Health News From MedPage Today

Clock Gene Mutations Tick Toward Diabetes: To make up for the body’s loss of melatonin, receptor agonists may be beneficial for Type 2 Diabetes therapy.

by Crystal Phend, reviewed by Zaiman S. Agus, MD

Several rare genetic mutations affecting melatonin, the key circadian rhythm hormone, substantially boost Diabetes risk, researchers found.Thirteen mutations that partially or completely shut down the receptor for melatonin, which regulates functions such as sleep and insulin release, were associated with 5.67-fold higher risk of Type 2 Diabetes, Philippe Froguel, MD, PhD, of Imperial College London, and colleagues discovered.

Popular Diabetes Drugs May Raise Pancreatic Cancer Risk

But more studies are needed to see if this preliminary finding is accurate, researchers say.

by Steven Reinberg

Popular Diabetes Drug Might Cut Pancreatic Cancer Risk

But, the protective effect of metformin was only seen in women.

A new Swiss-American study indicates that long-term use of the popular Diabetes

medication metformin may lower the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, at least among women.

The researchers also found that the long-term use of another class of diabetes medications known as sulfonylureas was associated with a “substantial” bump in pancreatic risk and long-term insulin use was linked to a bump in pancreatic cancer risk in men.

“This result is somewhat unexpected,” the team wrote in its paper, which is published in the Jan. 31 online issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Pancreatic Cancer

is the fourth most deadly cancer in the United States, with an overall survival rate of less than 5 percent, even though it is fairly rare, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The researchers noted that previous research has suggested that metformin may lower the risk for other cancers, breast and ovarian cancer in particular.

To explore metformin’s protective potential against pancreatic cancer, the team sifted through drug prescription, diagnostic, hospitalization and fatality information that had been collected by the British “General Practice Research Database.” The data also included significant demographic information, such as smoking, alcohol use and body mass index.

The team honed in on statistics regarding nearly 2,800 patients (all under the age of 90) who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for the first time between 1995 and 2009. Data concerning almost 16,600 patients who did not have pancreatic cancer was used as a comparison.

The result: Short-term use of metformin or sulfonylureas and/or insulin had no appreciable impact on pancreatic cancer risk.

However, long-term use of each of these medications

did appear to have a sizeable impact on pancreatic cancer risk among diabetics. While female patients saw their risk go down with metformin treatment and up with sulfonylureas, male patients saw their risk go up with insulin.

Dr. Michael Choti, a professor of surgery and oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, stressed the “importance of trying to identify causes for a devastating disease that is often diagnosed late.”

“Over the years, many groups have tried to look at a variety of risk factors, dietary,

and other things, and there have been some reports over the years,” he noted. “But nothing has really panned out well. So this is indeed an interesting study.”

“But it’s also important to say,” Choti added, “that while these could be associations, we cannot really say that what we have here is a cause-and-effect. Pancreatic cancer is a multi-factorial disease. So, while it makes sense conceptually that these drugs could have an impact on the pancreas, which is a metabolic organ, it’s still too early to be sure what’s happening. And it’s too early to recommend metformin as a preventive therapy for pancreatic cancer.”

“So this is interesting and important,” he said. “But it’s not definitive.”

Christina’s Opinion

This article really doesn’t say anything and doesn’t help. Which leads me to the next article above this which isn’t much better but I think, somewhat, tells more.

How are we, as diabetics, supposed to have a life for ourselves when we start including all these other people in our lives? Yes, I know people do it everyday and are okay with it, maybe even great or on the negative side, bad at it but do it anyway. But seriously, how is a diabetic, especially a female supposed to work, take her own time for herself (if she can-to stay sane), manage her Diabetes properly, care for others meaning family and friends, and still do all the other responsibilities, requests, wants, needs, and desires of others without feeling overwhelmed and guilty? Oh, am I just talking about myself? Whoops, well, I am but I also speak for others.

