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Latest Diabetes Articles
(Editor's Note: Sections in italics are citations taken directly from the TSA and American Diabetes Association websites.)
2 comments - Posted Feb 18, 2014
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has released a list of the most frequently searched-for endocrine medical conditions on its patient education website at www.empoweryourhealth.org.
0 comments - Posted Dec 29, 2013
(Editor's Note:This article originally ran in Diabetes Health on January 27, 2008.)
2 comments - Posted Dec 25, 2013
I recently saw a program on HBO featuring a Turkish and an Israeli physician who discussed their role in selling kidneys on the organ trafficking market. The Turk, a surgeon, saw himself as a skilled physician who is able to extend patients' lives. The Israeli, a nephrologist, saw himself as a hero. Both work in an shady industry where some people's demands and pocketbooks operate at levels far beyond our society's comfort zone: Many people consider organ trafficking to be a nefarious thing.
0 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2013
(Editor's Note: We originally published this article in October 2008. Laura Plunkett's observations are timeless, and her comments elicited several interesting responses from readers.)
1 comment - Posted Oct 25, 2013
"For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10
15 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2013
A Diabetes Health Classic. This article originally was published on June 20, 2007.
0 comments - Posted Sep 2, 2013
CHICAGO, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Key results from the global Diabetes Attitudes, Wishes and Needs 2 study (DAWN2TM) show that one in five people with diabetes feel discriminated against because of their condition, and support from the broader community is scarce. Results from the DAWN2 study were presented at the 73rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). DAWN2 represents opinions from more than 15,000 people living, or caring for people, with diabetes in 17 countries across four continents.
0 comments - Posted Jun 26, 2013
The main question that doctors---and patients---ask about a prescription drug is simple: Does it work? Does this medicine improve the condition it's prescribed for?
0 comments - Posted Jun 25, 2013
The CVS Mobile app from CVS/pharmacy is a unique new interactive smartphone app that provides users with numerous personalized ways to both manage their healthcare and handle drugstore needs.
0 comments - Posted Jun 6, 2013
Why is your goal for A1c so much lower than the ADA's 7% and AACE's (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) 6.5%?
2 comments - Posted Jun 5, 2013
This past Memorial day, the first holiday of the summer season, was a chance to shake off cabin fever and fire up the grill-a perfect cooking method for people with diabetes because it requires no added fat but still provides that big punch of flavor.
0 comments - Posted Jun 4, 2013
Of course there are a million things that scare me about diabetes, but the one that tops the charts is the idea of losing the battle against my diabetes in my sleep. An article about the overnight passing of a beautiful and healthy young woman with type 1 diabetes is buzzing on many of my friends' Facebook walls and the mood is unavoidably somber in the diabetes online community tonight.
8 comments - Posted Jun 3, 2013
Whether because of age, weight, or lack of athletic chops, most type 2s-and I'm one of them-have settled on walking as their main form of exercise. It's the simplest, easiest exercise you can do: Put one foot in front of the other, rinse and repeat.
0 comments - Posted Jun 2, 2013
People with diabetes know the score. We've all seen "revolutionary" drugs and treatments introduced with fanfare, and we know that that much of the time they're evolutionary at best. But something has changed in the world of diabetes care.
3 comments - Posted Jun 1, 2013
Diabetes is certainly a journey. The more I learn about it, the more I want to step off this path and onto a new one. So, how do you change the course of such an expensive and frustrating chronic illness?
2 comments - Posted May 31, 2013
I've been type 1 diabetic for 15 years. It hasn't been easy and I'm still grasping to keep my feet on the ground medically. Every time I think I've got this disease figured out, something new gets thrown at me and I stumble over and over again. From insulin resistance to pump failures to carbohydrate/insulin sensitivity changes to exercise regimens to health insurance issues to medical bill payments to a seemingly innocent cut on the sole of my foot, etc., I'm getting worn out.
8 comments - Posted May 29, 2013
You've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted May 27, 2013
Despite incredible advances in dental technology over the past 50 years, many people still dread visits to the dentist-enough to put off going even when their teeth are throbbing with pain and their gums are oozing blood.
2 comments - Posted May 24, 2013
According to research out of a lab in North Carolina, there's more to worry about for type 1 diabetes than a lack of insulin.
1 comment - Posted May 23, 2013
Are there supplements that help to decrease insulin resistance? Are there supplements that can increase insulin resistance?
2 comments - Posted May 22, 2013
Americans are getting better at managing their type 2 diabetes, according to a new study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine. But that's not to say we still don't have a long way to go.
1 comment - Posted May 21, 2013
We have all been there: the clammy hands, nervous stomach, constant anxiety, racing thoughts about eating choices we should or shouldn't have made-all caused by the anticipation of seeing our endocrinologist.
2 comments - Posted May 20, 2013
Two new drugs originally developed by Eli Lilly are showing promise when it comes to treating type 2 diabetes.
1 comment - Posted May 19, 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.
2 comments - Posted May 17, 2013
If you're trying to drop a few pounds, skipping that before-dinner cocktail or glass of red wine with dinner might be a great first step.
0 comments - Posted May 16, 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.
26 comments - Posted May 15, 2013
Diabetes educator Constance Brown-Riggs has heard all of the excuses. Her patients aren't taking their medication, or they aren't sticking to their treatment plans.
1 comment - Posted May 14, 2013
Looking to age gracefully? Then you might want to think twice about that cheeseburger with a side of fries you were planning for lunch.
0 comments - Posted May 13, 2013
People today have an incredible array of methods for finding the latest news and information about diabetes: the Internet, social media, and print publications. But perhaps the most powerful is the strong relationships they develop within the tight-knit diabetes community.
0 comments - Posted May 10, 2013
One of the surest ways to imprint a product on consumers' minds is to put it through an impressive test to show its ruggedness.
0 comments - Posted May 9, 2013
Diabetics with dental infection should have a longer course of antibiotics, up to a year. Is there an optimal timing of antibiotic that should be used?
0 comments - Posted May 8, 2013
Here's a little secret for those of you looking to eat right: Fast food restaurants don't have to be your enemy. That's right, those brightly lit temples paying tributes to burgers, and fries, and nuggets can provide decent meals if you're in a rush. The key, as always, is to be careful and informed about the choices you make.
1 comment - Posted May 7, 2013
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 10 years ago. My response to the news, very typical, was to begin a routine of vigorous exercise and dieting. With a beginner's enthusiasm, I lost almost 30 pounds (down from 220) and drove my A1c three months after my diagnosis down to 5.6%.
1 comment - Posted May 6, 2013
A short while ago my middle finger on my left hand started acting weird. It was sticking in a bent position, for lack of a better term. If you've ever seen Jim Carrey in the comedy movie Liar, Liar doing his version of "The Claw," where his hand suddenly has a mind of its own, that's a somewhat accurate account of how my hand was behaving. Unfortunately though, this was no comedy, this was beginning to be an extremely painful problem.
2 comments - Posted May 5, 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.
1 comment - 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
When Tommy Kelley was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three years ago, while he was in eighth grade, he had a hard time finding information that related to him.
0 comments - Posted May 2, 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
What is cardio? To some it may mean swinging back and forth on an Arc Trainer with zero resistance while reading a book, and for others, gut-wrenching hill sprints followed by kettle bell swings.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 2013
If you and your family eat a lot of meals out, you may not be getting enough nutrients. That's especially true when it comes to the kids, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 29, 2013
Although there are small hints that the American obesity epidemic may be slowing a little, one in every three American kids is overweight or obese. To find out why, National Public Radio, together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, looked at what goes on in American households between school and bedtime-a period they call "crunch time."
0 comments - Posted Apr 28, 2013
I wanted to interview my husband about my diabetes. He played a huge part in helping me accept my type 1 diabetes and he has never made me feel inferior for having it. Rick and I just celebrated the 15th anniversary since our first date, and since I've only had diabetes for 18 years, he's been there for most of it. He was there during the times I was out of control and in denial, and he's been there while I work on treating myself right and trying to take good care of myself.
0 comments - Posted Apr 27, 2013
Now people with diabetes can display data from their insulin pumps and supported blood glucose maters thanks to the t:connect diabetes management application from Tandem Diabetes that received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in February.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 2013
If you're concerned about your teen's extra pounds, it might be a good idea to keep those concerns to yourself and enforce some healthier eating habits instead.
0 comments - Posted Apr 23, 2013
Obese patients hoping to slim down with bariatric surgery may soon be able to get the weight-loss effects of gastric bypass without going under the knife, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 21, 2013
Insulin, shots, meter, blood
Emotions are about to flood
DKA - Hospital stay
I just don't know what to say
0 comments - Posted Apr 20, 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
So what do those long hours on nursing duty mean when it comes to the quality of healthcare we receive? When it comes to overworked nurses, it leads to a higher risk of mistakes, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 18, 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
Through hard work of many volunteers, and certainly God's grace
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 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
Hikes to the beach, overnight camping, swimming, playing sports, an exhilarating run on the zip line, songs and skits by the campfire. Friends for life. This is the magic of camp, and diabetes camp is no exception.
0 comments - Posted Apr 13, 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
The key to encouraging people to choose healthier foods is to make good-for-you items more affordable, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2013
Using insulin to treat type 2 diabetes could lead to weight gain, according to a new study from Tulane University.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 2013
In February I posted my original back up plan for last-minute workouts from home or the office. If you've been consistent, you should be ready for some new exercises. If not, you can always refer back to the original article for guidance.
0 comments - Posted Apr 9, 2013
At a time when more and more Americans are protesting big government, it turns out that a majority of us support new laws setting higher nutrition standards in school, a new survey says.
0 comments - Posted Apr 8, 2013
Doctors are getting behind such tech-savvy healthcare approaches as electronic prescriptions and medical records, and their efforts are helping them ultimately save their patients money, according to a new study.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2013
Every year millions of people with type 2 diabetes vow to change their diets, lose weight, exercise more, and lower their A1c's.
0 comments - Posted Apr 6, 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.
1 comment - Posted Apr 5, 2013
Diabetes can seem complicated and overwhelming, full of charts and devices and concerned-looking medical professionals. There's talk of hormones and endocrine systems, of obscure organizations and dietary plans.
6 comments - Posted Apr 4, 2013
I've had type 1 diabetes for 18 years and whenever I hear bad news about someone with diabetes it hits me hard.
4 comments - Posted Apr 3, 2013
This person is referring to the ACCORD study, which in its initial unsophisticated scoring supposedly showed that a large group of elderly diabetics who had existing heart disease, died sooner when their A1cs were brought down.
1 comment - Posted Apr 2, 2013
1. Thou shalt not judge people with diabetes
3 comments - Posted Apr 1, 2013
Seniors don't have to face off against buff muscleheads at the gym in order to stay healthy, according to a new University of Illinois study that shows a DVD workout can be just as effective for older adults.
0 comments - Posted Mar 31, 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.
