First ADA approved sugar free energy drink Pit Bull

Via Foodingredientsfirst.com

In the midst of the energy drink boom, Hip Hop Beverage Corporation, a Minority Business Enterprise that manufactures Pit Bull Sugar Free Energy Drink, has been the first energy drink approved by the American Diabetes Association as a free food product for diabetic consumers. Based on the nutrient analysis, serving size and ingredient composition, one serving (8fl. oz) of Pit Bull Sugar Free Energy Drink has no calories, no carbohydrates and most importantly, no sugar. These dietary exchanges are based on the Exchange List for Meal Planning by the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetic Association.

I know there are plenty of you diabetics out there addicted to energy drinks, which one is your favorite? I know I used to be hooked on Low-carb Monster and man, was that a hard habit to kick. Though now I can say I’m quite happy with my organic green tea

First non-evasive diabetes screening device

Via Foodingredientsfirst.com

A one-minute experimental diabetes screening system that uses light to detect diabetes-related biomarkers found in skin regardless of color will be previewed tomorrow for the first time at the 67th annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association held at McCormick Place. Previously reported studies of a prototype of the portable desktop system have shown it outperforms both the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and the A1C test as a rapid and non-invasive screen for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The investigational device, not yet approved for use in the United States, is being designed for use at physician-supervised point-of-care locations.

Known as Scout DS™, manufactured by VeraLight Inc. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, the simple-to-use device weighs about 10 pounds and does not require the patient to fast or provide a blood sample. Using light directed onto a small area of an individual’s forearm the device is able to detect abnormal concentrations of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), which correlate well with diabetes and pre-diabetes and are associated with the disease’s serious complications. The medical device is slated for U.S. market introduction in the second half of 2008.

This looks especially cool but really, 10 pounds?

Artificial Diabetes Pancreas

Via Foodingredientsfirst.com

Scientists in Cambridge say they are moving a step closer to developing an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes.

They are conducting trials in Cambridge with 12 youngsters aged five to 18.

All have type-one diabetes which means their pancreas does not produce insulin – the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.

I have to say either these kids are pretty brave or I’m a big sissy. Though if they get this stable and properly working it would be a really great thing. I just hope it doesn’t malfunction in one of these testers

Well, we’ve officially been launched for a month now! We wanted to share some overall stats of the system, how we’re doing and a tiny bit of the great stuff to come If you haven’t already don’t forget to get your own account free.

We got hit and continue to get hit with loads of traffic but we’re happy to say things are holding up great.

We’ve gotten great response in these first 4 weeks of launch that have helped us greatly improve the system. Within just the first few days alone we had hundreds of new users sign up and thanks to people seeing the value of the system and spreading the word virally this trend is still happening.

First 30 Day Stats

Within the first 4 weeks of launch:

Sugar Readings

• Over 17,500 Sugar Entries Recorded.
• Averaging 147 mg/dL and 9.2 mmol/L respectively

Top 5 Meds:

1. Lantus
2. Humalog
3. Novalog
4. Metformin
5. NovoRapid

Foods

While only premium members can track food/carbs, plenty of food/carb tracking going on:

• Some of you LOVE yogurt, popcorn, peanut butter, orange juice and milk
• Over 2850 meals have been eaten via over 750 different foods
• Over 85,100g grams of carbs consumed
• Avg carbs per food entry: 134g
• Avg carbs per meal: 29g

Before and After Meal Sugar Readings

Before you ask, yes these types of graphs and trends will be making their way into your own SugarStats account. So you premium users can look forward to an even greater look into how your meals affect your blood sugars.