I’m such a generous and giving person naturally that I get in my own trouble and way half the time because I will neglect managing my Diabetes while doing something else for someone else. Why? Well, because again, people don’t understand what you deal with everyday and if they understand (they always think they understand of course, and maybe in their own way they do and they always mean well) they think you should still be able to manage your Diabetes while still managing all the other tasks in your/their/our life-lives. Am I talking about my psychological crazy worrying about other people side of my myself again? Ahhh! Ok Ok I’ll stop, maybe.

The fact is, it’s nearly impossible to play so many roles everyday and do every single task you’re “supposed to.”

Shout out to…

So here is to all the diabetic wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmas, and granddaughters-You Are Fabulous! Really, this is NOT a joke. I think it would be great if someone just told you that everyday and meant it. We do so much and take on so much and we hardly get any appreciation for it and believe I’m not looking for it.

Keep it real

Keep going, doing what your doing, good luck, and please take time for yourself whenever you need it. Don’t worry about what others will think/say. You can’t because then you’ll never take the time. So don’t worry about anything when you take that time for yourself. Relax, have fun, rejuvenate, get lost, do something or stuff you like, and do whatever you need to do to take a break from the daily grind whether it be 5 minutes, 2 weeks, or a year, do it.

What do diabetics want? Many things of course like a lot of other people. But, if it were one thing, it might be to live without Diabetes. Then, we could have peace with ourselves and our lives. No constant worrying, checking, responsibility (of the disease), or the other harsh effects of it.

If you are not a diabetic, feel lucky and grateful that your pancreas works. Don’t take it for granted nor the rest of your body. Keep yourself healthy as you can. Because for a diabetic, our pancreas just sits in our body doing nothing. Should we take it out or will that cause more problems or should we give it a shake and electric shock to reboot it?

Take care of and have tight control of your Diabetes? Isn’t that telling and asking a lot? Yes.

All I know is that it’s constantly annoying, demanding, challenging, and difficult among many other adjectives.

As a diabetic, your life is constantly revolved around, or it’s supposed to be, Diabetes and the life you want to live. We have to be conceited, selfish, and concerned only about ourselves in order to “stay in range” and be healthy all the time.

Do you know how hard this is? No, a non-diabetic doesn’t.

Yet, don’t be angry or take your frustration out on others. It’s not their fault or yours. It’s just the way things are and natures way, genetics, mutations, and evolution’s way of choosing some to have disease(s) and not others. Look at others who don’t have to struggle and be happy with their happiness and the fact they have to face less hardship. Feel good knowing as much as it sucks to have a disease such as Diabetes, you are trying to do the best you can while staying positive and healthy as long as you can. Because if you don’t already know, Diabetes can be very damaging mentally-psychologically and physically. So when you meet, talk to, hear, or see another person without Diabetes, feel happy for them that they don’t have to struggle with it like you. Don’t make them feel like they should feel guilty and don’t make them think you want them to feel bad for you, just think to yourself (or say very nicely, honestly, and openly) that you have what it takes to succeed to battle this disease and live a healthy life while others may not whether with this disease, another disease, or not one at all. Cause the moment you stop believing this, you’ll be gone or going down the tubes faster than you think.

How are people to understand us if they have no clue about what we go through every minute of everyday? They won’t and don’t. We are alone with each other. But, like I said, don’t be mean to others just because you have something they don’t. Love the ones who are in your life, let them care for you, and you care for them.

All you Diabetics, stay strong and battle. Live your life the best you can with Diabetes while trying to have fun, be happy, and be all that you can be.

Have you ever noticed that when you research (if you do happen to search) information about Diabetes, one of the first things that come up is food and diet?

