Defeat Diabetes® E-Lerts™ Newsletter

November 2005
(Volume IV, Issue 11)

Thanksgiving
November is the month when many people in the world are celebrating Thanksgiving or a similar festival. Throughout history many cultures have given thanks for a bountiful harvest. They might differ in their forms and presentations. But their spirit - setting aside a date to reflect on life's blessings, remains the same.

As evident from most of the cultures people would associate these with harvest festivals in gratitude of the God who protects them and their crops. Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations held by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians all reflect the similar spirit.

In Latest News - Self-Management - Self-Care, we bring you ways to monitor yourself for your own good. Latest News - Self-Management - Did You Know? reveals important information that may help you and your health. Nobody wants to hear about exercise, but in Latest News - Self-Management - Making Exercise Work For You there is new information to motivate you and get the maximum benefit from your exercise program.

Oh, what a month this has been!!! That's the start of The Mr. Diabetes® Wake Up and Walk® Tour  update for November. Mr. Diabetes®, Andy Mandell, walked the entire 26.2 mile New York City Marathon and has so much to tell you about his stay in New York and more.

Defeat Diabetes Foundation Ornaments - " Rimbrandts by j"
Defeat Diabetes Foundation Christmas Ornaments are a special edition of 250 signed and numbered large glass ornaments.  They commemorate the ongoing 10,000 mile Wake Up And Walk® Tour of co-founder Andy Mandell. These beautiful custom glass ornaments are painted in the Rimbrandts Seriglass® process and are for the Christmas 2005 season only. Defeat Diabetes Foundation receives a very generous donation from every ornament sold. for more information

Our November Healthy and Delicious Recipes give you a choice of stuffings, sweet potato sides and some tasty and healthy carb recipes. You won't feel guilty eating these dishes.

What else should people with diabetes be thankful for? See this month's Islets of Humor™ by Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE.

As we approach the holiday season, remember that diabetes is controlled by more than just eating fewer sweets. In this month's Nutrition News, Barbara Quinn, MS, RD, CDE, goes over the "ABC’s of Diabetes Control".

We had such a great response to Kevin's Tech Tips last month, that we asked him to give us 2 tips, one of which would be especially good for the holidays. He sure didn't let us down.

In prior months, Usha Dhiman had written a poignant article and an absolutely beautiful poem about her life with diabetes and  submitted them to Defeat Diabetes Foundation for publication on our website. We were honored to do that in the past and are very happy to present Usha's latest article: Looking Back.

Our questions in Readers' Forum are getting tougher all the time. We research the questions and if we cannot find the answers, we call our experts. Your questions and our answers are very important to us all.

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving no matter where you live. A joyous festival is always a wonderful occasion.

Good Health,
Lisa M. Rasolt
Program Director
lrasolt@DefeatDiabetes.org
www.DefeatDiabetes.org
Awareness + Action = Prevention®
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Did You Know?
Some migraine sufferers are sensitive to orange zest; simply inhaling the oily zest can trigger a migraine attack. Jyl Steinback, Supermarket Gourmet
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Latest News - Self-Management - Self-Care
Continuous Glucose Monitoring Improves Glucose Control Continuous glucose monitoring may dramatically improve day-to-day management of patients with diabetes. The Guardian RT, the glucose monitoring device tested in the study, includes a small sensor that can be self-inserted under the skin, and a discrete monitor that records and displays glucose levels every five minutes.
Fasting Glucose Levels Not The Best Indicator of Diabetes Risk People and physicians should not look only on the current definition of normal and abnormal blood glucose levels when assessing an individual’s risk to develop diabetes. A careful interpretation of the body mass index, the triglyceride level and the patient`s family history of diabetes is needed in order to better identify those at high risk.
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Mr. Diabetes® Says
The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for. Maureen Dowd
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Latest News - Self-Management -  Did You Know?
Why Our Tongues Our Are Worst Enemy in Controlling Diabetes New research has shown that the tongue may indeed have a taste for cheesecake, french fries and butter cookies. The tongue has built-in taste for fatty food. French scientists identified a receptor on the tongue that appears to detect dietary fat. This counters the traditional view that the taste buds pick up only five basic flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and "umami," — a flavor associated with the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Cholesterol Levels Can't Be Too Low "We looked at patients who got to ultra-low cholesterol levels, and wanted to make sure that was safe," says study co-author Dr. Christopher P. Cannon, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "We found that it was not only safe, but it was better to have your cholesterol down in the range of 40 or 50 mg/dl than 70 or 80 mg/dl."
Cleansing the Bowel for Colonoscopy May Harm the Kidneys In some patients bowel cleansing with an oral sodium phosphate solution (OSPS) may precipitate renal failure, investigators reported.
Beta-Blockers Are Poor Choice for Hypertension Investigators report that beta-blockers are no better at preventing heart attacks in patients with hypertension than other agents, and are less effective at preventing strokes.
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Did You Know?
Trans Fatty Acids are a much larger concern today: An online survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults taken in January showed that more people are concerned about their intake of trans fatty acids, which can increase cholesterol levels and are linked to heart disease, compared with a 2003 survey.
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Latest News - Self-Management - Making Exercise Work For You
Any Level of Exercise Can Help Baffled or annoyed by the federal government's 30-minutes-per-day-of-moderate-exercise-five-days-per-week dictum? A new study suggests that clearing a lower bar offers significant health benefits. Just an additional 3200 steps a day, not 10,000 shows fitness gains.
Providing Pedometers Can Increases Physical Activity by 6000 Steps A Day That’s 3 extra miles a day. "Pedometers are quite popular now, and with good reason."  "Our study shows they can provide an incentive for people to increase their activity levels..."
Music Makes You Exercise 20% Harder and Burn More Sugar! LISTENING to a fist-pumping rock song may appear no more than a welcome distraction from aching muscles on a jog round the park or a trip to the gym. But it could also significantly enhance performance by 20%.
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Defeat Diabetes Foundation Ornaments - " Rimbrandts by j"
Defeat Diabetes Foundation Christmas Ornaments are a special edition of 250 signed and numbered large glass ornaments.  They commemorate the ongoing 10,000 mile Wake Up And Walk® Tour of co-founder Andy Mandell.

