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Latest Complications & Care Articles
Diabetes Complications & Care Article Archives
May 2013
Snoring is one of the great clichés. In cartoons, you just know that a blissfully snoring dog, cat, or human is about to be startled by an explosion or some scaringly loud noise.
0 comments - Posted May 17, 2013
I spent a month in a major insulin pump center and saw several things. Many of the female patients seemed to have wings on their sides where the pump tubing was inserted and they got lipohypertrophy from localized injections, but that was the least of it. None of them actually had remotely normal blood sugars.
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2013
People with type 1 diabetes who exercise may need to reduce their insulin to counteract the effects of their workouts, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted May 4, 2013
Diabetes is a serious disease that can affect many parts of the body-the heart, kidneys, blood circulation, and eyes. In fact, according to the National Eye Institute, diabetic eye disease increased in prevalence by 89 percent between 2000 and 2010, and is a leading cause of blindness among American adults. Despite this, people with diabetes often overlook vision care as they work to manage the many other health problems the disease can cause.
0 comments - Posted May 3, 2013
The restriction of protein intake is an outdated thought. It was born of a study by Barry Brenner, at Harvard, back in the 1980s. He did a survey of the diabetologists in Boston asking, "At what blood sugars do you like to keep your diabetics?" The collective answer ultimately was 250 mg/dl.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2013
April 2013
The FDA recently approved the next-generation OmniPod from Insulet, giving people with insulin-dependent diabetes an even less invasive way to manage their diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 19, 2013
Low-grade ketones are not a problem; it's part of the survival system that humans have for getting through famines. We don't have many famines nowadays, but if they're not eating overnight, a large percent of the population is going to have ketones in their blood in the morning.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2013
He is 89 years old and the picture of health. Yet looking at the robust, healthy, laughing gentleman sitting across the desk from me on this Saturday morning, one would never guess his age. Hank has been married 50 years, is active in his church, and hosts a prayer breakfast most Saturday mornings.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 2013
While marijuana use may spark an increased appetite for everything from chips to dubious leftover takeout, it has little effect on overall metabolism, according to a new study that appeared recently in the American Diabetes Association journal Diabetes Care.
0 comments - Posted Apr 14, 2013
In my experience the most common cause of elevated cholesterol is low thyroid. High blood sugars also have an effect on LDL that can be very dramatic. If someone has elevated cholesterol, diabetic or not, the very first thing you do is check their free and total T3, and free and total T4. When you give them adequate thyroid replacement, the LDL usually normalizes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2013
A new study on the treatment of symptoms of diabetic peripheral neuropathy has shown promising results, according to one of the lead doctors on the study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 5, 2013
March 2013
A new study shows that men with heart disease who have diabetes may have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer.
0 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2013
Monica Joyce had an idea. It wasn't original, but a good idea inspired by another.
0 comments - Posted Mar 20, 2013
Twelve years after it began as a summer placeholder designed to keep Fox TV viewers hanging around until the fall season, "American Idol" has become one of this young century's most renowned cultural phenomena. From the show's modest beginning, record producer and musician Randy Jackson has been at its heart, the memorable judge who has popularized such greetings as "Dawg!" and such praises as "I believe she's in it to win it!"
0 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2013
Don't get enough sleep? According to a small, new study, this may make you eat larger portions of high-calorie foods and, accordingly, increase your risk of gaining weight.
0 comments - Posted Mar 18, 2013
A protein linked to inflammation could predict the risks of two eye-related diseases common in people with diabetes, according to the results of two new studies.
0 comments - Posted Mar 17, 2013
Researchers in California may have taken a big step in the fight to end renal cancer.
0 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2013
February 2013
If you are a diabetic, you’ve likely been cautioned by your physician about the consequences of allowing your blood sugar to run high. You may have shrugged off the horror stories about how unchecked high blood sugar can damage your eyes, your heart, and circulation to your extremities. You probably have thought, “I’m young (or relatively so), and it’s not going to be as bad as all that."
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2013
I heart carbohydrates, and sometimes, I hate carbohydrates.
0 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2013
Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. has teamed with Dexcom to expand an existing partnership to include development of Dexcom’s latest continuous glucose monitoring system, the G4 Platinum. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the new CGM in October.
0 comments - Posted Feb 17, 2013
The first thing I would have said to that frightened 18-year-old girl back in 1994 is, "It's not your fault." You didn't do anything wrong. You weren't out breaking mirrors, spitting on leprechauns, or walking under ladders. Your body simply turned on itself. Your immune system decided to attack the wrong guys and here we are.
0 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2013
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston report that they have discovered a naturally occurring hormone that can direct the body to burn more calories and increase its insulin sensitivity. Their results, based on lab experiments with mice, could potentially lead to therapies for diabetes, obesity, and even muscular dystrophy.
0 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2013
Sooner or later most type 2s face the choice of whether they should begin using insulin. As the effectiveness of metformin or sulfonylureas fades, physicians often look to insulin as the safest, most effective means of asserting control over blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2013
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."
0 comments - Posted Feb 2, 2013
January 2013
I was having my second low of the day at work recently when I got "the headache." If you have type 1 diabetes you probably know the one. It doesn't ever go away quickly and never without having to pop a couple pain relievers. I was popping more than a couple peppermint-flavored chocolates and glucose tabs and waiting for the low to go away before I could even reach for the Advil to help ease the pounding in my head.
0 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2013
As an NFL quarterback, Jay Cutler makes his living putting a football into the hands of an open receiver before getting slammed to the ground by a huge defensive lineman. It's a stressful occupation, all about timing, a little luck, and seeing the big picture in a split second.
0 comments - Posted Jan 29, 2013
You're a person with diabetes who has just learned that you've been diagnosed with cancer. Which disease should take precedence in your life?
0 comments - Posted Jan 25, 2013
Michelle Gaylord has lived more than 30 years with type 2 diabetes, but the diagnosis is one that she now sees a bit like a gift.
0 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2013
On September 26, 1992, my daughter Kaitlyn was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Since that time, we have immersed ourselves in the world of diabetes with two goals: First, to ensure that Kaitlyn has the very best tools, both medical and emotional, to manage her diabetes, and second, to dedicate our unyielding efforts in pursuit of a cure. For us, it's not either/or: It's both.
0 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2013
Every spring since 1999, the Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) has distributed our publication to their young campers. In honor of their youthful enthusiasm, our springtime issue always focuses on people who inspire us, from the young to the old. In this issue, we bring you the stories of people who refuse to let their diabetes limit them, people whose example re-ignites our determination to live our very best and healthiest lives. As a publisher, I am always seeking inspiration, and each of these individuals is a fresh reminder of what we can do if we put our minds to it.
0 comments - Posted Jan 19, 2013
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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 17, 2013
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 Jan 14, 2013
Good news for people with diabetes who worry about protecting themselves against the plantar pressure and risks of ulcerous foot injuries that come with diabetic neuropathy: A recent British study shows that ready-made insoles you can buy at the store perform almost as well as more expensive custom-made insoles at achieving those foot protection goals.
0 comments - Posted Jan 13, 2013
Forty-three year old stage and TV actor Stephen Wallem is a jack of all trades when it comes to entertainment. Best known for his one-man musical review, "Off the Wallem," he is also a playwright, composer, and director. Currently, he plays Thor, a gay nurse with type 1 diabetes, on the Showtime series "Nurse Jackie."
0 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2013
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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2013
It's well known that diabetes, an inflammatory disease, increases the risk of developing heart disease and related complications-also the result of inflammation. Now there's a way of predicting which type 2s may be at the highest risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
0 comments - Posted Jan 7, 2013
Narrowed and hardened arteries-atherosclerosis-are a common risk associated with type 1 diabetes. Fat, cholesterol, and other substances build up to create plaque, which narrows the arteries and makes blood flow more difficult. The increased risk of blood clots often leads to heart attacks and strokes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 5, 2013
December 2012
The American Diabetes Association’s newly released 2013 edition of its annual “Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes” recommends two notable changes:
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2012
One out of nine type 2s who followed an intensive diet and exercise program for one year were able to record normal or prediabetes-level blood sugar levels, according to a study recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
0 comments - Posted Dec 28, 2012
To help stem the obesity epidemic, researchers are looking at how certain hormones act on fat cells. Scientists know that "white" fat cells store fat while "brown" fat cells not only store fat but also turn it into energy, a process that goes awry in obesity.
0 comments - Posted Dec 23, 2012
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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2012
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an early flu season is underway in 2012. If youwant to spend the upcoming holidays enjoying family, friends, and seasonal activities rather than being sick, here are several simple steps to protect yourself.
0 comments - Posted Dec 20, 2012
A 14-year study that tracked 4,434 obese type 2 patients shows that despite much talk about gastric bypass surgery as a "cure" for diabetes, a majority of the patients who underwent the procedure had no long-lasting remission of their symptoms.
0 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2012
Education as part of routine care is the key to successful treatment of type 1 diabetes, according to a new study from researchers in the United Kingdom.
0 comments - Posted Dec 9, 2012
Taking linagliptin seems to help protect the kidneys in people with type 2 diabetes. The drug, usually used along with diet, exercise, and sometimes other medications, lowers blood sugar levels by increasing the amounts of certain natural substances in the blood.
0 comments - Posted Dec 8, 2012
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."
0 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2012
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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2012
New research reveals that those suffering from depression might be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2012
November 2012
Australian researchers have released a study on stem cells that potentially could lead to type 1s being able to make their own insulin, erasing the need for regular injections.
0 comments - Posted Nov 27, 2012
Scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel report that taking whey protein isolates or concentrates may help treat type 2 diabetes and prevent obesity.
0 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2012
Gratifying news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The overall death rate from diabetes among children 19 years and younger plummeted 61 percent over the years 1968 through 2009.
0 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2012
I really look forward to Thanksgiving. For me, it’s a great time to spend with family and friends, watch some ballgames on TV and eat. All those wonderful traditional dishes that taste so good are ready for my undivided attention. But for a diabetic, Thanksgiving dinner can be a bit tricky when it comes to controlling your blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2012
Good news for Eli Lilly & Co., as well as for type 2s who appreciate the addition of new drugs to treat their condition: Lilly says its once-weekly injectible drug, dulaglutide, has outperformed three other widely taken diabetes drugs in three just-concluded Phase III studies.
0 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2012
Recently while I was out shopping with my sister, I tested my blood sugar and found that I had a high reading of 217. Because I had just downed a non-fat pumpkin spice latte and still had active insulin in my bloodstream, I skipped correcting it with an insulin shot and went on trying on clothing and chatting with my sister. When I got to my car afterward, I realized that I felt a little like I was drunk, so I figured that I'd better test my blood sugar again. It was 58.
0 comments - Posted Nov 19, 2012
In this new column, "Have You Noticed This About Your Diabetes?" readers send in observations and questions, and, in response, other readers share similar and not-so-similar experiences by posting in the "Comments" section.
0 comments - Posted Nov 17, 2012
The FDA has approved U.S. sales of Dexcom's G4TM PLATINUM continuous glucose monitor. The San Diego-based manufacturer said it is taking orders and plans to begin shipping the device to patients within the next few weeks.
0 comments - Posted Nov 16, 2012
Deborah Grona hadn't danced with her husband in more than four years. "We fell in love on the dance floor," says Grona, who had been unable to dance, or even stand for short periods of time, since developing the chronic pain that comes with diabetic neuropathy.
0 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2012
To see if tightly controlling blood sugar provides improved results in patients who received a kidney transplant, a group of diabetic post-transplant patients were followed for three days. A subset of the randomly assigned group had their blood glucose kept in tight range with IV insulin, while a control group received insulin as they ordinarily would, via injections.
0 comments - Posted Nov 14, 2012
It started at 7:45 a.m., when I heard my husband's phone alarming. Since it was his scheduled virtual type 1 for a day challenge with JDRF, I grabbed the phone as he kept snoring. Sure enough, it was his first text from JDRF, reminding him to gather his testing supplies before leaving the house. I shook his leg. "Wake up, sleepy, you have a text about your diabetes." He lay there, continuing to snooze. I tried again with "C'mon, you have to get up, your diabetes needs you!" He hollered between snores, "My diabetes is fine!" Oh, how I wish I could silence my diabetes in the morning with those words.
0 comments - Posted Nov 13, 2012
People with diabetes who receive treatment for gum disease can enjoy substantial reductions in hospitalizations, doctor visits, and annual medical expenses according to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and dental insurer United Concordia Dental.
0 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2012
I recently learned of a JDRF campaign to increase type 1 diabetes awareness, in which people without diabetes can sign up to experience “virtual diabetes” for a day. During that day, they receive up to 24 texts prompting actions that simulate the frequent blood sugar testing, insulin injections, and dietary choices that people with type 1 diabetes must endure. JDRF thoughtfully notes on its website that “while no virtual campaign can re-create the many needles required or the physical and financial tolls of this serious disease, T1D for a Day seeks to deepen understanding of the many heroic steps our friends and loved ones with T1D take each day.”
0 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2012
While there is an almost constant media drumbeat about the dangers of obesity and overweight, it's a pleasure to learn that not everyone who is overweight is in bad health or runs the risk of it.
0 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2012
It was more than two decades ago, and Penny Hildreth was already feeling overwhelmed by life when she learned that she had type 1 diabetes. She was pregnant with her second child and worried about the baby’s safety after a car accident that had left Hildreth with a broken collarbone, a broken rib, and a punctured spleen. It was the spleen injury that ultimately led to her diagnosis of diabetes, but she was more concerned about the baby, a little girl who was born healthy despite the automobile accident. “I always say that she’s my miracle,” says the 46-year-old Portland resident.
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2012
Chris Ruden, a college student and personal trainer, is a very inspiring young man. He was born with a disability and was diagnosed in his first year in college with type 1 diabetes. As is often the case, he was discouraged by the diagnosis, but while convalescing in the hospital, he decided to become a personal trainer and help others in similar situations. In this interview, he tells us why he considers diabetes a blessing in some ways.
0 comments - Posted Nov 4, 2012
A Swedish study has found that even less than a 1% reduction in A1c's lowered the mortality rate among type 2 patients by 50 percent compared to patients whose A1c's remained stable or increased. (Mortality was defined as the likelihood of dying from any cause within the next five years.)
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2012
Stan Bush wasn't really surprised to find out he had type 2 diabetes. An unhealthy diet that regularly featured containers of ice cream before bed had left him primed for the disease. But how he handled the news was a surprise, at least to his doctor.
0 comments - Posted Nov 2, 2012
Do people on the high end of the normal range of blood sugar levels develop the same brain shrinkage and tendency toward dementia that has been found in those with type 2 diabetes? According to an Australian study, the answer appears to be yes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2012
October 2012
In response to a post that I wrote on October 19, 2012, asking readers to contribute their opinions, John M wrote to me asking for more information. After exchanging a few emails, we came up with an idea that we think you will like: a new column by readers who write in about experiences they have had with diabetes and who are curious to know if anybody else has experienced the same thing. The new column will be called "Have You Noticed This About Your Diabetes?" The idea is for you to send in your question, in response to which other readers will share similar and not-so-similar experiences through our "Comments" section. (Take note that comments take one to two days to post because they all need to be read and approved.)
