Laila Ali - Join the Fight

Lailia states “I was surprised to learn that my family and I could be at risk for kidney disease. That’s why I’m proud to partner with the American Kidney Fund to launch the Pair Up campaign. Join me to learn more about your risk-- and let's spread the word to protect the ones we love."


Laila Ali Joins the Fight Against Kidney Disease from American Kidney Fund on Vimeo.

CDC Video - A Change for Life

In this video, experts and people with pre-diabetes talk about how type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by making lifestyle changes that include weight loss and more physical activity.

People with prediabetes discuss how group lifestyle change classes helped them learn and keep healthy habits.


     

Take Steps Now to Prevent Diabetes in Your Child

About 17% of children and teens are obese. This has led to a surge in the number of children with type 2 diabetes, the form more commonly found in overweight adults older than age 40.

In response to this alarming statistic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a stern warning for the nation's parents: One in three American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes if we don't take steps now to address their fatty diets and poor fitness habits.

Find out how to Stop diabetes before it starts

Take steps now to prevent diabetes in your child

New Medication Treats Type 2 Diabetes and Cholesterol in One Package

According to the American Diabetes Association, people with Type 2 diabetes over 40 or those who have heart disease should also take a statin, such as Zocor, in addition to diabetes medication. However, many of those patients do not take a statin as reported by DiabeticLive.com.

Set to be available for sale within weeks, Juvisync is a combination of Januvia, a medication for Type 2 diabetes, and Zocor, which treats high cholesterol.

Juvisync will retail for about the same price as Januvia ($215 a month). Zocor, meanwhile, sells for about $30 a month for generic versions; Juvisync will eliminate the need to take Januvia and Zocor separately and will reduce costs for patients, especially those who are not taking statins.

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India World's Largest Diabetes Capital

It's festival season in India, with the celebrations providing a perfect opportunity for family outings, late-night parties and customary feasting on sweets.

Health experts warn that the festivities, coupled with genetic predisposition and lifestyle changes brought about by the increasing prosperity of the middle class, is contributing to the country being called the world's "diabetes capital," with the highest number of diabetics in any nation.

Festivals in India are synonymous with eating and gifting sweets, and most food and confectionery shops are decked with an assortment of goodies in colorful wrappings meant for traditional presents.

Full article

Dangers of Common Painkillers

Well this is disturbing - Most of us seniors take over the counter pain meds. Just received this e-mail from AARP - Charles

There's mounting evidence that regular use is risky for older people

Most of us don't think twice about taking a nonprescription pain reliever to ease a headache or soreness that might follow a game of tennis, but there is growing evidence that commonly used painkillers such as Advil can trigger heart attacks or strokes in some people.

Two new studies show that ibuprofen, Naproxen and Celebrex raise the risk of dangerous heart fibrillation in older patients.

These nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a diverse group that also includes Motrin and prescription varieties like Celebrex and Voltaren, have been used for decades.

Read full article at AARP

Reclaiming Our Health: Guide to African-American Wellness

Michele Gourdine, MD, a pediatrician and the CEO of Michelle Gourdine and Associates, was always fascinated as to why African-Americans disproportionately suffered from a range of health issues such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

"These statistics really bothered me," Gourdine says. "I was not detached from these statistics either. This is about me, my family, my friends, the people at my church and my community as a whole."

It's that personal connection that inspired Gourdine to write Reclaiming Our Health: A Guide to African-American Wellness (Yale University Press, $19.95).

Reclaiming our Health, an interactive and empowering book, offers up practical advice and invaluable information to jumpstart one's quest for better health.



BET.com sat down with Gourdine to talk about her eye-opening book, why we all need to strengthen our health literacy and why poor health doesn't have to be our destiny.

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Walgreens Diabetes & You Magazine Wins National Health Award

Walgreens Diabetes & You, the free, quarterly diabetes magazine available exclusively at Walgreens pharmacies nationwide, has been awarded the National Health Information Awards' top honor for consumer health information programs and materials.

Walgreens Diabetes & You magazine is the largest diabetes magazine in the United States and features user-friendly, engaging content and expert advice from some of the nation's top diabetes experts and educators.

Two million copies of this free, quarterly publication are distributed through Walgreens more than 8,000 locations, including its nearly 7,800 drugstores, work site health and wellness centers, home care facilities and specialty, institutional and mail-service pharmacies.

In addition, the magazine reaches patients through diabetes educators, doctors' offices and other professional locations nationwide.

