just focus on the controls."
8 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2009
Eating fat is usually not very helpful when it comes to losing weight. According to a researcher at Ohio State University, however, two natural oils that contain "good fats" can melt away pounds in postmenopausal obese women with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2009
It's very likely that you, like most people, believe many myths about diabetes. If you do, you might actually be doing yourself harm. Learning the truth can empower you (as it did me) to make choices and take actions that increase the quality and length of your life.
9 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
In 1994, Kelli Kuehne was on a roll. That year, she won the United States Girls Junior Amateur Golf Championship and a year later, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur Golf Championship, repeating that win in 1996 while also taking the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship. The roll continues. Today, Kelli Kuehne is still playing matches in the LPGA and, through it all, has never allowed type 1 diabetes to beat her on the golf course or in her life.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
Because we have good health insurance, my son sees his endocrinologist twice a year, his diabetes health educator twice a year, and his nutritionist once a year. Meanwhile, he sees his school nurse one to three times a day. As you know, this relationship can make a difference for the rest of a child's life.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2009
July 2009
In an era when tobacco cessation programs are being cut from tight budgets, we need to be intentional and creative with tobacco cessation opportunities. According to Dr. Steven Schroeder of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the UCSF School of Medicine, changing the way we view tobacco dependence is necessary to reduce tobacco use and save lives. If we all work together to increase the cessation rate from 2.5 percent to 10 percent, we can save 1.2 million additional lives!
1 comment - Posted Jul 31, 2009
May 5 - Ann Arbor, MI - In the first study of the effects of statins on the concentrations of both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; known as the "bad" cholesterol) and low-density lipoprotein particles (LDL-P) in patients with metabolic syndrome, it was shown that even though the statins lowered the concentrations of LDL-C to target levels, the patients retained considerable residual risk for cardiovascular events because LDL-P concentrations were not reduced to a similar extent. A pre-print version of the study in Diabetes Care is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.2337/dc08-1681, and the final version will be available in print in the June 2009 issue, as well as online at the same URL.
0 comments - Posted Jul 29, 2009
A protein that builds up in the pancreases of baboons and leads to the suppression of insulin-producing beta cells, may provide one of the most significant indicators yet for predicting the onset of type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 28, 2009
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, have found a brain enzyme that, when blocked, curbs appetite and increases energy levels-both crucial factors in controlling and losing weight.
0 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2009
After experiencing blurry vision and excessive thirst, Mr. R visits his primary care doctor, who tests him and diagnoses diabetes and high lipid levels. Mr. R is placed on hypoglycemic and statin medications and sent to a dietitian for nutritional advice, but he is confused about to how to shop and cook according to the new recommendations. In the next weeks, he experiences dangerous blood glucose swings and inadequate improvement in his LDL level. His primary care doctor refers him to an endocrinologist, but the next available appointment is three months away. What now?
6 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2009
According to results of a phase II clinical trial at the University of Texas Medical School, a low dose of oral interferon alpha can preserve pancreatic beta cell function in newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients. Interferons are proteins produced by the cells of the immune system in response to challenges like a virus or a tumor cell. They work by inhibiting viral replication in the host cell, activating natural killer cells, and increasing the activity of other immune system cells such as lymphocytes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2009
Never underestimate the power of people with diabetes and their families. When we as a consumer group purchase more fruits and vegetables, walk or bicycle instead of taking the car, and educate ourselves about a healthy lifestyle, we are addressing global issues as well as personal ones and can have a strong, positive effect on the future.
1 comment - Posted Jul 23, 2009
A man who has been married for 15 years suddenly begins losing weight and buying new clothes. He starts staying late at work and taking weekend business trips, unusual behaviors for him. His wife thinks he is having an affair. Why?
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2009
Could the medical community be overlooking 2.5 million people who have diabetes? Currently, 23.6 million children and adults in the United States, or 7.8 percent of the population, have diabetes. Although an estimated 17.9 million of them have been diagnosed, 5.7 million (nearly one quarter) are unaware that they have the disease. If lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people comprise 10 percent of the U.S. population, then 10 percent of people with diabetes are part of the LGBT community-about 2.5 million people.*
3 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2009
Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. is recalling some lots of its Quick-set infusion sets over concerns that they may cause insulin pumps to deliver too much or too little insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jul 21, 2009
Growth hormones, peer pressure, independence struggles, and mood swings: welcome to the teenage years! There's nothing like a warning glance from a fed-up teenager to make a parent retreat. As your child takes more control of his or her diabetes, it becomes ever more tempting to step back and avoid the friction that sometimes comes from being involved. Nevertheless, your teenager needs your reliable presence more than ever. The beauty, strength, and sheer courage our kids exhibit in meeting their teenage challenges can inspire us to stand up and work with them to keep their health and well-being firmly in the forefront of their minds. Each child and each situation is different, but here are a few suggestions for staying on your teen's diabetes team.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2009
The Organic Center (TOC), a leading research institute focused on the science of organic food and farming, announced that a balanced, organic diet-both before and during pregnancy-can significantly reduce a child's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese or developing diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 17, 2009
Medicare offers: Screenings for people at risk, Diabetes self-management training, Medical nutrition therapy services, Hemoglobin A1c tests, Glucose monitors, test strips, lancets, insulin, and some insulin pumps, Glaucoma tests, Foot exams, foot treatment, and therapeutic shoes, Flu and pneumonia shots, and Cholesterol and lipid checks.
1 comment - Posted Jul 15, 2009
People often ask me, "Why limit diabetes-related services to the iPhone when there are so many other cell phones out there?" I always answer them by asking, "How many applications have you downloaded onto your cell phone?"
15 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2009
April 2009 was an exciting month at the University of Alberta. It marked the tenth anniversary of an unprecedented approach to islet transplantation, recognized globally as the "Edmonton Protocol." Each year since that milestone has produced evidence of progress in the art of islet isolation and the science of the transplant process. I know this because I lived it. I am patient number thirty-three, one of the many who have witnessed the evolution of this continuing innovation.
7 comments - Posted Jul 11, 2009
Dear Aisha and David: I am a 66-year-old woman who has had diabetes for over 64 years. My husband is 52. He wants sex two or more times day. I hate it. I have no sexual drive, and most of the time it is painful. It was not always like this, but he has always wanted more sex than any man I know! We talk about things, but he basically ignores a lot of what I say when it comes to sex. He is actually a very caring person and has put up with a lot considering all the complications I have after 64 years of diabetes. We have been together for 18 years (married for nine). He waits on me hand and foot. I have to tell him to let me do things myself!
14 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2009
Women who frequently snore-at least three nights a week-run a substantially higher risk of developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy than non-snorers.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2009
Of all the quests that researchers have undertaken in search of a cure or decisive treatment for type 1 diabetes, the search for a vaccine has to be the boldest. But how would you develop such a vaccine, and how would it work?
2 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2009
I would exercise if I had more time... if I had a health club membership... if it didn't hurt so much... if I knew what exercises to do... if I could do it with my family... if I could control my blood sugar...
0 comments - Posted Jul 8, 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
June 2009
Every time I return from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions conference, my head is so full of information that I need a week or two to sort through it. But now I've had a chance to choose what I think are the top five things that you need to know. Here they are...
0 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2009
Until now, care for insulin-dependent diabetes has focused on the delivery of insulin combined with frequent blood glucose (BG) testing. Keeping your A1c down is, and always will be, the name of the game. But numerous studies have shown us in the last few years that having access to continuous glucose data has a huge impact. How you deliver the insulin doesn't necessarily matter-you can use a pump, a syringe, or an insulin pen, it's knowing your personal BG trends that makes all the difference.
11 comments - Posted Jun 29, 2009
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
One of the fondest hopes of people with type 1 diabetes has long been for the creation of an artificial pancreas, a reliable combination of automated glucose monitoring and insulin delivery that could serve in place of a defunct pancreas.
16 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2009
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
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
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
Gale Fullerton is a 65-year-old Californian who has the distinction of being a Joslin 50-Year medal winner. Elliott P. Joslin, M.D., knew that good self-management was the key to minimizing long-term diabetes complications, and the medal program was designed as an incentive for those committed to good diabetes care. In 1970, Joslin Diabetes Center expanded the program and began awarding a 50-year bronze medal. They presented the first 75-year medal in 1996.
24 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2009
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
6 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
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 Congress and President Obama get set to tackle healthcare reform, the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) has begun a multi-front battle to seek Medicare designation for all certified diabetes educators (CDEs).
1 comment - Posted Jun 5, 2009
CRx-401, an insulin sensitizer intended to assist metformin in type 2 diabetes therapy, has successfully completed a Phase 2 clinical trial in which patients taking it saw their fasting plasma glucose drop by 12 mg/dl after 90 days.
1 comment - Posted Jun 3, 2009
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
Never underestimate the power of people with diabetes and their families. When we as a consumer group purchase more fruits and vegetables, walk or bicycle instead of taking the car, and educate ourselves about a healthy lifestyle, we are addressing global issues as well as personal ones and can have a strong, positive effect on the future.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2009
May 2009
In a recent 16-week randomized, open-label pilot study, 169 patients were randomized to receive Welchol (n=57), Januvia (n=56), or Avandia (n=56).1 The results demonstrated that Welchol (colesevelam HCl) significantly improved glycemic control and reduced mean LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) when added to metformin monotherapy in patients with type 2 diabetes. In the study, Januvia® (sitagliptin) and Avandia® (rosiglitazone) also significantly improved glycemic control, but LDL-C increased in patients on both of these treatment regimens.
0 comments - Posted May 29, 2009
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
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
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
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
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
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.
2 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).
16 comments - Posted May 12, 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 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.
6 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
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
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
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 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.
37 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
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.
5 comments - Posted Apr 15, 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.
9 comments - Posted Apr 14, 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
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
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
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 American Diabetes Association (ADA) and American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) released a statement last week in response to the study published online in the New England Journal of Medicine which suggested that intensive blood glucose control for critical care patients with hyperglycemia doesn't improve outcomes and is associated with an increase in deaths.
1 comment - Posted Mar 31, 2009
I hear voices in my surroundings as the cloud of confusion gradually begins to lift. "Curtis, can you hear me?" "Curtis, what was the score of the football game?" "Curtis, do you know where you are?"
5 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2009
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.
10 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2009
If you get less than six hours of sleep per night, your risk of developing impaired fasting glucose rises by a factor of 4.56, according to a report from the American Heart Association.
2 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2009
The FDA has announced that starting in early April, its Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee will begin looking into two new drugs for type 2 diabetes: saxagliptin tablets from Bristol-Meyers Squibb and liraglutide, an injection drug from Novo Nordisk.
1 comment - Posted Mar 24, 2009
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.
15 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.
162 comments - 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
Scientists at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, laboratory who set out to develop a tattoo for tracking heart health may now be on track for developing a tattoo for people with diabetes that changes color as blood glucose levels rise and fall. If it becomes a workable approach, the tattoo technology could spare millions of people the tiresome, often painful routine of pricking themselves throughout the day to produce blood samples for their glucose monitors.
15 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2009
It was in the spring of 2005 that I received a call from the director of the diabetes camp in the state where I lived and worked as a sales rep for a blood glucose meter company. He was calling to ask if I would volunteer as a counselor at the week-long camp, which served around 200 campers, the vast majority with type 1 diabetes. I'd known for years that counselors were always in demand at the camp, but had never stepped forward to volunteer. I'd heard the stories of how tough and exhausting it was keeping up with your group, performing 2:00 AM blood sugar checks, and ensuring that they all stayed safe and had fun. Frankly, I'd always had serious doubts as to whether I was up to it. This, however, was the first time that I had been directly asked to volunteer, and something inside me made me grudgingly agree. As I drove to the campsite to begin that week in June, though, I'd be lying if I did not admit to being as nervous as any of the kids who were attending.
5 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2009
A few quick, intense bursts of energy, such as 7.5 minutes per week of sprints on a stationary bicycle, may be just as good as 30 minutes per day of moderate exercise in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. In fact, say researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, such short bursts may be even more effective.
2 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2009
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
US Camps Camp Name Type Session Start Date
2 comments - 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.
13 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
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
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.
12 comments - Posted Feb 24, 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
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
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.
12 comments - Posted Feb 12, 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
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
Back in 1993, I published an article titled "Is Noncompliance a Dirty Word?" in which I expressed sadness that people with diabetes were being blamed by their healthcare providers for not following treatment advice (1). I suggested that the patient's "failure" might really be a failure of the partnership (or lack thereof) between patient and provider. Fifteen long years ago, I challenged diabetes educators to work with medical practitioners to change noncompliance from a dirty word to a rare occurrence. So, how are we doing today?
20 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2009
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
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 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.
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
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
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
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
One of 2008's most interesting developments was the change in one long-standing recommendation for treating diabetes in people who have had the disease for a long time: Work intensely on getting blood sugar levels as low as possible.
11 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2009
As the 76-million-member Baby Boomer generation ages-its oldest members are now 63-nursing homes are bracing for an unprecedented demand for their services. Along with increased pressure from the sheer number of patients, nursing homes will also have to deal with the skyrocketing number of seniors with type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2009
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
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
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
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.
12 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
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?
117 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.
43 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
Obesity in the United States is increasing in epidemic proportions. This is true in children as well as adults. It's estimated that the healthcare costs associated with obesity and its related complications will exceed $130 billion this year.
52 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2008
The 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
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
A common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) decreased the average glucose level during sleep of type 2s who were newly diagnosed with OSA. After seven weeks of the therapy, known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the diabetic patients' average BG level fell 20 mg/dl.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2008
For 2,000 years diabetes has been recognized as a devastating and deadly disease. In the first century A.D. a Greek, Aretaeus, described the destructive nature of the affliction which he named "diabetes" from the Greek word for "siphon." Eugene J. Leopold in his text Aretaeus the Cappodacian describes Aretaeus' diagnosis: "...For fluids do not remain in the body, but use the body only as a channel through which they may flow out. Life lasts only for a time, but not very long. For they urinate with pain and painful is the emaciation. For no essential part of the drink is absorbed by the body while great masses of the flesh are liquefied into urine."
45 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
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.
60 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
It has been rags to riches for singer Elliott Yamin. With his naturally soulful singing voice, listeners feel his raw emotion and they like it. When you hear him, you know immediately that few guys in any musical genre sing with this kind of authenticity.
29 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
Most people with diabetes will tell you this: Everything about having it is a hassle, an annoyance and sometimes utterly overwhelming. Endless worrying over meal plans, carbohydrate counting, finger-stick checks, pills, injections, lab tests, prescriptions, supplies and doctors’ appointments are nobody’s idea of fun.
7 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2008
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.
1 comment - 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
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
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."
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
The first time I presented medical research findings, I was not yet a physician. The year was about 1975. I was in my early forties and a mid-career engineer. The forum was a scientific symposium on diabetes. At the time, I felt that I had discovered the holy grail of diabetes care and was eager to share what I had learned.
22 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2008
Older men who are worried about insulin resistance can take heart from a Tufts University study which shows that higher than normal doses of vitamin K slow development of the condition. (Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body increasingly cannot use insulin properly and blood glucose levels rise. It is a major precursor to type 2 diabetes.)
1 comment - Posted Dec 8, 2008
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
11 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
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
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.
15 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
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
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 lips in our quest to fight off the complications of diabetes.
7 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2008
Even as diabetes researchers worldwide strive for total control over-or even an outright cure of-type 1 diabetes via gene therapy, altered cells, or surgical intervention, other researchers continue to press toward creation of a functional "artificial pancreas."
1 comment - Posted Nov 3, 2008
October 2008
I read with interest the article by Cynthia Heinz in which she spoke to her local school board, describing a worst case scenario for a child with severe hypoglycemia. As a veteran parent with 15 years of dealing with diabetes in our local public school, I have a few things to add to the discussion.
9 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
A recent Wall Street Journal article shows once again how misinformation about diabetes-related topics can be spread by even the most expert journalists.
3 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
I have had type 1 diabetes for 16 years and, after a long path with many ups and downs, I have finally achieved optimal diabetic health. I have discovered the special lifestyle and diet mix that works and have brought my A1c from 11.4% to 5.2% while increasing my energy and overall health. I'm an elite athlete who plays professional ice hockey, and I currently run marathons.
19 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
Novo Nordisk recently announced results from its LEAD 6 study showing that once daily liraglutide was significantly more effective at improving blood glucose control (as measured by A1c) than exenatide, a GLP-1 mimetic administered twice daily.
4 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2008
Halloween scares me. It scares me even after seven years of helping my 14-year-old son with diabetes enjoy the holiday. We have created a comfortable tradition. Our neighbors get Danny non-food items. We go to a neighborhood bonfire and tell scary stories, and my husband Brian buys back most of Danny's candy and brings it to his office. Through experience, I am no longer afraid of the possible highs and lows, and, thanks to the blessing of cell phones, even Danny's teenage wandering feels okay. If you were a spider on our wall, we'd all appear excited and happy about Halloween.
7 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2008
Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare disease that, like the more familiar diabetes mellitus, causes frequent urination. Interestingly, the "insipidus" in its name means "without taste," which refers to the flavor of the urine associated with DI. "Mellitus," which means "honey," also describes the taste of the urine associated with that condition, which is (so we are told) sweet.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2008
In gastric bypass surgery, the surgeon basically lops your small intestine in two and then hooks it back up again in such a way that it's much shorter than before. With the first section of your small intestine out of commission, food flows directly from your stomach to the middle of your small intestine. When less intestine is available to absorb food, less food is absorbed, not surprisingly. It works, but it's not pretty.
3 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2008
An experimental exenatide (Byetta)-like drug called liraglutide has shown the ability to enhance insulin and glucagon production and suppress appetite in type 2 patients, according to a report in the British medical journal The Lancet.
0 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
An article in Endocrine Today presents some interesting findings regarding A1c's, including the fact that even a relatively low A1c of 5.4% may not preclude undiagnosed diabetes in high-risk individuals.
3 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
I rush to the hospital, hoping to get there in time. When I arrive, I find my newly diagnosed diabetic with a blood sugar of 1027. He is vomiting all over the place and might have a seizure soon. He is in diabetic ketoacidosis. It's time for my dream job.
5 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
A new pharmacy that focuses on patients with diabetes, A1c Rx, opened this month in the San Diego, California, area. A1c Rx works with patients to review medications and demonstrate testing techniques. It also utilizes a robotic pill dispenser to safely and accurately dispense diabetes meds.
5 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2008
Ben Vereen, the Tony Award-winning, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actor, was diagnosed with type 2 on Christmas Day last year.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2008
According to the British public health organization Diabetes UK, a four-year study has shown that the drug candesartan reduces the chances of people with type 1 diabetes developing retinopathy by almost 20 percent.
1 comment - Posted Oct 6, 2008
The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes peaks at 13 to 14 years of age, but at any age it immediately requires children and adolescents to learn many complex facets of glycemic self-management. Dr. Elliot Joslin's belief of 85 years ago, that education is not just part of the treatment of diabetes, but rather the treatment itself, still holds true.
1 comment - Posted Oct 6, 2008
I'll never forget the afternoon of January 22, 2003, and the phone call that came from Derek's pediatrician. I was just leaving my classroom that day when I noticed the light on my phone lit up, alerting me to a new voicemail. My heart stopped when I listened to the message. The doctor asked me to call him back as soon as possible.
2 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2008
Heritage Labs has introduced the Appraise® Home A1c Kit, a product that allows people with diabetes and pre-diabetes to measure their average blood glucose level over a three- or four-month period.
5 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2008
I awake at 1:00 am with a feeling of sickness in my stomach. I wonder if it's from anxiety created by a weird dream, hormonal imbalances, and/or high blood sugar. Or did I go to bed angry? The deep-sunken feeling of thick stagnant sludge in my stomach begins to settle into my consciousness. My Mini Mag flashlight illuminates the blood sugar meter, which reads 357. I remember in my high blood sugar fogginess that my blood sugar was 140 before I went to sleep, and I did nothing out of the ordinary. Now, only a few hours later, I am rudely awakened and have to force myself to gather my senses to correct the situation. Fluctuations in blood sugar are mind boggling and frustrating, not to mention the feelings of irritability, anger, fatigue, victimization, and depression that come along in daily life with diabetes. It can create a sense of failure if one does not get a handle on creating a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
5 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2008
November is National Diabetes Awareness month. It's a good time to reflect on your blood glucose successes and have compassion for what you may view as failures. What's in a glucose reading anyway? It's just a number. It gives you feedback for a certain time period. Everyone struggles with maintaining good blood sugars. The important thing to remember is that you are not alone. In this issue, you will find everyday heroes who are committed to reminding other people that we are all in this together. Since dialog is what it's all about when dealing with your diabetes, I am happy to tell you about a new section of our popular web site, Diabetes Health Forums. It's a place where you can participate in an existing discussion or start a new one of your own. Learn more at www.diabeteshealth.com/forums.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2008
September 2008
At the recent 44th annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), sanofi-aventis announced a study demonstrating that a basal-bolus insulin regimen with Lantus® once daily (basal insulin) and rapid-acting Apidra® (insulin glulisine [rDNA origin] injection) at mealtime (bolus insulin) resulted in significant A1c reductions from baseline as compared to pre-mixed insulin in people with type 2 diabetes.
5 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2008
An article published in Diabetologia this month challenges the accepted glucose cut-off values that define hypoglycemia because they have a major effect on reported frequencies of hypoglycemia.