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2012
According to a report by the inspector general of the US Department of Health and Human Services, dozens of purported weight-loss and immune-system supplements are illegally labeled and do not have appropriate scientific evidence to support their claims.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2012
I’m very happy to announce Diabetes Health’s partnership with CVS/pharmacy and welcome you to ExtraCare Advantage for Diabetes® from CVS/pharmacy®. If you have diabetes and already have a CVS/pharmacy ExtraCare® card, ExtraCare Advantage for Diabetes offers even more benefits.
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 2012
Scientists generally think that decreased insulin production by the pancreas, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, is due to the death of the organ's beta cells. However, scientists at Columbia University Medical Center report that the beta cells do not die, but instead revert to a more basic cell type.
0 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2012
You don't have to live in San Francisco to participate in the annual Dance Out Diabetes dance-a-thon event.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 2012
When people with diabetes are successful and happy, their situation is often viewed as having been achieved despite the obstacle of diabetes. I am advocating for a shift in that perception. What if instead of seeing all the good in our lives as existing despite our disease, we begin to see everything that we are—the challenges and the achievements—as a direct product of all that we are made up of, diabetes included?
0 comments - Posted Oct 14, 2012
Recently, a Finnish study evaluated nearly 2,800 nondiabetic individuals, close to 500 of whom were using statins, after they had participated in a year of lifestyle interventions intended to improve their glucose metabolism. (Statins are lipid-lowering drugs that inhibit an enzyme crucial to the production of serum cholesterol; high cholesterol is associated with hardening of the arteries and cardiovascular problems.) The study was conducted by Dr. Nina Rautio and colleagues at Pirkanmaa Hospital in Tampere, Finland.
0 comments - Posted Oct 13, 2012
Like the taste of cinnamon? If you do and you have type 2 diabetes, a daily cinnamon supplement may help control your condition.
0 comments - Posted Oct 12, 2012
Roche Diagnostics says that its ACCU-CHEK Combo insulin pump system is now available in the US market. The system uses Bluetooth wireless technology to allow a glucose meter/insulin pump combination exchange data.
0 comments - Posted Oct 10, 2012
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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2012
Q: How do I lower my blood sugar when it goes over 200 mg/dl? I have Type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2012
Does consuming fiber really lower blood sugar? How many grams of fiber do you need each day? What’s the difference between soluble fiber and insoluble fiber?
0 comments - Posted Oct 4, 2012
When I became a type 2 diabetic, 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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2012
September 2012
A new technique using amniotic tissue harvested from a discarded placenta can heal wounds, burns and scars twice as fast as previous treatments. The tissue is extracted from the placenta, with the woman's consent, during Caesarian sections and then sent to Georgia-based MiMedX, the company that processes the material so it can then be applied to the injured area to jump-start healing. The process, known as EpiFix, demonstrated significant success in a clinical trial involving patients with diabetic foot ulcers. 92% of patients who received the treatment were completely healed in six weeks compared with only 8 percent who healed in the same time frame without the addition of the processed amniotic membrane material. The trial was so successful it was terminated earlier than anticipated. Study findings are expected to be submitted for peer reviewed journal publication shortly.
0 comments - Posted Sep 30, 2012
Celebrity chef Paula Deen was subjected to some withering criticism recently when the public learned that she has type 2 diabetes. How could she push butter and sugar-loaded recipes at TV viewers when she has diabetes, her critics demanded.
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2012
Bonny Damocles, a longtime fan of TV shows like “Wild Kingdom,” looked at his type 2 diabetes diagnosis as his opportunity to take a walk on the wild side. When the Michigan resident learned that he had diabetes more than two decades ago, he immediately began thinking about how lions survive in the wild as inspiration for his own diet plan.
0 comments - Posted Sep 24, 2012
Lilly Diabetes recently launched the free Lilly Glucagon Mobile App to educate those who support people living with type 1 diabetes. The interactive app, available on the iTunes store for iPhone and iPad devices, provides caregivers, diabetes educators, and school nurses with visual and audio emergency instructions, as well as tools to track locations of glucagon kits and alerts for expiration dates.
0 comments - Posted Sep 23, 2012
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Eli Lilly and Company have introduced My Well Planner, a new online program offering customized educational content to help adults with type 2 diabetes make simple lifestyle changes to improve their health. Sample topics include general information about type 2 diabetes, better eating habits, building physical activity into daily life, taking medication, and communication strategies.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2012
Time after time, people without diabetes ask me how my diabetes is going. I always get a little tongue-tied because "Wow, great!" isn't really accurate, and the alternatives are complicated. Usually, something like "Uh, good, fine, hard sometimes, but um, thanks for asking" awkwardly tumbles out of my mouth.
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2012
German scientists report that gestational diabetes and/or low income may increase a child’s risk of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the study indicates, breastfed children born under those conditions may gain some protection against ADHD.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2012
A British study of type 2 men reports that although testosterone therapy had a beneficial effect on blood glucose levels and other metabolic indicators for non-depressed men, those suffering from depression experienced no benefit. In fact, reports Geoffrey Hackett, MD, at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, depressed men actually experienced a worsening of symptoms.
0 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2012
Bayer ‘s new blood glucose meter, the Contour® Next Link, which works with Medtronic's diabetes management system, is now available in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2012
Sometimes it isn’t a stranger or acquaintance giving you a hard time about your diabetes. Sometimes it’s a family member or close friend that says something hurtful about your diabetes management. And that is far more difficult to hear than the guy at the table next to you in a restaurant or some lady sharing an office with you at work.
0 comments - Posted Sep 13, 2012
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved US sales of NUCYNTA® ER (tapentadol), a twice-daily extended-release oral analgesic for the treatment of pain from diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The drug, produced by New Jersey-based Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., provides around-the-clock management for moderate to severe chronic neuropathic pain. Janssen says that it is currently the only opioid on the US market that has been approved for treating the condition.
0 comments - Posted Sep 11, 2012
According to a Scottish study recently published in Bioessays, the confusing signals created by modern technology's ability to turn night into day may be contributing to the global epidemic of obesity.
0 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2012
Steve Richert, who has type 1 diabetes, has embarked upon a 365-day climbing mission to demonstrate that managing diabetes and rock climbing present similar challenges and to inspire people with diabetes to surmount those challenges. In this second part of our interview, I asked him about his motivations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 6, 2012
The Mayo Clinic Health Letter for August 2012 has published three lifestyle changes that could stave off the progression of prediabetes to full-blown type 2 diabetes. The list isn't new, but its periodic reiteration indicates that healthcare researchers and providers have settled on a simple prescription for staying diabetes-free.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 2012
Steve Richert, who has type 1 diabetes, has embarked upon a 365-day climbing mission to demonstrate that managing diabetes and rock climbing present similar challenges and to inspire people with diabetes to surmount those challenges. When I caught up with Steve on a rare day when he happened to be at sea level, I asked him about his mission.
0 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2012
August 2012
We’ve all heard a lot of discussion about low carbohydrate diets and whether they are effective for weight loss and blood sugar control.. What most of us do not understand, however, is how diabetes affects the way that we process carbs. Beta cells make more than insulin: they also make another satiety hormone: amylin. If we are beta-cell deficient, then we are amylin-deficient as well. When the amylin hormone is not available to tell our brain that we are full, we crave more food, especially carbohydrates. Carbohydrates act as a mood stabilizer, making us feel good when we’re stressed.
0 comments - Posted Aug 31, 2012
Older type 2s who exercise tight control over their blood sugar may run an increased risk of hip fracture, says a study from Changi General Hospital in Singapore. The researchers studied 558 elderly people with diabetes who had been treated for hip fracture between 2005 and 2010. They found that those patients had a significantly lower median A1C, 6.8%, than the control group median of 7.4%. In 59.2 percent of the hip fracture cases, the patient's A1C was less than 7%, and slightly more than three-quarters of the patients were taking sulfonylureas.
0 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2012
Can’t focus well after a poor night’s sleep? You are not alone. A small study at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital looked at 12 people during a one-month study in a sleep lab. Their sleep was cut dramatically, to a mere six hours instead of their customary ten to twelve hours. Later, when searching for pictures on a computer, their performance was slower.
0 comments - Posted Aug 29, 2012
The Food and Drug Administration has approved US sale of generic pioglitazone (trade name Actos) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Actos, originally developed and trademarked by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, works by decreasing insulin resistance in type 2 patients. The prescription drug, which belongs to the class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones (TZDs), has enjoyed great commercial success in the United States since its introduction in 1999, posting estimated sales last year of $2.7 billion.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2012
Recently, while scrolling through discussions posted on an online diabetes forum, I came across one from a man in his thirties who wrote about how paramedics had found his twin brother face down in a sauna, in an insulin shock coma. How did he end up in such a state? The appalling answer is, he didn't have enough glucose strips to test before he got into the hot tub. A few weeks before the sauna incident, his insurance company had limited his glucose strips to just four per day.
0 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2012
Students in the healthcare field have probably attended a "bugs and drugs" lecture about bacteria and the various antibiotics used in response. Put that on a whole new level, where the "bugs and drugs" are hordes of mosquitoes and peculiar plants, and you would be envisioning my pharmacy rotation in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The purpose of the trip was to study medicinal plants and natural medicine, but our group definitely braved the elements as well. A few of the pleasures we got to experience included extreme heat, daily paddling of canoes down the Amazon River, tightly rationed drinking water, bathing with piranhas, stepping in quicksand, eating guinea pig, and almost sinking our canoe in a torrential downpour. Now mix in my diabetes, and you would seemingly have the recipe for the perfect storm.
0 comments - Posted Aug 22, 2012
The new Accu-Chek Nano was approved for diabetes patients in January 2012, and distribution of the product began in April. Jennifer Aspy, the director of product marketing and operations, sat down with me at the American Association of Diabetes Educators to talk about the merits of this new medical device.
0 comments - Posted Aug 21, 2012
As diabetes climbs to epidemic levels in the United States, and finding adequate resources to fund future U.S. healthcare remains in question, the need for an already existing "boots on the ground" group that can address the disease is greater than ever.
0 comments - Posted Aug 15, 2012
Endocrinologist Robert Cuddihy, MD, joined Sanofi US over a year ago to be the company’s Vice President and Medical Diabetes Head in the United States. He is responsible for developing and executing the US strategy for Sanofi’s Diabetes Division, including pharmaceuticals, devices, and other technologies. He previously served as the medical director for several organizations, including the International Diabetes Center-Park Nicollet in Minnesota.
0 comments - Posted Aug 13, 2012
If you like cheese, there may be cause for celebration. According to a new study, eating cheese may lower your risk for type 2 diabetes
0 comments - Posted Aug 8, 2012
Physically fit men with type 2 diabetes and a heart condition known as left ventricular hypertrophy run a considerably lower risk of premature death than their diabetic peers who are not fit. That's the conclusion of a longitudinal study of 866 patients conducted by Veterans Affairs Medical Center and George Washington University, Washington, DC.
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 2012
UC San Diego scientists have discovered a molecule involved in regulating the biological clock that could open a new path for treating type 2 diabetes. The molecule, dubbed KL001, controls a key protein, cryptochrome, that regulates the biological clock (circadian rhythm) in plants, animals, and humans. In doing so, cryptochrome indirectly affects the liver's production of glucose. KL001 can be manipulated to induce cryptochrome to slow the liver's glucose production, thus creating a possible new therapeutic approach to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2012
A study has found that taking curcumin extract, the main ingredient of the popular Indian spice turmeric, may help ward off type 2 in those with prediabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 4, 2012
As teenagers, most of us did some reckless and irresponsible things. It's part of growing up, right? But if you're a teenager with type 1 diabetes, acting reckless becomes a bit more tricky. I had a reckless summer of my own ten years ago, right after high school graduation, when I traveled down south to spend a month with my mom. I hadn't lived with her since the age of 16, so I wanted to get to know her and my younger brother again. Unfortunately, I also used that time to take a break from my diabetes regimen. It had been only four years since my diagnosis, and I wanted to feel that even though I had a disease, I was still a normal teenager who was capable of an adventure.
0 comments - Posted Aug 2, 2012
July 2012
One of the greatest technological advancements in diabetes care has been the insulin pump. For one, it gives you the illusion of being "normal" because you no longer have to inject insulin throughout the day. Instead, you "bolus" by pushing a button on the pump itself or using a remote control. It allows better glucose management because you can adjust your basal rate (the "background" insulin dose) by increments of one thousandth of a unit every hour. Especially when you're moving from the peaks and valleys of NPH or the restraints and hazards of Lantus, the freedom of living with an insulin pump is incredible. But pumps do not come without their kinks.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2012
Swedish researchers report that a drop in A1C of less than one percentage point can lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with diabetes by nearly half. Specifically, they found that patients who reduced their A1C from 7.8% to 7.0% decreased their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 45 percent.
0 comments - Posted Jul 29, 2012
This story is part of a reporting partnership that includes APRN, and Kaiser Health News.
0 comments - Posted Jul 27, 2012
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 14. Suddenly, I went from being a carefree teenager to a patient who had to be concerned with every carbohydrate in a cracker. Not only was I dealing with the hormones and emotional adjustments of adolescence, but I was also learning to cope with and accept a disease that wanted a part of every minute of my day. I also had to deal with the illusion that other teenagers had nothing to worry about except how to fit in, and the fact that I was no longer part of that group of carefree kids. I was now the student who had a free pass from teachers to eat or drink during class. The girl who left fourth period ten minutes early to go to the nurse's office to test her glucose. The sick kid who had a doctor's appointment every two months and came late to school because of it.
0 comments - Posted Jul 24, 2012
In a small study of 10 type 1 children under the age of seven years, closed-loop insulin delivery improved their nighttime glycemic control. The therapy, delivered at Children's Hospital Boston, used an algorithm-controlled pump and continuous glucose monitor to deliver insulin on an as-needed basis as the children slept.
0 comments - Posted Jul 23, 2012
If I were asked to talk about diabetes to a group of newly diagnosed people, I think I'd start by telling them that there is actually some good that comes from a life with diabetes. While they were deciding whether I had lost my mind, I'd explain that I'm not crazy, but that there really is a saving grace when it comes to having diabetes. It's called the diabetes online community, or DOC.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2012
Immediately starting intense therapy for newly diagnosed type 2s preserved their beta cell functioning for 3.5 years, according to a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study.