Well, I’ve noticed, and it’s usually a magazine or picture of a salad telling you about dieting and recipes. But I just think its funny that they still have salad as the main food [picture]. It’s either because they do really want  you to eat lighter, more healthy, and screaming at obese America to get healthy, get moving, stop gorging, etc. Or because many people still think Diabetes is just about not having sugar or carbohydrates. I’m not sure. Or that half of America and else where people are getting, now realizing, or being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

Diabetes Prevention Fact(s)

The fact is this. People do need to find out what it really is, Diabetes, and take some physical-mental happiness activity before they get the disease. PREVENTION is key. Why say physical-mental? I’m so into having a psycho-social balance in most things such as life, your doctor, choices, decisions, and more.

PREVENTION is probably half the battle (if don’t already have the disease). Yes, everybody and everywhere you hear it and see it to be healthy in every way possible and believe me, I’m all for it. Yet, it is quite hard on a daily basis to be so healthy day in and day out. Most people have stress, many people are too busy, and whatever that is going on in life to make every move you make throughout the day a healthy one, it’s almost impossible. It’s stressful to just think of it that way.

Diabetes and Not Just Salad

Now, when you look up Diabetes, don’t think that just because you see a salad, that is all you can have is low calorie food. No, that’s hardly the case. I love salad and love eating low calorie water-based food but that won’t keep you filled up or satisfied very long. As a diabetic (and non diabetic), you have to incorporate a healthy-balance lifestyle of eating including carbohydrates, fiber, protein, legumes, fruit, vegetables, poultry, and any other healthy things you may eat. Limiting or not having sweets is best. I know for me, I’m not that into desserts or sweets so maybe on a rare occasion I may have something but otherwise I’ll just have some fruit or something made with natural sugar such as from the agave plant or stevia. My dessert half the time is salad or popcorn or something simple.  As I always say, Everything in Moderation. Besides, if you exercise, do some form of physical activity, move through your day physically and mentally and are really challenging your mind and body everyday or every other or whatever your schedule may be, I would think you can consume whatever food you like as long as your metabolism is going and your not eating just because your stressed or depressed.

Therefore, take care of your Diabetes, eat well, eat often (limit your big meals and snack/small portions through the day, don’t binge), test BG often, give right amount of insulin, do physical/mental activity, and for goodness sake try and be happy.

That’s all. Have a great day all!

Don’t Smoke, Diabetes is Hard Enough

Have you been noticing that smoking or Not Smoking has been in the news lately?

Apparently, as with all the other problems we are trying to solve in this down world now, quitting smoking is another one and might I add, a very important health reason to quit.

As a diabetic, I don’t smoke, never have, and never will. This is one area where I will always be able to say the word never about.

As a diabetic, you shouldn’t smoke. Isn’t having Diabetes enough?

November 17^th marked the 36^th Great American Smokeout. It was sponsored by the American Cancer Society encouraging smokers nationwide to quit, at least for one day. Well, of course, I didn’t know about until it was over, but hey, I can still give information, statistics, and a helping hand.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 46.6 million adults in the U.S. smoke, despite decades of ample scientific proof of negative health effects from smoking.

Also, let’s not forget about second hand smoke. It has just about the same negative effects from smoking and maybe worse.

Smoking damages every organ in the body and contributes to 443,000 deaths a year.

Smoking is at the top of the list for being harmful, dangerous, and out right bad for you.

So why do people keep doing it? Many reasons but the most harmful word I can use is addictive. It is nearly impossible to escape it and the only possible way, if you are trying to quit, is hypnosis.

If you are trying to convince someone you care about or yourself to quit, use some of these facts:

193,000,000,000 The number, in dollars, of health care costs and productivity losses in the United States each year from smoking.

The CDC links smoking to a laundry list of health conditions and premature deaths in United States each year. Most people know that lighting up can lead to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the country, as well as stroke, lung cancer, and respiratory conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. But smoking also plays a significant role in many other less-obvious conditions, from cataracts to skin cancer and tooth and gum decay.

