In the fall of 1985, a very scary thing happened shortly after I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. One morning I woke up and I couldn't remember things I would normally remember. I couldn't remember the name of my neighbor's dog. I had a fanatical love for Cookie. Of course I would remember Cookie! A diabetic child would never forget such a sweet name for such an adorable dog! One more thing -- I had a pounding headache.

My mom brought me to the hospital, where my endocrinologist met us. They ran test after test and nary could an expert explain my memory loss. They confirmed I was experiencing amnesia, which turned out to be temporary because I was back to normal the next day.

How many people have experienced this same phenomenon? I surmised that this was my body reacting to the Humulin insulin I had started only a month or so before. The insulin must have been competing with my body's own attempts to generate insulin thus thwarting my blood sugar down into a dangerous hypoglycemic state. A study published in 1991 shows that hypoglycemia results in a lesion in the left temporal lobe. I have one of those lesions now, but it wasn't discovered until 2000. Oh yeah - and my peduncle is perfectly asymmetric. What does that mean anyway?

Why weren't doctors informed of this potential reaction to insulin in 1985? A study 6 years later is a few years too late. And how many more newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetics experience the same thing? My parents were scared out of their mind and nobody (including specialists) had any idea what to do with me.

Yes, you read correctly. Low-speed car chase. Not something you see in the news too often, right?

Jacob Kells (30) is from Santa Rosa, CA. He has diabetes. Last Thursday, Kells got behind the wheel of a rented U-Haul truck. Oh, what a bad idea. He was obviously having low blood sugar issues because he caused several minor hit-and-run crashes that morning. Kells would not respond to police calls for him to pull over. Result: the cops had to tail him all, slowly, all the way from Redwood City to Gilroy.

When the police finally caught up with him, Kells was reportedly sweating and incoherent. The officers, obviously aware his state was diabetes-related, gave him glucose paste then got him to hospital, pronto. He was later arrested and taken in for psychological assessment - which I guess means there may be something else going on here other than low blood sugar.

Hats off to the officers of the Redwood City California Highway Patrol for recognizing the signs of low blood sugar and reacting accordingly. That is, for understanding the medical basis for Kells' behavior - not assuming the guy was just drunk or high.

You've heard about the sports stars and the rock stars who succeed in life despite suffering from diabetes. Now, here's something a little more unusual: a circus acrobat! Dolly Jacobs is Circus Sarasota's "Queen of the Air." She recently gave an interview to the Bradenton Herald about her life in the circus.

Trim and petite like a dancer, Jacobs was diagnosed ten years ago. How did it happen? She had the warning signs most type 1s experience: weight loss and a killer thirst she just could not quench. Her mom already had type 1, so during a routine office visit, Jacobs asked the doc to check her blood sugar too. Whoa. It was 260 - way, way above normal. Jacobs was diagnosed not with type 1, but with a rarer form sometimes dubbed "type 1.5" or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of the Adult (LADA). LADA is basically the same as type 1 diabetes, but develops later in life.

So how does one deal with diabetes when your job involves flying through the air with the greatest of ease? Low blood sugar is easy, says Jacobs. Correct it with a soda or juice. High blood sugar is tougher. She says she can go as high as 500 or 600 just from adrenaline. So, just like any other athlete, she depends on testing several times daily and she wears an insulin pump - but not when she's performing. Eating healthy - lean meats, fruits and veg - are important too, she says.

Click here to read more. Kudos, by the way, to the journalist who wrote this article, Roberta C. Nelson, for taking time out to identify the different forms of diabetes and to explain the dangers associated with high vs. low blood sugar. Great!

Remember the big food poisoning disaster involving Peter Pan peanut butter? That was back in February. Well, one of the victims was Atlanta resident Linda Moore (59), who has diabetes. Moore told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she always kept a jar of Peter Pan on her bedside table in case she needed a quick blood sugar lift. She never dreamed it could make her so sick.

What's awful about Moore's story is that she ate the tainted peanut butter and became ill after the recall had been issued. Several weeks after, in fact. She says she was just so busy with her job as a nurse that she had not had time to catch up on the news. One morning Moore ate some Peter Pan then left for work. She soon fell violently ill and ended up being hospitalized for three days with salmonella poisoning. The AJC does not say how Moore's experience was affected by her having diabetes. She is now suing ConAgra, Peter Pan's parent company.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is also running a story about Peter Pan and how the brand is struggling to make a comeback after the deadly food poisoning mishap. Needless to say, Linda Moore says she will never again buy that brand. In fact, she may never eat peanut butter again. "When I'm in the grocery store, I just look and keep moving," she told the AJC.

Ever had food poisoning? I have. I felt like I was dying. Childbirth was easier. I am not kidding.

