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Stem cell research is a subject that has everyone from one end of the spectrum to the others talking and debating.  What’s the good part?  What’s the bad?  Lawmakers are arguing the point, and have been doing so for years.  Neighbors, churchgoers, parents, teachers, workers, retirees all seem to have an opinion on the subject, yet many are torn between what stem cells can do to help people and whether it is the right thing to do.

There is new information in the fight against diabetes, and the information regards stem cell research.  The body’s liver and pancreas cells have recently been found to be essential in fighting diabetes and keeping insulin and blood glucose levels balanced.  The problem is that in someone who has diabetes, these cells are not produced normally and therefore, cannot help the person.

What researchers and scientists have essentially done through stem cells has been to replicate the liver and pancreatic cells that can help individuals with diabetes.  The stem cells used for this were not embryonic stem cells, as the mix of embryonic cells can cause tumors to form.

What researchers at the University of Edinburgh have done was to create cells that can actually renew themselves in the laboratory, which prevents them from having to continue harvesting more cells and it also keeps the consistency of the cells equal.  The University of Edinburgh team claims that the cells can be injected into a person with diabetes, ending their dependence on insulin and most likely, curing them of the disease. 

Dr. Josh Brickman, head of the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Stem Cell Research and MRC Center for Regenerative Medicine stated, “For the first time we have found a way to generate and purify precursors of liver and pancreatic cells by recreating the path of the cell development to a point where we could identify and  purify these cells.  Remarkably, they can grow in a dish, providing a renewable source for future applications in medicine.”

Further information should be released soon.

If you have diabetes, pre-diabetes, or if diabetes runs in your family, keeping an eye on your blood sugar is important.  There are a million ideas floating about that can help but which ones are the most important?  Actually, looking at the basics is important.  In addition, pointing out that these basics are especially helpful for men, is also important.

The easier it is to address an issue, the better we usually do at getting it handled.  If it gets too confusing, too time consuming, or just becomes too much of a pain to do, we – as humans – have a tendency to stop trying.

Here are a few straightforward and simple ways to control your blood sugar, feel better and get on with life. 

Exercise.  Do it like the doctor ordered it, in fact, the doctor probably did.  It can make an amazing difference.  15 to 30 minutes of exercises that you like daily is all it takes.

Skip Sugary Sports Drinks and Soda.  Exercise helps normalize glucose in the system, but researchers have found that when you dump carbs – which are high in these drinks – back into your system, you pretty much cancel out the calories you just burned exercising. 

Eat Small Portions Every 2 to 3 Hours.  This helps keep from drops in blood sugar and helps the body burn fuel and stay balanced much more efficiently.  In addition, snack on pumpkin or sunflower seeds, which have little or no effect on glucose production and produce a lot of magnesium which helps in insulin production.

Get a Glucose Meter.  This will help you keep track of your levels and know if you need to change meds, eat differently or make other changes.  If you fall out of range or are consistently up and down, you need to talk to your doctor and possibly have a glucose tolerance test.

Check Your Meds and Take Your Meds.  Know what you are taking and know what it does.  Be aware that diabetes and blood pressure go hand in hand, so make sure that your doctor is treating you for both if appropriate.

Just these few additions can help control your blood sugar, and I promised that they would be straightforward and simple.  Enjoy your health!

Not so long a go it was pretty much “taboo” to talk about ones ailments.  Talking about some of the more serious issues such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and stroke were things you just didn’t do.  As a result, it was hard to get support and information.

We are in a different time now, where sharing information and looking for ways to combat this disease and the side effects and symptoms that come along with it, is not only perfectly OK, but important.  The more information shared, the more possible treatments and cures are likely.  Patients, families, friends, doctors, organizations, educators and more are looking for ways to help one another deal with diabetes.  Who would have thought there would ever be a World Diabetes Day?  Now there is.

There is more emphasis on young people with diabetes as well.  An organization called GoTrybe is has created the first interactive website for young people and their families.  The site, www.GoTrybe.com deals with health and fitness issues and is geared toward young people, whose families are welcome to participate.

In recognition of World Diabetes Day, whose symbol is a blue circle symbolizing life, health and unity, GoTrybe is asking young people to take pictures or draw pictures of family members, pets, activities, places, or anything they can imagine and create and to do this featuring the color blue, as a way to recognize the global effort to fight diabetes.    The pictures should be sent to the website at www.GoTrybe.com.  All pictures will be posted online and the ones judged the best will receive prizes. 

