September 13th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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My friend and fellow blogger, Kelly Close, tipped me off to a very powerful new diabetes awareness ad campaign that begins today. These will run as TV commercials and Internet ads. I thought they were really thought provoking and original. They feature every day scenarios (like a boating trip, ordering food at a restaurant, and greeting a new dog) and then reveal the hidden danger in each “innocent” situation. Then they go on to say that you don’t have to be taken by surprise by diabetes, as there is a test (hemoglobin A1C) that can give you a glimpse into the future.
As many as a third of people who have diabetes are unaware that they have it. As many as 80% of diabetics do not know what their hemoglobin A1C level is. These are shocking statistics for a disease that is treatable, and complications that are preventable. If you haven’t been checked for diabetes and you have reason to suspect that you might be at risk for it (you are substantially overweight, you have diabetes in your family, or you have symptoms of diabetes such as abnormal thirst and frequent urination) please go to your primary care physician for a check up. Diabetes is one disease that we can control well and sometimes cure – but ignoring it could result in kidney failure, blindness, amputations, and heart disease. Let’s take these TV ads to heart and get blood sugar under control in America.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 19th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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Thanks to MedGadget for bringing this to my attention. Did you know that as many as 1 million fake diabetes test strips (manufactured in China but imported via Canada) made it onto the US market? About 10 million Americans use the One Touch Ultra system for measuring their glucose and titrating their insulin doses. Bloomberg news had this to say:
“Growth in counterfeit medicines and devices is probably
the biggest health threat besides infectious disease,” says
Peter Pitts, director of the Center for Medicines in the Public
Interest in New York and formerly an FDA official investigating
knockoff drugs.
The court filings disclose, for the first time, that China
is the source of about one million phony test strips that have
turned up in at least 35 states and in Canada, Greece, India,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.”
The test strips don’t measure glucose levels reliably and could result in patients dosing their insulin incorrectly. So be careful out there, folks… make sure that the test strips you use are not counterfeit. Check the lot number on your package to make sure it’s not one of these fake numbers.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
August 10th, 2007 by Dr. Val Jones in News
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I rarely get too excited about mouse studies, but this one is pretty amazing. Researchers at my alma mater have discovered that osteoblasts (cells that create bone) secrete a certain protein that affects the health of the pancreas. The protein (osteocalcin) stimulates the pancreas to create more insulin-secreting beta cells. When people don’t secrete enough insulin, the result is often type 2 diabetes. So a healthy pancreas with a good insulin secreting capacity is critical to regulating blood sugar.
The researchers also discovered that mice who were bred to have no osteocalcin gene had abnormal amounts of fat in their bodies. So this means that bones may have something to do with energy metabolism and weight gain.
Of course it’s too early to speculate on the implications of all this (what’s true for mice is not necessarily true for humans – but I’m going to anyway). Since bone cells (osteoblasts) are sensitive to gravity, and increase their activity with weight bearing, this could explain why exercise (especially weight lifting) is important in weight loss. The new ACSM guidelines recommend weight training as part of a healthy exercise regimen, and the underlying mechanism for this may be that bone cells rev up metabolism and insulin secreting capacity in response to weight lifting.
So, if you want to lose weight – make sure you stimulate those bone cells with some good weight bearing exercises. They may just help to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes as well!This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
