Diabetes vs. an Eating Disorder is a Deadly Combination!

Fusing type 1 diabetes and an eating disorder is a dangerous combination. In order to lose weight, some individuals have realized that a “diet” of skipping their insulin shots while suffering from bulimia can lead to weight loss. The grave dangers of these actions, of course, are not taken into consideration. “Diabulimia” is becoming more common as people become increasingly obsessed with diabetic weight loss.

 

It is estimated that 450,000 American women with type 1 diabetes have either skipped or reduced their insulin in order to lose weight. This is one third of the total number of women with diabetes.

A few studies have shown that people with diabetes are twice as likely to develop an eating disorder, which can be deadly. There is a thin line between watching your blood sugar levels, carbohydrates and diet in general, to an unhealthy relationship with food.

 

"Diabulimia"

Although the term “Diabulimia” isn’t recognized as a medical condition, the American Diabetes Association has known about the behavior for years.  “Diabulimics” have the same fear of insulin as the anorexic has of food. They know they must inject/eat in order to survive, but the terror or gaining weight overpowers all rational judgment.

The Risks of Type 1 Diabetes and Weight Loss

To skip or decrease insulin without a Doctor’s approval can result in falling into a coma or death. The consequences are serious and the need to lose weight can heighten the eating disorder behavior. In the long term, there are a myriad of complications that can arise: blindness, the need for an amputation, and kidney failure are the most critical.

How can you tell if someone is “Diabulimic”?

·                       they have type 1 diabetes

·                       a change in eating habits, a new diet or an obsession with food

·                       trips to the bathroom after meals to purge

·                       low energy and high blood-sugar levels ation

·                       a refusal to take insulin at the appropriate times

·                       chest pain, heart palpitations

·                       muscle cramps, lower back pain

·                       frequent bacterial infections

Getting "Extra Help" with your Medicare Prescription Drug Plan

The Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are working together to get you Extra Help with your Medicare prescription drug plan costs. If you have limited resources and income, you may qualify for Extra Help with the costs—monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and prescription co-payments—related to a Medicare prescription drug plan. To find out if you qualify, Social Security will need to know the value of your savings, investments, and real estate (other than your home), and your income. If you are married and living with your spouse, we will need information about both of you. By filing an Application for Extra Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs (Form SSA-1020), Social Security will determine if you are eligible for the Extra Help. Most of the questions on the application deal with resources and income. Social Security will not ask for documentation initially to support the information you provide, but will match your information with data available from other Federal agencies.

New Blood Test May Become Cancer Detection Tool

New Blood Test May Become Cancer Detection Tool

Written By Elizabeth Price on 05 January 2011.    

Johnson & Johnson announced they are joining forces to bring a blood test so sensitive; it can distinguish a single cancer cell in the midst of a billion healthy ones. This announcement means the test is closer to being used by your doctor as an early diagnostic tool.

Dr. Daniel Haber, one of the test’s inventors and chief of Massachusetts General Hospital’s cancer center, describes the test as a liquid biopsy. The blood test eliminates the need for agonizingly painful tissue samples and it offers an alternative to repetitive body scans for monitoring. In due course, researchers hope the blood test will become an alternative method of screening, reducing the need for mammograms and colonoscopies.

Four of the nation’s largest and most prestigious cancer centers will join forces with the Boston scientists who invented the tests and Johnson & Johnson in a multi-million dollar experimental project later this year. The project will incorporate experimental studies in order to ready the test for the market.
Use of the new blood test would allow doctors to monitor a patient’s response to a drug regimen more efficiently. The doctors would quickly be able to find out if the current treatment is working, ultimately lengthening life spans of cancer patients.

Other Injectable Medications from the ADA

Besides insulin, there are two other injectable drugs used to treat diabetes.

Pramlintide

Pramlintide (brand name Symlin) is a synthetic form of the hormone amylin, which is produced along with insulin by the beta cells in the pancreas. Amylin, insulin, and another hormone, glucagon, work in an interrelated fashion to maintain normal blood glucose levels.
Pramlintide injections taken with meals have been shown to modestly improve A1C levels without causing increased hypoglycemia or weight gain and even promote modest weight loss. The primary side effect is nausea, which tends to improve over time and as an individual patient determines his or her optimal dose.

Because of differences in chemistry, Pramlintide cannot be combined in the same vial or syringe with insulin and must be injected separately. Pramlintide has been approved for people with type 1 diabetes who are not achieving their goal A1C levels and for people with type 2 diabetes who are using insulin and are not achieving their A1C goals.

Exenatide

Exenatide (brand name Byetta) is the first in a new class of drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes called incretin mimetics. Exenatide is a synthetic version of exendin-4, a naturally-occurring hormone that was first isolated from the saliva of the lizard known as a Gila monster.
Exenatide works to lower blood glucose levels primarily by increasing insulin secretion. Because it only has this effect in the presence of elevated blood glucose levels, it does not tend to increase the risk of hypoglycemia on its own, although hypoglycemia can occur if taken in conjunction with a sulfonylurea. The primary side effect is nausea, which tends to improve over time.

