Why is diabetes an imperfect science? The last 22 years of my life with diabetes have disproved as much (or more) than it has confirmed in conventional diabetes wisdom. The facts were in the studies - but researchers didn't know what to do with them, at the time. Here's where the mysteries will unfold..

The last year blogging with The Diabetes Blog has been an in your face demonstration of the imperfect science of diabetes. Many undisclosed details of studies from days gone by have proven to be a reason why diabetes has been an imperfect science. Since when has science been imperfect? When you don't complete your homework. Don't get wrong - science has done the homework, but you - the diabetic - have not been privy to every fact found in these studies. Nowadays, there's no excuse. The dog doesn't eat my homework.

It's time these facts made it to the light of day. I am taking my investigative curiosity and hanging a shingle over LoveDiabetes.com - because that's who I am: Allison Love Beatty! Let's buddy-up with the researchers and their homework. It's about time we solved the universal mysteries of diabetes. The facts are available. With combined knowledge, existential and pathological, we can make more of these studies from yesteryear and the days to come.

Someday soon we will see the trend of diabetes reverse - less diagnosis, less complications, and reduced costs. I've got Internet access, unlimited long-distance, and plenty of time. The fun is just getting started! This is my invitation to you - what's your diabetes mystery? Leave me a comment on LoveDiabetes.com so I know what's on your mind. Together we will prove there is no such a thing as an imperfect science.

Love always,
Allie B

I don't mind high sugars as much as I loathe lows. Personally I'm not so ruffled by shots either (but my liver begs to differ). However, in a message posted on The Islet Foundation, Pfizer reported that insulin-dependent diabetics declared they most hate taking shots. Was this the warm-up for the Exubera campaign? Here's a fact I support! A close second to this hatred is the hypos. Any diabetic will confess -- hypos are unforgiving. So what if you could catch two birds with one capsule?

I must reiterate the scientific genius behind the Oramed gel caps. The encapsulated insulin bypasses destruction in the stomach cavity. It reaches an entry point in the intestines where it reports for duty to the liver. This allows the liver to resume command of the glucose metabolism, just like Mother Nature intended. Whey you inject insulin - you are overriding the livers ability to monitor blood sugar and putting yourself in the line of fire for the dangerous lows. We all know this state of derangement too well. You won't find my lows picture on a milk carton if I happen to lose it, either.

Frequent episodes of hypoglycemia (even mild ones) force the brain to become accustomed to the low glucose. Unfortunately this also causes suppressed signaling of adrenaline, the livers last resort before dangerous lows. More specifically, the glucose transporters located in the brain cells are damaged from frequent episodes of hypoglycemia. So what was once the hypo threshold for the brain to signal adrenalin release becomes lower. Clinically, the result is hypoglycemic unawareness. Down with the shots, down with the lows and big ups with the future of diabetes control! Now we're getting somewhere.

Dr. Bernstein, a world leading authority in diabetes, is hosting a live internet broadcasts to answer your questions on diabetes. Diabetes 911 is setup to stop the complications of diabetes before it's an emergency. Here's a link to the page where you can submit your questions, to be answered on his next broadcast -- September 19, 2007.

Just a heads-up for The Diabetes Blog reading community - AOL has announced they will be retiring The Diabetes Blog on September 14, 2007. So this is a preemptive blog to get your calendar out, send yourself a reminder email titled: OPEN ON SEPTEMBER 19th!!!!

This will not be my last blog shared with you, all mighty readers of the blogosphere. I'm working to get my proverbial welcome mat in place to continue unfolding the mysteries of diabetes on LoveDiabetes.com. More to come...

How did we allow insulin to evolve into a genetically modified hormone?

It all boils down to propaganda. If you're confident your current insulin surpasses former natural insulin in: purity, availability, allergy response, similarity and safety - I encourage you to review the following facts that were conveniently neglected or not available, due to restraints of time travel.

Purity: In the 1970s, a Genentech scientist stated that natural insulin was incredibly pure. In the 1980s, rDNA humulin insulins were less pure than the natural insulins of the 70s. The advertising campaign for rDNA insulin suggested otherwise. Here's a quote, as printed in the book, Invisible Frontiers: "They impressed upon us very, very clearly that this (human insulin) was going to be no advantage at all."

Supply and demand: A USDA scientist told the world the diabetic population's insulin needs would outstrip the supply of natural pancreatic glands. This was sensational propaganda. Have you visited McDonald's or Wendy's lately? There doesn't seem to be a shortage of Big Mac's, does there?