11 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2008
Bret Michaels was only six years old when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now 44 years old, he's a twenty-year veteran of the rock and roll scene as the lead singer of the eighties band "Poison."
64 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
A professional doctors' group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require that Avandia's warning label include a statement that a low-fat vegan diet is a safer, more effective approach to lowering blood sugar levels than the drug itself.
20 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
These days, Doug Burns is a modern Sampson. The reigning Mr. Universe, he’s two hundred pounds of sheer muscle and the picture of good health. Of the skinny little boy with type 1 who used to work out in the woods alone, all that remains are a wry sense of humor and an attractively self-deprecating manner. They’re unexpected in a man who’s triumphed in the uber-masculine world of bodybuilding, but there’s a lot that’s unexpected about Doug Burns.
31 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
Gastroparesis doesn't sound good, and it isn't. Literally "stomach paralysis," it is a form of diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage, that is a common complication of diabetes. The damaged nerve in question is the vagus nerve, named for its vagabond-like wandering nature.
27 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2008
I remember the call from the doctor's office two weeks after a long overdue annual physical. I sat in the examining room expecting to hear the usual "lose weight" diagnosis. I had been feeling tired and had been making more than a few daily trips to the bathroom. But in spite of the fact that my grandmother, father, cousin, and brother all suffered from type 2 diabetes, I was not prepared for my doctor's stern warning: My sugar had been totally out of control for several months. I needed to adjust my diet and lifestyle immediately. I was a 40-year-old chocoholic and totally calorie clueless. I also weighed 255 pounds. The doctor prescribed an oral medication and told me that monthly visits for testing would now be required. I thought, OK, I can do this.
1 comment - Posted Sep 18, 2008
People who tightly control their blood sugar-even if only for the first decade after they are diagnosed-have lower risks of heart attack, death, and other complications ten or more years later, a large follow-up study has found.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2008
Diabetes educator Cindy Young used case studies to illustrate the many little things that can have a big effect on your blood glucose-or just on the readings you get with your meter.
7 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
A Canadian clinical study has delivered a double dose of good news for proponents of exenatide (sold commercially as Byetta), a drug used by more than 700,000 Americans to control blood glucose, ease food cravings, and, incidentally, lose weight.
3 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
A study sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation confirms that many older type 1 patients achieve better control of their blood sugar levels by using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) than by conventional monitoring with a meter and finger pricks.
1 comment - Posted Sep 11, 2008
When I became a type 2 about fifteen years ago, I wanted to find a way to manage my weight and blood sugar with diet and exercise. I tried the high carb diet recommended by my doctor and dietitian for a time. It worked wonderfully well while my blood sugar level was high, but when my blood sugar stabilized and I was able to go off medication, I started gaining weight again. The next thing I tried was low carbohydrate dieting. I found it to be a very effective way to lose weight rapidly, but I was unable to endure the regimen for more than a short time.
5 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2008
With 21 million U.S. residents now officially diagnosed as having diabetes, healthcare professionals are looking at another statistic that is causing them many a sleepless night: The Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 57 million people with pre-diabetes in the United States. (Pre-diabetes is defined as impaired fasting glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dl, impaired glucose tolerance of 140 to 199 mg/dl, or both.)
6 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
When Gina Capone, a thirty-something type 1 for eight years, got married this year, she and her husband decided it was time to start thinking about having a baby. Like all women with diabetes who are planning a pregnancy, Gina needs her A1c to be as low as possible in order to prevent complications for her and her baby. This strict control can be very challenging and time-consuming, requiring up to 20 blood sugar tests a day.
3 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2008
August 2008
Byetta has had a tough past few days. A lawsuit by a Virginia man alleges that the drug caused his life-threatening bout of severe pancreatitis, and there are rumblings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that it may force Byetta's makers to attach a "black box" warning to its container and packaging-a stern, highlighted caution about potentially dangerous, even fatal, side effects.
19 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
As an Ironman triathlete with type 1, I get asked a lot of questions.
How do you control your blood sugar during a race?
What foods do you eat?
What products do you use?
How do you balance work, family, training, and diabetes?
Sometimes, people simply ask me if I am nuts.
3 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
My husband and I have nine children. Elliott is our oldest and when he was diagnosed with type 1 at age 11 in 1996, we were blindsided. Neither my husband, nor I, nor anyone in our extended family had diabetes. Elliot had all of the classic symptoms: excessive thirst, frequent urination, uncontrollable hunger, occasional blurry vision, and (something I think a lot of parents don't recognize as a sign) bedwetting.
11 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2008
The members of the AADE are an impassioned group who genuinely want to make a difference in their patients' lives. It was an ideal place for me to be, especially because I had a concern of my own: Why am I getting red dots every time I inject? Every educator I asked went right to work examining the problem and investigating my behavior, truly wanting to help. Unfortunately, they are dwindling in number each year, while patients are increasing in number, making their work ever more demanding.
4 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
I was forty-five years old when I found out that I had type 2 diabetes. I don't know why I was shocked. Diabetes ran like a river through my family. My father had type 1. He died at the age of forty-one from a heart attack, but my mother always insisted that it was partly because he didn't "manage" his diabetes well.
2 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Diabetes educator Mary M. Austin reported that many people are paying for blood glucose test strips even though their insurance plans would cover them. "There is a lot of misunderstanding," she said. For example, a client of Austin's got a free meter at a health fair. He then paid for strips on his own for six months, until he found out that his insurance plan would cover them if he got a prescription for the strips from his healthcare provider.
3 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2008
Do you want to lose weight and improve your blood glucose levels? Do you want to do it without having to weigh your portions and count your calories? Try a low-fat vegan diet. A vegan diet is one with no animal products: no fish, no eggs, no dairy, and, of course, no meat.
22 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
A recent story put out by the British Broadcasting Corporation proclaimed that eating broccoli could reverse the damage to heart blood vessels caused by diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
Several months ago researchers suspended work on the landmark ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) study, which tracked 10,251 type 2s, some of them undergoing very tight control of their blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
At the beginning of 2007, we began studying guidebooks and making reservations for a long-anticipated trip to New Zealand and Australia. With limited funds and so much we wanted to do, we decided our budget would go farther if we stayed at hostels. At the same time, we were concerned about Al’s rising blood sugar scores. After visiting relatives during Christmas and celebrating the New Year, Al’s morning scores were as high as 154 mg/dl.
3 comments - Posted Aug 14, 2008
The hemoglobin A1c test (HbA1c) is a staple among people with diabetes attempting to map out their long-term blood glucose levels. However, it is not a standard test for non-diabetics, even those whose doctors suspect they may have the disease.
14 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
Type 2s who tried out either of two different basal-bolus treatments using Lantus and Apidra enjoyed significant reductions in post-meal BG levels and longer-term A1c’s.
4 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2008
The incidence of limb-threatening ulcerations in diabetics is very high, affecting approximately one in six to seven patients. Non-healing "diabetic" ulcers are the major cause of leg, foot, and toe amputations in this country, after traumatic injuries such as motor vehicle accidents. These ulcerations do not occur spontaneously; they are always preceded by gradual or sudden injury to the skin by some external factor. Preventing such injuries can prevent their sad consequences.
5 comments - Posted Aug 4, 2008
July 2008
When does a visit to the eye doctor mean more than just a new pair of glasses and a change in prescription? When it can change—or even save—your life.
7 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
In a report published in the December 23, 2000, issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), researchers at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom write that hypoglycemia is one of the complications of diabetes most feared by patients. They point out, "Intensive research has been devoted to the development of hypoglycemia alarms."
13 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
You’ve got type 2 diabetes. A few years ago, you started using a long-acting insulin once a day, and your fasting glucose levels and your A1c came down. But now your A1c is creeping back up. Your doctor tells you that you need to add a mealtime insulin to your plan.
2 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
July 27, 2008 marked the eighth full month that my son has not used insulin. His last A1c was 5.9%, on July 9, 2008. On August 14th of this year, it will be one year since he was originally diagnosed with type 1. As you know, he was taken off insulin on November 27, 2007, about a month after getting the experimental drug teplizumab. I don't know if it is the drug or not, but others have taken it with good results. It will be interesting to see if they ever get the drug approved and can use it quickly on newly diagnosed type 1s.
15 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2008
San Diego-based Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., posted a second-quarter loss of $64.8 million, or 47 cents per share. This compares to a 2007 second-quarter loss of 45 million, or 34 cents a share.
1 comment - Posted Jul 31, 2008
Hostility and anger are associated with higher blood glucose levels in non-diabetic single men, new research shows.
2 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
A new Spanish language consumer guide to type 2 diabetes, called “Pastillas para la diabetes tipo 2,” has been released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The guide provides information on how to control type 2 and includes comparisons of oral medications. AHRQ data show that nearly one in eight Hispanics takes a prescription drug for diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
You might think that having a disease is the last thing you would want broadcast over the World Wide Web. But for some writers, getting the word out there is the main idea. In a world inundated with celebrity gossip and angst-ridden posts, a few people rise above the online mess and use their blogs to foster a sense of community in what could otherwise be an isolating dilemma: living with diabetes.
10 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
Before diabetes, I was a normal teenager whose greatest worry was whether I’d get an A or a B on a test. I was strong and healthy. Somehow, I took for granted all the freedoms that diabetes took away from me. Last year, at the age of fifteen, I learned that every day, even every breath, that we are given is a true gift.
4 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2008
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a condition commonly correlated with diabetes, affects at least one in every three diabetics over the age of 501 and approximately eight million Americans over the age of 40. Although PAD is common among diabetic and senior populations, current data show that public and physician knowledge of the disease is startlingly low, with only 25 percent of the affected population seeking treatment.2
2 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2008
What follows is Medtronic's response to Zachariah Kramer's letter to Diabetes Health cautioning against unrealistic expectations about CGM systems.
2 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2008
Have you heard the story of the little boy who was on the beach after a storm? Thousands of starfish had washed ashore, and he picked up one after another and threw them back into the sea. A man watched him work and after some time said to the boy, “Look at all these starfish. You’re never going to be able to save them all. Do you think all your work will make a difference?” The boy thought for a minute as he looked up and down the beach. “I don’t know,” he said as he picked up another starfish and flung it into the brine, “but it sure will make a difference to this one!”
4 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
Metformin, combined with dietary changes and exercise, seems to help obese pre-diabetic adolescents, especially girls, lose weight, says a report in the June 2008 Journal of Pediatrics.
8 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
A University of Texas professor of medicine says that diabetes doctors should take “a leap of faith” and begin administering newly-diagnosed people with diabetes a “triple treatment” consisting of the drugs metformin, pioglitazone and exenatide.
4 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2008
VALLEY STREAM, NY: July 2, 2008 -- On Tuesday, July 1 online community Diabetes Talkfest sponsored the first CGMS Denial Day online rally highlighting the excessively high rate of denials issued by insurance companies for continuous glucose monitors. CGMS have been proven to help people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels, and quality of life. The event was held in association with social network site Tudiabetes.com.
5 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration is considering a requirement that before receiving agency approval, new diabetes treatment drugs must not only lower blood sugar levels, but also demonstrate a positive effect on heart disease and lifespan.
1 comment - Posted Jul 3, 2008
June 2008
Years ago, John Bantle, MD, gave brownies to people with diabetes. Brownies made with real sugar. And their blood glucose levels…did not skyrocket.
27 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Dear Editor:
A few weeks ago, I was reading in bed at around one o’clock in the morning. I got up to administer my twice-daily Lantus dose and a small amount of Humalog to "cover" the carbs I'd consumed about an hour earlier.
1 comment - Posted Jun 26, 2008
This year Carb Cards™ have added calorie and fat gram information to the 3rd edition of the carbohydrate counting flashcards. Twelve new cards with information on such foods as oatmeal, beans, and fish have been added to the revised 55-card deck to encourage healthier choices and more variety in meal planning.
1 comment - Posted Jun 26, 2008
Tekturna Reduces Kidney Disease Indicator
The blood pressure medicine Tekturna (aliskiren) may have a beneficial side effect for people with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure who are at risk of kidney disease. According to a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, the drug reduces proteinuria, a key indicator of kidney disease, by 20 percent in patients with type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2008
When you have diabetes, you make the acquaintance of a lot of high-tech tools to help you manage it: monitors, meters and pumps. One very handy tool that sometimes gets overlooked is a digital scale for weighing and analyzing the nutritional content of food.
1 comment - Posted Jun 19, 2008
Drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk has applied to the U.S. Federal Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency for approval of liraglutide, a human GLP-1 analog* that is taken once daily for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2008
It doesn’t matter whether your doctor is a blunt bull-in-a-china-shop type or a hand-holder who tries to deliver the news as softly as possible: it’s a shock when you learn you have type 2.
3 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2008
Canadian researchers report that succinobucol, an anti-oxidant drug used to treat cardiovascular inflammation, appears to have a beneficial effect in lowering the risk of developing diabetes. Even patients who already have diabetes, they say, achieve better blood sugar control while on the drug.
1 comment - Posted Jun 19, 2008
Diabetes treatments are now the leading driver of prescription drug spending growth, displacing lipid-lowering drugs, which tumbled in price after a reign of 10 years in the top position. Generic drugs are cutting the cost of treating high cholesterol.
2 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2008
Dear Diabetes Health,
After reading the story in the April/May Diabetes Health about the mother and daughter who won approval from Blue Cross/Blue Shield to pay for the continuous monitor, I wanted to share our story.
5 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2008
Dear friends of Diabetes Health,
We value your hard-earned diabetes wisdom and we want you to share it with the world! Please join us as a professional or lay diabetes advisor in one of our Diabetes Health website content Rooms.
3 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2008
May 2008
The desire to be thin can be overwhelming. Few people know that better than Kelie Gardner, who started inexplicably losing a lot of weight during high school. She thought it was great until she discovered the reason—she has type 1 diabetes and her body can’t absorb the nutrients it should. After she was diagnosed and started taking insulin, Gardner returned to a healthy weight. Unfortunately, she wasn’t happy with this sign of improvement. “When I was on insulin, my body was able to start functioning normally,” says Gardner, now 26. “I went up to a normal body weight, but I was used to being skinny. I had the fear of, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to be fat.’”
21 comments - Posted May 30, 2008
While none of us would have asked for diabetes, and it's a semi-regular (OK, almost constant) pain in the butt, and I go from highs to lows both in my blood sugar and my frustration level, I still try to remain focused on my blessings: the good in my life and what diabetes gives me.
1 comment - Posted May 30, 2008
HealthDay reports that according to a University of Miami study, people with type 1 diabetes who received transplanted islet cells from human donors lived insulin-free for up to two years.
1 comment - Posted May 30, 2008
Is it possible that a dip in the hot tub can cause a dip in the blood sugars? According to a pilot study that appeared in the September 16 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), "hot tub therapy" helped a group of type 2s reduce their blood sugars, lose weight and improve sleep patterns.
11 comments - Posted May 23, 2008
Dear Editor, I am a medical student in the M.D. program at Oregon Health and Sciences University and a type 1 diabetic of almost 10 years. I use a Medtronic pump and I also use their continuous glucose monitoring system (Paradigm Real-Time).
34 comments - Posted May 22, 2008
Let me start with my maternal grandmother, Helen. Helen had diabetes and lived to the age of 73. We all assumed that she didn’t do a good job with it, as we would often find candy wrappers under her bed. When it came to taking care of herself, Helen was my mother’s role model.
5 comments - Posted May 15, 2008
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), people with diabetes are more prone to periodontitis, tooth decay, oral fungal infections, taste diminishment, gingivitis and delayed healing time than people without the disease.
7 comments - Posted May 15, 2008
You can't have diabetes without knowing about the merits of exercise.
1 comment - Posted May 8, 2008
"Insulin Quiz: Are You Smarter Than a Doctor" (April-May '08, pp 12-15) was an excellent article, if perhaps a little frightening. I couldn't help but wonder how well the parents of diabetic children would do on the quiz, and where they might have learned their lessons.
6 comments - Posted May 8, 2008
BOZEMAN, Mont. (April 30, 2008) – Governor Brian Schweitzer appeared at Montana State University Tuesday to celebrate Montana’s scientific contribution to the development of barley varieties that serve as a natural way to help manage diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
3 comments - Posted May 8, 2008
I was diagnosed with type I insulin-dependent diabetes 54 years ago at the age of 22 months. A dear family friend suggested my parents take me to our family doctor and have me checked for diabetes after I showed some of the more common symptoms. I was unusually cranky and always hungry, but had a stomach that was hard to the touch as though food was not digesting properly. I was also always thirsty, drinking a lot and urinating frequently. Our doctor tested my blood sugar, and the result was high enough to indicate diabetes. He put me on 60 units of insulin per day and told my parents to take me to the hospital 30 miles from the little Western Kansas town where we lived to get a shot of insulin once a day.
17 comments - Posted May 8, 2008
Most people are aware of the health hazards that come with sugar consumption. Still, sugar restriction is difficult for our generation, which has developed a strong sweet tooth. However, for those who want to or must limit sugar, there is an extensive variety of sugar substitutes on the market.
21 comments - Posted May 1, 2008
A word of caution about the values used below. This study was conducted using people without diabetes. Some people with diabetes experience symptoms at higher glucose levels than the study suggests. Other people with diabetes appear to function well with blood sugars in the 30's and 40's (mg/dl). Therefore, the values in the study should only be used as an approximation. This study also used plasma glucose levels. Your values done at home might be 20 percent lower or higher than these lab values. For example, epinephrine release in someone without diabetes would begin at about 63mg/dl with a home blood glucose meter.
43 comments - Posted May 1, 2008
April 2008
Carol Whitton of Coral Springs, Florida, discovered that her blood sugar often increased sharply after she drank a diet soda while dining in a restaurant. So she started to test her diet drinks for sugar, a practice she learned from watching the “Living With Diabetes” television program.
29 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Have you ever met anyone who thinks they get enough exercise? Everywhere you look there are books, web sites, exercise videos and articles telling people how to get started and how to stay motivated. Our family certainly avoided any kind of exercise plan. Although we played in the yard, took walks, rode our bikes, and played soccer, I never woke up thinking, "What can we do for exercise today?" Even though I knew we weren't active enough, I didn't want another thing to do.
0 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
The FDA has cleared the OneTouch UltraLink wireless meter as the only meter certified by Medtronic to wirelessly communicate with its diabetes management products in the United States. The meter uses Medtronic-certified wireless technology to transmit glucose readings directly to MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps and the Guardian® REAL-Time continuous glucose monitoring system. This makes bolus dosing more accurate and easier for patients compared to the manual entry of blood glucose readings.
8 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Does Low-Carb Cheat Young Children of Their Needs?
KheurserRD wrote us to say, “From a dietitian's perspective, 30 grams of carbs doesn't allow for much. It would not allow for the recommended amounts of milk/milk equivalents or fruit a child needs. Not to mention the lack of fiber. Whatever happened to balance, portion control, physical activity, and eating within your calorie needs? ...If such extreme restrictions are being made, how can very young children meet their requirements for calcium and other vitamins and minerals present in milk or fruit and some carbohydrate-containing vegetables? Were these children monitored for nutritional deficiencies, or have the long-term effects of such a diet been studied when the diet was started at such a young age? Even if there are no recommendations for fiber, diets rich in fiber are associated with the prevention of many diseases.”
6 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2008
Does anyone living in our well-nourished country, eating a reasonable diet, really need to take vitamins, minerals, or herbs? Should a person with diabetes take them? If so, which ones and how much? When it comes to supplements, the answers are often unclear.
20 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2008
A Question-and-Answer Session With Jordan Hoese, A 14-Year-Old Type 1 Marathon Runner.
16 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2008
I was working at my computer when my 37-year-old daughter, Laura, walked into my home office and burst into body-wrenching sobs. She finally managed to blurt out that a doctor had just told her that my 7-year-old grandson had juvenile diabetes and needed to go straight to the hospital. I didn't want to add my own upset to the chaos of the day, so I went through the motions, calming Laura and being as helpful as I could. My husband Jack, a psychiatrist, canceled his patients and picked up Danny and his ten-year-old sister Jessica at school. The five of us met Laura's husband Brian at the hospital and spent two days learning as much as we could about Danny's diabetes.
5 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2008
This is a thank-you note for the article, “An Appeal to Insulin Manufacturers,” on page 27 of Diabetes Health (Feb/March 2008). In the 10 years that I have been using insulin, I have made the “near fatal” mistake twice. I use Lantus and Apridra (5 units of Apidra before breakfast and lunch, and 8 units before dinner; 50 units of Lantus at bedtime). I realized what I had done after the fact and stayed up all night eating and monitoring. I was so scared each time I ate my blood sugar up to 300 mg/dl and 400 mg/dl!
1 comment - Posted Apr 21, 2008
It is estimated that nearly 3 million African-Americans have diabetes – 17 percent of all diabetes patients in the United States. That figure is growing as the proportion of African-American patients diagnosed with diabetes consistently increases year to year, according to research from GfK Market Measures’ Roper Global Diabetes Group.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
Forty-six years of coping with IDDM hasn’t stopped me! I’m a published, award-winning poet, an actress and, in my “retirement,” a vocalist. All this from a girl from a far off place known as The Bronx – and a policeman’s daughter, no less!