0 comments - Posted Jul 18, 2012
I've had type 1 diabetes for 14 long years. During that time, I have had five episodes of ketoacidosis, two of which were brought on by emotional stress. The one that happened eight years ago, shortly after the meltdown of a serious relationship, lives vividly in my memory.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2012
New York researchers have reported that obese patients with type 1 diabetes who do not respond well to insulin may be able to improve their blood sugar control by adding liraglutide to their therapy. Liraglutide (brand name Victoza) is an injectible GLP-1 analog* that was introduced to the US market in 2010 to treat people with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 14, 2012
Over the years, Diabetes Health has covered a vast array of diabetes-related topics, from recipes and sex to celebrity interviews and scientific research. This issue is no exception-I think you'll find a lot to "chew on" here, especially in the three diet-related articles.
0 comments - Posted Jul 12, 2012
An epidemic more deadly than coal dust is sweeping through the dogwood-dappled hollows of eastern Kentucky. The new threat: diabetes. In Kentucky and across the broad Appalachian region, a third of the population is estimated by health officials to have diabetes, double the rate for the country as a whole. Ads for diabetes counseling and testing clinics have replaced those for supermarkets as a major revenue source in local newspapers, and billboards urging middle-aged people to get tested appear almost everywhere there’s a straight stretch of highway.
0 comments - Posted Jul 11, 2012
Bariatric surgery, which alters or blocks portions of the digestive system, has produced long-term remission of diabetes symptoms in many type 2 patients. However, a small study of obese type 2 patients who underwent bariatric surgery shows that the longer they had diabetes, the greater the chances that their disease recurred after surgery. The retrospective study, conducted by Yessica Ramos, MD, at the Mayo Clinic Arizona, found that patients who had had diabetes for five years or longer were nearly four times as likely to experience a recurrence of the disease after the remission brought on by the surgery.
0 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2012
University of California researchers report that they have found a new class of drugs that could lead to a pain relief treatment for people who have diabetic neuropathy. The drugs, which were successfully tested on lab animals, are anti-inflammatory compounds that inhibit the action of an enzyme called soluble epoxide hydrolase. The enzyme is key to the transmission of pain sensations. Previous research has shown that inhibiting soluble epoxide hydrolase also lowers blood pressure and protects against kidney damage.
0 comments - Posted Jul 7, 2012
British scientists say that they have discovered a link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. OSA is defined as having five or more events per hour of hypopnea (abnormally slow or shallow breathing). The researchers, from the University of Birmingham, UK, report that the association between the two conditions is strong despite other factors that could be used to explain the correlation. According to their findings, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the severity of the neuropathy correlates with the degree of OSA.
0 comments - Posted Jul 4, 2012
Metformin is the aspirin of the diabetes world, an almost-wonder drug that proves itself again and again the longer it's around. This time, a new study shows that postmenopausal women with diabetes who have taken metformin for several years are 25 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than nondiabetic women.
0 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2012
June 2012
Statesville, NC - June, 26, 2012 - A staggering 78% of U.S. adults age 21+ report they have had one or more problems with their feet at some time in their lives, according to The National Foot Health Assessment 2012, a survey conducted for the Institute for Preventive Foot Health (IPFH) by The NPD Group. The most common foot maladies, plaguing both men and women, were ankle sprains (reported by roughly one in three respondents), followed by blisters, calluses, foot fatigue, cracked skin and athlete's foot.
0 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2012
A small Chinese study has reported that 15 of 28 young type 1 patients, aged 14 to 30 years, who underwent an experimental adult stem cell procedure were able to stay off insulin injections for an average of 18 months. Though not conclusive, the study highlights an interesting avenue of research that could eventually dramatically reduce insulin dependence among type 1s.
0 comments - Posted Jun 29, 2012
As I said in my previous article on this subject, my insulin pump has changed my life. My A1C has improved, I've felt more energetic, and I've controlled my diabetes more effectively overall. It has been the biggest and best change in my diabetes treatment since I started on insulin a quarter-century ago.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2012
My 16-year-old son and I spent the day together recently and decided to head out for burgers at lunchtime. Sitting in a rather exposed booth at a restaurant, we chatted and began eating. I wasn't really thinking about anything, just enjoying the rare moment of hanging out with my sweet son, when he remarked, "I'd feel so awkward if I had to do that." I asked him what he meant and actually looked around to see what he was talking about. Then it hit me, as he mimed taking an injection and said, "Having to take shots in front of random people all the time." Moments before, I had taken a shot in my hip, capped my syringe, and popped it back into my handbag without even thinking about it. After 18 years of shots, it's practically instinct for me.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2012
My insulin pump has changed my life. My A1C has improved, I've felt more energetic, and I've controlled my diabetes more effectively overall. It has been the biggest and best change in my diabetes treatment since I started on insulin a quarter-century ago.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2012
The Year
What a year I've had. From the spring of 2011 to the spring of 2012, my life changed utterly. There have been few years in my life more eventful, and few years that mixed joy and pain in such bracing amounts. With the year now done, I'm hesitant to draw any lessons--I just look back in amazement.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2012
Several hopeful trends emerged from this year's ADA Scientific Sessions in Philadelphia, held June 8 through 12.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2012
I've had type 1 diabetes for nearly 14 years. I have fallen off the wagon a few times, battled diabulimia, survived numerous insulin shock comas and ketoacidosis episodes, and struggled with acceptance: I have my scars. Despite these mistakes, I've picked myself up countless times and have prevailed. I've persevered with a disease that doesn't take vacations for even a minute, and I've come out on top. I'm alive and healthy, with a full life and a child of my own.
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2012
Did you know there are 9 simple steps that you can take to make testing your blood glucose a lot less painful?
0 comments - Posted Jun 20, 2012
Dexcom Proudly Sponsors Historic Diabetes Flight Formation Trip To Raise Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Funds
SAN DIEGO - June 15, 2012 - Dexcom, the leader in continuous glucose monitoring, is proudly sponsoring the efforts of the Diabetes Formation Flight USA(DFFUSA.org) - three pilots with insulin-dependent diabetes using Dexcom's Seven Plus as part of their effort to set new transcontinental world speed records while raising funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
0 comments - Posted Jun 20, 2012
An Israeli biotech company's cell therapy, designed to treat hard-to-heal diabetic ulcers, is now in phase 3 testing in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2012
Last year, I gave birth to my daughter and shared my pregnancy and birthing experiences with you. The pregnancy was a very difficult but extremely rewarding experience. A few months after our daughter was born, my husband and I discussed whether we'd have another child. On one hand, I went through several insulin shock comas, severe insulin resistance, and pre-eclampsia, ending in an emergency cesarean section. Because my first pregnancy was so tough, we weren't sure if we wanted to risk another one. On the other hand, if we did have two children, we wanted them to be very close in age so that they could bond well. We figured that if the two children were around fifteen months apart, then my daughter would be too young to feel any tension about having another baby in the house. We hoped they'd be close enough in age that they would always have one another as a companion.
0 comments - Posted Jun 18, 2012
As I celebrate my birthday this month, I also recognize the anniversary of my diabetes. If it were a person, it would be legally old enough to move out. Oh, how I wish it would! I was diagnosed at eighteen years old with type 1 diabetes, so this makes eighteen long years that the two of us have been living together. I have so many mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I feel stronger and more certain of my decisions with diabetes than ever before. On the other hand, I feel pretty depressed that it's been so long and that, no matter how I try to push away the thought, complications could be looming around the bend.
0 comments - Posted Jun 17, 2012
A clinical study has begun of a wearable device that continuously delivers basal insulin to people with type 2 diabetes. The device, PaQ®, is manufactured by CeQur SA, a Swiss company that has operations in Denmark and Massachusetts. Designed to provide three days of basal insulin delivery along with on-demand bolus insulin, the device incorporates a disposable insulin infuser reservoir attached to a reusable insulin monitor.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2012
A Florida-based endocrinologist and his team have reported that an intensive 16-week wellness program aimed at type 2 patients yielded some dramatic results: Patients were able to decrease their insulin by 46 percent and their oral medication by 12 percent. They saw their 30-day prescription costs drop by an average of more than $140 per month, reduced their BMI by 3.07, and experienced a drop of 0.7% in their A1C.
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2012
People who use one of three ACCU-CHEK blood glucose monitoring systems and either the Apple iPhone or iPod touch can now access Glooko Inc.'s Logbook app, thanks to the introduction of the Glooko IR Adapter.
0 comments - Posted Jun 13, 2012
How would you like an online interactive resource for type 2 diabetes that teaches you blood sugar basics? The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) have come together to develop "the Game Plan" diabetes management program. By going to the website at bloodsugarbasics.com/the-game-plan, you can get everyday tips, watch a video, take a quiz that tests your understanding of high and low blood sugar, and find advice on how to approach your healthcare team.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2012
If you have type 1 diabetes, you probably know that you're in it for the long haul. No diet, nutrition, or exercise plan is getting you out of this one. Our only hope for a life without insulin injections is a cure. It's a wonderful idea, but I'm not holding my breath.
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2012
Not taking medicine as directed causes more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations in the US each year, as well as almost 125,000 deaths. The following three cautionary tales illustrate the consequences of nonadherence.
0 comments - Posted Jun 10, 2012
Here is a statistic to warm the heart-literally: The death rate from heart disease and stroke among American adults with diabetes dropped 40 percent from 1997 to 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The overall mortality rate among people with diabetes dropped 23 percent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2012
Now there's another good reason to chow down in the morning. According to a study of almost 2,000 men who did not have type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or cancer, those who didn't eat breakfast had a 21 percent higher risk of developing type 2.
0 comments - Posted Jun 8, 2012
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Novo Nordisk's Levemir basal insulin for type 1 children aged two to five years. The FDA decision makes Levemir (insulin detemir [rDNA origin]) the only basal insulin approved for use in this age group.
Levemir, introduced to the US market in 2006, was previously approved for older children and adults with type 1 diabetes, as well as insulin-using type 2s.
0 comments - Posted Jun 7, 2012
The following article documents a very personal way of approaching diabetes. Always check with a healthcare professional before changing your diet or your diabetes care regimen.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2012
A short animated video narrated in a woman's reassuring tone provides a basic look at diabetes. The presentation touches on the science behind the condition and explains important terms, including "pancreas," "glucose," and "insulin." It stresses the importance of regular A1C checks and taking medication if needed, while pointing out the dangers associated with not staying on top of blood sugar levels.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2012
When dealing with a chronic illness, especially one like diabetes that requires 24/7 attention, it's easy to take shortcuts and fall into bad habits. Ask yourself the following questions to find out if you might be drifting into a few diabetes bad habits:
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 2012
ACE and Lilly Diabetes Offer Help Preparing for Diabetes Emergencies
"How To" video also available to guide emergency kit creation
0 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2012
Not long ago, celebrity chef Charles Mattocks, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes, came across the twitter account that I use to connect with the diabetes community. He called me and told me about his idea for making a documentary about diabetes and asked if I would like to participate. Charles saw the need for an up-close view of our disease that would be very supportive of the diabetes community. Having had type 1 diabetes for 12 years, I jumped at the opportunity to be a part of a film that focuses on the struggles of dealing with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 2, 2012
I'm about to tell you a secret that I've kept for 15 years. I know that we all make mistakes with our diabetes, but the one I made back then was literally a wake-up call. While I cringe at telling this unflattering story, I hope that it will help others realize how scary things can get quickly if you ignore your diabetes. Thankfully, the scenario that unfolded all those years ago helped bring me out of my reckless state and showed me the way to a better life with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2012
May 2012
When it comes to diabetes management, food is probably the most important component. What we eat affects our blood sugar levels, nutrition, weight, and feelings of satisfaction and well being.
But as careful as we are about our food choices, sometimes the people who supply that food are not as careful. Fortunately, government agencies like the US Department of Agriculture help protect us by issuing recalls and warnings about foods and food suppliers that fail to meet minimum sanitary and health standards.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 2012
I've had type 1 diabetes for six years, and it never fails that during the dreaded "time of the month," I become increasingly insulin-resistant. Just looking at a carbohydrate makes my sugar skyrocket. I'm exhausted, and my mood goes from my usual positive to cranky and sensitive.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2012
A compound found in excessive quantities in the glucose of people with diabetes may hold the key to successful treatment of neuropathic pain, says an international team of researchers.
The compound, methylglyoxal, attacks and modifies a protein, called Nav1.8, in nerve endings.
0 comments - Posted May 26, 2012
I once had a doctor ask me what I'd do if someone offered me a drink or a cigarette. I was a teenager, recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and it was the first time that I had seen her. When I told her that I didn't drink or smoke, she kept hounding me with questions as if I were lying. I grew tired of telling her the same thing over and over. She just didn't seem to hear what I was saying. Maybe she was just trying to scare me from starting, but I left feeling annoyed and convinced that I needed to find a different doctor.
0 comments - Posted May 25, 2012
A university study has concluded that a combination of metformin and rosiglitazone (Avandia) is the best drug therapy for controlling blood sugar levels in type 2 children and adolescents. Metformin alone is the drug most often prescribed for young or recently diagnosed type 2 patients.
0 comments - Posted May 24, 2012
Recently, I was cuddling my sleeping toddler and watching a recorded episode of The View. If you've never seen the show, five well-known women discuss "hot topics" and interview guests. On the day I watched, their guest co-host was Paula Deen, the Southern chef who is best known for adding endless sticks of butter to her recipes.
0 comments - Posted May 23, 2012
During Memorial Day Weekend celebrations, friends often gather where alcohol is served and then take to the road. Drinking and driving is hazardous, as we all know, because alcohol affects many skills needed to drive safely and competently, including reaction time, coordination, information processing, and the ability to track moving objects.
0 comments - Posted May 22, 2012
Warmer temperatures bring the opportunity to put on our walking shoes and step outside for our workouts. But if you, like me, have been walking for many years, you may find yourself bored with the same old routine. To avoid burnout, try these five ways to rev up your walk.
0 comments - Posted May 21, 2012
The slow backlash against low-fat, relatively high-carb diets as the ideal for everyone with type 2 diabetes has received a boost from a team of Swedish researchers at Linkoping University, about 100 miles southwest of Stockholm.
0 comments - Posted May 20, 2012
Scientists meeting recently at the International Liver Congress in Barcelona, Spain, say that microbiota-tiny organisms specific to a part of the body-transplanted from healthy people to people at risk of diabetes or nonalcoholic fatty liver disease may prevent the later onset of those conditions. The procedure involves implanting small quantities of fecal matter from healthy donors into the colons of pre-diseased recipients.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2012
Burnout is common among people with diabetes, especially those who have had the disease for years, even decades. Diabetes management can be exhausting, confusing, and frustrating, particularly when you think you are doing everything right but your blood sugars still fail to cooperate.
0 comments - Posted May 17, 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
A successful experiment on mice with type 1 diabetes, which involved "reprogramming" their immune systems to stop attacks on pancreatic beta cells, may point the way to an eventual cure for the disease in humans.