Secondhand smoke and thirdhand smoke, or the buildup of smoke residue on everything from furniture and walls to hair and clothes, also contribute to the problem, especially in children. A ban on smoking in cars recently proposed by the British Medical Association (BMA) reinforces the severity of smoking’s health risks on non-smokers. Passengers in the car of a smoker are likely to take in 23 times more toxins than they would at a smoky bar.

15 The number of years it takes after quitting for one’s risk of heart disease to be comparable to that of a person who never smoked.

Once you’ve given up cigarettes, the positive effects on your physical and emotional health begin almost immediately and continue for years. Your heart disease risk is halved just one year after quitting. After five years, your risk of stroke has almost disappeared. After 10 years, you’re less vulnerable to ulcers and cancer of the lungs, mouth, and throat, among others types of cancer.

Quitting will improve your health at any age but the earlier in life you do it, the better. People who stop smoking before their mid-thirties have mortality rates similar to those who never smoked. Age also plays an important role in how you quit and what challenges you face during the process. According to one 2007 study, younger smokers were more likely than older smokers to report cravings. The same study also reported that younger smokers were more likely to quit cold turkey, which has a poorer success rate.

3,000,000 The number of Americans who quit smoking every year.

While quitting can be a split-second decision for some, it’s often a more deliberate process complete with research, smoking cessation aids, and a support system of family, friends, and doctors. Pinpointing why you really want to quit is often the most important part in terms of providing motivation to stick with a cessation strategy.

19.3 The percentage of U.S. adults who still smoke.

When a smoker inhales a cigarette, the addictive nicotine it contains reaches the brain in as few as 10 seconds. The chemical enters the lungs through the smoke, in the form of vapor and tar droplets, and the body absorbs it quickly. From the bloodstream, the nicotine stimulates the body’s adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline, creating that “rush” that raises blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration.

52.4 The percentage of current adult smokers tried to quit within the past year.

More than half of smokers want to quit, but kicking butt isn’t always that simple. The American Lung Association reports that quitting smoking usually requires multiple attempts. While nicotine is physically addictive, the mental addiction often poses the biggest challenge. Smokers tend to associate the nicotine high with different parts of their days and lives, whether it’s commuting to work or doing the morning crossword puzzle.

3,300 The amount, in dollars, you could save if you didn’t buy cigarettes (at $9 a pack) for an entire year.

That’s 959 gallons of gas at the current national average or about 942 lattes at $3.50 each. And if you stay on the non-smoking wagon for 10 years, that $33,000 could even buy a new car or help pay for a kid’s college education.

26 The estimated percentage of heart attacks attributable to smoking.

Smoking makes it more difficult for oxygen to reach the heart and puts stress on your ticker. It also makes blood platelets stickier, which increases the risk of blood clots and stroke. Over time, a smoking habit causes plaque to accumulate in the arteries, resulting in atherosclerosis. Smoking’s toll on the heart is compounded even further in people who are overweight or have other heart disease risk factors.

48 The number of hours it takes after you quit smoking for nerve endings deadened by the habit to start to regenerate.

If there’s any consolation to how difficult quitting can be, here it is: You’ll start feeling healthier right away. After only a couple of days, your sense of taste and smell will have already improved. You may also notice a fresh change in your breath, and the stains on your teeth, fingers and fingernails will start to fade. Plus, you won’t smell like a chimney anymore.

Your mood will probably improve, too, once the irritability from nicotine withdrawal subsides. A recent study from the University of Missouri found that quitting smoking can overhaul your personality, helping people become less anxious and impulsive.

80 The estimated percentage of lung cancer cases caused by smoking.

The American Cancer society reports that lung cancer causes more deaths in men and women than any other cancer, and most of the time, smoking plays a direct or indirect role. Inhaling cigarette smoke and the many carcinogens it contains destroys lung tissue. In fact, a recent University of North Carolina study found that smoking has the same impact on the lungs as cystic fibrosis, a deadly genetic disease. As in CF, smoking causes the body to produce a sticky mucus that triggers coughing and increases infection risk.

