My new blog,  “Fitness and Photography for Fun” is a special part of my Web site. The reason for it is to inspire other people — particularly people with diabetes — to get the exercise they need in a way that they enjoy.

For me it’s photographing nature. For some people it’s listening to music they love on their iPod. For others it’s going out with friends.

When you do something that you love, it’s easy. Even if it’s also exercise. I make my exercise easy and enjoyable for myself by taking along my camera whenever I go out.

When I was in high school, I got my first film camera. I went digital a few years ago. I love to take photographs of the beauty of nature everywhere that I go.

[Read more →]

Any time is a good time to lose weight if your body mass index is over 25. So I’m surprised to learn that there is a best time.

A large study that the professional journal Diabetes Care will publish in its October issue indicates that if you have diabetes, the best time to lose weight is right after your diagnosis. Even if you gain back that weight, by taking off the pounds then you have a better chance of keeping your blood glucose and blood pressure levels under reasonably good control.

The study comes from Kaiser Permanente in Oregon and Washington, one of the country’s largest health maintenance organizations with about 480,000 members. Its Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, has taken the lead in analyzing the electronic health records of its members. This is one HMO that knows how the improved health of its members can improve the organization’s bottom line at the same time — and acts on that knowledge.
[Read more →]

The diabetes drug Byetta can help us control our blood glucose and lose weight. That’s huge — and just the beginning of the story.

Full disclosure: I own 100 shares of stock in Amylin, the company that developed Byetta.

About a year ago, after the Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Chicago, I reported here how Byetta can reduce our risk of heart attacks and strokes. These are the most common and deadly complications of diabetes.

Now a study presented at the ADA’s recent Scientific Sessions in San Francisco indicates that the reduced risk to our hearts may lead to previously unheard of benefits. Taking Byetta can lower our chance of dying compared with other diabetes drugs. The Times says that the chance of dying while taking Byetta is about 75 percent lower than on the other drugs.
[Read more →]

You can conquer sleep apnea. I know you can because I conquered a most severe form of it. And I’ve now even given away both of my continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, which is the standard treatment for overweight people who have sleep apnea.

About half of all of us who have diabetes also suffer from sleep apnea. While not all of us who have diabetes suffer from it, everyone with sleep apnea suffers. People lose their jobs because they nod off to sleep at work rather than at night. People crash their cars because they fall asleep at the wheel. Even those who don’t get fired or have traffic accidents suffer by being sleepy much of the time.

My fear of killing myself and my passengers by nodding off during an afternoon drive was in fact what finally persuaded me to seek treatment. Four years ago, when I finally began to get my sleep apnea under control with a CPAP machine, I wrote my first article about it. That article, for Diabetes Wellness News, is now online.
[Read more →]

Our mouths are key to diabetes control. And not just what we put in them.

How would you like to reduce your A1C level by 0.67 percent — like from 6.67 to 6.0 — without putting less in your mouth or even increasing your exercise? This third type of A1C control may be the easiest ever.

Research presented at last month’s Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association that I attended in San Francisco made this point. Dr. George Taylor, associate professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan, reported there on recent studies demonstrating the association between periodontal problems and the complications of diabetes. He spoke in the first symposium ever by dentists to ADA meetings.

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

One of the biggest and most important diabetes trials is well underway. But so far it hasn’t received much attention. That will change

The Look AHEAD trial began in 2001 and is scheduled to conclude in 2012. In it they randomly assigned 5,145 overweight people with type 2 diabetes to either a lifestyle intervention or to enhanced diabetes support and education.

AHEAD is shorthand for Action for Health and Diabetes. We sure like catchy acronyms, don’t we!

[Read more →]

Today I review the most beautiful blood glucose meter ever made. Not only does it look beautiful but it also works beautifully.

It’s the Bionime Rightest GM100. The Bionime Corp. in Taiwan makes it. Its appearance reminds me of Apple products, especially some of their iPods and remotes.
[Read more →]

San Francisco — For the past five days people with diabetes have taken over downtown San Francisco. More than 20,000 diabetes professionals have been here for the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association. Those of us wearing ADA name badges not only filled the exhibition halls but also San Francisco’s already crowded sidewalks.
[Read more →]

San Francisco — Some numbers that the American Diabetes Association told me today can give you a sense of the scale of its meeting here at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Its 68th Scientific Sessions started Friday and ends tomorrow.

The ADA’s press office says that so far they have counted 15,630 attendees. Most of these are medical professionals. But when they include exhibitors at the many booths, they’ve counted 20,912 people here so far.
[Read more →]