May 24, 2005

Atkins and diabetes and the media

In the past few years, there's been concern and controversy about using the Atkins diet for PWD.

As such, I read an interesting news story circulating on the Internet today, and sought out the original reference. As so frequently happens, there's a misleading headline: Study: Atkins helps diabetes patients.

 The UPI version indicates 12 overweight T2DM patients, on a "modified" Atkins diet, lost weight. And, unsurprisingly to me, but surprising to the endocrinologist, with this weight loss, their diabetes control improved.

The UPI writers drastically abridged the original, more detailed, and balanced story, which is published in the Wellington, NZ, Dominion Post.

1) There were two study dropouts (I wonder why?)
2) "Average levels of bad cholesterol went up"
3) And most telling, the UPI left off the comments that concluded the original story:

Otago University professor of nutrition Jim Mann said the study results were interesting but he was "really nervous" about the suggestion the study endorsed the diet.

"It does not prove anything. When someone loses weight by whatever means their diabetes will improve, that's been known for 50 to 60 years."

When the weight loss stopped, the high-fat diet was likely to increase cholesterol and increase insulin resistance, causing the patient's diabetes to worsen, he said.


I think most diabetes dietitians would agree: weight loss helps control T2 diabetes. You don't need a special diet. Just get on a meal plan, and stay on it.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: New report reveals America's diabetes health is in jeopardy.

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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

May 15, 2005

Abbrevs.

This comment is now available at my other blog, at http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/19076/abbrevs/

BTW, we have a list of diabetes abbreviations at abbreviations; if you are aware of any that aren't listed there, please let us know.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: a book review, Insulin Pump Therapy Demystified.
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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

May 13, 2005

PWD and their products

We recently received another request from a person with diabetes to link to their website promoting their product. Although PWD are not automatically able to create better products, I'd bet they are motivated to do a super-good job.

Here are some companies and/or products I'm aware of:
 If you know of others, let us know, and we'll add them to our webpages, probably at commercial organizations.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: FDA warns consumers about counterfeit drugs purchased in Mexico


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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

May 12, 2005

Etiquette for commenting at Diabetes.Blog.com

Recently, I received a request from a new reader for clarification of etiquette for commenting at Diabetes.Blog.com. Looking around the Internet, there are lots of discussions about etiquette for writing blogs, but relatively few about writing comments (one is at cafe mamma).

So here goes with some thoughts if you want to add comments at Diabetes.Blog.com:

  1. Verify which Discussion Forum you are at before posting comments. You can verify you're in the correct one by looking at the very top of your webbrowser, where it displays something like "Diabetes.Blog.com :: NAME OF FORUM".
    There's a list of current Discussion Forums at Box 8 on the right-side sidebar of every page. There's also a complete list of forums (called List of all Discussion Forums) which again is listed at Box 8 on the sidebar.
    If you put a comment at the wrong Discussion Forum, I may delete it, or may add my own comment to your comment, saying that it's posted in the wrong place. If I delete your comment, and if l'm in a good mood, I'll notify you by e-mail and ask that you add your comment at another forum.
  2. If you want to continue a discussion that you know is off-topic at a different Discussion Forum, it's okay to put a brief note telling folks where the followup will be found. Example: If someone mentions a problem with meal plans at one of our medications forums, you can alert them (and everyone) that you will add a followup comment at Meals/Eating/Nutrition
  3. If you want to send me a private message, please don't post it on the blog, as I'll have to delete it. Instead, e-mail me. My e-mail address is near the bottom of the introduction to every Discussion Forum, as part of my signature:

  4. Bill the diabetesdoc
    info@diabetesmonitor.com

    If you click on my e-mail address, your computer will open your e-mail program and insert my e-mail address automatically.
  5. If it appears to me or others that all you are doing is writing propaganda about a product, I'll delete your comment without warning. Especially if you have the gall to add a hyperlink to your product.
  6. Please understand that I will be ruthless about deleting off-topic comments, to make it easier for people to follow the main topic of that Discussion Forum without the distraction of off-topic comments.

Hope this helps!

Bill the diabetesdoc
info@diabetesmonitor.com

Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/

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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:04:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

BlogJargon

This website has evolved since it started in May 2005, and the readers and me have gradually developed our own jargon that may or may not exist anywhere else in the world (but probably doesn't!).

Examples of our BlogJargon follow; if you have another good one, please add your comment below, and I'll put it into this master list for newcomers to learn (and to laugh along with us!)

  1. Blogquake: What happens when the software underlying this blog becomes unstable and shakes everybody up! You can read about one recent major blogquake and how it affected our readers: CLICK HERE.
  2. Discussion Forums: My term for the postings at Diabetes.Blog.com, which invite people to comment about a designated subject. Off-topic comments are sometimes tolerated, but usually deleted (depending on my whim -- after all, it's my blog!)
  3. Hug Island: The Discussion Forum for Greetings, Best Wishes, and Other Personal Comments: CLICK HERE.
  4. Islands: Readers' term for the postings at Diabetes.Blog.com (see "Discussion Forums")
  5. Readers have invented all sorts of new terms concerning the new diabetes drug Byetta: "lizard spit", "gillyspitkins", "lizard of Az", "yellow spit road", "little brother" and "big brother", and lots more. I'll await reader definitions for each of these and add them here as I get them... And if anyone can remember when a term was first used, let me know, and I'll live link to the earliest reference.