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2008
Hi, Mr. King: Thanks so much for Diabetes Health. Being a type 1 diabetic, I have benefited from many of its articles. I would like to tell you a story concerning my daughter, Morgan, and say what an inspiration Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers is. Morgan is 12-½ years old and a huge Jonas Brothers fan! Of course she and her friends wanted tickets for the Louisville Palace show in February. A few of her friends’ mothers went and stood in line on the cold morning that the lottery tickets went on sale.
53 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2008
Since its introduction in 2005, Byetta has become “the talk of the town” as one of the most powerful, yet benign, diabetes drugs of the 21st century.
4 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2008
In November 2005, with an A1c of 7.5%, I was told that I had type 2 diabetes. It shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to me because my mother has type 2 and her mother died from complications due to her uncontrolled diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2008
When Dee Brehm was diagnosed in 1949 with type 1 diabetes, her prospects were not bright: a permanent chronic condition, a reduced life span, potentially devastating complications and perhaps no children. She married Bill Brehm in 1952, and they began a partnership knowing that together they would have to manage her disease. Dee subsequently defied the dim outlook for her life: She has two children and six grandchildren, and she has surpassed the half-century mark with this disease having been spared the ordeal of complications.
23 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2008
March 2008
Professional surfer Scott Dunton, 21, has two missions in life: To keep climbing in the rankings as one of the world’s top competitive surfers, and to spread the word to children and teenagers everywhere that having diabetes doesn’t mean life’s joys come to a halt.
16 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
People who live with diabetes on a daily basis are usually instructed to eat right, maintain regular physical activity, and if necessary, take medication. What many may not know is that these medications that help control healthy insulin levels may lead to unexpected events at the dentist’s office. According to a study in the November/December 2007 issue of General Dentistry, the clinical, peer-reviewed journal of the Academy of General Dentistry, diabetic patients especially need to communicate special needs to their dentists. This is because of harmful interactions that could occur with materials and medications used at dental appointments.
5 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
What is “surprising” about the partial halting of the ACCORD study (“Diabetes Study Partially Halted After Deaths,” Feb. 7, 2008) is that the researchers were so surprised by completely predictable results.
13 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is seeking participants with type 2 diabetes for a randomized, controlled clinical study to evaluate an implantable device that delivers electrical impulses to the stomach.
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
Fifteen-year-old Californian Laura Miller, a brittle diabetic, and her mother, Gillian, thought they had a strong case when they asked Blue Cross in late 2007 to pay for a continuous glucose monitor for her.
15 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2008
Editor:
My son was diagnosed in August 2007 with juvenile diabetes. I am a registered nurse and was devastated by the diagnosis because I was just completely paralyzed by the fear of potential complications. It was also a tremendous shock to be on the other side of health care – receiving information from hurried staff, including doctors, glancing at their watches while I asked one too many questions.
28 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2008
“You need dialysis” are words nobody wants to hear. But today kidney failure doesn’t have to mean driving to and from a clinic three times a week and having a lesser quality of life. Hemodialysis (HD) can safely be done in the privacy of your home in two new ways: daily and nocturnal home HD, both of which can help you feel better and live longer.
6 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2008
Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston have initiated a phase 1 clinical trial to reverse type 1 diabetes. The trial is exploring whether the promising results from the laboratory of Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, can be applied in human diabetes.
13 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2008
I am a diabetic and was taking four insulin shots per day and still had problems with my sugar. I did two months of research on the Web because I had to find a way to get off the shots. I hate needles I was astonished at what I found on natural herbs!
37 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2008
Five weeks ago I hurt my ankle. Really hurt it. I either tore a tendon or a ligament or had a severe stress fracture or something. Although I’ve been to my podiatrist twice now, the diagnosis is still unclear. The X-ray showed no break, and while the doc didn’t feel I needed an MRI, I figured that if my insurance paid for it, I did. I want to know we’re doing everything possible to get this fixed as quickly as possible (which already seems impossible after five weeks), because not walking is having several unpleasant effects on me:
3 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2008
The table was set for Thanksgiving and all the family was there. Joey, the baby, was the center of attention. This would be the second Thanksgiving he had witnessed in his relatively short life. Somebody remarked that he looked thin, but Sandra, Joey's mother, thought that it was just a sign of growth. As the turkey and mashed potatoes were served, the family turned its attention away from the cooing baby to ladling piles of food onto plates. Joey didn't eat much that night, but kept asking for more to drink.
20 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
Perhaps more than anyone, people with diabetes know that the motto “Just say no” often doesn’t work.
28 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
Blood sugar control is the heart and soul of diabetes management. How you handle it determines what will be the consequences of your diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
It's not easy to do, but regular exercise is a wonderfully effective way to control your blood sugar and fend off the other metabolic effects of diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
NEW YORK – Growing evidence shows that surgery may effectively cure type 2 diabetes – an approach that not only may change the way the disease is treated, but that introduces a new way of thinking about diabetes.
18 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2008
For the first time, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) came out in support of low-carbohydrate diets for people with diabetes who want to manage their weight. The ADA announced this landmark decision in December 2007 with its 2008 clinical practice recommendations. The latest recommendation is in sharp contrast to decades of promoting only low-fat/high-carb diets.
2 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2008
What is the secret of effective weight management? When a person develops type 2 diabetes, this is a critical question. Losing weight is one of the most successful ways of dealing with this disorder. This is the challenge that I faced when I diagnosed as diabetic about 15 years ago.
2 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2008
Continually revved up insulin production, the kind that results from overeating and obesity, slowly dulls the body’s response to insulin. As a result, blood sugar levels start to creep up, setting the stage for diabetes-associated complications such as blindness, stroke and renal failure. To make matters even worse, chronically elevated blood sugar concentrations exacerbate insulin resistance.
1 comment - Posted Mar 6, 2008
Janel Johnson also works for Can-Am Care, and is the product manager for their line of glucose products (Dex 4) designed to treat hypoglycemia. She talks with Scott King about the new ways to get the glucose we need when we are having episodes of low blood sugar. Products include tablets, gels, and liquids.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2008
February 2008
About 10 years ago Diabetes Health began reporting on "omission," the practice among some type 1 teen girls of deliberately stopping their insulin intake to produce drastic - and fast - weight loss.
1 comment - Posted Feb 29, 2008
A1c tests, the standard measurement of blood glucose, underestimate the amount of glucose in people who are on kidney hemodialysis, says a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center study.
2 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2008
A study at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark says there is a link between type 1 or pregnancy-related diabetes in mothers and the later onset of type 2 diabetes in their children.
1 comment - Posted Feb 27, 2008
A British study of 800 people 65 and older concludes that people with diabetes are more likely than non-diabetics to experience difficulties walking, dressing and climbing stairs.
1 comment - Posted Feb 26, 2008
Until August 2006, I was a healthy 44-year-old female with no family history of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes has been so difficult, not because of the shots or management - although it is incredibly time-consuming to take care of yourself.
66 comments - Posted Feb 23, 2008
Just after a massive U.S. study dropped its aggressive treatment of blood glucose levels because of increased deaths among type 2 patients, international researchers announced that their similar intense study of tight blood sugar control showed no increased risk of death.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2008
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the newest continuous glucose monitoring system from diabetes management device manufacturer Medtronic.
0 comments - Posted Feb 15, 2008
"Constant Vigilance!" roars Mad Eye Moody, Harry Potter's Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher. "You need preparing. You need arming. But most of all, you need to practice constant, never-ceasing vigilance. Get out your quills…copy this down…"
0 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2008
To successfully treat diabetes, you must take charge of your own diabetes management. You need to know your medications, and you need to know your pharmacist. But that kind of intimate knowledge has become a lot more complex in the past decade.
3 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2008
After seeing an increase in deaths among type 2 participants, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has halted the intense blood sugar control portion of its years-long study on controlling cardiovascular risks to people with diabetes.
14 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2008
Pioneering low-carb diet advocate Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has responded to the American Diabetes Association's recent support for low-carb diets with a critique of several of the ADA's most cherished notions.
30 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2008
I have been using insulin for over 29 years, and during this time I have experienced too many lows to recall. My endocrinologist informed me that insulin users who have an A1c less than 7 percent typically require emergency assistance for hypoglycemia about every six to nine months.
26 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2008
Recently, meal-replacement bars, powders and beverages have been touted as a popular way of providing nutritious options for today's busy lifestyles, as well as aids for weight loss and poor appetite.
0 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2008
Dear Diabetes Health, after seeing your Web TV show where Scott King went on the Dexcom device for the first time, I have several questions.
14 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2008
I don't know if you watched this show that aired the week of January 20 here in Rochester, N.Y., on WXXI Public TV. The program included a short segment where a 12-year-old type 1 diabetic relied upon a medical dog to avoid seizures. It was very incomplete and misleading.
5 comments - Posted Feb 2, 2008
SK: We’re joined on our show by Craig Eberhard, vice president of sales at Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Hey, Craig, thanks for coming on the show. Amylin has one of the most innovative products that I’ve heard of in years. It’s called Byetta.
8 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2008
January 2008
It is always interesting trying to observe something that we don't ourselves live with. Though I do not have diabetes, I am surrounded by it through family, friends and work on a daily basis.
13 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2008
I just had a frightening experience. A severe hypoglycemic, I took my regular 5 units of R Humulin 30 minutes before lunch. Instead of my normal sandwich and milk at lunch, I drank a glass of Slim Fast with milk. I carefully read the label and figured out that it was almost identical to the sandwich in calories, carbs and sugars.
11 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2008
Eight-year-old Olivia Miller asked for a Chihuahua for Christmas, but what she received was far more precious than just any pet. That's because Olivia and her new little dog both have diabetes and today they comfort and encourage each other through the rigors of dealing with the disease.
3 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2008
Swedish scientists have found that alcohol lowers blood sugar by redirecting blood within the pancreas and sending massive amounts of it to the islets.
16 comments - Posted Jan 23, 2008
"It feels like you accidentally pricked yourself with a pin, only it's not accidental and you have to do it over and over again in the same areas."
34 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2008
I'm a juvenile diabetic. Although, mind you, at 48, it's a bit of an oxymoron, isn't it? I'm also, for the first time, a newlywed.
10 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2008
Statins, the drugs now widely used to control "bad" LDL cholesterol in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients, should be offered to most people with diabetes regardless of their age, sex or cardiovascular health and history.
0 comments - Posted Jan 16, 2008
To successfully treat any disease, one must know what disease to treat. Treating only a symptom of the disease will leave the underlying disease unchecked and possibly worse. For example, we evolved the "runny" nose to help us clean out upper respiratory infections. So taking a decongestant to eradicate the symptom of a "runny" nose is actually counterproductive for the underlying disease.
23 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2008
Startling statistics are only one reason sufferers should get help and why research into this lethal combination must continue. On the list of deadly diseases in the United States, diabetes ranks fifth. And for so many reasons: major killers like heart attack and stroke are among a slew of diabetes' potentially lethal complications.
15 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2008
The National Athletic Trainers Association has issued a seven-element plan for helping athletes with type 1 diabetes maintain proper blood sugar levels while competing, training or traveling.
2 comments - Posted Jan 10, 2008
Here's a sour little bit of good news for type 2s: taking two tablespoons of vinegar at bedtime can lower fasting glucose levels the next morning by as much as 6 percent.
19 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2008
As the parents of a very active and accident-prone 13-year-old son, my husband and I have had our share of emergency room visits.
1 comment - Posted Jan 5, 2008
You and everybody else alive encounter stress, daily, hourly and minute by minute. As unavoidable, inscrutable, and sometimes as aggressive as the IRS, stress is part of the human condition. It is not just a sense of being tense but is any event that causes a complex physiologic response called the "stress response."
4 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2008
Because scientists often tend to dismiss what they don't fully understand, many of them used to think that C-peptide had no physiological function. But while it's true that C-peptide does nothing to lower blood sugar, recent research is finding that it might have a role in preventing diabetes complications.
19 comments - Posted Jan 3, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, July 21 - Eli Lilly and company today announced that it has begun limited testing in healthy human volunteers of biosynthetic human insulin produced by recombinant DNA technology. The company also announced that it has started construction of the world’s first manufacturing facilities—at a cost of $40 million—to employ recombinant DNA technology to produce the biosynthetic human insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2008
December 2007
African-American and Chinese women who eat foods that are high on the glycemic index may carry a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to two recent university studies.
1 comment - Posted Dec 31, 2007
When a woman is pregnant, she needs to produce more insulin than usual because her body is feeding more cells than normal. A hormone, prolactin, which is abundant during pregnancy, causes more pancreatic islet cells to grow in order to produce the extra insulin.
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2007
We can only conclude that the universe is being perverse again when it comes to the way it treats type 2s: Diabetes writer David Mendosa has reported there are new studies show that the caffeine in coffee causes moderate increases in glucose levels.
11 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2007
Recently on "Good Morning America," a friend of mine (and fellow A1c champion) watched author Gary Taubes talk about his new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. My friend sent this email around: "Taubes says that exercise makes us hungry for carbohydrates and that carbohydrates cause insulin secretion, which creates fat."
49 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2007
I recently had the good fortune to come across two very good cookbooks for people with diabetes. The first is The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook: The Whole Food Approach to Great Taste and Healthy Eating, by Jackie Newgent, RD, published by the American Diabetes Association.
0 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2007
There's now plenty of evidence that U.S. ethnic minority groups tend to have higher A1c levels than whites. (Your A1c is the percentage of your hemoglobin cells that are glycated - have sugar stuck to them. The higher your blood sugars are, the more sugar sticks to your hemoglobin over time, and the higher your A1c is.)
1 comment - Posted Dec 24, 2007
When my son Danny was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was in such a state of shock that I couldn't absorb the two days of education that our hospital provided. My head was reeling.
1 comment - Posted Dec 22, 2007
In a recent study, 81 youth with type 1 diabetes, aged eleven to sixteen years, were divided into two groups. One group received care as usual, but every member of the second group got six sessions with a "diabetes personal trainer," during which they talked about self-monitoring, goal setting, and problem solving.
0 comments - Posted Dec 20, 2007
Today, about four percent of Americans bank their children's cord blood just in case it might come in handy, and more are doing it every day. Now a small study announced at the 67th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association has found that infusions of umbilical cord blood may preserve insulin production.
1 comment - Posted Dec 18, 2007
Vigorous exercise is a powerful preventive when it comes to type 2 diabetes, but what if the glow of perspiration isn't your best look? Happily for those of us who prefer strolling to straining, it appears that a leisurely walk to work is mighty effective as well.
1 comment - Posted Dec 17, 2007
To conclude our pump survey, we asked you how you'd like to see pumping improved. As usual, you came up with a plethora of intriguing suggestions, although some were a bit more visionary than others: One reader said, "I wish someone would invent a device that could be waved over a meal, and it would display the number of carbs in the meal."
43 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2007
Hiring a babysitter is not a problem for most parents, but for parents of kids who have diabetes, it is very challenging. Babysitting such a child is a huge undertaking, and it takes a lot of experience.
0 comments - Posted Dec 12, 2007
In a recent randomized study, 69 people with type 2 diabetes who were already taking metformin were given either Byetta or Lantus for a full year. When the results were in, Byetta came out ahead on several fronts.
10 comments - Posted Dec 11, 2007
Diabetes Essentials is a group of four nutritional supplements recently released by Nutrition 21. They include Diachrome Blood Sugar Health capsules; the same product in a drink powder called Nutrition to Go; Multivitamin Nutrition to Go powder; and Heart Health tablets.
4 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2007
I have lived with type 2 diabetes for thirteen years, and I know very well how to take care of myself. In fact, I have it down to a routine. The flaw of a routine activity, however, is that it is so very routine: you go through the motions without thinking. And that, as I learned to my deep chagrin, can be dangerous.
42 comments - Posted Dec 6, 2007
Scientists have been having fun again making themselves specially engineered mice. This time they knocked the gene that makes glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) right out of their ever-accommodating mice.
0 comments - Posted Dec 5, 2007
Hispanics and African Americans have higher A1c's than whites. That disparity contributes to the unfortunate fact that in the U.S., approximately ten percent of racial differences in mortality have been attributed to diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Dec 5, 2007
In an Italian study to compare once-daily injections of insulin glargine (Lantus) with once-daily injections of insulin detemir (Levemir), 24 patients with type 1 diabetes were treated for two weeks with either one or the other in a randomized double-blind study.
14 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2007
Diabetes is not a disease of blood sugar. It is a disease of insulin and, perhaps more importantly, leptin signaling. Until that truth is accepted, we will continue to see epidemic growth in type 2 diabetes and obesity, growth that underscores the inadequacy of current conventional medical treatment and the falsity of prevailing nutritional advice.
27 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2007
Scott King: Do you have any innovative approaches to treating type 2 diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2007
David Bradley, age 44, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1991. A talented artist who recently went on the pump, he expresses his experiences with diabetes through his multimedia art.
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2007
November 2007
You can make any insulin last longer by injecting a large enough shot. (See Scott King's column, "Why Smaller Shots of Insulin Get Absorbed Faster, Peak Sooner, and Are Out of Your System Quicker", for the math on this.) In fact, about 25 years ago, Dr. John Galloway of Eli Lilly and Company performed an important experiment that demonstrated this very fact.
7 comments - Posted Nov 30, 2007
I learned that I had type 2 diabetes in February 1994. A dozen years later, I knew I had to make a change. Technically speaking, I was "morbidly obese." I'm tall - 6 feet, 2½ inches - but I tipped the scales at 312 pounds and had a body mass index (BMI) of 40.
7 comments - Posted Nov 28, 2007
For my contribution this month, I wanted to share an important lesson I learned about twenty years ago from Peggy Wong at the UCSF Diabetes Teaching Center. It concerns how long insulin lasts after you push down that plunger and create a "depot" of insulin under your skin.
12 comments - Posted Nov 28, 2007
Many medications, both oral and injectable, exist to manage blood glucose in type 2 diabetes. Even insulin has many different formulations, including fast-acting and long-acting analogs as well as various pre-mixed combinations of faster and slower acting insulins in the same vial.
9 comments - Posted Nov 27, 2007
In July, I flew from New York City to Phoenix to meet my new book agent. (Trust me, I would not have deliberately sought out 100-degree weather without good reason.) Always thinking ahead, I decided to bring along a fancy new bag specially insulated to keep my insulin cool. Alas, either the bag failed me, or I failed the bag.
3 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2007
In the early 1980s, human insulin produced by recombinant DNA technology came onto the market. It was the first time that this technology had been used in medicine, so hopes were high.
8 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2007
Most diabetes drug trials focus strictly on the medication's effect on blood sugar levels, but ignore that medication's impact on other outcomes that are important to patients, such as quality of life and the risk of complications.
7 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2007
A study out of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has found that to restore normal glucose levels in type 1 diabetic mice, it's not enough to halt the destruction of their beta cells. You also have to reverse the muscle and fat inflammation that prevents insulin from transferring glucose into those tissues.
1 comment - Posted Nov 22, 2007
Once upon a time in a land called Sweeten, there lived a beautiful princess named Princess Tootsweet. She had long flowing hair, large dark eyes, and a lazy pancreas.
7 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2007
Many tests try (and many fail) to accurately predict whether a person will eventually develop type 2 diabetes. But they often test for single conditions, like impaired glucose tolerance, that don't appear until the road to diabetes is already well begun.
0 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2007
It's well known that dogs can somehow sniff low blood sugars. Many people credit their dogs with waking them up when they were dangerously low. How the dogs do it has been a mystery, but now there's evidence that they may be sniffing methyl nitrates on their owners' breath.
1 comment - Posted Nov 18, 2007
First we find out that our belly fat is an endocrine organ, and now it's our bones. Dr. Gerard Karsenty of Columbia University has discovered that bone-building cells (osteoblasts) secrete a hormone called osteocalcin that not only tells the beta cells to secrete more insulin, but also causes the number of beta cells themselves to increase.
0 comments - Posted Nov 18, 2007
Parents have always said that they can tell when their children's blood sugar is high by their kids' behavior, which tends to change, and not for the better, when their sugar is high. Now a formal study has confirmed just that.
6 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2007
Diabetes educators are no less than a lifeline for patients, providing vital insights into the self-care behaviors that keep diabetes in check: managing blood sugar, dosing medications and insulin, exercising, and understanding all the numbers involved.
30 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2007
In a recent three-month study, 43 non-insulin-dependent people with type 2 diabetes were given either a daily dose of 1000 milligrams of cinnamon or a placebo.
24 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved pre-filled pens for administering Symlin, which was previously available only in vials. The SymlinPen 60 delivers 15, 30, 45, or 60 micrograms per dose.
9 comments - Posted Nov 14, 2007
A recent study has found that the combination of metformin and sitagliptin lowers A1c's better than either drug alone, apparently because their different mechanisms work together synergistically.
0 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2007
SoLo Gi® Low Glycemic bars are delicious. We can vouch for that because we've eaten our way through all five flavors. And because they're clinically validated to have a very low glycemic index, they don't raise your blood sugar like other snack bars.
0 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2007
Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and fires strike fast, creating challenges that can be especially difficult for people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Nov 9, 2007
In research reports, they're always talking about glucose clamps. Two types of clamps are quite commonly used, but they have nothing to do with the common definition of the word clamp. Instead, they are used to measure either how well you metabolize glucose or how sensitive you are to insulin.
1 comment - Posted Nov 7, 2007
El Paso, Texas, October 31, 2007 - Diabetes has become the leading cause of death in Mexico and the third-leading cause of death among those living along the U.S. side of the border, according to a new study presented today by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
1 comment - Posted Nov 2, 2007
October 2007
According to a recent study reported at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), people with type 2 diabetes have significantly higher average white blood cell counts, no matter if they are fat or thin.