1 comment - Posted Mar 29, 2013
The effect of carbohydrate on blood sugar will be multiplied in inverse proportion to childrens' weight. This means that the smaller they are, the greater effect a little bit of carbohydrate will have on them. It's been shown that children with elevated blood sugars (usually due in part to high carbohydrate intake) have diminished brain volume and lower IQs.
0 comments - Posted Mar 28, 2013
As of March 25, 2013, LifeScan has begun a voluntary recall and replacement of all of its OneTouch® Verio®IQ blood glucose meters in the United States. The meters are being recalled and replaced because of a technical problem that fails to deliver important information about extremely high blood glucose levels.
0 comments - Posted Mar 27, 2013
New stem cell research may take a step toward preventing amputations in people with diabetes, according to a new study out of Ireland.
0 comments - Posted Mar 26, 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
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 24, 2013
Diabetes is insanely expensive. I often wonder how much it has cost me over the 18 years I've been funding it. Sometimes I had enough money to purchase all my supplies, sometimes I didn't. I felt like a loser every time I had to leave supplies at the pharmacy. You'd think I'd have gotten used to it at some point, but no, I cried every single time.
12 comments - Posted Mar 22, 2013
Dawn phenomenon is the situation where the liver removes insulin from the blood in the morning hours, which causes morning blood sugars to go up, even if breakfast is skipped.
0 comments - Posted Mar 21, 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
As California addresses record high health care costs-the average state resident currently spends $23 a day on healthcare-a new report reveals ways that could curb those costs considerably.
1 comment - Posted Mar 16, 2013
Summer camp for kids with diabetes enables them to enjoy traditional camp activities with special staff and medical professionals who have experience with the condition. For many youngsters, camp is the first time they connect with another child who has the same medical issue, which offers both a bond and a step towards living with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 15, 2013
Accountable Care Organizations, it seems, haven't won over 100 percent of all physicians.
0 comments - Posted Mar 14, 2013
Dawn phenomenon is the situation where the liver removes insulin from the blood in the morning hours, which causes morning blood sugars to go up, even if breakfast is skipped.
0 comments - Posted Mar 13, 2013
Although some Continuing Medical Education (CME) is aimed at helping doctors improve communication skills, more doctors should get involved.
0 comments - Posted Mar 12, 2013
A study by J.D. Power and Associates recently published online examined customer satisfaction with blood glucose meters among 2,681 adult meter users who have either type 1 or 2 diabetes. Survey results found the highest level of satisfaction among users of Roche Diabetes Care's ACCU-CHEK products compared with other blood glucose meter brands.
0 comments - Posted Mar 11, 2013
For a happier life, it's time to get moving. According to a new study out of Great Britain, exercise provides a big boost when it comes to living with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 10, 2013
While walking through my mother's New York City neighborhood, El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem recently, I came across an eye-catching series of Warhol-esque signs prominently displayed outside of many bodegas in the neighborhood. The signs read, "I Big Cans" and may have been produced by beverage manufacturers in response to the recent large beverage ban passed in New York City. Double-entendres aside on the campaign tag line, I had an issue with these signs.
0 comments - Posted Mar 9, 2013
Research into a cure for type 1 diabetes proceeds on several fronts. One interesting approach is seeking ways to manipulate the autoimmune system to prevent the body's mistaken destruction of pancreatic beta cells. Another tack is the transplantation of pancreatic tissue, either from human cadavers or carefully isolated "clean" pigs that have been specially raised for the purpose.
0 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2013
Can over-hydration or dehydration affect blood sugar level?
3 comments - Posted Mar 6, 2013
Adventure travel is a dream for many, but for Graham Jackson it's the sort of thing he's been doing all his life. Born in the country of Lesotho in southern Africa (pronounced "Leh-zoo-too"), he grew up motocross racing and building off-road buggies with his father. When he was 10 years old, he and his family took a safari in a Range Rover across the expansive Kalahari Desert where zebras, lions, and giraffes are known to roam, and summer temperatures range from 68-113 degrees F-and occasionally reach as much as 122 degrees. It was a journey that influenced the course of Jackson's life.
0 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2013
Share Your NovoLog® (insulin aspart [rDNA origin] injection) Community Star Story for the Chance to Win a Donation to the Charity of Your Choice!
0 comments - Posted Mar 4, 2013
Chris Barnes in't only the husband of a famous woman with diabetes, Brandy Barnes. He's also the leader of the "Partners Perspective Program," a new segment of the DiabetesSisters Conference Brandy founded several years ago.
0 comments - Posted Mar 3, 2013
The short-term legislation enacted to avoid the "fiscal cliff" at the start of 2013 has long-term consequences for Medicare beneficiaries' access to diabetes testing supplies (DTS). The legislation drastically cuts independent community pharmacy reimbursement for DTS and will likely decrease beneficiary access. Decreased beneficiary access to DTS could result in less patient adherence and increased long-term costs due to avoidable complications in the management of diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Mar 1, 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
For people who take insulin, one of the hardest parts of their routine is injecting themselves before a meal, then having to wait 20 or 30 minutes before eating. For anybody who's hungry and raring to dine, the wait can be frustrating.
0 comments - Posted Feb 27, 2013
I interviewed Brandy Barnes in late 2011 ("Support on the Diabetes Journey," article 7400 on the Diabetes Health website) about the inspiration for her 2008 launch of DiabetesSisters (www.diabetessisters.org). The rapidly growing organization of women with diabetes has struck a chord with its optimistic message of sisterhood and loving mutual support. As Brandy prepares for two major conferences this year, I got her to hold still long enough to give us an update.
0 comments - Posted Feb 25, 2013
(Editor's Note: Although Becki Lang lives in the United Kingdom, we thought her story is one that would resonate with American readers. Unfortunately, in the United States there is no national organization that does what Medical Detection Dogs does. One organization that comes close is Northern California-based Dogs for Diabetics, which is limited by the sheer vastness of the state and the country from serving a larger area. Our hope is that Becki's story might inspire other people with diabetes to start similar detection dog programs across America.)
0 comments - Posted Feb 23, 2013
If you feel alone in your diabetes and wished you had a support group, DiabetesSisters has a free program on how to get a local PODS (Part of DiabetesSisters) group started. To see how it's done, I interviewed Lori Veliquette and Wende Jorgensen, two Northern California women who, thanks to PODS, developed a close relationship as DiabetesSisters.
0 comments - Posted Feb 22, 2013
(Editor's Note: Check with your physician before undertaking any exercise routine.)
0 comments - Posted Feb 21, 2013
To reach your long-term goals for managing diabetes, I think it's helpful to stop and write down what short-term steps you can take that will help you reach your objectives.
0 comments - Posted Feb 20, 2013
While this robot doesn't do housework, the technological advancements of the space-age cartoon "The Jetsons" might not be as far away as we think.
0 comments - Posted Feb 19, 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
Sean Glass learned about the time he was in kindergarten that his type 1 diabetes was ultimately his alone to manage.
0 comments - Posted Feb 15, 2013
With all the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates filling every aisle of virtually every store this time of year, Valentine's Day can be treacherous for those with diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2013
Like Boy Scouts everywhere, smart phone users will always be prepared in an emergency, since their devices have the ability to ensure that all of their health information can be accessed in an instant.
0 comments - Posted Feb 13, 2013
Take advantage of Diabetes Health's special deal with Living Social. We are offering a one time off subscription rate of $15*, which is 50% savings from the current subscription price.
0 comments - Posted Feb 12, 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.
3 comments - Posted Feb 10, 2013
Students with type 1 diabetes will have more opportunity for higher education thanks to a donation from Lilly Diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Feb 9, 2013
Here's a bit of news that, if conclusively proven, could gladden the hearts of everybody who struggles to get into a regular exercise habit: British researchers say that short 30-second bursts of intense activity, adding up to only 3 minutes per week, duplicate the effects of much longer gym workout or track running routines.
0 comments - Posted Feb 8, 2013
My previous boss once said to me as I freaked out about having to get some blood work drawn, "They should do a study on you."
0 comments - Posted Feb 7, 2013
If you have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, you have to start looking seriously at how you live your life. Talk to any persons who are insulin-dependent and they will tell you how much they wish they could be in your situation: a point where you can make changes to avoid getting to their stage of the illness.
1 comment - Posted Feb 6, 2013
I have decided to start using an insulin pump.
5 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2013
It comes as no surprise to a person with diabetes that having high blood sugar can have a huge impact on your entire body and how you feel. But did you know it can also cause many problems in your mouth? Your teeth and gums are heavily affected by the excess glucose in your system, and without proper preventative care, people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes can experience serious long-term damage to their mouths.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 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."
9 comments - Posted Feb 2, 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.
7 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.
10 comments - Posted Jan 29, 2013
Keep a close eye on this story. It has two elements necessary for creating a lot of buzz: a celebrity and his unconventional "cure" for a disease.
5 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2013
CHICAGO, IL -- January 24, 2012 -- The news of celebrity chef Paula Deen having diabetes has triggered a national conversation about how diet affects people with diabetes or those who are at risk of getting it.
0 comments - Posted Jan 24, 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 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.
1 comment - 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.
1 comment - Posted Jan 17, 2013
Israel-based Oramed announced that it has sent an application to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to enter Phase 2 trials of its oral insulin product. The company has been working on developing a means of delivering insulin orally, which would allow people with diabetes to avoid having to inject themselves with the hormone.
2 comments - Posted Jan 16, 2013
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Standing Time: 10 minutes
0 comments - Posted Jan 15, 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."
3 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
The American Diabetes Association's newly released 2013 edition of its annual "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes" recommends two notable changes:
3 comments - Posted Dec 30, 2012
We are delighted to announce that Scott Millay King, cofounder and former editor-in-chief of Diabetes Health, is coming back to the magazine as a regular columnist. You might remember his popular column, "My Own Injection," in which he wrote heart-warming stories about the challenges of being a diabetic dad. When he began the column 21 years ago, he was the only blogger giving a voice to type 1 diabetes. Many of today's online bloggers got their start by writing for Scott and Diabetes Health (formerly Diabetes Interview). Scott gave a stage to many voices, knowing that our readers want to hear different perspectives on how people manage their diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Dec 29, 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
Having type 1 diabetes causes me to worry excessively about getting sick. Admittedly I sometimes go overboard in my attempt to avoid these seasonal germs. I find myself avoiding people showing symptoms as though they are infected with the plague, skipping goodies in the staff kitchen at work, and dodging shared office equipment with potential sickies.
1 comment - Posted Dec 25, 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
As we people with diabetes know all too well, diabetes presents some of its greatest daily around the dinner table. This is an area where I still find one of my biggest struggles: the ability to create tasty low-carb meals.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 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.
2 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2012
My diabetes and I have traveled a lot of miles together in nineteen years. Racing Ironman triathlons in Australia, Europe, the Carribean and all over North America, climbing and camping at the top of 14,000 foot Mt. Whitney, and of course dozens of family vacations and business trips. Packing equipment and supplies for an Ironman triathlon and 3 weeks in Australia requires a bit of planning and preparation, but when you have diabetes you feel like you do that for just a weekend out of town. Meters, strips, insulin, syringes, infusion sets, pump supplies, snacks . . . a simple weekend trip becomes a lunar expedition.
