The Great Morning Snack Experiment! Can you lower your morning post prandial blood sugar up to 40% ?

This study claims that we type 2's can lower our post prandial morning numbers up to 40%.
I think this claim is worth investigating. Since it doesn't involve using any drugs of any kind, but a simple change in our morning routine, it should be very easy to do. I'm going to try it.

If you are interested in lowering your morning numbers, please read this link, and then if you want to try this experiment, please keep an accurate log so you'll know if it actually worked for you.

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10212&catid=1&Itemid=17

Suggestions for the snack are any protein, plus about 5 carbs. They used soy yogurt in the experiment, but I don't know if I can get it here, so I may have to use meat and a cracker, or cheese and a cracker. There needs to be a few carbs, to trigger an insulin output from the pancreas, but it should be mostly protein.

In the study, the participants didn't take insulin or any diabetes meds for this snack.

Here's the full report:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/12/2552.longFULL REPORT

If you are on Byetta or anything unusual, it probably isn't a good idea to do this until you check with your doctor.

Alcohol Swabs Recalled Because of Bacterial Contamination! Canada and USA

Here in Canada, these alcohol swabs have been recalled:

Store Brand Products / Retail Store


Remedy Rx / Remedy Rx
Uniprix (Option+) / Uniprix and PharmaChoice
Life Brand / Shoppers Drug Mart
Equate / Walmart
Personelle / Jean Coutu
Rexall / Katz Group stores (Pharma Plus, Medicine Shoppe etc.)
Exact / Loblaws stores


http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2011/2011_02-...

Look for the name Triad on the box, listed as the manufacturer, or Shandex listed anywhere.

I have been getting injection site infections and thought I had food poisoning recently. I wonder if it was connected. This contaminant can cause both.

I am not happy that I didn't hear about this recall until 6 days after it happened. Why hasn't this been made more public?

Tags: alcohol, contamination, recalls, swabs

I Dropped my Insulin Pen, Now What?

You dropped your pen, you don't know if its going to work accurately or not, so what next? 

Do not use your pen until you can test its function, or you could end up getting too much or too little insulin. Until you test and know for sure, use insulin syringes. Just remove the cartridge from the pen and use the syringe, just like you would with a vial of insulin. 

However, there's an easy test you can do if you have any Novofine pen needle tips. Even though I have switched brands over the years, I always keep at least a couple of dozen of them on hand, just for this purpose. You can use one with the outer cap on to test your pens accuracy. 

The method is given in the instruction booklet for Novopen users. You just put a tip on the pen, pull off the outer cap, then the inner cap. Dial up 2 units and do an air shot, then put the outer cap back on, and dial up 20 units. Holding the pen with the needle tip downward, push the button and do the shot into the outer cap. The insulin should fill the small area of the cover, and not go under or over that section. Its a test to make sure your pen works. This should work for any pen, as long as you use a Novofine pen needle tip.

You can go to this link and download the manual  http://www.novonordisk.com/diabetes/public/insulinpens/novopen4/manual.asp  

or use this screen shot of the relevant page of the manual.

If your pen fails this simple test, do NOT use it. Get a replacement asap and until then, continue to use syringes and the cartridges, without the pen. 

Hope for Type 1's

This is good news for type 1's, there may be some hope in the future of saving or restoring beta cell function after all, if caught early in the game... http://insulinnation.com/treatment2/cure-insight/most-people-with-type-1-still-producing-insulin/

News Release: Research Evidence Affirms that Good Nutrition Can Help Prevent and Control Type 2 Diabetes

Read the entire article, its too important to miss!

http://www.joslin.org/news/Research-affirms-good-nutrition-can-help-prevent-and-control-type2-diabetes.html

One major finding was that certain foods and dietary patterns can help prevent type 2 diabetes even without weight loss. “People who eat a Mediterranean diet, with foods such as olive oil, whole grains and leafy vegetables and fruits, have a lower risk of developing diabetes even when they don’t lose weight,” Dr. Hamdy says.