5 comments - Posted Oct 28, 2007
Stevia is a natural sweetener made from the leaves of a South American herb, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, commonly known as sweetleaf or sugarleaf.
7 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2007
A low glycemic diet is sometimes advised for people with diabetes because it raises blood sugar slowly and reduces blood sugar spikes. Well, now Australian dermatologists have found that it clears up your skin as well.
4 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2007
I am a survivor and proud of it. Not only have I lived with diabetes for 52 years, since the age of five, but I am also a breast cancer survivor for over fifteen years.
3 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2007
On most cruises, a low-carb diet is the last thing on people's minds. In fact, stuffing yourself 24/7 is pretty much the order of the day.
0 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2007
When calculating glycemic index (GI) values, glucose is arbitrarily given the highest GI value: 100. To assign a GI value to another type of carb, a complex process is used to compare the blood sugar response elicited by the test carb to the blood sugar response provoked by glucose.
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
The take-home message from the Tufts study is that the GI value of white bread is 70. That's nothing new: The same value has been found in dozens of other studies around the world (1).
2 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2007
The higher your blood glucose is during pregnancy, the greater your child's chances of growing up to be obese, according to a recent study published in Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2007
Symlin, or pramlintide, is synthetic amylin, a natural hormone that slows stomach emptying and leads to a feeling of fullness. Currently Symlin is used to dampen blood sugar rises in people with diabetes, but it's showing potential as a weight loss drug as well, according to a recent study.
1 comment - Posted Oct 12, 2007
Josephine Kulman has had type 1 diabetes for 45 years, ever since she was five years old. For much of her life, her blood sugars were rarely in control.
32 comments - Posted Oct 11, 2007
Halloween and candy…candy and Halloween. No other holiday is so inextricably tied to sweets. It wasn't very long ago that I too was handing out Reese's Cups and Snickers bars to the troops of tiny ghosts and ballerinas who crowded around our door chirping "trick or treat!"
1 comment - Posted Oct 9, 2007
Most people with diabetes are familiar with the A1c test as a measure of cumulative exposure to glucose over a period of three months.
2 comments - Posted Oct 8, 2007
I was ten years old when my seven-year-old brother, Danny, was diagnosed with diabetes. After his diagnosis, he got pretty much all of my parents' attention.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2007
A study comparing the benefits of aerobic versus resistance training has found that either is good, but both are better, when it comes to lowering A1c's in people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2007
Researchers recently studied the bones of 41 children with type 1 who were an average of ten years old and had had type 1 for about four years.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2007
According to Pulse, the UK's leading medical weekly, a review of the evidence has concluded that for type 2s on oral medication whose A1c's are below 7.5%, blood glucose monitoring offers "little advantage and may increase the likelihood of hypoglycemia."
7 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2007
Saul Katz is one charismatic health bar maker, a fascinating talker and visionary who makes health bars seem like the most important thing in the world. In 1989, he began his quest to create a "functional food" that would combine science, nature, and great taste in a snack bar. Not only did he want his bar to promote health, enhance performance, and prevent disease; he also dreamed of air-dropping his bars to disaster victims in need of a good self-contained meal. It's taken over a decade of intense scientific alchemy to achieve, but he's managed to do it all.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2007
Bryan Stubblefield is a big ruddy man with the gentlest manner you could imagine. This is the story of his little boy, who's overcoming almost insurmountable problems, and of the man who has learned from him what it really means to be a father.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2007
September 2007
In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the upper airway narrows or collapses during sleep, cutting off breathing. People with OSA may be aroused hundreds of times each night, just enough to start breathing again.
0 comments - Posted Sep 30, 2007
In August, a number of august organizations agreed to report the A1c in a new way, as a number called an A1c-derived average glucose, or ADAG.
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2007
When I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last year, my doctors and I were rather shocked. I was only 27 years old at the time, slender and in good shape. Diabetes does run in my mother's side of the family, so I wasn't completely taken aback.
2 comments - Posted Sep 28, 2007
American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc., also known as AYUDA, is a small organization with a lofty goal: to bring the diabetes camp experience to underprivileged children and youth with type 1 diabetes around the world.
0 comments - Posted Sep 28, 2007
Until now, there were only two blood sugar numbers you had to worry about: your A1c and your fasting glucose level. The first, according to IDF guidelines, should be 6.5% or below, and the second 100 mg/dl or below.
6 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2007
In two recent studies, WelChol, a drug already approved for lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol was found to lower A1c's in patients with type 2 diabetes. The first study showed that WelChol, when added to insulin, lowered A1c's by an average of 0.5% compared to a placebo group.
0 comments - Posted Sep 26, 2007
I met Perry at a neighborhood Food Co-op four years ago when he noticed my jacket's JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) emblem, introduced himself, and asked if I knew of any diabetes support groups. His three-year old son, Max, had recently been diagnosed with type 1.
1 comment - Posted Sep 24, 2007
If ever there were a diabetic trailblazer, the honor should go to James William Quander, the longest-living African-American with type 1 diabetes on record. Born in 1918 in Washington, D.C., he was diagnosed with diabetes in early 1924, shortly before the age of six.
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2007
It will soon be November, and National Diabetes Month will be here once again. It's a time when I like to reflect upon my past with diabetes and try to look into the future.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2007
Studies of rats, those ever-useful creatures, have already shown that a fatty heart accompanies obesity and type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, the heart fat produces toxins that cause heart cell death and then heart failure.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2007
As a scientist who has type 1 diabetes, Dr. Kowalski knows that the cure may be a long time coming. But he's optimistic, nevertheless, because he believes that technology will revolutionize diabetes management long before the cure raises its shy little head.
1 comment - Posted Sep 18, 2007
Swaying in rhythm like drunk fans singing their team fight song, we campers bellowed our camp theme, clapping and banging on dining tables: "Shock, shock for Camp Firefly! We take the insulin - try not to cry!"
7 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2007
I've been doing a lot of flying lately, and it's given me time for reflection. While aloft a few days ago in JetBlue's comfy seat, as I took out my syringe and Humalog to dose for my snack, I realized how many things I no longer do that I was once taught to do.
1 comment - Posted Sep 16, 2007
A review of sixteen studies, examining 836,941 people who sustained a total of 139,531 hip fractures, has found that diabetes, especially type 1, makes you more likely to break your hip.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2007
Since the 1950s, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has funded almost all diabetes research worldwide. From its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, the NIH oversees a $28 billion annual medical research budget. More than $1 billion of those taxpayer dollars go specifically toward diabetes research. Still, a cure remains frustratingly elusive.
0 comments - Posted Sep 13, 2007
Diabetes is sometimes called "the thinking person's disease," and it's not hard to understand why. One consequence of living with diabetes is a constant undertow of diabetes-related thought.
1 comment - Posted Sep 10, 2007
Life in the trenches with type 1 diabetes is challenging. Unpredictable blood sugars can leave a person with diabetes (PWD) feeling frustrated and helpless. The acute toxic effects of abnormal blood sugars also contribute to depression, anxiety, irritability, and food cravings.
4 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2007
We recently wrote about a study which concluded that blood glucose meters are a waste of time for people with type 2 diabetes who are not using insulin ("Is Using a Meter a Waste of Time for Type 2s?"). Our readers vehemently disagreed with that conclusion.
2 comments - Posted Sep 6, 2007
In the August 2007 edition of The Lancet, Argentinian researcher Dr. Diego Lowenstein reported that the higher your A1c, the higher your risk of major complications after heart bypass surgery.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2007
An Australian review of six short clinical trials has found that low glycemic diets (which involve eating foods that raise blood sugar slowly instead of quickly) cause about two pounds more weight loss than calorie-restricted diets.
3 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2007
A study published in the August 2007 Lancet examined 8291 Italians who'd recently had a heart attack. Three years later, a full third of them had developed either type 2 diabetes or impaired fasting glucose.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2007
August 2007
The mad science of genetic engineering is busily engaged in finding all sorts of novel ways to make insulin. We recently reported on cloned cows that will give insulin-containing milk ("Got Insulin-Containing Milk?").
0 comments - Posted Aug 31, 2007
I've generally been a "good" person. I try to do those ten things on Dalai Lama's list. You know, be kind, not hurt others, let people know you love them, hear a tree when it's falling even if you're not there...
2 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2007
A Canadian Olympic rower and marathon runner, Chris Jarvis, age 26, exhibits the endurance of most elite athletes. However, few would know that for nearly 13 years he has lived and struggled with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2007
The possibility of heart disease is a nagging worry when you have a child with type 1 diabetes. Sixty-nine percent of type 1 children have at least one cardiac risk factor.
0 comments - Posted Aug 22, 2007
There are plenty of corporate weight-loss programs around, but Lite For Life is a weight loss program with a difference: Its philosophy is based upon the work of Seale Harris, a diabetes pioneer who discovered hyperinsulinism (excess secretion of insulin related to insulin resistance) in 1924.
3 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2007
An old and inexpensive drug, hydroxychloroquine, has been found to help prevent type 2 diabetes in people with rheumatoid arthritis.
0 comments - Posted Aug 19, 2007
Courtney Lovell remembers vividly when her little sister, Marah, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. As the eldest in a family of seven children, Courtney was her mom's right hand.
1 comment - Posted Aug 16, 2007
A meta-analysis of 29 studies, none longer than six months, has shown that incretin therapies (like Byetta and Januvia) are moderately effective in lowering blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes, especially after meals.
0 comments - Posted Aug 16, 2007
Five hundred thousand New Yorkers have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and another 200,000 have diabetes and don't know it yet - that's a total of one out of every eight adults.
0 comments - Posted Aug 13, 2007
A study of 2,375 middle-aged British men reports that those who drank at least a pint of milk a day were 62 percent less likely than non-milk-drinkers to have metabolic syndrome (defined as raised levels of two or more of the following: blood glucose, insulin, blood fats, body fat, and blood pressure).
0 comments - Posted Aug 11, 2007
Diabetes is a chronic yet manageable malady; as such, it requires constant interaction between the person and the disease. You must pay attention to the endless flow of information produced by your various management tools.
1 comment - Posted Aug 10, 2007
Between two million and ten thousand years ago, during the Paleolithic era in which we evolved, there was no agriculture, no farmed grains, no refined fat or sugar, little salt, and no dairy.
0 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2007
Studies have already shown that people with diabetes do worse than non-diabetics after being hospitalized for stroke, heart attack, and heart surgery. Now researchers have found that they do worse after being hospitalized for trauma (a physical injury) as well.
2 comments - Posted Aug 9, 2007
That old standby, metformin, is still your best bet. In fact, there is no benefit in taking the newer oral medications unless you can't tolerate the older ones.
0 comments - Posted Aug 8, 2007
Both Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline are developing new drugs that block the re-absorption of excess glucose by the kidneys, allowing it to be excreted by the body instead.
0 comments - Posted Aug 4, 2007
In 1999, Virginia passed a law requiring non-medical school personnel to help students with their type 1 diabetes whenever a school nurse isn't around. A recent study looked at who was filling in for the missing nurses and whether they were doing a good job of it.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2007
Parents of newly-diagnosed children with diabetes have something in common - they don't sleep soundly through the night. Anxiety soars in the darkness. When our son Danny was diagnosed at age seven, my husband Brian and I barely closed our eyes, and we set our alarm to check on him at least once every night.
3 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2007
It's a complex mental process that your doctors go through when they choose your medicines, according to a recent survey of several hundred physicians.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2007
According to a University of Oxford study led by Dr. Andrew Farmer, home monitoring of glucose with a meter did not improve glucose control in non-insulin-requiring people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2007
On July 30, 2007, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel voted 22 to 1 to keep Avandia on the market, right after agreeing by a vote of 20 to 3 that Avandia does increase heart risks. Now the FDA will decide what kind of warning should appear on the Actos and Avandia labels. It has already called for a black box warning, the sternest possible, on Avandia.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2007
July 2007
Here's one more small fact to add to the mountain of reasons not to smoke: A recent study indicates that if you are a smoker with type 1 diabetes, your odds of severe hypoglycemia (involving loss of consciousness or overnight hospitalization) are 2.6 times greater than those of someone with type 1 who's never smoked.
2 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2007
In 2001, just over a third of Americans had their diabetes well controlled, based upon an A1c of seven percent or lower. In 2006, however, more than half of them had their diabetes well controlled. These are the results of a study of nearly 5 million patients performed from 2001 to 2007 by Quest Diagnostics Inc. and analyzed by Dr. Francine Kaufman of the University of Southern California.
0 comments - Posted Jul 28, 2007
This issue, we lay out the many devices with which diabetic people must poke themselves: syringes, pen needles, and lancing devices. And we top them off with a sprinkling of sugar: a chart outlining all the sources of fast-acting glucose.
0 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2007
Not to be outdone by his older brother Gerald (the oldest living person with diabetes most of his life), Bob Cleveland is believed to be the longest-living person with type 1 diabetes to date after Gladys Dull, who beats him by less than a year.
2 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2007
A life-time resident of the Syracuse, New York, area, Gerald Cleveland has had a history of not quite coming out on top - at least until now.
2 comments - Posted Jul 19, 2007
Lantus and Levemir have a lot in common. Both are basal insulin formulas, which means that they last for a long time in the body and act as background insulin, with a slow feed that mimics the constant low output of insulin produced by a healthy pancreas.
103 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2007
An A1c assesses glycated hemoglobin; that is, it tells you how many of your red blood cells have glucose stuck to them. The higher the percentage of hemoglobin cells that are sugared up, the higher your average BGs were over the preceding three months.
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2007
Two-thirds of pregnancies in women with diabetes are unplanned. How long after conception do those women realize they're pregnant? They may be eight weeks into their pregnancy before they know it's happened.
5 comments - Posted Jul 14, 2007
It's a fact that Byetta reduces A1c's, post-meal and fasting glucose levels, and weight in people with type 2 diabetes. The drawback is that it's another injection twice a day. In response, Amylin, the maker of Byetta, has developed exenatide LAR, a form of Byetta that is injected only once a week.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 2007
Born on the family dairy farm in New York, the second of five children, Carolyn Gridley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after her grandmother noticed sugar crystals on her diaper that attracted the bees and flies around the farm.
1 comment - Posted Jul 11, 2007
How elevated does your blood sugar have to be before you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes? Not near as elevated as we used to think, according to the findings of the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study.
0 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2007
You have made a point of checking your blood glucose and getting your annual eye and foot checkups. You track your blood cholesterol and blood pressure. But now the pain in your hip is unbearable and interfering with your walking program, so your doctor suggests hip surgery. You will be admitted to the hospital for hip surgery, not diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2007
An overview of 103 research reports comprising 10,455 subjects has found that it's better to stick to exercise than to spread yourself too thin by trying to change your activity level, diet, and medication all at the same time.
1 comment - Posted Jul 9, 2007
Sidney, NY, July 6, 2007 - A study by the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston has found that the AT-A-GLANCE® Balance & Stretch® Day Planner is an effective tool in improving the management of type 1 diabetes in children. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) highlighted the results of the study at its 67th Scientific Session in Chicago.
0 comments - Posted Jul 7, 2007
Each year, one hundred thousand peregrinos, or pilgrims, set out for Santiago De Compostela in northwestern Spain to visit the bones of St. James buried beneath the cathedral. Called El Camino de Santiago, it's one of the world's largest Christian pilgrimages.
1 comment - Posted Jul 6, 2007
If you like cinnamon on your pudding, you could be in luck. In a Swedish study of fourteen healthy pudding-eating subjects, a teaspoon of cinnamon sprinkled on top dampened the post-meal blood glucose rises usually seen after a pudding fest.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2007
Q: My mother, who is a "brittle diabetic," has been sent to a skilled nursing facility for two weeks of rehabilitation following a seven-week hospital stay. I am amazed and frightened at the lack of concern for and attention to her diabetes care at the nursing home.
1 comment - Posted Jul 3, 2007
I was diagnosed with diabetes in September 1953. During that summer, I was in my second year of graduate school at UCLA when I noticed that I was losing weight and had severe polyuria (frequent urination).
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2007
June 2007
Bariatric Surgery isn't just for weight loss anymore. It's been shown to be possibly curative of type 2 diabetes even in the absence of major weight loss following the surgery. Here's the rundown on how it works.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2007
Kevin Powell is an athlete, first and foremost. Twice a year, he competes in an Ironman event, a grueling test of endurance that entails a 2.4-mile swim and a 112-mile bike ride, topped off by a full marathon of 26.2 miles.
2 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2007
Kamaal Washington was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was nine. He's thirteen now. In those four years, he's become an advocate for diabetes and the author, with his brother Malcolm and help from his parents, of a diabetes educational superhero comic book that's swept the nation beyond their wildest expectations. But it all started when he began to be really, really thirsty.
1 comment - Posted Jun 27, 2007
Gestational diabetes affects about 5% of all women in late pregnancy. About a third of those women will go on to develop type 2 diabetes within five years, says a recent study in the Post-Graduate Medical Journal, and it'll most likely be the women who had the highest A1c's during their gestational diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 27, 2007
As many of us know to our dismay, the desire to chow down fatty, sugary food can be very strong indeed. In a recent six-week study of 88 obese, non-diabetic men and women, Symlin, a synthetic hormone currently used to dampen diabetic blood sugar swings, was found to dampen those very desires.
1 comment - Posted Jun 27, 2007
Every hour that type 1 children spend watching cartoons, sitcoms, and even, alas, public television, correlates to an increase in A1c, according to a study published in Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2007
In a recent Dutch study, researchers gave either a placebo or a daily dose of 400 micrograms of chromium in the form of chromium yeast to 57 obese, insulin-requiring type 2 patients with A1c’s above eight percent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2007
Adolescents don't always check their blood glucose levels as often as they should. Because frequent monitoring is a keystone of diabetes care, this can make their parents frantic.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2007
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of three, and I have lived with it for 62 years. I can still remember my mother learning to inject insulin into an orange at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas.
1 comment - Posted Jun 24, 2007
Anne Williamson has had type 1 diabetes for forty years, since the age of seven. But because of the Easter basket incident, she still vividly remembers her time in the hospital. Anne was alone in her hospital room when a volunteer insisted on leaving a candy-filled Easter basket by her bed.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2007
Prickly pear pads, otherwise known as nopales, are a staple of Mexican cuisine: People in mid- to low socioeconomic populations in Mexico tend to eat them about three times a week. Apparently they're pretty tasty when stripped of their prickles and boiled up in bite-sized pieces.
0 comments - Posted Jun 22, 2007
The results of our pump survey are in, and we had 841 respondents! Clearly, people are passionate about pumping, both pro and con. In fact, they seem to be more passionate about pumping than about sex, judging by the far greater response we got to this survey than we did to our survey about women and sex!
9 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2007
Late one evening while watching TV with my husband Phil, I reminded him to check his glucose level. His reply was the usual: "I'll do it later." Knowing him as I do, I was frustrated. He has the tendency to procrastinate, so I chose a different approach. "Why don't you check mine, and we'll compare."
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2007
These days, it doesn't take much imagination to envision a weapon, bomb, chemical, or biological threat occurring at school. Such a situation, although unlikely, is a possibility in today's world. Consequently, parents must consider whether their diabetic child is properly prepared for a crisis. An examination of your child's school emergency plan may be well worth your time.
0 comments - Posted Jun 20, 2007
Two new research reports, presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference, indicate that obstructive sleep apnea ups your risk of type 2 diabetes and increases your risk of heart attack.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2007
If you want to brown meat really nicely, add sugar and then fry it up. If you want insides as inflexible as burnt barbeque, years of elevated blood sugar will do the job in much the same manner.
0 comments - Posted Jun 17, 2007
In 1960, I was a scrawny thirteen-year-old…very scrawny. When my mother recognized that I was eating a lot (and drinking a lot) and not gaining any weight, she took me to the family doctor, who diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetes. I recall that my parents were devastated.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2007
A company called Sugarest has developed a pill made from the Indian herb Gymnema sylvestre that purports to deaden your ability to taste sugar, thereby rendering sweets tasteless.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
In a recent University of Michigan study, rats bred to develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and impaired glucose tolerance received a diet that included at least one percent freeze-dried powdered whole tart cherries for a period of ninety days.
0 comments - Posted Jun 15, 2007
Several years ago, my husband Brian and my son Danny were eating at the Food Court of a local mall. "Dad, when someone gets three wishes from the genie in the lamp, why don't they just wish for more wishes?" Danny asked.
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2007
Twenty-five years ago, at the age of seven months, Phil Southerland was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Doctors at the time gave his mother very dismal predictions about his prospects, but he blew all those right out of the water.
0 comments - Posted Jun 13, 2007
A University of Chicago research team reports that spending less than $500 per patient to improve care could reduce patients' risk of diabetes complications, including blindness, kidney failure, and coronary artery disease, which can cost $44,000 per patient annually.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2007
The Cochrane Library recently conducted a review of studies to see if NPH is as good as Lantus and Levemir when used as a basal insulin for people with type 2 diabetes. Six studies comparing insulin glargine (Lantus) to NPH (Neutral Protamine Hagedorn) were examined, as well as two studies comparing insulin detemir (Levemir) to NPH.