These beautiful custom glass ornaments are painted in the Rimbrandts Seriglass® process and are for the Christmas 2005 season only. for more information
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The Mr. Diabetes® Wake Up and Walk® Tour tour
Oh, what a month this has been!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

It only APPEARS I haven’t logged any miles since the last UPDATE in October.  The fact is I HAVE walked a few; I just haven’t been adding them to THE WALKä because these miles haven’t gone toward making any forward progress on THE WALKä.  Although, they have been vitally important to the mission.  And there’s been a whole lot of other activity not normally experienced on this gig.  I’ll explain………………….

A couple of months ago I sought, successfully, to get registered to participate in the New York City Marathon.  Next to the Boston Marathon, the oldest marathon event in the United States (1896).  The NYC Marathon is recognized around the world as a “world class” event attended by the world’s best runners - AND walkers!!!!!!!!!!!! Read more
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Did You Know?
Cornmeal keeps blood sugar in check. Studies show that the fiber in cornmeal can lower levels of sugar in the bloodstream. Jyl Steinback, Countertop Magician
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Healthy and Delicious Recipes - Good for Diabetics, Too
November 2005
Many cultures and countries have festivals resembling Thanksgiving around the world and typically, all of these joyous occasions revolve around food. Here are great non main dish recipes for any time, but especially for the holidays.

Orange-Pineapple Corn Muffins
Dried Cranberry-Raisin Whole Wheat Bread
Orange (Sweet) Potato Puffs
Sweet Potatoes with Apricot-Pineapple Sauce
Shortcut Stuffing
Wild Rice and Apricot Stuffing
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Did You Know?
Exercise causes cells to become more sensitive to insulin, so sugar is taken out of the blood, and exercising muscles use more sugar. The result is a more normal blood sugar level.
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Islets of Humor™ humor
By Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE
November 2005

See more of Theresa's cartoons
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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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Nutrition News nutrition
By Barbara Quinn, MS, RD, CDE
November 2005

ABC’s of Diabetes Control

As we approach the holiday season, remember that diabetes is controlled by more than just eating fewer sweets. Experts urge us to know our ABC’s: A1C, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Here’s why: Read more
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Did You Know?
Polar bears are left handed?
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Kevin's Tech Tips tech
Kevin is giving 2 great computer tips this month.

XP has a feature that makes it easier for you to access resources that require credentials that aren't the same as your logon credentials. This feature is called Stored User Names and Passwords. This can be used for logging on to password protected Web sites, VPN connections to your company network, resources in a domain, etc. Read more
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Did You Know?
Studies in the United States and abroad have found that improved glycemic control benefits people with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In general, every percentage point drop in A1C blood test results (e.g., from 8.0% to 7.0%) reduces the risk of microvascular complications (eye, kidney, and nerve diseases) by 40%. CDC
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Reader Submission: Looking Back
By Usha Dhiman            

I remember …………….

the time when I was vomiting and screaming with a severe abdominal pain and could see my mother crying.  Later I learnt that I was in a coma and the doctor had been there with me the whole night and in the morning he had told my parents that I would survive AND that I had diabetes!  I was seven years old then.

my mother’s anxiety when I was being given insulin injections and her trying to prick herself to see how badly it hurt. Read more   Usha's article: Life With Diabetes Usha's poem: The Enemy
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Did You Know?
Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
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Readers' Forum forum
Q - I have type 1 diabetes and recently my hands and ankles became very swollen. Everything is okay now and it hasn't happened again, but I'm nervous. Is this a sign of vascular problems related to diabetes? - Beau - for our answer
Q - Does my fasting blood glucose depend on the food (carbohydrates) I had the previous day? How do I treat my morning high blood glucose? - Ralph - for our answer
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Did You Know?
Stress-buster: A brisk 15-minute walk is equivalent in relaxation power to taking 5 milligrams of Valium. It has biochemical effects, washing away of stress chemicals. It's very soothing. You release endorphins when you exercise. It has a calming and mood-elevating effect.
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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.