Wow. I'm floored. Not every diabetic experiencing hypoglycemia in a pubic place becomes a victim of police brutality. A Texas woman with diabetes was recently discovered in her car on the side of a road by a police deputy. She was incoherent, talking to herself. No, the deputy did not drag her in to the station for DUI. Constable's Deputy Russell Whitton, intelligent guy, realized something was up and used the lady's cell phone to call the most recently missed call. This put him in touch with a relative, and he was able to establish that the lady had been reported missing, is diabetic, and was about to go into shock. The deputy gave her LifeSavers to help raise her blood sugar and called for an ambulance. .

In the course of blogging for TDB I've read I-don't-know-how-many news stories about diabetics being manhandled by police during hypo episodes. The typical scenario is this: person's blood sugar drops. Person sways, loses way, crashes car, acts incoherent or all of the above. Cops are called or happen along. Cops mistakenly assume symptoms are due to drunkenness or a drug-induced high. So they proceed to arrest said innocent citizen, who may resist, sparking actions of police brutality. The most recent high-profile case involved "Mr. Natural Universe," Doug Burns.

And then this story came along. Just when I was becoming super-cynical and irreversibly biased against the police, too. Aww. Thanks, Deputy Whitton!

In a case of stunning ineptitude, staff at an Orange County branch of Bank of America locked in an elderly diabetic woman after closing at the end of the day on Wednesday. The woman, Marian R. Prescher (73), went to the bank late Wednesday to access the contents of a storage box she keeps there. The bank shut up shop at 6 p.m., and employees apparently forgot to check the private room that she was in before leaving.

Around that time - I'm not clear on whether it was before she was locked in or perhaps as a result of being locked in - Prescher's blood sugar dropped into the danger zone. Fortunately, Prescher was discovered around midnight by a cleaning crew, whose members found her in diabetic shock - "unconscious and cold to the touch," according to a spokesman for the OC Sheriff's Department. The woman was treated in hospital for hypoglycemia and later released.

The is pretty serious. If she had not been found when she was, Prescher could have died. A friend told a reporter that Prescher's blood sugar had dropped to 20, which is dangerously low.

A statement came from Bank of America on Friday to say the incident is under investigation. I'm thinking they are justifiably sweating over the bad publicity this has brought the bank.

Isn't it amazing that even toddlers can operate computers and cell phones these days? Alex Merriam lives in Pleasanton, Texas. Alex is only two-years-old, but he helped save his dad's life recently. His father, William Merriam, has had type 1 diabetes since he was only four. Last Friday, William's blood sugar got dangerously low and and he fell unconscious in a chair. Alex was the only one in the house with him at the time.

Alex's mom, D'anna, was worried when she kept trying to call her husband. No one answered. In the end, aware that a hypoglycemic episode could have hit William, she had her father try calling too. Eventually, Alex - all of two-years-old, mind you - got the ringing cell phone out of his dad's bag and answered it. He told his grandpa that his dad was "asleep" and then hung up. Kids do the darndest things! The grandfather called back and, yet again, Alex picked up. This time the boy took the phone over to his father and it was clear that dad was not responding at all. Emergency services were alerted and an ambulance arrived not long after that.

After recovering, dad William said "It's nice he doesn't know what's wrong, but knew enough to tell the right person at the right time." Cute story.

On the 18th of July I blogged about a study that aims to explain how dogs are able to detect approaching hypoglycemic episodes in diabetic humans. Well, reader Margaret from Cumbria, in the UK, posted a comment about her dog, Sally, who is one of these amazing hypo-detecting dogs. I asked Margaret to tell us more and she obliged. Here is Sally's story:

Sally is a thirteen and a half-year-old Border Collie mix who lives with human "parents" Margaret and Alan, and canine buddy Poppy, who is a Cocker Spaniel. That's Sally (right) and Poppy (left) in the picture. Margaret and Alan adopted Sally from an animal shelter when she was just a tiny pup. Little did they know that Sally came complete with a special gift: she knows when Margaret, who has type 1 diabetes, is heading dangerously low.

"She has always been a sensitive dog," writes Margaret. "She gets very upset when there is thunder in the air. She shakes uncontrollably - even if we never even hear the thunder, but she knows it is about somewhere." As for detecting oncoming hypos, Margaret says: "my husband, perhaps more than me, notices her reaction. I can be just sitting staring into space, not doing anything, and Alan comes in, sees me and sees Sally acting strangely, by which I mean slinking around, really unhappy and just looking so miserable, trying to hide in a corner and she doesn't do that for any other reason, not even for the thunder."