Allergy response: About 5-10% of the diabetic population is allergic to natural analog insulins. Today, based on 25 years of human diabetic experimentation, the diabetic population is showing the same 5-10% allergic response to all the new products. Maybe that aforementioned 5-10% is the same latter 5-10%? From the looks of it - they're just allergic to insulin, rDNA, GM or natural.

Similarity to own insulin: rDNA human insulin is just like the body makes. Who wouldn't want to take human insulin? That's the propaganda. A recent research article found in a large portion of the diabetic population, their own human insulin may actually be the cause of their diabetes. Something tells me the study included the same 5-10% of diabetics mentioned in the allergy response paragraph.

Safety: Drug companies touted rDNA insulins as providing a good a warning to diabetic patients as natural analog insulins regarding low blood glucose levels. Are you kidding me? Driver and workplace accident statistics regarding diabetics indicate that the rDNA insulins do not cross the blood-brain barrier in the same manner as natural analog insulins. The part of the brain controlling endocrine response lags because it doesn't get the signal until it's too late (if it ever gets the message). The increase of diabetes-realted deaths since the introduction of rDNA insulin is remarkable! (Center for Disease Control). How safe is that?

Fact versus fiction is a scary line to smear for the sake of business. I suggest doctors, diabetes educators, and patients review the facts today and compare it to the propaganda in the 80s. There is no suppressing the truth!

A recent study found that 87% of patients who experienced an adverse symptom from a prescribed drug spoke to their doctor. However less than half of the doctors went through with filing the adverse event paperwork to notify the drug manufacturer. Why is this?

The research was published in the latest issue of Drug Safety. Doctors dismissed patients' complaints, and told them their symptoms were not connected to use of the drug. One doctor commented that the time it takes to complete the adverse event drug paperwork is time-consuming, and often not worth it unless it is life threatening. Would Hippocrates have accepted that answer? Please review your Hippocratic Oath, doc.

Your doctor is too busy to file the necessary paperwork to notify the FDA a drug is potentially harmful. What is a patient to do? Good question and here's an answer! If you experienced any adverse side effects from the use of a prescription drug, please let the FDA know. Click BEGIN and bring this monkey business to an end!

Ever heard of MedCo Health Solutions? It's not a household name like the big pharmaceutical companies Novo, Glaxo etc. However, MedCo, which happens to be in the prescription benefit management business, is a large and powerful company. Now it's about to become even larger: the company is poised to pay $1.5 billion for PolyMedica Corporation, the nation's biggest supplier of diabetes-related products.

According to a Forbes report on the deal, PolyMedica has nearly one million patients using its products. Its product line includes Liberty Healthcare brand, blood glucose test kits and meters, lancet kits, insulin and the like. The Forbes article says the move is basically a smart one on the part of MedCo: it can cash in on the growing demand(14.5 % growth, annually!) for diabetes supplies. MedCo's chief exec, David Snow, told Forbes he anticipates the purchase could make his company (indirectly) the supplier of diabetes treatment products to half of all insured Americans with diabetes.

Factoid: ads for PolyMedica star "Cocoon" and "Seinfeld" actor Wilford Brimley.

Aaaahh ... fall will soon deliver golden trees, crisp autumn air, piles of fallen leaves begging to be jumped in, and the stick of the flu vaccine.

The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) recently issued a report calling for greater influenza vaccination rates among Americans with diabetes. Turns out more than 50 percent of the 21 million people with diabetes do not receive an annual influenza vaccination. This is contrary to the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association.

According to Dr. William Schaffner, NFID's vice president, the impaired immune systems of people with diabetes can result in a higher risk of serious complications from influenza, including impaired blood sugar control. Annually, this infectious disease strikes up to 60 million Americans and kills an average of 36,000 people -- more than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined. Over 10 percent of deaths linked to influenza and pneumonia are due to diabetes. There are studies citing the benefits of the vaccine for people with diabetes, including reduced hospitalization and death by 72 percent for those with diabetes 18 to 64 years of age, and 80 percent less hospital admissions for children and adults with diabetes.

I'm just speculating, but lack of awareness, lack of access to an affordable vaccine or just plain philosophical disagreement with the need for the vaccine (among other factors) may all play a role in the low influenza vaccination rates for people with diabetes. Just an example, my parents both have type 1, and my mom will stand in line for hours to get a shot (she was hospitalized for influenza in her pre-diabetes days), while my dad always refuses -- he's never had influenza. Read more at Infection Control Today.

You've heard about the sports stars and the rock stars who succeed in life despite suffering from diabetes. Now, here's something a little more unusual: a circus acrobat! Dolly Jacobs is Circus Sarasota's "Queen of the Air." She recently gave an interview to the Bradenton Herald about her life in the circus.