Overall Averages:

• Before Breakfast: 143 mg/dL
• After Breakfast: 154 mg/dL
• Before Lunch: 141 mg/dL
• After Lunch: 150 mg/dL
• Before Dinner: 151 mg/dL
• After Dinner: 158 mg/dL

Activities

Another premium only feature but very important to keep track of:

1. Over 6200 minutes of physical activity tracked. Over 103 hours.
2. Over 206 minutes per day (3.4 hours)

Some of your favorite exercises include:

1. Walking
2. Swimming (one of my favs)
3. Dancing
4. Yoga

Overall Averages (in mg/dL):

• Before Activity: 147
• After Activity: 150

What’s to come

Besides the few that really want to track everything in detail, we’ve gotten absolutely great response from you guys. You’ve told us you love how simple and easy to use the system is. This is great to hear as that is what it was built for, so the average diabetic will actually WANT to use it and then actually be able to understand the statistics.

Even so there are plenty of places we can improve on and you’re helping greatly with that. While we won’t go into detail on our future plans (gotta keep some excitement huh? ), we’re working on some really cool stuff. We’ll give a few little hints:

• Would you like to share your stats (on your blog etc) for all to see your progress?
• Think your mobile phone/PDA browser could be more useful for adding entries?
• Would you like to add friends within SugarStats to see their stats and create a support system?
• Do you use Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc?
• Want to show your people better and more informative graphs? (especially for premium users)

Ok ok, thats enough for now. We don’t have dates for specific features but there is plenty of exciting stuff going on over here So don’t forget to create your free account.

Finally, THANK YOU

And finally a big thanks to all our users and BETA testers who have helped craft the site and application. Your support and feedback has been tremendous and we really appreciate all of it. Stay tuned because there is more to come for sure!

Glaxo’s diabetes drug may cause heart attacks

Via Nonunk.com

Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s widely used drug for treating type 2 diabetes, raises the risk of heart death by 64 percent and the risk of heart attack by 43 percent, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The news about Avandia, a $3 billion a year drug also known as rosiglitazone, triggered a free fall in GSK’s shares, which closed off more than 5 percent on the London Stock Exchange. The slide continued on the
New York Stock Exchange, with shares closing down nearly 8 percent.

This is particularly disturbing news, considering the sheer amount of Type-2 Diabetics out there 64%!!!! I just wish they would have done more testing and do more testing the next time around (If there is a next time for them).

Tony Blair talks about healthy living, including UK diabetes stats

Via Gaurdian.co.uk

Obesity is rising rapidly. 1 in 4 adults and children in the UK is obese, and rising. The social effects of alcohol abuse are widespread and worsening. In the last 30 years of the 20th century the death rate from liver cirrhosis went up 8 fold amongst men and almost 7 fold amongst women aged 35 to 44. Smoking may account for half of the social class health inequality. An estimated 1.7 million people in the UK have type 2 diabetes. 10 per cent of NHS resources are used to treat diabetes. This could double by 2010. And it is avoidable. Three quarters of diabetics are type 2 diabetics and two thirds of them have a disease that could be preventable with exercise diet and more healthy choices.

While I don’t know the complete diabetes statistics in the UK (Does anyone else?), that is a pretty large number. Right now I believe the U.S., UK, Australia and India are having the largest surges of diabetes diagnoses, especially Type-2.

What is Gestational Diabetes and what causes it?

Via Fox30online.com

Diabetes that occurs as a result of pregnancy is known as gestational (jess-TAY-shun-ul) diabetes (die-uh-BEE-tees). Risk factors for this condition include obesity, a family history of diabetes, age over 25, or previously having a child who was very large, had birth defects, or was stillborn.

While not at the explosive growth of Type-2 Diabetes, I keep hearing and seeing more of Gestational diabetes being a big problem. Especially in the Island (Hawaii etc) they are having a pretty hard time dealing with the newly diagnosed.

We’ve been getting some great feedback recently and I must say it is great to hear. I know using SugarStats personally has made a huge difference in my life but hearing it from other people really confirms how it was all worth In a few weeks of simple tracking and bringing his awareness to it his average dropped 10%!

Manny from TuDiabetes.com has been using it himself for only a few weeks and posted a review with some great things to say, he even made a video!