I asked Margaret if Sally had received any training or if they rewarded or encouraged her reaction in any way. No, replied Margaret. "We certainly don't reward her for this. I really don't want her to be so unhappy about me! But, according to my husband, it is pretty obvious when he sees Sally behaving in this way - even though it is not obvious by my actions - that I am hypo, and this has been proved to be so." She adds, "Sally is very close to me. She is with me all the time and she has done this for as long as we can remember."

Margaret has had type 1 for thirty-five years. She was nearly twenty years-old when diagnosed. She also writes that one of her three sisters was diagnosed with type 1 at age seven, but is still going strong - fifty-seven years later.

Thanks, guys, for sharing your story!

Anyone out there following the case of Mr. Universe's beating and subsequent arrest at the hands of police will be interested in this latest news: a five million dollar lawsuit has been filed by the bodybuilder against Redwood City, California. The suit includes claims for two million dollars in economic damages and three million in non-economic damages.

Read Allie's previous blogs (one and two) on the subject if you want all the details. But here's a quick summary: Mr. Natural Universe, Doug Burns (43), was at the movies in Redwood City, back in April. Burns, a type 1 diabetic, felt a little giddy. Attributing this to low blood sugar, he headed to the lobby for a snack but was intercepted by security who mistook him for a drunk. There followed a struggle with police, during which Burns was allegedly beaten and maced.

Needless to say, this sorry episode is yet another example of how law enforcement see a person swaying, weaving and incoherent and the assumption is always that the person is drunk or high. At least in the case of Doug Burns, the victim has some public clout to help him out. There is an urgent need for education here: police officers must be aware of the signs of hypoglycemia.

Two elderly women died and one remains in a coma after the three apparently received massive insulin overdoses during stays at the University of Chicago Hospitals (UCH). One of the women who died, Ruthie Holloway (82), was diabetic. She was in the hospital in May due to a possible urinary tract infection. When she showed signs of low blood sugar, a test was conducted which showed extremely high insulin levels in her blood - hundreds of times higher than normal. By then it was too late: she quickly became catatonic, suffering brain damage, and she died at a nursing home in June. Particularly disturbing is the fact that there was no record of her being given insulin by a staff member.

The incidents, which occurred between May and June of this year, are under investigation by the Chicago police and by officials at UCH. All three women were in the same hospital wing when the overdoses were given. The question is: were those overdoses the result of staff incompetence or where they given intentionally and, if so, why?

It now looks likely that UCH will have malpractice lawsuits coming its way from the womens' families. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, attorneys acting on behalf of the families have requested copies of the womens' patient files. They have also requested copies of employee files.

Even though the person responsible has not yet been (publicly?) identified, UCH has made some major changes in its procedures regarding the storage and handling of insulin. In particular, each dose of the drug must go through a procedure of checking and witnessing, with a paper trail backing up all staff actions.

Visit the Trib's website or CBS2 Chicago online to read more about this sad case.

One of my family's favorite remedies for hypoglycemia is orange juice. Quickly absorbed, it packs a glucose punch. Get this -- not only do a few ounces of orange wonder bring 'em back to the land of clarity, it also reduces inflammation in the body.

A recent study by endocrinologists at the University of Buffalo reveals orange juice is packed with flavonoids. Not only that, flavonoids suppress destructive oxygen free radicals (aka reactive oxygen species or ROS). ROS can damage cells and contributes to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Previous research has shown 300 calories of glucose induces ROS and other proinflammatory responses. Now the researchers wanted to see how orange juice, fructose and saccharin-sweetened water impacted ROS compared to glucose. For this study, 32 healthy people between ages 20 to 40 were divided equally into four groups and given 300 calories worth of either o.j., fructose, saccharin water or glucose. Significant increases in ROS were reported in samples from the glucose group, but not the o.j., fructose or water group.

Orange juice has the same concentration of glucose as participants in the glucose group, so the researchers dug further to determine what was suppressing ROS in the juice. Turns out two flavonoids in orange juice inhibited ROS generation.

Dr. Paresh Dandona, senior author of the study, stated it is important people with diabetes are aware of non-inflammatory food choices. Gotta spread the good news to my family! Read more in Medical News Today.

Bad headline for the week: "Does Diabetes Have a Canine Cure?" This, from the Lincolnshire Echo in the UK. Well, no. Of course dogs can't cure diabetes! However, they can do more than just roll their lovable brown eyes at you. Specifically, dogs can be trained to detect building hypoglycemic episodes caused by perilously low blood sugar levels. Dogs that have received such training will then try and sound the alert in various ways like pawing and whining, or pouring you a glass of orange juice (joke). Heck, I think there was even one dog that was trained to dial 911 for his owner, and saved the guy from going into a coma, might I add.

