Defeat Diabetes® E-Lerts™ Newsletter

October 2005
(Volume IV, Issue 10)

Awareness + Action = Prevention®

That is Defeat Diabetes Foundation's motto. As we conclude the month of October with Halloween and the visions of all that candy, the next day is the start of National Diabetes Awareness Month. Defeat Diabetes Mission statement:

The mission of Defeat Diabetes Foundation is to inform, educate and alert the general public, diabetics, pre-diabetics and elected officials about the disease, its prevention and the consequences of undiagnosed and/or poorly managed diabetes and to provide accurate, up-to-date and practical information on the treatment and self-management of the disease.

During National Diabetes Awareness Month, we invite you to visit our web site, www.DefeatDiabetes.org,  (which is currently going through a complete overhaul), and check out our Defeat Diabetes® Public Awareness Programs that are ongoing 12 months of the year including: The Mr. Diabetes® Wake Up and Walk® Tour, Schools Program, Latest News, and the DAN Project.

This month we've included more articles than usual because it was so hard to eliminate some, but there are many more on our Latest News page. We've divided the four Latest News sections into: Self-Management - Drugs That Help, What's New and Significant?, Self-Management - Taking Care of Yourself and Your Family, and Self-Management - Risks.

Mr. Diabetes®, Andy Mandell has been busy as usual and training for something very special and exciting. Read more

Quick, easy to make and tasty meals and treats so the kids, (whatever their ages), will be full enough so they won't dive into all the candy at Halloween. See these recipes from Jyl Steinback, America's Healthiest Mom, and Lisa Jobs, Sensational Stevia Desserts. Also see the Halloween Candy Carbohydrate Count Information. Serving Size: "fun size" bar, bag, box or pouch, Pop or Roll.

Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE, has come up with a most appropriate, and one of my favorite, cartoons in this month's Islets of Humor™.

Some of you may have heard about the Diabetes Prevention Program. In this month's DIABeducation™, Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE, gets the inside scoop in A Personal Perspective of the Diabetes Prevention Program.

This month we are starting a new feature. It has nothing to do with diabetes except that Kevin is a person with diabetes who has volunteered his expertise. We are calling it Kevin's Tech Tips. We hope you find these tips helpful.

Readers' Forum, addresses basic questions about diabetes, but are they really basic?

There are some exciting breakthroughs in this month's Treatments on the Horizon regarding glucose testing, beta cells, kidneys and obesity.

We are working hard to bring you new features to our web site, www.DefeatDiabetes.org, so stay tuned.

Good Health,
Lisa M. Rasolt
Program Director
lrasolt@DefeatDiabetes.org
www.DefeatDiabetes.org
Awareness + Action = Prevention®
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Do You Think That You or Someone You Know Might Have Diabetes?
Take the Defeat Diabetes® Screening Test. Awareness + Action = Prevention®
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Latest News - Self-Management - Drugs That Help
Drug Reduces Risk of Death, Heart Attack, and Stroke in Patients with Diabetes Study indicates that giving 1,000 patients pioglitazone (Actos) would avoid 21 first heart attacks, strokes or deaths over 3 years.
Metformin Helps Diabetics with Heart Failure Metformin improves survival and clinical outcomes in diabetic patients with heart failure, even though FDA labeling recommends against using the drug in these patients.
FDA Approves Pfizer's Lipitor® to Reduce Risk of Strokes and Heart Attacks in Patients With Diabetes Patients on Lipitor experienced 50% fewer strokes than those on placebo.
Metformin Should be the First Drug of Choice for Type 2 Diabetes Using metformin alone can improve control of blood glucose, while also reducing risk factors for heart disease such as excess body weight, cholesterol levels and hypertension.
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Defeat Diabetes® Public Awareness Programs donate
Defeat Diabetes Foundation needs your financial support for all of our Defeat Diabetes® Public Awareness Programs. Defeat Diabetes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Our web site is secure and all donations are tax-deductible. Please Donate Now
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Latest News - What's New and Significant?
New Test Predicts Damage from Diabetes New test has the potential to be as significant to health care as measuring cholesterol levels. The test is based on determining the level of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in the body, which form when sugar damages proteins.
New Drug Treatment Prevents Loss of Transplanted Islet Cells Transplanted insulin-producing cells survive better when the activation of a specific type of immune cell is blocked.
New Blood Pressure Drugs Are Superior in Reducing Risk of Stroke and Diabetes In the LIFE substudy it was found that losartan compared with atenolol reduces the risk of stroke, new-onset diabetes, and new-onset atrial fibrillation in the low and high risk population more effectively.
Pargluva (Muraglitazar) May Increase Risk of Heart Attack and Cancer Pargluva® made by Merck and Co. Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb, may be delayed in coming to market by 2 years if additional safety studies are required by the FDA.
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Kevin's Tech Tips kevin
These tips have nothing to do with diabetes except that Kevin is a person with diabetes and has volunteered to share some of his expertise. We hope you find them helpful. Read Kevin's bio. We're sure you will find it as compelling as we do.

