Diabetes screening is cost effective

I don't care that the first two paragraphs fit me too closely. What caught my attention is that maybe the insurance companies should all have this study as required reading (my interpretation). Read the article here.

Quote: "Any screening at all is better than none, but the greatest bang for the healthcare buck comes from screening high-risk groups. Her group concluded that the least expensive screening method -- plasma glucose levels one hour after a 50 g oral glucose challenge -- "should be considered for routine use as an opportunistic screen." Unquote. I think this speaks volumes for preventive care for those at high risk for diabetes.

I will admit I am more than a little biased about this study.

The liver – the other serious diabetes complication

Is the liver at risk for those with diabetes. Yes! In a Canadian population based study, the liver is at fifty percent greater risk in people with diabetes. Normally diabetes guidelines do not recommend screening for liver disease and is often overlooked in diabetes. Please read about the study here.

It may be necessary to do annual screening of the liver to determine the health of the liver in people with diabetes and it may be necessary to add the liver to the list of target-organ conditions.

Antioxidants help insulin sensitivity?

A small study indicates that a diet high in antioxidants may increase insulin sensitivity and help metformin work more efficiently. While the size of the study begs for more studies and better study control, there is some rational that it may indeed have merit.

Read about the study here.

Complications of diabetes

The key to minimizing or keeping the complications of diabetes at bay is in tight blood glucose control and exercise. This is the theme of the following three articles about the complications of diabetes.

Unfortunately, some of the complications are more problematic and extra care must be taken. All three articles stress the importance of strict blood glucose control.

• Article 1   Three pages
• Article 2   Two pages
• Article 3   Two pages

There are many more articles available on the web relating to the complications of diabetes.

The complications are:

• neuropathy which can be characterized as peripheral neuropathy or diabetic neuropathy and is about 60% chance of occurring.
• heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke risks are doubled. Heart disease and stroke cause at least 65% of deaths from diabetes.
• diabetic retinopathy or major eye complications are common as is cataracts and glaucoma. Broken blood vessels in the eyes is the main cause or preventable blindness.
• Serious leg and foot infections are the major cause of most amputations and is generally cause by poor blood circulation and poor foot care.
• Kidney damage is another complication of diabetes.

All three articles state that the damage is preventable and need not continue to progress if strict control is maintained on blood glucose levels and an exercise plan is followed. We all need to be aware that the risks are there and that they can be managed.

Changes in heart healthy recommendations

Are you a person puzzled by the constant changes in what foods are good for you? If so, you will enjoy reading the blog by David Spero from June 23, 2010. I like his explanation and humor and stating “I reported on this and probably helped stress a lot of readers out, and it turns out that it wasn’t true”, which explains some of his frustrations. He also refers to the article in Reuters recently from a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 9, 2010.

I had to smile because I have not followed the instructions of the researcher he reports on and have continued to eat eggs and drink milk. I use milk of course, just not the quantity I used to drink, but I still use milk for cooking and for other recipes and I have decreased the quantity of eggs I eat, but that will probably get back to normal as I have always believed in the nutritional value of whole eggs. Instead of the three to four eggs a week, I will probably get back to my customary eight to nine whole eggs per week.

David also tackles brown rice and whole grains. While I disagree with using these for people with diabetes, his blog does not outright urge people to include them, and this speaks volumes.

Side effects of insulin – can they be stopped?

C-peptide, yes, the c-peptide molecule when given with insulin may reduce the damage of insulin.

What damage you ask? Insulin causes some cells within blood vessels to grow and cause narrowing of the blood vessels. This in turns leads to heart problems, a risk in people with diabetes. Now researchers at the University of Leeds have found that C-peptide when administered with insulin stops these cells from growing. This will prevent many of the heart problems experienced by people with diabetes.

I have wondered why very few other publications or bloggers have not picked up on this article as important as this is. Telegraph dot co dot uk is only one of two places I have seen this article. It was published May 10, 2010. Please take time to read this important article.

Has your medications passed their expiration date?

All of us on medications have to ask ourselves about this when we take our medications. Is the expiration date on the bottle or vial correct? Has it been stored correctly? What other factors affect the expiration date?

National Public Radio is not a source I rely on for information generally, but their article on expiration dates for medicines is one that I will say is written with more thought than many. This article is published June 21, 2010, and another on March 20, 2000.

I find that the statement “drugs stored under ideal conditions can last longer than a year” to be an excellent example of where we need to begin to doubt the expiration date. Was the medication transported properly in the winter or summer. Was the medication frozen while in transit? Or was the medication cooked in a hot van during the summer?

These are all questions we need to have answered. This information would lead us to a better understanding of the expiration date validity.