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We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
All of our bloggers are passionate about the health topics they write about related to cancer, diabetes and cardio heart health; compassionate in intent; and dedicated to bringing news, information, resources and a personal perspective meant to educate, enlighten and inspire in prevention, health management and survivorship. Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to Diane Rixon, who blogs the Diabetes Blog.
When did you become a Life Sciences blogger? February 2006
We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
All of our bloggers are passionate about the health topics they write about related to cancer, diabetes and cardio heart health; compassionate in intent; and dedicated to bringing news, information, resources and a personal perspective meant to educate, enlighten and inspire in prevention, health management and survivorship. Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to Chris Sparling, who blogs the Diabetes, Cardio and Cancer Blog.
When did you become a Life Sciences blogger? August 2006
We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
All of our bloggers are passionate about the health topics they write about related to cancer, diabetes and cardio heart health; compassionate in intent; and dedicated to bringing news, information, resources and a personal perspective meant to educate, enlighten and inspire in prevention, health management and survivorship.
Without further ado, we would like to introduce you to Allison "Allie" Love Beatty, who blogs the Diabetes Blog.
When did you become a Life Sciences blogger? September 2006
Ian Gibson, a former chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, has apologized if he offended anyone with the comments he made earlier suggesting that the cause in increased childhood diabetes cases diagnosed in his Norfolk constituency could be the result of residents inbreeding.
"I would imagine it is linked to the fact that people in Norfolk are quite inbred, with many not leaving the county," Dr. Gibson, Labour MP for Norwich North, told his local newspaper, the Norwich Evening News. "It is something that needs to be looked at as a priority, especially as many cases are linked to obesity too."
Diabetes experts have come forward to call his suggestion disgraceful, inappropriate and wrong. Genetics do not work that way and to even suggest that diabetes is linked to inbreeding is an insult to people with type 1 diabetes and their families and it's an insult to people in Norfolk. That's an understatement.
I don't think Dr. Gibson can use being drunk as an excuse for his outrageous remarks, and he clearly isn't apologizing for what he said -- only to anyone that might be offended by the comments. That could be six billion people minus one.
Billboard.com has announced the death of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Syd Barrett from complications of diabetes. According to Billboard, Barrett left Pink Floyd over thirty years ago due to mental health issues, and lived the remainder of his life in seclusion with his mother in Cambridge, England.
Known for psychedelic rock, Pink Floyd, with Barrett and members Roger Waters, Rick Wright, and Nick Mason, gained an international cult-like following due to its innovative beyond the boundaries rock.
By some accounts, Barrett's LSD drug use created mental problems for him and he eventually retired from the band to live in his hometown of Cambridge. Pink Floyd band members dedicated two songs to Barrett, who was seen as influential in all that Pink Floyd symbolized and position it held in the rock world, with Shine on You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here.
At the Live 8 benefit, Gilmour, Waters, Wright and Mason performed Wish You Were Here in Barrett's honor. Barrett was 60.
Baltimore researchers from Johns Hopkins University have concluded a study indicating that being short -- specifically having short legs and a low leg length-to-height ratio -- is linked to an increased type 2 diabetes and obesity risk in middle age. It all goes back to childhood nutrition, as short leg length translates into the lack of proper nutrition during the formative years of physical growth.
According to the researchers, "Insofar as adult stature is an indicator of development and growth during early life, the risk of obesity and diabetes in adulthood might begin to accrue before puberty." They recommend early intervention to improve childhood nutrition in diabetes prevention.
This is observational on my part, and not the result of any study, but I do not believe this will apply to type 1 diabetes. My father-in-law was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and he reached an adult height of 6-foot 4-inches. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and she reached an adult height of 6-foot.
Shannon Lewis, whose little boy Brendon was diagnosed with diabetes while still a toddler, blogs Mom Wants A Diabetes Cure ... pure and simple. In a recent post, she shared the moment of realization of what she needed to do to be the mother Brendon needed her to be.
Shannon did all the rights things that mothers do when they are pregnant and avoided all the things mothers are supposed to avoid when they share the same heartbeat with another human being, sustaining their life until they enter the world and can sustain life on their own.
When your baby is born, you listen for the cry. Then you check the fingers and toes. Then you wait while the doctor and nurses run your newborn through a quick series of tests. Brendon was born with all his fingers and toes, and he aced the APGAR. Brendon was home-free to the beginning of a healthy life. Shannon's efforts during her pregnancy to be healthy for both herself and her baby had served them well.
Two and a half years later, Brendon lay on a gurney in the ER, limp, seemingly lifeless, with shallow breath and sallow skin. What had gone wrong to such a perfect beginning for Brendon? He was diagnosed with diabetes and Shannon's idealistic concept of motherhood and her child's health became forever altered. She writes poignantly about the threshold from one reality to the next and touches your heart in the passage. It's a must-read post for all mothers.
Diabetes Mine's Amy Tenderich is blogging the American Diabetes Association's 66th Annual Scientific Sessions. While Richard Kahn, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer for the American Diabetes Association is blogging the same convention, Tenderich promises to give her readers the uncensored and totally unofficial scoop. I believe she will more than deliver on her promise.
I am certain everyone in the online diabetes community is well aware that Tenderich blogs the Diabetes Mine, but if you are new to diabetes and reading this, her blog is a must visit. Amy -- diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years ago -- is all-things-real with the intelligence and sharp commentary to back it up. A most excellent blogger and blog.
Richard Kahn, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer for the American Diabetes Association, is blogging the American Diabetes Association's 66th Annual Scientific Sessions. From June 9 - 13, the annual convention brings together leading scientists and health professionals to present the latest study findings and to discuss the current and future progress in the field of diabetes prevention and care.
So far, some of Kahn's posts have covered such topics as: insulin and longevity; endocannabinoids, oral insulin, the new A1C test, who is responsible for optimal diabetes care; the worm study; and you are what your mother ate during her pregnancy. The posting is written in a light and easy manner, not requiring the average person to being a textbook of medical definitions to make sense out of what is being said. I assume Kahn will continue blogging through June 13. You can read Richard's D.C. Diary here.
In an earlier post, we shared study findings linking diabetes to depression. As a result of this, the Washington University School of Medicine, in St Louis researchers recommended that diabetics would benefit from taking antidepressants in order to control depression.
In another post, we shared study results that University of Alberta researchers were able to establish that Type 2 diabetes patients tended to have a history of depression extending back before they were diagnosed with diabetes.
Most recently, during the American Diabetes Association annual meeting, study results were presented that suggest antidepressants actually appear to increase progression to diabetes in people who are already at risk for the disease. Not exactly in line with the previous two studies, is it. Keeping up with research can be exhausting at times. Stay with me. The ending of this post is priceless.
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers collected information on 3,000 people who took part in the Diabetes Prevention Program. According to the researchers, those who took antidepressants regularly were two to three times more likely to develop diabetes. No increased risk was reported for those not taking antidepressants. However, the study participants who took the glucose-lowering drug metformin with antidepressants also had not increased risk of developing diabetes.
I am going to end this with a direct quote from study co-leader Richard Rubin, "We don't have a clue what's going on."
USA TODAY ran a feature story that covered an American Diabetes Association, ADA, briefing over the weekend in which Robert Rizza, president of the ADA, stated that 7.2 million diabetic disabilities and deaths could be avoided by a simple daily pill that combined low-dose aspirin with drugs that lower cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. A polypill is what Rizza called it.
Rizza went on to say that this treatment would cost approximately $100 dollars a year per person. According to the ADA, 21 million Americans have diabetes with an additional 41 million Americans at risk of developing diabetes. When I read this, it struck me that this is either a groundbreaking statement that has profoundly promising implications in the future treatment for diabetes -- or this is common knowledge in the diabetes community and then -- why is no one acting on this knowledge and developing the pill Rizza is referring to? Then again, is creating a mega-pill combining so many different medications in one pill -- prudent?
I am going with groundbreaking news, as the information shared in this weekend briefing was based on a mathematical model produced by Archimedes that predicts various outcomes based on variables in treatments. Now that they have this information, what will they do with it?
Vision loss is a real concern for diabetics. According to researchers, diabetics fear blindness more than they do death. The cause for potential vision loss due to diabetes results when blood vessels in the retina leak, and in a more severe stage, there is a profusion of fragile new blood vessels that form in the back of the eye that can leak.
In late-stage clinical trials, ruboxistaurin, an experimental drug developed by Eli Lilly, has proven effective in reducing vision loss caused by the effects of diabetes on the retina by 41 percent. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now agreed to review the research data in making a decision on whether to approve ruboxistaurin.
If approved, ruboxistaurin will be sold under the brand name Arxxant. As I understand what I am reading about this drug, it will be the first oral pill designed to slow or prevent vision loss. While the researchers were hoping the drug would slow progression of advanced vision loss, it appeared to be effective only in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy.
