Note: The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or substitute for professional care. For medical emergencies, dial 911!
Georgetown guard Austin Freeman has developed diabetes, which shouldn't affect his basketball career, but has made the junior's status questionable for today's start to the Big East tournament in New York City.
Regardless of when he begins playing, his physician, Stephen Clement, head of the Diabetes Center at Georgetown University Hospital, will be on hand to help the Hoyas' leading scorer manage his condition.
Clement told reporters at a press conference that it may take up to a month to determine which type of diabetes Freeman has. Type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin, afflicts five to 10 percent of all diabetics. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body can't use the insulin that is produced.
Freeman had felt ill for several days leading up to his diagnosis. Doctors had originally suspected a stomach virus, gave the starter intravenous fluids and, though pale, allowed him to play in a weekend game. When he became increasingly ill, he was driven back to Washington and take to a hospital.
The researchers studied 900 men and women aged between 60 and 75 with type 2 diabetes, which tends to be more common in those over age 40. Their results showed that brain function slowed down in those with higher cortisol levels, a stress hormone, in their blood.
Memory loss is a well-known symptom among older people with diabetes, but until now, it was unclear as to why.
Scientists used a wide range of tests to evaluate mental abilities like memory function and the speed at which participants could process information.
Although the team took into account factors like education, heart disease, smoking and mood, it did not account for which drugs the patients used to control their diabetes or the patients diet and exercise patterns.
If you're worried about staving off memory loss, don't fret. Mentally and physically stimulating activities -- like completing crosswords, learning a new language, playing cards or working out -- can help increase your brain power. Diets rich in antioxidants, which are found in many fruits and vegetables, also boost your memory.
Teens with type 1 diabetes may be getting new ways to monitor their health.
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing's Shelagh Mulvaney, Ph.D., led a study of a Web-based intervention to improve glycemic control among adolescents. The results, published in Diabetes Care were presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions in Amsterdam.
The study involved 72 participants age 13 to 17 who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for at least six months. One group received access to conventional care, while the other received access to conventional care and access to YourWay, the Web site program professionals, researchers, young patients and other volunteers designed for the study.
In addition to tips on diabetes management, the site also included multimedia stories about struggles teenagers face after diagnosis like time management, school stress and social pressure. The stories also discuss the embarrassment that one might feel after diagnosis when they can be labeled as "different."
"We put a lot of thought and time into developing what we hoped would be helpful scenarios. It was important that they be authentic, real-world situations that can and do arise," Mulvaney said in a press release.
In addition to stories, the site used a personalized homepage, problem-solving guide and peer forum. Weekly e-mails to those registered for the site encouraged participation within the site and increased attention to self-management. In the future, the team would like to include text messaging intervention.
"The Internet and mobile technologies provide patients unprecedented access to learning tools and supports. They also readily integrate learning experiences into everyday situations, and allow researchers innovative ways to teach, motivate and prompt successful health behaviors," Mulvaney said.
Though the site is not available to non-research participants, with positive results like these, it's possible that the site will be available for wide-range use in the future.
We could all benefit from added fiber in our diets. However, it seems the type of fiber consumed is important too. A new study concludes that vegetable fiber is a good defence against type 2 diabetes. The study comes courtesy of researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia, who found that adults eating five grams of vegetable fiber daily were 24 percent less likely than other adults to develop the disease. People over the age of seventy enjoyed a thirty-one percent risk reduction.
The study tracked the eating habits of more than two thousand people over a ten year period. Wow. The researchers also reported that those whose diets contained fiber from mainly cereal or fruit sources did not fare so well - they had a higher risk for type 2 diabetes than those getting lots of fiber from veggie sources. The reason could be that foods high in vegetable fiber produce smaller fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels than would cereal or fruits. Lead researcher, Alan Barclay, says legumes are the best fiber source of all.
The results have been published in the latest Diabetes Care.
New research finds tuberculosis (TB) is more difficult to treat if the patient has type 2 diabetes. The study examined 737 Indonesians with tuberculosis screened for type 2. Nearly 15 percent had type 2, and initially, their TB was as severe as the non-diabetics. After two months of treatment, TB sputum tests were positive 18.1 percent for those with type 2 and only 10 percent in non-diabetics. At the six month mark, 22.2 percent of type 2s had positive sputum results compared to 9.5 percent of the non-diabetics.
The story in Reuters does not address why people with TB and type 2 diabetes do not respond as well to TB treatment. Tuberculosis is a serious infectious disease. Over one-third of the world carries the TB bacterium, and one in ten latent infections will progress to active TB disease. Untreated, active TB is a real threat, it kills more than half of its victims. Experts are examining how rising rates of type 2 are impacting TB control and prevention worldwide.