Trim and petite like a dancer, Jacobs was diagnosed ten years ago. How did it happen? She had the warning signs most type 1s experience: weight loss and a killer thirst she just could not quench. Her mom already had type 1, so during a routine office visit, Jacobs asked the doc to check her blood sugar too. Whoa. It was 260 - way, way above normal. Jacobs was diagnosed not with type 1, but with a rarer form sometimes dubbed "type 1.5" or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of the Adult (LADA). LADA is basically the same as type 1 diabetes, but develops later in life.

So how does one deal with diabetes when your job involves flying through the air with the greatest of ease? Low blood sugar is easy, says Jacobs. Correct it with a soda or juice. High blood sugar is tougher. She says she can go as high as 500 or 600 just from adrenaline. So, just like any other athlete, she depends on testing several times daily and she wears an insulin pump - but not when she's performing. Eating healthy - lean meats, fruits and veg - are important too, she says.

Click here to read more. Kudos, by the way, to the journalist who wrote this article, Roberta C. Nelson, for taking time out to identify the different forms of diabetes and to explain the dangers associated with high vs. low blood sugar. Great!

Participants are being sought for a new study on the possible benefits of an aspirin-like medication for people with type 2 diabetes. The research, which is being funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, is aimed at determining if Salsalate, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years to treat pain associated with arthritis, can also be used to help manage diabetes.

Recent studies have linked chronic inflammation to the development of insulin resistance type 2 diabetes. To that end, researchers are looking for adults ages 18 to 75 whose glucose levels are not well controlled and who do not take insulin. Participants will be randomly assigned to either receive Salsalate or a placebo and will receive all medication related to the study at no expense to them. They will also be compensated for time and travel.

If you'd like more information, call 312-355-4442 and ask for Felecia Gilet.

Bev did a great job covering the study of obese mice having protection from elevated blood sugar due to a plethora of adiponectin. Adiponectin was shown to enhance insulin signaling which transported the excess glucose to less harmful areas of the body, rather than the cells which would endure diabetes complications. The results of this study created a condition called ratones mórbidamente obesos - which sounds better in Spanish because in English this means morbidly obese mice.

You know what they say about hindsight, right? A study from a year ago revealed some good news and some bad news. Good news first - turns out Type 2 diabetes drugs using troglitazone increased adiponectin. Rezulin was one of these drugs, but it was removed from the US market March 21, 2000. Now the bad news, the Type 2 diabetes drugs made with metformin were shown to reduce adiponectin. A few of the drugs that use metformin are Fortamet, Glucophage, Glucophage XR, and Riomet.

So why must diabetics be led with imperfect vision? Because the bottom line is researchers and doctors believe they are saving lives every day. Yes, they do. But there is a lot to behold when you tinker with His design. Remember the movie Malice? These lines don't make it into movies for nothing. Producers know human nature and they stretch it to the extreme. Whether or not you want to admit it - you know a few people with a complex like Alec Baldwins. Alec Baldwin says, "You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God". Click for the entire 1:30 scene, courtesy of YouTube.

Drug War '07: drug giants Novo Nordisk and Sanofi-Aventis have been sparring recently over their insulin pen designs. Novo alleges Sanofi has stolen its design ideas, basically. Check out Bev's post on this to learn more.

The reason it's such a big deal to them is money. The insulin pen could be super-lucrative for investors. Meanwhile, here's some news that's bound to get big pharma even more excited: a new study reports that insulin pens are cheaper and more effective than insulin shots.

Why so good? Fewer trips to the emergency room and fewer visits to the doctor. Insulin pens boast a pre-measured dosing system, with each dose of insulin contained in a single, disposable cartridge. This eliminates the risk of over- or under-dosing, says senior author of the study, Dr. Rajesh Balkrishnan of Ohio State University in Columbus. The researchers say that study participants who used an insulin pen instead of a regular syringe ended up reducing their annual healthcare costs by nearly $17,000. Wow.

What I'm not clear on here is whether or not they factored in the added expense of upgrading from syringes to insulin pens.

Want to know more? The study has been published in the latest issue of Clinical Therapeutics, but you can click here to read a summary.

Autism is a bio-neurological disorder typically appearing in children before the age of 3. Individuals with autism usually have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interaction, play and cognitive function, as well as certain physical ailments. Severity of autism can vary widely. One in 150 now have autism, and boys are diagnosed four times more often than girls.

Alternative treatments for autism are growing (chelation and dietary therapies), but I've never heard of this one -- the type 2 diabetes drug Actos. Dr. Marvin Boris of Autism Associates, stated his office prescribes Actos to children with autism. Remember, Actos just received the black box warning from the Food and Drug Administration for risk of heart failure. Dr. Boris prescribes Actos in an "off-label" use, which is legal. He believes autism is an autoimmune disorder with a genetic predisposition and a biochemical bases.

