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

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...

My recent blog on interlopers offering advice about controlling diabetes upset a good friend of mine. He asked a question that gave me one of those What if...dream sequences. The reality check warrants a new blog.

He asked -- what if an interloper talked your doctor into reconsidering the use of natural animal insulins because they read the research and figured out that it was the better choice? Would you still think interlopers have no value in diabetes control?

Touché` - you sunk my battleship. I had to confer with a fellow diabetes OC blogger to get the he said / she said feedback. She made a very good point, too. In her words, there is a special group of non-diabetics who have an acute understanding of the disease, and who may have a somewhat intuitive understanding of how it works, but most of the time there is a silent acknowledgement that their opinion can at any given time be dismissed in favor of the diabetics'. Words of wisdom typed from the sorceress of Lemonade Life.

Today's lesson for Allie: listen without prejudice. Learn from all who are willing to share their experiences. Prosperity in life comes from the gifts we share with each other. My friends have shared valuable insight to teach me how to gain from every experience in life. I now see that the advice others have to share is the gift we have yet to receive. Denying the gift before we ever receive it is ungrateful. Graciously humbled - Allie B

As tasty as most incredibly unhealthy foods may be, there is some competition in the taste department from healthier eats. One that I feel is worth mentioning on both TheDiabetesBlog and TheCardioBlog (chiefly because it is germane to both) is the tart cherry; natures way of making healthy eating happy eating.

In a test involving lab rats, researchers from the University of Michigan Health System found tart cherries to lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar, lessen the amount of fat storage in the liver, lower oxidative stress, and increase production of a molecule that assists the body in metabolizing fat and sugar.

Antioxidant compounds known as anthocyanins are found in high amounts in tart cherries. Researchers say that a strong correlation appears to exist between the consumption of tart cherries and the clear changes in metabolic measurements such as those listed above.

Unfortunately, this study still remains at the rodent phase; it will take human clinical trials to determine if tart cherries carry similar benefits for us. FYI: U-M researchers already plan to launch a small clinical trial some time in the near future.

Now that the US market is suspiciously saturated with human insulin - and many of us diagnosed within the last 10 years did not have a shot at trying porcine insulin - I'd like to set the record straight. When the pharmaceutical companies cherry pick the studies they wish to use for their gain, and not so much for your enhanced quality of life - they must've lost this study.

Please read the entire study (if you have access to it in a local library) but what grabbed my undivided attention was the sentence that says: it was observed that the action of porcine insulin was associated with... a striking increase of prolactinaemia, in relation to semisynthetic human insulin.

Okay -- so as I look deeper into the function of prolactin -- aside from some definite dopamine enhancing activities (if you know what I mean) :::wink wink::: -- it is responsible for the formation of myelin coatings on axons in the central nervous system. This is a certifiable problem that results in diabetic neuropathy and the related side effects (numbness, nerve dysfunction, i.e, ED).

Ex-queeze me? Does this say that human synthetic insulin may be a cock blocking drug?

Sorry for the blunt delivery -- but this is the truth. Why doesn't human synthetic insulin have this listed as a side effect? My guess is: if you had a choice of human synthetic insulin versus highly purified porcine insulin -- and you knew the side effects of human synthetic might take a toll on the health of your sex life -- you might be praying to the porcine gods.

Shame on the companies who knew about this study and kept it undercover so you couldn't...

It is with great pleasure that I have the opportunity to blog about someone I consider to be a first string player in the sport of diabetes. Her name is Kerri, and her position is all over the place! Yes, you read that correctly. Kerri is a trifecta of talent. She currently works as an editorial assistant for dLife, where she writes a monthly column, "Generation D." She also finds time to contribute as a co-editor for EXIST Magazine, an online resource of CNN news with an MTV voice. You might recognize her co-editor (who is also her ever-supportive boyfriend) Chris Sparling. But the main event that drew my attention to Kerri was her blog, Six Until Me.

