Why is diabetes an imperfect science? The last 22 years of my life with diabetes have disproved as much (or more) than it has confirmed in conventional diabetes wisdom. The facts were in the studies - but researchers didn't know what to do with them, at the time. Here's where the mysteries will unfold..

The last year blogging with The Diabetes Blog has been an in your face demonstration of the imperfect science of diabetes. Many undisclosed details of studies from days gone by have proven to be a reason why diabetes has been an imperfect science. Since when has science been imperfect? When you don't complete your homework. Don't get wrong - science has done the homework, but you - the diabetic - have not been privy to every fact found in these studies. Nowadays, there's no excuse. The dog doesn't eat my homework.

It's time these facts made it to the light of day. I am taking my investigative curiosity and hanging a shingle over LoveDiabetes.com - because that's who I am: Allison Love Beatty! Let's buddy-up with the researchers and their homework. It's about time we solved the universal mysteries of diabetes. The facts are available. With combined knowledge, existential and pathological, we can make more of these studies from yesteryear and the days to come.

Someday soon we will see the trend of diabetes reverse - less diagnosis, less complications, and reduced costs. I've got Internet access, unlimited long-distance, and plenty of time. The fun is just getting started! This is my invitation to you - what's your diabetes mystery? Leave me a comment on LoveDiabetes.com so I know what's on your mind. Together we will prove there is no such a thing as an imperfect science.

Love always,
Allie B

Insulin not only moves glucose into the cells, but it also escorts Vitamin C. Blood sugar hogs the seats on the bus in most diabetics, therefore reducing the amount of Vitamin C we can absorb. This is the premise of The GAA Theory: high glucose levels hinder vitamin C entry into cells.

Vitamin C is vitally important for many functions throughout the body - a big one being metabolism. Glucose and Vitamin C are similar in the way they enter the cells. Both molecules require help from insulin. The name for the process that brings glucose and Vitamin C through cell membranes is insulin-mediated uptake. The insulin-mediated uptake of glucose and vitamin C uses white blood cells. White blood cells have more insulin pumps and they may contain 20 times the amount of vitamin C as ordinary cells.

So does increasing your Vitamin C help boost your glycemic control? Diabetes Health cited a study that confirms daily doses of 2,000 mg of absorbic acid improved both fasting blood glucose and HbA1c readings in patients with type 2 diabetes. Next time you swing by the store - see if some Emergen-C can help you achieve better glycemic control. With 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per packet - their homepage says: Feel The Good. Little did they know how good it could be for Type 2 diabetics!

Thomas Smith began reviewing scientific literature after conventional medicine failed him in controlling diabetes. Smith found research that shows dietary toxins impair cell membrane function. These toxins include trans fatty acids and refined sugars. Cells begin to have trouble absorbing nutrients, and the blood sugar rises. Over time, this results in chronic elevated blood and urine sugar levels. Sounds like a growing epidemic, doesn't it?

This damage to cell membranes, caused by a poor diet, can be repaired. The diabetic syndrome can be cured by eliminating all processed fats and oils. The protocol calls for supplementing high-dose Omega-3 fatty acids. This protocol normalizes blood sugars because the body is continuously repairing cell membranes by using the fats and oils available in the diet. One caution: the speed of recovery is related to the length of the illness. Some Type 2 diabetics may require up to one year for dramatic reductions in blood sugar.

A gaping hole exists between conventional medicine and diet. Conventional medicine claims that the cause of Type 2 diabetes is unknown. Medical doctors, as practitioners of conventional medicine, are not trained to explain how it happened. They treat symptoms with medicine. The business of medicine is medicine. The business of diabetes would be devasted if the cure was as simple as diet. The explanation Thomas Smith provides in his empirical studies is fascinating and I encourage anybody with competing or supporting evidence to open the debate.

Dr. Bernstein, a world leading authority in diabetes, is hosting a live internet broadcasts to answer your questions on diabetes. Diabetes 911 is setup to stop the complications of diabetes before it's an emergency. Here's a link to the page where you can submit your questions, to be answered on his next broadcast -- September 19, 2007.

Just a heads-up for The Diabetes Blog reading community - AOL has announced they will be retiring The Diabetes Blog on September 14, 2007. So this is a preemptive blog to get your calendar out, send yourself a reminder email titled: OPEN ON SEPTEMBER 19th!!!!

This will not be my last blog shared with you, all mighty readers of the blogosphere. I'm working to get my proverbial welcome mat in place to continue unfolding the mysteries of diabetes on LoveDiabetes.com. More to come...

UCLA researchers report Nevada County, California residents have the lowest rate of diabetes in the state -- 2.6 percent. That's about one-third the state-wide average (6.8 percent), and slightly less than one-quarter the prevalence of diabetes in Imperial County (11.2 percent).

Take a few guesses why Nevada County's rate of diabetes is so much lower than Imperial County, and well under the national average of 7 percent. Do families eat less processed food around the dinner table? More jogging trails? Better health insurance coverage? Researcher Theresa Hastert states, "There is no one thing, but higher income is associated with better foods and exercise."

Hastert explained Nevada County is mostly white, affluent, educated and insured. Imperial County has a large population of Latinos and migrant farm workers. Nevada County's numbers support general findings that minorities without affordable, continuous health care are more prone to the disease. Who's got time for the dinner table -- Hastert openly speculates eating more junk food may be a consequence of dodging between three jobs just to get by. Also, Nevada County is a beautiful area -- she wonders if environmental factors play a role.

Is diabetes a socio-economic disease? If so, we're in trouble. The gap is widening between our nation's haves and have nots, and large concentrations of poor minorities may explain the disproportionate rates of diabetes from county to county. Read more in The Union.

A friend of mine told me about a friend of hers who had a cat that used to have diabetes - until she left him with the Vet. Her friend was overprotective of her little cat since it was diagnosed with diabetes. The cat was put on insulin injections. She also upgraded the entire posse of cats to low-carb cat food. Routinely she took her cat to the vet to have the blood sugar levels checked ($75 a pop!) So far, so good - the story is mundane until her friend left for a vacation and boarded the cat at the Vet's for the week.

All week her friend was worried about the welfare of her cat - even though she was safely under the watchful eye of the vet. As it turns out, upon her return from vacation - the vet notified her that her cat no longer has diabetes. She was sent home with instructions to continue feeding the cats low carbohydrate food, and to discontinue the insulin injections.

Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine says, "Some diabetic cats may lose the need for insulin, months or years after diagnosis. If diabetes has resulted from obesity, it is likely to improve a great deal-or even completely resolve-once the cat's weight is under control. If obesity or some other disorder is not a factor, the diabetes probably will not go away; however, it can be successfully managed."

So here's my question: are animals so different from human beings? Why isn't the equation so simple in curing Type 2? Simple is a grave understatement - but understanding the cause of elevated blood sugar could be the great escape from diabetes. It's more than just switching a diet to low-carb cat food, isn't it? Meow.

Diabetic foot complications are responsible for many lower extremity amputations. But this last drastic step can be prevented up to 85 percent of the time with early diagnosis and proper care.

Now Thai researchers and physicians have shown using a patient's own stem cells can effectively heal chronic foot wounds. Diabetes patients with chronic foot wounds, aged 50-72, were injected with stem cells obtained from their own blood. Most excitedly, the wounds healed nicely within three to four months. The stem cell treatment also makes fiscal sense. According to this article, stem cell treatment for wounds in a patient with diabetes costs about $6,000, one-fifth the cost of conventional treatment for a leg wound.

Studies have shown primary care physicians often fail to examine the feet of patients with diabetes. It's a shame, as this step is the least costly and most effective way to prevent foot wounds and potential amputations. But at the same time, it is nice to know there is a promising, cheaper treatment utilizing patient-donated stem cells.

Aaaahh ... fall will soon deliver golden trees, crisp autumn air, piles of fallen leaves begging to be jumped in, and the stick of the flu vaccine.