3,450 he approximate amount of U.S. young adults between ages 12 and 17 who smoke their first cigarette each day.

An estimated 850 of those teens ultimately become daily smokers. Nearly half of high school students have tried a cigarette, according to a 2009 CDC survey. Whether they smoke for the first time due to peer pressure or plain curiosity, teens whose parents talk to them about the dangers of smoking are half as likely to smoke as those who don’t have such conversations. So it’s important they know the risks.

In June, the FDA introduced new, graphic warning labels featuring rotting teeth and diseased lungs, among other gruesome photographs to deter would-be and current smokers, especially young adults, from buying them. The new labels were set to roll out in September 2012 until this month, when a U.S. district judge blocked the new requirements. He ruled that the cigarette companies will likely to win their lawsuit that claims the proposed graphic images violate the First Amendment.

Secondhand Smoke

What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoke. It is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco: sidestream smoke (smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar) and mainstream smoke (smoke that is exhaled by a smoker). Even though we think of these as the same, they aren’t. The sidestream smoke has higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) than the mainstream smoke. And, it contains smaller particles than mainstream smoke, which make their way into the body’s cells more easily.

When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in secondhand smoke take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do. The more secondhand smoke you are exposed to, the higher the level of these harmful chemicals in your body.

Why is secondhand smoke a problem?

Secondhand smoke causes cancer

Secondhand smoke is classified as a “known human carcinogen” (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization.

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. More than 60 of these are known or suspected to cause cancer.

Secondhand smoke causes other kinds of diseases and deaths

Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for:

An estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are currently non-smokers

About 3,400 lung cancer deaths as a result of breathing secondhand smoke

Other breathing problems in non-smokers, including coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function

50,000 to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations annually

Increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma

More than 750,000 middle ear infections in children

Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are also at increased risk of having low birth- weight babies.

Secondhand smoke may be linked to breast cancer

Whether secondhand smoke increases the risk of breast cancer is an issue that is still being studied. Both mainstream and secondhand smoke contain about 20 chemicals that, in high concentrations, cause breast cancer in rodents. And we know that in humans, chemicals from tobacco smoke reach breast tissue and are found in breast milk.

But a link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer risk in human studies is still being debated. This is partly because breast cancer risk has not been shown to be increased in active smokers. One possible explanation for this is that tobacco smoke may have different effects on breast cancer risk in smokers and in those who are exposed to secondhand smoke.

A report from the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 concluded that the evidence regarding secondhand smoke and breast cancer is “consistent with a causal association” in younger women. This means that the secondhand smoke acts as if it could be a cause of breast cancer in these women. The 2006 US Surgeon General’s report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, found that there is “suggestive but not sufficient” evidence of a link at this point. In any case, women should be told that this possible link to breast cancer is yet another reason to avoid being around secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke kills children and adults who don’t smoke, and makes others sick (Surgeon General’s report)

The 2006 US Surgeon General’s report reached some important conclusions:

Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and in adults who do not smoke.

Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes breathing (respiratory) symptoms and slows lung growth in their children.

Secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood circulation in a harmful way. Over a longer time it also causes heart disease and lung cancer.

The scientific evidence shows that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes and workplaces despite a great deal of progress in tobacco control.

The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to secondhand smoke indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space or building. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

Where is secondhand smoke a problem?

You should be especially concerned about exposure to secondhand smoke in these 4 places:

At work

The workplace is a major source of secondhand smoke exposure for adults. Secondhand smoke meets the standard to be classified as a potential cancer-causing agent by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency responsible for health and safety regulations in the workplace. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), another federal agency, also recommends that secondhand smoke be considered a possible carcinogen in the workplace. Because there are no known safe levels, they recommend that exposures to secondhand smoke be reduced to the lowest possible levels.