She started SUM in May of 2005 after Googling "diabetes" and finding not much more than a list of complications and the American Diabetes Association website. She was one of the pioneering blogs in the diabetes community. When she first set it up, SUM was one of 5. Nowadays you'll find more than 150 diabetes blogs out there in cyberspace. SUM has become reassurance for Kerri that she is not alone in dealing with diabetes. Having that kind of reassurance means the world to her, as I'm sure it does for those of us reading. Kerri puts her heart and soul into SUM and I invite any of you who spend a few minutes there to prove me wrong.

Throughout her twenty-something years of experience as a type 1 diabetic, Kerri insightfully shares her tricks of the trade in diabetes management. Grab a pen because this girl knows what she's talking about! First, she says to test often. Yes ma'am. You can't argue logic and that seems to be the only avenue open these days to tight control. Her second suggestion is just as important, but far more effective: personal forgiveness. Kerri says: diabetes is a very psychological disease... There is no such thing as a perfect diabetic. But you can be one that tries your best. Don't do yourself the disservice of calling certain foods "bad," because you don't deserve that. If your management takes a tumble, dust yourself off, forgive yourself, and move on. Life is too short to be saddled with guilt. Kerri, your words epitomize the emotional exuberance we all need to withstand diabetes. You inspire me. You share your wisdom in ways that make me proud to have you along for the ride on the D-train. That alone, should win you the Diabetes OC Awards, for which you have been nominated. Good Luck and congratulations on your ever-growing success!

Although I am relatively new to the blogging scene, I am learning the ropes, and loving it. Many of the other bloggers have been more than accommodating (and, excuse the pun, but quite sweet) as I'm acclimating myself to the standard blogging etiquette. My latest revelation is the annual event, held by the official Diabetes OC website where readers, like you, judge the best blogging sites out there.

This is the 2nd Annual Diabetes O.C. Blog Award. The awards present an opportunity for O.C. members and readers to honor people who are making an extraordinary difference in the diabetes community through their blogs. The awards program feature several categories, including: Best Blog, Best Female Blogger, Best Male Blogger, Best Adult with Type 1 Blog, Best Adult with Type 2 Blog, Best Parent Blog, Best Professional News Blog, and Best Non-Blog Diabetes Resource.

Allison Blass, the can-do cupcake running the show over at the Diabetes OC, notified me that The Diabetes Blog has been nominated for the Best Professional News Blog. Yay!!! So I ask those of you reading The Diabetes Blog, if you like what you've been reading, vote it loud, and vote it proud. Thanks for the heads-up, Allison!

The pleasure of blogging for you hits me with a sobering realization. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. When I say this is a gratifying experience, those words pale in comparison to how I really feel. It is my hope that everything I share with you serves a purpose for you, as much as it proves to be therapeutic for me. When I divulge to people that I'm a blogger, they seem to react with surprise. Popular opinion about blogs is that most of them are crafted by unqualified characters that use the Internet as public property to launch personal attacks. Not me.

I don't write this stuff, willy-nilly. I have a fair amount of experience in diabetes. I have seen a lot and I have done even more. I've been a passenger on the D-Train since July 5, 1985. That was my date of diagnosis, at the ripe age of 7. I look back and laugh because one of the most imprisoning events of my life happened just after Independence Day. I was at the beach watching fireworks, eating Vienna Finger cookies, and dying of thirst. Literally. The next day, my parents hauled me into Dr. Wu's office and my baptizing blood sugar was well over 300. I don't remember the number exactly. But I do remember we didn't go home. My parents took me to the hospital by way of McDonald's. I had a Happy Meal. How's that for foreshadowing?

The information I share with you comes from the battlefields. My purpose here is of greatest importance - your benefit. The enlightenment I share, and the feedback you provide, is what I treasure most. Today I give thanks to all of you reading The Diabetes Blog. Have a happy and safe Holiday Season!