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2007
When Maureen "Moe" Murray was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1954, she was told that she probably wouldn't live to adulthood. If she did, she wouldn't be able to get pregnant, and if by some miracle she did conceive, she would certainly miscarry. Fifty-two years later, she's a dynamo of a woman who's disproved every one of those dire predications.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2007
People without diabetes completely miss the real difficulties of being diabetic. For one thing, it's not so much about what I can't eat as what I have to eat.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2007
A study just published by the RAND Corporation, a well-known think tank, has found that routine care received by women for their heart disease and diabetes isn't as good as that received by men.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2007
I'll never forget coaching my oldest child's soccer practice on that cool damp evening in late April. The moment I laid eyes on my ten-year-old daughter as she walked onto the soccer field, I knew that something wasn't right.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2007
In a recent Dutch study, researchers gave either a placebo or a daily dose of 400 micrograms of chromium to 57 obese, insulin-requiring type 2 patients with A1c's above eight percent.
1 comment - Posted Jun 3, 2007
I recently had the privilege of interviewing Ginger Graham, the CEO who led Amylin during the launch of its two first-in-class medicines, Byetta and Symlin. A fascinating woman with a very personal leadership style, she had the following to say about her past achievements and her future hopes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2007
NEW YORK, May 29, 2007 - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is proud to announce that recording artist Elliott Yamin will serve as a celebrity advocate for its signature event, “Children’s Congress,” and their “Promise to Remember Me” campaign.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2007
May 2007
On May 30, 2007, prosecutors dropped the assault charges against Doug Burns, the champion bodybuilder whom we profiled extensively last month. The decision to dismiss the case and not go to trial was based upon evidence from an endocrinologist that Doug was in diabetic shock at the time of the incident and therefore had a viable defense of unconsciousness.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 2007
Analysis of several recent studies indicates that Avandia (rosiglitazone), a type 2 diabetes medication that's been taken by more than six million people worldwide, is associated with a 43 percent increased risk of heart attack and with a borderline-significant increased risk of heart attack-related death.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 2007
The recent ruckus over the drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) has been portrayed as another case of Big Pharma foisting a dangerous drug on the public while the overworked FDA can't keep up.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 2007
Two new meters that purport to measure your blood glucose without a fingerstick are currently in the works–again. The road to a non-invasive meter is one that many have traveled before, but no one, thus far, has ever reached the market.
7 comments - Posted May 30, 2007
That long snout on a typical dog is there for a very good reason. It gathers up scent molecules and sends them deep down to special sniffing cells that hold 25 times the number of scent receptors that we humans have. Dogs can sense complex odors that are 100 million times weaker than our little noses can. Among those scents is the chemical mix that bodies manufacture when they are getting dangerously low on blood sugar.
1 comment - Posted May 29, 2007
Meters have come a long way since 1969, when the first meter went on the market. The meter measured the amount of light reflected off a Dextrostix, a paper strip that turned various shades of blue, depending on blood glucose level, after a large drop of blood was placed on it and then washed off.
0 comments - Posted May 24, 2007
Recently, while preparing to give a speech, I found myself reminiscing about my life with diabetes. It was 33 years ago that I was diagnosed with type 1, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
0 comments - Posted May 22, 2007
A report released at a recent meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), called “The State of Diabetes Complications in America,” has revealed some pretty depressing facts about the consequences of diabetes today.
0 comments - Posted May 20, 2007
Bariatric surgery, formerly used only for treating obesity, is being explored as a cure for type 2 diabetes in normal weight or moderately overweight people.
1 comment - Posted May 19, 2007
Aggressive management of diabetes can lead to more episodes of severe low blood sugar, but a new study has found that these episodes apparently don’t impair cognitive (thinking) function.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2007
Forty Years Old and Leaking Like a Sieve - When I turned forty, my body began to break down like an old used car.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2007
Back in 2003, a study in Diabetes Care showed that in thirty people with type 2 diabetes, one to six grams of cinnamon daily for forty days resulted in a drop in blood sugar levels, triglycerides, and LDL (bad cholesterol)...
4 comments - Posted May 17, 2007
A drug initially designed to treat the autoimmune disease of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis has been found helpful in treating type 2 diabetes. The drug is an “interleukin-1-receptor antagonist” that goes by the name of anakinra (Kineret).
0 comments - Posted May 16, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS Data from a pooled analysis of three studies suggest that in patients with pain caused by diabetic nerve damage, or diabetic peripheral neuropathy, who are treated with Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl), improvements in both average daily pain and night pain severity were associated with less pain-related sleep interference than in those patients taking sugar pill.
5 comments - Posted May 15, 2007
In the March 2007 issue of Diabetes Care, Swedish researchers examined the fasting plasma glucose levels and post-load (after being given glucose) sugar levels of 33,293 women and 31,304 men.
0 comments - Posted May 14, 2007
Sanofi-aventis and the Patient Mentor Institute are looking for people with diabetes to become patient mentors with the A1C Champions® program – a unique, patient-to-patient approach to diabetes education.
2 comments - Posted May 12, 2007
Diabetes may delay the graying of your eyebrow hair, reports Dr. Uwe Wollina of Germany, who examined a hundred men with gray pates between the ages of fifty and seventy years. Half the men had matching gray eyebrows, and half still sported dark eyebrows.
0 comments - Posted May 12, 2007
A study recently published in Diabetes Care has found that people with type 1 who become happy pumpers share characteristics in common. They actively participate in self-care, have realistic expectations of pump performance, and clearly remember how they felt when they were first diagnosed. The researchers believe that these characteristics may help predict who will be a successful pumper.
0 comments - Posted May 11, 2007
What is the best kept secret in weight management? When I became a type 2 diabetic and had to lose a significant amount of weight, I wanted a program that was guaranteed to succeed. I tried low carbohydrate dieting, but found it too difficult.
1 comment - Posted May 10, 2007
Continuous Glucose Monitors Are Revolutionary - I’ve always believed that if I could give myself insulin conveniently and constantly knew my blood glucose, I could control my blood sugar almost as well as a non-diabetic person. Nine years ago, an insulin pump made the first condition come true. Since then I have been waiting for the magic blood sugar machine.
2 comments - Posted May 10, 2007
Doug Burns, reigning Mr. Universe, was recently involved in an encounter with Redwood City police while experiencing severe low blood sugar; during the incident, he was handcuffed and clubbed by police who mistook him for inebriated. On May 2, 2007, Doug was arraigned in court on charges of assault and resisting arrest.
1 comment - Posted May 10, 2007
When it comes to your feet, it’s important to know where you stand. Foot problems are the most common reason for diabetes-related hospitalizations, and people with diabetes are up to fifteen times more likely to have a lower limb amputation than those without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 8, 2007
On March 28, 1950, nine-year-old Betty Adamski Schunke entered the hospital with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. She remembers the date vividly. She also remembers the words of her pediatrician, one of the first women in the field: “You can do anything you want to do as long as you remember you have diabetes and plan accordingly.” A feisty, stubborn little girl who strove for perfection and never backed down, she took it for her motto.
0 comments - Posted May 4, 2007
We’ve gotten the results from our women's sex survey, and now the word is out about you, your diabetes, and sex...
0 comments - Posted May 3, 2007
The 21st century may be remembered as the time when diabetes became a worldwide epidemic. However, it may also be known as the time when the disease was cured.
8 comments - Posted May 3, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, April 19, 2007 - Eat right. Exercise. Monitor blood sugar. Take medication regularly. This is the advice physicians give the more than 20 million Americans affected with diabetes. Yet implementation of these recommendations is often far from ideal, putting patients at greater risk for damage to the heart, kidneys, eyes, and feet.
0 comments - Posted May 3, 2007
Last summer our family changed forever when Lauren, our nine-year-old daughter, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A whirlwind of shock, anger, and worry engulfed me as I watched an incurable chronic illness move into our home.
5 comments - Posted May 1, 2007
April 2007
Nick Jonas is a personable boy of fourteen who happens to be a member of the Jonas Brothers Band, a group of three brothers with a devoted following of very passionate young fans. In November 2005, Nick Jonas found out that he had type 1 diabetes.
1466 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2007
The crack of the bat on Opening Day at Fenway Park is a sure sign that summer is on its way. From the Green Monster seats to the dunes of Cape Cod, summer means bright sun, ultraviolet rays and of course, sunglasses. But did you know that people with diabetes need more than sunglasses to protect their eyes?
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2007
At 63 years old, I've coped successfully with insulin-dependent diabetes for 46 years. Education and acceptance are the keys, but it took me years (and the support of loving family and friends) to achieve them.
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2007
Remember the big picture: Populations that stick to traditional high-carbohydrate diets (for example, Asian rice-based diets) typically have low rates of obesity and diabetes. When they abandon traditional rice-based diets in favor of meatier Western fare, carbohydrate intake falls, but weight problems and diabetes increase.
4 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
When I developed diabetes in 1946, physicians thought that the high illness and death rate of diabetics was due to dietary fat and the supposedly resultant elevation of serum cholesterol. Since the DCCT trial, the scientific literature overwhelmingly supports the role of elevated blood sugar in all long-term diabetic complications.
2 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2007
Dismal Predictions - In 1949, at the age of 13, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I was told that I would have to take shots for life and that my life would probably last only 25 years longer. Furthermore, I could eat no candy, and all my children would be diabetic.
2 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2007
A lot of new medicines have come out, with a pile of new acronyms: GLP-1, DPP-4, BYOB…well, that last one is probably familiar, but a little background on the other two might not be out of place. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of them in the future, and it’ll help to be on speaking terms.
1 comment - Posted Apr 20, 2007
The FDA has approved Janumet, Merck’s merge of metformin and Januvia into one pill, for use with type 2 diabetes in the United States. Januvia (sitagliptin) is a DPP-4 inhibitor that works by enhancing the incretin system, a natural process that lowers blood sugar.
7 comments - Posted Apr 20, 2007
The story of Doug Burns’ arrest during a low blood sugar episode has generated a lot of comments from the diabetes community. How did it happen, why did it happen, and how could it have been handled differently?
1 comment - Posted Apr 19, 2007
Whitehouse Station, N.J., March 26, 2007 – JANUVIA™ (sitagliptin1), Merck & Co., Inc.'s once-a-day oral treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes, has been granted a license from the European Commission. JANUVIA now becomes the first and only medication in a new class of drugs known as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4 inhibitors), which enhance the body’s own ability to lower blood sugar when it is elevated, to be adopted by the European Commission.
1 comment - Posted Apr 18, 2007
GlucoLight's continuous, non-invasive device is a novel approach to glucose monitoring in the acute care environment. Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the device is able to measure blood glucose levels through a unique anatomical area in the skin that shows physiological changes that directly correlate to changes in blood glucose. The GlucoLight monitor displays real time glucose measurements with an initial single point calibration.
0 comments - Posted Apr 18, 2007
It’s well known that depression is not good for your sugar numbers and that alleviation of depression is accompanied by improved glucose control. The question has been whether the improvement is due to body weight reduction and better self-care, or whether it might be partially due to healing of the depression condition itself, independent of the aforementioned two factors.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2007
On January 30, 2007, the FDA upgraded NovoLog (a fast-acting insulin analog from Novo Nordisk) from Category C to Category B, thereby indicating that NovoLog is safe and effective for pregnant women with type 1 and their unborn children.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2007
Upcoming research in the Journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reveals that Pycnogenol (pik-naw-jin-all) that many-talented extract of pine tree, is 190 times more effective than the prescription medicine acarbose (Precose) in slowing uptake of glucose after a meal, thereby preventing after-meal glucose spikes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
3 Great New Books reviewed: Cheating Destiny, The Ultimate Guide to Accurate Carb Counting and Know Your Numbers, Outlive your Diabetes
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2007
In December 2006, the injected medication Byetta was approved by the FDA for people with type 2 diabetes who are taking a thiazolidinedione (TZD), but don’t have good control of their blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2007
There's an ancient Greek myth about a man named Sisyphus who was cursed to roll the same rock up a hill, then see it roll down, then roll it up again, for eternity. There's something a bit like diabetes self-care in that myth.
4 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2007
You may have seen a group of senior citizens practicing the slow, rhythmic reaching and deliberate stretching movements known as tai chi. Tai chi is considered a soft style martial art, applied with deep relaxation or "softness" in the musculature. Young or old, sick or healthy, even wheel-chair bound: everyone can take up tai chi. And oddly enough, tai chi’s gentle motions burn more calories than surfing and nearly as many as downhill skiing.
1 comment - Posted Apr 13, 2007
What’s the most important goal for kids and families dealing with diabetes? Learn all you can, and then strive for the best possible blood glucose levels without excessive hypoglycemia. This is a tough goal to attain. Our tools, food, insulin, and monitoring, while the best they have ever been, are still imprecise. And although optimal glucose control is critical for immediate and long-term health, one must always be wary of severe and recurring hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2007
Anybody who takes insulin shots wishes, at least occasionally, for an insulin pill. Insulin in pill form, unfortunately, doesn’t work because stomach acid very efficiently dissolves any protein that comes its way, and that includes insulin.
0 comments - Posted Apr 13, 2007
Ten years ago, Michael Helyer, a New Zealand man with type 1 diabetes for eighteen years, received a transplant of pig islets. Much to the surprise of researchers, the pig cells are still putting out insulin at this late date. In fact, it was Mr. Helyer who alerted scientists at Living Cell Technologies (LCT) that the cells were still functioning.
2 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2007
If you don’t know what diabetes is, I’ll explain to you what it is. Hi, my name is Erin. I’m eight years old, and I have diabetes. I can tell you what I have to do every day to keep myself healthy. Now I have to check my blood sugar four times a day, every day. And I also have to take shots. No, it’s not fun, but I have to.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2007
To the general public, the mood swings of a teenager are the wildest personal roller coaster around. But there’s another roller coaster out there that puts that kiddie ride to shame: the mood swings of a diabetic person like me. In an average teenager, hormones cause mood swings.
1 comment - Posted Apr 11, 2007
Six years ago, Julie DeFruscio’s two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Two years later, her 13-year-old son was also diagnosed with type 1. And four months after that, her ten-year-old son diagnosed himself with diabetes - unfortunately, he was right.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2007
It’s well known that people with uncontrolled diabetes sometimes suffer from ketoacidosis, in which their breath gives off the strong odor of nail polish remover. Well, nail polish remover is made of acetone.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2007
Here are some useful tips to help you choose a meter that’s right for you - and continue to use it successfully.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2007
Dr. David Reiss had never heard of diabetes until age 16, when he found out he had type 1 during his college physical exam. He rebelled and refused injections for a year, but by then there were ketones in his urine and he had no choice. That was 42 years ago, when people gave themselves just one injection a day.
0 comments - Posted Apr 2, 2007
Although the A1c test provides critical information about how your blood glucose has behaved in general over the preceding two or three months, it doesn’t tell you specifically how your BGs performed right after meals.
1 comment - Posted Apr 2, 2007
March 2007
Medtronic has received FDA approval for pediatric models of both of its REAL-Time continuous glucose monitors, the MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time System and the Guardian REAL-Time System. Previously approved only for adults, both pediatric models will be appropriate for kids ages 7-17.
0 comments - Posted Mar 29, 2007
The day after my eleventh Easter, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I got a shot that very night, and at least two shots every day for the next fifteen years, until I went on the pump. It seems appropriate that on the day the disease took over my body, a fire took over the chimney of our house.
0 comments - Posted Mar 29, 2007
Q: Please describe your background.
Morey Haymond: A pediatric endocrinologist by training, I have been involved in
metabolic studies of kids, infants, and adults for 35 years. I work with children who have disorders of
carbohydrate metabolism, including diabetes and hypoglycemia. Understanding the regulation of those
processes has been a focus of my research, and I have looked at amino acid and fat metabolism as well.
1 comment - Posted Mar 29, 2007
BOSTON - March 23, 2007 - Did you know that diabetes is the number one cause of preventable vision loss and blindness? Did you also know that an annual eye exam can lead to early detection of diabetic retinopathy and other eye disease, a frequent complication of diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2007
Q: Are there any long-term side effects of the popular drugs to treat type 2 diabetes?
2 comments - Posted Mar 24, 2007
When my seven-year-old son, Danny, was diagnosed with type 1diabetes, I had to take a serious look at his diet. He had always been our “picky” eater, and I had gone along with his demands to keep the peace. As a result, his favorite foods at the time of his diagnosis were pancakes with syrup, grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, cookies, juice, and the only vegetable he ate—cucumbers. These foods became the centerpiece of the meal plan constructed by the hospital nutritionist.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2007
Neal Brenner, 41 of Roanoke, Virginia is embarking on the journey of a lifetime which began on March 8 and lasts until March 24. With nothing but a laptop, a satellite phone, and his insulin pump to manage his diabetes, Neal will drive over 4,800 miles through the Arctic Circle with a friend as they take part in a 16-day adventure from Edmonton and ending in Tuktoyaktuk (the uppermost edge of Canada’s Northwest Territories).
0 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2007
Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, author of the Diabetes Solution New and Revised 2007, The Diabetes Diet, and the 6hr CD program, Secrets to Normal Blood Sugars will be doing a special live Teleconference call on March 27th and April 24th at 7PM cst.
0 comments - Posted Mar 16, 2007
A 24-week study compared the effectiveness and safety of Galvus (vildagliptin), a DPP-4 inhibitor, with Avandia (rosiglitazone), a thiazolidinedione, in a double-blind, randomized, controlled, multi-center study. Both drugs had similar effects on A1c’s: Galvus reduced A1c by 1.1 %, and Avandia reduced A1c by 1. 3%. Most notably, patients did not gain weight with Galvus, but gained an average of 3.4 pounds with Avandia.
0 comments - Posted Mar 16, 2007
Are ketones a healthy or an unhealthy sign?
Ketones in the urine can be a danger sign if your blood sugar is too
high and insulin levels are too low. It can indicate acidosis, an
abnormal condition usually occurring in people with out of control
type 1 diabetes requiring immediate medical attention. Ketones can
also occur because of other metabolic conditions.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2007
Often kids with type 1 diabetes feel isolated. Even a sleepover is problematic, because other parents are often afraid to take on the care of a diabetic youngster. And finding a friend with diabetes is a challenge because it’s rare that anybody else in town has it: Only about one of every 600 children is affected.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2007
February 2007
BOSTON - Feb. 27, 2007 - It is widely recognized that the teenage years are often a challenging time for youth with diabetes to maintain good blood glucose control. Hormonal changes, peer pressure, food temptations, and resistance to following good health practices are among the factors that make it difficult for many youngsters. Unfortunately, poor diabetes control places youth at increased risk of developing complications from diabetes later in life.
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - For the millions of people worldwide who are afflicted with diabetes, we are now one step closer to a potential cure for the disease. Spring Point Project, a non-profit organization created to expedite the widespread availability of islet tissue for diabetes care, will open its first biosecure animal facility in Western Wisconsin in February to hold high-health pathogen-free pigs. Insulin-producing islet cells from pigs are needed to meet the demands that cannot be realized by using transplantation of human islets.
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2007
BETHESDA, MD - February 21, 2007 - The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) is calling for the medical and public health community to increase alarmingly low influenza vaccination rates among persons with diabetes – the fifth deadliest disease in the U.S.
0 comments - Posted Feb 23, 2007
Nancy was totally blindsided when she found out she had diabetes. A 56-year-old lab technician at the time, Nancy was doing some work in the lab. She tested her own A1C and found a reading of 7.3%.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2007
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 11 months old, and I have struggled for almost 46 years to keep control of it. With diabetes, you never get a break.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Kids who discontinue pump therapy become “less adherent” and achieve poorer BG results than kids who remain on the pump, according to Joslin researchers who followed a group of type 1 youth starting the pump between 1998 and 2001.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Medtronic MiniMed’s Guardian RT is being called a “useful and important diagnostic tool for a phenomenon known as nighttime ‘late-onset hypoglycemia’.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Researchers in New York are saying that insulin pump therapy at the time of type 1 diagnosis “provides a positive experience … with excellent clinical outcomes and apparent prolongation of the honeymoon period.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Novartis reports that there will be a three-month delay in approval for its experimental diabetes drug, Galvus, due to the FDA’s request for additional safety data.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
According to research presented in September at the annual American Chemical Society meeting, the tannins in cranberry juice stop urinary tract infections (UTIs) by changing the shape of E. coli bacteria from a rod to a sphere and by crushing the tiny hairs on its surface. Those changes prevent the bacteria from attaching to cells in your urinary tract, so you can flush them away without getting sick.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
If your child has diabetes, researchers say that scheduled bimonthly phone support does not improve A1C level, admission rates, diabetes knowledge, psychological function, or self-management.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
Type 1 children who suffer from depression and come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds tend to have worse blood glucose control. Adding to that, Texas researchers say, “The probability of depression increases as glycemic control worsens. Screening for depression should be routinely carried out in patients with type 1 diabetes, targeting patients with deteriorating glycemic control.”
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
In kids with type 1, higher BGs can mean higher rates of affected emotion and behavior. That was the finding of Australian researchers.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
It’s not easy to navigate the crowded waters of type 2 oral medications. There are dozens of them, and their names have a lot in common with tongue twisters. They’re hard to pronounce, and harder to remember. But they’re necessary. Of the 20 million Americans with diabetes, 90 to 95 percent have type 2. Although some people with diabetes are able to manage their condition through diet and exercise alone, the majority cannot control their blood sugar without medication. According to the CDC, among adults diagnosed with diabetes, 57% take oral medication; 16% take insulin; 12% take both insulin and oral medication; and only 15% take neither insulin nor oral medication.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
As a type 1 interested in nature’s ability to heal, I ask, What is causing this so-called diabetes epidemic? Why is it expanding from Western countries to developing countries at the same rate that fast food and junk food are spreading?