0 comments - Posted Dec 18, 2012
No less an authority than the New York Times wrote in May 2006 that Halle Berry has type 1 diabetes, listing her as one of several "stars who have type 1 - Gary Hall, the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer; Adam Morrison, the Gonzaga University basketball star; [and] Halle Berry."
3 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2012
Like aspirin, metformin is one of those drugs that over the years keeps proving itself beneficial in ways it wasn't originally intended to be.
0 comments - Posted Dec 16, 2012
Dr. Kenneth P. Moritsugu, MD, MPH, FACPM is a very interesting man. He served as the Acting Surgeon General of the United States in 2006 and was made Chairman of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute in October 2007. The Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute is designed to serve as a home for the diabetes family and a trusted place of diabetes learning that will inspire diabetes innovation, improved care, and better outcomes worldwide. Through the Institute, Johnson & Johnson is opening and operating state-of-the-art instructional facilities around the world to provide health professionals with education and training aimed at improving diabetes patients' outcomes by working at the community level.
1 comment - Posted Dec 15, 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
As the winter holidays approach, with their cold weather and abundant food temptations, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group is offering 10 simple tips people with diabetes and prediabetes should follow to help stay healthy.
0 comments - Posted Dec 13, 2012
Jay Hewitt is 41 years old and has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1991. He is an elite Ironman triathlete (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) and three-time member of the U.S. National Team for Long Course Triathlon. He is a lawyer, the father of a 16-month-old daughter, and a motivational speaker. He speaks to people with diabetes and others all over the world on fitness, nutrition, and achieving goals in life and business. Jay is also captain of Team Joslin at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, MA. Visit Jay's website at www.jayhewitt.com.
1 comment - Posted Dec 12, 2012
To partner with the federal government or not. That is the question facing many of the nation's governors as crunch time approaches to carry out the 2010 health care law.
0 comments - Posted Dec 11, 2012
I would exercise if I had more time... if I had a health club membership... if it didn't hurt so much... if I knew what exercises to do... if I could do it with my family... if I could control my blood sugar...
1 comment - Posted Dec 10, 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
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
There are ways to live with diabetes that allow for optimal health and relative freedom from complications. But to obtain them requires knowledge and know-how.
3 comments - Posted Dec 6, 2012
Mindful eating may help control weight as well as blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Dec 5, 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.
1 comment - Posted Dec 4, 2012
The study, conducted by Pei-Chun Chen, Ph.D., of the National Taiwan University College of Public Health in Taipei, and colleagues, followed two groups: one consisting of an equal number of people with and without diabetes, and the other consisting of equal numbers of people with and without clinical depression.
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2012
New research reveals that those suffering from depression might be more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
0 comments - Posted Dec 3, 2012
CeQur SA, a Swiss company that develops insulin delivery devices, has received approval to market its PaQ® insulin delivery device in Europe.
0 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2012
While daily meal planning can be tricky when someone in the family is living with diabetes, the holidays can be especially challenging.
0 comments - Posted Dec 1, 2012
A report in the December issue of the journal Diabetologia says that a study of 1,000 active-duty military personnel who later developed type 1 diabetes showed that low levels of vitamin D significantly increased the chances of developing the disease.
0 comments - Posted Nov 30, 2012
Last summer, I led the third annual swim-run biathlon for the Barton Center for Diabetes Education, which hosts two Massachusetts camps for children with type 1-Camp Joslin for boys and Camp Clara Barton for girls. It was at Camp Joslin that I met a memorable eight-year-old boy who exemplifies what being a diabetes hero is all about. I'll call him "Adam.'
1 comment - Posted Nov 29, 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
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.
9 comments - Posted Nov 22, 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.
10 comments - Posted Nov 19, 2012
A Chinese study of 345 patients divided between non-diabetics and people with type 2 diabetes concludes that gut bacteria between the two groups differs substantially-so much so that the bacteria can be used to accurately determine who has or doesn't have the disease.
0 comments - Posted Nov 18, 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.
13 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.
2 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
What are you doing today to mark the occasion? I have an idea for something you might enjoy!
0 comments - Posted Nov 14, 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.
3 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
When my doctor said, "You have diabetes. You'll have to watch your sugar, change your lifestyle, and lose some weight," I was dismayed. For one, I was addicted to sugar. Second, I had been trying for years to lose weight, and I knew it just wasn't possible. Third, I was not adept in the kitchen--toasting bread maxxed out my repertoire.
1 comment - Posted Nov 11, 2012
A report in the October 2012 issue of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics says that airport full-body scans can cause malfunctions in insulin pumps or continuous glucose monitors.
4 comments - Posted Nov 10, 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."
1 comment - Posted Nov 9, 2012
President Barack Obama's victory cements the Affordable Care Act, expanding coverage to millions but leaving weighty questions about how to pay for it and other care to be delivered to an increasingly unhealthy, aging population.
0 comments - Posted Nov 8, 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 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
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.)
3 comments - Posted Oct 31, 2012
Danish researchers report that high levels of transferrin may contribute to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Transferrin is a glycoprotein that binds with iron and transfers it to cells.
0 comments - Posted Oct 30, 2012
Burlington, Vt. - The Center for Medicare Advocacy and co-counsel from Vermont Legal Aid today announced that plaintiffs and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius filed a Settlement Agreement in the landmark case of Jimmo v. Sebelius, bringing an end to Medicare's long-practiced but illegal application of an "Improvement Standard." The settlement of the case [Jimmo v. Sebelius, No. 5:11-cv-00017 (D.Vt.)] will improve access for tens of thousands of Americans, especially older adults and people with disabilities, whose Medicare coverage is denied or terminated because these beneficiaries are considered "not improving" or "stable." Resolution of this legal challenge effectively ends this harmful practice and ensures fair coverage rules for those who live with chronic conditions and rely on Medicare to cover basic, necessary health care.
0 comments - Posted Oct 29, 2012
As a little girl, I was scared at night that something evil might be under the bed. If I had to get up to go to the bathroom, I made sure to leap as far away from the bed as possible. As an adult, I'm still afraid that something will get me at night, but it's no longer a monster: It's the life-saving insulin that I take.
1 comment - Posted Oct 28, 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
Introduced to South Africa by the Cape Malays, this Indonesian curried meat loaf is to South Africa what Moussaka is to Greece and Lasagne is to Italy. Traditionally, Bobotie is served with yellow rice (add turmeric), chutney and banana slices dipped in
0 comments - Posted Oct 23, 2012
I'm not sure how everyone else is feeling about health insurance in the United States of America right now, but I know I'm worried. Ever since my type 1 diabetes diagnosis at 18 years old, I've been concerned about the possibility of losing my health insurance. But now, I'm even more worried by the fact that, despite my health insurance, my healthcare costs seem to be rising by the minute. It strikes me as colossally unfair that you can faithfully stick with your employer and still end up with health insurance that's much worse than what you started with. I feel overwhelmed by the new costs I'm seeing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
1 comment - Posted Oct 22, 2012
Author's note: Throughout this series, I will inject my own opinion, which frequently differs from that of the medical establishment in this field. Having had diabetes for more than 66 years, I place my emphasis on the well-being of fellow patients.
0 comments - Posted Oct 21, 2012
Are you annoyed by how quickly your electronic devices become obsolete? Now, deliberate obsolescence appears likely to have great medical value.
0 comments - Posted Oct 20, 2012
If you are among the readers who commented on this article ("Why Care Under the Affordable Care Act Will Be Unaffordable"), thank you very much for your response. The politics of healthcare can be a volatile issue. As the publisher and editor-in-chief of Diabetes Health, I don't always agree with my writers, but I believe that it's my duty to show the full spectrum of thought. Exposing a particular point of view does not mean that we are compromising our values. Instead, I see it as offering valuable information as to how we are different. Please remember as you read our articles that publishing an opinion does not equate to endorsing that opinion. Diabetes Health is well respected for offering all contributors an opportunity to discuss their perspective, even at the cost of frustrating our readers at times.
1 comment - Posted Oct 19, 2012
You might not realize this, but I'm actually pretty shy. I often find myself wishing that I had my husband's confidence. He doesn't worry about drawing attention to himself at parties or work. He embraces the mindset that if you don't like him, it's your problem, not his, and he shows himself to everyone just as he is.
0 comments - Posted Oct 18, 2012
Based on a recent study, the answer appears to be yes, both for those who have diabetes and those who do not.
1 comment - Posted Oct 17, 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.
1 comment - 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?
2 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
Let's be honest: it's quite hard to find indigenous American cuisine, because it's usually been influenced by one country or another. This, however, is a dish I had in Boston, albeit made with another fish. It has wonderful flavors and can be prepared in advance and cooked just before serving.
0 comments - Posted Oct 11, 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
Divabetic, a national program that helps women with diabetes feel more beautiful inside and out, will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on October 13, in Jefferson Alumni Hall at 10th and Locust streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The free event will include beauty and fashion services, music, and educational opportunities. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss their diabetes with certified diabetes educators and other healthcare providers, talk about diet with registered dietitians, get advice on makeup from professional makeup artists, and learn how to choose flattering styles of dress.
0 comments - Posted Oct 8, 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.
2 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
A healthy, candy-like cookie that young children and teens will enjoy making. These cookies are high in fiber (1.5 g). therefore, remember to exercise portion control.
0 comments - Posted Oct 3, 2012
The Republican proposal to change Medicare that has been championed by GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan remains unpopular with Americans, although younger people are more receptive to it than older ones, according to a new poll.
1 comment - Posted Oct 1, 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
Several recent articles should dispel any remaining notion that care provided under the so-called Affordable Care Act will in fact be affordable. Just the opposite is true.
12 comments - Posted Sep 28, 2012
The following letter to the editor asks Diabetes Health subscribers to share their experiences with Symlin. If you use Symlin, please tell us about it in the "Comments" section. Have you had more success in managing your diabetes with Symlin? How has your insurance company treated you regarding your prescription cost?
7 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2012
Philadelphia-based Echo Therapeutics plans to introduce a needle-free continuous glucose monitoring system to the US market in 2013, pending FDA approval. The Symphony® tCGM is a two-part device that monitors blood glucose by taking readings through a user's skin rather than via finger pricks. It is intended for use by anyone with diabetes, not just insulin pump users.
2 comments - Posted Sep 26, 2012
I was recently talking with my mom about my retirement plan: to be specific, about my worrisome lack of preparation for retirement. She consoled me by saying that I am still young and have a lot of time left to plan and save. It was then that I had a moment of total panic, as I realized that this is true only if my body continues to work. What if I develop complications from my type 1 diabetes?
1 comment - Posted Sep 25, 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.
5 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.
5 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
In 2009, when Bruce Share started drinking five glasses of iced tea before dinner and dropped 15 pounds from his already lean frame, he immediately knew that he had diabetes. In the preceding four years, he had learned a great deal about the disease as a member of the board of Defeat Diabetes. Now, he knew that it was his personal battle as well. A visit to his physician proved his intuition right. His A1C was 13%, and his blood sugar registered at 390. Eight months earlier, it had been perfect.
1 comment - Posted Sep 19, 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
I'm Impressed. I have a business membership at Sam's Club for the shop I manage and was doing some supply shopping the other day. As I walked into my local Sam's Club I found myself staring at Bret Michaels. Okay, it was a picture of Bret on a Sam's Club Healthy Living Made Simple magazine on a table at the front door. I can't resist Mr. Michaels so I figured I'd pick up a free copy of the magazine and read it later at home.
0 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2012
If you bought Disney or Marvel children's vitamins, you may be eligible for a refund. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's consumer protection agency, charged NBTY, the company formerly known as Nature's Bounty, with making false claims about certain multivitamins.
0 comments - Posted Sep 16, 2012
Diabetes self-care is much more fun when I'm happy. It's so much easier when I have a smile on my face. For a long time I thought negative emotions could be controlled or denied. I thought I could just put on a smile and they would go away. But they didn't.
1 comment - Posted Sep 15, 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.
14 comments - Posted Sep 13, 2012
A new blood test can predict which patients with heart failure are likely to need an internal implantable defibrillator that can treat abnormal heartbeat and prevent sudden death.
0 comments - Posted Sep 12, 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.
1 comment - Posted Sep 11, 2012
Israeli researchers believe that they have found a way to increase the survival and effectiveness of insulin-producing pancreatic cells transplanted into diabetic mice. The technique, developed by scientists at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, involves surrounding the transplanted beta cells with a three-dimensional latticework of nurturing blood vessels called "engineered tissue."
1 comment - Posted Sep 10, 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
The media abounds with stories about the sudden collapse and death of athletes whom we assumed were in the best of health. When such cases occur, we may become concerned about exercising ourselves. A recent presentation describing people who had been exercising during or within one hour of a cardiac arrest may assuage these concerns to a degree.
1 comment - Posted Sep 7, 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.
1 comment - Posted Sep 6, 2012
To a casual observer, Dr. Nat Strand might look like an over-achiever. After all, she and her partner won Season 17 of her favorite television show, "The Amazing Race." Winning the race opened her world up to the diabetes community, which, interestingly enough, inspired her to take better care of herself. Her mission now is to encourage everyone with diabetes to connect with the diabetes community and benefit from knowing others who understand the daily challenges of managing type 1 diabetes. When I caught up with Dr. Strand, we began by talking about what drove her to enter the Amazing Race.
2 comments - Posted Sep 5, 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.
1 comment - Posted Sep 4, 2012
Well-to-do people eat more healthy fruits, vegetables, proteins, and unsaturated fats than poorer people, who eat more carbohydrates, according to the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study reported at the European Society of Cardiology in Munich, Germany.
2 comments - Posted Sep 3, 2012
Recipe courtesy of "Eat What You Love: More Than 300 Incredible Recipes Low in Sugar, Fat and Calories" (Running Press 2010)
Although my boys love to order Chicken Parmesan when we dine out, the health content is always a concern -especially since it usually arrives thickly breaded, deeply fried, smothered in cheese, and served on a mountain of spaghetti! Here's a terrific easy stove-top recipe that's filled with all of the same great flavors but none of the excess fat and carbs.
0 comments - Posted Sep 2, 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.
1 comment - Posted Sep 1, 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.
1 comment - 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.
1 comment - 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 two best ways to increase your family's consumption of vegetables is to make them taste really good and have them readily available.
0 comments - Posted Aug 26, 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.
27 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2012
A 30-year study of life expectancy among people with type 1 diabetes showed a dramatic increase during the second half of the study, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Type 1s diagnosed between 1965 and 1980 have a life expectancy of 68.8 years—15 years more than type 1s diagnosed between 1950 and 1964. In the same period, general life expectancy for US residents increased by less than one year.
8 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2012
The other day, I read a post in which someone wrote that he had to take a "ton of insulin" to cover some carbs in his meal, and he disclosed the exact dose. The funny thing is, I have often taken that amount to cover my meals. Admittedly, they were higher carb meals, but I never really thought of it as being a "ton" of insulin. When you read something like this, you can't help but wonder if you are doing something wrong on a regular basis. I suddenly felt that maybe I was out of line in taking that particular dose at a normal meal.
3 comments - Posted Aug 23, 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.
1 comment - Posted Aug 21, 2012
Amy Powell, the first recipient of the Diabetes Health Pharmacist and American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) scholarship, was honored at the 2012 AADE conference in Indianapolis. As the winner, her conference fees and accommodation costs were paid, and she received a one-year AADE membership.
0 comments - Posted Aug 18, 2012
Right from the start, Andy Mandell thought of walking the perimeter of the US to raise awareness for diabetes as a military objective, a special ops mission to draw attention to the dangers of the disease. As someone who has lived with type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, Mandell saw his role as that of an educator, and he took it seriously, wanting to help others avoid the mistakes he had made after his diagnosis. An active guy who loved running, he followed his doctor's orders--to a degree. He checked food labels to make sure that he wasn't consuming too much sugar, and he continued his vigorous lifestyle. He felt good, so he saw no reason to worry.
4 comments - Posted Aug 17, 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 16, 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
As CEO of a company that manufactures insulin syringes and pen needles for the US and Canadian markets, I have been closely monitoring the regulations and trends pertaining to the safe disposal of the products we produce. Surveys indicate that less than five percent of the over three billion sharps devices sold in the US annually are disposed of in some type of closed container. Most of the remaining 95 percent are deposited, unprotected, in the household trash. Significant changes may be pending with regard to the disposal of used sharps devices, and it's likely that pharmacists will be affected by these changes.
13 comments - Posted Aug 14, 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
Jersey-based BD Medical, a division of Becton, Dickinson and Company, has introduced the Hyflow™ needle, a 27-gauge thin-wall needle designed for use with the company's prefillable syringe systems.
1 comment - Posted Aug 11, 2012
I don't sleep till noon, wait for other people to clean up my messes, or put off doing the laundry until I'm down to my last clean shirt. Still, when it comes to my diabetes, sometimes I can't help but feel like a total slacker.
4 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2012
A University of California San Francisco study says that middle-aged and older women who have diabetes are less satisfied with their sex life than women who do not have the disease.
0 comments - Posted Aug 9, 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
1 comment - 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
Martie Neugent's diagnosis of type 2 diabetes is one of those moments that he looks back on thankfully. He learned that he had the condition in 2000, at age 32, during what he assumed would be a routine trip to the doctor. Instead, it turned out to be a pivotal opportunity to make one of two choices. He could go on exactly as he had, adding a cocktail of medications to control his blood sugar levels, or he could make some noteworthy changes and map out a new life. For him, the choice was an easy one. "All my mother's uncles died at a young age," Neugent said about the ravages of diabetes in his extended family. "And my great-grandmother lost her leg. My first thought was that I was probably going to die if I didn't get it fixed."
1 comment - Posted Aug 3, 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
Country music star George Canyon recently teamed up with Animas to do a five-day, five-city tour across Canada to reach out to people with type 1 diabetes. The "George Canyon and Friends Diabetes Heroes Tour" started on May 14 in St. John's, Newfoundland, and ended on May 18 in Prince George, British Columbia, 3,000 miles west.
0 comments - Posted Aug 1, 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.
22 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2012
We are delighted to announce that Scott Millay King, cofounder and former editor-in-chief of Diabetes Health, is coming back to the magazine as a regular columnist. You might remember his popular column, "My Own Injection," in which he wrote heart-warming stories about the challenges of being a diabetic dad. When he began the column 21 years ago, he was the only blogger giving a voice to type 1 diabetes. Many of today's online bloggers got their start by writing for Scott and Diabetes Health (formerly Diabetes Interview). Scott gave a stage to many voices, knowing that our readers want to hear different perspectives on how people manage their diabetes.
1 comment - Posted Jul 30, 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
Editor's Note: Portions of this report were taken from a press release from CVS-Caremark.
0 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2012
Note: Recipe from "Splendid Low-Carbing for Life, Vol. 2" by Jennifer Eloff (www.low-carb.us)
0 comments - Posted Jul 25, 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.
6 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.
1 comment - Posted Jul 23, 2012
Let's face it; seafood is a way of life for us here in the South. We find excuses to eat it for any meal of the day, and this red snapper is no different. I managed to shed some of the sodium by cutting back on the salt, and switching out the butter for some delicious olive oil. Your whole family will love these healthier, succulent fillets of fish. The name says it all, this is a recipe that you won't want to miss!
0 comments - Posted Jul 22, 2012
It's time for the parent-teacher conferences at a school in an African American community. For one child who has shown behavior problems and poor academic performance, the teacher and parents are discussing working together to improve the child's performance.
0 comments - Posted Jul 21, 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.
2 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2012
Lookin' for bread with a little bite to it? Then you're going to fall in love with these chili corn muffins in a new light. I was able to reduce the fat and sodium by using egg whites and reduced-fat cheese and fat-free buttermilk. They're great for a grilling night!
1 comment - Posted Jul 19, 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.
13 comments - Posted Jul 17, 2012
On a Sunday morning, a busy couple and their school-age children enter a superstore for their weekly grocery shopping. As they move through the center of the store, their shopping cart fills with packs of flavored yogurt, fruit sauces, fruit bars, fruit juices, flavored milk, prepared school lunches, snacks, and family meal packs.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 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
Hearty winter meals such as stews, soups and chili are easy to make in large quantities and later re-heat for another meal. Although cooks love the time-saving quality of leftovers, many people dislike eating the same meal two days in a row.
1 comment - Posted Jul 13, 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.
1 comment - Posted Jul 9, 2012
Kyrra Richards, who has type 1 diabetes, has transformed her desire for a stylish diabetes carrying case into a thriving business. Her sense of style has struck a chord with a large audience, including a company that is working with her to customize her line to its pump. It's been several years since Diabetes Health interviewed Kyrra at an AADE conference (http://www.diabeteshealth.com/tv/play/182.html). I spoke to her recently to catch up and see how things were going.
1 comment - Posted Jul 8, 2012
Diabetes affects nearly 25 million Americans, and that number is expected to grow substantially every year. It's the fifth leading cause of death in America, more than breast cancer and AIDs combined. And according to a report released last week from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), it's a disease that's costing Americans $83 billion a year in hospital fees — 23 percent of total hospital spending.
3 comments - Posted Jul 5, 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.
1 comment - Posted Jul 4, 2012
What is the difference between "good carbs" and "bad carbs"? Is that ache in your side normal or a sign of cancer? Is blurry eyesight normal for people with diabetes, or should you start a carrot diet to improve your vision?
0 comments - Posted Jul 3, 2012
Annie Snyder figured she'd be out of the pediatrician's office in 30 minutes, tops. Then she'd head home, tuck the medical permission for YMCA summer camp in her bag and finish packing.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 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
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.
7 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.