0 comments - Posted May 15, 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
Feeling tired? Your lack of rest may be putting you at increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. That's the conclusion of a new paper, published in The American Journal of Human Biology, that looked at evidence collected from numerous experimental and observational studies. The link was clear: People who got less than six hours of sleep a night were more likely to have a high body mass index (BMI) and be obese. The connection found in the study seems stronger for children and teenagers, which is especially worrisome given the skyrocketing rates of type 2 diabetes in young people.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2012
Novo Nordisk's new variety of long-lasting insulin, insulin degludec, reduces low blood sugars while improving overall control, according to a pair of studies published in the prestigious journal The Lancet on April 27.
0 comments - Posted May 8, 2012
Diabetes Health recently submitted some questions to CVS Caremark Corporation regarding its "The State of the States: Adherence Report." The report compiled data from more than 50 million patients to track their level of adherence to drug prescriptions for four chronic diseases: diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
0 comments - Posted May 4, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 2012
American Idol judge Randy Jackson has embarked upon a mission of education and advocacy, urging those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to take a stand for their health and well-being.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2012
April 2012
Food plays an important role in our lives. For most of us, it is more than just a means of sustenance. For some, it is a source of great pleasure. For others, it is a source of painful consequences. And for many, it is both.
0 comments - Posted Apr 29, 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 25, 2012
NeuroMetrix, Inc., a Massachusetts-based medical device company, has filed a 510(k) form with the US Food and Drug Administration for the SENSUSTM, a pain therapy device for people who suffer diabetic neuropathy. A 510(k) is a "premarket notification" of a company's intent to market a medical product. The FDA then tests the product and provides feedback to the manufacturer. Once the FDA clears the product, its maker can introduce it to the US market.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2012
As we approach the summer season, our thoughts turn to barbecues, picnics, amusement parks, and road trips to the beach. It is a season of fun, but it can be hard for people with diabetes to enjoy the festivities and still maintain healthy eating habits.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2012
Bariatric surgery, not medications, may be the key to producing dramatic drops in weight and even the remission of diabetes symptoms among type 2 patients, says a study from the University of Rome.
0 comments - Posted Apr 20, 2012
I was a mixture of nerves and excitement as I met one of my favorite celebrity chefs at the American Diabetes Association's Expo in Chicago on April 14th. Jamie Deen, Paula Deen's adorable, blue-eyed, dimpled son, was there doing a food demonstration, meeting with fans, and extending a healthy dose of warm smiles and pure southern hospitality.
0 comments - Posted Apr 19, 2012
Twenty thousand physicians in four Midwest states received a glimpse into their financial future last month. Landing in their e-mail inboxes were links to reports from Medicare showing the amount their patients cost on average as well as the quality of the care they provided. The reports also showed how Medicare spending on each doctor's patients compared to their local peers in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2012
Just a 1 percent weight loss in older people with type 2 diabetes can improve their physical mobility by up to 7 percent, according to a new study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2012
To discover the relationship between potassium levels and type 2 diabetes, a Johns Hopkins University study looked at more than 12,000 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), performed in 1987 and 1996. The study found that as potassium levels went up, the incidence of diabetes among study participants went down. The more than 2,000 African Americans in the study had lower average potassium levels than the 9,000 Caucasians and were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2012
Iranian scientists report that a traditional Middle Eastern yogurt drink, doogh, when fortified with vitamin D, decreases the markers that indicate inflammation in persons with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2012
An Ohio-based study of overweight and obese type 2 patients shows that weight loss surgery works much better at controlling blood sugar levels than any known drug treatment.
0 comments - Posted Apr 2, 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?
0 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2012
March 2012
Healthcare providers and most people with diabetes are aware that there is a connection between gum health and complications from diabetes. Unhealthy gums are thought to be both a result of the disease and a gateway to infections and complications to which diabetes opens the door.
0 comments - Posted Mar 31, 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
Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, an international network of researchers exploring ways to prevent and delay the progression of type 1 diabetes, has reached an important milestone: screening 100,000 people to detect who among is at risk of developing type 1 diabetes. This is a major achievement because it has helped researchers better predict who will develop diabetes and when it will require treatment. Earlier diagnosis helps patients avoid a severe, life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis.
0 comments - Posted Mar 28, 2012
The FDA has approved the start of outpatient trials of a smart phone-based monitoring device that functions as an artificial pancreas. If the device, which automatically measures blood glucose levels and adjusts them with insulin, is successful, several million type 1 patients could enjoy a whole new level of convenience.
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 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.
0 comments - Posted Mar 26, 2012
Long-term use of metformin as a weight loss aid is both safe and effective in preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes, says the Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group.
0 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2012
Three risk factors-insulin resistance, fatty liver, and overweight/obesity-that are commonly associated with the onset of type 2 diabetes can each, by itself, substantially increase the risk of developing the disease. But in individuals that have all three factors working in combination, the risk of developing type 2 in a five-year period increases 14-fold.
0 comments - Posted Mar 24, 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.
0 comments - Posted Mar 23, 2012
Do you struggle with controlling your sugar levels during exercise? When my doctor changed my exercise regimen after my heart attack, my biggest struggle was keeping my sugar levels stable. We all like to see low numbers, but no one likes the shaking associated with low blood sugar or that feeling we have for the rest of the day after our levels have fluctuated. So how low is too low before working out?
0 comments - Posted Mar 22, 2012
A little more than 25 years ago, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
0 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Mar 17, 2012
Everyone needs vitamin D to be healthy and maintain strong bones, but a new study has found that it may also protect against stroke. In the study, 21,000 people aged 45 and older answered a food questionnaire. According to the findings, presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, there was an 11 percent reduction in stroke among those who consumed the most vitamin D.
0 comments - Posted Mar 16, 2012
There are more than 200 diabetes camps in North America, offering more than 400 programs to more than 30,000 youths and young adults with diabetes and their families. One in 400 children has type 1 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes in children, once rare, is increasingly common due to obesity. Education and motivation are vital to healthy management of the disease. Diabetes camps empower children and their families to meet the rigorous demands of diabetes, allowing them to be healthy, active, and motivated to reach their dreams.
0 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2012
One night last week I was awakened by the sound of my dogs barking, and I jumped out of bed to check for intruders. As I ran down the hallway, I realized that something was wrong with my right eye: It had an image, like someone had flashed a bright light into it. I blinked wildly, trying to regain my normal vision, but the image remained. As I sat on the couch after checking the house, I was scared to death, not of intruders, but of the thought that diabetes had finally invaded my eyes. The image soon subsided, but I made an appointment with a retina specialist the next morning and braced myself for the worst.
0 comments - Posted Mar 14, 2012
According to a study of patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, 35 percent of the time their physicians did not follow the American Diabetes Association (ADA) guideline that calls for prescribing a generic drug first. The study, conducted by researchers from CVS Caremark, Harvard University, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, reviewed the pharmacy claims of 254,000 patients who were started on a diabetes medication in January 2006 and December 2008. One-third of the treatment regimens did not adhere to the ADA guideline.
0 comments - Posted Mar 13, 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
(Editor's Note: Some information in this article is from a press release issued by Medtronic, Inc.)
0 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2012
When it comes to diabetes, people often blame the patient instead of the disease. I cannot think of another chronic illness for which this is the case. Much of the public seems to believe that we bring diabetes on ourselves. When people with diabetes are diagnosed with complications, uninformed observers often insist that it happened because they were "bad diabetics." Comments like "She didn't take care of herself" make me instantly defensive and angry. How can anyone know what that person went through on a day-to-day basis with her diabetes?
0 comments - Posted Mar 8, 2012
For people with diabetes, elevated blood sugar adversely affects the ability to heal. Their slow-healing wounds invite hard-to-treat infections that can eventually lead to amputation. In fact, they are 15 times more likely to undergo limb amputations than people without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 7, 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.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2012
Two recent studies confirm the powerful role that exercise plays in controlling blood glucose levels. The first study, conducted by University of Missouri researchers and published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that blood glucose levels tend to spike during periods of inactivity. The second study, conducted by the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Australia and published in Diabetes Care, shows that office employees who take short light-exercise breaks every 20 minutes enjoy a 30 percent reduction in blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2012
The latest clinical guidelines for treating type 2 diabetes from the American College of Physicians (ACP) indicate that when diet, exercise, and weight loss fail to control blood sugar levels in early type 2 patients, physicians should prescribe metformin as the first drug therapy.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 2012
February 2012
"I knew I didn't eat a totally healthy diet because bread is a big weakness of mine. Worse, exercise was something I kept planning to do but hadn't gotten around to," recalls 62-year-old Laura M., who lives in a New York City suburb. "I had been feeling more tired than usual and had a cut on my right leg that seemed to be healing slowly, but other than that I felt fine. When during the course of an annual check-up, my doctor said I had diabetes, I practically fell apart."
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2012
During my 14 years with type 1 diabetes and my time spent interacting with the diabetes online community, I constantly hear the same theme: Doctors aren't listening to their patients, and their bedside manners are deteriorating. Every day, it seems, I hear about people who have been treated as if they are simply a number or dismissed as uneducated in their own health conditions.
0 comments - Posted Feb 26, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2012
British researchers say that metformin, the drug most often used to treat prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, could provide potential protection against endometrial cancer in women.
0 comments - Posted Feb 24, 2012
A study of medical claims data from more than 136,000 men shows that men with diabetes are much more likely to require invasive therapies for erectile dysfunction than men without diabetes. The therapies, which are the next steps beyond oral treatments, are second-line suppositories or injections and third-line surgeries to implant prostheses.
0 comments - Posted Feb 23, 2012
A gluten-free diet in the first 12 months of life does not lower the risk of later developing type 1 diabetes in children who have a family history of the disease, says a German study. Previous studies had suggested that babies whose diets included gluten in their first months of life might be more likely to develop type 1 than youngsters whose diets did not.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 21, 2012
As a woman with diabetes, you may have noticed that you face unique challenges, from where to place your insulin pump, to pregnancy, to hormone fluctuations. Many diabetes books offer general diabetes advice, but few focus on women beyond just a short chapter. That is, until now.
0 comments - Posted Feb 20, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2012
You've heard of the blockbuster drug Byetta, a daily injection for type 2 diabetes? Byetta's sister product, Bydureon, which is injected just once a week, has just been approved by the FDA and is available in pharmacies.
0 comments - Posted Feb 17, 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 2012
Burbank, Calif.-February 2012 - Although it is illegal to throw used needles and syringes in the trash in California, more than 936 million home-generated sharps end up in the waste stream annually, according to CalRecycle. This is often due to the lack of convenient return options for users of these medical products.
0 comments - Posted Feb 11, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2012
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that foot and leg amputations decreased dramatically between 1996 and 2008. Over those 12 years, amputations dropped from 11 out of every 1,000 diabetic adults to only four-a decrease of almost 64 percent. Over the same period, however, the number of people officially diagnosed with diabetes tripled.
0 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2012
Diabetes doesn't confine itself to a single week or month. It's a year-round condition, and each season offers its own challenges and opportunities for those of us with the disease. We should be prepared to change and evolve as the seasons shift--not only to stay healthy, but also to enjoy all the fun that our dynamic world offers.
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2012
The FDA has approved US sales of JANUMET® XR, a daily oral treatment for type 2 diabetes that combines sitagliptin and extended-release metformin. The drug is the fourth oral type 2 diabetes treatment introduced by Merck, which also sells JANUVIA, JANUMET, and JUVISYNC.
0 comments - Posted Feb 6, 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.
0 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
After several years of delays and setbacks, Amylin Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval to begin US marketing of BydureonTM. The first once-a-week type 2 therapy to be offered in the US market, Bydureon is expected to be available by February. Amylin says that its wholesale price will be about $4,200 a year.
0 comments - Posted Feb 3, 2012
Winter in Chicago is catching up with my diabetic feet. No matter how much I lotion up before bed, the cracks are beginning to show. I recall a visit to my endocrinologist where she tested for sensitivity and scoped for cracks, wounds, or anything out of the ordinary. She told me how lucky I was that the skin on my feet was smooth and well maintained. She said to keep up with what I was doing. Though truthfully, I wasn't doing anything, it was summer and my feet were in good condition because of the warm weather and pure luck.
0 comments - Posted Feb 2, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 1, 2012
January 2012
Dear DH, I'm a 47-year-old man who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2008. For two years, I haven't been interested in sex. I have a demanding retail job and two teenage children. I can still perform, but I am usually so tired that I fall asleep after dinner. I don't miss sex much, but my wife does, and I don't want to lose her. By the way, my A1C usually runs around 6.8%.
0 comments - Posted Jan 31, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 28, 2012
With the recent news of Paula Deen's battle with type 2 diabetes, diabetes has been getting some negative coverage in the media. I've even heard comments like " No wonder Paula Deen has diabetes when she eats so much sugar and butter." This is frustrating because it perpetuates the false stereotype that all people with diabetes are the same.
0 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2012
A young man in his early thirties struggles through traffic on his small Honda motorbike. As he enjoys a short break at a traffic signal, one foot on the road, his eyes are attracted to a billboard picturing a succulent burger. While he gazes, fantasizing about lunch, his vision starts to blur.
0 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2012
In my work as a prevention health technician in the Lakota community of South Dakota, I encourage people to ask questions and learn the facts about diabetes. Once they are aware of what diabetes is and how they can prevent or control it, they become empowered.
0 comments - Posted Jan 19, 2012
Like I did, you may take it for granted that you don't have to worry about having a heart attack. You may assume that heart attacks only happen to senior citizens. But I am living proof that there is no age limit to heart attack. At age 35, just three days after Christmas, it happened to me.
0 comments - Posted Jan 18, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 17, 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."
0 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2012
Australian scientists have discovered that when a complex sugar crucial to the survival of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells is degraded by the body's immune system, the beta cells die.
0 comments - Posted Jan 14, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 12, 2012
North Carolina-based Marc S. Stevens, MD, FACS, is one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the country. Previously, while practicing in Little Rock, he was named Arkansas Physician of the Year. In addition to his orthopedic expertise, Dr. Stevens has developed a reputation as an expert in nutrition, especially as it relates to wound healing, bone and joint health, and healthy weight. To learn more about Dr. Marc S. Stevens go to www.DRSHealthInc.com
0 comments - Posted Jan 11, 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 9, 2012
A new year means new beginnings. Traditionally, it's a time to resolve to make changes for the better in our lives. This year, I decided to write a resolution list dedicated specifically to diabetes. I hope that some of you will want to try these ideas with me.
0 comments - Posted Jan 8, 2012
My baby girl had just been born. I was in the postoperation room after going through a cesarean section. My husband went to get my parents, who had been waiting for twelve hours in the waiting room. A nurse laid my little girl in an incubator next to my bed and checked her blood sugar, which was normal, in the mid-40 range. Fifteen minutes later the nurse checked her again, and it registered in the mid-30s. I watched as the nurse fed my baby her first ounces of food. I was still too numb to even know that I had legs, much less to be able to wiggle my toes.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2012
Some women who drink two of more sugary beverages daily are lucky: their consumption of sweetened drinks doesn't put on extra weight.
