Defeat Diabetes^® E-Lerts™ Newsletter

December  2004
(Volume III, Issue 12)

Happy Holidays! Count Your "Blessings"!
Holidays bring mixed emotions. You're busy trying to balance too much and you're stressed out. Most people put pressure on themselves by making too many resolutions for the New Year. But, it is also a time for counting your blessings and really being grateful for what you have, even if it is diabetes. "The only thing worse than finding out that you have diabetes...is NOT finding out that you have diabetes." Andy Mandell, Mr. Diabetes®

In this issue of E-Lerts™, we will concentrate on the small ways you can help yourself, your family and your diabetes. In Latest News - Self-Management - Your Mind and Body, you will discover how walking downhill lowers blood glucose and uphill reduces triglycerides. Do you know what to do if you have low blood pressure and get faint when you stand? More sleep has more benefits.

In our next section of Latest News - Self-Management, we discuss dosage of Vitamins, Supplements, Food and Drugs. Can you take too much of a vitamin? What food, eaten regularly, lowers cholesterol? How harmful is it to skip medication? How good are anti-oxidants and in what dosage?

In our last section of Latest News - Vitamins, Supplements and Drugs is the controversy of vitamin E and whether it is good or bad for diabetics. There's another potential problem in the Canadian drug controversy, and one you probably have thought of  - YET!!!

We want your holidays to be as stress-free as possible, so we have provided some great brunch recipes from Jyl Steinback, America's Healthiest Mom, that are either very easy to make that day or can be prepared ahead of time.

Counting Your Blessings is the title of this month's DIABeducation™ by Theresa Garnero. Reading Theresa's column gave me inspiration for the E-lerts™ theme for December. 'Tis the season to be jolly and count our blessings. But what's so jolly good about having diabetes? The answer to that question resides in one's ability to see the silver lining in life.

In Islets of Humor™, Theresa Garnero carries the hope and good wishes for the season to her cartoon.

Mr. Diabetes®, Andy Mandell, has been frozen out for the winter.  He was ready, willing and able to continue the Mr. Diabetes® Wake Up and Walk® Tour through the winter months, but he lives in an RV and ALL the campgrounds are closed for the season. His last stop (and where he will commence in March 2005) was Zion, Illinois. Andy Mandell has completed 6,098 of 10,000+ miles walk around the perimeter of the United States. He has come back to the national headquarters and he will be keeping busy during these months, as he is also Executive Director of Defeat Diabetes.

Treatments on the Horizon offer a wide range of new possibilities. There is a hope for a cure, a new approach for treatment, a vaccine that may prevent type 1 diabetes, and two new drugs.

In our Readers' Forum we tackle the questions of diabetes and the brain and women, diabetes and heart disease.

We at Defeat Diabetes Foundation wish everyone Happy Holidays and the Best Wishes for a Healthy New Year. We also hope that everyone will take a moment and reflect on all the good in their lives, their "blessings".

Good Health,
Lisa M. Rasolt
Program Director
lrasolt@DefeatDiabetes.org
Awareness + Action = Prevention®
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Did You Know?
HDL, Your Good Cholesterol: For each number that you increase your HDL, you lower your cardiac risk by 1 percent.
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Latest News - Self-Management - Your Mind and Body
Snooze and You Might Lose (Weight) Research shows that sleep deprivation can cause hormonal and metabolic changes that can lead to weight gain. Plus, when you're feeling sluggish, you're more likely to crave empty calories like chips or cookies—and less likely to have the energy to hit the gym.
Walking Downhill Lowers Blood Sugar, Uphill Lowers Cholesterol Levels If you are too weak, unfit or heavy to embark on an exercise program, you should try walking downhill. Walking downhill is good for lowering your blood glucose levels. Walking uphill reduces triglycerides - these are important components of cholesterol.
Serious Psychological Distress More Common in Diabetics  The prevalence of serious psychological distress was 10.4% among people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes are considerable more likely to experience depression, anxiety and other disorders that cause (SPD) than those without diabetes.
Testosterone Deficiency Found in One Out of Three Diabetic Men  Low testosterone production appears to be a common complication of type 2 diabetes in men, affecting 1 out of 3 diabetic patients, a new study has shown. This starts a whole new story on the crucial complications of type 2 diabetes.
Have Low Blood Pressure? Drink Water  According to research published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, drinking two glasses of water can raise blood pressure, potentially providing a solution for patients with low blood pressure while standing, caused by autonomic failure.
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Did You Know?
A landmark study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that those at risk for type-II diabetes could reduce the likelihood of developing the disease by 58 percent through 30 minutes of moderate daily exercise and by weight reduction, eating a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. The NIH study demonstrated that lifestyle interventions could actually prevent the disease.
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Latest News - Self-Management - Vitamins, Supplements, Food & Drugs: Dosage
Too Much Vitamin C Not Good for Diabetics' Hearts The study, which followed nearly 2,000 postmenopausal women with diabetes for 15 years, found that those who took heavy doses of vitamin C supplements -- 300 milligrams (mg) a day or more -- were roughly twice as likely to die of heart disease or stroke compared with women who took no supplemental C.
Daily Placebo Works Better Than Taking An Active Drug Irregularly  Patients who took their pills every day halved their risk of dying by the end of the study, compared with those who skipped pills, Granger's team found, regardless of whether they took the drug or a placebo. Those who stuck to their pills were also less likely to spend time in hospital.
A Nutty Way To Improve Cholesterol In Diabetes  Thirty grams of walnuts/day (8-10) delivering substantial amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acid improved the lipid profile of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Low-Dose Antioxidants May Lower All-Cause Mortality in Men  Low-dose antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplementation lowers all-cause mortality in men but not in women. The investigators suggest that this may be due to the lower baseline status in men.
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Mr. Diabetes^® Says
The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. Woodrow Wilson
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Latest News - Vitamins, Supplements and Drugs
Vitamin E Good or Bad for Those with Diabetes?  In November, a study came out that said it was bad, now we have a study that says it’s good? A new study, published in the journal "Diabetes Care" has indicated that about 40 percent of diabetic patients can reduce their risk of heart attacks and of dying from heart disease by taking vitamin E supplements.
All Drug Shipments From Canada to US May Be Halted As more and more Americans buy their drugs from Canadian pharmacies, authorities in Canada are becoming so concerned about domestic supplies that a top official said the Canadian government may halt shipments to the US if the trade continues to grow.
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Did You Know?
More than 40 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug and 16.5 percent--one person in every six--take three or more, the government said Thursday. Both figures are up about 5 percentage points in recent years. The study found spending on health climbed 9.3 percent in 2002 to $1.6 trillion.
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Diabetic Recipes recipes
Holiday time is here and we all want our days to be as stress-free as possible. We have some great brunch recipes from Jyl Steinback, America's Favorite Mom, that can either be prepare ahead of time or are so easy, you won't be spending your holiday time in the kitchen.
Morning Glory Muffins
Bacon 'n' Eggs Brunch
Veggie-Potato Frittata
Chicken 'n' Broccoli Quiche Muffins
Make Ahead 'n' Marinate Garden Vegetable Salad
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Bread
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Did You Know?
Think Before You Eat: If you eat two cookies, about 150 calories, and you weigh about 140 pounds, you’ll have to walk more than an hour at a pace of 2 miles an hour to burn off those cookies. Speed up the walk to 3.5 mph, and you still have to walk 45 minutes. (Eating the cookies probably took less than a minute.) What if you ate a peach, with about 40 calories, instead? It would take just 10 minutes of brisk walking to work it off. The November issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource
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Islets of Humor™humor
December 2004
By Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE

see more of Theresa's cartoons
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WE NEED YOUR HELP to continue our highly recognized and well received programs, but we would like to do more. Defeat Diabetes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Our web site is secure and all donations are tax-deductible.
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DIABeducation™diabeducation
December 2004
By Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN, CDE

Counting Blessings
'Tis the season to be jolly and count our blessings. But what's so jolly
good about having diabetes? The answer to that question resides in one's
ability to see the silver lining in life. Do you see the proverbial glass
half full or empty? Do you tend to accentuate the positive in everyday
circumstances?

Knowing you have diabetes is a gift. We don't always get a second chance at
health. With diabetes, you get the chance to be healthy - maybe not by
choice, but out of necessity. I have had many people say to me after they
received diabetes care and education that, "Getting diabetes was a blessing.
I've never been healthier." to read more
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Mr. Diabetes^® Says
Strange how much you've got to know
   Before you know how little you know. Anonymous
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Treatments on the Horizon
Diabetes Tests 'Offer Cure Hope' Some patients have already been cured by islet cell transplants, but a major obstacle is a shortage of donor pancreases to harvest the cells from. Now National Institute of Health scientists say they have found a way to make more of the cells required.
A Promising New Approach For Type 2 Diabetes The dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor LAF237 prevents deterioration of glycemic control in type 2 diabetics treated with metformin.
Vaccine May Prevent Onset Of Type 1 Diabetes  Melbourne researchers have developed a nasal insulin vaccine that could prevent the onset of disease in high-risk children. It would eventually be possible to screen babies at birth, then determine at-risk babies and could give them the vaccine early to stop the disease process starting.
New Drug May Be Better Than Aspirin for Diabetics  A new drug called picotamide appears to be a more effective blood-thinner than aspirin for people with diabetes. Previous research has suggested that aspirin may not work as well for diabetics in preventing vascular events, such as heart attacks or stroke, as it does for other people.
Wonder Pill, Rimonabant, Makes You Lose Weight And Keep It Off  Trials have shown that 33% of people on Rimonabant lost 10% of body weight and kept their weight down for two years - this is a record, no other diet drug has managed to keep a person's weight down for so long.
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Did You Know?
One can of coke contains nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar or the entire daily recommended amount of calories from sugar.
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Readers' Forum forum
Q - I know that diabetes and depression are often linked, but can diabetes affect the brain in other ways as well? - Fred - for our answer
Q - How do I, as a woman, reduce my risk for heart disease and stroke, the biggest killers of people with diabetes? - Christine - for our answer
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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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The Defeat Diabetes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Our web site is secure and all donations are tax-deductible.

Important Notice: The opinions and statements expressed in the Defeat Diabetes^® E-Lertsä Newsletter are directed at a general audience. Its intent is solely for informational, educational, and entertainment purposes and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. Please consult a health professional on any matters regarding your health and well-being, or if you are interested in anything mentioned in the Defeat Diabetes^® E-Lertsä Newsletter. The information presented here is believed to be accurate, based on the best judgment of the Program Director, but the reader is responsible for consulting with his/her own health professional on any matters raised within.