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.
Browsing Tag
Diabetes Risks
The best strategy to save our eyes is to keep our A1C and blood pressure levels as close to normal as possible. But when that strategy doesn’t work, we’ve got to stay ahead of the dangerous changes that can hit us.
That’s the key message that Dr. Niles Utlaut, my ophthalmologist here in Boulder, Colorado, told me a few days ago. The good news, he says, is that eye doctors like him have new tools to fight against those changes.