0 comments - Posted Jan 5, 2012
Spring Health Solutions, Inc., has released an instructional video describing its Spring Universal Infusion Set, recently approved by the FDA and Health Canada. The video, at www.SpringUniversal.com, is designed to help consumers properly use the product.
0 comments - Posted Jan 4, 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
As I explained in my previous articles, I was pre-eclamptic and was admitted to the hospital at 37 weeks. I had a migraine that lasted for ten hours after I entered the emergency room. I had experienced migraines before and knew that Tylenol wouldn't ease the pain, so I went untreated even in the hospital. About twelve hours after admission, I was brought to the women's floor, where I waited for my already injected Levemir supply to diminish in my bloodstream.
0 comments - Posted Jan 2, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2012
December 2011
Frozen shoulder is more common in people with diabetes than you may realize. My own painful experience with frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, happened a few years ago. I slipped and fell down the stairs at home, hitting the wall and nearly every stair from top to bottom. I injured an ankle and lost my big toenail in the accident. As I began healing, I also noticed that my left arm wouldn't go above my head.
0 comments - Posted Dec 31, 2011
Throughout pregnancy and all the way up until labor, I was adamant that I was not having a cesarean section. I was terrified of being cut open because I know that my healing time is longer due to my lowered immune system. In 2009, I had to go to the emergency room for an infection caused by cutting my leg while shaving, so how could I possibly heal after being opened up to birth a baby?
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2011
Vaginal yeast infections are annoying, not dangerous, but they can seriously hamper your sex life, especially if you have diabetes. What's the connection, and what can you do to prevent and treat yeast infections?
0 comments - Posted Dec 29, 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
Editor' Note: This article continues Katherine Marple's series on pregnancy with diabetes as a complicating factor. For previous articles, enter her name in the search feature at the top right-hand of this website. The next installment, "Birthing Options," will appear on December 30.
0 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2011
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to blood vessels of the retina. Almost everyone who has had diabetes for thirty years or more has some sign of the condition. Now, retinopathy researchers have come up with a device that will be implanted behind a patient's eye to deliver medication on demand. "We wanted to come up with a safe and effective way to help diabetic patients safeguard their sight," said lead author Mu Chiao, a mechanical engineering associate professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, in Science Daily. "This new device offers improvements upon existing implantable devices for drug delivery."
0 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2011
Health experts are unanimous that obesity or being overweight are major factors in the onset of type 2 diabetes. So it's no surprise that researchers here and abroad are working to develop weight-loss drugs that can help people shed pounds and lessen their susceptibility to diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 23, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 19, 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
News from Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk reinforces the growing trend toward using a two-drug combination in the early treatment of type 2 diabetes. (See "A Conversation About Janumet and Earlier Combination Therapy Type 2 Diabetes" for more discussion about the phenomenon.)
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 2011
A staggering 45 percent of Americans deal with chronic illness. This, of course, includes diabetes. Danea Horn, a certified life coach, speaker, author, and 30-year chronic disease patient, has just released a new report: "How to Develop a Positive Attitude When You Are Coping With Illness."
0 comments - Posted Dec 14, 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 13, 2011
Here's good news for people who love nuts and Greek yogurt! Replacing even one serving of red meat with these tasty foods can substantially lower your risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.
0 comments - Posted Dec 11, 2011
Drug company Merck aims to give people with type 2 diabetes two treatments for the price of one. The new therapy, called Juvisync, was just approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. It's not a radical new treatment, but instead a helpful combination of two familiar standbys: Juvisync unites the active ingredients in blood sugar-lowering Januvia and cholesterol-lowering Zocor in a single tablet.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2011
Many people with diabetes admit to keeping their diabetes a secret. Less than two years ago, I was one of them. I hated the way people treated me when they found out about my diabetes. I hated being told that I wasn't allowed to eat things by people who didn't have a clue about diabetes. I hated the horror stories people told about their acquaintances with diabetes. I hated people asking me if I had the "bad" kind of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 9, 2011
"I wasn't even addressing my high blood pressure until my uncle Jay, in a nursing home at 36, said ‘Don't get diabetes.' ‘I won't,' I promised him, and it changed my life."
0 comments - Posted Dec 7, 2011
Women are better at coping with problems than men, right? Not when it comes to being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. According to a new survey, that diagnosis had a greater negative impact on women's emotional outlook and adherence to diet and exercise than the same diagnosis given to men. The survey was conducted in September 2011, and included 831 completed responses from 458 women and 373 men.
0 comments - Posted Dec 6, 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/
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2011
Just take a look around. It's pretty clear that many of us are carrying more weight than we used to. Obesity has skyrocketed in recent years, and it's not about to stop. Roughly one in three adults is obese today, and researchers now predict that 164 million adults will be obese by 2030. That's half of all adults in the country.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2011
November 2011
Diabetes Health publisher Nadia Al-Samarrie recently spoke with television and movie actor Anthony Anderson, who has taken a lead role with Eli Lilly & Company's F.A.C.E. campaign, a diabetes outreach to African Americans. A veteran of more than 20 films, Anthony, age 41, currently plays Detective Kevin Bernard on NBC's Emmy Award-winning drama, "Law & Order."
0 comments - Posted Nov 27, 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2011
People with diabetes may want to have their hearing checked, based on a study that found hearing problems twice as common among them as among people without diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 19, 2011
Disease management programs have the potential to improve care and reduce the costs of chronic illness. However, certain characteristics of the disease management marketplace may cause concern. Disease management in the United States, whether outsourced to a corporate vendor or performed within a commercial health maintenance organization, largely takes place within the for-profit healthcare sector.
0 comments - Posted Nov 18, 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
When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I recall the numerous comments that people blurted out in an attempt to make me feel better about my situation. But the truth was that I just needed to be treated like everyone else. I was in the midst of a confusing, depressing, and life-altering diagnosis. The last thing I needed was a pat on the back that felt more like a slap in the face.
0 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2011
Anyone who has lost a close family member to type 2 diabetes understands the grief and paralysis it creates, especially when the one who died was only 53.
0 comments - Posted Nov 14, 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Nov 9, 2011
The search for a cure for diabetes is a noble pursuit, but a cure always seems to be another ten years down the road. Finding a way to be healthy in the here and now is what matters for people with diabetes. In 2005, Peter Nerothin started Insulindependence (IN), a nonprofit organization that aims to "revolutionize diabetes management" by leading experiential diabetes education expeditions for type 1 youths.
0 comments - Posted Nov 8, 2011
Sometimes it feels like diabetes is driving you crazy. But what if the disease is actually changing your brain? That's the disturbing suggestion of a new study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The study suggests that both high and low blood sugars affect the brain development of young people with diabetes, but in different ways.
0 comments - Posted Nov 7, 2011
For a person with diabetes who is beginning insulin therapy, the range of products can be overwhelming. The options are often limited by the patient's healthcare plan, however, and the initial selection of a product is frequently influenced by the healthcare provider. With diabetes education tailored to the individual patient, the delivery of insulin through a particular device is achieved by teaching proper injection technique and selecting an appropriate needle.
0 comments - Posted Nov 6, 2011
By now you're halfway through pregnancy. You've managed to get through the stresses of insulin shock in the first trimester and insulin resistance beginning in the second trimester, and you're well on your way toward your third trimester. Congratulations! A moment of applause, please.
0 comments - Posted Nov 2, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2011
October 2011
October is my diagnosis month. At 14 years old, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just a few weeks before Halloween. I remember thinking, at least I'm too old for trick or treating. My younger sister had been diagnosed six months earlier, however, and at 10 years old, she still loved to trick or treat. To ease her pain, my parents got creative and shifted the emphasis of Halloween off sweets and onto scary: Haunted houses, hayrides, and parties with bowls full of smushed tomatoes for witches hearts and cold grapes for eyeballs became our annual tradition. My sister and I still said no to most of the sugary sweets, but we were the first ones to say yes when the doors of the haunted house opened.
0 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2011
At 330 pounds, Kerry Watterson was tired of not being able to fit into his seat on an airplane. He had a family history of type 2 diabetes, and although doctors said his blood sugar was still at a normal level, he knew it was time to make a change. "I found out about the YDPP [YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program], called the director, and said, ‘I want to do this.' I'm so glad she took me," he says now, one year later.
0 comments - Posted Oct 30, 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.
0 comments - 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
Like many people, I have a soft spot for salty chips, butterscotch sundaes, cheesecake, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and countless other comfort foods. A couple of martinis, accompanied by plump, red, pimento-filled olives, are another pleasant indulgence. And martinis were exactly what my wife Pat and I were drinking during the 2-for-1 Happy Hour at a chic Atlantic City bar during a vacation about five years ago.
0 comments - Posted Oct 27, 2011
Welcome to the second trimester! By now, many type 1s are experiencing fewer hypoglycemic episodes, and insulin resistance is just beginning to rear its head. You're on the other side of the miscarriage worry hump and getting settled into the pregnancy routine. Congratulations! Take a few minutes each day to celebrate your successes and pat your stomach with a smile, knowing you are doing the best you can to give your growing child everything she needs.
0 comments - Posted Oct 26, 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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 25, 2011
Winter might be on its way, but there's plenty of fall color to celebrate in the meantime. You can find fresh inspiration with the Divabetic Octoberfest, a series of events sponsored by the nonprofit wellness group for diabetic women.
0 comments - Posted Oct 24, 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
Diabetes is a life-long, 24-hour-a-day disease that requires self-management, time, and lots of patience. Most people with diabetes know where their numbers should be, but many struggle to follow recommended behaviors. Despite the availability of new medications and treatment devices, as well as the emphasis placed on diabetes treatment adherence over the last decade, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data show that 45 percent of patients with diabetes have not achieved A1Cs lower than 7% (an average of approximately 150-170 mg/dL).
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2011
When first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago, I was scared into a very rigid regime of diet and exercise. The first thing I did was register for the Tour de Cure - a bike ride sponsored by the American Diabetes Association. Establishing a goal served as an incentive to train and exercise daily.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 19, 2011
Being your own advocate is imperative for women with diabetes, especially when it comes to gynecologic care. As soon as a young woman is ready to become sexually active, she needs to talk with her doctor about contraceptive options. This conversation should continue through the time when she is ready to stop taking contraceptives and prepare for a family.
0 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2011
I'm just going to come out and say it, the way people do in addiction meetings when they have hit "rock bottom." Hi, my name is Meagan. I was a very uncooperative diabetic for a great many years. I felt lonely, and I hated being different. I rarely checked my blood sugars. In fact, there were times where I didn't even know where my meter was.
0 comments - Posted Oct 17, 2011
Using stem cells that they extracted from the brains of diabetic lab rats, and turning them into insulin-producing pancreatic cells, Japanese scientists may be on the road to a virtual cure for diabetes that comes from people's own brains.
0 comments - Posted Oct 16, 2011
A brand new insulin will soon be on pharmacy shelves in the United States if Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has its way. The company has filed for approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell insulin degludec, an original formulation that lasts an extra-long time. Insulin degludec is injected only once a day. Once under the skin, the dose of insulin is absorbed slowly and consistently, allowing for better nighttime control, according to Novo. Most importantly, test subjects had a low rate of hypoglycemia on the drug.
0 comments - Posted Oct 15, 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
In the eighties when I was in grade school, a classmate named Scott did a show-and-tell about his diabetes. He pulled out his syringes and testing supplies. With a bulky blood sugar meter, he tested his blood, took a shot, and explained what he had to do each day to control his blood sugar. I went up to get a closer look at the table of supplies. I remember seeing all the needles and thinking, "Thank God I don't have that."
0 comments - Posted Oct 10, 2011
My mother died unexpectedly this summer. While her loss was sad and sudden, I have many reasons to celebrate her life and the guidance she offered me. When I was diagnosed with diabetes as a child, she took it upon herself to learn the ins and outs of diabetes care. For most of the next decade, she oversaw my treatment.
0 comments - Posted Oct 6, 2011
Dear David and Aisha, I am a 39-year-old married man who has had type 1 diabetes for 22 years. My A1C levels run around 7.5%. About six years ago, I started having trouble with erections. Now they are very rare, even with ED pills. I know you say that there is more to sex than intercourse, and my wife and I still enjoy ourselves however we can. But we both miss the erections.
0 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2011
When I think about my greatest diabetes-related fear, the first thing that comes to mind isn't complications. It's health benefits. It may seem funny that my fear of health problems is second to my concerns about health insurance, but without coverage my good health would be close to impossible to maintain.
0 comments - Posted Oct 3, 2011
News from Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk reinforces the growing trend toward using a two-drug combination in the early treatment of type 2 diabetes. (See "A Conversation About Janumet and Earlier Combination Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes" for more discussion about this phenomenon.) In a study it released in Lisbon, Portugal, at the recent meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Novo said that combining its recently released drug Victoza® (liraglutide) with another drug early in therapy helps recently diagnosed type 2s achieve greater blood glucose control than they can with a single drug.
0 comments - Posted Oct 2, 2011
I first met Team Type 1 in 2006, when I was 17 years old. They were competing in the Race Across America (RAAM), a 3,000-mile race from California to New Jersey, for the first time. When I signed up to be part of the support team for Team Type 1, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was just happy to be getting a trip to California and to be away from my parents for a week. I had no idea how much work it would take.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2011
September 2011
What if we could stop the body's immune system from attacking the pancreas in the first stages of type 1 diabetes? What if we could keep the pancreas producing insulin, all the while helping it recover from the autoimmune barrage?
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2011
A couple of factors lead to increased risk of insulin shock comas during the first trimester. For many, insulin sensitivity increases and the pancreas isn't yet producing the hormones associated with insulin resistance. In addition, many type 1s will be taken off of their current basal insulin if it is not yet approved for use during pregnancy.
0 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2011
Imagine if you could keep diabetes at bay for another three or four years with lifestyle changes. Would you change what you ate? Would you commit to an exercise program, maintain a food journal, and join a support group? Imagine if you could take these simple steps and save money. How quickly would you say "Sign me up"?
0 comments - Posted Sep 26, 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
Imagine if there were a cure for diabetes that could be found inside your own body? Wouldn't it be nice if instead of depending on durable medical equipment, we could one day heal ourselves?
0 comments - Posted Sep 24, 2011
Scientists have found a protein that plays an important role in allowing our bodies to absorb glucose from our blood. What's more, lower levels of that protein may contribute to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 23, 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.
0 comments - Posted Sep 22, 2011
"I just read 10 sentences, but what did I read? Why doesn't it make sense to me? Is that the home phone ringing? What is happening around me?"
0 comments - Posted Sep 21, 2011
So, you're pregnant! Many who are in your shoes have worked very hard and diligently to begin this excursion. Others have reached this milestone unintentionally. Either way, you are about to embark on a journey that will completely challenge everything you know about your type 1 diabetes management. These next few months will challenge your motives, your emotions, your determination, and everything that makes up who you are. So sink your heels in. Take each step one at a time.
0 comments - Posted Sep 20, 2011
Scientists have found a protein that plays an important role in allowing our bodies to absorb glucose from our blood. What's more, lower levels of that protein may contribute to type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 19, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2011
Combination therapy, in which doctors prescribe more than one drug to treat type 2 diabetes, is a fairly common practice. However, most newly diagnosed type 2 patients start off with metformin or a sulfonylurea and don't go on a two-drug therapy until their first drug begins to lose its effectiveness. But combination therapy could soon become an earlier option for people with type 2.
0 comments - Posted Sep 7, 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.
0 comments - 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2011
Spices not only add zing to meals, but they may also reduce the high levels of triglycerides produced by eating high-fat meals.
0 comments - Posted Aug 28, 2011
US Action Follows Stop-Ship That Began in June
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 23, 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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 20, 2011
Will there be a cure for diabetes? Is an artificial pancreas a cure? Was insulin a cure? Let's begin on the correct platform. You may have an opinion on what a cure is that completely differs from mine, and that's okay.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 19, 2011
My name is Katherine Marple, and I've had type 1 diabetes for 13 years. I'm the first in my family to have the disease, so I've done most of the research and made most of the discoveries on my own. One of those discoveries was the power of metformin (in addition to insulin) to help me control my diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Aug 18, 2011
A new food-oriented app is now available for people with diabetes: iEatOut Gluten & Allergy Free. The app, designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch. provides instant access to tips for safely eating out for people with food allergies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 17, 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
The University of Quebec is sponsoring an online survey (go to www.eddiabetes.com) directed at people with diabetes who may have an eating disorder.
0 comments - Posted Aug 5, 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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2011
A study in the British medical journal The Lancet shows that type 2s who received once-daily or thrice-weekly injections of degludec, a very long-acting insulin, maintained blood glucose levels similar to patients receiving daily doses of insulin glargine. The results point the way to a possible reduction in the number of injections that type 2s who take insulin would need over any seven-day period. In both the United States and the United Kingdom currently, about one in every three type 2 patients injects insulin at least once daily.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 2011
July 2011
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."
0 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."
0 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2011
The ArterioFlow 7500 is a pump that exerts pressure on an affected part of the body to force blood to flow more freely and widely. Increased blood flow is often the key to speeding up the healing of diabetic ulcers and preventing them from turning into infected wounds that can lead to gangrene and amputation.
0 comments - Posted Jul 29, 2011
Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly have begun sales of Tradjenta, a drug for type 2 diabetes, in U.S. pharmacies. The drug (generic name linagliptin) comes in tablet form and is intended to compete with Amylin Pharmaceuticals' Byetta, which is injected, and Merck's Januvia, which also competes with Byetta. Both are well-established in the U.S. market.
0 comments - Posted Jul 27, 2011
I am excited to have this opportunity to write a diabetes-focused blog for Diabetes Health about living and thriving with type 1 diabetes. First of all, I am extremely passionate about racing road and mountain bicycles, running 5K runs and sprint triathlons, and doing other activities that I find to compete in for Team Type 1. But before I start blogging, I would like to tell a little about myself.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Jul 25, 2011
Patients who have partial lipodystrophy, a condition that often leads to diabetes and high triglycerides, are benefiting from metreleptin, an investigational treatment being developed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
0 comments - Posted Jul 24, 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
Italian researchers have found that increased consumption of omega-3 fatty acids leads to a decrease in insulin resistance, a common precursor to the development of type 2 diabetes. It also improves lipid profiles and adiponectin levels. (Adiponectin is a protein that is involved in metabolizing glucose and fatty acids. Low levels are associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and obesity.)
0 comments - Posted Jul 21, 2011
Scientists from the Philippine General Hospital in Manila say that in a study of 74 men being treated for prostate cancer, 42 percent of those receiving androgen deprivation therapy developed type 2 diabetes, compared to 19 percent of men not receiving the treatment.
0 comments - Posted Jul 18, 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.
0 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).
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2011
Immunologists at a research institute in Melbourne, Australia, say they have successfully tested a nasal spray that suppresses an immune response in people who are genetically disposed to type 1. The test, performed by scientists at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, is the first time that the spray has been tried on humans.
0 comments - Posted Jul 13, 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2011
If you have diabetes, you're more likely to be depressed than people without the disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 5, 2011
Roger Hurdsman lives in Roy, Utah, surrounded by women. His wife of four years, Hilary, is there, along with his two young daughters, Bonnie and Tess. He seems to be handling the estrogen well though, perhaps because he devotes his days to designing software for the Department of Defense. He is able to spend time with computers and gadgets before being inundated with tea parties and dress-up when he gets home.
0 comments - Posted Jul 4, 2011
"Good news," my diabetes nurse educator says to me. "Your new insurance covers continuous glucose monitoring supplies!" I give her a half-smile as my brain screams at me, "CGM? Really? Something else to deal with on top of this damn disease, an insulin pump, exercise, and nutrition?" But I comply, and a CGM is added to the rest of my paraphernalia.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2011
In the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to be aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
0 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2011
Lap-Band manufacturer Allergan has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow surgeries using the device on overweight teenagers as young as 14 years old.
0 comments - Posted Jun 27, 2011
"My pump, my pump, my lovely little pump!" My sister invented her own version of the Black Eyed Peas' song, "My Humps" to poke friendly fun at my insulin pump.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2011
Medtronic and Ford Motor Company have teamed up to develop a prototype device that will allow people with diabetes to monitor their blood glucose levels as they drive. Using Bluetooth technology, the system will connect readings from Medtronic's continuous glucose monitor to Ford's onboard communications system, called "Sync."
0 comments - Posted Jun 22, 2011
An Australian researcher who deliberately fed his lab rats a high-sugar/high-fat diet says that a flavonoid called rutin helped block the growth of fat cells in their abdomens and kept them from putting on weight despite their bad diet. Flavonoids are plant pigments that researchers are finding have beneficial metabolic effects because of their antioxidant capabilities.
0 comments - Posted Jun 21, 2011
Need a cheap kidney? How about a quick and easy bypass operation? Medical tourism offers a way for people facing pricey medical procedures to both save money and see another country. And while some, including President Obama, disparage the practice, it's on the rise as healthcare costs in the United States skyrocket beyond the budget of middle-class patients.
0 comments - Posted Jun 17, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2011
Max Bruno, a freshman at the State University of New York at New Paltz, tries to get to the gym about four times a week. He says that he knows his limits for working out, but likes to push himself. "I just have to be careful," he explains. "About an hour or so after I'm done working out, my blood sugar drops really low."
0 comments - Posted Jun 14, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2011
Diabetes treatment standards for frail older adults should be more flexible than those for younger adults, focusing more on day-to-day quality of life and less on long-term results, according to a geriatrician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 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
Type 2 patients who use only a sulfonylurea are less likely to take anti-depressant drugs than diabetes patients on other medications. That's the conclusion of a report delivered recently in Honolulu at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.
0 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2011
May 2011
A Dallas-based marketing research firm survey of 9,265 respondents indicates that people with diabetes earn less and weigh more than their non-diabetic counterparts.
0 comments - Posted May 28, 2011
Swimsuit season lasts for at least five months in the South. The good news is that we live close to the beach, but the bad news is that after 25 years of living with diabetes (and three Caesareans), my body is starting to read like a map of my medical journey.
0 comments - Posted May 25, 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
Does asthma boost your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease? A new review of years of medical records suggests that it does. Minnesota's Mayo clinic conducted the study, which looked at heaps of medical records from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The link was straightforward. People with asthma were more likely to have both diabetes and heart disease than people without the breathing condition.
0 comments - Posted May 22, 2011
What does sexuality have to do with diabetes? A lot, according to research findings that have revealed a group of people with diabetes as large as the type 1 or gestational diabetes community. Estimates suggest that 1.3 million lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals have diabetes-at least 5 percent of the 23.6 million people with the disease in the United States.
0 comments - Posted May 19, 2011
New Jersey's Hackensack University Medical Center has announced that it will partner with Dr. Camillo Ricordi to test a surgical procedure that could hold the key to a cure for type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2011
A study just published by VSP® Vision Care, a 56 million-member non-profit vision benefits and services company, reports that VSP has saved its clients $4.5 billion in potential healthcare expenditures via early detection of chronic eye diseases.
0 comments - Posted May 15, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 14, 2011
A Danish study of 107,806 adults taking various diabetes medications has found that three drugs are the most effective at lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and death: metformin, gliclazide (not marketed in the US), and repaglinide (Prandin). Other common diabetes medications, including glimepiride, glibenclamide (glyburide), glipizide, and tolbutamide, were linked to a higher risk of death both from all causes and from heart attack and stroke.
0 comments - Posted May 13, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2011
Albertson's LLC, a nationwide supermarket chain with more than 200 stores, has announced that it will participate in the Diabetes Control Program (DCP) of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. The DCP works through trained pharmacists to provide education and support to people with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2011
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?
0 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."
0 comments - Posted May 5, 2011
The rate of foot and leg amputations among people with diabetes fell by as much as 36 percent in one four-year period, according to a study of patients at Veterans Affairs clinics. Taking patients' age and sex into account, amputations-major and minor-dropped from about seven per 1,000 patients in 2000 to between four and five per 1,000 by 2004. The latter figure is a reduction of around 36 percent, with the biggest decrease coming in above-the-knee amputations.
0 comments - Posted May 4, 2011
British researchers say that testosterone replacement therapy for type 2 men with low testosterone levels could reduce their death rate significantly. Over the course of a six-year study by the University of Sheffield, only 8.6 percent of low-testosterone subjects who were given replacement therapy died, compared to 20 percent of low-testosterone subjects who did not receive the therapy.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 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."
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2011
April 2011
Canadian scientists have found that nobiletin, a substance found in high concentrations in tangerines, thwarted obesity and the onset of diabetes in lab mice. The researchers at the University of Western Ontario fed the mice a high-sugar, high-fat diet that mimicked the diet of many people in Western societies. One group of animals became obese, developing fatty livers and elevated levels of cholesterol and insulin-typical precursors to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But a second group of mice, given the flavonoid nobiletin, did not develop the symptoms of the first group. The nobiletin prevented fatty buildup in the liver by blocking the genes that control the production of fat.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 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
What is it about salt that brings out so many powerful flavors and strong feelings? Simple sodium chloride, or salt, as it's known to everyone but chemistry teachers, has been applied to food as a seasoning since the beginning of civilization. Unfortunately, the sodium in salt has proven dangerous both to diabetics and to healthy people who have a propensity toward heart disease.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 25, 2011
Every year four million baby teeth fall out, and 1.4 million wisdom teeth are pulled out of our collective mouth. Until recently, the only entity really interested in all those teeth was the tooth fairy. But all that changed in the year 2000, with the discovery that dental pulp contains adult stem cells. In the not-too-distant future, those stem cells might be used for growing new islet cells to cure diabetes. The problem is, how to keep the teeth nice and fresh until that hoped-for day. That's where Provia Laboratories comes in, with their Store-A-Tooth service.
0 comments - Posted Apr 24, 2011
Medtronic, Inc., says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the marketing of the company's CareLink® Personal 5.4 Therapy Management Software for the Mac OS platform.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 20, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 17, 2011
Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health have found that people with diabetes have a significantly increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. Despite that finding, they say that there are too few data to support a causative link between diabetes and Parkinson's.
0 comments - Posted Apr 16, 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.
0 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
If you have pre-diabetes and live in any of the five boroughs of New York City, get ready to learn a new acronym: YDPP. The initials stand for YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program, a public-private partnership under which New Yorkers can get enroll in a comprehensive low-cost diabetes prevention program at one of the city's 27 YMCA branches and affiliates.
0 comments - Posted Apr 12, 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
Taiwanese researchers say that a technology that uses sound waves to stimulate healing in diabetic foot ulcers is almost three times more effective than conventional hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The technology, called dermaPACE®, is manufactured by SANUWAVE Health Inc., a medical device company located in Alpharetta, Ga.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2011
Beta blockers, which many people with diabetes take to control high blood pressure, may be one of the reasons why type 2s often tend to gain and keep weight. That's the conclusion of a study from St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2011
While smoking is commonly associated with a higher risk of developing a serious disease, it's not often that second-hand smoke or being an ex-smoker is considered even riskier. If the disease is type 2 diabetes, however, it is.
0 comments - Posted Apr 5, 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Mar 30, 2011
This List defines terms that people with prediabetes commonly encounter as they learn more about the condition.
0 comments - Posted Mar 29, 2011
Researchers at the University of California at Davis have begun a study to see if patients' own adult stem cells can be used to increase lower leg blood circulation and possibly prevent amputation due to arterial disease or diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 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."
0 comments - Posted Mar 25, 2011
A motorized artificial knee that "learns" its user's walking style and then adjusts its performance accordingly has just been introduced into the United States. Besides building a database about a user's walking style, the knee can make adjustments on the fly, taking into account changes in speed, terrain, and stride.
0 comments - Posted Mar 23, 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
Evolution works in strange ways. What serves as an advantage at one point in time can sometimes prove a problem later, when the world has changed. It looks like that might be the case with type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from San Diego, California.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2011
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified a swath of the southern U.S. as the country's "diabetes belt." In this region, made up of parts of 15 states, some 12 percent of the population has type 2 diabetes, compared with 8.5 percent of people in the rest of the country.
0 comments - Posted Mar 19, 2011
If a prisoner on death row wants to donate his organs, should he be allowed to do it?
0 comments - Posted Mar 18, 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."
0 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2011
A paid Medicare benefit for diabetes education is rarely used by those who qualify for it, despite the fact that diabetes education provides clear health benefits.
0 comments - Posted Mar 13, 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."
0 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."
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - 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 7, 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
A couple of diabetes recalls are in the works, one for a group of insulin cartridges manufactured by Animas and another for the entire line of ACCU-CHEK® FlexLink Plus infusion sets, manufactured by Roche.
0 comments - Posted Feb 28, 2011
In two recent head-to-head year-long trials, one testing gastric bypass surgery versus lap band surgery and another pitting gastric bypass surgery against sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass came out ahead with regard to resolving the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Both studies were published in the February issue of the Archives of Surgery.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2011
It apparently comes as a surprise to many people with type 2 that diabetes can cause kidney disease. In fact, many diabetic patients don't realize that that their condition can cause kidney problems until after they've already developed kidney disease.
0 comments - Posted Feb 24, 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
New University of Georgia research has found that a statin drug that is often known by the brand-name Lipitor may help prevent blindness in people with diabetes. In a study using diabetic rats, lead author Azza El-Remessy, assistant professor in the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, and her colleagues found that statins prevent free radicals in the retina from killing nerves important to maintaining vision. The results of the study are published in the March edition of the journal Diabetologia.
0 comments - Posted Feb 23, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2011
Of all diabetic complications, neuropathy is one of the scariest and most difficult to treat. Nerve damage in the feet, leading to numbness or pain and, in severe cases, to foot ulcers or amputations, affects up to 60 percent of diabetics, according to recent research.
0 comments - Posted Feb 17, 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.
