Blood Glucose Levels, Checking With Diabetic Breath Analysis?

Blood glucose levels, there may be a better and more non-invasive way of monitoring this aspect of diabetes management. This is according to an Irvine study in the University of California. The chemists and pediatricians examined this issue by employing a method of chemical analysis used to test air pollution.

They reported that the type 1 diabetic children when they exhibited hyperglycemia, exhaled considerably increased concentrations of methyl nitrates. This is important news in the sense that it may lead to a breath device that can detect high blood glucose levels.

This will let them know if the diabetics need insulin. This is in contrast to the device now presently in use that breaks the skin. Dr. Pietro Galassetti, a UIC Irvine General Clinical Research Center diabetes researcher, said breath analysis has revealed that it could become a diagnostic tool for other conditions like cystic fibrosis and ulcers but has not investigated this for diabetes until now.

Galassetti, along with Dr. Dan Cooper and Andria Pontello investigated the breath-analysis on type 1 diabetic children. They took air samples while the subjects were on hyperglycemic state and progressively while increasing their subjects' blood insulin levels.

F. Sherwood Rowland and Donald Blake, chemists at the UC laboratory of UC Irvine examined the breath samples and found high concentration of methyl nitrates up to ten times more when the subjects were hyperglycemic compared when it was shown they had normal readings.

The concentration matched the subjects' blood glucose levels in the sense that the higher they went so did the concentration of methyl nitrates go up. Dr. Pietro Galassetti said that there are more fatty acids in the blood of type 1 diabetics during hyperglycemia.

This causes oxidative stress and methyl nitrates maybe its by-product. I hope there will be more news on their progress because I know they are involved in more studies hoping they will have more report on the use of breath analysis to monitor blood glucose levels.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Lower Risk for Type 1 Diabetes

Omega-3 fatty acids when consumed regularly by the children at risk of developing type 1 diabetes are revealed by a preliminary research to help lower that risk. This was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

With type 1 diabetes, the beta cells in the pancreatic islets are destroyed. No one knows why this happens although the hypothesis has been that this is caused by both heredity and environment. Nutritional factors are also thought of as related to type 1 diabetes so Dr. Jill Norris wanted to see if the regular consumption of Omega-3 Fatty Acids were a factor in the destruction of the beta cells that produce insulin.

From 1994-2006, Dr. Norris and her team studied 1770 children who were at high risk for developing type 1 diabetes. They followed this case up for more than six years on the average with the subjects taking polyunsaturated fatty acids since when the children were one year old. They found out that the regular consumption of the Omega-3 Fatty Acids lowered the risk by 55%.

The following are some of the findings related to Omega-3 Fatty Acids:

The tendency of the diabetics to have low HDL and high triglyceride levels makes it essential to consume omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil. Since they are considered essential to maintain health and are not manufactured by the body, they must be consumed through foods such as tuna, salmon, and halibut, lake trout, mackerel and sardines at least twice a week.

Another essential fatty acid is the omega-6 but the trouble is there has to be the correct balance between these two. An imbalance could contribute to the development of disease while a proper balance will do the opposite, that is, maintain and improve health. For more information on Omega-3 Fatty Acids, scroll down to the second paragraph after the graphic on this page.

The usual American diet in order to be healthy should contain approximately two to four times more omega-6 fatty acids than the omega-3 but the trouble is that is not the case in what we usually eat. What we have instead is a usual diet with 14 to 25 times more of the omega-6 than the omega-3 fatty acids.

Bladder Dysfunction in Women with Type 2 Diabetes

This report is based on a presentation made at the 29th Congress of the Societe International d'Urologie in Paris, France. Study of past literature on this subject showed that older women with diabetes had atonic bladder condition known as diabetic cystopathy.

The trouble with these findings in the past is that the studies were carried out in patients who were going to specialty clinics. In addition, they did not distinguish between men or women and neither did they do so with type1 and type 2 diabetes.

This new study, however, employed well classified subjects based on urine testing. This is the way they did it. Among the 400 women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, 48 agreed to undertake urine testing. The researchers were able to measure the urinary incontinence through questionnaires, interviews, standard evaluation and physical examination.

The measurements included treatment, duration, diabetic complications, glycemic control and laboratory data on the gravity of the incontinence.
These are their findings. Nobody had bladder cystopathy, about 50% had severe incontinence, and 38% had weekly measurement of the urinary incontinence.

Among the subjects studied, 50% stated they had mild symptoms of the lower urinary tract, 42% of which were average and 8% severe. Almost 75% used insulin and had a mean A1c of 7.5. Among these women, 11% had retinopathy while 54% had neuropathy.

Here are their conclusions. The study showed that bladder sensation was impaired early on. The bladder dysfunction does not appear to show in the majority of the participants. This is found to be not common. It is rather an infrequent end organ outcome of diabetes.

What does this mean to us? We have to soldier on to achieve our ABC targets through lifestyle changes first and then through medications if necessary. And of course let's not forget about increasing our physical activity and other things to do to reach our goals as shown on this page.

Hope for Cure on Diabetes Walks

There are so many walks for diabetes going around. All you have to do is find one in your community and then sign up. An example is the one done about a year ago with hundreds participating to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
which is the mission of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

The walk above has a lot of participants so they were hoping they would surpass the $100,000 raised the year before. Lee Smith, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes said that JDRF helps with the discovery of medication. The most notable of this is the one that helps protect the kidneys which is called the protease inhibitor.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International was established by parents whose children are diabetics. This non profit organization helps raise funds all over the world. The hope is to find a cure and the complications through research. It has already granted over $1 billion to research for a cure for type 1 diabetes since it was established in 1970.

In 2006 alone, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International donated $122 million dollars. Let us support organizations like this in their fight against diabetes for as the saying goes: United we stand; Divided we fall. Ask your employer to have a campaign fundraiser.

You can even start your own team. There are lot of benefits when the place of employment participates. Not only does it build the spirit of team building and promote teamwork but also it does not cost the company anything because the raising of the funds is on the shoulders of individual donors while it raises awareness to the company and building employee morale.

So go out and start walking for diabetes. It is our very own tour de cure. This will draw people to walk together in a healthy activity and at the same time raise money for a worthy cause. And it is to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
What are you waiting for?

Galvus and Metformin 4X More Effective Than Metformin Alone

The finding in the aforementioned title was presented at the 43rd annual conference of the European Study of Diabetes. The meeting was held in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Type 2 diabetes patients who did not achieve their glycemic targets even though they were taking high doses of metformin were given galvus in addition to their metformin treatment. They were found to be four more times liable to reach the recommended goal.

At that time, this drug was projected to receive approval in Europe for marketing purposes. For awhile I wondered whatever happened to it. This is what I found: EU approved Novartis combo drug eucreas as reported in February 2008. The regulators had given the green light to the new combination diabetes drug called eucreas. This contains the inhibitor galvus that was recently approved.
 
The approval came after Novartis proposed changes to the label. It recommended that liver monitoring should be in place at the beginning of the treatment, and should be conducted every three months for the first year and every so often after this period
 
The approval was given the go-ahead after the European approval of the galvus that was updated. It will be designated for use with metformin or any of the sulphonylureas. The new European Guidelines for Diabetes says that polypharmacy is the best development in the cure of diabetes.

The combination of drugs is meant to make the treatment more efficient and at the same time lessen the side effects. The European guideline recommends an HbA1c goal of 6.5% while the American Diabetes Association suggests a target of 7%. This is the goal of many approaches on how is diabetes treated.


A principal medical officer at Novartis, USA, Dr. Sylvia Dejager and her colleagues examined the effects of galvus as a monotheraphy and in combination with metformin. They presented their findings at the meeting in the Netherlands saying that when combined with metformin four times more patients achieved the A1c level of 7%.

Whatever Happened to the Study That Was Granted $10.8 Million

The Columbia University Medical Center received $10.8 million from National Institute of Health last year to study the link between heart disease and diabetes. This multidisciplinary team will find out why those who have type 2 diabetes are vulnerable to heart disease, which is the top cause of death for people who have diabetes.