World Diabetes Day this year is about early diagnosis and treatment.  GoTrybe wants to help emphasize that this is important.  The mission of GoTrybe is to combat childhood obesity and diabetes, and GoTrybe was founded by Dr. Chris Downs, a cardiologist, and several partners.

For information regarding the World Diabetes Day activities, go to www.GoTrybe.com/blog and/or www.worlddiabetesday.org.

There are some serious complications when it comes to diabetes including high blood pressure, risk of stroke and cardiovascular issues, kidney problems and vision problems.  One serious issue of diabetes is the fact that it is easier to get cuts and wounds and harder for them to heal if you have diabetes.  It is important to know the reasons for this and to know how to be aware and be careful to avoid situations where you receive a wound and it has difficulty healing.

There are a few main reasons why it is more difficult to heal wounds if you have diabetes.  One reason is poor circulation.  If you have had diabetes for some time, there are most likely fatty deposits in your blood stream which slow down circulation.  When you are wounded, circulation delivers oxygen and healing nutrients to the wound.  With diabetes, those are delivered more slowly and in much smaller quantity than normally needed because of the poor circulation.

Nerve damage called neuropathy can cause numbness, especially in the feet.   As a result, you might not notice shoes that are too tight and creating blisters or calluses that can get infected.  This puts pressure on the skin inside the foot and the blister – usually a blood blister – that forms becomes an open sore, quite often without you ever feeling it.

Immune system imbalance can make it impossible for you to adequately fight infection.  There are many reasons for this, but one, in particular is an imbalance of water in various cells including blood because of being thrown off by too much blood glucose or sugar.  As a result your immune system isn’t able to clear away damaged or dead cells and/or tissue to keep you healthy by replacing them with healthy tissue.

Infection usually results because the wound cannot heal properly.  To help healing, keep pressure off the infection, control your blood sugar, if the infection is on your hands and feet and they swell from edema (holding water) see your doctor for treatment of the infection and the edema, and see signs of any type of infection or sore that won’t heal, see your doctor as soon as possible so that it will not get worse and treatment can help it heal.

Diabetes often comes with a host of complications or, shall we say, complimentary symptoms, issues and conditions.  Depending on how well your diabetes is controlled, some of the other symptoms stay under control, too.  However, some other issues are not as easy to control, and they can lead to very serious complications.

Hypertension – high blood pressure – is one of those issues.  High blood pressure is linked to heart disease, stroke, aneurism and other problems, and linked very often to diabetes.  Quite often, the two go hand in hand.

The most recent research indicates that in treating diabetes, it is extremely important to treat high blood pressure very aggressively at the same time.  It is also essential to begin treating high blood pressure immediately, since diabetes creates a situation in the person’s system that increases blood pressure easily.  It is extremely important to address the individual’s specific symptoms and get them under control. 

The good news is that there are numerous types of medication available to treat the particular types and symptoms of blood pressure and there are various levels of treatment, as well.  For instance, if a person has been seeing the doctor every 8 weeks, the doctor should probably see the person every 2 to 3 weeks until the blood pressure is under control.  This helps the doctor monitor medication and its effectiveness, and it also allows the doctor to change or add medications if necessary without leaving a patient on an ineffective medication for 2 months.

Most doctors are advised to start with an ACE inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker, and if necessary add diuretics, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers and more.  All of these can be helpful to diabetics – and others with hypertension.  It may be necessary to try several combinations until the right combination for you is found, however, there are a variety of medications on the market.

We no longer live in a world devoid of information, choices and treatment.  If you have diabetes, talk to your doctor about hypertension and make sure it is under control.  Ask what you can do to help control it and find out what sources your doctor has available to help. 

Howard University in Washington, D.C. is one of the most prestigious historically black colleges in the nation.  It is in an area of Washington, D.C., surrounded by several of the most underserved wards in the city – especially in the area of health care, and most especially regarding the care and treatment of diabetes.

This fact has not escaped the notice of Howard University Hospital.  The hospital, in conjunction with No More Clipboard, an online personal health records (PHR) company is trying to change that reality.  The Howard University Hospital Diabetes Treatment Center will offer community based diabetes testing and treatment to the underserved populations of the city in the five wards with the highest numbers of residents with diabetes.