This is what this Echo article is really all about. Professors and students at the University of Lincoln have set out to examine the use of dogs to predict hypos. The study is being run in conjunction with Queen's University in Belfast, and has received funding from Diabetes UK. Says research team member Dr. Niro Siriwardena, "We are not yet sure whether dogs detect this [hypos] by smell or because they are much more adept than humans in detecting change. That is something we are looking into."

Stay tuned for details when this study is complete. "Dog people" like myself will be excited to hear what they discover. Wouldn't you like to know what enables dogs to be so super-sensitive? And doesn't it make you wonder: if dogs can detect something like low blood sugar, what else are they noticing about us as we go (obliviously) about our daily lives?

Hypoglycemia, an attack of low blood sugar, doesn't just happen. It takes a complex chemical reaction involving the brain and hormones - the brain's chemical messenger pigeons. We can now understand this incredible process and the body's response to it thanks to the work of a research team led by neuroscientist Arshad Khan, of the University of Southern California, and colleagues. Part of the study was also carried out in conjunction with the University of California at Riverside.

A feature on the LiveScience website handily explains what Khan et al found and why it's important. Basically, the hormone norepinephrine plays a critical role in hypoglycemia, effectively sending messages to the brain that the body is experiencing dangerously low blood sugar. When the body tells the brain that low glucose levels are afoot, norepinephrine shoots out of the hindbrain and into another area of the brain called the paraventricular hypothalamus. Its presence triggers the release of stored energy to make up for the shortfall. This step in the process involves the release of more hormones, this time from the pituitary gland. Khan describes norepinephrine as the "emissary" in this sophisticated chain of events, informing the brain about what is going on.

Why does this matter? Simple: understanding how hypoglycemia unfolds is a window into understanding how the brain senses glucose in the blood and, in particular, how it senses changing glucose levels. This, after all, is at the very heart of the physical changes associated with diabetes.

The results of this study were published in The Journal of Neuroscience (July 4, 2007).

Eli Lilly has an award they give to people who have been diabetic for 25, 50 and 75 years. They call it the Lilly for Life Award. The award recognizes people who have been enslaved to the exorbitant expenses of diabetes management, in addition to the other schedules of daily life. Endearing isn't it? The award is a significant token of Lilly's appreciation for all you have endured and sacrificed.

Lilly awards people who have used insulin for 25 years with the monetary equivalent of what your diabetes management has cost. All your copays for each bottle of insulin, each box of syringes, each blood sugar testing strip, and your ability to adapt to the ever-changing technology of diabetes care (I swear, it says that in block letters) - Lilly awards you $42,500!! I told you I lived in the land of milk and honey. ACTUALLY - it's a medal and a consent form to have your face exploited in Big Pharma marketing. You should've bought the stock! The shareholders of LLY paid approximately $1.75 per share 25 years ago, when you were diagnosed. Today that share is worth approximately $56. Anybody know the math on that return? It's probably around 3,000%.

Let's go back to that statement ever-changing technology of diabetes care. Why must it be ever-changing? Doesn't that sound a lot like never-ending? We need not spend too much time on identifying how to treat this disease when we've got that down. What we need to do is spend more time and energy on preventing the disease from happening in the first place. That is what I consider achievement. Achieve that, Lilly! And by the way - I'll take 3,000% of my $42,500 while you're at it. Thanks.

Lately the news has seen a lot of devastating diabetic events due to hypoglycemic unawareness. Hypoglycemic unawareness is commonly defined as an inability to recognize the symptoms (sweating, tremor, hunger, anxiety, and palpitations) of decreased blood sugar or a failure of the warning signs to occur before development of neuroglycopenia, which means a shortage of glucose in the brain. Curiously, this term was not coined for diabetes until 10 years after the introduction of genetically modified human synthetic insulin and insulin analogues.

I hate to say it but diabetes is a crapshoot. You never know what you are going to get, but you can sure try your best to keep your eye on the ball. Removing the inherent dangers of hypoglycemic unawareness would make me a happier diabetic, and improve the lives of all those I care about (diabetics like myself). The answer might lie in the only type of treatment available nowadays, insulin analogues. Diabetics who do not take any form of drug to control blood sugar do NOT have hypoglycemic unawareness.

It's called human but it is nothing like natural human insulin. It may be faster acting or longer lasting but I'm sure He didn't intend for insulin to break sound barriers or last three moons. If Big Pharmaceutical companies were asked to compare insulin analogues with natural human insulin you'd hear crickets. I promise you NO Big Pharma will fund a study that would become the antithesis of their marketing campaigns, human insulin is better. It's not better, it's just different -- totally different! Natural insulin is fat-loving. Insulin analogues are water-loving. The global command center of the body (the brain) is one big blob of fatty material. This means as your blood sugar is dropping, your brain is last fed, if it eats at all. Here in the United States we are victims of circumstance in hypoglycemic unawareness. Sorry brain, no soup for you.