3 comments - Posted Jun 28, 2012
A Walgreens study during which pharmacists counseled patients about taking injectable diabetes medications improved the patients' adherence by 24 percent.
0 comments - Posted Jun 27, 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.
3 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.
2 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.
2 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
Medical devices aren't just any old pieces of technology. Lives depend upon them. For that reason, the government outlined a process decades ago by which manufacturers and importers were supposed to report malfunctions. But there was one problem: When malfunctions occurred, the manufacturers and importers did not admit it. According to the Food and Drug Administration, "A 1986 General Accounting Office (GAO) study showed that less than one percent of device problems occurring in hospitals are reported to FDA, and the more serious the problem with a device, the less likely it was to be reported."
0 comments - Posted Jun 22, 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.
5 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
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.
3 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2012
This is an open letter to marketers who target people with diabetes. From the point of view of a person with diabetes, marketers often make the following mistakes when promoting their products to us.
5 comments - Posted Jun 15, 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.
1 comment - 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.
7 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.
1 comment - 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 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
"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.
3 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.
2 comments - Posted Jun 1, 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.
1 comment - Posted May 31, 2012
Diabetes is increasingly taking hold in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East. According to Dr. Ala Alwan, assistant director general for noncommunicable diseases and mental health at the World Health Organization (WHO), the problem is already vast and is increasing at an alarming rate.
0 comments - Posted May 29, 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 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.
6 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
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
It seems that every few months, we hear about a new diet that, like all the others, promises to yield fast and tempting results. Is the raw food diet any different, and, if so, how?
0 comments - Posted May 19, 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.
1 comment - 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.
5 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.
1 comment - 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
This story was produced in collaboration with USAToday
0 comments - Posted May 9, 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
A year-long experiment found that the competitive bidding approach saved money without harming beneficiaries. It also made inroads against waste and fraud.
0 comments - Posted May 5, 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.
2 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.
3 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.
1 comment - 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
On April 19, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to diabetes patients not to combine the blood pressure medication aliskiren (Tekturna) with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers. The warning also applies to patients who have renal impairment.
0 comments - Posted Apr 30, 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
Between 250,000 and 500,000 Americans have already become victims of the growing crime of medical identity theft. Medical identity theft happens when someone uses your name and other pieces of your history, such as insurance information, without your knowledge to obtain medical services and goods.
0 comments - Posted Apr 26, 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.
1 comment - Posted Apr 23, 2012
Research has shown that a few people with Type 1 diabetes are at an increased risk for having traffic accidents due to low blood sugars.
Possibly, we can help the diabetes community.
Researchers at the University of Virginia are conducting a study evaluating internet tools designed to:
• • Anonymously assess risk for ALL drivers with Type 1 diabetes of being in an accident and
• • Potentially help reduce the chance of high-risk drivers being in a future collision.
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
Many people with diabetes have had to eliminate traditional flour breads and refined starches from their diets because of the way they spike blood sugar. "Diabetic Lifestyles Bread" from Alvarado Street Bakery is a nutritious alternative to traditional flour breads and causes a much slower rise in blood sugar.
1 comment - Posted Apr 18, 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
MinuteClinic, a division of CVS Caremark Corporation, is helping patients with diabetes stay on top of their condition this spring by offering a free monitoring visit. This service helps patients with diabetes keep their health in check between visits to a primary care provider, and is available seven days a week at the walk-in medical clinics inside select CVS/pharmacy stores across the United States.
0 comments - Posted Apr 15, 2012
Some people are perfectly happy divulging their three-month blood sugar average, known as an A1C, but I'd rather walk barefoot across hot coals than share my A1C number. It's funny, because I'm actually kind of proud of it these days. It's by no means perfect and could definitely stand to be lower, but I've come a long way. There was a time in my life when my diabetes was out of control and my A1C results were shameful. I felt so embarrassed and disappointed in myself, and the worst part was, I felt hopeless. Thankfully, I have maintained a substantial A1C drop for years now.
3 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.
5 comments - Posted Apr 12, 2012
North Carolina-born chef Sam Talbot first came to national attention when he placed third in the Season 2 run of Bravo's Top Chef TV competition. Sam, who has type 1 diabetes and wears an insulin pump, held the executive chef position at several New York City restaurants, including Black Duck, Williamsburgh Cafe, and Punch, before opening his current restaurant, the acclaimed Surf Lodge, in Montauk on Long Island.
0 comments - Posted Apr 11, 2012
If you look around your health club and discover what appear to be cannonballs with handles placed in a corner, there is no need to walk away in fear: They're just kettlebells, a venerable resistance exercise tool that has been used for years by Russian athletes and has recently been taken up by actors as well.
0 comments - Posted Apr 10, 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
San Diego, CA-Insulindependence has formally merged with the Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association. Both organizations have operated independently since 2005 to provide exercise-related resources for people living with diabetes. With more than 3,000 combined members, they will now become North America's largest nonprofit public benefit organization focused on diabetes and exercise.
0 comments - Posted Apr 7, 2012
1 large bunch (about 1 1/4 pounds) kale, stems and center ribs discarded, leaves roughly torn
2 sheets nori, cut into 1-by-2-inch strips
1/4 cup Roasted Garlic Oil* (see below)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest of 1 lemon
0 comments - Posted Apr 6, 2012
The best things in life are often right in front of our noses, but we tend to take them for granted. William Bell put it best in 1961 when he recorded the soul classic "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til Your Well Runs Dry)" on Stax records. He realized just how true his words were in 1965, when Otis Redding re-recorded the song and had a much bigger hit with it. Even the Byrds had a semi-hit when they released the song in 1968 and again in 1990, as did Peter Tosh with his reggae version in 1972. Poor William Bell....his well never even filled up before it went dry. The concept is quite simple, really. All that goodness is surrounding each and every one of us, and we don't have a clue until it's gone.
1 comment - Posted Apr 5, 2012
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that Levemir is safe for use by pregnant women and does not increase the risk of harm to children in the womb.
1 comment - Posted Apr 4, 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.
2 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
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
A Diabetes Health reader writes in to ask: Is there a generic alternative to Humalog insulin? If so, what is its cost compared to Humalog?
1 comment - Posted Mar 30, 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.
9 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.
1 comment - 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.
3 comments - Posted Mar 21, 2012
If you have diabetes and get a phone call from somebody offering you free diabetes supplies, hang up. You're being scammed.
0 comments - Posted Mar 20, 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
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?
11 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.
2 comments - Posted Mar 7, 2012
Sometimes I feel like an idiot. It usually happens when I read a blog by one of my favorite "D" parents telling about how their children are handling life with type 1 diabetes. These brave kids put up with the same things that adults with diabetes do, and some are literally too young to even understand what's going on. Reading about these little warriors makes me regret even more the fact that I wallowed in self pity all afternoon just because my blood sugar didn't cooperate flawlessly during my daily walk.
1 comment - Posted Mar 6, 2012
As I was sitting in the hospital after a heart attack, my cardiologist walked in and said, "You have to stop eating meat." "Red meat?" I asked hopefully. "All meat," he replied firmly. It was disconcerting, to say the least, because meat has been in my life since I could feed myself. But my cardiologist explained, "If you don't want to end up back here again, you will start on an plant-based diet immediately." That day, I stopped eating meat. In fact, I asked the hospital food service to switch me to a vegetarian diet.
10 comments - Posted Mar 5, 2012
Maryland-based Telcare, a mobile health app provider, is offering a free application for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad users. MyTelcare Diabetes Pal, which synchronizes with the company's wireless blood glucose meter, allows diabetes patients and caregivers to see the readings sent to them by the Telcare BGM blood glucose meter. They can combine those readings with other patient data about medications, nutrition, and activities, thereby generating a comprehensive overview of their progress with the disease.
0 comments - Posted Mar 4, 2012
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.
3 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.
2 comments - Posted Mar 1, 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."
1 comment - Posted Feb 28, 2012
The unconditional love of a dog can be an amazing source of strength and resilience for its owner. Eight-year-old Madalaine Hembraugh and her foster dog, Petey, are living proof of that. They both have type 1 diabetes, and they have formed a bond that is helping to heal them both.
1 comment - Posted Feb 27, 2012
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.
4 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.
19 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.
1 comment - 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.
1 comment - 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.
18 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.
2 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.
2 comments - Posted Feb 19, 2012
Try doing this at the age of 64:
0 comments - Posted Feb 18, 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.
15 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.
3 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.
11 comments - Posted Feb 14, 2012
My best friend from high school, Katherine, married a wonderful man who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a little over two years ago. John Schaaf, now 60, lives with Katherine in Berkeley, Calif., and works for Chevron Corporation in nearby Richmond.
4 comments - Posted Feb 13, 2012
Cinnamon, chromium, and alpha-lipoic acid are dietary supplements that have been studied for diabetes management, but are not commonly found in daily multivitamins. Chromium* and cinnamon have the least supportive evidence of efficacy, while some studies have found alpha-lipoic acid to be promising, at least subjectively, in reducing the discomforts of peripheral neuropathy.
1 comment - Posted Feb 12, 2012
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.
2 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.
1 comment - 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
At the age of 15 years, Sheila Glazov's son Joshua was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. "In 1985," Glazov says, "our family was living in Mammoth Lakes, California. Our little mountain town had a 15-bed hospital that was efficient if you injured yourself skiing, but not if you were looking for appropriate medical care and support for your child who was newly diagnosed with diabetes."
0 comments - Posted Feb 8, 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.
1 comment - 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.
6 comments - Posted Feb 5, 2012
Due to the rising rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases related to obesity, children are expected to have a shorter lifespan than their parents for the first time in modern history. One in every three children aged two to 19 years is overweight or obese, and one-third of all children born in the year 2000 are expected to develop diabetes during their lifetime.
0 comments - Posted Feb 4, 2012
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.
2 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.
7 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.
7 comments - Posted Feb 1, 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%.
1 comment - 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.
10 comments - Posted Jan 30, 2012
Animas Corporation, a division of Johnson & Johnson that manufactures insulin pumps, has been reprimanded by the FDA for not reporting serious problems resulting from use of its equipment. The parent company was warned that it could face fines and more for selling faulty insulin pumps and failing to disclose serious injuries to diabetic patients who used the OneTouch Ping and 2020 insulin pumps. According to reports, J&J continued to sell the pumps even after the company knew that some had failed.
1 comment - Posted Jan 29, 2012
Until now, drawing blood has been an unavoidable component of being tested for prediabetes and diabetes. Nobody enjoys the process, and it probably makes many people shy away from undergoing diagnosis at all.
1 comment - Posted Jan 28, 2012
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.
6 comments - Posted Jan 27, 2012
If you, like many people with diabetes, are trying to lose weight, you might be more successful if you cut back on carbohydrates for just two days a week instead of undertaking an unrelenting low-calorie diet. A recent report found that women who banished carbohydrates for two days a week and ate normally the rest of the time lost about nine pounds in four months, compared to the five pounds lost by women who cut back to roughly 1,500 calories every day.
