Milk Fund makes a difference for diabetic mom
Filed under: Daily News
Hypothetical exercise: imagine you're the mother of a young family. You're struggling financially. You're diabetic. What do you need the most? What would help you get by? Um, how about medical supplies? Tuition breaks? Canned goods? No. Okay, cash? No. Well, then, I would have to guess...MILK. Yes, correct! The Daily Iberian of Louisiana and the local Social Service Center is sponsoring a fund to provide needy families with milk. They collected $912 this month, which includes a donation of over $300 from a local elementary school fundraising club. Says a representative from the Social Service Center, "The Milk Fund is doing very well. People have been very generous, but there's still a great need." This month, part of the money will provide a month's worth of milk to a diabetic woman who is taking care of her mom in addition to her three kids.
Now, I'm not knocking the idea of milk-gifting. It's very generous on the part of the fundraisers. But, milk? Never heard of that one before. But, hey, if you're in a position to make a donation, here's where to send your check: The Daily Iberian, P.O. Box 9290, New Iberia, LA 70563.
Moles may be related to aging
Filed under: Research, Daily news
How many moles do you have? I counted 14 before I got bored and gave up, but I have quite a bit, although I always thought they were just dark freckles (As an aside, I noticed I have a collection of moles on my arm that form an M--my first initial--so hooray for this post. Though you're probably not interested so nevermind ... )Anyway, here's my point: A study shows that people with 100 or more moles age better and have a biological age that's 6 or 7 years younger than counterparts of the same calendar age. And if you're wondering what one's biological age is based on, it's the length of their telomeres, which are the ends to our DNA strands. As we age, telomeres inevitably get shorted, which it's thought is one of the main factors behind the whole aging process.
As such, people with a younger biological age are less prone to age-related diseases and conditions like heart disease. So count your moles and if you have over 100, count your lucky stars too!
Daily Pill Restores Natural Blood Sugar Balance
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Drugs, Daily News
The FDA has approved sitagliptin phosphate tablets to improve blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. The drug, named Januvia, is proudly presented to the diabetic community by Merck and Co.
JANUVIA, a once-daily pill, enhances your body's natural ability to balance blood sugar levels. Your body sends important messages to your pancreas to try to balance high blood sugar. In response, your pancreas makes more insulin and signals the liver to make less sugar. But a substance in your body called DPP-4 blocks some of these important messages. JANUVIA works by blocking DPP-4, so more of the important messages get through. It also helps your pancreas make more insulin and signal your liver to make less sugar. Another feature of this new drug is the ability to prevent your sugar from going too low. JANUVIA works only when your blood sugar levels are high, or out of balance. When your blood sugar levels are at a healthy balance, JANUVIA doesn't have an effect. Because JANUVIA stops working before your blood sugar gets too low, it is not likely to lower your blood sugar to a potentially dangerous level (hypoglycemia). One more bonus to JANUVIA is the fact that this drug did not show weight gain in most patients during clinical trials.
Could this be the answer for your diabetes dilemma? Next time you swing by your doctor's office, mention that new drug Merck released. I'm sure your doctor will be as thrilled to see your numbers controlled as you'll be to see your natural ability to control them restored. Best of luck to those who find their diabetic solution in JANUVIA!
What's the deal with aspirin and strokes?
Filed under: Drugs, Daily news, Women Heart Health, Men Heart Health, Aging Heart Health
It's a pretty well-known belief that taking an aspirin a day will reduce your risk of stroke. Actually, it's pretty much regarded as a proven fact, although this thinking might have to be changed as it's also being said that Aspirin may in fact increase your chance of a stroke. According to experts, the risks associated with Aspirin outweigh the benefits, though the risks of taking Aspirin are not specified. Nonetheless, I think it's bad practice to take any sort of drug every day unless ordered by your doctor.This just goes to show that you can't believe everything you read or hear, even if it is regarded as fact.
[RESEARCH] New onset and persistent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder self reported after deployment and combat exposures: prospective population based US military cohort study
Objective To describe new onset and persistence of self reported post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in a large population based military cohort, many of whom were deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Design Prospective cohort analysis.
Setting and participants Survey enrolment data from the millennium cohort (July 2001 to June 2003) obtained before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Follow-up (June 2004 to February 2006) data on health outcomes collected from 50 184 participants.
Main outcome measures Self reported post-traumatic stress disorder as measured by the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist—civilian version using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria.
Results More than 40% of the cohort were deployed between 2001 and 2006; between baseline and follow-up, 24% deployed for the first time in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New incidence rates of 10-13 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder per 1000 person years occurred in the millennium cohort. New onset self reported post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms or diagnosis were identified in 7.6-8.7% of deployers who reported combat exposures, 1.4-2.1% of deployers who did not report combat exposures, and 2.3-3.0% of non-deployers. Among those with self reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at baseline, deployment did not affect persistence of symptoms.
Conclusions After adjustment for baseline characteristics, these prospective data indicate a threefold increase in new onset self reported post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms or diagnosis among deployed military personnel who reported combat exposures. The findings define the importance of post-traumatic stress disorder in this population and emphasise that specific combat exposures, rather than deployment itself, significantly affect the onset of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after deployment.
