I remember the endocrinologist who diagnosed my diabetes told me there wasn't one body part that wasn't affected by the disease. It also seems the body parts that exist furthest from one another are linked when it comes to diabetes.

The June 2007 issue of Diabetes Care published the results of a recent study out of Britain in which 253 diabetics with their first foot ulcer were assessed for depression. One-third of them suffered from clinical depression; 24.1 percent had major depressive disorder and 8.1 percent had minor depression. Eighteen months later, there had been 40 deaths, 36 amputations, and 99 recurrences of ulcer. Those who were considered depressed were found to be three times more likely to have died.

The study did not indicate whether the subjects were depressed about their foot ulcer, having diabetes, or something else altogether.

We eat, we sleep, we live, we die; all the while the world keeps turning. Barring the influence of an alien wearing a red cape and giant S on his chest, the world will continue to spin in the same direction and at the same speed. But, what motivates it to keep turning? Scientists have their answer for that question, but the rest of us know that it's money that make the world go 'round. Unfortunate, isn't it? If there is a bright side, it is that the fear of losing money has catalyzed a movement toward educating the public about the cost of diabetes, with particular focus being placed on complications.

A new study (titled State of Diabetes Complications in America) shows that the annual health care costs for a person with complications from type 2 diabetes are about three times higher than people without diabetes. Synthesizing data from two large national studies that examine the issue of diabetes-related complications, the results demonstrated a clear need to educate the public further about the disease.

Taken right from the results of the study, the average cost of treating diabetes complications breaks down like this:

~ Heart Attack: $14,150 per person

~ Chronic Kidney Disease: $9,002

~ Congestive Heart Failure: $7,982

~ Stroke: $7,806

~ Coronary Heart Disease: $6,062

~ Foot Problems: $4,687

~ Eye Damage: $1,785

Of course, these complications do not include the cost of treating the diabetes itself. The point of mentioning all of this is that it is a strangely fortunate/unfortunate that the world is so consumed by greed. Because this new study highlights how much it costs to treat diabetes complications, health care companies and the U.S. government are FINALLY starting to see the importance of treating type 2 diabetes BEFORE complications even begin. I just find it absurd that it took a loss of money -- and not a loss of quality of life, or life itself -- to get them to finally stand up and take notice.

In a landmark study on the effects of cinnamon pre-diabetic subjects, researchers from The Ohio Research Group discovered that regularly using this spice (it is a spice, right? I mean, I keep it with my spices. I have no idea, I'm a guy) significantly reduced fasting blood sugar and systolic blood pressure.

Specifically, the researchers found a cinnamon extract known as Cinnulin-PF to be the most effective in doses of 500mg per day. Perhaps the most impressive part of the study (also the part that makes it different from other diabetes related studie on cinnamon), which was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN), was that the positive effects Cinnulin had on blood sugar, blood pressure and overall body composition occurred without changes in diet or exercise.

So, the next time you order your drink or choice, or even want to add some flavor to a whole grain cereal, be sure to reach for this blood sugar and heart healthy additive.

A Swedish study has found that elevated blood sugar in women is linked with increased risk of developing cancer.

Researchers identified 2,478 incident cases of cancer from records of 33,293 women and 31,304 men who participated in the study. Participants were recruited in the mid-1980s at age 40, 50 and 60 and the study covered a 13-year period. The records included levels of glucose in the blood when fasting and after receiving an infusion of glucose. Researchers calculated the cancer risk relative to blood glucose while adjusting for: age, year of enrollment, fasting time and smoking status. Women with blood sugar levels higher than normal have a total higher risk for cancer while for men the risk was unchanged at higher blood sugar levels. The overall risk of developing cancer for women in the top 25% of fasting blood glucose levels was 26% higher than those in the bottom 25%. Women with high fasting glucose levels had a higher risk of pancreatic, breast and endometrial cancers, while the increase in risk for malignant melanoma was two times higher.

While previous studies have shown that cancer risk for some cancers is higher for people with type 2 diabetes, this study suggests that something could be happening to trigger cancer much earlier, as glucose levels begin to rise. The scientists also found that the blood sugar levels gradually rose over the period of the study, which they suggest means that cancer risks would also continue to rise unless glucose levels were brought down by some means. The results were no different when they took Body Mass Index (BMI) into account.