7 comments - Posted Jan 26, 2012
RALEIGH, NC- DiabetesSisters is pleased to announce that registration for the 2012 Weekend for Women Conference opened on January 1, 2012, at 8 AM. The conference, a revolutionary weekend designed specifically for women with diabetes, will take place Friday, May 18, through Sunday, May 20, 2012, at the Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh.
0 comments - Posted Jan 24, 2012
The FDA has given Roche the go-ahead to market its Accu-Chek® Nano SmartView blood glucose monitoring system. The Nano, which uses Accu-Chek SmartView test strips, will be available to US consumers within the first half of this year. It is part of the same product line as the Accu-Chek Aviva Nano and Accu-Chek Performa Nano systems, which Roche has already launched in several overseas markets.
3 comments - Posted Jan 22, 2012
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.
3 comments - Posted Jan 21, 2012
When your doctor recommends a new drug or treatment for your diabetes, do you know if the doctor has received payment from the company that markets the drug or device? If the Obama administration has its way, you will. It is proposing a new law that will require drug companies to disclose payments made to doctors for research, consulting, speaking, travel, and entertainment-even something as minor as coffee and bagels delivered to a doctor's office for a meeting.
10 comments - Posted Jan 20, 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.
4 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.
3 comments - Posted Jan 18, 2012
Ethan Lewis, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12, founded GlucoBrands only 11 years later. The company produces a portable, inexpensive, tasty, fast-acting glucose gel that people can take to quickly restore healthy blood sugar levels when they experience hypoglycemia.
1 comment - Posted Jan 16, 2012
LifeScan has introduced the OneTouch® VerioTM IQ, a meter that not only tracks and displays blood sugar patterns, but also announces them with messages, such as "Looks like your blood sugar has been running LOW around this time."
2 comments - Posted Jan 15, 2012
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.
41 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
2 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.
1 comment - Posted Jan 10, 2012
Minneapolis-based Medtronic, Inc., has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has given it the go-ahead to market its mySentry monitor, which allows caregivers to check the blood sugar of a diabetic person sleeping in another room. The bedside monitor, which costs around $3,000, works in tandem with Medtronic's MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time RevelTM System, a combined insulin pump/continuous glucose monitor unit.
4 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.
4 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.
4 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.
1 comment - 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.
1 comment - 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.
25 comments - Posted Jan 1, 2012
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.
13 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?
3 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.
1 comment - 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."
2 comments - Posted Dec 26, 2011
An article in an Indiana newspaper documents an alarming rise in diabetes among Arizona's Hispanics, especially along the US border with Mexico. The Republic, published in Columbus, Indiana, reports that 13.5 percent of residents in Arizona's Yuma County had diabetes in 2010. Almost 60 percent of the border county's nearly 200,000 residents are Hispanic.
0 comments - Posted Dec 24, 2011
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.
1 comment - Posted Dec 23, 2011
Diabetes Health readers who are Amanda Lamb fans can watch her first-ever Christmas single, "Christmas In Love," on YouTube.
0 comments - Posted Dec 22, 2011
Even the best known actors can't make a hit movie on their own. They need people behind the scenes. Just like those stars of the silver screen, the standard insulin pump can't do its job all by itself. No, the classic-model pump needs an infusion set to deliver its insulin to patients.
0 comments - Posted Dec 21, 2011
We are a tight-knit community. I'm not talking about my neighbors in my hometown of Chicago. I'm talking about my worldwide neighbors in the diabetic online community. Anyone dealing with diabetes knows the bond that it brings. When a person with diabetes is wronged, the rest of us feel the sting. Most of us living with diabetes have stories about people badgering our diet choices, saying inappropriate or insensitive things, and, sadly, crossing the line even further.
5 comments - Posted Dec 20, 2011
In some US markets, people with diabetes who are covered by Medicare cannot get the mail order diabetes testing supplies that Medicare promised.
1 comment - Posted Dec 19, 2011
If you have diabetes, you know all too well what's going to happen between now and the end of the year. You'll be forced to make some quick and painful decisions at sumptuous holiday feasts. Do you refuse the lavish, carbohydrate-rich fare and give up on the fun of the season? Or do you go whole hog, eating everything in sight, and hope that your insulin or medication can take up the slack?
3 comments - Posted Dec 18, 2011
On July 21, Claire Duncan was one of three people with type 1 diabetes on a six-person relay team that swam across the English Channel. The team, swimming to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, covered the 22-mile route in 13.5 hours, starting from a beach between Folkestone and Dover in England and finishing in France near Cap Gris Nez, between Boulogne and Calais.
0 comments - Posted Dec 17, 2011
"I have type 2 diabetes, diagnosed five years ago, and am 67 years old. I have worked very hard to manage this disease, but without the success I would like."
0 comments - Posted Dec 16, 2011
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.)
2 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.
2 comments - Posted Dec 13, 2011
Here's the scenario: You're a famed prosecutor who happens to be on an insulin pump. One of the criminals you put away years ago has been released from prison, and he's eager for revenge. This is a particularly cunning criminal, so he hatches a subtle plan. He hacks into your insulin pump, giving you a massive dose of insulin without warning. As you drive to work one day, you begin to feel woozy. That's odd, you think, looking down to where the pump attaches to your stomach. I just ate....
1 comment - Posted Dec 12, 2011
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.
1 comment - 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.
10 comments - Posted Dec 9, 2011
Will the federal government kill the artificial pancreas? The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is raising the alarm over FDA guidelines that could stifle the technology necessary for the development of an artificial pancreas.
12 comments - Posted Dec 8, 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."
4 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.
1 comment - 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/
3 comments - Posted Dec 4, 2011
This year's DREAM Award, presented by the Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC), was given to Nick Jonas, the musician and actor best known as one of the three Jonas Brothers. He was among the special recipients at the DRLC's annual Franklin D. Roosevelt Dinner, held this year on November 17, 2011.
1 comment - Posted Dec 3, 2011
Jeff O'Connell is the author of "Sugar Nation: The Hidden Truth Behind America's Deadliest Habit and the Simple Way to Beat It." I discovered his book while browsing the shelves of my local library, and I could hardly put it down. Though I have type I diabetes and O'Connell's book focuses on type 2, I found many of his thoughts applicable to my own health. His book is no doubt controversial, so I wanted to delve deeper into his daring claims and share his responses with the diabetic community. After reading my interview with Jeff, please leave a comment below to let Diabetes Health know what you think.
10 comments - Posted Dec 2, 2011
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
A new diabetes-friendly sugar, proven to help reduce sugar absorption, will soon be added to popular breads and cereals. "Sugir" is real sugar that contains an all-natural, tasteless additive called Emulin. Emulin, a patented formulation of compounds found in fruits, prevents the body from absorbing about a third of ingested sugar. A previous study showed that Emulin blocks the absorption of sugar by more than 30 percent.
2 comments - Posted Nov 30, 2011
You might think that it is too late to do anything for Diabetes Awareness Month. Heck, it's late November, so it's too late, right? Nope, wrong. You see, diabetes didn't just go away during the last month. Diabetes is funny that way-it just does not care. Well, we care. We're the Diabetes Research Institute, and we want to end diabetes forever.
3 comments - Posted Nov 28, 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."
1 comment - 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.
38 comments - Posted Nov 26, 2011
Mike Golic is the co-host of ESPN's wildly popular radio show, "Mike and Mike in the Morning." Before beginning work as a broadcaster in 1995, he played for nine years as a defensive tackle in the National Football League, including stints with the Houston Oilers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Miami Dolphins. About five years ago, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Since then, he has become involved in getting the word out about type 2, including the potential danger of hypoglycemia. He is a spokesman for "Blood Sugar Basics," a website and outreach program co-sponsored by Merck and the American College of Endocrinology.
3 comments - Posted Nov 25, 2011
Exercise helps us stay healthy. That's the underlying message of Go4Life, a campaign from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health, developed to encourage older people to exercise more. The campaign focuses on four exercise categories: aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility. "We strongly encourage people to incorporate exercises from each of these four categories into developing their own personal routine," said Dr. Chanda Dutta, chief of the NIA's Clinical Gerontology Branch.
1 comment - Posted Nov 24, 2011
A sleek new version of the humble blood pressure cuff is turning heads. The Withings Smart Blood Pressure Monitor just won a 2012 iF product design award for its maker, the French company Withings. The iF product design award is an international prize, sometimes called the "Design Oscar," that is awarded by a German group.
0 comments - Posted Nov 23, 2011
In one of Devon Inglee's artworks, a teddy bear, the symbol of childhood innocence, lies flat on its back with three menacing syringes piercing its furry tummy. In the background, the bear's owner, a small girl, stands above the teddy eating an apple. Inglee writes, "In 'Tit for Tat,' a sweet girl contently eats an apple while hiding a large syringe behind her back, oblivious to her beloved, yet murdered toy. This piece deals with the process of anger, mourning, and denial associated with my personal diagnosis of a chronic disease." For the 33-year-old art student, this work is about mourning and letting go of preconceived notions and ideas of what the future will be.
0 comments - Posted Nov 22, 2011
Living with diabetes, you are already hyper-aware of food, but the holidays seem to heighten that awareness. Faced with your aunt's delicious homemade cornbread and your grandma's famous sweet potato casserole, you may find yourself digging through your closet for your old carbohydrate-counting books and guessing at your insulin adjustments. Who wants to go through the holidays with the added stress of high blood sugars and associated mood swings, especially when your family is already driving you nuts? No, thanks.
4 comments - Posted Nov 21, 2011
It's hard being the new person at work. It's even harder when you're the new person and you have diabetes. Whenever I start a new job, thoughts race through my mind: Will I go low while I'm training? Will I have quick access to snacks? Will I be able to check my blood sugar without an audience? How about taking an insulin injection at the lunch table? It isn't easy feeling forced to expose so many personal details to people you just met.
2 comments - Posted Nov 20, 2011
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
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, 102,640 US patients are waiting for an organ donation. More than 7,000 people died last year while waiting, and over 2,000 have already died this year for lack of an organ. The problem is in part due to a system that forbids incentives for donation. This rule is not confined to the United States; most countries have laws that prohibit organ trafficking. But because organs are in extremely high demand, the black market for organs is thriving.
0 comments - Posted Nov 16, 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.
11 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.
8 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.
2 comments - Posted Nov 12, 2011
Having diabetes means attending medical appointments regularly. It's entirely possible that at some point, you experienced an incident in which a medical professional hurt your feelings, made a mistake, or told you something completely incorrect. Medical mistakes do happen. While most doctors and nurses are amazing and professional, they are also human. Errors and inappropriate comments can occur. Some simply don't understand all aspects of diabetes.
17 comments - Posted Nov 11, 2011
The introduction of insulin pen devices in the 1980s facilitated accurate and simple administration of insulin for people managing their diabetes on an outpatient basis. The use of insulin in hospitals, however, continues to be associated with medication errors and severe adverse events. Published practice guidelines have helped address insulin error prevention, and the availability of diabetes technologies has presented another opportunity to promote the safe use of insulin in hospitals.