Like pramlintide, exenatide is injected with meals and, as with pramlintide, patients using exenatide have generally experienced modest weight loss as well as improved glycemic control. Exenatide has been approved for use by people with type 2 diabetes who have not achieved their target A1C levels using metformin, a sulfonylurea, or a combination of metformin and a sulfonylurea.

Tips for Emergency Preparedness from the ADA

We have always needed to be ready for emergencies. Wherever you live, there is the chance of something happening to disrupt your daily life, whether it's a hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado, or a blizzard.

Recent concerns about terrorist attacks have simply increased our awareness of the need to be prepared if a disaster strikes.

Have a Plan

Everyone is now advised to have a plan in place in the case of an emergency, and people with diabetes must consider proper diabetes care when they make emergency plans.

Emergency Supplies

Consider storing three days worth of diabetes supplies, which, depending on how you take care of your diabetes, could include oral medication, insulin, insulin delivery supplies, lancets, extra batteries for your meter and/or pump, and a quick-acting source of glucose. You may also want to have an extra glucagon emergency kit.
All these items should be kept in an easy-to-identify container, and stored in a location that is easy to get to in an emergency.

Emergency Contacts

Your emergency supply kit should also contain a list of emergency contacts and, if you are a parent of a child in school or daycare, physician's orders that may be on file with your child's school or day care provider. As always, it is a good idea to wear medical identification that will enable colleagues, school staff members, or emergency medical personnel to identify and address your medical needs.

If you are a parent of a child with diabetes, it is important that your child's school has clearly identified the school staff members who will assist your child in the event of an emergency evacuation.

For those who are away from home, consider informing your colleagues, friends, and family members about your diabetes and where your emergency supply kit is kept.

Taking a few minutes right now to gather supplies and inform those around you about your diabetes, may make a world of difference in maintaining blood glucose control and staying healthy under stressful circumstances.

What's On The Horizon with Diabetes... ?

The Consumer Guide lists products that were on the market as of Oct. 1, 2010. Other products were on the cusp of being released when this issue went to press or are expected in the not-too-distant future.

Jewel
One of the most anticipated new products of the year is Debiotech’s tubeless Jewel “patch” pump. The Jewel is just under half an inch thick yet its reservoir holds 450 units of insulin. Not only that, but you can deliver a bolus via the patch pump itself. The base of the pump (which holds the reservoir) is disposed of after six days while the hard outer casing is reusable. But what most sets this pump apart is its lack of a handheld remote. Instead, the Jewel works with any smart phone that runs on an Android operating system. Phone functions—receiving calls, text messages, and e-mails—are suspended when your phone is in pump mode, so you can adjust your dose, deliver a bolus, or fine-tune system settings without interruptions. Swiss manufacturer Debiotech says the system is awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and may be released at the end of 2011.

t:slim
Insulin pump users looking for a thin, sleek device may be pleased with Tandem’s t:slim pump. The pump, which is 25 percent slimmer than current versions on the market, features a high-contrast, color touch screen. Despite its thinner profile, the t:slim will hold 300 units of insulin. It does not have FDA approval yet.

Paradigm Veo
Like the MiniMed Paradigm Real-Time Revel, also from Medtronic, the Veo is an insulin pump and CGM all in one. Unlike the Revel, though, the Veo automatically suspends insulin delivery when glucose drops too low. The system is currently undergoing additional clinical trials, and while it’s on the market in Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, the Veo has yet to be approved by the FDA for use stateside.

iBGStar
Sanofi-Aventis and AgaMatrix have teamed up to create a USB-sized meter that turns an iPhone or iPod Touch into a blood glucose meter. Use the small device alone in a pinch (its face displays the reading), or plug it into an iPhone or iPod to check blood glucose levels, make notes, chart trends, and analyze results using the Diabetes Manager app. The iBGStar was pending submission to the FDA at press time.

WaveSense Direct Connect Cable
This cable is designed to connect AgaMatrix’s Jazz meter with an iPhone or iPod Touch so results are transmitted automatically. From there, users can graph glucose levels, track trends, and annotate readings with the WaveSense app. The Direct Connect Cable is pending FDA approval and is not yet for sale.

Jazz Wireless
AgaMatrix’s Jazz Wireless meter allows for wireless transfer of data from meter to computer using Bluetooth technology. While the Jazz Wireless is FDA approved, it’s not yet available to consumers.

Fora Care D30, D40, POCT, and G31
Fora Care is prepping to release two blood glucose monitors (the G31 and POCT) and two combined blood glucose/blood pressure monitors (the D30 and D40). Most notable are the G31 and D40. Both let users wirelessly transmit data to a computer.

Afrezza
A few years ago, Pfizer abandoned its inhaled insulin, Exubera, due to poor sales. But MannKind Corp. hopes the market is ready for another inhalable insulin. Afrezza is an ultra rapid–acting mealtime insulin powder that’s delivered via a compact inhaler. The company’s data show that Afrezza lowers blood glucose levels as effectively as traditional injected insulin. The medication has been submitted to the FDA and is awaiting approval.