If you don’t see the video here is a direct link to it on YouTube

If any of you have experiences or feedback of SugarStats you’d like to share then we’d love to hear it, send it over to info@sugarstats.com

There has been a lot of stuff going on lately over here. We’ve been doing various research over the past year regarding online diabetes research and have come across a lot of great stuff. I thought it would be worth collecting all these snippets of info up in one post to share with you all what we’ve found. It is more of a reference list in case you’re interested in looking them up, we’ll work on trying to find links if any of these studies are online.

There have been at least 16 scientific studies done over the last few years showing the positive affects that an online diabetes management system like SugarStats.com would have on diabetics. These studies have been published by prestigious organizations such as the NIH, JAMA, Diabetes Care(American Diabetes Association), and several others. The following are some of the studies we’ve found, enjoy

1. De Leo G,Krishna S,Boren S,Fato M,Porro I,Balas EA.Web and computer telephone-based diabetes education: Lessons learned from the development and use of a call center. Journal of Medical Systems.29(4):343-355.
2. Jay A. Johnson, MD, FACC, attending staff physician with Stanford University Rahul Singal, MD 2005. Impact of a Web-Based Diabetes Program and Personal Health Record on Diabetes Quality of Care, Journal of Managed Care Medicine Vol. 9, No. 2
3. Baker AM, Lafata JE, Ward RE, Whitehouse F, Divine G. 2001 A Web-based diabetes care management support system. Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, USA. 2001 Apr;27(4):179-90
.
4. McKay HG, Feil EG, Glasgow RE, Brown JE. 1998. Feasibility and use of an Internet support service for diabetes self-management. Diabetes Educ. 1998 Mar-Apr;24(2):174-9.
5. Bell JA, Patel B, Malasanos T. 2006. Knowledge improvement with web-based diabetes education program: brainfood. Diabetes Technol Ther. 2006 Aug;8(4):444-8.
6. Deo SS, Deobagkar DN, Deobagkar DD. 2005. Design and development of a web-based application for diabetes patient data management. Inform Prim Care. 2005;13(1):35-41. Inform Prim Care. 2005;13(1):42-4.
7. Kwon HS, Cho JH, Kim HS, Lee JH, Song BR, Oh JA, Han JH, Kim HS, Cha BY, Lee KW, Son HY, Kang SK, Lee WC, Yoon KH. 2004. Development of web-based diabetic patient management system using short message service (SMS). Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2004 Dec;66 Suppl 1:S133-7. PMID: 15563964
8. Ferrer-Roca O, Franco Burbano K, Cardenas A, Pulido P, Diaz-Cardama A. 2004. Web-based diabetes control. J Telemed Telecare. 2004;10(5):277-81. PMID: 15494085
9. Riva A, Bellazzi R, Stefanelli M. 1997. A Web-based system for the intelligent management of diabetic patients. MD Comput. 1997 Sep-Oct;14(5):360-4. PMID: 9308344
10. James B. Meigs, MD, MPH1,2, Enrico Cagliero, MD3, Anil Dubey, MD4, Patricia Murphy-Sheehy, MPH1, Catharyn Gildesgame, MBA2, Henry Chueh, MD2,4, Michael J. Barry, MD1, Daniel E. Singer, MD1,2 and David M. Nathan, MD3. 2003. A Controlled Trial of Web-Based Diabetes Disease Management. The MGH Diabetes Primary Care Improvement Project. Diabetes Care 26:750-757, 2003 © 2003 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc.
11. Christopher D. Saudek, MD; Rachel L. Derr, MD; Rita R. Kalyani, MD. 2006. Assessing Glycemia in Diabetes Using Self-monitoring Blood Glucose and Hemoglobin A1c. JAMA. 2006;295:1688-1697.
12. Does Diabetes Disease Management Save Money and Improve Outcomes? Diabetes Care 25:684-689, 2002 © 2002 by the American Diabetes Association, Inc. Epidemiology/Health Services/Psychosocial Research
13. Glasgow RE, Strycker LA. Preventive care practices for diabetes management in two primary care samples. Am J Prev Med 2000;19:9—14.
14. Chien-Tsai Liu, PHD1, Yu-Ting Yeh, RN2, Ting-I Lee, MD3 and Yu-Chuan Li, MD, PHD1© 2005 Letters: Observations on Online Services for Diabetes Management by the American Diabetes Association Diabetes Care 28:2807a-2808, 2005
15. Hyuk-Sang Kwon, MD1, Jae-Hyoung Cho, MD1, Hee-Soo Kim, MD1, Bok-Re Song, RN2, Seung-Hyun Ko, MD, PHD1, Jung-Min Lee, MD1, Sung-Rae Kim, MD, PHD1, Sang-Ah Chang, MD, PHD1, Hee-Seung Kim, RN, PHD2, Bong-Yun Cha, MD, PHD1, Kwang-Woo Lee, MD, PHD1, Ho-Young Son, MD, PHD1, Jin-Hee Lee, MS3, Won-Chul Lee, MD, PHD3 and Kun-Ho Yoon, MD, PHD1. © 2004 by the American Diabetes Association. Establishment of blood glucose monitoring system using the Internet. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:478-483
16. Graham T. McMahon, MB, BCH1, et al. 2005. Web-Based Care Management in Patients With Poorly Controlled Diabetes. Diabetes Care 28:1624-1629. © 2005 American Diabetes Association, Inc.