0 comments - Posted Feb 16, 2011
Nearly one in six people in the United States has no health insurance. If you have diabetes, that's a very tough position to be in. There are, however, resources that can cut the costs that you have been paying out of pocket for medicines and supplies.
0 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2011
A new analysis from Johns Hopkins University shows that women with diabetes are 50 percent more likely to die if they have breast cancer. Why? The challenges of diabetes management play a role, as well as women's overall health.
0 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2011
According to a new study published in Diabetes Care, your finger-prick blood glucose test may be "abnormally and significantly high" if you test after handling fruit without first scrubbing your hands thoroughly and vigorously.
0 comments - Posted Feb 11, 2011
Many tragic complications of diabetes, including amputations, heart attack, stroke, and blindness, are due to blood vessel damage. According to Xiaochao Wei, PhD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, all that vascular damage may be caused by a shortage of one enzyme: fatty acid synthase, or FAS.
0 comments - Posted Feb 11, 2011
The National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) of the National Eye Institute now has a Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit to help community health workers educate people with diabetes about diabetic eye disease. The Toolkit is available in both English and Spanish and its contents ensure that community health workers are equipped with science-based, user-friendly materials about diabetes and eye health to enable them to provide sight-saving information to groups of people with diabetes, their family, and their friends.
0 comments - Posted Feb 10, 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
A new study published in the journal Clinical Cardiology reveals that a Super Bowl loss for a home team was associated with increased death rates in both men and women and in older individuals.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2011
January 2011
DENVER -- New episodes of a critically acclaimed, locally-produced Spanish language soap opera will focus on the obesity crisis in hopes of helping viewers better understand what causes obesity and how they can live healthier lives. The soap opera is called "Encrucijada: Sin Salud, no hay Nada" ("Crossroads: Without Health, there is Nothing").
0 comments - Posted Jan 31, 2011
After the American Heart Association introduced its heart healthy logo in 1995, manufacturers apparently decided that such "healthy" logos were a pretty good marketing idea. Similar logos, called front-of-the-package labels, or FoP labels, have become popular with several food manufacturers, each of which has developed its own labels using its own criteria. Now, not surprisingly, a study by the Prevention Institute has found that these labels are misleading to customers. According to the Prevention Institute's executive director, Larry Cohen, they "emphasize one healthy aspect to trick [customers] into buying something fundamentally unhealthy." Dora the Explorer Fruit Shapes, for example, prominently labels itself as "gluten free," but does not mention the fact that 58 percent of its calories come from sugar.
0 comments - Posted Jan 31, 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. .
0 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?
0 comments - 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
Taking 10,000 steps a day, or walking about five miles, is very, very good for you. It's even better than walking 3,000 steps a day, which is also extremely beneficial if you walk briskly enough to do it in 30 minutes. The 10,000 steps philosophy is not new--there's even a weight-loss book or two on the topic. But now the 10,000 step regimen has also been linked to an increase in insulin sensitivity in middle-aged adults.
0 comments - Posted Jan 20, 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 19, 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?
0 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
"Fatty liver" doesn't sound very threatening. In fact, it sounds almost cute, like Fatty Arbuckle. Unfortunately, like Fatty Arbuckle, it's not what it seems. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disease in the United States, comprising a quarter of all liver disease and responsible for a rising number of liver transplants. Approximately 20 percent of Americans may be lugging around a fatty liver.
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
Results are expected by the end of the month in an efficacy study on a new drug that promises to improve diabetic wound care. Derma Sciences is wrapping up work on a phase 2 trial of DSC127, a drug already shown to speed up healing in animal tests.
0 comments - Posted Jan 11, 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?
0 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
0 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.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Jan 6, 2011
December 2010
The Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York City has received a $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to study the effects of resveratrol on lowering impaired glucose tolerance in older adults.
0 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2010
Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai Inc. recently released results of a phase 3 clinical trial for lorcaserin, a weight-loss drug they are developing in partnership. The trial, called BLOOM-DM (Behavioral modification and Lorcaserin for Overweight and Obesity Management- Diabetes Management), targeted patients with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or obese.
0 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 27, 2010
For those trying to eat a healthy diet, whole-fat dairy and trans fats are usually not on the menu - at least, not yet. Scientists have narrowed in on a trans fat component found mainly in dairy fat that may ward off type 2 diabetes and protect cardiovascular health. While the research is far from conclusive and requires much further study, it suggests fats may play a more complex role in human health than previously thought.
0 comments - Posted Dec 24, 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2010
Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes means a lot of change in your daily life. From blood glucose monitoring to watching what you eat to losing weight, it's hard to keep track of the changes you need to make to keep diabetes under control. One aspect of diabetes care that sometimes falls through the cracks is oral health care, which, if ignored, can lead to serious health complications.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2010
Research firm Frost & Sullivan, a leading international healthcare consulting company, released a market study analyzing and estimating the demand for Pepex Biomedical Inc.'s new biosensor technology for blood glucose monitoring for diabetes sufferers worldwide. The researchers interviewed diagnosed diabetics, diabetes educators, endocrinologists, and manufacturers of biosensors, blood glucose meters, or other clinical diagnostic or patient monitoring equipment suppliers for the study. The Frost & Sullivan report concluded that the Pepex Trio technology has the "potential as a new standard for measuring blood glucose levels."
0 comments - Posted Dec 21, 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2010
With nearly 16 million Americans living today with pre-diabetes, a condition that is the precursor to type 2 diabetes, and half of all Americans expected to have some form of diabetes by the year 2020, healthy eating is more important than ever (1,2). But here is some good news: a recent scientific study shows that incorporating almonds into your diet can help treat and possibly prevent type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease.
0 comments - Posted Dec 15, 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.
0 comments - Posted Dec 14, 2010
Leaders of the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project (MDSP) announced that twenty community-based organizations from 17 states were given awards of $2,500 each to be used to encourage seniors ages 65 and older who are covered under Medicare to get screened for diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 10, 2010
WASHINGTON-Even though the new health reform law will reduce some health costs in retirement for many people, retirees will still need a significant amount of savings to cover their out-of-pocket health expenses when they retire, according to a report released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Women in particular will need more savings than men because they tend to live longer.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2010
November 2010
Too often our preconceptions of work-limiting disabilities are confined to suddenly devastating conditions, such as spinal cord injury or stroke. We rarely consider how diseases such as diabetes can be just as debilitating and just as costly to a family. With November being recognized as National Diabetes Awareness Month, we should remember the people who are unable to work due to the complications of diabetes and who need the benefits to which they are entitled under Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
0 comments - Posted Nov 30, 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.
0 comments - Posted Nov 29, 2010
When most people think of diabetes, the first thing to come to mind is rarely blindness, yet blindness is a very real complication of diabetes: Diabetes is actually the number one cause of new blindness in the United States.
0 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2010
Insulet Corp., the leader in tubing-free insulin pump technology with its OmniPod® Insulin Management System, recognizes the outstanding achievements of Christopher Gorham, age 12, of Waterford, Michigan for bringing home both silver and bronze medals in the Sparring and Forms competitions at the 2010 World Karate/Kickboxing Council World Championships held in Albufeira, Portugal. Chris is a 2nd degree black belt in training for a 3rd degree black belt; he has been in martial arts since he was four years old, competing all over the world.
0 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2010
A new drug for type 2 diabetes started showing up in drugstores this week, according to manufacturer Santarus. The FDA-approved drug, called Cycloset, takes an distinctive -- and not well understood -- approach to reducing blood sugar levels. The pill apparently works by increasing dopamine activity in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a big role in people's behavior, mood, and ability to sleep. Scientists theorize that glucose intolerance and insulin resistance may in part result from abnormal activity of this chemical, and that upping dopamine activity may iron out these problems.That's the theory, at least: the drug's exact workings aren't known. But it seems to do the trick.
0 comments - Posted Nov 24, 2010
Get ready for a major change to the way you can use your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Staring in 2011, you won't be able to use your FSA to purchase over-the-counter (OTC) medications unless you have a prescription from your doctor. By the year 2013, FSAs will also be capped at $2,500, down from the $5,000 currently allowed under the program. These changes, which are the result of the Affordable Care Act, could have a significant impact on both the revenues of the federal government and your wallet.
0 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2010
Scientists gathered in October to discuss a very timely topic- the flu. While influenza may not be the headline news that it was last year with the H1N1 epidemic, the flu is very much on the minds of many scientists and doctors nation- and world-wide. The October gathering presented the newest research on the flu virus and attempts to vaccinate against it.
0 comments - Posted Nov 19, 2010
Both celiac disease (CD) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) are autoimmune diseases. In CD the immune response is triggered by the ingestion of gluten, resulting in chronic inflammation and villous atrophy in the small intestine. Treatment requires permanent elimination of gluten from the diet. In T1D, pancreatic islet beta cells are damaged resulting in loss of endogenous insulin production. Treatment includes daily insulin injections combined with meal planning and exercise. Nutrition management of the individual with both T1D and CD can be challenging for both the patient and the dietitian.
0 comments - Posted Nov 15, 2010
Imagine a pandemic. A disease comes into a community and then spreads across borders, causing disability and death in its path. Scientists fight to contain its spread, and doctors try to mitigate its effects. Most people associate this kind of scenario with a pathogen: a virus or bacteria, like HIV or avian flu, that has found a way to exploit the human body. In fact, however, the overwhelming majority of pandemics are the result of noncommunicable diseases that are not spread by pathogens: conditions like cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Nov 12, 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).
0 comments - Posted Nov 10, 2010
It's a pretty common complaint heard in households around the country: "My tummy hurts." Parents and teachers have been battling this complaint for decades, with children insisting that they are in pain and having no explanation why.
0 comments - Posted Nov 8, 2010
New technology is popping up all over in the medical community, from new diagnostic machines, to new ways of administering drugs, to an almost endless supply of self-monitoring devices such as blood glucose meters. But a technology often overlooked is one that could have the most impact-electronic medical records.
0 comments - Posted Nov 3, 2010
For over 30 years, we have been told over and over by doctors, the media, nutritionists, and food companies that saturated fat is bad for us, causing us to gain weight and contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD). It has led to a whole industry of low fat and non-fat food options, most claiming that saturated fat is bad for our health.
0 comments - Posted Nov 1, 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
It sounds like science fiction: a substitute for human skin, derived from human cells and used to treat difficult-to-treat diabetic foot ulcers. But it's a real product, called Dermagraft, manufactured and sold by a real company, Advanced BioHealing. The Connecticut-headquartered company is expanding its operations in Tennessee, part of an aggressive growth strategy to spread the word about its existing product and develop new ones.
0 comments - Posted Oct 26, 2010
Nearly 1,200 Rite Aid stores nationwide will host Diabetes Solutions Days on Nov. 2, 3 or 4 offering free health screenings and self-management solutions to patients living with diabetes, care-givers and those concerned about diabetes. Visitors also can get vaccinated against flu and/or pneumonia for $24.99 or $50 respectively, although many insurance plans including Medicare cover the cost. Vaccinations are especially important for diabetes patients because flu and pneumonia combine for the deaths of 10,000 to 30,000 diabetes patients annually, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
0 comments - Posted Oct 26, 2010
An intensive lifestyle intervention program designed with weight loss in mind improves diabetes control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes. These are the findings of the four-year Look AHEAD study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) is a multi-center, randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of reduced caloric intake and increased physical activity on the incidence of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular-related death.
0 comments - Posted Oct 25, 2010
Getting enough magnesium in your diet could help prevent type 2 diabetes. Dr. Ka He of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues have found that people who consumed the most magnesium from foods and vitamin supplements were about half as likely to develop diabetes over the next 20 years as people who took in the least magnesium.
0 comments - Posted Oct 22, 2010
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.)
0 comments - Posted Oct 19, 2010
As the weather turns and leaves begin to fall this year, new research shows that local aging seniors are well served to get up and grab a rake themselves - for more reasons than one. A group of four recent studies published in 2010 Harvard University health and medicine journals shows a surprising and strong connection between seniors, exercise, and mental and physical health, especially among aging women.
0 comments - Posted Oct 19, 2010
The 2010 Guidelines for CPR and Emergency Cardiovascular Care are here! What are the new changes? Watch the YouTube video and learn more.
0 comments - 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
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
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
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.
0 comments - Posted Oct 4, 2010
Better Choices, Better Health is the new online version of Stanford University's Chronic Disease Self Management Program (CDSMP). This six-week, interactive workshop is designed for people with a range of chronic health conditions, including diabetes. It is free for people in seven pilot states, thanks to a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2010
A national epidemiologic study finds a strong, consistent correlation between adult diabetes and particulate air pollution that persists after adjustment for other risk factors like obesity and ethnicity, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. The relationship was seen even at exposure levels below the current EPA safety limit.
0 comments - Posted Oct 1, 2010
September 2010
I’m back. I started working with Diabetes Health 10 years ago. At that time, Diabetes Health was the one publication open enough to talk about a subject that was controversial at that time… Lower Carb Options. That was my column, and I got a lot of slack from it. I didn’t understand why. People with diabetes want and need lower carb options. What was the problem with giving people options? That’s what Diabetes Health is all about – teaching people there are healthy options. Now it’s common to see lower carb options for people who have diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2010
Sanofi-aventis announced the upcoming launch of the blood glucose monitoring (BGM) devices BGStar® and iBGStarTM, developed by sanofi-aventis and its partner AgaMatrix. Due to their convenience, accuracy and ease-of-use, BGStar® and iBGStarTM will help the decision-making process for people with diabetes and their healthcare professionals, with the aim of improving patient self-management. iBGStarTM connects to the iPhone® or iPod touch®. This is an important step towards sanofi-aventis' vision of becoming the leader in global diabetes care by integrating innovative monitoring technology, therapeutic innovations, personalized services and support solutions. BGStar® and iBGStarTM are planned to be made commercially available in the first markets in early 2011.
0 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2010
At your next family reunion or gathering, consider discussing a different type of family tree-the family health history. Find out how to collect, organize and use information about your family's health at Creating a Family Health History, the newest topic on the NIHSeniorHealth website. NIHSeniorHealth is a health and wellness website designed especially for older adults from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), both part of the National Institutes of Health.
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 JDRF is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. A lot has changed in the past four decades. One change has to do with the organization's name. JDRF stands for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Years ago we called what we now know as type 1 diabetes, Juvenile Onset Diabetes Mellitus (JODM). We called it that because we knew (or thought we knew) it was the kind of diabetes that occurred in children. We now know that type 1 diabetes occurs in people of all age groups. There was a lot we didn't know 40 years ago, one of which was that type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2010
If you are meeting a friend for a drink after work or attending a holiday party where alcohol is being offered, is it a health risk or a benefit? The medical and nutrition literature reports that moderate consumption of alcohol can offer some health benefits, particularly for your heart. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 defines drinking in moderation as no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men. One drink, by definition, is a 12-ounce beer, eight-ounce glass of malt liquor, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. Moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, lower the risk of developing gallstones, and prevent the development of type 2 diabetes in people with pre-diabetes. Studies show that those benefiting from moderate consumption are middle-aged and older adults. It is not recommended, however, that anyone begin drinking or drink more frequently on the basis of health considerations.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2010
In type 1 diabetes, the body relentlessly attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. But a study by Joslin Diabetes Center scientists now has firmly established that some of these cells endure for many decades in a small group of people with the disease-offering clues to potential treatments for preserving and even restoring the crucial cell population.