8 comments - Posted Nov 10, 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.
4 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.
4 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.
3 comments - Posted Nov 6, 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 Nov 5, 2011
Carol Normadi is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Northern California who is co-founder of Beyond Hunger, Inc., a group dedicated to helping people overcome obsessive concerns with food. She has co-authored two books on the topic of food obsessions: "It's Not About Food: Ending Your Obsession With Food and Weight" (Putnam, 1998) and "Over It: A Teen's Guide to Getting Beyond Food and Weight" (New World Library 2001).
10 comments - Posted Nov 4, 2011
Use a hula hoop during your next exercise session for a low-impact workout to aid in weight loss, increase muscle tone, improve flexibility, and enhance balance. Exercise is essential in the management of diabetes, and the hula hoop may be the workout variation you need to motivate your fitness program.
2 comments - Posted Nov 3, 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.
1 comment - 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.
2 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2011
If you've had diabetes for a number of years, chances are that you remember when there was no Internet access and no diabetes online community. You had no way to look up information online and no instant connection to millions of others around the world living with diabetes. Unless you had a friend nearby with diabetes, there was no one to understand how you felt when your blood sugar numbers were less than stellar, and no one to sympathize with how hard it can be to get your A1C down.
3 comments - Posted Nov 1, 2011
October 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.
2 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.
1 comment - Posted Oct 29, 2011
All blood tests are tools. Some are to diagnose diabetes, some are to help you manage your diabetes on a daily or long term basis and some are to keep you safe.
1 comment - 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.
2 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.
1 comment - 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.
4 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.
22 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.
13 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.
12 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.
5 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.
2 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."
2 comments - Posted Oct 10, 2011
Reducing stress for a person with diabetes is an absolute must. According to medical evidence, stress can increase glucose levels in people with diabetes, making them more susceptible to long-term physical complications such as eye, kidney, and nerve disorders.
0 comments - Posted Oct 9, 2011
The answer to the looming threat of obesity and cardiovascular disease could be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other. Indeed, according to a new campaign from managed-care giant Kaiser Permanente, walking has benefits in the short and long term.
0 comments - Posted Oct 7, 2011
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.
6 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.
7 comments - Posted Oct 5, 2011
Sometimes I don't feel like explaining myself. Sometimes I just want to eat a pastry in public in peace, without the "diabetes police" showing up and giving me their two cents. When that happens, I can usually handle it without my blood pressure rising. I politely explain to these well-meaning people that I'm perfectly in control of my diabetes and that as long as I count the carbohydrates and take my shot, I can eat anything I please. Occasionally though, I find myself getting irritated and angry. I get tired of defending myself all the time.
27 comments - Posted Oct 4, 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.
17 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
The Seattle-based Nordstrom department store chain will donate $5, up to $75,000 total, for each Diabetes Risk Test taken as part of the American Diabetes Association's Hispanic Heritage Month through October 15, 2011.
0 comments - Posted Sep 30, 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?
7 comments - Posted Sep 29, 2011
When Ken Kotch was young, he used to tell his friends that he had a "broken pancreas" to explain his type 1 diabetes. Diagnosed in 1988 at eight years old, initially Kotch had no idea what it all meant. Describing his pancreas as "broken" just made sense to him at the time
4 comments - Posted Sep 28, 2011
A couple of factors lead to increased risk of insulin shock comas during the first trimester. For many, insulin sensitivity increases and the pancreas isn't yet producing the hormones associated with insulin resistance. In addition, many type 1s will be taken off of their current basal insulin if it is not yet approved for use during pregnancy.
4 comments - Posted Sep 27, 2011
Imagine if you could keep diabetes at bay for another three or four years with lifestyle changes. Would you change what you ate? Would you commit to an exercise program, maintain a food journal, and join a support group? Imagine if you could take these simple steps and save money. How quickly would you say "Sign me up"?
1 comment - Posted Sep 26, 2011
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?
1 comment - 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.
5 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?"
13 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.
4 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
Your dietitian is misleading you. That's the takeaway from an article published recently in the medical journal The Lancet. The rules of thumb that you've been given are wrong. And losing weight quickly and easily by cutting a few hundred calories a day just doesn't happen, scientists say.
3 comments - Posted Sep 18, 2011
Claire Duncan is one of many people with type 1 diabetes who wears a continuous glucose monitor and an insulin pump, in this case, an Animas® VibeTM. In an age of almost routine medical marvels, Duncan doesn't really seem to be an exception.
2 comments - Posted Sep 17, 2011
It may sound silly to say this, especially in this era of computing and high technology, but in our house, one of the most important tools in managing diabetes is a notebook, an ink pen, and three brightly colored magic markers. Of course, I'm talking about the logbook. That's not to say we don't also rely on complicated software to help track our daughter's blood sugars. But when it comes to understanding and using the data to our advantage, there is some truth to the age old belief in hands-on training.
1 comment - Posted Sep 16, 2011
A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control says that 12 states now have adult obesity rates of 30 percent or higher. Seven of those states are in the South. The CDC data are from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System, a 2010 phone survey of 400,000 US adults. Obesity is defined as a body mass index of 30 or more.
0 comments - Posted Sep 15, 2011
My son just turned twenty. For the first time, we didn't have a cake, ice cream, friends, balloons, or presents. He spent the day in jail. With vivid memories of his heroin-addicted evening in the ICU several months ago, we had nursed high hopes that his life would be on the mend. But healing takes time, and life doesn't always deliver the happy ending we long for.
9 comments - Posted Sep 14, 2011
I want to thank you all for the many comments that you have posted. As I said in the article, it does bother me that so many promises have been made and not kept regarding a cure. This has resulted in people just giving up hope and coming to believe that there will never be a cure for diabetes. Such promises are still being made today.
20 comments - Posted Sep 13, 2011
Massachusetts-based Quantia Communications has released DailyCoachTM, a fitness coaching app that runs on both iOS and Android and is available free at https://dailycoach.quantiacare.com/. The app also runs on smart phones and tablets and is available on the Web.
1 comment - Posted Sep 12, 2011
Here's the scenario: You're a famed prosecutor who happens to be on an insulin pump. One of the criminals you put away years ago has been released from prison, and he's eager for revenge. This is a particularly cunning criminal, so he hatches a subtle plan. He hacks into your insulin pump, giving you a massive dose of insulin without warning. As you drive to work one day, you begin to feel woozy. That's odd, you think, looking down to where the pump attaches to your stomach. I just ate....
1 comment - Posted Sep 10, 2011
"If you weren't having this conversation with me, who, other than your wife, would you be having it with?" That question, in response to something I'd said about treating my nine-year-old daughter's diabetes, was posed to me over the phone by a friend I had made less than six months earlier. She has a daughter too, the same age as mine, who also has type 1. Their diagnosis came a couple of years before ours, so I respect her experience and opinion, and so does my wife, Franca.
0 comments - Posted Sep 9, 2011
When you live with diabetes, there's a lot to do. Checking blood sugars. Counting carbs. Exercising. Not to mention all those fun-filled doctors' appointments. So the last time your physician or diabetes educator suggested ketone testing, it's completely understandable that your head was nodding but your mind was thinking "No way, Jack." But before abandoning the idea completely, there are a few things you should know.
5 comments - Posted Sep 8, 2011
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.
2 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.
1 comment - Posted Sep 6, 2011
Carbohydrates can increase blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, as well as contribute to weight gain. A recent study shows that eating two ounces of raw, dry, or roasted nuts daily as a replacement for two ounces of other carbohydrates may control blood sugar levels and cholesterol in type 2 diabetes without packing on the pounds.
0 comments - Posted Sep 5, 2011
Abbott Diabetes Care is discontinuing its FreeStyle Navigator System, a continuous glucose monitoring device, in the United States. Abbott blamed supply problems that have prevented the company from selling new units or replacing parts under warranty.
0 comments - Posted Sep 4, 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
Don't think that you can pull one over on your diabetes educator anymore. The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) has developed an official, standard method to measure the progress made by their diabetic patients.
12 comments - Posted Sep 2, 2011
When diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was eighteen years old, scared, and confused. Although bone thin, I was older than the usual juvenile diabetic, so the doctor didn't know if I had type 1 or type 2 diabetes. At first, the doctor gave me pills to lower my blood sugar. I avoided carbohydrates and threw myself into exercise, then watched helplessly as the numbers on my blood sugar meter continued to rise.
10 comments - Posted Sep 1, 2011
Utah-based Essential Preparedness Products (EPP) offers an emergency storage case for people with diabetes, called Diabetic med-EcaseTM. The yellow cases, made of high-impact material, are waterproof, airtight, and can float. Buyers of the $69.99 product receive foam inserts for both type 1 and type 2 needs and can outfit the case accordingly.
5 comments - Posted Aug 30, 2011
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
1 comment - Posted Aug 27, 2011
Carbohydrates have become the ugly stepsister in the family photo album of healthy eating. Standing in the grocery aisle, consumers study ingredients and food labels, counting and analyzing the carb content of their foods. In the last decade, the popularity of low carb diets rose to dramatic heights as Americans gravitated toward the South Beach, Atkins, and Zone diets. Fruits were forsaken for plates piled high with steak and eggs.
7 comments - Posted Aug 25, 2011
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.
44 comments - Posted Aug 24, 2011
Walking down the aisle of our church, I held onto my Dad's arm and tried to breathe deeply, but the flutters in my stomach and beads of sweat sliding down the back of my legs made me wonder if my blood sugar was dropping. When I reached the front of the church, I took my future husband's hands and saw that he was shaking too. I breathed a sigh of relief and realized it was just nerves.
1 comment - Posted Aug 23, 2011
I recently finished reading Amy Stockwell Mercer's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Diabetes. In Chapter 1, the author discusses a topic that I find critical to the well-being of people with diabetes: Developing a personal diabetes philosophy.
3 comments - Posted Aug 22, 2011
For people with type 1 diabetes, having the "bad" variety of the disease comes with some issues. You're constantly managing your blood sugars, warding off complications, and explaining your situation to others. But how about some good news for a change? Researchers now say that people with type 1 live nearly as long as people without diabetes!
14 comments - Posted Aug 21, 2011
Many women with diabetes feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of family, work, and personal health. Balancing the minutiae of everyday life with the nonstop demands of blood glucose monitoring, exercise, and thoughtful meal planning takes time and effort. So it comes as no surprise that many women with diabetes put off talking to their doctors about breast cancer screening.
1 comment - Posted Aug 20, 2011
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.
1 comment - 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.
16 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
You've successfully resisted the urge to eat that slice of cake. You've remembered to check your blood sugar that extra time. Maybe you've resisted and remembered for days, or weeks. Perhaps you now think that you've figured out how to keep yourself motivated in dealing with your diabetes. Actually, you're just getting started.
1 comment - Posted Aug 14, 2011
August 3, 2011 - Las Vegas - As the diabetes epidemic worsens, the demand for diabetes educators is projected to increase by at least 60 percent between now and 2025, according to a study being released today by the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE). This number will increase exponentially if more individuals - such as those with pre-diabetes - become eligible for diabetes education.
