Congress Must Extend Critical Federal Funding For Type 1 Diabetes Research

Congress must extend critical federal funding for type 1 diabetes research

While Congress debates healthcare and insurance markets, it’s easy to forget that the government plays a special role in research that helps millions of Americans live fuller lives. Indeed, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies are the largest sources of health research funding — not just in the United States, but worldwide — with the money used to develop therapies and find cures for the diseases that most afflict Americans.
More than 1.25 million people in the U.S. live with type 1 diabetes (T1D); constant control of their disease is critical to survival. The Special Diabetes Program (SDP) at the NIH has long had bipartisan support and has delivered life-changing therapies allowing many more Americans to live longer, healthier lives.
This week, my son Jonathan and I are back in Washington, D.C. with JDRF, the leading organization that funds T1D research, for its Children’s Congress, urging the House and Senate to renew the SDP for another three years. Because of federal funding for diabetes research by the SDP, there has been significant progress for better treatments. It has shown tangible results by helping scientists make significant advances in prevention studies, treatments and research to achieve the ultimate objective: a cure.
I’ll never forget the moment, just a year ago, when Jonathan’s physician told us he had a spot on a clinical trial for the first-generation “artificial pancreas,” the first system to automatically dose insulin to improve blood sugar management. It dramatically improves the lives of people with T1D -— and Continue reading

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Health Insurance Plan for Diabetes Patients: Check out 3 of the best insurance policies available inIndia

Health Insurance Plan for Diabetes Patients: Check out 3 of the best insurance policies available inIndia
Health Insurance Plan for Diabetes Patients: Check out 3 of the best insurance policies available inIndia
Many insurance companies have planned their policies keeping lifestyle diseases like diabetes in mind.
The premiums of health policies for diabetic patients are also different from other health policies.
Delhi pollution: As CM Arvind Kejriwal cries over stubble burning, AAP leader sets fields on fire in Punjab
Diabetes is one of those diseases which need medication on a regular basis. Worse, medical expenses for diabetes are more than many other such diseases. Also, with inflation and lifestyle costs rising, managing expenses for medication of this disease is not easy. Here comes the importance and need for health insurance policies for diabetes being offered by several insurance companies in the market.
Many insurance companies have planned their policies keeping lifestyle diseases like diabetes in mind. The premiums of such plans are also different from other general insurance policies. As diabetes falls under the high risk category of diseases, finding the most suitable insurance policy pertaining to the needs and requirement of the insurance seeker and with the lowest premium is not easy.
Here we are taking a look at some of the best insurance policies in India for diabetic patients:
1. Diabetes Safe Insurance Policy Star Health Insurance Co
Offered by Star Health Insurance Company for diabetics patients, this policy provides individual and floater ( Continue reading

Ambient temperature affects risk of gestational diabetes

Ambient temperature affects risk of gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes is a transient type of diabetes that develops mid-pregnancy.
Research out of Canada suggests that the weather - or, more specifically, ambient temperature - affects your risk of developing the condition.
The hotter it is, the greater the likelihood.
Endocrinologist, Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michaels Hospital, Toronto
Norman Swan: Hello, and welcome to this week's Health Report with me, Norman Swan. Today, how psychological biases in your doctor can be a barrier to offering you the best care. Plus some solutions where you can play a role. Knowing when to worry and went to worry less when you're thinking and memory might be off the pace; new research findings. Important genetic findings in a devastating form of heart disease. And how one unexpected effect of climate change could be an increased prevalence of women who develop diabetes during pregnancy, gestational diabetes. A very large Canadian study has linked gestational diabetes to outdoor temperatures, with cold climate being best. The lead researcher was endocrinologist at the University of Toronto, Gillian Booth. Welcome to the Health Report.
Norman Swan: So you'd better just tell us a bit more about this cold-induced thermogenesis and why you think it might be linked to gestational diabetes.
Gillian Booth: Well, there are has actually been a growing body of research showing that cold, which we know can activate brown fat, that helps us acclimatise to cold and make energy and heat, that it actually can improve insulin s Continue reading

Diabetes and Air Travel: 6 Tips and Tricks!

Packing is a combination of art and science. I really dont like to check luggage. Besides the cost, there is the added delay when checking in at the airport, the risk of the airline losing the bag, and worst of all, the interminable wait at the conveyor belt upon arrival (you can tell, Im a very patient guy). So Ive become very good at consolidating my stuff. For short flights where small jets with tiny overhead space are common, a canvas duffel-type bag is ideal. That way, you wont have to turn your carry-on bag over for checking at the last minute. For longer flights (or trips that last more than a couple of days), learn to maximize the space in your carry-on bag and personal carry on. These days, the personal carry-on can be almost as large as your carry-on bag; it just has to be able to fit below the seat in front of you.
Whether you check a bag or not, be sure to pack two complete sets of everything you need to manage your diabetes for the length of the trip. Two meters with strips & lancing pens, two sets of insulin, two sets of batteries, two bottles of glucose tablets, two sets of pump supplies, and so on. Put one set in your personal item bag, and the other set in your carry-on luggage (or your checked luggage). That way, if one of your bags in lost, stolen or confiscated, you have the other as a fall-back.
When it comes to getting through security with minimal hassles, I have one word for you: PRECHECK. If you fly more than once or twice a year, TSAs precheck service is well worth the time and investment. But be sure to enter your precheck ID (also called a KT Continue reading

Plants vs. diabetes: Toledo man reverses diagnosis by adopting vegetarian diet

Plants vs. diabetes: Toledo man reverses diagnosis by adopting vegetarian diet
Norm Baird inspects a chair rung in his Toledo-area workshop. An avid woodworker, Baird has been able to spend longer hours pursuing his hobby after reversing his Type II diabetes diagnosis.
TOLEDO As a former Type II diabetic, Norm Baird admits that he used to abuse dairy. For years, the retired engineer enjoyed eggs and loved yogurt. He used to cut off little pieces of cheese to nibble on as he passed through his kitchen. His diet resembled a typical Americans: high in sugar, processed foods, meat and scant on vegetables.
But the silver-haired Toledo resident and cancer survivor no longer looks like a dairy abuser, having shed about 65 pounds and his diabetes diagnosis after adopting a plants-based diet in February 2016.
The 72-year-old is one of a small but growing number of people who have opted to go vegan or near-vegan as a first-line treatment for chronic weight- and diet-related illnesses such diabetes.
With more than two-thirds of American adults considered to be overweight or obese, diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the country. The number of people with Type II diabetes is expected to double by 2030, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Washington, Cowlitz County ranks 10th among the states 39 counties in prevalence of the disease. About 13 percent of Cowlitz residents are living with the condition, according to a chronic disease report by the Washington State Department of Health. Thats more than a third higher than the statewide ave Continue reading