Kerri Morrone, one of my favorite bloggers -- who happens to be living with diabetes without allowing it to define the life she lives -- blogs over at Six Until Me. She also writes a column at dLife, and her latest column Diabetes Can be a Day at the Beach: Integrating Your Pump Into the Summer Season is a reassurance that integrating the pump into summer wear isn't nearly as daunting and formidable a task as one might imagine before making the attempt. Perhaps a little trickier and requiring a little more ingenuity, than say, wearing the pump under layers of winter clothing might require -- but she shows how it can be done, and done well.
Morrone also shares the sometimes amusing and less than astute observances made by the general public. There are, of course, the experts who wander among us, who know everything. Just ask them about anything and they will clarify exactly what you are looking at but might not understand. You will see what I mean after you read Morrone's column. What a pinhead the guy was -- that's all I am going to say. To read her column, go here.
The International Diabetes Federation is warning that diabetes is emerging as one of the biggest health catastrophes the world has ever seen. New data reports that more than 230 million people -- almost 6 percent of the world's adult population -- now live with diabetes. To make matters worse, in less than twenty years, more than 350 million people will be living with the disease.
The IDF is calling it an epidemic of unimaginable proportion, as diabetes claims as many lives as HIV/AIDS. Every ten seconds a person loses their life to diabetes-related causes, and in the next ten years, the death rate is expected to go by 25 percent.
According to the World Health Organization, the disease could reduce life expectancy globally for the first time in 200 years. Yet, no one seems to be paying much attention. On June 10, the IDF launched the Unite for Diabetes campaign to attempt to wake the governments of this world up to what amounts to nothing less than global apathy. IDF is urging the United Nations to adopt a resolution on diabetes and make it a worldwide health priority. Maybe diabetes needs a Bono -- because nobody seems to be listening.
More good news from Australian researchers. In forwarding the advancements in scientific discovery or innovative solutions to life-long problems for diabetics worldwide, these researchers seem to be gaining impressive ground lately. At the beginning of the month, we posted about a new device that might go a long way in eliminating the ouch factor when testing blood sugar levels.
Now, it is being reported that Australian scientists have discovered a gene responsible for Type 2 diabetes. While Type 2 diabetes is most related to older persons from a lifetime of not getting enough exercise and following a nutritious diet and managing a healthy weight, the PSARL gene appears to play a role in who develops Type 2 diabetes and who doesn't develop the same disease -- given the same life-long lifestyle practices. According to Geelong-based ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals researchers, they got to the finish line first -- ahead of the other scientists -- in making this discovery. I'd say this discovery is sufficient enough reason to strut their scientific feathers.
As a mother who has sat at the breakfast table with her sons and silently prayed on more than one occasion that her sons did not inherit Grandpa's genetic makeup that led to his being diagnosed with diabetes while still a child, I will personally throw a parade for the scientists who not only discover the exact genes that lead to Type 1 diabetes but how to block the genetic progression that leads to Type 1 diabetes. That would be the ultimate scientific peacock moment.
We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
We thought it might be nice if you knew more about the phenomenally talented bloggers who blog quality health-related content here at the Life Sciences blogs.
Ian Gibson, a former chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, has apologized if he offended anyone with the comments he made earlier suggesting that the cause in increased childhood diabetes cases diagnosed in his Norfolk constituency could be the result of residents inbreeding. 
Billboard.com has announced the 
Baltimore researchers from Johns Hopkins University have concluded a study indicating that being short -- specifically having short legs and a low leg length-to-height ratio -- is linked to an 
Shannon Lewis, whose little boy Brendon was diagnosed with diabetes while still a toddler, blogs 
Diabetes Mine's 
Richard Kahn, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer for the American Diabetes Association, is blogging the American Diabetes Association's 66th Annual Scientific Sessions. From June 9 - 13, the annual convention brings together leading scientists and health professionals to present the latest study findings and to discuss the current and future progress in the field of diabetes prevention and care. 
In an earlier post, we shared study findings 
USA TODAY ran a 
Vision loss is a real concern for diabetics. According to researchers, diabetics fear blindness more than they do death. The cause for potential vision loss due to diabetes results when blood vessels in the retina leak, and in a more severe stage, there is a profusion of fragile new blood vessels that form in the back of the eye that can leak. 
Kerri Morrone, one of my favorite bloggers -- who happens to be living with diabetes without allowing it to define the life she lives -- blogs over at 
The International Diabetes Federation is 
More good news from Australian researchers. In forwarding the advancements in scientific discovery or innovative solutions to life-long problems for diabetics worldwide, these researchers seem to be gaining impressive ground lately. At the beginning of the month, we posted about a new device that might go a long way in eliminating the 