2 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2007
December 2006
During this time of year, we are all busy. Many of us are so overextended with demands on time and energy that we allow our usual health routines to fall by the wayside.
0 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2006
University of Pittsburgh researchers say that moderate weight loss improves arterial stiffness in people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
On October 17, 2006, the oral medication Januvia (sitagliptin phosphate) was granted approval by the FDA. Januvia is the first diabetes treatment approved in a new class of drugs known as DDP-4 inhibitors that enhances the body’s own ability to lower elevated blood sugar.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
Eli Lilly and Co. has announced its LillyforLife Achievement Award Winners, who are honored for their outstanding personal and professional achievements in diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
As any fan of the mega-hit television show American Idol knows, making it through the first stage of auditions is not easy. Contestants wait in line for up to 12 hours to get the chance to sing a few bars before the discerning ears of judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
3 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
Adam Morrison, 22, is an NBA star that also has type 1 diabetes. He does not, however, have a horror story about his type 1 diagnosis that makes his ascension to NBA stardom seem like an “in-your-face” to an endocrinologist’s pessimistic predictions.
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2006
November 2006
When Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive lineman Kendall Simmons won the 2002 Joe Greene Great Performance Award for being the Steelers “Rookie of the Year,” he felt at the top of his game.
0 comments - Posted Nov 27, 2006
The holidays, although fun and festive, are stressful for many Americans; however, people with type 2 diabetes face a battle far more difficult than gaining a few extra holiday pounds.
2 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2006
The glycemic index of foods you eat could be the reason that one day you find your sugars out of control, but you’re shocked, because you haven’t strayed from your diabetes nutrition guidelines.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
In honor of National Diabetes Month, we welcome you to Diabetes Health’s “Best-Of” issue.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
The idea for this article came to me one night after attending a diabetes support group at a local hospital. During the meeting, the discussion of serious complications became so graphic that there was an air of melancholy and hopelessness permeating the entire room. I thought, "What we really need is the good news." I tried to imagine whether I would miss any part of having diabetes if I could be cured today.
2 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
Like so many others, Kris Berg, EdD, an exercise physiologist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, has observed the rapid-fire increase in obesity that has recently been labeled an “epidemic.”
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2006
October 2006
Sudanese researchers have found that conventional therapy of children with type 1 is associated with impaired physical growth and delayed sexual maturation.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
A low-fat vegan diet was found to improve blood glucose and lipid control in type 2 diabetics, according to researchers at George Washington University School of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
‘You wouldn’t believe how much I ate. Every night, besides dinner, I ate one of those big poppers full of popcorn with lots of butter and salt on it.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
Going low during exercise can be frightening. Preventing low blood glucose involves two strategies: decreasing insulin dosage or increasing carbohydrate intake. Sounds simple, but in reality it takes time for each individual to find the right combination that works for him or her.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2006
September 2006
Real-Time Pump and CGMS Technology Given the Go-Ahead by the FDA
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Reducing Inner Body Fat Is the Key to Metabolic Improvement After Weight Loss
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Women With Diabetes Suffer Worse Neuropathy Symptoms
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2006
As I get older, I get more calls from friends and family members telling me about their recent diabetes diagnosis. A little over a year ago, my first cousin Jeannie called to announce her inclusion in the growing type 2 club.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
DexCom’s real-time continuous sensor—the DexCom STS—burst on the scene in March 2006.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Ron Mason was a workaholic. He spent six, sometimes seven days a week crafting and installing high-quality cabinets and furniture in and around Santa Cruz, California, where he owned and managed a small, homegrown woodworking business. Mason, who describes his product as “high-end, low-volume,” said that for a number of years, putting in a 70-hour workweek was not atypical—it was merely life as usual.
2 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
Weight-Loss Books Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars, by Richard K. Bernstein, MD (Little Brown, 2003)
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2006
August 2006
Byetta, which came on the market last year, was developed to help people with type 2 diabetes who weren’t getting adequate blood glucose control using other drugs. Any associated weight loss was only incidental.
16 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Another red flag about the obesity epidemic in young people has been raised after researchers found that youth with type 2 have significantly higher rates of microalbuminuria (protein in the urine) and high blood pressure than youth with type 1. They say this is the case even though type 2 youth have lower A1Cs and a shorter diabetes duration.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
“I can bend over and paint my own toenails now,” says Annie, who had bariatric surgery on February 5, 2005.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
As a user of LifeScan glucose meters, I was eager to take a look at their diabetes management software. I installed the software, hooked up the data cable, grabbed my trusty UltraSmart glucose meter and started up the software with a double-click on the OneTouch icon.
8 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
Stevia is a bush native to South America that has been used for centuries by the natives of Paraguay, where it’s grown primarily as a sweetener and for medicinal uses. The stevia leaf is usually a component of Paraguayan teas, including the widely popular beverage yerba mate.
3 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
1. How do these oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) work?
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2006
July 2006
GlaxoSmithKline announced the availability of Avandaryl (rosiglitazone maleate and glimepiride), a new fixed-dose combination product for type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
For Ed, diabetes wasn’t only a wake-up call—it was an alarm clock.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2006
David Kliff is the editor of The Diabetic Investor. In 1994 he was diagnosed with type 2.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2006
June 2006
If you’ve ever tried a sugar-free food product but didn’t care for the sugar alcohols, Eat Well Be Well Foods, Inc., of Hood River, Oregon, has a suggestion for you.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2006
If you live in New York City and have diabetes, your right to privacy is gone. A mandatory registry of all diabetics is in effect.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2006
In 1998, Eli Lilly & Co.’s rapid-acting insulin analogue lispro (Humalog) appeared on the U.S. market, followed in 2000 by Novo Nordisk’s rapid-acting counterpart aspart (NovoLog). Joined now by sanofi-aventis’ glulisine (Apidra), these rapid-acting insulins offer both convenience and improved blood glucose control to people who require bolus insulin.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2006
May 2006
This month, we hear from Rachel, who will tell us about the process she is going through right now.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
On February 28, 2006, sanofi-aventis announced that its fast-acting Apidra (insulin glulisine [rDNA origin] injection) is now available by prescription in the United States. Apidra was granted FDA approval in April 2004.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2006
My life depends entirely on getting little squirts of insulin into my bloodstream on a regular basis. Too little, and high blood glucose hijacks my moods—tired and cranky are the watchwords here. Too much insulin makes my BGs plummet—and shakiness and confusion take over until I eat something containing sugar.
3 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
One good thing about having diabetes—you quickly learn the importance of numbers. And you are about to read some numbers that should bother you as much as a bad A1C.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
When retired NBA center Chris Dudley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1981, the high school sophomore’s first concern was whether he would be able to continue playing sports.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2006
April 2006
With the new basal-bolus insulin landscape, what is the most important thing that endocrinologists and primary care physicians need to know so that their insulin-using patients can follow the best possible regimen?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
John H. Holcombe, MD, is a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine and medical fellow, diabetes, for Eli Lilly and Co.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Mary is a 64-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for 14 years. She is obese at 220 pounds. Mary has been treated with a sulfonylurea (a medication that stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin, such as glypizide and glyburide) for the past 10 years. Her glucose control for the past three or four years has not been good. A recent A1C was 9.5% (normal range is 4% to 6%, with a goal of 7%). Metformin (Glucophage) and rosiglitazone (Avandia) were added to her sulfonylurea. Both her pre-meal and post-meal glucose values improved and her A1C came down to 7.8%. However, her fasting blood glucose levels were in the upper 100 mg/dl to low 200 mg/dl range. She was afraid of “the needle” and did not want to start on insulin. In addition, Mary was recently diagnosed with early diabetic eye disease (retinopathy) and nerve disease (neuropathy).
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Several months ago, I met Sophia, a woman in her mid-40s who had been struggling to manage her type 2 diabetes for years. Her blood glucose levels were typically well above 300 mg/dl, and she had an equally high A1C of 12.5%. She made it clear that the last thing she wanted was insulin.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Last fall, Bob was surprised when his primary care doctor called to tell him that his recent blood tests showed that he had type 2 diabetes. The doctor immediately put Bob on 15 milligrams of Actos each day and advised him to stay away from sugar and to come back in three months for more blood work.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
At age 25, Dee was initially diagnosed with gestational diabetes in 1972. After giving birth, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Insulin was started with a daily injection of morning NPH and progressed to twice-daily doses. Dee did not have good control with either regimen.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Diabetics who visit a diabetes care specialist have better A1Cs than those who visit a primary care physician.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
High blood glucose coupled with inflammation is a one-two punch that researchers say is associated with an “advanced early carotid atherosclerosis progression and increased risk of new vascular events in diabetic as well as nondiabetic subjects.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Valsartan (Diovan) significantly reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure at dosages of 60 mg/dl and has a “significantly greater effect” in reducing micro- and macroalbuminuria in people with type 2 who have albuminuria.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Adding the sulfonylurea glimepiride (Amaryl) to insulin therapy results in “sustained improvement of glycemic control in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes,” according to researchers at the department of endocrinology and metabolism at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
A group of Buffalo, NY, researchers recommend that patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes who take extremely high doses of insulin give the insulin pump a try.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Pump therapy in preschool children, according to researchers at Texas Children’s Hospital, is “feasible and safe.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Spanish researchers claim that in most studies of small children with diabetes, insulin pump therapy resulted in improved A1Cs and a decreased rate of hypoglycemia without an abnormal increase in body mass index (BMI) and without adversely affecting psychosocial outcomes in young people with type 1.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Dutch researchers say that treatment of diabetes in pregnant women should be aimed at achieving A1C levels within the range of 6% or less. They add that “a minimum of 10 self-monitored blood glucose determinations daily is necessary to obtain adequate information of all daily glucose fluctuations.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
For people with type 2, Lantus in combination with oral medications can be a cost-equivalent alternative to conventional insulin therapy.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is significantly associated with a moderately increased cardiovascular disease risk among type 2s, according to Italian researchers.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Although people with diabetes use many different approaches to help them adhere to treatment regimens, researchers say that there is little evidence that they are effective. However, in a study they conducted, they found that some “adherence aids” do work and lead to better diabetes control.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
In 1998, Eli Lilly & Co.’s rapid-acting insulin analogue lispro (Humalog) appeared on the U.S. market, followed in 2000 by Novo Nordisk’s rapid-acting counterpart aspart (NovoLog). Joined now by sanofi-aventis’ glulisine (Apidra), these rapid-acting insulins offer both convenience and improved blood glucose control to your patients who require bolus insulin.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Recent developments in the treatment of diabetes mellitus have shown that “tight” control and intensive therapy are necessary to prevent complications, increased morbidity and mortality. We are all familiar with the findings of the DCCT and various UKPDS studies and sub-studies. The importance of these “landmark” studies does not need any further discussion at this time.
2 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
[Type 2 diabetes] independently increases risk of urinary incontinence in women,” report researchers. “Because risk of incontinence appeared associated with longer duration of [type 2 diabetes], even delaying the onset of diabetes could have important public health implications.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Italian researchers say that kidney disease is a “significant predictor” of death, and that people who have kidney problems at the time of their diabetes diagnosis should be treated aggressively from the onset.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
On January 7, 2006, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Ava Grace Baker. She was 8.4 pounds and 20.25 inches long. It took 30 hours, but it was worth every moment. Well, almost every moment.
7 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Ernest had high triglycerides and his blood glucose was rising. He thought he was doing all right, so you can imagine what he thought when I recommended that he increase the amount of fat and protein in his diet and decrease his carbohydrate intake.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
As I discussed in the February 2006 issue, the Atkins Nutritional Approach has four phases, ranging from the most restrictive Induction phase to the Lifetime Maintenance phase.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
Pramlintide (Symlin) is a synthetic amylin analogue. First described in 1987, amylin is a neuroendocrine hormone produced by beta cells, which also produce insulin. This hormone is absent in type 1 diabetes and decreased in type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
If you have ever dreamed of taking your insulin without needles, your dream came true on January 27, 2006. That was when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Exubera (insulin of human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder for treatment of adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2006
March 2006
Have you ever thought, “No one understands me or my problems”? You felt alone. You felt overwhelmed. You struggled intensely.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
On January 27, 2006, Pfizer Inc. received word from the FDA that its inhalable insulin Exubera was granted approval. It is the first inhaled form of insulin and the first insulin option that does not need to be administered by injection in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
For six seasons, actor Aida Turturro has played the role of Tony Soprano’s sister Janice on the award-winning and critically acclaimed HBO series “The Sopranos.”
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2006
February 2006
The book, which includes all aspects of self-care for people with diabetes, is for both type 1s and 2s. According to OSS Publishing of White Plains, New York, patients can log their carb intake and A1C test results, chart their weight, keep track of their foot and eye care and more.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
For Deb it was a vicious circle. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 33 years ago at age 20. It was four weeks before her marriage. You can imagine the stress she endured at that time. “I have lived on a diabetes rollercoaster ever since, until about eight months ago,” she says.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
“I’ve been taking insulin for 31 years.” People always gawk at me when I divulge this. “But you look so healthy,” they reply.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Kris Freeman, 25, is a three-time national champion and the number one cross-country skier in the United States. In the history of American cross-country skiing, Freeman is the second most successful skier of all time.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
Since his type 1 diagnosis 20 years ago, Doug Frazer of Forest Knolls, California, had been using Lente as his basal insulin. His regimen of Humalog at mealtimes coupled with Lente at bedtime provided him with what he considered great control.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2006
January 2006
For people who have been newly diagnosed with type 1, Italian researchers suggest that intensive insulin therapy (ITT) coupled with nicotinamide for two years improves metabolic control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
Exenatide (Byetta) and insulin glargine (Lantus) achieve similar improvements in overall blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes who were not being controlled sufficiently on oral combination therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
For Scott Verplank, staying on top of his diabetes with frequent blood glucose testing means staying on top of his game for the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour.
8 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2006
December 2005
Remember the old song “Sleigh Ride”?
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Japanese researchers say that adolescents and young adults who have poor blood glucose control can add one more weapon to their control arsenal: a type 2 drug.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Most of the products reviewed in this column over the past few months have come from glucose meter and insulin pump manufacturers and independent software companies. This month, we will take a look at an offering from one of the major insulin manufacturers: DiabetesWatch, a Web-based product from Aventis Pharmaceuticals.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Could it be that when it comes to diabetes and the workplace, honesty isn’t always the best policy?
2 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
Scott Dunton, 20, is a world-class professional surfer, currently ranked 220th in his first year on the professional circuit.
4 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2005
November 2005
Early recognition and lifestyle interventions are vitally important if we are to make progress in the prevention of type 2 diabetes in people of all ages.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
At the August 2005 American Association of Diabetes Educators Conference in Washington, D.C., BD Diabetes Care announced the results of its D.C. Diabetes Makeover.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
Diabetes researchers from Columbia University, the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases studied the effects of Ala-Ala—a humanized Fc-mutated anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody—on the progression of type 1 diabetes in patients with recent-onset disease. The study was a follow-up to an article by a team that included UCSF’s Jeffrey Bluestone, MD, and Columbia University’s Kevan Herold, MD, that appeared in the May 30, 2002, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
“The use of flexible multiple daily insulin [FMDI] therapy with glargine [Lantus] among preschool-aged children with type 1 diabetes mellitus was associated with improved overall glycemic control and decreased frequency of severe hypoglycemia.”
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2005
He grew up among country folks in Mississippi. As a child, he performed on street corners for dimes, sometimes in four towns each night. That was only the beginning for the man who ended up being perhaps the most successful blues musician of all time.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2005
October 2005
This month, we take a look at the Medtronic CareLink Therapy Management System for Diabetes. This is an online diabetes management program from the folks who make the Medtronic MiniMed insulin pumps.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
I have some exciting news: As of January 2006, there will be another human being in our household.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
There are so many food products containing artificial and alternative sweeteners on the market today that they have become a topic of great interest among diabetic patients and health professionals.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Will Cross has taken diabetes to new heights—literally. The Pittsburgh-based expeditioner and former high school principal became the first person with diabetes to reach the South Summit of Mount Everest, with a successful summit on May 31.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) effectively raised the bar on diabetes control by lowering the level of the A1C standard.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
If you’ve never been able to go to New York to see endocrinologist Richard Bernstein, MD, FACE, FACN, CWS, now Richard Bernstein can come to you.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
Improving the health of your teeth and gums can also improve your diabetes control, according to Turkish researchers.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
For people with type 2 diabetes, inhaled insulin may be an effective therapy.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
There’s no argument that an insulin pump is the best choice for diabetes management for a very young child. Many articles have appeared in the past five years that support this opinion.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
According to a recent study, soy-based meal replacement plans (MRs) yield greater weight loss and better blood glucose control than American Diabetes Association-recommended individualized diet plans (IDPs).
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2005
There here, they’re there, they’re everywhere! It’s the Diabetes Police—your family, friends and others who criticize your diabetes behaviors. They disapprove of your food choices, point out your weight gain, accuse you of skipping your medication and nag you to exercise more. These well-meaning individuals care about you, but they make life with diabetes more difficult and can create tension in a relationship. Here are some examples of ways that the Diabetes Police operate in our lives:
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2005
September 2005
I lean heavily on the feedback I receive from all of you because it helps me to shape the direction of this magazine. Many times, readers alert me to debates about hot topics taking place in the diabetes community, and other times I like to start discussions myself.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Diabetes professionals from all over the world descended on San Diego, California, this past June for the 65th Annual American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. Some brought with them the latest drugs, meters, pumps and software. Others came armed with research.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
On June 17, 2005, Novo Nordisk received word from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that their long-acting insulin analog, Levemir (insulin detemir), had received approval. Levemir will join Lantus (insulin glargine) as a basal insulin option for people with diabetes who take insulin.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Overweight type 1s may improve their blood glucose control without increasing their insulin dosage by supplementing their control regimen with the type 2 insulin-sensitizing drug Avandia (rosiglitazone), say Dallas, Texas, researchers.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Diabetes duration and A1C remain the gold standard for determining whether you may develop retinopathy and neuropathy. However, if you are a type 1 with a weight problem, you may not be slowing down the progression to these microvascular complications.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Actos, an insulin sensitizer in the glitazone class of type 2 oral diabetes medications, was found to reduce carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as well as insulin resistance in a German study.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
By following a low-carbohydrate diet for two weeks, obese patients were able to reduce calorie intake, lose weight and improve their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Diabetes Cure May Reside in Adult Stem Cell Research
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
Type 1 Kids Do Well on Pumps
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2005
August 2005
Summer activities are in full swing with ball games in the park, family reunions and vacations. The warm weather draws us to the great outdoors for fun as well as mealtimes. Picnics, potlucks, sack lunches and travel meals are a part of our summer routine that can sometimes make blood glucose harder to manage.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
Most of the products reviewed in this column over the past few months have come from glucose meter and insulin pump manufacturers and from independent software companies. This month, we will take a look at an offering from one of the major insulin manufacturers: Keeping Well With Diabetes, a Web-based product from Novo Nordisk.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
A recent Canadian study examined administrative records of diabetic patients to see if specialists or primary care physicians gave them better care.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
There is no doubt that living with type 1 diabetes is a fulltime job. But like any job, the more knowledgeable and skilled you become, the better your chances of success.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2005
He trains about 22 hours during the average week—not counting the additional seven hours of workouts on weekends. Through his twice-daily workouts, he totals nearly 120 miles of bicycling, about 10 miles of swimming and between 50 to 100 miles of running each week. For Ironman triathlete Jay Hewitt, training and diabetes have something in common: Working at them every day is critical to achieve his goals.
1 comment - Posted Aug 1, 2005
July 2005
This is another letter in response to Scott King’s column that ran in the February 2005 issue (“Random Shots”).
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
Stress, anxiety, burnout—whatever you choose to call it, it’s clear that Americans have it.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2005
“People who are no longer successful on oral agents can now add Byetta [exenatide] instead of insulin,” says Anne Peters, MD, director of the USC Clinical Diabetes Programs.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2005
June 2005
We are all accustomed to seeing nice, safe, uplifting public service advertising about diabetes on television, featuring cute kids, compassionate parents and diabetes fighters.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
On March 16, 2005, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of San Diego, California, announced it had received FDA approval for Symlin (pramlintide acetate) injections to be used in conjunction with insulin to treat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
Type 1s who switch from NPH to Lantus (insulin glargine) in multiple daily injection (MDI) regimens significantly reduce severe hypoglycemic episodes without significant weight gain.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2005
When insulin first became available in 1922, the treatment goal in diabetes management was to minimize ketoacidosis and high blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
If you want to know how well you are controlling your diabetes, you have had only two options. You can check your current blood glucose level with a meter, or you can check your average over the past two or three months with an A1C test. Now there’s a third and quite promising option—the GlycoMark test.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2005
If you love rumors and intrigue, enter the world of artificial sweeteners.
