Reversing Painful Diabetic Neuropathy

The drugs that are approved to reduce the pain of diabetic peripheral neuropathy are expensive. But your doctor can prescribe much less costly drugs that might save you thousands of dollars and may work equally well.
No drugs do anything more than cut the pain. To reverse the neuropathy, you have to act.
A pair of articles that the American College of Physicians published in its November 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine compares our choices and recommends our options. The first of these articles is a review of the "Pharmacologic Interventions for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy" by nine doctors, most of whom work at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The second article is an editorial, "Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: Many Similarly Effective Therapies With Widely Dissimilar Costs," by two doctors at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The review concluded that several different types of drugs can reduce the pain of peripheral neuropathy, but nobody knows which ones work best. The editorial took the analysis one step further: since the prices of these drugs are vastly different, start with those that cost less.
The lead author of the editorial, Brian C. Callaghan, M.D., sent me the full-text of both articles. "Because current evidence does not suggest that the effectiveness of these agents substantively differ," he wrote, "cost considerations should be a prominent part of clinicians’ decision making."
According to drugstore.com, pregabalin (brand name Lyrica) is the most expensive, $2,279.76 per year. Duloxetine (brand name Cymbalta) follows at $2,051.88. Mu Continue reading

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Drinking alcohol three to four days a week 'could reduce risk of diabetes'

Drinking alcohol three or four days each week can significantly protect against developing diabetes, a study has found.
Going for a drink or consuming alcohol at home most days was associated with a reduced risk of 27 per cent in men and 32 per cent in women, compared with abstaining.
Wine had the biggest effect, probably because it contains chemical compounds that improve blood sugar balance, said researchers.
But there was a warning to women to stay clear of the gin bottle. A daily tipple of “mothers' ruin” or other spirits increased the diabetes risk to women by 83 per cent.
Previous studies had already suggested that light to moderate alcohol consumption can cut the risk of diabetes, but the new research is the first to focus on drinking frequency.
Scientists studied data on 70,551 men and women taking part in a large Danish health survey who were quizzed about their drinking habits and monitored for five years.
The authors, led by Professor Janne Tolstrup from the University of Southern Denmark, wrote in the journal Diabetologia: “Our findings suggest that alcohol drinking frequency is associated with the risk of diabetes and that consumption of alcohol over 3 to 4 weekdays is associated with the lowest risks of diabetes, even after taking average weekly alcohol consumption into account.”
During the follow-up period, a total of 859 men and 887 women from the study group developed diabetes. The investigation did not distinguish between the two forms of diabetes, Type 1 and the much more common Type 2.
In terms of the amount of alcohol consumed, men who downed 14 Continue reading

Diabetes and Urinary Tract Infections – Things You Need To Know

In this article we will cover everything you need to know about diabetes and your risk for Urinary Tract Infections. Do you have an increased risk of Urinary Tract Infections now that you have diabetes?
We will cover what a Urinary Tract Infection is, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment guidelines, as well as why they are more common in people with diabetes.
More importantly, we will discuss steps you can take to prevent them!
What Is a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)?
A urinary tract infection or UTI is an infection anywhere in your bladder, kidneys or in the urinary system.
An infection of the upper urinary tract or the bladder is called a bladder infection or cystitis. An infection in the urethra is called urethritis. Women tend to be more at risk of these types of infections due to their anatomy; they have a much shorter area between the urethra and the opening to the urethra to the bladder. Urinary tract infections are rare in men under 50 due to their anatomy.
A more serious infection of the lower urinary tract is an infection of the kidney and the ureters and is called pyelonephritis. This is a complication and occurs when the bladder infection progresses to the kidneys.
I highly advise reading the following articles:
According to the Stanford Medicine’s Michael Hsieh Lab, half of women and men will have experienced a urinary tract infection (UTI) during our lifetime at least once. They are the most common infection, and can lead to death in patients who are experiencing it severely. Antibiotics are the most effective therapy.The National Institute of Diabetes and Dige Continue reading

Diabetes Awareness Month: Why is it so important to take your diabetes medication?

As we mark Diabetes Awareness Month in November, it is perhaps good to start with a reality check. The fact is that too many Canadians are already very aware of diabetes, either because they are living with it, or know at least one friend or family member who is.
The latest Statistics Canada data (from 2016) show that about 2.1 million Canadians have been diagnosed with diabetes (7% of the population 12 and older). The overwhelming majority (about 90%), suffer from type 2 diabetes.
Even more alarming is a 2011 report from Diabetes Canada, which looks at skyrocketing increases in the number of Canadians living with diabetes since the year 2000, and estimates that by 2020, one in three Canadians will be affected. (Note that this figure includes people with undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes.)
Although treatable, diabetes is by no means curable, and it can lead to very serious consequences, including blindness, amputation, kidney failure, heart attack and stroke. For diabetes patients, preventing these outcomes in the long term means carefully controlling their blood sugar levels every day.
Read: Knowing your risk of type 2 diabetes can help you reduce the impact
The good news is that there are very effective medications to treat diabetes, and new and better treatments are becoming available seemingly every day. Some of the newer drugs produce fewer side effects (low blood glucose, weight gain), and may even reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke for diabetes patients, which would be a major benefit.
Today, thanks to these advancements, along with a healthy diet and exer Continue reading

How Intermittent Fasting Can Help Reverse Diabetes

The “Fast Cure” for Diabetes
Though we may not like to admit it, type 2 diabetes is a disease chiefly brought on by our lifestyle choices.[1] Yes, genetics come into play too, but when it comes to type 2 diabetes, you are not a slave to your gene pool. You have the power to even alter your genes.[2]
According to the American Diabetes Association, type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate due to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.[3] So, let’s say that you (or someone you know) became overweight, were less and less active, and finally one day at a routine doctor visit, your doctor announced that you have type 2 diabetes and put you on medication to lower your blood sugar.
Perhaps you’ve been taking diabetes meds for years now and the idea of reversing your diabetes seems far-fetched, even fanciful. Maybe your doctor doesn’t believe that type 2 diabetes is reversible. That has been the traditional medical thought greatly influenced by the pharmaceutical companies who want to push their expensive drugs.
But a new day has dawned and many doctors are seeing their patients reverse their type 2 diabetes. One effective way people reverse their type 2 diabetes is by intermittent fasting. Dr. Jason Fung, MD, writes, “While many consider type 2 diabetes (T2D) irreversible, fasting has been long known to cure diabetes.”[4] Wow, “cure” is a strong word coupled with diabetes and spoken by a medical doctor!
Harvard University is home to the famous Joslin Center for Diabetes. The center is named after Dr. Elliot Joslin, one of the greatest specialists in Continue reading