Yes, you read correctly. Low-speed car chase. Not something you see in the news too often, right?
Jacob Kells (30) is from Santa Rosa, CA. He has diabetes. Last Thursday, Kells got behind the wheel of a rented U-Haul truck. Oh, what a bad idea. He was obviously having low blood sugar issues because he caused several minor hit-and-run crashes that morning. Kells would not respond to police calls for him to pull over. Result: the cops had to tail him all, slowly, all the way from Redwood City to Gilroy.
When the police finally caught up with him, Kells was reportedly sweating and incoherent. The officers, obviously aware his state was diabetes-related, gave him glucose paste then got him to hospital, pronto. He was later arrested and taken in for psychological assessment - which I guess means there may be something else going on here other than low blood sugar.
Hats off to the officers of the Redwood City California Highway Patrol for recognizing the signs of low blood sugar and reacting accordingly. That is, for understanding the medical basis for Kells' behavior - not assuming the guy was just drunk or high.
When I read the headline in this Yahoo! news, Obesity rates climb in most states, I took a stab at guessing the leanest and fattest states in America. My favorite state, Colorado, immediately came to mind for the fittest state. Ding, ding, ding ... that is correct! But I had no clue on the fattest state, West Virginia was a shaky guess. I heard the buzzer on that one, Mississippi became the first state to break the 30 percent barrier for obese, adult residents. But hey, I wasn't far off, West Virginia and Alabama are slightly behind the double-letter state.
Colorado has an obesity rate of 17.6. Yikes, this is the leanest state in the nation. Statistics were provided by the Trust for America's Health. They analyzed state health department-generated telephone surveys of height and weight, combining three years of data (2004-2006) for improved projections. No one denies obesity increases the risk for diabetes and chronic diseases. Jeffrey Levi, executive director, stated everyone believes obesity is an epidemic, but political and policymaker attention is lacking. Levi agrees weight is a personal choice and responsibility, but he wants societal improvements to help people make better choices, such as healthier school lunches and safer places to be active across all classes.
The report is not intended to stigmatize fat states, but motivate them to action. Is this honestly a good way to do it? We should be talking about poverty in Mississippi, not scolding them. The five poorest states were in the top 10 when it came to obesity rates. I'm sure the Mississippi fat jokes have already begun. This country loves to categorize, from Money'sBest Places to Live to U.S. News & World Report'sAmerica's Best Colleges. Now we'll be adding an obesity category to all these reports. I can see it now, some diet rag will announce the Top 100 Thinnest Universities.
A new study by Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research carries both good news and bad news. Bad news first -- research of 9,439 mother-child pairs shows maternal blood sugar is tied to a future risk of obesity in offpsring. Pregnant women with above-normal blood sugar levels were twice as likely to have overweight kids. Across all racial and ethnic groups, the higher the mother's blood sugar during pregnancy, the greater the chance her offspring would develop obesity by 5 to 7 years of age.
Now if you're pregnant and you've been diagnosed with high blood sugar, take a deep breath. The good news is the risk of childhood obesity is reversible if elevated sugars are treated through diet, exercise and insulin (if required). At particular risk are women with sugar levels higher than normal, but not high enough to be deemed gestational diabetes. They were more likely to have obese children than women treated for gestational diabetes or those with normal sugars.
Borderline blood sugars are nothing to ignore. I shared in a previous post that moderately elevated glucose during pregnancy is associated with other problems such as cesarean section and heavier babies. Gestational diabetes criteria may widen. Also, Deanna reported earlier this month that gestational diabetes is linked to pancreatic cancer.
Recently I posted on the California Department of Education's recent lawsuit settlement with the American Diabetes Association. CDE promised students would have access to legally-required diabetes care on campus. With a shortage of school nurses, CDE agreed caregivers could include trained volunteers. I came away from the agreement thinking, "Good! It may have taken a lawsuit, but problem solved." But this settlement is hardly a neatly wrapped package.
Liability drives many decisions. Now the California School Nurses Organization has advised school nurses to seek guidance from district lawyers before training volunteers. Nurses are concerned they could lose their licenses if they train non-medical staff. Executive Director Nancy Spradling stated insulin injections should be monitored by licensed personnel -- incorrect calculations can be fatal or trigger a coma. They've got a point.
Student diabetes care varies widely in California. With a student population of 22,000, Lake Elsinore Unified School District is doing a good job. They have eight nurses taking care of 70 students with diabetes. Last year, Palm Springs Unified School District had only 3 nurses for 24,000 students, requiring parents to visit district schools daily to inject children too young to handle the task themselves.