9 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2005
May 2005
• A grandmother in Tampa, Florida, who knocked her A1C down two percentage points
• A female bodybuilder on an insulin pump
• A 12-year-old who estimates that he has tested his blood glucose more than 100,000 times in the past three years
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Improved glucose control helps you metabolize food more efficiently. Prior to pump use, you may have lost glucose in the urine. If so, those were calories you did not have available to maintain a normal weight. Was your A1C higher before pump therapy? If your A1C has improved, then you are using the nutrients in your food and losing less of them.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
A1C Author Did Not Prepare or Endorse A1C Chart
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
The following is excerpted and adapted from the book “Taking Control of Your Diabetes,” by Steven Edelman, MD, and friends, 2001.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
Although most adults with insulin-treated diabetes usually follow their prescribed insulin regimen, experiencing A1Cs higher than 7% suggests that an individual’s insulin use, regimen or both are inadequate to achieve optimal blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2005
April 2005
“Errors in calculation of insulin dosage by adolescents occur frequently,” write U.C. Davis researchers in a recent study. “Consistent use of an insulin dosage calculation device may help to improve metabolic control in adolescents using multiple daily injections (MDI) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion pumps (CSII).”
4 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
In February 2005, Insulet Corporation of Bedford, Massachusetts, announced that its OmniPod Insulin Management System received FDA approval.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
People with type 2 and obesity who are considering gastric bypass surgery first need to learn what exactly is a gastric bypass operation.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
I spent some time this month reflecting on the products I have reviewed over the past year and realized that diabetes management software is getting more and more sophisticated. I have been asked if there is any “basic” software out there for diabetes management.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
I am devoting this month’s column to the most important sight-saving information that you should know as a person living with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2005
March 2005
A while back, a friend of mine who is very overweight went to see his doctor and was found to have an A1C of over 9%. He also had high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and arthritic knees.
1 comment - Posted Mar 1, 2005
In the simplest terms, hemoglobin A1C (known as HbA1c or A1C) is measured in people with diabetes to provide an index of average blood glucose for the previous three to four months.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Ginseng is a root that has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. There are two different forms that have been used for diabetes: Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) as well as American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L).
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
It’s pretty much a truism that video games are bad for children’s health. They hold their minds hostage, promote sedentary behavior and can even desensitize them to violence.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
Last year, Stacey Martin, a 41-year-old real estate agent from East Hampton, New York, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. At 270 pounds, the medical community considered her “morbidly obese.”
8 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2005
February 2005
Not even 20 years ago, it was uncommon for a woman with diabetes to choose to have children of her own. Many doctors discouraged attempting pregnancy based on the high incidence of complications that both a mother and an infant could suffer due to poor blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Taken with a low- or modified-fat diet, Australian researchers say that 30 grams of walnuts per day improve the lipid profile of patients with type 2.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Pinitol, isolated from soybeans, may be beneficial in reducing cardiovascular risk in type 2s, according to Korean researchers.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
As a user of LifeScan glucose meters, I was eager to take a look at their diabetes management software.
20 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Although severe hypoglycemia is a definite problem for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes, newer therapies may improve control without increasing the risk of severe hypoglycemia.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
Australian researchers say that watching television excessively can increase the risk of abnormal glucose metabolism in adults.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2005
January 2005
Dan Stephens has mastered his game. The University of Pittsburgh football player is a star on and off the field as he steps up to the challenges he loves: balancing athletics, academics—and diabetes control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
It seemed that every time we gave something a try and it didn’t quite work out, Mom and Dad always had a cliché at the ready to cushion the blow.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
In people with higher A1Cs, rapid-acting insulin analogs NovoLog (insulin aspart) and Humalog (insulin lispro) are more effective in achieving optimal blood glucose control when administered with insulin pumps rather than via multiple daily insulin injections (MDII), according to University of Toronto researchers.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Exenatide (synthetic exendin-4) significantly reduced A1C in patients with type 2 diabetes who were failing maximum doses of a sulfonylurea, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the Veterans Medical Center at the University of California San Diego. Exenatide was well tolerated and associated with weight loss.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Caution: Consult your diabetes care team before starting a lower-carbohydrate meal plan. Diabetes medications such as insulin or oral drugs that stimulate insulin production (sulfonylureas or meglitinides) will need adjustment to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood glucose) when carbohydrate intake is decreased. In addition, meds might need to be decreased, and blood glucose levels need to be checked more often.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is a plant product that has been used for a variety of medicinal and other purposes, and may be used in the treatment of diabetes.
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
Representative George R. Nethercutt, Jr. (RWash.), formed the Congressional Diabetes Caucus in 1996 with only 22 supporters.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
What are the biggest challenges facing the insulin pump market today?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2005
It has long been our dream to have some sort of device that would test blood glucose without breaking the skin to take a drop of blood.
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2005
December 2004
Over one year ago, Denise Faustman, MD, and her colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) eliminated type 1 diabetes in mice. The Iacocca Foundation wants this work to be translated to people who have new-onset or long-term diabetes. In order to achieve this goal, the Iacocca Foundation is raising the money to move the research from mice to humans in the hopes of finding a cure for human type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
In combination with intermediate-acting NPH insulin, twice-daily injections of Apidra (insulin glulisine)—a rapid-acting insulin analog— can provide small improvements in blood-glucose control compared with Regular human insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Check with your doctor or diabetes educator for a recommendation about how often and what times a day are best for you to check blood glucose levels. In general, the more often you check, the better. Most diabetes specialists recommend that patients with type 2 diabetes who are on oral agents check their blood glucose one or two times per day, often varying the times between the morning, before supper and two hours after a meal. Patients who inject insulin may need to test four or more times per day. Checking your blood glucose provides information about how well the treatment of your diabetes is working, as well as about how things you do during the day affect your blood glucose levels. Paying attention to the results can help you learn how to keep your diabetes under control. I take pills for my diabetes, while my friend uses insulin to treat her type 2 diabetes. Is her diabetes “worse” than mine?
1 comment - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Inhaled insulin offers the same blood glucose control as conventional subcutaneous insulin for people with type 2 diabetes that was previously managed with at least two insulin injections a day. It’s also as effective and is well tolerated and safe.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
Hockey players often joke about the rugged nature of their sport by touting the popular mantra, “Give blood, play hockey.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
The accuracy—or typically the lack thereof— of blood glucose meters is a big concern of mine. I have written several articles on this topic. But first of all, you have to know if your meter is precise.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
One of the most powerful and simple methods to take control of your diabetes is to follow a “diabetes warranty program.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2004
November 2004
Foot disorders are the number one reason that people with diabetes spend time in the hospital.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
Before the mid-1950s, people with diabetes injected insulin using glass syringes with detachable steel needles. Between injections, the glass syringes were boiled and the needles were soaked in alcohol to keep them as germ-free as possible. To reduce the pain of the injection, people would sharpen their needles on a sharpening stone.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2004
There is growing interest recently in the potential benefits of using cinnamon for treating diabetes.
30 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2004
October 2004
Annual screening for microalbuminuria (low levels of protein in the urine, indicating early signs of kidney disease) in type 1 diabetes should begin with puberty and/or after five-year disease duration of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Some researchers believe that having type 1 children practice at estimating their blood glucose (BG) levels is not an effective way to increase accuracy and “may be contraindicated.”
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Swedish researchers say that smoking is associated with both poor blood glucose control and microalbuminuria (protein in the urine) that indicates early kidney disease and increased heart disease risk.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Annual screening for microalbuminuria (low levels of protein in the urine, indicating early signs of kidney disease) in type 1 diabetes should begin with puberty and/or after five-year disease duration of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
Swedish researchers say that smoking is associated with both poor blood glucose control and microalbuminuria (protein in the urine) that indicates early kidney disease and increased heart disease risk.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2004
September 2004
The following are summaries of studies presented at the June 2004 ADA Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida:
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
As part of our Food for Thought section, we will begin profiling a nutritional supplement every month.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 2004
If you are type 2, elderly and have peripheral neuropathy, resistance training may be just what you need to improve your health, say Kentucky researchers.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2004
August 2004
Diachrome, a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, significantly lowers coronary risk factors in type 2s. According to a small study presented at an American Heart Association meeting, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB), held in May in San Francisco.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2004
July 2004
A Spanish study found that in type 1s, pre-breakfast and pre-dinner blood glucose levels have more influence on A1C levels than at other times of the day.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Gastroparesis is a form of neuropathy that causes damage to the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the normal automatic functioning of the stomach. This difficult-to-treat complication of diabetes results in the incomplete or delayed digestion of food, leading to nausea, vomiting and bloating, and makes blood glucose levels unpredictable and difficult to control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Dick Clark has had diabetes for at least 11 years—but he only made it public this past spring.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
It’s always a case of Murphy’s Law for me. Whenever I am without my glucose tabs or other quick-acting carbohydrate , I seem to have a low blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
Eating problems and eating disorders are common among teenagers, especially those with diabetes. If you are preoccupied with thoughts about your weight or about eating, if your eating is out of control, or if eating problems are interfering with your ability to manage your diabetes, here are a few suggestions that can help:
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2004
June 2004
A South Carolina study indicates that simvastatin (Zocor), an oral “statin” lipid-lowering drug is a potentially beneficial treatment for the inflammatory reaction associated with atherosclerosis.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2004
If you want the best quality care for your type 2 diabetes, see the same physician at each visit to your diabetes outpatient clinic (DOC), especially if that physician specializes in diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that ACE inhibitors such as Vasotec, Altace and lisinopril are the antihypertensive drugs of choice in all patients with diabetes and high blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
“Are those new wraps at Subway good for me?” “If I make applesauce with Splenda, can I eat all I want?” “How do I count the carbohydrates in low-carb yogurt?” Do questions like these cross your mind every time you dine out, set foot in the supermarket or flip through a recipe book?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
United Kingdom researchers argue that testing blood glucose at the forearm “is an acceptable alternative to finger-prick testing for blood glucose measurement in children and adolescents.”
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2004
May 2004
Mindy Mendenhall plays basketball the way a bull browses a china shop. She’s all muscle and emotion under the hoop, and she’s manic enough to launch her body across the court after loose balls.
1 comment - Posted May 1, 2004
If you provide them they will test…
15 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
The terms “adolescent” or “young adult” are not differentiated by age but by the responsibilities that separate them.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
The number of people opting for insulin pump therapy grows. Worldwide, the number is approximately 300,000.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
A 12-week Scandinavian comparison study involving 107 nonsmoking patients with type 2 diabetes concluded that inhaled insulin administered via the AERx system achieved the same blood glucose control as insulin injected into the skin.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
Larger leg fat mass is associated with lower glucose levels and may be protective against disturbed glucose metabolism, particularly in women.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
A Novo Nordisk-sponsored study demonstrated that eight out of 10 elderly people with diabetes who have visual and motor difficulties preferred the Novolin Innolet doser to vials and syringes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2004
April 2004
One of the largest physician organizations in the country has developed a new guide for self-testing of blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
When your last A1C registered at more than 7 percent, did your primary care physician take action to lower it?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
“Diabetes case management can help reduce disparities in diabetes health status among low-income ethnic populations,” writes Lois Jovanovic, MD, endocrinologist and researcher at Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, California.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
The race is on! Since 1986, the contestants—more than 100 start-up biotech companies—have been competing for the prize: a chunk of the billion-dollar market that awaits the manufacturer of a reliable, FDA-approved, noninvasive glucose monitor.
3 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Robert Guillaume is best known for his work in television, where he earned two Emmy Awards and four NAACP Image Awards for his role as Benson DuBois on “Soap” and “Benson.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
Mulberry leaves aren’t just for silkworms anymore: When fed to diabetes-induced rats, they have been shown to improve glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2004
March 2004
On January 13, 2004, Abbott Laboratories bought TheraSense, Inc. for $1.2 billion.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Medtronic MiniMed’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) improved kids' control by providing them with accurate data—for adjustment of insulin treatments—and by promoting better communication and motivation.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals is sponsoring a new study on the safety and efficacy of INGAP-peptide.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Who would have guessed that taking two diabetes drugs combined in one tablet would offer greater glucose-lowering benefits than taking the same two drugs in separate but still co-administered tablets?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
I struggle to understand why you are publishing information recommending low-or no-carb meals for people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Calcification, or hardening, of the arteries occurs in all populations but can be particularly damaging to people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
Medtronic MiniMed announced the introduction of its Paradigm 712 insulin pump, which incorporates a larger reservoir for diabetes patients who require more insulin. The pump also performs complex diabetes calculations and recommends correct insulin dosages.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2004
February 2004
I’m not a diet doctor, but I can help you lose weight. A lot of it. In less time than you’d ever think was possible. The secret is a revolutionary new diet I developed while working with overweight men and women who visited my cardiology practice in Miami.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
Have you had type 2 diabetes for less than five years? Do you want to lose approximately 30 percent of your body weight?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
In the United Kingdom, the national organization Diabetes UK awards medals to individuals who have lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years or more.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2004
January 2004
The landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed that the risk of complications such as eye disease, kidney disease and nerve damage in people with type 1 diabetes is closely related to blood glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
Who is a “typical” pumper? To find the answer, we went to insulin-pumpers.org, the not-for-profit Web-based Insulin Pumpers Organization (IP) of Milpitas, California. In the “About Insulin Pumpers” section of this Web site, executive director Michael Robinton has collected and compiled data from the more than 4,000 members who choose to fill out a survey.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
In 1978, after prolonged hospitalization, my father died from consequences of diabetes associated with abnormal lipids and high blood pressure.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2004
December 2003
Della Reese’s positive attitude has always helped her survive—overcoming childhood challenges of poverty, struggling to carve her place in America’s entertainment industry, and dealing with her type 2 diagnosis nearly four years ago while filming the CBS TV show “Touched by an Angel.”
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2003
May 2003
John Dennis, 58, says that self-monitoring to control his type 2 diabetes comes naturally because he is used to "going it alone." After all, taking care of himself is as much a solo responsibility these days as sailing his 50-foot boat around the world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
A University of Iowa study indicates that socioeconomic status and behavioral problems are more likely than poor metabolic control to affect grades in children with type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
John Dennis, 58, says that self-monitoring to control his type 2 diabetes comes naturally because he is used to "going it alone." After all, taking care of himself is as much a solo responsibility these days as sailing his 50-foot boat around the world.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
Thanks for the Type 1.5 Article. I just received my February 2003 issue of Diabetes Health and was pleased and excited to read the article "What's Your Type? Diabetes Isn't Always Easy to Classify" (p. 40).
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2003
April 2003
Linda McNeely, a retired registered nurse, remembers her first insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
As a diabetes researcher, exercise physiologist and individual with type 1 diabetes, I am always curious about how the latest diabetes technology fits into an exercise program. Exercise is, after all, one of the three cornerstones of diabetes management, along with diet and medication.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
A recent study by French researchers demonstrated that taking an injection of Humalog (insulin lispro) before lunch can lower dinnertime blood-glucose levels in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Boys in particular also saw improved overall blood-glucose control after adding the lunchtime Humalog.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
Having bacteria in the urine without exhibiting symptoms is common among women with diabetes, say researchers investigating the issue of whether to treat this condition with antibiotics.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2003
March 2003
In Defense of Non-Western Medicine. I was disappointed with Ron Zacker's editorial in the December 2002 issue ("Keep Your Eyes on the Prize," p. 46). It seemed that Zacker lost sight of the prize with his statement, "Too much information and too many options can distract us from what's really important."
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
I can't wait to see what my next A1C will be! My last one was 7.3%, with my blood glucose up, down and all around. I was low, I was high, and just way out of control.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
The A1cNow monitor, which can provide an at-home A1C test, is now available for sale without a prescription.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2003
February 2003
Q: I was wondering whether you could have someone discuss "type 1.5."
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Reasons for choosing a particular blood-glucose meter are as varied as the users. Some users want it simple, some want all the bells and whistles and many want something in between—as long as the meter and strips are affordable and accurate. Not to mention fast!
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
If you are a Medicare recipient with diabetes and you live in New England, the upper Midwest or the Pacific Northwest, you're more likely to get A1C tests and eye exams than people in other parts of the country. For lipid testing, however, you'd be better off living in the mid-Atlantic states or some Southern coastal states. Those who live in the Ohio Valley, the lower Mississippi Valley or the Southwest are least likely to have their A1C levels measured and eyes examined. Lipid testing was least likely to occur in the Rocky Mountain states and parts of the lower Mississippi Valley.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a protein produced by the liver that is present only during episodes of inflammation, better predict the risk of having a cardiovascular event than levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
People with type 2 diabetes who do not take insulin saw their A1C levels improve after testing their blood glucose, keeping a diary of their results and their eating habits and receiving counseling on self-testing, say researchers in Germany and Austria. Control subjects were given counseling on diet and lifestyle only.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
When a "planned care" system of healthcare delivery was instituted in three primary-care practices in Wisconsin and Minnesota, it resulted in better care by physicians and in better diabetes control for their patients, according to researchers from the Mayo Health System Diabetes Translation Project.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
When a "planned care" system of healthcare delivery was instituted in three primary-care practices in Wisconsin and Minnesota, it resulted in better care by physicians and in better diabetes control for their patients, according to researchers from the Mayo Health System Diabetes Translation Project.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
You're out on a date. Things are going smoothly, and you are surprisingly at ease. Is it time to introduce your diabetes, or should you keep it hidden?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
Q: I was wondering whether you could have someone discuss "type 1.5." I am especially interested in how diabetes "type" and C-peptide numbers are related. I was 28 when I first started having symptoms of diabetes (thirst, weight loss, fatigue). Two years later, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. After a year or two, some confusion arose about what type of diabetes I had. (I needed a rather low total daily insulin dose of 25 units for my weight of 140.) A C-peptide test was run. My blood sugars were kind of high at the time, and the C-peptide came back as 0.2. The doctor told me I was definitely type 1. I am still requiring rather low doses of insulin (a daily total of 30 units for a weight of 170).
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2003
January 2003
People with diabetes know that we are all supposed to check our blood glucose. But some of us do a better job of it than others. Frankly, it's sometimes frustrating to look at the results and see a number that's too high or too low.
3 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
If you test your blood glucose regularly, you probably think you have a pretty good idea of how high or low your numbers rise and fall during a typical day and night. However, what if you had 288 blood-glucose readings every 24 hours, instead of only a handful?
1 comment - Posted Jan 1, 2003
A campaign aimed at educating people with diabetes about their increased risk of heart disease and stroke is called "Be Smart About Your Heart: Control the ABCs of Diabetes"—in other words, control your A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for Glucovance (glyburide and metformin tablets), allowing the type 2 diabetes medication to be taken in combination with thiazolidinediones (TZDs) when adequate control is not achieved with diet and exercise.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Measuring body mass index and setting cutoff values for fasting glucose levels and A1Cs may be enough to determine whether an individual has pre-diabetes without having to administer an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), say researchers in Maryland—including one at the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Renal (kidney) function declines more rapidly in people with type 2 diabetes who have both retinopathy and proteinuria (protein in the urine).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
Irbesartan (Avapro), an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), reduces 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as albumin excretion rate (AER) in people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
I have just had the best trip of my entire life! It all started when Carl Butler asked me to be a keynote speaker at a diabetes conference he was organizing. The first surprise was the location—Carl lives in Guam and is part of a group of wonderful, dedicated individuals who planned this educational conference for Guam and its surrounding islands.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2003
December 2002
Postmenopausal women who have diabetes and take oral diabetes medications or insulin are more likely to have acute, symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs) than women who don't have diabetes, women who manage their diabetes by lifestyle changes—or even women with untreated diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Elimination of infection by the gastric organism Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in people with type 1 diabetes might be associated with better control of blood glucose.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Do high blood-glucose levels lead to more severe strokes? Or does having a high blood-glucose level mean that you had a more severe stroke? Researchers studying the puzzle say their results suggest the former.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When combined with NPH insulin taken at bedtime, Glucophage (metformin) provides slightly better glucose control with less weight gain and improved satisfaction with diabetes treatment than Prandin (repaglinide) plus NPH, say researchers in the United Kingdom.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
At our house, we have avoided trans fats since 1993. This was the year Diabetes Health first printed a report about the dangers of eating margarine, which is often made from hydrogenated oil. Our 1993 article cited a study done in 1974, which indicates that scientists have been aware of the hazards of trans fats for quite some time.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
You know the routine: Go to the lab, have somebody stick a needle the size of a telephone pole in your arm and draw up a test tube full of blood. Then you wait for the doctor to tell you how your average blood-glucose levels have been over the past three months or so.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Postmenopausal women who have diabetes and take oral diabetes medications or insulin are more likely to have acute, symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs) than women who don't have diabetes, women who manage their diabetes by lifestyle changes - or even women with untreated diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
Do high blood glucose levels lead to more severe strokes? Or does having a high blood glucose level mean that you had a more severe stroke? Researchers studying the puzzle say their results suggest the former.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
When combined with NPH insulin taken at bedtime, Glucophage (metformin) provides slightly better glucose control with less weight gain and improved satisfaction with diabetes treatment than Prandin (repaglinide) plus NPH, say researchers in the United Kingdom.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
You know the routine: Go to the lab, have somebody stick a needle the size of a telephone pole in your arm and draw up a test tube full of blood. Then you wait for the doctor to tell you how your average blood glucose levels have been over the past three months or so.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2002
November 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Parents who wanted to see GlucoWatch Biographers on the wrists of their children with diabetes received good news on August 28, 2002, with the announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved the GlucoWatch for use with children ages 7 to 17. The device received earlier FDA approval for adults with diabetes in April 2002.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
"Si Tiene Diabetes, Cuide Su Corazón" (If you have diabetes, take care of your heart) is a campaign launched in late July 2002 by the U.S. National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) to call attention to the fact that Hispanic and Latino Americans with diabetes are at higher risk for heart disease.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2002
A shift in fat distribution from visceral (the internal abdominal area) to subcutaneous (under the skin) could be the reason the insulin sensitizer Actos (pioglitazone) helps to lower blood-glucose levels in people with insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Untreated celiac disease in children can stunt growth and cause lower A1Cs. However, researchers conducting a longitudinal study of children with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease say that following a gluten-free diet can restore normal growth and contribute to even lower A1Cs—and might also mitigate the blood-glucose deterioration commonly present during puberty.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
A shift in fat distribution from visceral (the internal abdominal area) to subcutaneous (under the skin) could be the reason the insulin sensitizer Actos (pioglitazone) helps to lower blood glucose levels in people with insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
Guilty pleasures are certainly in abundance between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. However, if you are a person with diabetes, too much guilty pleasure may make your A1C resemble something less pleasant than a picture print by Currier and Ives.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2002
October 2002
Researchers in Canada studying barriers to self-monitoring of blood glucose discovered that—surprise!—people who were given free strips tested more often than those who had to pay for them. An added benefit of more frequent testing was better blood-glucose control.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Telling the world you have diabetes is not the easiest proposition. Coming "out of the closet," so to speak, could bring support or condemnation from others.
