Browsing Tag

diabetes treatment

Diabetes Medication

Comparing Insulins for Type 2s

Some of our doctors don’t help us when they use insulin as a threat: “Unless you reduce your blood glucose, I am going to have to put you on insulin.”

So it’s no surprise that many of us who have type 2 diabetes think we have failed when our doctors prescribe it. This comes from thinking of injecting insulin as a last resort.

It isn’t. More and more of us are now starting to take insulin as soon as our doctors have diagnosed our type 2 diabetes. Probably half of the men in my diabetes support group started taking insulin as a first choice.
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Diabetes Complications

Breaking the Diabetes-Alzheimer’s Connection

Researchers finally know why people with diabetes are more likely to get Alzheimer’s disease. That alone would be big news. The huge news is that we now know what we have to do to break the link.

Did you miss the growing number of reports in the past few years about how those of us who have diabetes are more likely to get Alzheimer’s as we age? I can understand, because until last year I ignored the evidence myself. We have enough on our plate already without worrying about a possible complication many years down the road that until now nobody knew how to prevent anyway.
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Diabetes Basics

Who Can You Trust?

We can’t completely trust anything, anyone, or any organization. Nowhere is this more true than for our health.

Yet we have to decide. Doing nothing is impossible.

A correspondent that I know only as “drscll” prompted these reflections. He or she asked if we could trust even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The question startled me at first, because if any part of our government is trustworthy, I’ve always thought that it was the CDC. Staffed by a dedicated group of people, many of whom put their lives on the line to control epidemics, the CDC deals in facts, not opinions or recommendations.
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Diabetes Complications

Treating Kidney Disease

When we have healthy kidneys, little or no protein appears in the urine. But protein in the urine — technically called proteinuria — is an early sign that our diabetes has damaged the kidney’s filters. It’s a strong risk factor for kidney failure where the only treatment is dialysis.

A progression from diabetes to proteinuria to kidney failure is anything but inevitable. Each step can be a heads up for change.

Now, new studies show that a drug commonly used to treat problems of circulation can also decrease proteinuria. The drug is pentoxifylline, sold under the brand names of Pentoxil and Trental.
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Diabetes Basics

Cutting the Cost of Diabetes Care

Seeing your doctor probably costs a lot more than you think. Even if you have health insurance with a minimal co-pay, that’s not the half of it.

If you need to see your endocrinologist every quarter, these costs can really add up. You need to factor in the cost of travel, which can include meals out and even overnight accommodations, particularly if you live a long way from the doctor’s office. If your child is the one with diabetes, one or both parents will need to take off from work.

Until Kevin McMahon, the president and CEO of Diabetech in Dallas, told me about a new online cost calculator I hadn’t realized what a financial burden these doctor visits could be. Kevin just told me about this neat way to help you determine the cost of these visits.
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