This will be a five-year program. This all started when Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, director of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and Dr. Allen Spiegel, then director of The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases asked researchers of other fields to get together to study diabetes and heart disease.

Dr. Ira Tabas, professor and vice-chairman of research at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Alan Tall, a professor at Division of Molecular Medicine and Dr. Domenico a co-director of research at Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center agreed to accept the challenge.

Dr. Tabas said that if they could understand better the function of insulin resistance in the development of atherosclerosis, they would be able to develop the appropriate therapies to prevent the terrible effects from these two diseases. Heart disease is the cause of diabetic deaths by 65%, so did the NIDDK report. The risk for heart disease for diabetics is two to four times higher than those without diabetes. The same is true for stroke.

My research did not show any of the aforementioned study but revealed among other studies from the same university the following:

• Columbia University Medical Center along with the Joslin Diabetes Center and the State University of New York conducted a Telemedicine Research Study.
  


• Naomi Berrie of the Columbia University Medical Center will have a study on Telemedicine Research.
  


• Columbia University Medical Center reveals that diabetes can result in gum disease in children much younger than previously observed.
  

As you can tell, there is no mention of the $10 million dollar study on the
link between heart disease and diabetes. With much anticipation, I await the report on the result of this study. It can only advance the knowledge we have on this important issue.

What Triples the Risk of Developing Diabetes

A major pan-European study reported a while ago that a damaged beta cell in the pancreas that secrete insulin will have a triple risk of developing diabetes even among healthy people. In addition, they also double their risk for developing obese abdomen over a three year period.

These data are arrived at when compared to those whose beta cells are working normally. This RISC (Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular risk) study was undertaken to look at the role of insulin resistance in the worsening diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors.

The study observed 1500 middle-aged healthy people from fourteen European countries who are going through regular monitoring for insulin resistance and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, obesity, lipid levels and physical activity.

After three years, the follow-up data of 784 subjects revealed that insulin resistance was not the only reason for cardiometabolic risk. In addition to insulin resistance, central obesity and obesity contributed to the Insulin Resistance Syndrome with 1% who developed diabetes, 3% having impaired fasting glucose and 12% were observed to have impaired glucose tolerance.

These findings just confirmed the importance of physical activity for this has been found related to better insulin sensitivity . This was found true even in people who have abdominal obesity. And here's another important finding of this study. It also lowered the stiffening of the arterial wall which is age-related.

Mark Walker, professor of molecular diabetes at the University of Castle-Upon-Tyne reported the findings and recommended that the doctors have to persuade all patients whether they are healthy or not to be active physically
as this will lessen the triple risk to develop diabetes.

Do you want to know if you are at risk to develop diabetes? Here's a checklist for you to determine once and for all if you are at risk. The more "yes" responses you have, the more at risk you are. When you find you are at risk, please get tested so you can fight it better:

• Is there someone in your immediate family with diabetes, like your parents or brothers and sisters?
  


• Did you ever have gestational diabetes or have you ever given birth to a baby who weighs more than nine pounds?


• Is your cholesterol level not normal, that is your HDL cholesterol (good type) below 35 mg/dL, or is your triglyceride level above 250 mg/dL?
  


• Are you fairly physically inactive, that is you exercise less than three times a week?
  


• Is your ethnic background American Indian, Hispanic American, African American, Alaskan Native or Pacific Islander?
  


• Is your blood pressure 140/90 mm Hg or higher or have you ever been told you have high blood pressure?
  


• Do you have a history of cardiovascular disease?
  


• Have you ever had impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose on your previous test?
  


• Are you over 45 years old?
  


• Are you overweight?
  

Now you know if you are at risk to develop diabetes. What is the next step? Make an appointment to get tested for diabetes. If they find you have pre-diabetes, get going with a strategy to beat the condition and you will have a better chance at stopping this or delaying its coming. This is how to prevent diabetes.