To view Walgreens Diabetes & You magazine online visit: http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/library/diabetes/archive.jsp


About the National Health Information Awards

The National Health Information Awards program is coordinated by the Health Information Resource Center(TM) (HIRC), a national clearinghouse for professionals who work in consumer health fields. The program recognizes the nation's best consumer health information programs and materials, including brochures, books and audio/video materials. For more information about the National Health Information Awards program, visit www.healthawards.com

About Walgreens

Walgreens ( www.walgreens.com ) is the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion.

The company operates 7,779 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America.

Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector.

Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

SOURCE: Walgreens

Law & Order Actor Anthony Anderson Raising Diabetes Awareness

Black Americans are twice as likely to get a diabetes diagnosis as whites, and television and film actor Anthony Anderson has joined a new campaign to raise diabetes awareness among African-Americans.

NY1's Health reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report . . .

TV and film actor Anthony Anderson is best known for his work on "Law & Order" and his supporting roles in comedies, but for a while Type-2 diabetes was slowing down his usually non-stop lifestyle.

"I have this great scale at the house. Step on it barefoot, it tells you everything about yourself, metabolical age, how much physical fat you have one you, organs that have fat that can kill you," says Anderson. "I stood on that one day and at 36 it told me that I had the body of a 50 year old."

Diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago, Anderson is now also working to raise awareness among black Americans through Eli Lilly's "Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered (F.A.C.E.) Diabetes" campaign.

Read more

Diabetes Complications Caused Former Raven’s Death

Orlando Brown  a 9 year NFL veteran - is best remembered from an eye injury he suffered when he was hit in the eye with a penalty flag which caused significant injuries, and led to an injury settlement with the league.

However it was complications from diabetes that killed former 40 year old Raven Orlando Brown - and he probably did not know he had the disease. 

The state medical examiner determined he passed away in his downtown condo from diabetes complications and they found no medical records that show he was ever diagnosed.

Angie Stone Educates Others on Diabetes

Angie Stone – a spokesperson for the Fearless African-Americans Connected and Empowered (F.A.C.E) diabetes initiative sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company – takes her new role seriously.

Stone was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 10 years ago and has had the challenges that come along with the diagnosis. Those challenges include setbacks and disappointments but she now feels she finally has it under control.

People with Type 2 diabetes are able to produce insulin when they are diagnosed, but the insulin they produce does not help the body’s cells use glucose for energy. According to the American Diabetes Association, Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in America.

“Through the Eli Lily Company initiative, I have been inspired to manage my diabetes,” Stone said. She has lost weight and works towards keeping the weight off. Stone has gone from a size 22 to a size 14 by changing her eating habits and cooking healthy meals.

Read More

Genetic Variant Linked to Blocked Heart Arteries in Type 2 Diabetics

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the first genetic variant associated with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Though this variant is not likely the cause of more severe coronary disease, the researchers say, it implicates a gene that could be. Such a gene has promise as a future target for treating coronary artery disease in diabetic patients.

Full article at Washington University in St Louis

50 Interesting Facts About Diabetes

There are always lots of things to discover about this disease. As you know, informed means armed.

This article will reveal 50 interesting facts about diabetes mellitus that you might have never heard about.

50 Interesting Facts About Diabetes

Diabetic Monitoring Systems

As a Diabetic the first thing you learn is the daily tracking of the level of glucose in the blood for proper diabetes management. 

Back in the 70's when the self-test systems were developed, they used a sample of blood which was chemically analyzed by the device. We've come a long way since then, the devices are smaller, more accurate and require less blood.

Currently Diabetics have a Choice of Monitoring Devices:

1. Until recently the most common monitor was a small test strip coated with chemicals to perform the test.  You pricked your finger with a lancet, and the blood drop is put on the strip, then fed into a hand held device. Seconds later there is a readout of the glucose level.

2. The best current devices allow drawing blood from areas other than the finger - Continual pricking can lead to scarring and loss of sensitivity. Another problem with pricking is running out of fingers to use, which leads to more difficulty drawing blood, and yet more discomfort. Talk to your physician about these new patient-friendly monitoring devices.

3. Other monitoring devices use a laser to make a small, painless hole in the skin. A droplet of blood oozes out for smearing onto a test strip, and you feel only a slight tingling sensation in the finger during the test. Needles are eliminated which is more sanitary and safe.

4. Devices that work while you sleep. No one wants to wake up in the middle of the night to prick a finger.  Diabetics can buy a watch that monitors glucose level and alerts the wearer by an alarm if blood sugar levels rise.