Arlene Mayerson, directing attorney with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (they represented the ADA in the lawsuit), stated California has one of the lowest nurse-to-student ratios. Perhaps a new certification for a 'School Diabetes Specialist' is on the horizon. Regardless, I hope the CDE figures out a solution to honor the settlement. I bet school districts across the country are watching -- the health of students with diabetes is at stake. Don't forget the nurses' concern. Beyond losing their licenses, no one wants to see a student with diabetes hurt or killed due to an improperly trained, unlicensed adult volunteer. Read the full story in The Press Enterprise.
Participants are being sought for a new study on the possible benefits of an aspirin-like medication for people with type 2 diabetes. The research, which is being funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is aimed at determining if Salsalate, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years to treat pain associated with arthritis, can also be used to help manage diabetes.
Recent studies have linked chronic inflammation to the development of insulin resistance type 2 diabetes. To that end, researchers are looking for adults ages 18 to 75 whose glucose levels are not well controlled and who do not take insulin. Participants will be randomly assigned to either receive Salsalate or a placebo and will receive all medication related to the study at no expense to them. They will also be compensated for time and travel.
If you'd like more information, call 312-355-4442 and ask for Felecia Gilet.
I few days ago I touched on the subject of NY-area drug store chain, Duane Reade. The company established a free diabetes program a while back, offering advice, education and support groups. Duane Reade says it's expanding the program because of customer demand.
Is this part of a larger trend? Looks like it. According to yesterday's New York Times, more and more people are turning to drug stores for medical services. We're talking non-urgent things like sprains and minor infections...and diabetes care. Some are frustrated by lack of access to their regular physician. Others are having budget issues going the traditional route. It's super-convenient because you can be seen without an appointment, then get your prescription filled right there.
Drug store chains - Duane Reade, Wal-Mart, CVS and Walgreens included - are stepping up to the plate to fill the void. "Urgent Care Lite," is the tag it's been given. According to the Times, the number of these clinics has exploded in the past two years. And many feel that's a big problem because these clinics are not tightly regulated.
Next month, 67-year-old Gary Stenlund is heading to the World Masters Championships in Riccione, Italy. He will compete against other senior javelin throwers for the World Masters crown. He's throwing with an arthritic knee and type 2 diabetes.
No stranger to the javelin, Stenlund set the world junior record in high school and was a two-time NCAA runner-up at Oregon State University. In 2003, he nailed the 60-to-64 World Masters top spot with a record throw of 191 feet. Here's one good reason to age, Stenlund topped the world record in the 65-to-69 age division three times last summer.
A sober alcoholic since 1984, he is no stranger to facing life challenges. I shouldn't complain about my sore knee, Stenlund competes with a bone growth on his right knee big enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The article does not mention much about his type 2 diabetes, but he keeps his 6' 1", 185-pound frame healthy through calisthentics, stretching and throwing that skinny metal rod. Go get 'em Gary! Read more in The Portland Tribune.
Do not miss this recent NY Timesarticle by Gina Kolata, Looking Past Blood Sugar to Survive With Diabetes. It is a must read for anyone associated with type 2 diabetes, including patients, family caregivers and doctors. I am very encouraged to see a feature on type 2 diabetes in such a well-read newspaper. Many doctors are uninformed on the best ways to treat a person with type 2 diabetes, they spend much more time with type 1 patients. Furthermore, type 1 and type 2 are very different diseases, but since they both end in 'diabetes' there is deep confusion -- see Diane's previous post on this topic. Undoubtedly, we need Big Media to provide greater coverage on the differences and unique treatments for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
First off, type 2 diabetes is a form of the disease that usually appears in adulthood where the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells are resistant to insulin. Kolata's article focuses on one man's battle with type 2 diabetes, as well as the importance of other treatments beyond blood sugar control that can markedly prevent heart disease -- the number one threat to a person with type 2. Dave Smith, a pastor from Fairmont, Minnesota, has dealt with type 2 diabetes for nine years. From the start, his doctor advised him to control his blood sugar, so he was a faithful carbohydrate counter, finger pricker, type 2 pill taker. Nothing worked, so he added insulin.
Unfortunately, his fixation on controlling blood sugar ignored the most crucial treatment of all -- lowering cholesterol. According to Kolata's article, heart disease kills nearly everyone with diabetes. The second treatment Smith did not consider was the importance of controlling blood pressure. The third treatment is taking aspirin to control blood clots. Last October, Smith had a major heart attack and nearly died. He had never thought about heart disease, and his doctor never advised him to take a cholesterol-lowering statin or a blood pressure drug. The American Diabetes Association reports only 18 percent of people with diabetes know their increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Grrrr! This lack of awareness among patients and doctors must change for lives to be saved. It took a near-fatal heart attack for Smith to receive the combination of drugs he should have been prescribed at diagnosis: a statin, two drugs to lower blood pressure, aspirin, insulin and two drugs to reduce his blood sugar level.