A mobile unit will visit each area, screen and treat each person and create a PHR for each individual, teaching them how to use it.  They will have their own No More Clipboard.com PHR account which will be populated with all their medical information including doctors’ names and information, medications, symptoms and self care information.  Part of the idea behind the program is to keep track of individuals who have diabetes and help them monitor their symptoms and treatment, as well as gradually helping them to do this on their own so that they can stay healthier.

The reason that Howard University Hospital Diabetes Treatment Center decided to use a mobile unit was that they felt it would be easier to get to the people who need help, as well as seeing who was dealing with diabetes in the neighborhoods and determining whether they were getting treatment or not.  “There have been many patients at high risk who have come into the emergency room and their blood sugar levels were so high that it couldn’t be read by the testing equipment,” according to Gail Nunlee-Bland, M.D., Director of the Diabetes Treatment Center.  If individuals are tested before it gets to that point, it is much better for their health, plus, the cost of testing and treatment is well under $1,500 annually, while the cost of  being treated at the ER is often $20,000 per year or more, depending upon how severe the situation is regarding a person’s diabetes.  Complications can cost thousands more.

No More Clipboard.com is an online patient controlled and patient centered system of personal health record management.  The collaboration with Howard University Hospital Diabetes Treatment Center should be viewed as a model that can help other cities manage diabetes in underserved areas.

There are many complications that can accompany diabetes.  They don’t all come at the same time, and some of them don’t come at all.  Kidney problems, vision problems, cardiovascular issues, blood pressure issues, nerve issues and various other symptoms can accompany diabetes.

One issue that is estimated to affect about 50% of people diagnosed with diabetes is Sleep Apnea.  Sleep apnea is a condition that leads to temporary stops in breathing during sleep.  Recent studies have shown that sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes are closely linked.

There is a problem with this situation.  Not only is sleep apnea serious and not only can it be fatal, it is extremely under-diagnosed.  Sometimes the sleep apnea is diagnosed but the diabetes is not.  Usually, however, it works the other way around.  A person is diagnosed with diabetes, but not with sleep apnea.  In fact, studies reveal that over 90% of doctors are aware of the link between diabetes and sleep apnea, yet only around 40% actually test for both.  Most of the time doctors do not test patients for sleep apnea, only diabetes.

The interesting point is that treatment is quite simple and non-invasive.  In order to keep the patient breathing, pressurized air is delivered through an oxygen mask that the patient wears while lying down and/or sleeping.  The pressurized air keeps the upper airway open and helps the person get uninterrupted sleep that is actually restful, because they are not dealing with the feeling of lack of air on and off all night. 

For diabetes, this treatment is very important since it improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood glucose levels.  As little as two nights therapy can improve insulin sensitivity, sustained at three month levels. 

It is important for individuals with diabetes to be tested for sleep apnea.  This is a serious issue and not diagnosing sleep apnea can inhibit the patient from getting better.

If you have diabetes and have not been screened for sleep apnea, talk to your doctor.  Have them discuss it with you and do a simple screening.  Not only could your diabetes improve, but you will most likely sleep much better at night and feel a lot better during the day.

Kidney Disease also called Renal Disease has increased a tremendous amount during the past decade.  The fact that high blood pressure and diabetes – the two main causes of Kidney Disease – have increased markedly during that time, provides the reason for major kidney problems.

One in three Americans over 20 years of age has high blood pressure.  This is a number that would never have been considered a few years ago.  Almost 24 million people in the United States have diabetes.  That is about 8% of the population.  Another figure that is unimaginable.

One of the biggest problems about kidney disease is that it is insidious.  It quietly gets worse inside of you without you even knowing it until you start seeing the symptoms.  Symptoms include frequent urination, swollen hands and feet from edema (holding water), nausea, vomiting and sometimes swelling in the face.  By the time you recognize these symptoms, your kidneys are already damaged – sometimes quite a bit.

We need our kidneys to live, and we need them to be working for us to stay healthy.  We can live with one kidney, and our systems are so intricate that we can live with one kidney that isn’t 100%, but we need to be aware of our bodies and try to prevent problems before they have progressed too far to correct.  With the numbers of people who have high blood pressure and diabetes constantly increasing, it is urgent, critical, essential to monitor ourselves and our health to make sure that the complications from these disorders – such as kidney disease – do not create worse problems for us than the disorders themselves.

The reason that the kidneys are so important is that they produce urine, help regulate blood pressure and help produce hemoglobins which carry oxygen through the bloodstream.  They also filter toxins out of the body. 