2 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Because fingerstick testing generally detects low blood glucose earlier than tests performed with capillary blood from arms or thighs, alternate-site testing should be avoided when blood-glucose levels are apt to be undergoing rapid changes, such as up to two hours after meals and after an insulin injection.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Researchers are discussing yet another risk factor for diabetes-related complications: health literacy, defined as the measure of a person's "ability to read, comprehend and act on medical instructions."
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Should you skip eating animal protein in favor of vegetable protein if you have type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria (a sign of kidney disease)?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
Frequently now I come across an article or a quote or a joke that my mother would like, and I reach for the phone to share it with her.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2002
September 2002
Vicki Abbott, a 65-year-old medical transcriptionist from Portland, Oregon, has taken the idea of tight diabetes control to heart. She adheres to a control regimen that is almost militaristic in its method, and her goal is perfect blood glucose.
4 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Chicago, Illinois, using the Medtronic MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) conclude that the variable glucose profiles generated during endurance competitions such as marathons "indicate the need for intensive and accurate glucose monitoring."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Imagine being able to pop a blood-glucose testing device into your personal digital assistant (PDA), put blood on the strip and store the results in the PDA. Now you can do just that, thanks to U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of two such devices in mid-June 2002.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Many of us with diabetes run numbers in our heads all day. We balance carb counts, insulin units, exercise and increments of time as if we were computers, sometimes making extraordinary calculations to safely incorporate 35 CHO of birthday cake into an afternoon.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
1) Control Your Blood Pressure
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Spain who wrote a letter to Diabetes Care report studies showing that pre-meal blood-glucose averages better predict A1Cs in people with type 1 diabetes than after-meal readings do. But they add that if after-meal blood-glucose averages are more predictive of heart disease, as some studies suggest, it could mean that A1C results do not accurately reflect the harmful effects of high blood-glucose levels on diabetes-related cardiovascular complications.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
A 37-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes who was pregnant with her second child was able to eliminate frequent severe hypoglycemic episodes after being switched from NPH insulin to Lantus (insulin glargine), report two doctors and a nurse practitioner in a letter to Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Type 2 diabetes can be predicted by increases in microalbuminuria (a measure of protein in the urine). In addition, microalbuminuria, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease develop together over a period of more than two decades, leading researchers from the Framingham Offspring Study in Massachusetts to believe that the three conditions have a common cause.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
People who have a heart attack but have not been previously diagnosed with diabetes should be checked for pre-diabetes—formerly called impaired glucose tolerance—or even diabetes itself.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Spain who wrote a letter to Diabetes Care report studies showing that pre-meal blood glucose averages better predict A1Cs in people with type 1 diabetes than after-meal readings do. But they add that if after-meal blood glucose averages are more predictive of heart disease, as some studies suggest, it could mean that A1C results do not accurately reflect the harmful effects of high blood-glucose levels on diabetes-related cardiovascular complications.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
Researchers in Chicago, Illinois, using the Medtronic MiniMed Continuous Glucose Monitoring System (CGMS) conclude that the variable glucose profiles generated during endurance competitions such as marathons "indicate the need for intensive and accurate glucose monitoring."
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2002
August 2002
Once again, Diabetes Health has read through more than 2,500 abstracts of research presented at the American Diabetes Association's annual Scientific Sessions and selected a few of the more interesting ones to pass along to you as part of our annual "Research Extravaganza" feature.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
On June 3, 2002, Metrika, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California, announced that its disposable A1cNow diabetes monitor, which can provide an A1C test result in a doctor's office or a patient's home, has obtained certification from the National Glyco-hemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP).
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
An implantable insulin pump may provide better blood-glucose control and help lower A1Cs, say researchers who compared the control provided by continuous peritoneal insulin infusion from an implantable pump to that offered by continuous subcutaneous infusion using a standard (external) insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
The topic of sexual problems among women with diabetes has been highly underreported, says Lois Jovanovic, MD, from the Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, California. While nearly 2,000 studies addressing sexual dysfunction among men with diabetes have been published in the past five years, Jovanovic observes that a "paltry" 13 articles about sexual dysfunction among women with diabetes appeared during that same period.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
If you have type 2 diabetes and don't take insulin, it's possible your mid-morning blood-glucose levels are high.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
Both short-term and long-term quality of life are improved in people with type 1 diabetes who use an insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2002
July 2002
When Charles H. Raine III, MD, director of the Diabetes Control Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, learned he had type 2 diabetes, he went straight to insulin as his preferred method of control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
The Sleep Sentry Monitor, a battery-powered device worn like a wristwatch and used to detect nighttime low blood glucose, was introduced by Teledyne Avionics more than 20 years ago. Teledyne Avionics then sold the device to Eric Orzeck, MD, in 1983, and it has been largely unavailable since the early 1990s.
1 comment - Posted Jul 1, 2002
Diabetes Technologies, Inc., of Thomasville, Georgia, announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for marketing its over-the-counter A1C kit. This product, called the AccuBase A1C Test Kit, was developed to allow people with diabetes to test their A1C levels at home.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
When Charles H. Raine III, MD, director of the Diabetes Control Center in Orangeburg, South Carolina, learned he had type 2 diabetes, he went straight to insulin as his preferred method of control.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2002
June 2002
If patience is a virtue, then millions of people with diabetes who have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the GlucoWatch Biographer can now enjoy their just deserts.
1 comment - Posted Jun 1, 2002
A hormone called GLP-1 offers promise for treating type 2 diabetes, say researchers from Denmark. A lab-engineered version of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) was shown to regulate blood-glucose levels and improve insulin sensitivity in a small test group, researchers report in the March 9, 2002, issue of Lancet.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
People with diabetes who don't have healthcare insurance may be more likely to receive tests that monitor diabetes control and assess risk for complications at community and migrant health centers than they do at a private doctor's office, according to researchers in North Carolina.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
What's the weather got to do with type 1 diabetes? A great deal, according to Zvi Laron, MD. Dr. Laron, professor emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology at Tel Aviv University in Israel, is just one of many doctors focusing his diabetes research on seasonality—specifically, the relation of winter weather to children's risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
I Developed Type 2 Diabetes From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
"Clearly no diet works reliably," says Jan Harper of San Jose, California. Harper, who has type 2 diabetes, takes oral medications to control her diabetes and tries to adhere to a "good diet"-the advice most often given to people who have type 2. However, as Harper laments, what is a "good diet" or the "right diet" for a person with type 2 diabetes? Does such a thing actually exist?
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2002
May 2002
For Bret Michaels, diabetes hasn't stopped the show—it's just added an extra chord to the loud, exciting, pyrotechnically enhanced melody.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
Routine A1C tests conducted by physicians may help detect type 2 diabetes in people who haven't been diagnosed, according to researchers from Duke University.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2002
April 2002
A type of weight-loss surgery called the LAP-BAND has been successful in putting type 2 diabetes in remission, according to researchers in Australia. Doctors from Monash University in Victoria found that the majority of people with type 2 diabetes who were treated with the stomach-reduction surgery achieved better blood-glucose control one year afterward. Results of the study were published in the February 2002 issue of Diabetes Care.
1 comment - Posted Apr 1, 2002
“You shouldn't have to futz around with shots,” says Wendy S. Lane, MD, of Asheville, North Carolina. ”[If I had my way], newly diagnosed type 1s would be put right on pumps, if it weren't for insurance companies.”
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
If you have type 1 diabetes, your A1C level might be influenced not only by exercise, diet and insulin therapy, but also by your genetic makeup.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
Back in December 1992, two years after we started Diabetes Health, I was shocked to learn that Mom had developed diabetes, too. I wrote in these pages about how she had complained to me that she was tired and couldn't get off the sofa. She was depressed, and sometimes she slept all day. Then she got worse. She was sick, lethargic, had tingly feet and blurry vision. I was concerned for her health and suspected that she had diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
You keep your A1Cs in line by testing your fasting and before-meal blood-glucose levels, but could you have a time bomb ticking in your body by failing to keep after-meal glucose levels down?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2002
March 2002
Living with diabetes means living in a world of limitations—some imposed by society and some by the disease itself. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 5, I've spent the last 35 years trying to break free of those limitations.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Carbohydrates seem to be in the news a lot these days. You either hear or read that if you want to lose weight, you shouldn't eat carbohydrates, or that if you want to control your blood-glucose levels, there are some specific carbohydrates you should not eat. The question, then, is to sort out what's important.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
It's happened again. You test and the number that pops up on your meter is low. Way too low! But you feel fine. Shouldn't you be experiencing that fuzzy-headed, heart-pounding, shaky-bodied, world-swirling feeling that goes with hypoglycemia?
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Q: I am a 52-year-old person with type 1 diabetes who is at least 40 pounds overweight. I have tried many ways to lose the extra weight, but I can never seem to get my blood glucose under good enough control so that I don't have too many lows.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Q: Is there a difference between an A1C test from a doctor's office and a hemoglobin test that is given to you after you give blood? I am 23 years old and have had type 1 diabetes for about three years, most of that time without any health insurance.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
People with type 2 diabetes often have blood-glucose levels of 200 mg/dl or higher after meals, even if they are maintaining good A1C control, according to the results of a new study.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Metformin is safe and effective for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in children, according to new research.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
If you have type 1 diabetes with an A1C greater than 8% and you are also a smoker, you are at higher risk for microalbuminuria—abnormal levels of protein in the urine that signal kidney complications—warn researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Cost-effective, group-based stress management programs can provide significant help for people with type 2 diabetes, say researchers from Duke University. Stress can raise blood-glucose levels by stimulating the release of counter-regulatory hormones, and it can also disrupt diabetes control by undermining diet and exercise programs and self-care routines.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
Providing goals and support to doctors can result in better outcomes for their patients with type 2 diabetes, say Danish researchers. Doctors who were helped to set guidelines and who received regular follow-ups and continuing medical education were most likely to have healthier patients. Results of the study were published in the October 27, 2001, issue of the British Medical Journal.
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0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
While someone with type 1 diabetes needs insulin from the beginning of the disease, people with type 2 diabetes have some residual insulin secretion. However, first-phase insulin response-the initial surge of insulin that normally occurs when food is ingested-is lost, resulting in high blood-glucose levels after meals. Nat-ural insulin production also is insufficient to handle insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2002
February 2002
Whether type 1 or type 2, young or old, all people with diabetes have one thing in common: their blood-glucose meter.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Five years ago, when Dana Elias, PhD, first clutched a publication reporting that a synthetic peptide had halted beta-cell destruction in mice that already were showing high blood-glucose levels, she felt a shiver of excitement. She had helped develop the synthetic peptide, called DiaPep277.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Millions of Americans are living with type 2 diabetes—a chronic metabolic disorder that develops when the body is unable to effectively control the level of glucose, or sugar in the blood. In some type 2 diabetics, the pancreas decreases production of insulin, the hormone crucial to convert glucose into energy, and injections may be necessary. In most others, sufficient insulin is produced but their bodies resist it and blood sugar levels are likewise abnormal—a process called insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Children with diabetes who have a better quality of life also maintain better control of their blood-glucose levels, according to worldwide statistics. Twenty-one research centers across 15 European countries, Canada and Japan participated in the study, which was published in the November 2001 issue of Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
The amount of fat you eat can affect your A1C level, say researchers in the United Kingdom, but the type of fat can also make a difference. Researchers writing in the November 2001 issue of Diabetes Care report that people who consumed more polyunsaturated fat, which includes most vegetable oils, nuts and high-fat fish, had lower A1C levels across the normal range than those whose fat intake came primarily from meat, milk and milk products.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
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0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
Who says the people who invent computers, cell phones and other devices that make our life easier should have all the fun?
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2002
January 2002
At 81 years of age, Eva Saxl has a lifetime of rewarding accomplishments behind her—careers as a writer, teacher, philanthropist and lecturer and a history of living with type 1 diabetes for more than 60 years with no complications.
2 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
How do couples in which one partner has diabetes and the other doesn't deal with the question of whose diabetes it is? Answers to this question, often overlooked by many healthcare professionals, can be critical to the successful long-term management of diabetes and its integration into daily life.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Managing your blood-glucose levels is not the only treatment needed to avoid diabetes-related complications, according to several health advocacy groups. Controlling blood pressure and cholesterol is also important in preventing heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death for people with diabetes, say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Short-term treatment with vitamins C and E lowers the urinary albumin excretion rate (AER) in people with type 2 diabetes who have micro/macroalbuminuria, according to a team of Danish researchers. In the September 2001 issue of Diabetic Medicine, they suggest that further long-term, large-scale studies of this albuminuria-reducing treatment modality are needed.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
Another study is suggesting that continuous glucose monitoring could be a superior testing method for determining optimal control.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
When Will Medicare Cover the Cost of Insulin Pumps for Type 2s?
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2002
December 2001
After 40 years on insulin, Bob Teskey, 56, could no longer keep his blood-glucose levels under control. As his condition worsened, his hypoglycemic (low blood-glucose) episodes became more and more intrusive on his life. Teskey talked to his doctors, but there was nothing they could do except tweak his insulin regimen, which did not solve the problem. He continued to collapse unexpectedly, as his blood-glucose levels dropped without warning.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Generex Biotechnology of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, announced the results of four studies showing the effectiveness of Oralin in treating type 2 diabetes. Oralin is a new oral insulin spray that is absorbed into the bloodstream. Pankaj Modi, PhD, chief scientific officer at Generex, presented the studies' findings at the September 9-13 meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Glasgow, Scotland.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Giving lispro (Humalog) insulin to young children after they eat is as effective as giving Regular insulin before a meal, researchers say. After-meal administration allows parents to match the lispro insulin dose to what the child actually eats.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
Correction: In the Letters to the Editor of the November issue (p. 61), we made an incorrect statement about the use of Lantus. The sentence should read "..those who take three meal-time shots of short-acting insulin plus basal Lantus will take four shots of insulin a day." We apologize for this error.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2001
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November 2001
"Okay, so I know I should do it. I know it will decrease my blood sugar. I know it will burn more calories. It's supposed to improve my circulation, cholesterol, triglyericdes and A1c. Rumor says it will even make me feel better. I know, I know, I know! Go ahead—blame me for not doing it!"
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Researchers at three centers in the United Kingdom have been successful in demonstrating that using an insulin pump helps to control blood sugar and A1c levels, and can assist in preventing serious diabetes complications in a variety of patients—from long-term type 1s with erratic control to children and pregnant women.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
One of Diabetes Health's most popular sections is its "Question & Answer" column. Our readers ask questions that cannot always be answered in a 10-minute office visit, and we pose these questions to our arsenal of diabetes professionals who offer their expertise.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
John Hughes of Woodburn, Oregon, had never bothered to get a letter from his doctor stating that he has diabetes and is required to carry sharp-pointed insulin-pump infusion sets, lancets and emergency syringes with him into airplane cabins.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
The September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C and Pennsylvania are perhaps the single darkest event in the history of the United States.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Roche Diagnostics of Indianapolis, Indiana, is now offering a new lancet with unique functions for making blood sugar testing as painless as possible. Called the Accu-Chek Softclix, the lancet features 11 different depth settings, which can be set to match your skin type. In addition, the lancet does not use a spring-loaded system, which can cause skin tissue to dilate or tear. Instead, it uses a linear sliding motion to avoid pain caused by side movement, according to company's press release.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Working in collaboration with diabetes health-care professionals at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Kathy Jensen, RD, CDE, has produced the first in a series of programs designed to be available and affordable to families with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
For decades, people with diabetes have known the drill: prick your finger, get a good-sized drop of blood, apply the drop of blood to a meter, wait for the result and adjust your insulin, eating or exercise regimen accordingly.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
If only all those high-carb foods like pasta and pastries weren't so high on the glycemic index, you could eat them more often.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
On August 1, pump maker Animas Corporation received the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) award for its long-term implantable optical blood glucose monitor.
1 comment - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Researchers in Jamaica say the compound capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, also lowers blood sugar in dogs. They add that some day it might be used to treat diabetes in humans.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Tarrytown, New Jersey announced the results of three phase I studies for two new medications for the oral delivery of insulin. Representatives, who presented the data at Investor Day In New York City and released a written statement on September 7, said the trials showed that the drugs were successfully absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and significantly reduced blood glucose levels in study subjects.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
A study published in the September 13 issue of New England Journal of Medicine says that 90 percent of type 2 cases could be prevented if people exercised more, ate healthier food, stopped smoking and adopted other healthy behaviors.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
One of the most commonly used over-the-counter drugs may lead to a new treatment for type 2 diabetes, say researchers. Aspirin, used for decades to treat headaches and minor aches and pains, has been shown to reverse high blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity when taken in high doses, according a study published in the August 2001 issue of Science.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
This month, I am featuring the second in a series of guest editorials. Jan Chait, a frequent contributing writer to DIABETES HEALTH who has type 2 diabetes, writes this one.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
Researchers at three centers in the United Kingdom have been successful in demonstrating that using an insulin pump helps to control blood sugar and A1c levels, and can assist in preventing serious diabetes complications in a variety of patients-from long-term type 1s with erratic control to children and pregnant women.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
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This month, I am featuring the second in a series of guest editorials. Jan Chait, a frequent contributing writer to DIABETES HEALTH who has type 2 diabetes, writes this one.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2001
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October 2001
There's a new way to keep your "eye" on blood-sugar levels and it doesn't use needles.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Which of the following statements do you think are true?
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
I recently had a drink with 124 grams of carbohydrates, 19 grams of fat and 23 grams of protein in it. It is important to know that two hours prior to this, I rode my bike for one hour and 45 minutes at a moderate-to-high effort. Now I will tell you how I adjusted and administered my insulin to make sure my blood sugar stayed level.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
It's that time of year again—the cold and flu season—when millions of people run to their medicine cabinets for relief.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 2001
iMetrikus of Carlsbad, California, announced its partnership with Home Diagnostics Inc. (HDI) to offer a new system for people with diabetes to test blood sugars and track the results in a format that can be provided to their doctors.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
A group of Brazilian researchers say bariatric surgery (stomach stapling) is the most effective therapy for extreme obesity. Their recent studies show that glucose control can also improve with the surgery.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Having type 1 diabetes can cause women to experience early menopause, say researchers in Pennsylvania. Janice S. Dorman, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues found that the women with type 1 diabetes started menstruation later, experienced more irregular periods before the age of 30 and reached menopause at an earlier age. As a result, women with type 1 also had a lower number of reproductive years (30 years compared to the 37 years of their non-diabetic sisters and 35 years in the control group). In evaluating all risk factors, researchers also found that bearing no children and the removal of one ovary were also associated with earlier menopause.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Studies in California comparing readings from a continuous blood glucose monitor with A1c readings show that average levels are predicted differently in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Testing at night and after meals may give you the most accurate A1c reading, according to the result of recent research. Doctors from California and Washington, D.C., tested blood-glucose levels continuously on patients for three days to identify the times when the readings most closely reflected A1c levels. They found that glucose levels tested at night and after meals matched the patients' actual A1c levels. Glucose levels taken in the morning did not match their A1c levels as closely.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Adjusting insulin regimens does not cause people to adopt a poor diet, according to researchers in the United Kingdom. Researchers from Bournemouth, Dorset, studied the change in patients' diets when they were allowed to adjust the amount of insulin therapy to the total carbohydrate content. They questioned whether or not the change in the insulin regimen would cause patients to consume more fat.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
"Currently, diabetes guidelines in the United States are not consistent with world-wide standards,'' said Rhoda Cobin, MD, FACE, president of the American College of Endocrinology (ACE), in its press release. "We need more aggressive, complete and cohesive standards."
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
Jane Seley, RN, MPH, MSN, GNP, is a doctoral candidate from New York City and a good friend of mine. Jane has served on our advisory board since the very beginning, over 10 years ago.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
If you are trying to develop a diet consisting of low-GI foods, consider the following:
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001
"I am currently incarcerated at a medium-security prison," writes James Mackenzie, in a letter to Diabetes Health from a jail in Shirley, Massachusetts. "I am 38 years old and suffer from diabetes and severe pain in my spine. The medical staff has tried to reduce my blood sugars—which range from 140 to 427 mg/dl. The problem is that it brings my readings into the hypoglycemia range of 50 to 72 mg/dl. This happens even with the lowest dosages.
2 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2001