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2010
On July 2, 2010, when Lt. Jose Lopez took the podium at the recent Children With Diabetes Friends for Life Annual International Conference in Orlando to speak to the parents of children with diabetes, his goal was to use his own story to reassure them about their children's future. "What I most wanted to convey to them was that people with diabetes, especially children, can do normal stuff and live their dreams. I am not a super hero - and I did it."
0 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2010
In my office, there is a box. Nothing fancy, just a plain brown box filled with a collection of "old school" diabetes stuff: "boil and re-use" syringes, urine test tape, screw-driven insulin pumps, medieval injection aids and lancing devices, and so on. Of course, no such collection would be complete without an array of classic blood glucose meters. The oldest one I have is a plug-in-the-wall model called a "Dextrometer" that featured test strip rinsing solution and a red LED display that could burn the retina of anyone within six feet.
0 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2010
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
MannKind Corporation announced that the company will supply its novel, ultra rapid acting insulin AFREZZATM (insulin human [rDNA origin]) for use in a study being conducted by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) as part of its Artificial Pancreas Project. The planned two-year study in patients with type 1 diabetes will leverage the unique rapid action of AFREZZA for use in a closed-loop blood sugar monitoring and insulin delivery system, termed the "artificial pancreas" by the JDRF. The study will be managed in conjunction with the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
0 comments - Posted Aug 29, 2010
Working toward the goal of unifying patients' diabetic treatment information in a single place, the PositiveID Corporation hopes to patent a new device that monitors insulin pens. The Insulin Tracker would attach to a user's insulin pen and record the times and amounts of injections. That information would then be sent to a database that allows for comprehensive monitoring. Insulin pens come in disposable and cartridge-replaceable flavors; the tracker can be moved easily from one pen to another.
0 comments - Posted Aug 27, 2010
In the early days after my type 1 diabetes diagnosis, I sentenced a lot of foods to what I came to think of as my personal DO-NOT-EAT list, often with only slight provocation.
0 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2010
Novo Nordisk announced today the availability of NovoDoseTM - the first-ever mobile insulin dosing guide for physicians to look up dosing guidelines and blood glucose goals for their patients with diabetes, a disease that affects nearly 24 million Americans. The guide is available as an application on iTunes and is specific to Novo Nordisk's modern insulin analog portfolio: Levemir® (insulin detemir [rDNA origin] injection), NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection), and NovoLog® Mix 70/30 (70% insulin aspart protamine suspension and 30% insulin aspart injection, [rDNA origin]).
0 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2010
Since 1970, Joslin Diabetes Center has awarded a 50-year bronze medal and certificate to recognize the remarkable achievement of a successful life with insulin-dependent diabetes for half a century or more. To date there have been approximately 2,663 50-Year Medals awarded by Joslin Diabetes Center. Joslin Diabetes Center has awarded medals to recipients throughout the world, including individuals from Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Hungary, Japan, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South America, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
0 comments - Posted Aug 21, 2010
Epic Wound Care, a subsidiary of New York-based United EcoEnergy Corp., has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with the American Diabetes Association in support of the ADA's "Mission to Stop Diabetes®" campaign.
0 comments - Posted Aug 20, 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
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.
0 comments - Posted Aug 16, 2010
Jennifer Dyer, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has developed and completed a pilot study that uses weekly, customized text messages to remind adolescent diabetes patients about their personal treatment activities. At the conclusion of the study, Dr. Dyer found an increase in overall treatment adherence and improved blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Aug 13, 2010
"The objective of this clinical trial (research study) is to determine if the medications can rescue the few beta cells that remain soon after the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes; and whether new beta cells can even be regenerated," commented Alex Rabinovitch, MD, Principal Investigator of the trial and Associate Director of The Sanford Project. "The investigational combinations of these medications could possibly allow patients to decrease or no longer need to inject insulin to keep their blood levels under proper control."
0 comments - Posted Aug 12, 2010
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
Two recent research studies on humans indicate that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine and peanuts, increases insulin sensitivity in older and obese people. A third study, done on mice, shows that resveratrol may someday become a powerful tool in therapies directed at macular degeneration and other retinal maladies.
0 comments - Posted Aug 6, 2010
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
The 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health Care System, found that preventable medical errors caused 44,000 to 98,000 preventable deaths each year, with an associated cost of $17 to $29 billion. Even using the conservative estimate, this placed medical errors among the leading causes of death in the U.S.
0 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2010
July 2010
We are always investigating new ideas, research findings, treatment options, and educational materials to share with you. This issue is very exciting because we were able to talk with experts and those with diabetes, and write about everything from traveling with type 1 in Italy to investigating why hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia are so dangerous.
0 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2010
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
Widely recognized evidence supports the fact that Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a very serious health risk primarily afflicting men over the age of forty, yet 80 to 90 percent of cases go undiagnosed except for the telltale symptoms of chronic fatigue and snoring. Precision diagnosis and recent developments in FDA-approved mouthpiece technology can now provide an unprecedented 78 percent reduction of the condition without surgery, and offer for the first time an effective and convenient alternative for those intolerant to using the frequently prescribed but highly rejected Continuous Positive Airway Pressure therapy.
0 comments - Posted Jul 28, 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
We have known for several years that Hepatitis C, a common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer, also makes people three to four times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. In studying the insulin resistance of 29 people with Hepatitis C, Australian researchers have confirmed that they have high insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. However, almost all insulin resistance occurs in muscle, with little or none in the liver, a very surprising finding given that Hepatitis C is a liver disease.
0 comments - Posted Jul 21, 2010
From environmentally friendly hybrid cars and heating with solar power to organic or natural foods, our culture is increasingly embracing green strategies. "Using natural dietary supplements to support healthy blood sugar levels and minimize the impact of glycation is a rational continuation of this green philosophy," says Steven Joyal, MD, vice president of Scientific Affairs and Medical Development for the Life Extension Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (www.lef.org). He is also author of the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2010
Looking for novel ways to help improve patient outcomes, the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute is using innovative adult education techniques to train diabetes educators around the world. While the cultural and epidemiological differences in each region can be challenging, David L. Horwitz, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, Chief Medical Officer of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, feels confident this program can make a positive impact to help improve patient outcomes.
0 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2010
Overview: 57 million Americans are estimated to have pre-diabetes, a condition in which a person's blood sugar (glucose) level is above normal but below a level that indicates diabetes. Pre-diabetes may have no outward symptoms, and is diagnosed with a blood glucose test.
0 comments - Posted Jul 16, 2010
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Joint Meeting of the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee has completed their evaluation of the scientific research available on the safety of rosiglitazone. The deliberations of the panel reflected the complexity of the issues, with several members voting to add additional warnings or to withdraw the drug from the U.S. market. Ultimately, the final recommendation was to allow Avandia to remain on the market. Now that the expert panel has concluded its meeting, the FDA will review their recommendations and make the final decision on whether the drug remains available to patients.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2010
Medtronic, Inc. announced today that Test B4U Drive, the first-ever, free program for teens with diabetes combining advanced driver skills training with diabetes management education, will be held July 19-21 at The Forum in Los Angeles. In partnership with the Juvenile Diabetes No Limits Foundation, Medtronic will continue the program throughout the summer across the country to teach teens with diabetes that good diabetes management is a key to staying safe behind the wheel.
0 comments - Posted Jul 14, 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
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
A study released in late June has brought some welcome news to the makers of Byetta and Januvia: Users of the two diabetes drugs run no greater risk of developing pancreatitis than people with diabetes who take other drugs. In fact, both drugs seem to put users at slightly less risk for the condition.
0 comments - Posted Jul 8, 2010
A clinical trial that used testosterone gel, a topically applied ointment, to increase muscle strength in older men with low testosterone levels was stopped because adverse cardiovascular events increased significantly among patients receiving the treatment.
0 comments - Posted Jul 7, 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
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
Depomed, Inc. and Santarus, Inc. announced new data suggesting that patients previously intolerant of metformin may be able to tolerate higher doses of metformin when treated with GLUMETZA® (metformin HCl extended release tablets). The finding will be presented at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Orlando. GLUMETZA is a once-daily, extended release formulation of metformin, and is approved for use in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is promoted in the U.S. by Santarus.
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.
0 comments - 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
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.
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2010
AARP today launched its second annual "Fat-to-Fit Summer Weight Loss Challenge," an online program challenging people to make positive, permanent lifestyle changes to improve their health. AARP's Fat-to-Fit challenge will be hosted on AARP's website (www.aarp.org/fat2fit). Fitness expert and author Carole Carson, a Nevada City, California, resident who lost more than 60 pounds at age 60, will lead Fat-to-Fit online community members through the summer-long program.
0 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2010
The American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society have issued a joint consensus statement that acknowledges some links between diabetes and cancer but also notes there are numerous questions that have yet to be answered.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 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
As a type 1 diabetic, I have found that it's a good idea to plan for the unexpected when traveling. Life is full of surprises, and so are vacations. The flight is late. The flight has been cancelled. We had a flat tire or ran out of gas. There is an accident on the highway, and the traffic isn't moving. Who would have ever thought that airline flights would be grounded for five days in most of Eastern Europe because of volcanic ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland? If a diabetic had planned on going for a week-long vacation in England or France and had taken limited insulin, syringes, or infusion sets, he might have been in big trouble. Trying to replenish medical supplies in a foreign country could prove to be very difficult.
0 comments - Posted Jun 16, 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 Duke University Medical Center study has concluded that obese men who have type 2 diabetes are almost four times as likely to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer during a prostate biopsy as men who do not have diabetes. When ethnicity is taken into account, obese white men run a five-times greater chance of being diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer.
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
Diabetic ketoacidosis poses enough of a threat on its own. But in a small number of cases, it leaves sufferers open to a potentially fatal infection called mucormycosis.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2010
New guidelines from the American Diabetes Association and two other major medical associations advise not prescribing low-dose aspirin therapy for women under 60 or men under 50 who have diabetes but no other risks for heart disease.
0 comments - Posted Jun 12, 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
Results from a Phase 3 study demonstrate MACUGEN® (pegaptanib sodium) significantly improved vision in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), a complication of diabetes that is a leading cause of blindness in people of working age.¹ In the study, 37 percent of patients treated with MACUGEN gained two lines, or 10 letters, of vision on the ETDRS eye chart at 54 weeks, compared to 20 percent of patients who received a sham (placebo-like) procedure which consists of anesthesia and a simulated injection in the eye (p=0.0047). The data were presented at the World Ophthalmology Congress in Berlin by Frank G. Holz, an investigator in the trial and director of the University Eye Hospital at the University of Bonn in Germany.
0 comments - Posted Jun 7, 2010
If you take metformin to control your type 2 diabetes, ask your doctor to take a look at your vitamin B-12 levels when you get a chance. A recent British study shows that metformin may cause a deficiency in the vitamin, which is necessary for the regeneration of red blood cells and the maintenance of nervous system health.
0 comments - Posted Jun 5, 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
Investigate. Inform. Inspire. This statement is not only our commitment to you, the readers of Diabetes Health, but also a call to action. In our June/July print issue (available online June 1 under the Digital Edition tab), we've done some investigating. We tracked down educational agencies, websites, software, and applications, and we've listed them for you in our 2nd Educational Resource Guide.
0 comments - Posted May 31, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 20, 2010
A husband-and-wife research team at the UC Davis School of Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $3.3 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to lead the first prospective, nationwide, multi-site clinical study of how to prevent the neurological injuries and, in rare cases, death caused by brain swelling in children in diabetic crisis.
0 comments - Posted May 19, 2010
A new study released by the Children's Hospital of New Orleans has found that black children with type 1 diabetes scored higher on A1c tests than white children who had similar blood glucose levels. Such ethnic disparity has already been shown in previous studies with adults.
0 comments - Posted May 18, 2010
Rhode Island-based CVS/pharmacy, which operates more than 7,000 pharmacies and drug stores in the United States, has announced three diabetes-related initiatives:
0 comments - Posted May 15, 2010
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.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted May 13, 2010
Dr. Richard Hays announced today that he is now recruiting children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes for Protégé Encore, a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial. This is the second of two Phase III studies testing the safety and efficacy of an investigational drug called teplizumab. The first study, known as Protégé, has completed enrollment of more than 530 subjects with type 1 diabetes. There is currently no approved therapy to slow the progression of type 1 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 12, 2010
Scientists at the Mayo Clinic have developed a molecule that can block the breakdown of insulin. Their discovery could lead to development of a new class of drugs to help treat diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2010
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.
0 comments - Posted May 8, 2010
Early management of type 2 diabetes with an integrated team of specialists, including a dietitian, diabetes educator, endocrinologist, cardiologist, and nephrologist, can significantly reduce the incidence of complications and lower healthcare costs, according to an online survey of more than 300 endocrinologists and family practice physicians. The survey was supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with the goal of determining the most common obstacles for physicians in treating type 2 diabetes patients and preventing complications. Sermo, the largest physician only online community, conducted the survey. A significant number of these physicians (44 percent) reveal that 50 percent of their patients develop at least one of the following serious complications: cardiovascular disease, nerve pain, kidney disease, stroke, blindness, or limb amputation.
0 comments - Posted May 8, 2010
Most women with gestational diabetes know that taking steps to manage the disease during pregnancy is critical for the health of both mother and child. What many women don't realize is that those steps need to continue even after the baby is born.
0 comments - Posted May 7, 2010
A new study to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) says that a single night of too little sleep can induce insulin resistance.
0 comments - Posted May 6, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 5, 2010
CINCINNATI - The popular diabetes medication metformin works in different fashion than the current widely accepted view. This new finding could lead to wider use of the drug-particularly in people with cancer.
0 comments - Posted May 4, 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.
0 comments - Posted May 1, 2010
April 2010
NEW YORK, April 27, 2010 - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation announced today that it is partnering with Living Cell Technologies (LCT), a New Zealand-based biotechnology company focused on developing cell based therapeutics, in a Phase II clinical trial to study the safety and effectiveness of transplanting encapsulated insulin-producing cells from pigs as a treatment for type 1 diabetes with significant hypoglycemia unawareness.
0 comments - 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.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2010
A team of researchers from Case Western University published an article revealing their invention of a "smart" insulin molecule that binds considerably less to cancer receptors and self-assembles under the skin. To provide a slow-release form of insulin, the compound self-assembles under the skin by "stapling" itself together with zinc ions. Zinc staples connect the pieces of the insulin puzzle together to create a functional protein.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2010