Actos is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist, found to reduce inflammation in the brain's glial cells. These same cells are inflammed in children with autism. Autism Associates has treated over 350 children with Actos, seeing significant subjective responses in over 75 percent, including improved speech/language, focus and socialization skills. They are participating in ongoing clinical trials with the University of Illinois to treat multiple sclerosis and autism spectrum disorder patients with Actos.

My heart goes out to parents and children dealing with autism. Parents have watched pieces of their child disappear before their own eyes, and alternative therapies provide hope. Dr. James Mulick, professor of pediatrics and psychology at Ohio State University, stated autism is "a magnet for all kinds of unsupported or disproved therapies." Dr. Joel Bregman, medical director of the Fay J. Linder Center for Autism in Bethpage, said he had never heard of Actos prescribed for autism. Since 2001, Dr. Boris has been involved with DAN! Protocol (Defeat Autism Now), for those not regarding psychotropic drugs as the best or only means of treating autism. Obviously, physician opinion differs. Read more in Newsday and more about Actos and autism at Autism Associates.

Oramed is developing a soft gel insulin capsule for the treatment of diabetes. The company has recently announced it the successful completion of its clinical trial demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the oral insulin gel capsule.

The pills were shown to reduce blood sugar, with no significant adverse effects. The insulin used in the gel caps is a generic brand of human insulin. The duration of the insulin is similar to Regular. But the most beautiful thing about these gel caps is that they reintroduce the liver into glucose metabolism, thereby reducing the likelihood of dangerous lows associated with injected insulin and oral medications. This could blow away the necessity of blood sugar testing because you are regulating glucose metabolism in the liver, like a person without diabetes.

Up until now, the idea of insulin pills or tablets was inconceivable due to the fact that insulin, when swallowed, breaks down in the digestive system. Oramed's patented technology overcame the problem of digestion as well as permeability to the intestine. The company's goal is for the completion of formal Phase 1 studies in the US by mid-2008. Sign me up!

Just like I know you have, I too have heard all the buzz surrounding chromium and its supposed ability to help manage type 2 diabetes. I've come across evidence that supports this claim, just as I've found research that debunks the chromium benefit in one fell swoop. So, I decided to dig a little deeper -- staring with how chromium is supposed to work.

Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes occurs when your body stops using insulin effectively. Insulin itself is used by the body for transporting glucose into cells, where it's then used for energy. When insulin regulation breaks down, glucose gets backed-up in the blood, thus starving the body of energy. Chromium reportedly assists in making this transportation easier by making cells respond better to insulin.

Insofar as the evidence to support this claim goes, the research I came across actually showed inconclusive results in terms of chromium's effect on glucose or insulin concentration in humans. But, in animals, tests led researchers to determine that chromium may make insulin receptors more efficient, thereby making type 2 animals need less insulin to metabolize glucose.

Good news for animals with diabetes, but not so much for humans. But wait, don't count chromium out just yet. In a different study (like I said, there are several of them), published last year in Diabetes Care, it was discovered that combining 1,000 micrograms of chromium per day with the standard diabetes medication Glucotrol XL significantly improved the body's response to insulin in people with type 2.

I contacted Novo Nordisk back in March to tell them about the remarkable effects C-peptide had on reversing complications of Type 1 diabetes. I asked if they would bring the drug to market. A mass of excitement overwhelmed me when I learned about C-peptide missing from insulin all these years. The response from Novo? No thanks, it's not one of our targets. Targets, eh?

C-peptide is a byproduct of the production of insulin. In Type 1 diabetics, the level of C-peptide eventually becomes undetectable due to the body not making any insulin of its own. Long-term complications of diabetes frequently develop despite insulin therapy and optimal blood glucose control. C-peptide could quite possibly be the missing link in perfect diabetes control. I sent the following document to Novo Nordisk and asked them to make C-peptide available to reverse and ameliorate renal and nerve dysfunction for Type 1 diabetics. Read the document and see for yourself the eye-popping beneficial results C-peptide offers Type 1 diabetics. I received it directly from Dr. Wahren, lead researcher for C-peptide.

After 5 months consideration, Novo called me back. They said C-peptide is not a target for their company. I understand and now Levemir is not a target in my diabetes control, either. For all the Type 1 diabetics out there controlling your sugars with insulin not really made with you in mind -- do you understand why Novo does not wish to develop this critically important treatment? I guess insulin is good enough, right? Wrong. It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it. Just not Novo. When you are in the business of diabusiness -- no thank you says so much about what could potentially hurt your business.