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Blood Glucose Testing Offers Little Value To Some Type 2 Diabetes Patients: Study

Blood glucose testing offers little value to some Type 2 diabetes patients: study

Blood glucose testing offers little value to some Type 2 diabetes patients: study

When Margaret DeNobrega was first diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, she meticulously monitored her eating habits and blood sugar levels.
The 68-year-old would write down what she ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, pricking her finger to test her glucose levels before and after each meal.
"I used to test before my meals, so I would know what my blood sugar was at, and then I would test two hours after," she says. "I did that for quite a while.
"I guess maybe I did … obsess a little about it because I didn't want to go on medication."
It's a daily ritual for many with Type 2 diabetes, aimed at helping them keep their blood sugar levels in check. But according to a new U.S. study, that common finger-prick test may have little impact on managing the chronic condition.
Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest-growing diseases in Canada, with about 60,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
Complications associated with the disease — including kidney disease, heart disease, blindness and stroke — can range from serious to life-threatening, making proper management of blood sugar levels important.
Insulin-dependent patients will frequently test their blood sugar before delivering a shot of the hormone.
But the majority of Type 2 patients aren't treated with insulin, and can instead regulate their glucose levels through diet, exercise and sometimes medication.
Rejecting routine testing
In a paper published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that self-monitoring of blood sugar for non-insulin Type 2 patients offers virtually no benefit.
"From the study, what we fin Continue reading

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Diabetes was once a problem of the rich. Now it belongs to the poor.

Diabetes was once a problem of the rich. Now it belongs to the poor.

As the global diabetes rate soared over the past quarter-century, the affected population transformed: What was once predominantly a rich-country problem has become one that disproportionately affects poorer countries.
That's one of the many conclusions of the World Health Organization's first global report on the chronic disease. Worldwide, diabetes rates nearly doubled, from 4.7 percent in 1980 to 8.5 percent in 2014. Roughly one in 12 people living in the world today have the disease, which has spread dramatically.
“If we are to make any headway in halting the rise in diabetes, we need to rethink our daily lives: To eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain,” Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General, said in a statement. “Even in the poorest settings, governments must ensure that people are able to make these healthy choices and that health systems are able to diagnose and treat people with diabetes.”
Most of the 422 million adults living with diabetes are, in fact, in poorer countries, the WHO found.
The disease has spread unequally, too.
Over the past decade, diabetes prevalence rose faster in low- and middle-income countries than high-income ones.
As the chart below shows, diabetes prevalence in high-income countries rose from just over 5 percent to about 7 percent.
Low-income countries saw rates grow from just over 3 percent to more than 7 percent, overtaking high-income countries for the first time within the past decade.
That switch is likely linked to other factors, such as rising global obesity, says Etienne Krug, director of the Continue reading

Depression and Diabetes

Depression and Diabetes

By the dLife Editors
Depression can strike anyone, but people who have diabetes appear to be at greater risk. In fact, studies suggest that people who have type 2 diabetes have a much as double the risk of depression as people who don’t. The rate of depression is thought to be at least three times higher in people with type 1 diabetes than in people without diabetes.
In a vicious cycle, people with depression may be at greater risk for developing diabetes. Thus, the strong diabetes depression link.
As diabetes complications get worse, it is common for depression to increase as well, which can lead to a lack of proper self-care.
You have to live with diabetes, but you do not have to live with debilitating depression. Treatment for depression helps people manage symptoms of both diseases, thus improving the quality of their lives.
What Is Depression?
Depression isn’t just feeling “down” or being sad in response to a loss or challenge life throws at you. It’s a mood disorder that causes ongoing, persistent symptoms that disrupt your life, affecting how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.
While depression is serious, it’s also treatable. And since depression can affect nearly every aspect of a person’s well-being, it’s important to get help.
Symptoms of Depression
People experience depression differently. The severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms vary depending on the person and his or her particular illness.
Symptoms of depression most commonly include:
Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood
Feelings Continue reading

Is It Possible for Type 2 Diabetes to Turn Into Type 1?

Is It Possible for Type 2 Diabetes to Turn Into Type 1?

Type 2 diabetes can’t turn into type 1 diabetes, since the two conditions have different causes.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. It occurs when the insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas are completely destroyed, so the body can’t produce any insulin.
In Type 2 diabetes, the islet cells are still working. However, the body is resistant to insulin. In other words, the body no longer uses insulin efficiently.
Type 1 diabetes is far less common than type 2. It used to be called juvenile diabetes because the condition is typically diagnosed in early childhood.
Type 2 diabetes is more commonly diagnosed in adults, though we’re now seeing more and more children being diagnosed with this disease. It’s more commonly seen in those who are overweight or obese.
It’s possible for someone with type 2 diabetes to be misdiagnosed. They may have many of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes, but actually have another condition that may be more closely related to type 1 diabetes. This condition is called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA).
Researchers estimate that between 4 and 14 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes might actually have LADA. Many physicians are still unfamiliar with the condition and will assume a person has type 2 diabetes because of their age and symptoms.
In general, a misdiagnosis is possible because:
both LADA and type 2 diabetes typically develop in adults
the initial symptoms of LADA — such as excessive thirst, blurred vision, and high blood sugar — mimic those of type 2 diabetes
doctors don’t typically run tests for Continue reading

How Dogs Can Sniff Out Diabetes and Cancer

How Dogs Can Sniff Out Diabetes and Cancer

By Liz Langley
PUBLISHED March 19, 2016
The Force is strong in Jedi.
The black Labrador retriever recently detected a drop in blood sugar in 7-year-old Luke Nuttall, who has Type 1 diabetes. His glucose monitor didn't pick it up, but Jedi did—and woke up Luke's mother, Dorrie Nuttall, as he was trained.
The California family's amazing story, which went viral on Facebook, made NatGeo's own Nicole Werbeck wonder, “How do dogs use their noses to detect human disease?”
Weird Animal Question of the Week sniffed out some answers.
Nose Pros
Dog schnozzes are incredibly sensitive and quite complicated, which makes them excellent at smelling bombs, drugs, and even animal poop, which can help with conservation. (Read about a Chesapeake Bay retriever that sniffs out scat of disappearing South American animals.)
And numerous studies have shown man's best friend can detect various cancers, including prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma.
Exactly what they are smelling—in other words what cancer and diabetes smell like—is not yet known, says Cindy Otto, founder and director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Vet Working Dog Center.
But there's evidence that diabetic alert dogs, or DADs, smell a volatile chemical compound released throughout the bodies of diabetics. Chemists have not yet singled out the exact compound.
Since these helper dogs work with people, they get service-dog training on top of their medical-detection training—kind of like special agents.
During training, diabetic alert dogs are rewarded whenever they sniff the scent of low blood sugar, Continue reading

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