Brit kids save diabetic dad in swimming pool incident
Filed under: Type 1, Daily News
Awww. Call me a sap, but I love these heart-warming rescue stories. A couple of British kids saved their diabetic dad recently from drowning. The man, Martin Limon (41), has diabetes and suffered a seizure while in a swimming pool. Talk about your bad timing. But wait! He had some good luck: his nine-year-old son saw him in time as he was sinking. The boy and his ten-year-old sister together dragged dad up to the surface of the water and held his head up until a lifeguard came to the rescue. They also helped emergency personnel treat their dad by telling them what he had had to eat for breakfast that day and what his blood sugar level had been. Said dad Martin, "I had been in the pool about five minutes when I started to feel a bit strange. I thought I would be okay but the next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance." Now he's super-proud of his kids: "I know everybody thinks their kids are great, but what they did was fantastic."Now, someone probably would have saved this guy from drowning, kids or no kids. I mean, he was at a public swimming pool. There were other swimmers around as well as trained lifeguards and other pool employees. But it's still great that his kids reacted so quickly and appropriately. It must be absolutely terrifying for a little kid to see their dad going under the water like that. So it's cool that they did not panic and knew what to do.
Check out this adorable family photo, which I found posted on the Daily Mail's website.
Avandia latest: Glaxo fights back
Filed under: Drugs, Daily News
GlaxoSmithKline has its hands full right now big-time, defending its conduct over the ever-deepening Avandia scandal. But the big-name pharma company isn't giving up the fight. (No surprise there...) Today Glaxo ran full-page advertisements in a number of prominent US newspapers. The move is described by Britain's Guardian as the launching of a major PR war. The ads are featured in fifteen major newspapers, says the Guardian, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and the LA Times. The ad is a direct appeal to patients, taking the form of an open letter from Glaxo's chief medical officer, Dr. Ronald Krall. (Guess he's working some late nights at the moment, huh?) The ads were timed to appear one day before the congressional hearing on the US Food and Drug Administration's work on Avandia and consumer safety, which is scheduled for tomorrow. Another Glaxo-penned letter defending Avandia was also published in the medical journal the Lancet. Said a company spokesman of today's ads: "We are determined to make sure the science we feel backs us up is heard."
This article also notes that weekly prescriptions for Avandia have fallen by sixteen percent since the recent publication of a damaging article by Dr. Steven Nissen in the New England Journal of Medicine. Nissen asserted that Avandia could increase the risk of heart attack by forty-three percent and the risk of cardiac-related death by sixty-four percent.
By the way, it is worth checking out the Wikipedia entry on Glaxo for a brief rundown of the company's history, including previous wrangles with the media and the law over its products. Note, though, the entry has not yet been updated in the wake of the Avandia scandal.
Taking care of women's hearts
Filed under: Heart Centers Online, Research, Women Heart Health
As you may know, The Cardio Blog is being retired today. It's been an honor to write for this blog, and I hope that the information we brought to you was useful and informative. Since this will be my last post for The Cardio Blog, I thought I'd write about a topic that is near and dear to my heart (pun, lamely, intended): women's heart health. We've seen it in the headlines again and again -- women, and often their doctors, don't always prioritize their health, and this seems to be especially an issue when it comes to heart health. But the fact is that heart disease is public enemy number one for women, and we all need to better understand and deal with our risk factors.
So I'll leave you with this post from Her Daily News. In it, they talk about Heart Truth, the National Institute of Health's campaign to bring heart education to women. They also include a checklist of questions to take to your doctor, as well as a list to help you understand your own risk. Do yourself -- and your heart -- a favor today and read through the questions to determine if you need to do more to protect your health.
Thanks for reading The Cardio Blog, and don't forget to come visit us at That's Fit for all of the latest news in health and fitness!
Global warming and heart health
Filed under: Prevention, Daily news
Global warming is a term we're all familiar with right now, and as we look to the future of our planet, we can only wonder what effects it will have. At the European Society of Cardiology's annual meeting this week in Austria, conversations turned to the affects of global warming on heart health, and some experts are concerned.Citing the fact that hearts don't do as well in hot weather, some cardiologists feel that in the coming years we may see an increase in heart related fatalities. Others think that pollution and overpopulation (leading us all to live in cities) may be a problem. Still others think that humans may adapt, and that warmer temperatures may get people out exercising more frequently.
It's all speculation at this point, but it's interesting nonetheless. What do you think?
Swimmer and her insulin pump make history
Filed under: Type 1, Type 2, Childhood, Adult Onset, Lifestyle, Exercise, Daily News, Support
A female swimmer from Nova Scotia made history yesterday morning. Jennifer Alexander, a 32-year-old veteran distance swimmer, completed a round trip swim of the Northumberland Strait between New Brunswick and PEI in less than a day.
Ms. Alexander has diabetes and wanted to raise awareness of the disease. She dove into the Northumberland Strait Wednesday around 9:00 a.m., returning early Thursday morning. No small task, this 26-kilometer swim took a little less than 20 hours (a tad over 16 miles). My fifth grade math textbook projected the United States would switch to metric by 1980. What a crock.
Jennifer was pretty wet, but her waterproof insulin pump stayed dry. The Strait is at its warmest in July, a chilly 16 degrees Celsius -- 60.8 degrees Fahrenheit to us Americans. Jennifer checked her blood sugar about every half hour during the swim. She is gunning for the English Channel in 2009. Love it!
Hey Jennifer, make sure you negotiate a sizable testimonial advertising contract with your insulin pump manufacturer before the Channel. A big congratulations on your stellar accomplishment. Anything is possible with diabetes, especially for athletes. Don't miss Diane's earlier post on technology advances to keep athletes with diabetes in the game.