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!
Patients and doctors don't always see eye-to-eye, but there are ways to make your next doctor's appointment easier.
There are often many options for diagnosing or treating diabetes and choosing to work with your doctor -- instead of against him or her -- will help.
Make sure that you choose a doctor who you feel comfortable with and can build a great relationship with. Choosing a doctor who understands your lifestyle, wants, needs and limitations is essential. Be an active participant at your appointment, by takinge your daily blood sugar (glucose) monitoring logbook to your appointment. Also, be prepared for any tests that you might need to take and think about the following questions that your doctor can use to help you manage your diabetes, especially if you're having problems with your blood sugar.
Have you made any recent changes in your diet, exercise or medicines?
What other prescription and nonprescription medicines do you take?
Have you recently had increased emotional or physical stress?
Have you noticed situations that trigger your high or low blood sugar?
Have you noticed any patterns, such as time of day, when your blood sugar spikes or drops?
Have you used a high blood sugar card?
Do you have other health risks?
During your appointment, take notes on any changes or modifications to your diet and exercise routine that your doctor would like you make. After your appointment, make sure to update your home medical records.
Refer to those notes when you get home and place them in a highly visible place until your doctor's tips are coordinated into your daily life. Once you've incorporated the tips, stash your notes somewhere where you can refer to them as necessary.
The light-weight pump has several pieces including a pager-sized, insulin-containing device that is usually clipped to your belt or waist. It pumps insulin into a very thin, soft tube called a catheter that carries the insulin from the pump to a "connector" on the skin of your abdomen. This connector is made of an adhesive pad that sticks to the your skin like a bandage.
A spring-loaded needle punctures your skin each time you attach the connector to your body. After the connector is attached, the needle is removed. For most pumps, the connector must be changed every three days, which is a simple, painless process.
The insulin pump does not monitor your blood sugar. You need to test your blood sugar to determine the correct insulin dosage. Still, the pump sends a slow, steady stream of insulin to your skin and can easily send an extra dose before meals. The pump can help you stay in control of your blood sugar better and eliminates the need for insulin injections.
Although there are many positives to using the pump, it can be costly and it is possible for the catheter to become blocked or leak. Some people are also self-conscious about wearing a pump, which can be bothersome while sleeping.
A new study from the University of Michigan Medical School showed that, on average, adults with diabetes have at least three other chronic health conditions. Doctors usually focus on treating physical aspects like high blood pressure. Diabetics, however, are more focused on pain relief and depression.
The study, some believe, brings to light the reasons why diabetics have a hard time managing their health. With different goals than their doctors, it's nearly impossible to determine whether treatment is successful.
There are several reasons that diabetics might experience pain. Muscle pain is a common complaint. Among the most common reasons for muscles pain are shoulder tendonitis, which often refers pain to nearby muscles; diabetic myonecrosis, when small arteries supplying a muscle becomes blocked and muscles can die; and nerve disease.
If you're suffering from pain, there are many remedies, including:
Taking your medicines as prescribed
Participating in a physical therapy or stretching
Exercising regularly by swimming, riding a stationary bike or walking to build muscle strength.
Getting enough sleep every night
Trying self-massage or trigger point massage therapy
Diabetes doesn't have to limit your options. You can still enjoy your life while minimizing your chances of complications. This time of year, it is especially important to be mindful of your health because illnesses can quickly become serious.
When your body is fighting an infection, it produces stress hormones that counteract insulin. Therefore, you may need more insulin to keep blood sugar levels down. People with type 2 diabetes who normally take oral medications may temporarily require insulin injections.
To better manage your diabetes, try these tips:
Monitor your blood sugar. Practice good blood sugar control by monitoring your blood sugar levels regularly. You should also have a glycosylated hemoglobin test ever three to six months.
Practice good health habits. Visit your doctor and dentist regularly, exercise often and eat a healthy, varied diet.
Have an annual eye exam. This should be done from the time of diagnosis in people with type 2 diabetes, and starting five years after diagnosis in people with type 1 diabetes.
Avoid illness by staying up-to-date on your immunizations.
Practice good foot and skin care.
Avoid risky behaviors, such as smoking or drug or alcohol abuse.
Learn as much as you can about diabetes, and educate others close to you.
