Hear ye! Hear ye! I have an announcement to make. About 3 months ago, a committee formed to explore the possibility of creating a new conference series for adults with type 1 diabetes. Most conferences are currently geared towards all types of diabetes, but a group of us felt there should be more for the unique challenges that are posed to adults living with type 1.

With that in mind, we are conducting an interest study for the conference. Who would you like to see at the conference? Tell us what is missing from Type 1 diabetes (besides the obvious **cure**). This will help us with programming, as well as securing sponsorships for the event. Besides giving you all you want from the latest and greatest in type 1 diabetes - you have a chance to leave your mark on this revolutionary event. At the end of the survey, there is a question about creating a name for the conference. The committee will choose the winning name. The winner will receive an autographed copy of Know Your Numbers, by Amy Tenderich and Dr. Richard Jackson. The second and third places prizes are a Six Until Me mug and a Diabetes Mine mug, donated by Kerri Morrone and Amy Tenderich.

The survey closes on Friday, September 7, 2007 so don't miss your opportunity to voice your opinion. Take the survey today!!

The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting story about a man who needed a drug to treat his ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. He could not get the funding for a large scale trial to approve the drug. I empathize, completely! See that picture of the Hulk? That's me. I'm angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.

As a type 1 diabetic, my concern for improving the lives of people affected by diabetes involves preventing and reversing the complications associated with the disease. The American Diabetes Association states the same somewhere in their mission statement. Ok ADA, put MY money where YOUR 501(C)3 is!!

When I called the American Diabetes Association and shared my excitement for the C-peptide treatment in human trials (in Sweden) reversing type 1 diabetic complications - I was floored when I heard their response.

Allie B: Can the American Diabetes Association please encourage a big pharmaceutical company to sponsor these trials here in the United States? The results in Sweden have conclusively shown reversal of complications associated with type 1 diabetes.

Mat P at the American Diabetes Association: The topic of C-peptide is very sexy in scientific forums. BUT - we don't like to tell big pharmaceutical companies what to do with their money because we don't like them to tell us what to do with ours.

Allie B (in my head): WHAT THE F%^&*)(*&^%$F do you DO as an organization to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes if you are not going to push for trials to prevent and arrest complications associated with the disease?

I'm afraid the American Diabetes Association and I do not share the same goals any longer. It was a long marriage, over 21 years - but I want a divorce. The largest diabetic organization in the United States is not willing to assist in getting a trial underway to prevent and reverse complications that could affect 2 million type 1 diabetics and between 2 and 4 million type 2 diabetics injecting insulin (without C-Peptide).

I didn't feel this way until I realized how disconnected their perception of diabetes is from the reality of the disease. What do you think?

Not exactly romantic like a honeymoon, but definitely a significant event preceding a life long commitment -- the Honeymoon Period is a period of time when a patient is first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

During this time, patients sometimes seem as though their diabetes appears to go away. The patient's insulin needs are minimal and some patients may actually find they can maintain normal or near normal blood glucose taking little or no insulin. This can last between a few months to as long as a year.

Dr. Richard Bernstein, the best-selling author of "The Diabetes Solution" answered the following question from a mother regarding her child's diabetes and the influence of diet. He said:

If every newly diagnosed child with diabetes were put on our program at the time of diagnosis, we would rarely encounter the horror stories that we hear from nearly every parent. These include the roller coaster blood sugars with frequent and severe hypos, the need for snacks, the fear of delayed meals, personality changes and growth retardation. Furthermore, we find that the "honeymoon period" can be prolonged indefinitely if blood sugars remain within the normal range (about 90 mg/dl). Prolongation of the honeymoon period not only makes diabetes control much easier, but also preserves the pancreatic beta cells.

If Dr. Bernstein's idea about controlling the length of the Honeymoon Period through diet is possible - is it possible to ward off the onset of autoimmune diabetes (type 1 diabetes) through diet. The belief may be heavily supported by contrarians, who traditionally contest conventional medical wisdom. I'll admit - I could be one of them. I own Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution and I have to hand it to him - at first glance I thought I voluntarily entered a diabetic Twilight Zone. Then I reminded myself why I bought the book in the first place.