How to Get Back the Ability to Make Pictures Smaller in Email  Read Kevin's Tech Tip
Read Kevin's Bio
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Latest News - Self-Management - Taking Care of Yourself and Your Family
Vinegar Significantly Lowers Blood Glucose, Insulin Response, and Increases Satiety Supplementation of a meal based on white wheat bread with vinegar reduced postprandial responses of blood glucose and insulin, and increased the subjective rating of satiety.
Best to Turn off Insulin Pump During Exercise in Young Diabetics Exercising with an insulin pump on among children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes has no benefit, and may increase the risk of late hypoglycemia.
Getting a Dog Provides A 14 Pound Weight Loss for Their Owners A new study has found that having a pet can encourage owners to get more exercise and results in more weight loss than most nationally known diet plans.
Exercise Amount More Important than Intensity A study, showed that adults who participate in mild exercise, such as walking briskly for 12 miles or exercising for 125 to 200 minutes a week (less then 30 minutes a day) at moderate intensity can significantly improve their aerobic fitness and reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.
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Did You Know?
Diabetes Becomes the 5th Leading Cause of Death: Diabetes may have killed nearly 3 million people in 2000, making it the world's No. 5 cause of death, by a new estimate. The numbers, published in Sept, 2005 Diabetes Care, come from researchers including the World Health Organization
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Latest News - Self-Management - Risks
High Blood Sugar Levels Predict Heart Disease Risk Each 1-percentage-point increase in HbA1c level was associated with a 14% increase in heart disease risk.
Erectile Dysfunction First Sign of Coronary Artery Disease "We think that erectile dysfunction represents the 'tip of the iceberg' of a systemic vascular disorder; thus potentially preceding severe cardiovascular events and should be part of any cardiovascular risk assessment.”
Withdrawing Aspirin Significantly Increases Stroke Risk  Aspirin cessation in adults at high risk of cerebrovascular disease increases the risk of stroke and TIA.
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Did You Know?
Once an orange is squeezed or cut, the vitamin C dissipates quickly. After only 8 hours at room temperature or a scant 24 hours in the refrigerator, there is a 20 percent vitamin C loss.
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Mr. Diabetes® Wake Up and Walk® Tour tmrour
October has been a very interesting month.  It’s been a mixed bag of interviews, a Proclamation, a limited amount of walking (mostly between raindrops), continued maintenance on the RV, and lots of activity in my capacity of Executive Director to formalize and soon to bring a number of products and services to our website: www.DefeatDiabetes.org  And, of special interest is my entry into the New York City Marathon – November 6.  Now for the details………….. Read more
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Did You Know?
Keep the skins on! Potato skins, rich in fiber, help curb craving by slowing digestion and preventing blood sugar levels from radically rising and falling. Countertop Magician, Jyl Steinback.
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Healthy and Delicious Recipes - Good for Diabetics Too
This month, as in September's issue of E-Lerts™, we will also do fast and easy, 5 ingredients or less and recipes the kids will love from Jyl Steinback, America's Healthiest Mom, so you can fill them up before they go trick or treating. And from Lisa Jobs, Sensational Stevia Desserts, as well as Jyl, alternative sweets and snacks too.
Quick and Crispy Chicken
Easy Cheesy Barbecue Beef Fries
Southwest Snapper
Parmesan Potato Wedges
Vita-Rich Veggie Drink
Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pops
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Did You Know?
Halloween Candy Carbohydrate Count Information
Serving Size: "fun size" bar, bag, box or pouch, Pop or Roll Diabetes In Control: Jane Pelosi
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Islets of Humor™ humor
By Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE
October 2005