Yes, I'm back on the topic of diabetes and car crash liabiity. Here's a case from Montana that's become particularly ugly. Eleven-year-old Cady Tucker was killed in a head-on collision five years ago. The driver of the car that caused the crash has diabetes. Now, usually in these situations the diabetic (sorry, BetterCell!) driver was experiencing low blood sugar. But in this case, the driver had extremely high blood sugar.
Ever since the crash, the girl's mom, Pat Tucker, has been trying to press criminal charges against the woman. Tucker likens the crash to a DUI. The driver, she says, was "drunk on sugar." The Tuckers have even founded an organization devoted to changing the law: People Against Impaired Drivers.
Now Tucker is very upset because she was not able to get to court before last week, when the statute of limitations ran out on the case. "I couldn't believe a crime wasn't committed when a child's life was taken," says Tucker.
There's a ton of sympathy out there for grieving mom, Tucker. But no one's going to bat for her. Attorney General Mike McGrath has said that while he's sorry for Tucker, the accident was just that: an accident, and not a case of negligent homicide. "We don't put people in prison for high blood sugar," says McGrath.
The title of Kraft Foods' press release this morning was Good Eating, Good Living Radio Show and Website Aim to Clear Up Confusion and Isolation Often Associated with Diabetes. The radio show and Website will provide diet and exercise tips for people with diabetes. Recipes, a meal and fitness planner, product nutrition info, logs/journals, articles, etc ... will be offered. Amy Hendel, a registered physician assistant and Edye Wagner, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, will host the 22 episode radio show beginning August 25 in 30 cities across the country.
Seems like Kraft is spinning a public relations campaign to help pardon the junk food they're hawking to kids and adults. They also are boldly advertising Kraft Foods products in the name of helping people with diabetes. This new program is more about food sales and rationalization against potential future litigation by showing Kraft stands by healthy eating. The press release even included a quote from Amy Hendel, "The good news for the millions with this disease is that by choosing Kraft products they don't have to deprive themselves of their favorite foods or sacrifice flavor."
If Kraft Foods truly wanted to help the millions of people in the United States with diabetes they should stop selling the junk such as Oreos, Fruity Pebbles and Chips Ahoy cookies. Although I do applaud many of their healthier products -- Triscuits, Post Shredded Wheat and Breakstone's Cottage Cheese. Also, in 2005, Kraft did stop advertising some junk food products to kids under age 12. But how about kids over 11? Kraft should also stop being a player in the Big Food lobbying games. The last Bush/Cheney campaign reaped thousands of dollars in donations from a lobbyist for Altria (the company formerly known as Philip Morris), which formerly owned 85 percent of Kraft Foods. (Kraft became a fully independent company March 30, 2007.) Altria also handed the Bush inauguration $250,000 in 2005. It's time for our government to stop taking Big Food's money and start regulating the junk out of Big Food's product lines. But Kraft is smart, if they appear like they're regulating themselves, the government and litigators are less likely to step in. Philip Morris executives know all about tobacco litigation.
This is not to say the radio show or Website will not be decent sources of information for people with diabetes. But as you tune in, keep in mind Kraft's intention may not be that altruistic. Don't miss this informative article on the deceptive tactics of Big Food, Kraft included.
New research finds tuberculosis (TB) is more difficult to treat if the patient has type 2 diabetes. The study examined 737 Indonesians with tuberculosis screened for type 2. Nearly 15 percent had type 2, and initially, their TB was as severe as the non-diabetics. After two months of treatment, TB sputum tests were positive 18.1 percent for those with type 2 and only 10 percent in non-diabetics. At the six month mark, 22.2 percent of type 2s had positive sputum results compared to 9.5 percent of the non-diabetics. 
When I read the headline in this Yahoo! news, 
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Recently I posted on the California Department of Education's 
Participants are being sought for a new study on the possible benefits of an aspirin-like medication for people with type 2 diabetes. The research, which is being funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is aimed at determining if Salsalate, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years to treat pain associated with arthritis, can also be used to help manage diabetes.
Next month, 67-year-old Gary Stenlund is heading to the World Masters Championships in Riccione, Italy. He will compete against other senior javelin throwers for the World Masters crown. He's throwing with an arthritic knee and type 2 diabetes.
Do not miss this recent NY Times 
The title of Kraft Foods' 