Diabetes stem cell cure

Via http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

“Diabetics using stem-cell therapy have been able to stop taking insulin injections for the first time, after their bodies started to produce the hormone naturally again.

In a breakthrough trial, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were given drugs to suppress their immune systems followed by transfusions of stem cells drawn from their own blood.

The results show that insulin-dependent diabetics can be freed from reliance on needles by an injection of their own stem cells. The therapy could signal a revolution in the treatment of the condition, which affects more than 300,000 Britons.”

Using honey on diabetic ulsers to save amputation?

Via http://www.scienceblog.com/

“The sore on Catrina Hurlburt’s leg simply wouldn’t heal. Complications from a 2002 car accident left Hurlburt, a borderline diabetic, with recurring cellulitis and staph infections. One of those infections developed into a troublesome open sore that, despite the use of oral antibiotics, continued to fester for nearly eight months. Then Hurlburt’s physician, Jennifer Eddy of UW Health’s Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic, suggested she try using topical honey. Within a matter of months, the sore had healed completely.”

Blood sugar measurement without needles using freakin’ lasers!

Via http://www.healthdecisions.org/

“Hong Kong scientists have invented a device to help diabetics measure their blood sugar painlessly for the first time without pricking their fingers. The size of a mobile phone, the instrument emits a weaker form of infrared, or near-infrared, which penetrates the skin on the finger and homes in on the bloodstream.”

Hospitalizations of Diabetic U.S. Children Surging

Via http://www.bloomberg.com/

“The number of U.S. children hospitalized by a form of diabetes almost tripled from 1997 to 2003, largely because of obesity, according to a study.

Children admitted with the ailment, Type 2 diabetes, had longer stays in hospitals and more diagnoses on record than patients with a different form of diabetes, researchers said in an abstract to be presented today at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual conference in Toronto. Children ages 9 to 12 years old had the highest hospitalization rates.”

Commentary: This is really sad to hear and something hopefully we as a diabetic community can change through education and better management. As someone who has been hospitalized for diabetes before I don’t wish this upon anyone, especially children.

Continuous Glucose Management (CGM) to change diabetes therapy

Via http://www.huliq.com/

“The convergence of small-scale electronics and sophisticated biocompatible product designs is giving hope for a better future to millions of diabetes patients worldwide and may provide possible future diabetes treatment and therapy.

Glucose monitors that are designed to be implanted and can continually measure glucose levels have the capability to improve glycemic control and patient wellbeing. By integrating the sensing element, electronics, and a power source in a single package, implantable glucose monitors are creating new options for caregivers and their diabetes patients.”