When treating diabetes, today's doctors focus on establishing blood glucose control, but often overlook the need to protect against common diabetic complications such as blindness, kidney damage, and nerve damage. The DCCT, even with a comprehensive treatment program, had a complication rate of approximately 40% of participants.

People who do not have diabetes make insulin with C-peptide. Those of us diabetics who inject synthetic insulin do not get the C-peptide. When scientists began developing insulin - they weeded out the pieces of the amino acid chain they felt were insignificant in lowering blood glucose. Synthetic insulin was designed to reduce the dangerous buildup of excess sugar in the bloodstream. Uh oh - hindsight is surprisingly clear! The long-term complications were initially thought to be caused by lack of insulin - not lack of something that should've been in it. It would make sense if insulin came equipped with this critically important element, wouldn't it?

Tada! C-peptide is the connecting peptide found on the amino acid chain of naturally produced insulin, but left on the cutting room floor in the lab. Studies have shown that C-peptide prevents the development and progression of many diabetic complications and was shown to improve glucose metabolism up to 66%.

Regardless of the potential profit decay C-peptide might cause the production of insulin - the bottom line is the salvation it will provide every man, woman, and child injecting insulin. If you're taking insulin injections, chances are you won't stop taking insulin because you're adding C-peptide to your daily lineup. Chances are - you'll be around a lot longer, and a lot healthier because you do not have the complications most often associated with long-term diabetes.

Wouldn't that be reason enough for you to celebrate the company that brings C-peptide to the drugstore nearest you? Consumer loyalty goes a long way. For those companies who knew a long time ago how beneficial C-peptide would be but didn't do a thing about it - is it really the 33% loss in insulin sales you didn't want to encounter? C'mon. We can handle the truth.

Diamyd Medical's flagship drug, Diamyd, is showing promising results in reducing the need of insulin injections and preventing the destruction of beta cells.

Diamyd has demonstrated significant efficacy in preserving insulin production in 70 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. No serious adverse events associated with the therapy were observed. The results from the Diamyd study demonstrate that the group of 35 recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients that received Diamyd produced approximately twice as much meal stimulated insulin (as measured by C-peptide) 15 months after the first treatment as compared to the placebo group. Preserving insulin-production is crucial for delaying the complications associated with long-term diabetes which cost billions of dollars to treat. Furthermore, it may allow for regeneration of beta cells in a non-autoimmune environment, thus setting the stage for a cure of the disease.

"We look forward to opening the dialog with the FDA regarding the potential initiation of our clinical program for Diamyd in the US" says Anders Essen-Möller, CEO of Diamyd Medical. "We obviously cannot predict the outcome of any meeting with the regulatory authorities, but we hope we will gain some valuable guidance towards structuring a suitable US clinical program for the continued development of Diamyd as a therapy for type 1 diabetes." Anders-you let me know if the regulatory authorities give you any funny business. I'll see what the diabetic community has to say about it. The buck stops here!

The Children with Diabetes Quilt for Life is an ongoing project devoted to the people living with diabetes. The quilt was the idea of Jeff Hitchcock, founder of Children with Diabetes. CWD is a company that promotes understanding of the care and treatment of diabetes, especially in children. The idea was quickly adopted by the many families that participate in online support through the Children with Diabetes web site.

For many, diabetes is about numbers. For those who have contributed to the Quilt for Life, diabetes is about them. In the Quilt for Life, diabetes is transformed from the impersonal to the personal, from the abstract world of numbers to the real world of children living everyday with finger sticks and insulin injections. Each square on the quilt comes with a story, a face, and a family that is affected by diabetes. Each of the quilt squares represents someone with diabetes, someone who hopes for a cure. The Quilt for Life is shown at all Children with Diabetes Friends for Life conferences. You too can participate! After you've completed your quilt square, fill in the Quilt Submission Form and send it with your quilt to the address shown on the form. It's that easy!

The Children with Diabetes Quilt for Life has created a national buzz. It was displayed at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on June 8, 2006. The Quilt for Life displayed at the same time the 2006 American Diabetes Association Call to Congress and the 66th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association occurred. The Call to Congress is the ADA's premier lobbying day, during which Diabetes Advocates from across the country meet with their elected officials in Washington, DC to discuss diabetes issues. CWD and the ADA are working together on several fronts, all aimed at helping families who have kids with diabetes.

From Delaware comes news of an investigation into claims that a prison nurse used a tainted needle for insulin shots. The alleged incident occurred at Howard R. Young Correctional Institution. A nurse who had only been working at the prison since April, and who has since resigned, was entrusted with the task of administering insulin injections to the prison's diabetic inmates. It is alleged that on one occasion she used a diabetic needle and syringe to test an inmate's blood sugar, then used that same needle to draw insulin from a multiple dose vial. If true, it is possible she contaminated the vial, potentially exposing all recipients of shots from that vial to disease.

Prison authorities have announced they are looking into the incident. In the meantime, forty-eight current and former prison inmates who received shots from the former nurse will be offered testing for blood-borne pathogens.

Pfizer Inc. renewed positive momentum (some might say, hype?) over its inhalable insulin product Exubera. The company announced two-year data on Exubera showing that the product is as effective as insulin shots.

The results show that not only does Exubera control blood sugar as well as insulin shots, but also that it results in less weight gain amongst users. The weight gain issues is an added bonus that no doubt will help many patients make up their minds whether or not to make the switch to Exubera...if they can afford it, that is, as the product won't come cheap. Co-pays as high as $50 seem likely - eek! How outrageous is that??

On the down side, the data also confirmed that Exubera has a slightly negative effect on lung function--more so than that caused by insulin shots.

Pfizer made its announcement at the American Diabetes Association's conference, now under way in Washington.

Here's some important news for parents of preschool-aged Type 1 diabetic children: according to a new study, Type 1 kids do better on insulin pumps than on daily insulin shots. According to researchers from the Loyola University Medical Center, the pumps, also known as continuous delivery devices, are "safe, effective and superior" to insulin injections. Moreover, switching a child with Type 1 diabetes to a more effective treatment such as this as a very young age decreases the likelihood of serious health complications as that child matures.

Interestingly, the researchers also note that the pumps have so far not been widely used on very young children. They speculate that one reason might be a fear on the part of doctors and parents that little ones might tamper with the devices. In fact, this was not a problem, at least with the children involved in this particular study, all of whom were aged between two and seven years. Personally, I find that surprising...

There's a really neat interview in Diabetes Health, in which two elderly brothers describe how they have lived with diabetes for decades, successfully managing the disease in the days when treatments were a lot less precise and a lot more inconvenient and painful. Bob Cleveland was just five years old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1925 - just two years after the discovery of insulin as a treatment for the condition. His brother, Gerald, was later diagnosed at sixteen years of age. The brothers say that in general they have enjoyed better health than many people because diabetes forced them to live well, staying active and eating healthfully. They also say they have benefited greatly from the technological innovations that have come along during their lifetimes. The brothers describe the rudimentary techniques used by diabetics in "the old days." For one thing, glucose levels were evaluated by urine tests rather than blood tests. Insulin was, they say, about one hundred times the strength of current insulin, and was administered from large glass syringes. "One of these needles today would easily fit inside the needles my mother used to inject me," says Bob. (Yeesh.) Needless to say, this was in the days before disposable needles. When the brothers were younger, they say, their father would keep the syringes in working order by hand-sharpening them on a whetstone. Their  mother would keep the syringes clean by boiling them. This interview is so interesting and sure puts in perspective the "inconvenience" that today's diabetics have to endure!

A couple of days ago I reported the story of Camry Colon of Lansing, Michigan. The ten-year-old ran into problems with her school when the principal objected to her self-administering insulin injections at lunchtimes. You will recall it wasn't the shots that were upsetting the principal as much as liability issues. Anyway, the story looks like it's found a happy ending. Lansing Fire Chief Greg Martin found out about the situation and offered to send a paramedic over to the school every day to oversee Camry's injections and to help educate the school's staff. "We do make house calls," says Martin.