The study provides further evidence for an association between abnormal glucose metabolism and cancer. If you ask me - I think this has to do with the pH levels of the blood. It is well known that cancer manifests in blood levels of higher acidity. Poor diabetic control can result in higher acid levels in the blood. The catch 22 is poor diabetic control leaves your entire blood chemistry off kilter and it cannot defend any rogue cells - especially those associated with malignant growth (i.e. cancer!)

Thousands of pre-school age children are being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as new figures show a dramatic rise over the past 20 years.

Between 1985 and 2004, the study conducted by Bristol University, has seen an increase in cases of type 1 diabetes in children under the age of 5 five times the previous average. Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the body fails to produce insulin or makes only a little. One of the theories leading to the rise in type 1 diabetes is due to infants being exposed to exorbitantly clean households. The researchers found that incidence in all children under 15 had doubled. But the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children under the age of five went from .2 cases per 1,000 to 1 case per thousand.

The hypothesis offered by Prof Bingley leads to a very good argument. He said, "the increase is too steep to be put down to genetic factors, so it must be due to changes in our environment. This could mean that we are being exposed to something new or that we have reduced exposure to something that was previously controlling our immune responses". Much like the denouement in a game of CLUE: perhaps it was Mr. Clean, with the mop, in the kitchen!

Sometimes change can come in the form of something mammoth in size, while other times it can appear as something simple. Regardless of the scale, it is the totality of the effect that change that matters most. And, insofar as smaller, simpler changes go, a recent classification of infections may have a profound effect on the future of diabetes complications.

This change comes as the result of a joint effort by several research groups, hailing from as far and as wide as Texas to the Netherlands. Publishing their landmark study on the classification of diabetic foot infections has validated and tweaked the Infectious Disease Society of America's already standing system of labeling infections as mild, moderate or severe. The doctors involved in the study see this study as having a dramatic impact on predicting hospitalization and amputation. Furthermore, it will assist doctors in communicating with their patients and guiding them most effectively through therapy.

For more information on this classification system, visit: www.diabetic-foot.net

Anybody ever frustrated with left-field highs? You haven't had a morsel to eat in hours and you're stymied (if not righteously furious) your sugar is off the wall. I've been there. No sir, I don't like it. Where is this high coming from? Thank your liver. Researchers are working on a drug to slow down the body's overproduction of glucose when our bodies lock-down in fasting mode. Halleluiah.

A key enzyzme involved in the metabolic pathway used to produce glucose is phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. This enzyme helps control blood sugar levels during a fasting period. Researchers believe an overproduction of the enzyme might lead to the bamboozling highs we sometimes encounter after a long period of...well...nothing!

A proof of concept study shows that it is possible to alter the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase without directly interfering with homeostatic functions of metabolism. This research could be used to design a drug that can prevent the liver from overproducing glucose in a person with diabetes. I'll thank the Lord when this one hits the shelves.

Diabetes Mine's Amy Tenderich is blogging the American Diabetes Association's 66th Annual Scientific Sessions. While Richard Kahn, Chief Scientific & Medical Officer for the American Diabetes Association is blogging the same convention, Tenderich promises to give her readers the uncensored and totally unofficial scoop. I believe she will more than deliver on her promise.

I am certain everyone in the online diabetes community is well aware that Tenderich blogs the Diabetes Mine, but if you are new to diabetes and reading this, her blog is a must visit. Amy -- diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes three years ago -- is all-things-real with the intelligence and sharp commentary to back it up. A most excellent blogger and blog.

In an earlier post, we shared study findings linking diabetes to depression. As a result of this, the Washington University School of Medicine, in St Louis researchers recommended that diabetics would benefit from taking antidepressants in order to control depression.

In another post, we shared study results that University of Alberta researchers were able to establish that Type 2 diabetes patients tended to have a history of depression extending back before they were diagnosed with diabetes.

Most recently, during the American Diabetes Association annual meeting, study results were presented that suggest antidepressants actually appear to increase progression to diabetes in people who are already at risk for the disease. Not exactly in line with the previous two studies, is it. Keeping up with research can be exhausting at times. Stay with me. The ending of this post is priceless.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers collected information on 3,000 people who took part in the Diabetes Prevention Program. According to the researchers, those who took antidepressants regularly were two to three times more likely to develop diabetes. No increased risk was reported for those not taking antidepressants. However, the study participants who took the glucose-lowering drug metformin with antidepressants also had not increased risk of developing diabetes.

I am going to end this with a direct quote from study co-leader Richard Rubin, "We don't have a clue what's going on."