Commentary: This is something I’ve been pretty excited about lately. There has been a lot development and more and more devices being passed by FDA. It opens up a huge door to compile massive amounts of info daily on what is affecting your blood sugars and when. Hundreds of readings per day without having to poke your finger each time, awesome! I can’t wait to see what that will look like in SugarStats.

FDA passes approval for Dexcom’s 7-day Continuous Glucose Management System

Via http://www.shareholder.com/

“DexCom, Inc. (NASDAQ: DXCM) today announced that it has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for SEVEN™, its 7-Day STS® Continuous Glucose Monitoring System. SEVEN is DexCom’s second generation device designed to help people with diabetes better manage their diabetes and control their glucose levels. Widely recognized as one of the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, diabetes is a chronic disease with no known cure that afflicts approximately 20 million people in the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). In the U.S., diabetes is the leading cause of adult blindness, end stage kidney failure and lower limb amputations. People suffering from diabetes are also more significantly at risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke.”

In case you haven’t been following the case going all around the internet, Doug Burns (Mr. Universe) was being sued after being maced and arrested for having a hypoglycemic episode a month or two ago.

But as Diabetes mine reports, the charges against Mr. Burns are being dropped.

There has been a great backing and support of the diabetic community to help get Doug through this and stand up for what is right. I think it factored in big time here, we really can make a difference.

This is a great thing for many reasons. For one, as many have pointed out, this could have been ANY of us, not just the high profile Mr. Universe. Also, more people need to be educated and exposed to the issues and situation that can occur regarding diabetes and have an overall sense of compassion and understanding for those of us who have to deal with it daily. In the end, a little understanding and compassion goes a long way.

The high cost of diabetes

Via http://www.sugarstats.com/

“Nearly 3 out of 5 of the 18 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes suffer from at least one serious health complication such as heart attack or chronic kidney disease, according to a new study. Taken together, complications from the disease accounted for an estimated $22.9 billion in medical spending in 2006; annual health care costs per person were nearly $10,000, almost three times higher than for non diabetics.”

Find out about the sugar in your food

Via http://healthwealth.wordpress.com/

“Almost any food we eat may contain sugar. Even those with marketing ads saying the product is sugar free…may actually mean “no added table sugar” BUT contains other sources of sugar hidden under a different name so BE AWARE!

It is important to remember that sugar can come in many forms. You may think you are eating sugar free foods but hidden in the ingredients are the likeness of sugar that can still contribute to calories.”

Lifestyle changes for Type-2 Diabetics

Via http://www.rocklintoday.com/

“Type 2 diabetes (T2D), now epidemic in the United States, is a national tragedy, as 1 in 3 Americans – born in the 21st century – are expected to become diabetic, even young children.

I call it tragic because more than 90% of T2D cases are preventable – with fairly simple changes in lifestyle. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, non-traumatic limb amputation, and nerve damage. Diabetes increases the likelihood of stroke and heart disease by 2-4 times; Alzheimer’s disease is 60% more likely. There is no end to diabetes complications.”

FDA clears the New FreeStyle Lite

Via http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/

“Abbott Diabetes Care announced today the launch of its FreeStyle Lite™ blood glucose monitoring system for people with diabetes after receiving a 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The new FreeStyle Lite system has an innovative automatic calibration feature that eliminates the manual coding step usually required by most blood glucose meters before starting a new vial of test strips. The easy-to-use FreeStyle Lite meter allows people with diabetes to test quickly and more easily.”

Depression may trigger diabetes in older adults

Via http://www.eurekalert.org/

“Chronic depression or depression that worsens over time may cause diabetes in older adults, according to new Northwestern University research.

This is the first national study to suggest that depression alone—and not lifestyle factors like being overweight –can trigger Type 2 diabetes in adults 65 and older, a population with a high prevalence of diabetes and depression. The report will be published April 23 in Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study examined 4,681 men and women 65 and older from Forsyth County, N.C.; Sacramento County, Calif.; Washington County, Md.; and Pittsburgh, Pa., annually for 10 years.”

Scientists identify 7 diabetic genes

http://www.nytimes.com/ NYTimes Login Required