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) recently issued a report calling for greater influenza vaccination rates among Americans with diabetes. Turns out more than 50 percent of the 21 million people with diabetes do not receive an annual influenza vaccination. This is contrary to the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, NFID's vice president, the impaired immune systems of people with diabetes can result in a higher risk of serious complications from influenza, including impaired blood sugar control. Annually, this infectious disease strikes up to 60 million Americans and kills an average of 36,000 people -- more than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined. Over 10 percent of deaths linked to influenza and pneumonia are due to diabetes. There are studies citing the benefits of the vaccine for people with diabetes, including reduced hospitalization and death by 72 percent for those with diabetes 18 to 64 years of age, and 80 percent less hospital admissions for children and adults with diabetes.

I'm just speculating, but lack of awareness, lack of access to an affordable vaccine or just plain philosophical disagreement with the need for the vaccine (among other factors) may all play a role in the low influenza vaccination rates for people with diabetes. Just an example, my parents both have type 1, and my mom will stand in line for hours to get a shot (she was hospitalized for influenza in her pre-diabetes days), while my dad always refuses -- he's never had influenza. Read more at Infection Control Today.

A new study by Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research carries both good news and bad news. Bad news first -- research of 9,439 mother-child pairs shows maternal blood sugar is tied to a future risk of obesity in offpsring. Pregnant women with above-normal blood sugar levels were twice as likely to have overweight kids. Across all racial and ethnic groups, the higher the mother's blood sugar during pregnancy, the greater the chance her offspring would develop obesity by 5 to 7 years of age.

Now if you're pregnant and you've been diagnosed with high blood sugar, take a deep breath. The good news is the risk of childhood obesity is reversible if elevated sugars are treated through diet, exercise and insulin (if required). At particular risk are women with sugar levels higher than normal, but not high enough to be deemed gestational diabetes. They were more likely to have obese children than women treated for gestational diabetes or those with normal sugars.

Borderline blood sugars are nothing to ignore. I shared in a previous post that moderately elevated glucose during pregnancy is associated with other problems such as cesarean section and heavier babies. Gestational diabetes criteria may widen. Also, Deanna reported earlier this month that gestational diabetes is linked to pancreatic cancer.

Recently I posted on the California Department of Education's recent lawsuit settlement with the American Diabetes Association. CDE promised students would have access to legally-required diabetes care on campus. With a shortage of school nurses, CDE agreed caregivers could include trained volunteers. I came away from the agreement thinking, "Good! It may have taken a lawsuit, but problem solved." But this settlement is hardly a neatly wrapped package.

Liability drives many decisions. Now the California School Nurses Organization has advised school nurses to seek guidance from district lawyers before training volunteers. Nurses are concerned they could lose their licenses if they train non-medical staff. Executive Director Nancy Spradling stated insulin injections should be monitored by licensed personnel -- incorrect calculations can be fatal or trigger a coma. They've got a point.

Student diabetes care varies widely in California. With a student population of 22,000, Lake Elsinore Unified School District is doing a good job. They have eight nurses taking care of 70 students with diabetes. Last year, Palm Springs Unified School District had only 3 nurses for 24,000 students, requiring parents to visit district schools daily to inject children too young to handle the task themselves.

Arlene Mayerson, directing attorney with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (they represented the ADA in the lawsuit), stated California has one of the lowest nurse-to-student ratios. Perhaps a new certification for a 'School Diabetes Specialist' is on the horizon. Regardless, I hope the CDE figures out a solution to honor the settlement. I bet school districts across the country are watching -- the health of students with diabetes is at stake. Don't forget the nurses' concern. Beyond losing their licenses, no one wants to see a student with diabetes hurt or killed due to an improperly trained, unlicensed adult volunteer. Read the full story in The Press Enterprise.

You've probably heard it in the news lately. The number of overweight children and teenagers aged 6-19 has nearly tripled over the last 40 years. Type 2 diabetes is not an adult-only disease anymore, adolescents are developing it. If we don't turn this trend around, many kids will have heart trouble by the age of 30 or 40. Healthier school fare is a part of the solution, but I believe parental influence on meal and snacking habits is most crucial. As your children head off to school in the coming days, do not forget about packing a healthy school snack (if required) ... I'll write later on healthy school lunches.

My little guy will step on the bus today for his first day of kindergarten. He is thrilled. He is ready. We walked the school hallways during an orientation earlier this week, and yesterday we had a kindergarten briefing where we learned all about school policies. The policy-chat was briefly interrupted by a tornado warning, where the entire school hit the deck in the hallways for 20 minutes, but luckily, no twisters!

As the policy-talk ensued, the teacher announced daily snacks must be healthy. Juice boxes were not allowed. A water bottle was fine, but the drinking fountain even better. Geez, I was starting to really like this school. Fruit and vegetables were strongly suggested, but no cookies, mile-high frosted cupcakes or sugary fruit snacks. I nearly stood up and clapped, but I didn't want to freak out a roomful of mommy strangers. After reading Allie's recent post on water, I will definitely pack a water bottle.

Yesterday afternoon we headed to the store and Frank picked out his snack -- he searched and searched until he found a perfectly shaped green apple. It's in his backpack, ready and waiting for his first day of big kid school. If you're shopping for school snacks, here is a helpful list of ideas to bring. Think fruits and vegetables. Don't throw those sugary graham crackers in your shopping cart. Stay away from the processed carbohydrates. This is your chance to develop healthier habits for a lifetime. Hey, you might not even need to be the fall guy -- hopefully it's "school policy."

Do not miss this recent NY Times article by Gina Kolata, Looking Past Blood Sugar to Survive With Diabetes. It is a must read for anyone associated with type 2 diabetes, including patients, family caregivers and doctors. I am very encouraged to see a feature on type 2 diabetes in such a well-read newspaper. Many doctors are uninformed on the best ways to treat a person with type 2 diabetes, they spend much more time with type 1 patients. Furthermore, type 1 and type 2 are very different diseases, but since they both end in 'diabetes' there is deep confusion -- see Diane's previous post on this topic. Undoubtedly, we need Big Media to provide greater coverage on the differences and unique treatments for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

First off, type 2 diabetes is a form of the disease that usually appears in adulthood where the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells are resistant to insulin. Kolata's article focuses on one man's battle with type 2 diabetes, as well as the importance of other treatments beyond blood sugar control that can markedly prevent heart disease -- the number one threat to a person with type 2. Dave Smith, a pastor from Fairmont, Minnesota, has dealt with type 2 diabetes for nine years. From the start, his doctor advised him to control his blood sugar, so he was a faithful carbohydrate counter, finger pricker, type 2 pill taker. Nothing worked, so he added insulin.

Unfortunately, his fixation on controlling blood sugar ignored the most crucial treatment of all -- lowering cholesterol. According to Kolata's article, heart disease kills nearly everyone with diabetes. The second treatment Smith did not consider was the importance of controlling blood pressure. The third treatment is taking aspirin to control blood clots. Last October, Smith had a major heart attack and nearly died. He had never thought about heart disease, and his doctor never advised him to take a cholesterol-lowering statin or a blood pressure drug. The American Diabetes Association reports only 18 percent of people with diabetes know their increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Grrrr! This lack of awareness among patients and doctors must change for lives to be saved. It took a near-fatal heart attack for Smith to receive the combination of drugs he should have been prescribed at diagnosis: a statin, two drugs to lower blood pressure, aspirin, insulin and two drugs to reduce his blood sugar level.

The article also points out the myth of obesity and type 2 diabetes. While obesity does increase the risk for type 2, only 5 to 10 percent of obese people have the disease, and many people with type 2 are not obese. Genetics is a big determiner. Losing weight can definitely improve type 2 control, but most are not cured. Smith lost 40 pounds and still has type 2.

Dr. Irl B. Hirsch, a professor of medicine and director of the diabetes clinic at the University of Washington, stated it plainly. The first priority for a typical middle-age person with type 2 diabetes is to take a statin and lower the LDL cholesterol level. FYI, a person with diabetes should keep LDL cholesterol below 100 milligrams per deciliter, ideally 70 to 80. Keep in mind, this is even lower than the recommended LDL levels of 100 to 139 for a healthy person. Dr. Michael Brownlee, director of the JDRF International Center for Diabetic Complications Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, stated beyond a statin, blood pressure control and taking an aspirin to prevent blood clots are two other important measures.