Foods such as oat cereal, yogurt and dairy products, green leafy vegetables, grapes, apples, blueberries and walnuts were associated with reduced diabetes risk. Drinking coffee and even decaffeinated coffee were also associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk.

Participants who followed a Mediterranean eating plan — without restricting calories — showed a greater improvement in glycemic control and insulin sensitivity than participants who ate other popular diets. In addition, overweight patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes who followed the Mediterranean diet had less need for antihyperglycemic medications compared with participants on a low-fat diet.

Overall, a variety of eating plans, including the Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate/low glycemic index and high-protein diets, improved glycemic control and cardiovascular disease risk factors in patients with diabetes compared with control diets. This offers patients a range of options for diabetes management.

Foods associated with a higher risk of diabetes include red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, alcohol in excess quantities and refined grains, such as white flour.

Test Strips reduced for Type 2 diabetics in Canada!

Have you heard about this?

The number of test strips available to diabetics in Ontario has been reduced, and drastically reduced for anyone not on insulin!!!!

How are people supposed to test a minimum of 5 times a day with only 200 test strips per year?

I usually get 300 test strips a month, I'm on 2 types of insulin, and I will now only get 250 test strips per month.

However, my husband, who had to stop taking metformin for health reasons, will now only get 200 test strips per YEAR! His doctor told him to test at least 5 times a day. Now he can only test once every other day. He'll have to start using some of my test strips, just to keep track.

This STINKS!

And the Canadian Diabetes Association supports it!

I can't believe this!

http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/community-news-entry/association-responds-to-changes-to-ontario-public-coverage-of-smbg-test-str/

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/drugs/teststrips/bg_teststrips.aspx

Why is all this misinformation circulating about type 2?

I'm amazed by the ignorance of people purporting to know about diabetes. This includes doctors and pharmacists, and even other diabetics.

One thing that keeps popping up for me is that everyone is quoting outdated and incomplete information regarding the genetics and causes of type 2.

There aren't 6 or 7, or even 13 genes that can involved in type 2.

In fact there are at least 38!

That's right - 38!

This information was published in the summer of 2010. Check the dates on internet sources you quote people! Please look for more up to date info!

And the more of these defective genes you have, the greater the likelihood of getting it.

Your family history should be a clue. Mine is rife with diabetes and weight problems caused by insulin resistance and defective genes, on BOTH sides of my family.

Other factors that contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes include, among many many others:

Beta blockers can increase your risk by 20 to 50%. If you already have the genes (look at your family history), and your doctor prescribes beta blockers, your chances increase dramatically even if nothing else changes.

Beta blockers can be enough to tip you over the edge into diabetes. I know because this happened to my husband and almost happened to my sister. Luckily I found out about this and let her know in time.

Other factors include under active thyroid - check, had that ALL my life! Its still undertreated because I can't tolerate the dose of thyroid hormone that I actually need.

Certain medications for other conditions - check, I was never told of the risks involved with certain treatments until well after the damage was done. This can include treatments for PCOS, asthma, infections, and much more.

Exposure to pesticides, and highway smog. Yep, been there, done that, it was not my choice, but none the less, I have to suffer the consequences of it.

Family history: I have not one, not two, but several people with diabetes in my close family. According to scientific research my chances of getting type 2 were pretty much 100%, given my family history. This probably goes back several generations. 

Other factors, for me include injuries from accidents that kept me from exercising.

Inflammation and allergies: Yes, this can have an effect!

Inherited joint disorders: which have not only kept me from riding my bike, roller skating, and dancing, (all of which I love). They have also put me into a wheelchair. I cannot get enough exercise to stay fit, let alone fight back against insulin resistance.

Insulin injections: yes, they saved my life, but they are also making me gain weight, and increasing my insulin resistance. Its a lose/lose situation for me.


Update, since this was originally written, I have read further articles that state that there are over 40 known genetic factors involved in getting Type 2 diabetes.