See more of Theresa's cartoons
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Mr. Diabetes® Says
A friend is a gift you give yourself. Robert Louis Stevenson
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DIABeducation™ diabeducation
By Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE
October 2005

A Personal Perspective of the Diabetes Prevention Program

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be involved in a landmark research study? Fate allowed me the opportunity to take a peek inside the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), the major study that showed 58 percent of people at high risk for getting diabetes could prevent it. How? By eating less fat and fewer calories, exercising 150 minutes a week (a little over 20 minutes a day), and losing 7 percent of body weight.

While attending the Humor Project conference in April, I randomly met Eugene Goldstein, a humor enthusiast who happened to be enrolled in the Diabetes Prevention Program. We connected recently to discuss his experience in the DPP. Eugene agreed to answer a few specific questions. Read more
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Did You Know?
Halloween is second only to Christmas in spending. Consumers will spend over $2.5 Billion during Halloween. That's a whole lot of candy, costumes, decorations, and party goods.
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Readers' Forum forum
Everything is so complicated these days and it is so refreshing to receive questions that allow me to step back and really get back to basics. The trouble is, they are not so easy to answer. How would you answer these questions?

Q - What is diabetes? I hear so much about it, but can you please give me a simple definition or explanation of what is diabetes? - Henry - Read our answer

Q - What causes type 1 diabetes? - Jean -  Read our answer
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Did You Know?
General stovetop cooking tip: Cover pots when possible; water will boil faster and save three times the energy. Countertop Magician, Jyl Steinback.
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Treatments on the Horizon
Breakthrough Technology for Non-invasive, Pain-Free Glucose Testing The novel procedure uses a laser to measure spectroscopic signals in blood while the blood is still in the capillaries. Abnormal levels of blood components, such as glucose, can be detected without pricking a person’s finger.
Human Beta-Cell Line Offers Hope for Type 1 Diabetes Breakthrough Scientists at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, succeed in creating reversibly immortalized human beta cells, with eye toward establishing universal cells for treatment of type 1 diabetes. Possible unlimited supply of beta cells for transplantation.
Continuously Functioning Artificial Kidney on the Way Using nanotechnology, researchers have created a human nephron filter, the first step toward development of fully functioning artificial kidney for patients with end-stage renal disease, possibly eliminating the need for dialysis or kidney transplantation.
New Target Found for Treating Diabetes and Obesity  The new target, a molecule called hVps34, is activated by amino acids (nutrients) entering the cell. This molecule triggers the activation of an enzyme, S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1), whose function is linked to obesity and insulin resistance.
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Did You Know?
Pedometers Can Increase Physical Activity: In a recent study, it showed that by providing pedometers to middle-aged women and asked them to walk an extra 30 minutes a day, those that were given pedometers, took an extra 6000 steps a day over those that were just told to walk an extra 30 minutes a day and not given pedometers. That is equivalent to an extra 3 miles a day. The women given a pedometer and told to walk 10,000 steps every day averaged about 12,000 steps on days they actually went for a walk. But even on days they didn't manage to go walking, they still upped their step total to about 8,000 steps. Diabetes In Control
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This concludes the Defeat Diabetes^® E-Lerts™ Newsletter.

If there are specific questions you have, you may reach us at info@DefeatDiabetes.org.

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Defeat Diabetes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Our web site is secure and all donations are tax-deductible.