FOOD FOR THOUGHT
We invite blurbs and tidbit articles for inclusion in this column. Materials received may be edited and used as space permits. Products and services included in this column are for information only and do not imply endorsement by the Diabetes Action Network of the NFB.
Cold Remedies and BG Levels
Some cold sufferers may notice that as they sneeze, cough, and grope for relief, their blood sugars are unusually elevated. Some of this rise will be the body's normal response to the stress of infection, but some may also come from the over-the-counter products we take to feel better. Many decongestants contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, a cousin to adrenalin. This tends to raise blood glucose levels. Many liquid medications contain a lot of sugar (ask your pharmacist about sugar-free medications). Many liquid "cough and cold" medicines contain alcohol up to 25%. Take care, and remember to test your blood more frequently when you are ill.
Bypass Better for Some Diabetics
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in late September 1996, issued a clinical alert recommending bypass surgery instead of angioplasty for some diabetics who have coronary artery disease.
The recommendations apply to diabetics with more than one blocked artery and who take insulin or oral medication to lower blood sugar.
An NHLBI study, the largest to date comparing the two procedures, found that 19 percent of these diabetics died within five years after bypass surgery, compared to 35 percent of those after angioplasty.
The findings do not apply to heart patients without diabetes, whose death rate, at nine percent, was the same for both treatments.
Night-time Hypo's
Successful diabetes self management is a balancing act between medication, diet, exercise, and the unique nature of an individual's diabetes. To preserve tight control, many folks cut their per-meal food intake to the limit, and then some of them find they need a late night snack to keep sugars from dipping too low before morning. What should you eat? Is there anything that you can take at bedtime, to keep from having to get up and eat at 2 or 3 a.m.?
Medical Foods, Inc., announces NiteBite timed-release Glucose Bar. NiteBite, available in chocolate fudge or peanut butter flavor, 100 calories per bar, is specifically formulated to release some of its glucose quickly, some after several hours, and more several hours after that. It can help keep you from dropping into hypoglycemia hours before breakfast. (NOTE: THIS PRODUCT HELPS PREVENT HYPOGLYCEMIC REACTIONS; IT IS NOT FOR USE IN TREATING A "LOW BLOOD SUGAR" THAT IS ALREADY UNDERWAY!)
NiteBite is available in six-packs ($7.50) or "thrifty-packs" of 30 ($30 each). Please include $4.95 shipping per order. Credit cards accepted; free samples are available. Contact: Medical Foods, Inc., 201 Broadway, Fifth Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139-1955; telephone: 1-800-795-1880.
1997 Raffle Winners
At the keynote banquet for the 1997 annual convention of the National Federation of the Blind, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the winning ticket was drawn in the Diabetes Action Network raffle. Winning ticketholder was Margaret Harmon, of Glendale, Arizona.
Lots of people helped sell tickets, and the following folks each sold 50 or more. In descending order of tickets sold: Karen Mayry, of Rapid City, SD; Ken Staley, of Chicago, IL; Martha Young, of Kansas City, MO; Ed Bryant, of Columbia, MO; Jerry Antone, of French Lick, IN; John Yark, of Stamford, CT; Lynn McCallum, of Eugene, OR; Kerry Smith, of St. Louis, MO; Sandie Addy, of Prescott Valley, AZ; Mary Hook, of West Hartford, CT; Donovan Cooper, of Burbank, CA;
Gisela Distel, of Albany, NY; Edna Stevens, of Springfield, MO; and Bob Ritter, of Myrtle Beach, SC. Truly a winning performance--See you next time!
For Sale
Gail Bryant, of Columbia, MO, is selling a Braille Dictionary: "Webster's New World Dictionary," 72 volumes. $1000 or best offer. Respond c/o VOICE OF THE DIABETIC, 811 Cherry Street, Suite 309, Columbia, MO 65201; telephone: (573) 875-8911, or reach her by e-mail: [email protected]
Talking Merchandise
We have been asked to announce: "Speak To Me!" a merchandiser of useful, esoteric, and humorous items, all of which feature synthesized speech, now offers their Fall/Winter 1997 catalog. Included are talking holiday items, singing and talking greeting cards, children's items, talking gags, and useful items like talking clocks, watches, calculators, caller IDs, and even a talking bread machine.
For a free catalog, in print, cassette, or IBM computer disk, contact: Speak To Me!, 17913 108th Ave. SE, Suite 155, Renton, WA 98005; telephone: 1-800-248-9965: http://www.clickshop.com/speak/
Insulin Labelling Errors
"Medication Safety Alert," the newsletter of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, reports that doctors' traditional practice of abbreviating "U" (units) on prescriptions and medication orders can cause trouble, when the prescription is insulin. Not only is there potential for confusion between insulin "U" (units) and "U" insulin (Ultralente), but ambiguous penmanship has led to "U"s being read as "N"s, with misdosage as result. Health professionals need to take extra care in the reading and writing of prescriptions and medication orders!
Free Literature
Parke-Davis, maker of the new oral medication Rezulin, offers a free pamphlet about insulin resistance, titled "Improve Your I.R.I.Q." To learn more about insulin resistance, type II diabetes, and your options, contact:
Parke-Davis, 201 Tabor Road, Morris Plains, NJ 07950, and ask for a copy of their free "I.R.I.Q." pamphlet.