2 comments - Posted Aug 13, 2011
The piece of cake sits there on the plate, daring you to eat it. The blood sugar meter rests on your nightstand, an obstacle formed of lancets and test strips. Life with diabetes is a parade of challenges, from diet temptations to healthcare hassles. You know--we all know --that the only way to say "no" to the cake and "yes" to the blood sugar check is through consistent self-motivation.
9 comments - Posted Aug 12, 2011
The 2011 California Diabetes Summit will take place on September 8th and 9th at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach. The summit, expected to draw diabetes experts from all over the state, will be the second event of its kind. The first summit, held in Sacramento in 2009, drew more than 250 participants.
1 comment - Posted Aug 11, 2011
Florida-base PositiveID Corp. has filed a 510(k) application with the U.S Food and Drug Administration to market its "iglucose"TM diabetes management system.
1 comment - Posted Aug 10, 2011
Charlie Kimball, the first and only driver with type 1 diabetes in the history of the Indy Racing League to race cars at its highest level, needs your help: Just as when he's racing, Kimball finds himself neck-in-neck in a competition. In this case, he's looking to win the Firestone Tire-iffic Award and you can help him out by voting for him---but you only have till Thursday, August 11, to do so.
2 comments - Posted Aug 10, 2011
Our office manager sent us this link to a site with beautiful color photos of 10 foods that people with diabetes should avoid.
1 comment - Posted Aug 9, 2011
Low doses of metformin and rosiglitazone seem to delay the onset of type 2 in prediabetic people who have impaired glucose tolerance, according to a Canadian study. However, although the drug combination was effective over the first year of the study in helping to control glucose levels and insulin resistance, it was not effective subsequently in delaying the onset of insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell deterioration.
0 comments - Posted Aug 7, 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.
2 comments - Posted Aug 5, 2011
Israeli researchers have found that stem cells derived from adult pancreatic cells are more efficient at making insulin-producing cells than stem cells derived from embryos. Scientists at Tel Aviv University theorize that the cells retain a "memory" of what they were before they were coaxed into becoming stem cells. That memory includes the ability to produce insulin. Because of it, the adult stem cells are better at forming insulin-making cells than their embryonic counterparts.
3 comments - Posted Aug 4, 2011
A Boston-based study has found that vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes by improving their beta cell functioning.
2 comments - Posted Aug 3, 2011
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
People with type 2 diabetes often find visits with their physicians frustrating. Dr. Jeffrey Mechanick, MD, FACE, FACP, Secretary of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), observes, "Many times when patients come to the doctor, the first thing that they say is really what's on their mind--that's their top priority. But oftentimes physicians don't address that at all. Instead, they move on to what's on their own agenda."
3 comments - Posted Jul 31, 2011
How many times has this happened to you? You're driving somewhere and something feels off. You suspect that your blood sugar level may be dropping, but you plow ahead. Now, imagine your car sounding the alarm: "Attention: This is your car speaking. Your blood sugar is low. Pull over and eat a snack."
3 comments - Posted Jul 30, 2011
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.
1 comment - 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.
2 comments - Posted Jul 27, 2011
I am excited to have this opportunity to write a diabetes-focused blog for Diabetes Health about living and thriving with type 1 diabetes. First of all, I am extremely passionate about racing road and mountain bicycles, running 5K runs and sprint triathlons, and doing other activities that I find to compete in for Team Type 1. But before I start blogging, I would like to tell a little about myself.
3 comments - Posted Jul 26, 2011
Anne Findlay has been racing road bikes for three years and just joined Team Type 1 this year. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1988, at age 14. For more information about Anne and Team Type 1, go to www.teamtype1.org.
1 comment - Posted Jul 25, 2011
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
Spending too many hours watching TV can also substantially increase your odds of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease or dying early. That's the conclusion of a Harvard School of Public Health study that looked at the effects of heavy TV watching.
1 comment - Posted Jul 23, 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
A recent article in the New York Times says that such old prescription diabetes drugs as metformin and generics such as glimepiride are often as effective as or even more effective than newer, more expensive drugs.
9 comments - Posted Jul 20, 2011
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.
5 comments - Posted Jul 18, 2011
Nipro Diagnostics, Inc., and NeuroMetrix, Inc., have announced that they will seek opportunities to sell their soon-to-be-introduced NC-stat® DPNCheckTM neuropathy test in retail medical clinics nationwide. The test, conducted onsite, evaluates neuropathies, including diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).
1 comment - Posted Jul 16, 2011
Body fat is like two twins: one evil and one good. In this case, white fat-the kind that likes to cluster around the abdomen and hang on to calories-is the bad stuff. The "good" fat is brown, and it has been found to assist the body in burning calories, thus helping keep weight down.
0 comments - Posted Jul 15, 2011
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.
3 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.
6 comments - Posted Jul 12, 2011
Victoza, a drug aimed at type 2 diabetes, may turn out to be a boon for type 1 diabetes patients as well. A small clinical study shows that patients with well-controlled type 1 who took Victoza daily for just one week experienced a 15 percent drop in their blood sugar levels. Patients who took the drug over a full 24-week test period needed less and less insulin, decreasing their average mealtime dose by seven units and their all-day insulin requirement by eight.
2 comments - Posted Jul 11, 2011
As I write this, my nineteen-year-old son is in the intensive care unit because of a heroin addiction. He is trying to stop, and the withdrawal is wreaking havoc. His body is bruised and battered beyond belief.
15 comments - Posted Jul 10, 2011
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York is working on a new approach to blood sugar monitoring that could open the door to an artificial pancreas. The plan is to develop an automated monitoring system so sophisticated that it can take into account the often great differences in blood sugar levels and insulin sensitivity among people with type 1 diabetes.
4 comments - Posted Jul 9, 2011
The Internet allows consumers to shop for deals on anything imaginable, even prescription drugs. The economic struggles that many currently face, paired with the increasing cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, have created an environment in which counterfeit drug makers can prosper.
1 comment - Posted Jul 7, 2011
Recently, we published an article by Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, titled "From Old Dogmas to New Realities. "In the article, Hope voiced the opinion that a low carb diet is not the only dietary option for people with diabetes, and that, in fact, such thinking is an "old dogma." In response, we received a number of strongly worded comments advocating the low carb diet as the only way to go.
48 comments - Posted Jul 6, 2011
If you have diabetes, you're more likely to be depressed than people without the disease.
5 comments - Posted Jul 5, 2011
Roger Hurdsman lives in Roy, Utah, surrounded by women. His wife of four years, Hilary, is there, along with his two young daughters, Bonnie and Tess. He seems to be handling the estrogen well though, perhaps because he devotes his days to designing software for the Department of Defense. He is able to spend time with computers and gadgets before being inundated with tea parties and dress-up when he gets home.
1 comment - Posted Jul 4, 2011
Say goodbye to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's old Food Pyramid. The tapered food guide is giving way to MyPlate, a colorful visual aid that shows the rough proportions of fruit, vegetables, protein, grains, and that dairy people should consume at every meal.
0 comments - Posted Jul 2, 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.
28 comments - Posted Jul 1, 2011
One of the classic effects of cannabis on people is raging hunger-the "marijuana munchies." The drug has been used to good effect on people with diseases that diminish appetite, helping them to regain a healthy interest in food. So it is a bit ironic that British drug maker GW Pharmaceuticals has created a cross-bred cannabis plant whose appetite-suppressing qualities could be used to treat type 2 diabetes.
2 comments - Posted Jun 30, 2011
A new report shows that increasing numbers of consumers are using the Internet to track medical information that they can apply to their own health. The report, "The Social Life of Health Information," was issued by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project and the California HealthCare Foundation.
0 comments - Posted Jun 29, 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.
72 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.
3 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.
20 comments - Posted Jun 24, 2011
You can add any third drug you want to the standard metformin-sulfonylurea combination used to treat type 2 diabetes, including insulin, alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, thiazolidinediones, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors. None of them provides a decisive superiority in blood glucose control. That's the conclusion of a Brazilian meta-study of 18 drug trials published in the May 17, 2011, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
0 comments - Posted Jun 23, 2011
Medtronic and Ford Motor Company have teamed up to develop a prototype device that will allow people with diabetes to monitor their blood glucose levels as they drive. Using Bluetooth technology, the system will connect readings from Medtronic's continuous glucose monitor to Ford's onboard communications system, called "Sync."
8 comments - Posted Jun 22, 2011
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
People with diabetes can breath a sigh of relief: New rules now protect them from workplace discrimination. The Obama administration has widened the definition of disability to include cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes, among other conditions.
10 comments - Posted Jun 20, 2011
With Father's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to stop for a moment and reflect on what dads do for us, especially dads who have diabetic children. The pressure and emotional aspects of diabetes can be overwhelming, not to mention the stress it can put on a family. For every needle prick, shot, and counted carb my father (and mother) helped me with, I want to say thanks.
22 comments - Posted Jun 19, 2011
Over the last decade, dramatic changes have occurred in our understanding of the onset and progression of prediabetes. Lightning speed changes have also occurred regarding the therapies available to achieve optimal blood glucose control. Even with all of this change, however, many old dogmas hang on. It's time to become aware of the new realities. In this article, I focus on two common old dogmas and the new realities.
2 comments - Posted Jun 16, 2011
Statistics from the 2011 Medco Drug Report show that diabetes drugs accounted for 16.1 percent of the overall increase in U.S. spending on therapeutic drugs in 2010. The report states that the increase is due to the growing number of Americans who have diabetes.
5 comments - Posted Jun 15, 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."
14 comments - Posted Jun 14, 2011
Verizon Wireless and Medco Health Solutions have released "Medco Pharmacy," a mobile app for BlackBerry and Android smart phones aimed at Medco's 65 million pharmacy customers. The app has three features:
1 comment - Posted Jun 13, 2011
More than ten million kids head off to summer camp each year. Just because your child has diabetes doesn't mean that he or she must be left out of this rite of passage. Wherever you live, there are specialized camps to help your child have a great and safe experience.
2 comments - Posted Jun 12, 2011
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that starting on November 18, 2011, it will restrict retail pharmacy sales of three diabetes drugs manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline: the stand-alone Avandia (rosiglitazone) and the combination drugs Avandamet (rosiglitazone and metformin) and Avandaryl (rosiglitazone and glimepiride).
0 comments - Posted Jun 11, 2011
Whenever I tell someone that I have type 1 diabetes, the first words that I typically hear are "I'm terrified of needles! I could NEVER give myself a shot!" But needles are the least of my fears when it comes to my disease. I have bigger fish to fry. Concerns about daily management, combined with fears of heart problems, blindness, and kidney failure, equal one very stressful disease.
5 comments - Posted Jun 10, 2011
As prices rise, Americans are beginning to pay almost as much attention to the cost of food as they do to its taste. That's one of the findings of the 2011 Food & Health Survey, recently published by the International Food Industry Council Foundation (IFICF).
0 comments - Posted Jun 9, 2011