Secondhand smoke in the workplace has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease and lung cancer among adult non-smokers. The Surgeon General has said that smoke-free workplace policies are the only way to do away with secondhand smoke exposure at work. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating the building cannot prevent exposure if people still smoke inside the building. An extra bonus other than protecting non-smokers is that workplace smoking restrictions may also encourage smokers to quit.

In public places

Everyone can be exposed to secondhand smoke in public places, such as restaurants, shopping centers, public transportation, schools, and daycare centers.

Some businesses seem to be afraid to ban smoking, but there is no proof that going smoke-free is bad for business. Public places where children go are a special area of concern.

At home

Making your home smoke-free may be one of the most important things you can do for the health of your family. Any family member can develop health problems related to secondhand smoke.

Children are especially sensitive to secondhand smoke. Asthma, lung infections, and ear infections are more common in children who are around smokers. Some of these problems can be serious and even life-threatening. Others may seem like small problems, but they add up quickly: think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must take the child to the doctor. In the United States, 21 million, or 35% of children live in homes where residents or visitors smoke in the home on a regular basis. About 50% to 75% of children in the United States have detectable levels of cotinine, the breakdown product of nicotine, in their blood.

Think about it: we spend more time at home than anywhere else. A smoke-free home protects your family, your guests, and even your pets.

In the car

Americans spend a great deal of time in cars, and if someone smokes there, hazardous levels of smoke can build up quickly. Again, this can be especially harmful to children.

In response to this fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency has a special program to encourage people to make their cars, as well as their homes, smoke-free. And some states have laws that ban smoking in the car if carrying passengers under the age of 17.

Neighborhood Can Affect Obesity, Diabetes Risk

Study found moving women out of poor neighborhoods reduced rates of both conditions

Women living in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be obese and have Type 2 Diabetes than those who move into more advantaged areas, new research suggests.

In the first randomized trial of its kind, researchers provided women living in high poverty areas with vouchers and counseling so they could move into better neighborhoods. After 10 years of living in the new areas, those women were 19 percent less likely to be morbidly obese, and 22 percent less likely to have developed type 2 diabetes compared to the control group that stayed in high-poverty neighborhoods.

“Investments outside the health care system can be really important complements to spending within the health care system,” noted study author Jens Ludwig, the McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law and Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

“The effects in our paper seem to be roughly comparable to the best practice lifestyle and medication interventions. That’s pretty striking,” he said. “The initial aim of the study was to help families be safer, but it turns out there’s an effect on these really important health outcomes that’s in the ballpark of lifestyle and medical interventions.”

Results of the study are published in the Oct. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

From 1994 through 1998, the study authors recruited 4,498 women with children living in public housing in high-poverty areas. The study was called Moving to Opportunity, and its aim was to see if moving the women and their children from high-poverty areas to lower-poverty areas could improve their lives. The study volunteers came from five U.S. cities: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

The women were assigned to one of three groups based on the results of a random lottery: one group received housing vouchers that were only redeemable if they moved to an area with less than 10 percent of people living in poverty, and they received counseling on moving; another group received housing vouchers with no restrictions; and the final group received no intervention.

In 2008 through 2010, the researchers collected follow-up information, including measurements of height, weight and blood samples to test for Diabetes.

During the follow-up period, 17 percent of the women in the control group were morbidly obese, which means a body mass index of 40 or above. Among the women who moved to lower-poverty areas, that rate was 14.4 percent, which is 19 percent lower than the control group, according to the study. Women who received traditional housing vouchers had a morbid obesity rate of 15.4 percent.

The rate of diabetes was 16.3 percent in the women who moved to lower-poverty areas, 20.6 percent in the traditional housing voucher group and 20 percent in the control group.

Ludwig said this study wasn’t designed to identify the specific factors that might have contributed to the drop in obesity and diabetes rates after moving to lower-poverty areas, but that there are four major factors that likely contributed. One is access to better foods. In higher-poverty areas, there are often no grocery stores, only small corner stores. Another is the ability to exercise in safer neighborhoods. Access to better health care may also play a role, said Ludwig. And, reduced psychological stress because of moving to a safer neighborhood may also help, he said.

