82 years with diabetes described in "Longevity" book
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Lifestyle, Drugs, Books, Care
Around a year ago I posted the story of two elderly brothers, both of whom have had type 1 diabetes since childhood. It's amazing to read about these guys for two reasons: first, they've lived with diabetes for a reeeaally long time. Secondly, for most of that time, they did not have the medical knowledge or technology on which today's diabetics depend. (Okay, so when it comes to stuff like Avandia, you could argue that's a good thing!)Anyway, one of the brothers - Robert "Bob" Cleveland (87) - will be featured in a new book titled 50 Secrets of the Longest Living People with Diabetes by Sheri R. Colberg and Steven V. Edelman. The book is part of the Marlowe Diabetes Library series. It will be published in November and is available for pre-ordering on Amazon.
Linda von Wartburg, writing for Diabetes Health, has posted an excerpt about Cleveland taken from the book, for those who want an advance taste. According to that post, Bob Cleveland has lived with the disease for an amazing eighty-two years. This makes Cleveland second in line for the title of person in the US who's lived with diabetes the longest. He was five years old when diagnosed in 1925. Bob's brother, Gerald, has not had diabetes for quite so long, but he is the oldest living person with diabetes in the US. The brothers are pictured at right, with Bob on the left and Gerald on the right.
Reading Cleveland's account of his early years with diabetes, before insulin became available, is quite harrowing. He describes being on a "starvation diet," hospital stays, and memories of his mother desperately trying to pull him out of hypoglycemic episodes. Incredible reading.
Popular diabetes drug Avandia poses heart attack risk for type 2 diabetics
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Drugs
When my mom was first diagnosed with diabetes in the late 1990s, her internist prescribed Rezulin, a popular diabetes drug approved in 1997. Then one day the phone rang. Her internist called to alert her Rezulin was causing fatal liver failure and he wanted her off the drug immediately.
Now Avandia, a popular diabetes drug which helps sensitize the body to insulin, is on the hotseat. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Steven Nissen and statistician Kathy Wolski at the Cleveland Clinic suggests Avandia significantly raises the risk of heart attack for type 2 diabetics.
Nissen pooled results of nearly 28,000 people across dozens of studies, revealing a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack for Avandia users compared to diabetics prescribed different drugs or no diabetes medication at all. Two-thirds of type 2 diabetics die of heart problems. With a 43 percent higher risk, Avandia may be downright dangerous.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC, maker of Avandia, disputes Nissen's analysis, but admitted a similar review revealed a 30 percent increased risk. I don't know about you, but a 30 percent higher risk of heart attack frightens me. Glaxo did say further rigorous studies did not confirm an excess risk.
I suspect the phones will soon be ringing in the homes of Avandia-prescribed type 2 diabetics. And it's not good news.
Dad blames diabetes after semi-pro football player's death
Filed under: Type 1, Lifestyle, Daily News, Care, Complications
A few days ago, Bev posted a football-related blog. Now here's another. This one, though, is decidedly less uplifting. In fact, it's the kind of story you file under 'What Went Wrong?' Takirra La'Fee "TT" Koonce (28), a promising young semi-pro footballer for the New Bern Grizzlies of North Carolina, died suddenly on the playing field in the middle of a game. His death occurred on the Saturday before last (July 14). Teammates and a medic tried unsuccessfully to revive him until an ambulance arrived. It is not known whether or not a blood sugar test was administered to Koonce, who was diabetic, or whether he was given anything to correct hypoglycemia.Doctors say the cause of Koonce's death probably won't be revealed for four to six months due to a lab backlog. (Outrageous!) However, according to a report in local newspaper, the New Bern Sun Journal, Koonce's dad says his son's diabetes killed him. What's really unusual is that the dad, Cleveland Ballard, is holding the team's managers to blame for the tragedy. Ballard says his son was insulin dependent and was not managing his condition well. "He shouldn't have been running in the heat," said Ballard. "If they did a physical he would not have been there, they would not have let him play."
However, it looks like the Grizzlies are in the clear on this one: an official for the Minor League said Koonce had signed a waiver to play in lieu of taking a physical. Even so, it sure raises an interesting question: if an adult sportsman goes out on the field, does the team management share responsibility if anything happens? Should the managers insist on routine physicals?
Crestor shown to reverse artery blockages in study
Filed under: Prevention, Research, Drugs
Atherosclerosis, better known as the buildup of plaque in the arteries, was thought to be an irreversible problem. The only option for actually reopening arteries was angioplasty or stents, and medication could only slow or arrest the gradual narrowing. But, doctors at the Cleveland Clinic found that by using the max dosage of the cholesterol drug Crestor, the fat clogs blocking their patients' arteries were reduced by 7 percent over 2 years.
This of course does not mean that people with clogged arteries should start downing bottles of Crestor, but it does sheds more light on the fact that lowering bad (LDL) cholesterol is the best way to prevent heart attacks. But, from this study it is possible to consider the future use of Crestor, and how it appears to actually reverse the plaque accumulation in blood vessels, something that starts as early as childhood.
Again, this is still further studies that need to be done, but this is promising information for people who thought that medication could only slow the eventual narrowing of vessels. In time, it's very possible that this method of using Crestor to clear blockages could be an alternative to surgery.
Doctor claims Glaxo attempted to silence him
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Drugs, Research
Congressional investigators have been looking into very serious claims that Avandia's maker silenced medical professionals who attempted to speak out about the potential for cardiovascular problems by using the drug.
Dr. Buse, who is about to become the president of the American Diabetes Association, was an early and frequent critic of Avandia after it reached the market in 1999. In a March 2000 letter to the F.D.A., he said Avandia might raise patients' risk of heart attacks, and he criticized the company's marketing, saying it employed "blatant selective manipulation of data" to overstate the drug's benefits and understate its risks.
More recent questions about Avandia's potential risks, as outlined in a New England Journal of Medicine article last week, have prompted the Congressional hearing. The author of that article, Dr. Steven E. Nissen, a heart specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, has also been called to testify. See the full story on the upcoming congressional hearing.
Diabetes research innovator Landau dies
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Research, Daily News, Support
The world famous biochemist, Bernard R. Landau, whose medical research proved invaluable to understanding diabetes, has died in Cleveland at the age of 80.
Dr. Landau focused his research on how the human body processes glucose. By focusing his research on how the liver stores glucose as glycogen, he proved vital in later research of some types of diabetes. In certain diabetes types, complications arise after the body ceases processing glycogen. The former Nobel fellow at Sweden's Karolinska Institute also worked with other scientists in finding out exactly how glucose is broken down inside the body. In the late '50s, Dr. Landau and others investigated how tissues process glucose, especially in the liver, where it is stored as glycogen. He developed methods to follow and measure this metabolism by using radioactive tracers that were infused into bodily tissue. In some types of diabetes, the processing of glycogen is disrupted, leading to further complications.
Bernard Robert Landau was born in Newark. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before receiving his doctorate in organic chemistry from Harvard in 1950. He later received a medical degree, also from Harvard. He is survived by his two sons, Steven and Rodger, and five grandchildren. Thank you for all you have contributed to the scientific community, Dr. Landau.