Remember, you can search for information throughout Diabetes.Blog.com, by using your webbrowser's FIND or SEARCH feature while at the earlier forums, or by searching at the advanced search feature that is at the Diabetes Monitor.

Please review and follow our usual ground rules, at Ground Rules. (To share your thoughts, use the "Comments" link immediately below. Instructions for entering comments may be found at How to Enter Comments.)

Bill the diabetesdoc
info@diabetesmonitor.com

Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/


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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:03:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (7) |

Oral insulin available soon - in Equador

As of June 1, 2008, the ability to post new comments at the Discussion Forums at Diabetes.Blog.com has been disabled. The old comments will remain available for you to read.

Please go to Diabetes Discussions to see new comments and to add your thoughts!

Instructions for posting comments may be found at Getting Started.

Thanks.

Generex Biotechnology Corporation has put out a press release indicating they have obtained regulatory approval from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health to sell their proprietary oral insulin spray formulation, called Oral-lyn™. So people in Equador will soon be able to spray insulin into their mouths -- with no assurance of the safety of the product because no large-scale safety studies have yet been done.

Two small studies (on 44 patients) have been published showing that it works: Oral spray insulin in treatment of type 2 diabetes: a comparison of efficacy of the oral spray insulin (Oralin) with subcutaneous (SC) insulin injection, a proof of concept study (this study had 23 patients), and Beneficial effects of addition of oral spray insulin (Oralin) on insulin secretion and metabolic control in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus suboptimally controlled on oral hypoglycemic agents (this study had 21 patients). Elsewhere on the Internet, it is stated that the Equadorian approval was based on the results of clinical trials involving more than 250 patients with diabetes.

But the large-scale, costly Phase III clinical trials required by responsible regulators in the US, Europe, and elsewhere have not yet begun. These studies will involve well over a thousand patients, and must include a sizeable number of patients with over at least a year's exposure to the product.

Why did Generex make this announcement now, before doing any large-scale safety studies? Looks simple to me: according to Generex's CEO, "This approval will mark our transition from a development-stage company to one that will generate revenues from commercial sales." It looks like they need more money to do the big studies. Money from Equadorians, apparently.

I must respectfully disagree with the CEO's next comment, that "This approval will also enhance our ability to procure additional similar jurisdictional approvals around the world." There's simply no way that the FDA or European or other major regulatory agencies will be rushed into approval of a novel route of insulin delivery simply because people in Equador have access to it. Indeed, the other regulatory agencies will scrutinize both the unstarted Phase III safety studies they always require, and the outcomes of people using the product in markets where the product is already approved.

So, although I suppose you could book your airline ticket to Equador to get insulin oral sprays soon, I'd suggest you wait until it's been documented to be safe -- in large studies, and on the good people of Equador.

Bill the diabetesdoc

Disclaimer: I previously worked in pharmacovigilance (drug safety) for sanofi-aventis, who together with Pfizer, is working on development of another alternative form of insulin administration.


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: We're continuing a series titled Physical Activity for Everyone. Today: why should I be active?

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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (5) |

May 10, 2005

Another blogging endocrinologist...

Amy T, of Diabetes Mine, has found another endocrinologist who's been blogging for quite a while: Dr. T. Steven Roosevelt, at the Idaho Diabetes & Endocrine Associates, P.A. His blog is titled Endo-Blog.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: The beginning of a new series, titled Physical Activity for Everyone. Today: The importance of physical activity.


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Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

May 05, 2005

More Diabetes Blogs

I've added seven more blogs about diabetes to the listing at diabetes blogs at the Diabetes Monitor. If you know of others that aren't on the list, please let us all know... if you've started a diabetes-related webblog yourself, don't be humble (ha!) -- go ahead and comment on your creation.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: We're continuing a series of diabetes FAQs from the CDC with FAQs about diabetes - statistics and research.

 




Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (8) |

May 04, 2005

Welcome!

Welcome to Diabetes.Blog.Com.

Amy T, of Diabetes Mine, sort of dared me to set up what might be the first diabetes blog by a diabetes doc (see Medblogs Galore at her blog: "I haven't yet found any endocrinologists who blog"). BTW, if anyone knows of other diabetes blogs, let me know -- I'm keeping a listing of active diabetes blogs at diabetes blogs at the Diabetes Monitor.

Bill the diabetesdoc


Diabetes.Blog.Com is a blogcompanion to our main website, the Diabetes Monitor, which you can find at www.DiabetesMonitor.com

At the Diabetes Monitor today: We're continuing a series of diabetes FAQs from the CDC with FAQs about exercise and diabetes.

 




Posted by Bill the diabetesdoc at 00:00:00 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |