That Health Rules

One of the highlights in the recent World Diabetes Congress held in South Africa was the release of a study that highlighted the answer to a question: Can Diabetes Be Prevented?

The initial findings of the study was released in EASD in Denmark also this year called the DREAM study which provided exciting results that can help us endocrinologists “prevent” the onset of diabetes. The study showed that for patients diagnosed withPrediabetes, starting them on Rosiglitazone ( Avandia) can help significantly delay the onset of the disease compared to placebo by more than 60 %.

In the IDF sponsored World Congress, the ADOPT study looked at whether there is a difference among diabetic patients started on different oral medications in terms of disease progression. As expected, Rosiglitazone (Avandia) was able to show that compared with a sulfonylurea, it was able to delay the progression of the disease by > 60% and by > 30% compared with a metformin.

The studies proved …that now, we have a tool, that can significantly help our patients… not only in controlling blood sugar and therefore prevent complications but more so…delay and slow down the progression of their disease. Remember… if we are able to slow down the disease process then we can delay the onset of complications like heart disease and stroke.  And if we delay the disease progression before a patient dies… then we are indeed preventing it!

I am a believer of this drug, not only because it improves both fasting and post meal blood sugars,  but more so because,  it is the only tool we have that acts directly on the two major causes of why ones blood sugar goes up: the Insulin Resistance state and Beta cell dysfunction. By improving insulin sensitivity using Rosiglitazone, we now have outcome studies that proved… we can indeed delay the disease process.

Indeed a Good News to all diabetic patients….

To Delay A Disease is a Tool to Prolong Life!

Read My Other Related Posts:

• Pre-Diabetes: Are You At Risk?

If you are a diabetic… or if you have family members who are diabetics… then this post is for you!

We all know the major complications associated with Poor Blood Sugar Control.  We know it can lead to major disabling complications like heart attack and stroke.  Now comes this new finding that links poor blood glucose control and the early problem of forgetfulness!

Are there Vitamins to stop my being forgetful? … is one of the common questions I get from my diabetic patients.  Alzheimer’s or Dementia now becomes a part of why we need to control our blood sugar.

Dr Ronald Peterson of the Mayo Clinic and as spokesman of the Alzheimers Conference noted this study involving 22,000 patients with Type 2 Diabetes and looked at their records from 1997 to 2005.  The HBA1c: a measure of patient’s overall glucose control in the past 3 months were recorded and compared.  The Ideal level should be < 6.5%.

The FINDINGS:

1. Patients with A1c of > 10% but < 12% were 16% more likely to develop dementia.

2. Patients with A1c > 12% but < 15% were 34 % more likely to develop dementia

3. Those with > 15% were 78% more likely to develop dementia.

Suggesting That: 

Those with less well controlled blood glucoses are at high risk to develop early signs of forgetfulness and dementia!

The higher the level of A1C… the higher the risk!

As always…. I have been an advocate of INTENSIVE DIABETES THERAPY because lowering ones A1c to goal has been shown to prevent the onset and progression of complications especially heart disease and stroke…and now a potential benefit would be lowering ones risk to develop DEMENTIA!

Be Aggressive…Avoid Dementia…

Help in The Campaign for Aggressive Sugar Control!

 Just finished my 6 day talk about diabetes and prediabetes with MOM’s Radio at FM 88.3 today.  It’s an innovative radio station and I always listen to it every morning while driving to the office and going back to the house. It presents insights of healthy lifestyle, and other health issues which are very informative to the listeners. In fact it should be called: Moms and Dads Radio.

What struck me during the interview was the need to really further educate the public on a state that leads to a disease and one of which we call Prediabetes.  This is still a state where we can do something to prevent the onset of the disease and therefore prevent the onset of complications especially heart disease.

It is alarming to note that The American Pediatric Society has released a survey that 1 out of 10 male children between ages 12 to 19 already have the state called prediabetes.  Again emphasizing the need to be more vigilant in watching over our kids while they grow… in terms of what they do and what we feed them!!!

Who then are at risk to develop Prediabetes?

1. Obese individuals– if your Body Mass Index if > 23 then you are already overweight. Your weight in lbs divided by your height in inches x your height in inches again.

2. Family History of Diabetes.  If one of your parents has Type 2 Diabetes, the offspring has a 10% chance of becoming a diabetic.

3. Sedentary Lifestyle– this results in obesity where the fat cells make your body insulin resistant and therefore will overwork your pancreas to produce more insulin until it fails to produce more.

4. Age: if your more than 45 years old- the older one becomes the higher the risk thus yearly evaluation should be done.

5. High Birth Weight– if you gave birth to a baby more than 9 lbs- most likely you had Gestational Diabetes which can increase your risk to become a diabetic in the next 10 years.

6. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol– have your blood glucose checked because you may have the so called Metabolic Syndrome.

Remember…We now have a way to prevent diabetes if you are diagnosed early enough for us to intervene. Lifestyle changes with 7 to 10% weight loss and exercise of 150 min per week were able to prevent the progression of diabetes by almost 50%.  We also now have drugs that are effective in preventing the onset of diabetes.

Again… Be more Proactive…

Early Diagnosis Means Better Health!