To Our Readers
To hold down costs, both the VOICE and many of our divisional mailings are sent via "bulk mail." When we have your current address, this works very well, but when we don't, the Post Office throws it away, or returns it to us with a hefty "postage due" attached. They do NOT automatically forward bulk mail!
If you move, please let us know promptly. If the VOICE doesn't follow you to your new address, we may not have your new address. Don't miss a single issue.
Diabetes Action Network Support Committees
For more than eleven years, our support committees have been reaching out with listening ears and helping hands to diabetics in need of advice and information. Network members with personal experience in these matters staff the following committees: Blindness/Visual Dysfunction, Amputation and Treatment, Heart Disease and Stroke, Insulin Pump, Pancreas Transplantation, Renal Failure--Dialysis and Transplantation, Womens' issues, and Sexual Dysfunction/Male Impotence. To access our support committees, contact the VOICE editorial office.
Diabetes Prevention Trials
Right now, in several different parts of the world, tests are underway to determine if type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes can be prevented. These are the Diabetes Prevention Trials.
All of them focus on the recognition of type I as an autoimmune disease, a condition in which the human immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys part of the body, in this case the islet cells of the pancreas. If this misguided attack could be deterred or halted, the damage would not take place.
Although the researchers, in Canada, Europe, Australia and the United States, do not know what triggers the autoimmune attack that causes type I diabetes, they do know what it targets: several specific genes and proinsulin peptides. As the human thymus is responsible for training the immune system to tolerate its own tissues, research is focusing there.
Researchers have also identified a substance that protects against autoimmune attack, called Interlukin-2. They are investigating the nature of the shortage or defect in this substance that might encourage autoimmunity. If problems with the supply of this substance cause the autoimmune attack that causes type I diabetes, exogenous Interlukin-2 might play a significant role in diabetes prevention.
Researchers are also looking at the genetic makeup of the Beta cells themselves, with an eye to strengthening their resistance to autoimmune attack. Though success is years away, immune-resistant Beta cells might be more easily transplantable.
There is some effort to use oral or aerosol insulin to "desensitize" the immune systems of people judged at risk for type I diabetes. Researchers are attempting to moderate the autoimmune attack by familiarizing the body with insulin. If successful, this tack may produce a diabetes "vaccine."
It is an exciting time. A number of productive lines of inquiry are being followed, and all of them could remake diabetes medicine as we know it. We'll be watching!
Bible on Cassette
We have been asked to announce: The Aurora Ministries Bible Alliance offers Bible tapes, without charge, to persons who are legally blind or print handicapped. Forty-five different languages are currently offered, from Amharic to Zande, and the service is without charge to anyone who meets the criteria set up by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. For information, contact: Aurora Ministries Bible Alliance, PO Box 621, Bradenton, FL 34206; telephone: (941) 748-3031.
Eye Information
The National Eye Health Education Program of the National Eye Institute (NEI) provides a number of free publications for the public, including fact sheets, technical reports, educational brochures for patients and the general public, information packages, and combined health information database searches. To request a list of publications, contact (Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. CST): the National Eye Institute; telephone: 1-800-869-2020.
Yeast Infections and Diabetes
The NFB of Cleveland (Ohio) Diabetic Committee Newsletter reports a case in which a woman who had been repeatedly bothered by female yeast infections sought medical advice. The "clued-up" doctor tested her blood sugar, found it quite high, and discovered type II diabetes. When her glucose level came down, the infections cleared up.
New Research
Researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School, in partnership with McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and insulin manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company, have discovered a gene that apparently controls the replication of Beta cells in the human pancreas. In tests, the gene, called INGAP, caused growth and regeneration in pancreatic cells, and reversed the effects of diabetes in hamsters.
Although researchers emphasize that years of tests are needed, at some point, therapy with INGAP may provide a cure for type I diabetes. Stay tuned!
Articles Needed!
If you have diabetes, are a family member or friend of a diabetic, or a health professional with an interest in diabetes, we invite you to submit an article for publication in the VOICE OF THE DIABETIC.
Our philosophy regarding diabetes is positive. Do you have an inspiring, enlightening story? We, the Diabetes Action Network of the National Federation of the Blind, seek to show people they are not alone, and do have options, regardless of diabetic complications. If you have experienced ramifications, others, who may be facing the same side effects, could benefit from what you have to say.
Perhaps you have not experienced side effects? Your unique insight, coping strategies, and lifestyle can still inspire others. Are you a relative, a friend, or a health professional? More than 202,610 VOICE readers could benefit from your story.
For information and article submission guidelines, contact: VOICE OF THE DIABETIC, 811 Cherry St., Suite 309, Columbia, MO 65201; telephone: (573) 875-8911.
VOICE Formats
VOICE OF THE DIABETIC is offered in two formats: standard print, and 15/16 ips audiocassette, "talking book" speed. Anyone who is currently receiving the VOICE in print and having difficulty reading it, may receive it on cassette at no charge. VOICE tapes require the special tape player available free to the legally blind from Regional Libraries for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which can be obtained by telephoning the National Library Service at 1-800-424-8567.
Periodically we receive requests for the VOICE in Braille or large print. It is not available in either of those formats at this time.
All a subscriber needs to do, to switch from standard print to tape, or to receive both formats, free of charge, is contact us at the VOICE editorial office.