Diabetes Blogs

 

In one chapter of my book (published March, 2010) I recalled several things from the history of diabetes. One paragraph from that chapter is given here:

"There were two schools of thought in the 17'th century. One theory proposed replacing the sugar lost in the urine by following a diet high in carbohydrates. The second school believed that carbohydrates should be restricted to reduce excess sugar. Eureka!!! That may have been the first time excessive carbohydrates was considered to be detrimental to diabetics. The first theory seemed to be much more popular, and the idea of restricting carbohydrates seems to have been lost for the next few centuries. I say that because treatments being proposed in the late 1800's included bleeding, blistering and doping, with no further reference to restriction of carbohydrates. What a shame!!! If the second school of thought had become the popular one, that may have accelerated the advancements in the years that followed."

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Would it concern anyone if treatment policies affecting the lives of thousands of UK diabetics were determined on the basis of reports in newspapers and magazines?

"What sort of a daft question is that?" I hear you ask. "Of course it's a ridiculous idea." Hold that thought.

I have, for some time, had a small involvement as a patient representative at PCT level. It's been an interesting, if limited, peek behind the scenes. Based on what I've experienced, I've looked at various policies and initiatives around the country and at national level, I've read numerous reports and I've extrapolated the little I know to guess at how the policy makers work. And it's scary. Very scary.

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Of course one of the main concerns of a newly-diagnosed diabetic is food.  What can and can't I eat?  What should and shouldn't I eat?  As previously discussed, many people start off with "avoid sugar" but of course there is more to it than that.

Dietary advice in the UK stems from the British Dietetic Association - the professional body of dietitians, in conjunction with the Department of Health.  Since this is the official source, most other sources of advice (doctors, nurses, Diabetes UK etc) follow the guidance given out by these two bodies.  After all they are the experts.

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Not a week goes by without me seeing someone claim to have a cure for diabetes.  Its odd because considering there are 2 million diabetics in the UK, you would have thought it would have made the news.

Except of course that it hasn't made the news because its nonsense.

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I've written about this before, but I can't do a series on diabetes myths without mentioning calories since they may be the biggest con and/or misconception in nutrition.

We are regularly told by health authorities, food manufacturers and the media that we need to eat a calorie controlled diet.  But why?

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I remember at one point when I was a kid my mother saying "if you eat too many sweets you'll be diabetic" or something along those lines.  Its one of those "everyone knows" things which isn't actually true.  These days, more people are aware that its not true, but there is a general perception among the public that diabetes is all about sugar, so just have a cappuccino without the sugar, right?  Maybe I'll only have half this skinny muffin cos its probably got some sugar in it.

The situation is not helped by people talking about "blood sugar" rather than "blood glucose".  When you mention sugar, people have all kinds of preconceptions but if people started talking about "blood glucose" more often then people would not make the same assumptions they currently do about the word "sugar".

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This is the first in a series of blog posts about the most common diabetes myths.

This is something you see all the time in the media, in general news reports, newspaper articles and the implication is everywhere, even if the words aren't.  Type 2s are made to feel like its their own fault they got diabetes because if you get fat, you get diabetes, right?

Wrong.

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The name was coined (very wittily I thought) long ago on another forum by TerryG and it's now applied universally within DSF to that species of GP's Practice Nurse "who sees the diabetics".  What gets into these women to turn them into Nursie Nightshade? 

I'm sure any forum member would recognise the species.  The ones who try to insist that young diabetic women of child bearing age go onto statins, the ones who "discourage testing" because "it's bad for you and you don't need to know", the ones who are just plain ignorant and the ones who sneer at their patients as though they are either naughty children or dotty old folks. 

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In May this year I was concerned about the post prandial spikes I was having.  If I took enough rapid to iron them out I was going hypo later on before my Novorapid had finished working.  I understood that Apidra had a faster peak and less of a tail so I asked to change to Apidra.  My nurse was in agreement and prescribed me a box of five Solostar pens.  I checked specifically to ensure that the Novofine needles I was using were compatible with the Solostar pen and was assured that they were.

When I started using the pens I noticed a severe leakage when withdrawing the needle from my abdomen.  I had never noticed this with Novorapid flexpen or the Novopen 4, nor with Levemir pre filled pens (or indeed, previously when I was using the Optiset pen with Lantus).  I continued to use the Apidra Solostar pen for approximately three days, during which time my BGs were raised and by this time I was completely convinced that this was because I was not getting full delivery of the dialled dose.  I was, however, unsure as to exactly by how much the dose fell short.  I telephoned my nurse and after consulting with her I started on a fresh pen.  Just in case, I placed the original pen back in the fridge.

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There seems to be endless controversy surrounding the diet that is best for diabetics.  I read several forums but post mainly in one, with the odd comment elsewhere if I feel particularly strongly.  The main bone of contention seems to be whether or not to low carb and denigrating the advice so often given by NHS professionals to eat “starchy carbs with every meal”.  It causes endless dispute in online forums to the point that people argue and flounce and leave and get a tad nasty. 

 I subscribe to the “eat to your meter” brigade.  In other words “if a food doesn’t spike you then it’s fine, if it does then either don’t eat it or limit it”.  My meter is my best friend.  This is true of all diabetics, including those like myself on insulin only, but perhaps more so for Type 2 diabetics who have to rely to a greater degree on their diet for control.  So, after six years of listening to the same old stuff, why have I suddenly seen another aspect of the issue and why have I been moved to write about it?

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The T2 "You don't need to test" Myth.

There were 2 studies published in 2007 and 2008 which appear to be used as the main justification for the claim "you don't need to test" in relation to Type 2 diabetics.  These studies were both flawed in this reasoning and their conclusions incorrect.

The DIGEM study published in 2007 by Farmer et al started out with the objective of using Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) to reinforce the prescribed dietary advice, using 3 BG readings each on 2 days per week.  However the patients were told not to change their diet because of the results they obtained and were encouraged to stick more rigidly to the prescribed diet.  
"They were also given training and support in timing, interpreting, and using the results of their blood glucose test to enhance motivation and to maintain adherence to diet, physical activity, and drug regimens" [1]

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What is Second Life?

This question comes up time to time since we have a few people on Second Life in recent months and it get a mention in the forums occasionally. So I thought I should put up a blog post to explain.

Second Life (SL) is an online 3D virtual world. For most of the time DSF members use it as more of a 3D chatroom than anything else, although we have not quite got around to using microphones yet. However there's more to it than that.

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Since I am flying today, I've been checking up on the current restrictions for airport security and checking through my hand luggage for any stray items from previous trips.

All very logical, but I am certain that at least 2 people in the queue for security ahead of me will not have done.

I went to the Liverpool passport office yesterday.  You now have to go through a metal detector on the way in.  There's a long queue before the metal detector so you know whats coming well in advance.  To pass the time you can read the notices advising you that if you joke about having a bomb you will get arrested.

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Mention going somewhere on business and people immediately think in terms of the exotic and start comparing it in their heads to some form of holiday or short break.

Nah.

These things are never fun, as anyone who has done a few will tell you. Off to Milan this week for an overnight stay and meeting. What this means in effect is the following...

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From another site:

Give this a try. It really works.

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