If the kidneys are diseased and begin to fail there are few options available.  Many people use dialysis, which is a system of filtering blood into an artificial kidney, then returning the filtered, clean blood back into your kidney.  Another option if your kidneys are too bad is a kidney transplant, which can take a long time to get, as there are many people on the waiting list.  If these don’t work, a person will eventually die.

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed here, see your doctor immediately and let them know.  If you have high blood pressure or diabetes, have your kidneys tested before it gets to the point where you are seeing these symptoms.  If you take preventative steps, you and your kidneys can stay healthy for a long time together.

We talk about the symptoms and treatment of diabetes, as well as the control of diabetes, but how do we get to the point where we know OUR diabetes symptoms and what it takes to control them and help us feel well.  One good way to do this is by asking ourselves questions. 

There are a few areas that are essential to keep track of if you have diabetes.  If your blood glucose levels are high and/or if you are not feeling like yourself there could be various reasons.

Stress is one major area.  When our body is under stress, it will send signals to create more glucose to supply more energy to deal with the stress.  Ask yourself if you have been frightened, angry or very emotional lately.  Have you had a fever, cold, flu or other illness or infection?  All of these create stress.  Are there other things in your life at present causing you stress?  Stress can cause glucose levels to go up.

Insulin and eating right are other areas that can cause problems.  Have you perhaps forgotten to take a dose of insulin?  Have you taken too little insulin? Have you eaten too little or waited too long between meals?  Have you eaten something very high in carbohydrates or sugar?  Maybe you have eaten too much.  Have you been exercising without eating first?  If you start feeling symptoms such as extreme thirst or dehydration, extreme or sudden tiredness or drowsiness, frequent urination, stomach cramps, rapid and deep breathing.  If these start to occur, ask yourself the questions.  If you cannot determine a logical answer, contact your doctor immediately.

If your blood glucose level is too low, this could create some issues such as lightheadedness, fainting, dizziness, confusion, headaches, vision changes, sweating, and mood changes.  Check your glucose levels and eat or drink something that is a form of glucose, like a small glass of fruit juice, to stabilize you body.  When you start to feel better have a healthy snack or eat your next meal as soon as possible.  Hard candy and glucose tablets will also help in this type of situation.  You can get glucose tablets from your pharmacy.

Three other areas that are vulnerable to diabetes are your feet, your eyes and your teeth.  Make sure your feet are protected, that they are clean and dry and that you wear comfortable, well-fitting shoes.  Do not get cuts on the feet, as these can cause infection, which can lead to gangrene and possible amputation if not caught in time.  Vision is something to watch carefully, as diabetes affects the eyes and can eventually cause blindness.  If you start to have visual disturbances see your eye doctor immediately and let them know you have diabetes.  Teeth are also vulnerable, since it is easier to get gum disease with diabetes.  Brush and floss often, use a fluoride rinse and see your dentist often, informing them of your diabetes.

Keep track of your symptoms and your questions and you can lead quite a healthy and comfortable life even with diabetes.

If you have diabetes sometimes you need a plan.  It’s like having a hard time keeping a schedule or having a hard time staying on a diet.  The experts always say that you should put together a plan and write it down.  They also say that you should cover everything – look at a holistic approach.

Structure House, a residential weight loss program in Durham, North Carolina, has seen through research and practical application that a structured treatment plan helps people with diabetes do much better.  Since diabetes affects nearly every part of the body in some way, structuring a plan to address all of those parts will help make sure that nothing is overlooked.

Structure House has found that structured plans manage diabetes to help ensure better overall health and reduce complications.  In addition, structured plans help individuals manage their diabetes and their weight without extra medications, surgery or other treatment.

After a 4 week study including 70 men and women, the results showed that most people dropped their glucose levels by 25 points.  Their hemoglobin A1c levels decreased and each person lost an average of 16 pounds during the 4 week period.  One exceptional result was the fact that most individuals in the study were able to significantly lower the dosages of their diabetes medication.  29% reduced or eliminated one medication, 8% eliminated all medications and 19% of the individuals on insulin at the beginning of the study eliminated the insulin by the end of the study and no longer take it.

Structure House provides specialized classes on nutrition, exercise and therapy, including the effects of stress and emotions on the body, and how these are linked to diabetes.  In addition there are weekly educational sessions with diabetic nurses to discuss any issues.

Structure House is the only program of its kind in the United States.  They also offer post bariatric surgery programs.  Hopefully they will set the standard for creating other programs like this.