5. And still more advanced devices require drawing no blood at all. It senses the glucose level through the skin by use of an infrared beam.

6. Diabetics with hard to manage diabetes have insulin pumps that give a continual drip of insulin 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. - which is a life saver to many whose levels are hard to control. 

7. And just recently the Mayo Clinic has been working on a way to make blood-sugar monitoring easier by using fluid from the eye. I have no more details on this - my doctor mentioned this to me on my last visit.

Pros and Cons of Current Devices:

One of the pros of these new devices is the ability to store results over time which helps compare glucose levels on an ongoing basis.

You can also download results to a PC and graph the data which makes the tracking process even more valuable to you and your physician. When looking for a new monitoring device, shop around and get one that will give what you need for the best monitoring. 

On the con side, most require a blood sample drawn from the body. The discomfort and sometime inconvenience that many experience cause diabetics to only use them once per day, rather than the recommended three times daily.

Sometimes you can get inaccurate readings if they're not calibrated and maintained properly. They need to be cleaned from time to time, in order to prevent old blood and chemicals from contaminating the device and throwing off the readings.

Cheers to technology helping those with Diabetes monitor this disease

C. Thompkins
Diabetic, Senior & Black
http://diabeticseniorandblack.blogspot.com/

Asthma Tied to Poorer Diabetes Control in Kids

Kids with diabetes may have a higher-than-average rate of asthma, and those with both conditions seem to have a tougher time keeping their blood sugar under control, a study out Monday suggests.

Researchers found that among 2,000 3- to 21-year-olds with diabetes, 11 percent had asthma -- higher than the roughly 9 percent rate among children and young adults in the U.S.

Asthma tied to poorer diabetes control in kids | Reuters

Lack Of Sleep Causes Diabetes Risk

An article by the American Diabetes Association in Diabetes Care links lack of sleep to higher blood sugar levels and thus possible type 2 diabetes risk.

Researchers say they are uncertain whether lack of adequate sleep causes changes in the regulation of blood sugar, the body's sensitivity to insulin, or if insulin secretion is reduced, however the results clearly showed higher blood sugar levels are present in individuals who have not had a full night's rest.

Lack Of Sleep Causes Diabetes Risk

12 Hot Mobile Medical Apps

Mobile medicine is everywhere!

There's the iPhone app that lets you cut away images of muscle layers to see what lies beneath, an e-health record system for the iPad, and a smartphone-based blood pressure monitor.

Here are a dozen innovative ones - 12 Hot Mobile Medical Apps -- InformationWeek:

Diabetes Doubles Alzheimer's Risk

People with diabetes are at increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke at an early age, but that's not the only worry.

Diabetes appears to dramatically increase a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia later in life, according to a new study conducted in Japan.

In the study, which included more than 1,000 men and women over age 60, researchers found that people with diabetes were twice as likely as the other study participants to develop Alzheimer's disease within 15 years. They were also 1.75 times more likely to develop dementia of any kind.

Diabetes doubles Alzheimer's risk - CNN.com

Medicaid Vital to Protecting Health for Millions of Americans

Many Americans battle such medical conditions as cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease, heart disease, and stroke, but those individuals who rely on Medicaid for their drugs and treatment will face extraordinary health challenges if Congress cuts funding for that program.

"Diabetes has a disproportionate impact on the Medicaid population because Medicaid provides important health coverage to people facing elevated health risks. Children and adults eligible for this valuable program are more likely to be in poor health and thus require the services Medicaid provides to a greater extent than individuals with private insurance," said Gina Gavlak, RN, BSN, Vice Chair of the National Advocacy Committee, American Diabetes Association. "Cuts to Medicaid funding would be harmful to the millions of children, pregnant women, and adults with diabetes who rely on the program to manage their disease and avoid dangerous and costly diabetes complications such as blindness, amputations and kidney dialysis."

Read Full Article at - Medicaid Vital to Protecting Health for Millions of Americans

Lilly Invests $30 Million For Non-Communicable Diseases

Eli Lilly and Company has announced a $30 million commitment over five years to fight the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in developing nations including India.

The first phase of The Lilly NCD partnership will focus on improving diabetes care in targeted communities in Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa. The partnership will focus on diabetes and, over time, cancer – two core business areas in which Lilly has deep expertise.

Pharmabiz :: Lilly to invest $30 mn to address non-communicable diseases in countries including India: