Last time I checked -drugs weren't cool, but according to a recent study, within the last 3 years, the number of teens using type 2 diabetes drugs has soared.

Medco, the largest US drug benefits manager, found the number of children taking medicine for type 2 diabetes more than doubled between 2001 and 2005. An analysis of prescription data found a 146% increase over four years in young people aged 10-19 taking type 2 diabetes drugs, and 115 % increase in all children in the survey. Children on diabetes medicines also faced other serious problems. About 17% of the boys and 13% of the girls were on drugs for high blood pressure; 5% of both were taking cholesterol-reducing drugs; and nearly 20% were taking narcotic pain relievers, drugs for respiratory conditions and antidepressants. Medco reviewed over 500,000 children each year. Of those aged 10-19, about 1.47 per 1,000 were taking type 2 diabetes drugs with a clear rising trend.

I'm so glad I'm not a teenager any more. These days it's not about abstaining from drugs. It's about the type of drugs you use. Just because your doctor is the one prescribing it doesn't mean you have to succumb to the peer pressure of drug use. I found an appropriate Chinese proverb for this blog: it is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Remember that movie with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro, Analyze This? Well we all don't have super-risky mobster lifestyles to induce depression like Paul Vitti's, but according to a new study of depressed type 2 diabetics -- depression has a negative impact on blood sugar control.

Researchers treated 93 patients with type 2 diabetes and depression with the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin). They chose the drug because it is capable of reducing depression and weight simultaneously. The hypothesis behind the treatment was mood enhancement and weight reduction would, in fact, improve blood sugar control. (Always a gold star day in my book!) The results were documented in the March issue of Diabetes Care, and showed that antidepressant treatment produced benefits beyond just mood improvement. Patients also lost weight, improved self-management of their diabetes, and improved their A1c levels.

In the 6 months following the conclusion of the study, depression improvement predicted maintenance of improved blood sugar control. This confirms the research hypothesis that depression improvement can produce better blood sugar control, independent of weight loss and overall diabetes management. The importance of weight-independent physiological factors like insulin sensitivity and inflammation improve during depression relief and contribute to better long-term control of diabetes.

The moral of this story? You tell me. I spotlight the research - I like it when you guys give me answers.

Please excuse the editorial nature of this piece. I often post about the scientific studies about diabetes. Today I'd like to discuss a bizarre thought I've had about the management of diabetes and how eerily similar I feel it is to a phenomenon known as cutting. I preface this blog with a sincere apology for anyone that is offended by the comparison. I know all too much about diabetes and very little about cutting, but my curiosity led me to read a little more about it and I remain stymied by the similarities.

Diabetes is controlled by repeated checks of blood glucose. The most effective way of measuring blood glucose is to prick your finger, draw blood, and drop it into a machine to read the results. This must be done anywhere between 2 and 12 or more times a day. Once the results are given - a diabetic should a) take insulin by injection or an insulin pump or an oral medication b) eat something or c) do nothing. The objective of drawing blood is to know your numbers. Ultimately this will ensure you are in range. That's right - test, treat and repeat. This routine, if followed religiously throughout your life, will best divert any long-term complications associated with diabetes. No guarantees.

A cutter is someone who practices self-injury (also known as self-harm and self-mutilation) by scratching or cutting his or her skin with a sharp object. Cutting is usually a symptom of mental illness and most often is used as a coping mechanism. By no means is this a symptom to ignore. It is serious and often implies a more serious underlying condition that warrants serious medical attention.

The necessary roughness of drawing blood serves a purpose for both diabetics and cutters. Of course one is medically supervised to care for the well-being of an individual and the other is self-inflicted and harmful for the individual. The end result of incessantly checking blood sugars will result in better control of a life-threatening disease. The end result of cutting is a scar reminding the cutter of a deeper pain. Both causes of the behavior are nonetheless tragic. As a type I diabetic, I do everything I can to avoid having to be reminded of diabetes - even if that requires me taking breaks from my life to test, treat, and repeat. I appreciate the perspective of anyone who wishes to share about the control regimen of their diabetes, or the psychology of a cutter.

The results of this study do not surprise me at all. Researchers have found that psychosocial factors like cynical distrust, chronic stress and depression, may be associated with higher levels of inflammatory markers. These inflammatory markers are related to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of premature death among people with diabetes.

The study included 6,814 men and women between the ages of 45 to 84. Participants were assessed for their levels of depression, chronic stress and cynical distrust. Blood samples obtained at the start of the study were analyzed for markers for inflammation. The researchers found associations between all three psychosocial factors and inflammatory markers.

A high stress lifestyle may increase the chance that an individual engages in social behaviors that increase inflammatory markers. The same high stress lifestyle may contribute to obesity and related metabolic problems. Furthermore, socioeconomic position is likely to be a precursor to psychosocial characteristics. True. But let's not wager our lives on a dollar-denominated scale. Consider the Chinese proverb, those who know when they have enough are rich. Now ask yourself where you stand in the socioeconomic parade. If you put it that way - I'm on easy street! Too bad it's in the wrong neighborhood.

For some reason, and I'll confess I'm unclear as to why, there is a link between diabetes and depression. (Diabetics are at a much higher risk for depression than the general population.) Having one makes you more likely to develop the other. However, researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine, in St Louis, say that diabetics can greatly benefit from taking antidepressants in order to control depression. In the course of a recent study, in which sertraline (Zoloft) was prescribed for a number of diabetics with depression, it was found that not only did the medication help reduce the risk of recurrent depression but that this had an important flow-on effect: blood sugar levels become more stable. Okay, after reading this article I'm still confused as to why this should be the case, but, hey, good news is good news. The most important thing is the knowledge that a healthy state of mind is key to physical health.