While driving home a short while ago I came up with an idea! I know it is shocking. If I could ever get my head to turn off it would be a small miracle… Anyway, I thought that every evening I would post what I had eaten that day as well as my blood sugar readings. Kind of like a journal of sorts. It will be as much for me as you.
I think this will help me to ensure that I stay right on track and keep my diet tight and under control as well as showing you what foods …read more

I have shared in the past that one of my guilty pleasures in life is perusing the website Perez Hilton for all the important news in and around Hollywood, hahaha. I was joking on the important part… Well, one of my other very embarrassing, as my husband calls it, lil’ pleasures in life is my good ol’ People magazine! I love the dirt, the accusations and the occasional really good, informative story, which is what this would fall under.
Some of you might have already seen the article and read through it but for those that didn’t, I’m going to share. …read more

Ch-ch-ch-changes… I really dislike when I read that how we have been doing what we have done for years, it is now not how it should be done! Are you following me? We all know as diabetics we prick our lil’ ol’ fingers and make sure that we keep our blood sugar levels within “normal” limits approximately 4 times a day. The typical, and I say typical because I know that every diabetic is different, is to check our blood glucose in the morning before breakfast, before we eat our lunch, before we eat our dinner and then once before …read more

We are getting closer to cracking the code on gestational diabetes and thus providing more treatment options for all diabetics. Researchers out of Stanford University School of Medicine have been closely examining the protein called menin in the pancreas. It is already known to help prevent cancer in the pancreas as well as other organs but now… we have a more specific gestational diabetes implication.
According to Kim’s work in mice, the pancreas accomplishes that adaptive growth by producing less menin during pregnancy. With less of the brake present, the pancreatic islet cells can divide, and this growth provides the additional …read more

Researchers have discovered a new congenital heart disease. What does this have to do with diabetes? Well, it seems that the heart muscle in this case does not depend on and use glycogen for energy in crunch time thus leaving the heart void of activity. So, the children will suddenly collapse and die with little or no preceding symptoms other then low energy levels.
This is very scary; however, with the new research brings new hope both for the children involved and diabetics. It has been long been known that one theory of type 2 diabetes is that reduced formation of …read more

With an eye on curing diabetes, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys — all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection.
Wow! Pretty darn cool. Within three weeks the transplanted “primordia” cells became embedded in three of the monkeys in which they were transferred. And the kicker… they started secreting pig insulin in response to rising blood sugars just like expected in a healthy “individual”.
The primates used in the study all had type 1 diabetes. …read more

I know that I have written about something similar to this in the past, but here is new research that offers a non invasive way to analyze blood sugars amongst type 1 diabetics.
By using a chemical analysis method developed for air-pollution testing, UC Irvine chemists and pediatricians have found that children with type-1 diabetes exhale significantly higher concentrations of methyl nitrates when they are hyperglycemic.
The methyl nitrate exhaled concentrations were found to be at least 10 times higher in diabetic children experiencing hyperglycemia than when they are not. Wow! This is very exciting news indeed for possible non …read more

U.S. biomedical engineers have demonstrated a smart particle insulin release system that detects glucose spikes and releases insulin to counter them. Researchers at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences, led by Associate Professor Ananth Annapragada, said the system is designed to mimic the functions of the pancreas, which produces the hormone insulin.
This system worked in stabilizing blood sugars in animals for up to 6 hours. How does this work in plain English… or at least easy to understand words? Well, there are liposomes that are coated with sugars to form the inhaled particles, and …read more

Once again, I am going to say, “don’t shoot the messenger”. Before anyone gets all in a tizzy, take the time to really read through what the research is claiming in its entirety. Yes, they are suggesting that certain breakfast breads are effective in controlling blood sugars through the dinner hour, but they are in no way suggesting that you shove 5 pieces of white toast in your mouth and call it a morning.
“It is known that a carbohydrate-rich breakfast with low GI can moderate increases in blood sugar after lunch. But my results show that low GI in …read more

Scientists have revisited the fact that certain neurons in the brain are activated by glucose. And this time they have identified that defects in the brain’s ability to respond to glucose can play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes. How is this research of clinical use you ask…
“By identifying glucose-sensing neurons in the brain as important players in regulating glucose, our findings may open a new avenue of research,” Dr. Coppari said. “Because these neurons play a role in maintaining glucose homeostasis throughout the body, an impairment in their glucose-sensing ability could play a pathogenic …read more