Back in a February '07 post, I described an initiative by New York drug store chain Duane Reade. The chain had announced it was opening a free diabetes center. The idea was to drum up business by meeting customer demand for diabetes-related advice and services. At the time, I thought it was an interesting story - perhaps the sign of a new trend on the rise. And definitely a sign of the commercial clout wielded by diabetics.

A few months down the road and it looks like the concept has really taken off. A Duane Reade press release has announced that the center will be expanding its services to keep pace with demand. Yep. The Duane Reade Diabetes Resource Center will now be offering space in its support groups to anyone from the NY metro area, not just to those who had already enrolled in their education classes. Although registration is required, those educational and support group sessions are all totally free. Partial funding for the center comes from Novo Nordisk.

If you live in the NY area and are interested, call 1-866-913-8486 or email brodink@duanereade.com.

Doctors are now finding patients who suffer from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes -- a phenomenon known as double diabetes. This development is predominantly due to the obesity epidemic.

Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body's inability to produce insulin, the hormone that ushers blood sugar to cells for energy. Type 2 diabetes results from insulin resistance -- the body's inability to properly use the hormone. Almost 30% of Americans diagnosed with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, due to excess weight and lack of exercise. Generally, double-diabetes sufferers will often look as though they have the more common type 2 version because they're overweight. But subsequent blood tests reveal they also have type 1 disease.

Double diabetes might be caused, in part, by type 1 diabetics who are taking insulin but haven't made the other lifestyle changes necessary to control the disease. Sadly, one of the consequences of insulin use can be weight gain. The national trend toward unhealthy weight gain has spurred both the diabetes epidemic and this newer, more complex form of the disease, mirroring the obesity epidemic. This is an enigma that leaves gaping holes in the rationale of conventional medicine. So there it is-- insulin causes weight gain. Weight gain increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes. There you have it: a diabetes double-whammy. No fair.