“This was a good study looking at a very complicated problem. And, they showed that the neighborhood may be a very important component in controlling obesity and diabetes,” said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

And, he added, the change wasn’t an expensive one to implement.

Ludwig said that counseling was really the only additional cost of the study, as the women were already living in public housing. And, he noted, it’s estimated that caring for one person with diabetes costs about $5,000 per year, so the savings from such a program could end up being quite significant.

As a diabetic, you can only do so much yourself so knowing you have a doctor visit coming up, may help keep you more in control, disciplinary toward yourself, and just be more healthy. I know from personal experience, it has done that to me. I know I’m being watched and monitored and knowing there will be a “check up” soon only makes me want to do better for myself so the “tests” and results come out positive/good. It only makes myself feel and look good ( not appearance wise, judgmental wise)  if my stats are good; meaning I’ll live that much longer, have lived that time, and that time spent that much healthier.  Yes, sounds odd, crazy, and not the perfect English but if you have any idea what I’m saying, you know. Of course, even when I do have a doctor visit coming up, sometimes I don’t “watch” myself so well and I keep on doing whatever I was doing before which is both good and not so good stuff. Sometimes it’s irrelevant of whether you know you have a doctor visit coming or not. Why? Well, there is this thing called life that we all try to live and…

Please, don’t take the article too seriously.

by www.diabetesheath.com

Sources:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-09/bawh-fdv092711.php

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/171/17/1542

Diabetes patients who visit their doctors often achieve their goals more quickly.

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.

That might seem obvious. More time talking to a doctor will lead you to pay better attention to your medical condition, right? But the differences described by this study are remarkable. On average, patients who spent lots of time with their doctors took 1.5 months to achieve their goals in all three areas. Patients who had little interaction with healthcare providers took 36.9 months to reach their goals. That’s more than three years!

The patients in the first group didn’t necessarily actually visit the doctor’s office every week or two. The study measured their “encounters” with doctors — which could include telephone calls to the office, for example.

So why are the outcomes so different? Some of the benefits seem clear, but what does more frequent interaction actually do for patients? Alexander Turchin, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and one of the study’s authors, said it’s likely a potent combination of factors.

“Physicians may be prescribing new medications or increasing the dose of existing ones,” Turchin said. “Another process occurring is lifestyle counseling. Physicians are telling patients how they can improve their diet. They are telling their patients to exercise more and lose weight, which is going to help their diabetes control.”

Records used in the study came from 26,496 type 2 patients with high A1Cs, blood pressure, or LDL cholesterol. All of the patients were seen at some point from 2000 to 2009. The study appeared in the September 26, 2011, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

by www.diabeteshealth.com

Source:

http://press.novonordisk-us.com/index.php?s=43&item=304

Novo Nordisk’s insulin degludec is injected once daily.

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.

“We are very excited about being able to file for the approval of insulin degludec and insulin degludec/insulin aspart now also in the US,” said Novo Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen. “This is another significant milestone for Novo Nordisk and for the millions of people with Diabetes who require insulin.”

As Thomsen mentioned, the company is also applying for approval of a dual formulation of insulin degludec and insulin aspart. In this combination, the long-lasting degludec is accompanied by the short-term aspart. An injection would therefore offer both 24-hour control and a needed bolus after a meal.

Extensive clinical trials have been undertaken to test the safety and efficacy of insulin degludec. The BEGIN and BOOST studies, which wrapped up last year, included nearly 10,000 people with Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes. Results from the studies showed that the insulin was indeed effective as a 24-hour treatment.

Novo Nordisk, which has a global reach, has spent nearly 90 years in the diabetes care field. Some of its best-known products include Levemir and NovoLog. Novo has also branched into hemophilia care, hormone replacement therapy, and growth hormone therapy.