Boost glycemic control with Vitamin C
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Diet, Research, Products, Allie Beatty, Care
Insulin not only moves glucose into the cells, but it also escorts Vitamin C. Blood sugar hogs the seats on the bus in most diabetics, therefore reducing the amount of Vitamin C we can absorb. This is the premise of The GAA Theory: high glucose levels hinder vitamin C entry into cells.
Vitamin C is vitally important for many functions throughout the body - a big one being metabolism. Glucose and Vitamin C are similar in the way they enter the cells. Both molecules require help from insulin. The name for the process that brings glucose and Vitamin C through cell membranes is insulin-mediated uptake. The insulin-mediated uptake of glucose and vitamin C uses white blood cells. White blood cells have more insulin pumps and they may contain 20 times the amount of vitamin C as ordinary cells.
So does increasing your Vitamin C help boost your glycemic control? Diabetes Health cited a study that confirms daily doses of 2,000 mg of absorbic acid improved both fasting blood glucose and HbA1c readings in patients with type 2 diabetes. Next time you swing by the store - see if some Emergen-C can help you achieve better glycemic control. With 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per packet - their homepage says: Feel The Good. Little did they know how good it could be for Type 2 diabetics!
Athletes die of heart attacks too
We're often lead to believe that if we exercise regularly, our heart should be fine as we age. But here's something that might throw a wrench in that theory: Runners die of early heart attacks too.The truth is, while exercise is great for your heart and can reduce your risk of heart disease by quite a bit, it doesn't mean you're immune to heart troubles just because you go for a run every few days. You still need to maintain a healthy lifestyle that is low in fat and high in produce, grains and lean protein. And most importantly, you need to talk to your doctor and get screened for heart disease.
[RESEARCH] Implementing the NHS information technology programme: qualitative study of progress in acute trusts
Objectives To describe progress and perceived challenges in implementing the NHS information and technology (IT) programme in England.
Design Case studies and in-depth interviews, with themes identified using a framework developed from grounded theory. We interviewed personnel who had been interviewed 18 months earlier, or new personnel in the same posts.
Setting Four NHS acute hospital trusts in England.
Participants Senior trust managers and clinicians, including chief executives, directors of IT, medical directors, and directors of nursing.
Results Interviewees unreservedly supported the goals of the programme but had several serious concerns. As before, implementation is hampered by local financial deficits, delays in implementing patient administration systems that are compliant with the programme, and poor communication between Connecting for Health (the agency responsible for the programme) and local managers. New issues were raised. Local managers cannot prioritise implementing the programme because of competing financial priorities and uncertainties about the programme. They perceive a growing risk to patients' safety associated with delays and a loss of integration of components of the programme, and are discontented with Choose and Book (electronic booking for referrals from primary care).
Conclusions We recommend that the programme sets realistic timetables for individual trusts and advises managers about interim IT systems they have to purchase because of delays outside their control. Advice needs to be mindful of the need for trusts to ensure longer term compatibility with the programme and value for money. Trusts need assistance in prioritising modernisation of IT by, for example, including implementation of the programme in the performance management framework. Even with Connecting for Health adopting a different approach of setting central standards with local implementation, these issues will still need to be addressed. Lessons learnt in the NHS have wider relevance as healthcare systems, such as in France and Australia, look to realise the potential of large scale IT modernisation.
Stem Cells found in amniotic fluid
Filed under: Daily news
Say the words Stem Cell Research to a group of ten people, and you're bound to get ten different reactions. Some are in favor of research of this kind, while others are staunchly opposed. And, some still aren't convinced of its efficacy or morality, so they do not have a firm opinion either way. But, in an ongoing effort to find a means of obtaining stem cells that can hopefully satisfy all parties, researchers from Wake Forest University have isolated broad potential stem cells from amniotic fluid.
In a joint effort between scientists from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, it was discovered that from progenitor cell types found in amniotic fluid, true stem cells can be obtained. Although only a small number (approximately 1 percent) of the stem cells found in amniotic fluid can used to create the many specialized cells found in the human body, the fact remains that it has now at least been proved that it is possible.
The major advantage of what have now been named AFS cells (Amniotic Fluid-derived Stem cells) is that they do not utilize any portion of the actual embryo, thereby mitigating a great deal of moral implication. Also, these AFS cells are readily available, as there are more than 4 million births each year in the U.S. alone. Researchers say that with a bank of 100,000 specimens, it is possible, at least in theory, to supply 99 percent of the U.S. population with perfect genetic matches for transplantation. This could have an enormous effect on doctors' ability to replace damaged cells and tissue from stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and many other illnesses and injuries.
Portion-control plates help curb apetite
Filed under: Type 2, Diet, Lifestyle, Research, Daily News
It's often said that serving food on smaller plates makes a diner inclined to eat less. Well, a Canadian researcher decided to put that theory to the test. Sue Pedersen, who is an endocrinologist at the University of Calgary, conducted a study designed to evaluate the efficacy of a specially designed "portion-control plate." The plates, designed by Diet Plate Limited of England, are marked with lines indicating how much of the day's main meal should be divided amongst the various food groups. For six months, sixty-five study participants ate their food from regular dishes, while sixty-five others ate their food from the portion-control plates. All of the participants were type 2 diabetics and clinically obese. End result? The plates worked quite well at getting subjects to curb their appetites. After six months, those using the plates lost an average of 1.8 percent of their body weight, whereas the control group lost an average of only 0.1 percent. Interestingly, those on insulin regimens did the best of all, with an average of 2.5 percent weight loss.
The fatal flaw? What happens when the white lab coat crew aren't charting your intake any more? Call me a naysayer, but I'm predicting some major snacking in the future of those study subjects. Because special plate or not, you have to have the will to cut portion intake, and it's hard to maintain that will long-term.
The results of Pedersen's study have been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 2007). Check out the Diet Plate website too.