Recognizing the symptoms of diabetes can often help you get a proper diagnosis and treatment. There are currently 5.7 million people who have undiagnosed diabetes in the United States, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes usually come on quickly within days or weeks. The following can be signs of type 1 diabetes:
Your appetite has increased, and you're still losing weight.
Most people make resolutions to lose weight in January. For diabetics, sticking to a meal plan is more about staying healthy than looking great.
Your diet should be low in saturated fats, cholesterol and sweets. It should also be high in fiber, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Your dietitian can help create an individualized meal plan, but the basics will be the same regardless of your health status.
People with diabetes should get most (45-55%) of their daily calories from complex carbohydrates including vegetables, whole-grain breads and cereals. The simple sugars found in low-fat dairy and fruit are included as healthy carbohydrates, too.
It's important to remember that blood glucose levels can be affected by how foods are prepared. Raw veggies are digested more slowly than those that have been cooked. Fruit juices will affect your blood-sugar level faster than eating a piece of fruit.
Make sure to limit your sugar and alcohol as well as fats. Diabetics can consume sugar as long as they plan for it and adjust their insulin dosage accordingly. Alcohol must be treated in a similar way.
Why is diabetes an imperfect science? The last 22 years of my life with diabetes have disproved as much (or more) than it has confirmed in conventional diabetes wisdom. The facts were in the studies - but researchers didn't know what to do with them, at the time. Here's where the mysteries will unfold..
The last year blogging with The Diabetes Blog has been an in your face demonstration of the imperfect science of diabetes. Many undisclosed details of studies from days gone by have proven to be a reason why diabetes has been an imperfect science. Since when has science been imperfect? When you don't complete your homework. Don't get wrong - science has done the homework, but you - the diabetic - have not been privy to every fact found in these studies. Nowadays, there's no excuse. The dog doesn't eat my homework.
It's time these facts made it to the light of day. I am taking my investigative curiosity and hanging a shingle over LoveDiabetes.com - because that's who I am: Allison Love Beatty! Let's buddy-up with the researchers and their homework. It's about time we solved the universal mysteries of diabetes. The facts are available. With combined knowledge, existential and pathological, we can make more of these studies from yesteryear and the days to come.
Someday soon we will see the trend of diabetes reverse - less diagnosis, less complications, and reduced costs. I've got Internet access, unlimited long-distance, and plenty of time. The fun is just getting started! This is my invitation to you - what's your diabetes mystery? Leave me a comment on LoveDiabetes.com so I know what's on your mind. Together we will prove there is no such a thing as an imperfect science.
Insulin not only moves glucose into the cells, but it also escorts Vitamin C. Blood sugar hogs the seats on the bus in most diabetics, therefore reducing the amount of Vitamin C we can absorb. This is the premise of The GAA Theory: high glucose levels hinder vitamin C entry into cells.
Vitamin C is vitally important for many functions throughout the body - a big one being metabolism. Glucose and Vitamin C are similar in the way they enter the cells. Both molecules require help from insulin. The name for the process that brings glucose and Vitamin C through cell membranes is insulin-mediated uptake. The insulin-mediated uptake of glucose and vitamin C uses white blood cells. White blood cells have more insulin pumps and they may contain 20 times the amount of vitamin C as ordinary cells.
So does increasing your Vitamin C help boost your glycemic control? Diabetes Health cited a study that confirms daily doses of 2,000 mg of absorbic acid improved both fasting blood glucose and HbA1c readings in patients with type 2 diabetes. Next time you swing by the store - see if some Emergen-C can help you achieve better glycemic control. With 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per packet - their homepage says: Feel The Good. Little did they know how good it could be for Type 2 diabetics!
Thomas Smith began reviewing scientific literature after conventional medicine failed him in controlling diabetes. Smith found research that shows dietary toxins impair cell membrane function. These toxins include trans fatty acids and refined sugars. Cells begin to have trouble absorbing nutrients, and the blood sugar rises. Over time, this results in chronic elevated blood and urine sugar levels. Sounds like a growing epidemic, doesn't it?
This damage to cell membranes, caused by a poor diet, can be repaired. The diabetic syndrome can be cured by eliminating all processed fats and oils. The protocol calls for supplementing high-dose Omega-3 fatty acids. This protocol normalizes blood sugars because the body is continuously repairing cell membranes by using the fats and oils available in the diet. One caution: the speed of recovery is related to the length of the illness. Some Type 2 diabetics may require up to one year for dramatic reductions in blood sugar.
A gaping hole exists between conventional medicine and diet. Conventional medicine claims that the cause of Type 2 diabetes is unknown. Medical doctors, as practitioners of conventional medicine, are not trained to explain how it happened. They treat symptoms with medicine. The business of medicine is medicine. The business of diabetes would be devasted if the cure was as simple as diet. The explanation Thomas Smith provides in his empirical studies is fascinating and I encourage anybody with competing or supporting evidence to open the debate.
Dr. Bernstein, a world leading authority in diabetes, is hosting a live internet broadcasts to answer your questions on diabetes. Diabetes 911 is setup to stop the complications of diabetes before it's an emergency. Here's a link to the page where you can submit your questions, to be answered on his next broadcast -- September 19, 2007.
Just a heads-up for The Diabetes Blog reading community - AOL has announced they will be retiring The Diabetes Blog on September 14, 2007. So this is a preemptive blog to get your calendar out, send yourself a reminder email titled: OPEN ON SEPTEMBER 19th!!!!
This will not be my last blog shared with you, all mighty readers of the blogosphere. I'm working to get my proverbial welcome mat in place to continue unfolding the mysteries of diabetes on LoveDiabetes.com. More to come...
UCLA researchers report Nevada County, California residents have the lowest rate of diabetes in the state -- 2.6 percent. That's about one-third the state-wide average (6.8 percent), and slightly less than one-quarter the prevalence of diabetes in Imperial County (11.2 percent).
Take a few guesses why Nevada County's rate of diabetes is so much lower than Imperial County, and well under the national average of 7 percent. Do families eat less processed food around the dinner table? More jogging trails? Better health insurance coverage? Researcher Theresa Hastert states, "There is no one thing, but higher income is associated with better foods and exercise."
Hastert explained Nevada County is mostly white, affluent, educated and insured. Imperial County has a large population of Latinos and migrant farm workers. Nevada County's numbers support general findings that minorities without affordable, continuous health care are more prone to the disease. Who's got time for the dinner table -- Hastert openly speculates eating more junk food may be a consequence of dodging between three jobs just to get by. Also, Nevada County is a beautiful area -- she wonders if environmental factors play a role.
Is diabetes a socio-economic disease? If so, we're in trouble. The gap is widening between our nation's haves and have nots, and large concentrations of poor minorities may explain the disproportionate rates of diabetes from county to county. Read more in The Union.
A friend of mine told me about a friend of hers who had a cat that used to have diabetes - until she left him with the Vet. Her friend was overprotective of her little cat since it was diagnosed with diabetes. The cat was put on insulin injections. She also upgraded the entire posse of cats to low-carb cat food. Routinely she took her cat to the vet to have the blood sugar levels checked ($75 a pop!) So far, so good - the story is mundane until her friend left for a vacation and boarded the cat at the Vet's for the week.
All week her friend was worried about the welfare of her cat - even though she was safely under the watchful eye of the vet. As it turns out, upon her return from vacation - the vet notified her that her cat no longer has diabetes. She was sent home with instructions to continue feeding the cats low carbohydrate food, and to discontinue the insulin injections.
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine says, "Some diabetic cats may lose the need for insulin, months or years after diagnosis. If diabetes has resulted from obesity, it is likely to improve a great deal-or even completely resolve-once the cat's weight is under control. If obesity or some other disorder is not a factor, the diabetes probably will not go away; however, it can be successfully managed."
So here's my question: are animals so different from human beings? Why isn't the equation so simple in curing Type 2? Simple is a grave understatement - but understanding the cause of elevated blood sugar could be the great escape from diabetes. It's more than just switching a diet to low-carb cat food, isn't it? Meow.
Diabetic foot complications are responsible for many lower extremity amputations. But this last drastic step can be prevented up to 85 percent of the time with early diagnosis and proper care.
Now Thai researchers and physicians have shown using a patient's own stem cells can effectively heal chronic foot wounds. Diabetes patients with chronic foot wounds, aged 50-72, were injected with stem cells obtained from their own blood. Most excitedly, the wounds healed nicely within three to four months. The stem cell treatment also makes fiscal sense. According to this article, stem cell treatment for wounds in a patient with diabetes costs about $6,000, one-fifth the cost of conventional treatment for a leg wound.
Studies have shown primary care physicians often fail to examine the feet of patients with diabetes. It's a shame, as this step is the least costly and most effective way to prevent foot wounds and potential amputations. But at the same time, it is nice to know there is a promising, cheaper treatment utilizing patient-donated stem cells.
Ever heard of MedCo Health Solutions? It's not a household name like the big pharmaceutical companies Novo, Glaxo etc. However, MedCo, which happens to be in the prescription benefit management business, is a large and powerful company. Now it's about to become even larger: the company is poised to pay $1.5 billion for PolyMedica Corporation, the nation's biggest supplier of diabetes-related products.
According to a Forbes report on the deal, PolyMedica has nearly one million patients using its products. Its product line includes Liberty Healthcare brand, blood glucose test kits and meters, lancet kits, insulin and the like. The Forbes article says the move is basically a smart one on the part of MedCo: it can cash in on the growing demand(14.5 % growth, annually!) for diabetes supplies. MedCo's chief exec, David Snow, told Forbes he anticipates the purchase could make his company (indirectly) the supplier of diabetes treatment products to half of all insured Americans with diabetes.
Factoid: ads for PolyMedica star "Cocoon" and "Seinfeld" actor Wilford Brimley.
Aaaahh ... fall will soon deliver golden trees, crisp autumn air, piles of fallen leaves begging to be jumped in, and the stick of the flu vaccine.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) recently issued a report calling for greater influenza vaccination rates among Americans with diabetes. Turns out more than 50 percent of the 21 million people with diabetes do not receive an annual influenza vaccination. This is contrary to the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association.
According to Dr. William Schaffner, NFID's vice president, the impaired immune systems of people with diabetes can result in a higher risk of serious complications from influenza, including impaired blood sugar control. Annually, this infectious disease strikes up to 60 million Americans and kills an average of 36,000 people -- more than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined. Over 10 percent of deaths linked to influenza and pneumonia are due to diabetes. There are studies citing the benefits of the vaccine for people with diabetes, including reduced hospitalization and death by 72 percent for those with diabetes 18 to 64 years of age, and 80 percent less hospital admissions for children and adults with diabetes.
I'm just speculating, but lack of awareness, lack of access to an affordable vaccine or just plain philosophical disagreement with the need for the vaccine (among other factors) may all play a role in the low influenza vaccination rates for people with diabetes. Just an example, my parents both have type 1, and my mom will stand in line for hours to get a shot (she was hospitalized for influenza in her pre-diabetes days), while my dad always refuses -- he's never had influenza. Read more at Infection Control Today.
Why is diabetes an imperfect science? The last 22 years of my life with diabetes have disproved as much (or more) than it has confirmed in conventional diabetes wisdom. The facts were in the studies - but researchers didn't know what to do with them, at the time. Here's where the mysteries will unfold..
Insulin not only moves glucose into the cells, but it also escorts Vitamin C. Blood sugar hogs the seats on the bus in most diabetics, therefore reducing the amount of Vitamin C we can absorb. This is the premise of 
Thomas Smith began reviewing scientific literature after conventional medicine failed him in controlling diabetes. Smith found research that shows 
Dr. Bernstein, a world leading authority in diabetes, is hosting a live internet broadcasts to answer your questions on diabetes. 
UCLA researchers report Nevada County, California residents have the lowest rate of diabetes in the state -- 2.6 percent. That's about one-third the state-wide average (6.8 percent), and slightly less than one-quarter the prevalence of diabetes in Imperial County (11.2 percent).
A friend of mine told me about a friend of hers who had a cat that used to have diabetes - until she left him with the Vet. Her friend was overprotective of her little cat since it was diagnosed with diabetes. The cat was put on insulin injections. She also upgraded the entire posse of cats to low-carb cat food. Routinely she took her cat to the vet to have the blood sugar levels checked ($75 a pop!) So far, so good - the story is mundane until her friend left for a vacation and boarded the cat at the Vet's for the week.
Diabetic foot complications are responsible for many lower extremity amputations. But this last drastic step can be prevented up to 85 percent of the time with early diagnosis and proper care.
Aaaahh ... fall will soon deliver golden trees, crisp autumn air, piles of fallen leaves begging to be jumped in, and the stick of the flu vaccine. 
