[neverdem]

Where to begin? There's no cure for diabetes yet, just treatment.

Most diabetics have difficult lives, with an unending cycle of ill health, weakness and obesity as the pancreas produce little or no insulin, the hormone that converts glucose to energy.

Insulin doesn't convert glucose to energy. Most diabetics are type II diabetics who are best described as insulin resistant. They may eventually "produce little or no insulin," but that doesn't characterize the majority of type IIs, IIRC.There are several forms of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is often called juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes. In this type of diabetes, cells of the pancreas produce little or no insulin, the hormone that allows sugar (glucose) to enter body cells.

Plus, diabetic drugs usually make the patient obese, which adds to the risk of high BP, heart problems and strokes.

IMHO, he has the cart before the horse, i.e. obesity was the risk factor for type II diabetes. Type I diabetics are rarely obese. They usuallty look like Mary Tyler Moore. Why would the FDA approve those drugs then? Besides drugs like Actos and Avandia, which have a tendency for fluid retention with concomitant weight gain, what antidiabetic drugs cause obesity? Have at it.

[radiohead]

Why would the FDA approve those drugs then? Besides drugs like Actos and Avandia, which have a tendency for fluid retention with concomitant weight gain, what antidiabetic drugs cause obesity?

I wish I knew. I've never been on these drugs, but from everything I've read, they seem like the last thing you'd give to a diabetic. I don't know why all docs don't use metformin, which doesn't have these affects.

I've been taking Byetta (lizard spit) for a few years now and it seems to be working well for me.

Since diagnosis, I've been able to go to the diabetes centers at the universities where I was working or going to school. I have benefited from some cutting edge care and wonder if a lot of GPs just don't know/don't care about ways of caring for diabetics without killing them.

[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.

Avoiding Confusion After Surgery

I was reading about general anesthesia when I found something new for me about metformin. See comment# 1 and the drugs that include metformin. It rarely causes lactic acidosis, but that can have a 50 percent mortality.

[theKid51]

ping

[R. Scott]

Glucovance has been working great for me for several years without side effects.

[ETL]

"How lizard spit aids diabetes cure"

Yes, Dennis Nedry no longer suffers from diabetes.

Dilophosaurus was prominently featured both in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park and in the original novel by Michael Crichton. In the film version, Dilophosaurus has a retractable neck frill around its neck (much like a frill-necked lizard), and spits blinding poison, aiming for the eyes to blind and paralyze its prey. There is no evidence to support either the frill or the venom spitting,[12] which was acknowledged by Crichton as creative license.[13]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilophosaurus#In_popular_culture

[Hot Tabasco]

lizard spit aids diabetes cure

I often wonder what prompted that first person to lick a lizard.....

[muawiyah]

You'll notice the general Type II discussion as conducted by researchers in the field is drifting away from the "got plenty of insulin, but their cells refuse to use it" to "got a shortage of insulin".

The "metabolic factor disorder" model was just a model. To a great degree effective treatment could be designed around it, and a diabetic could exercise, restrict carbohydrates in the diet, control weight, use a minimal level of drugs and get along pretty well.

Unfortunately it was observed that many (apparently "most") continued to deteriorat just as if they were losing beta cells.

The approach has changed over the last year to the viewpoint you see in this article. Notice that your pet gila monster produces a substance that mimics a hormone normally produced by your body that controls all sorts of things ranging from production of glucogen to production of insulin.

What I'm going to do is get one of those large glass cages for my living room where the animals will be happy. We'll start raising gila monsters for fun, profit and the beneficial characteristics of their saliva. I have an old friend who has a cage full of these guys in his living room, and as they sit there on the designer rocks in the bottom, looking out at some invisible point on the wall, I can pretend they are not only healthy to have, but highly entertaining!

[Charlespg]

Besides drugs like Actos and Avandia, which have a tendency for fluid retention with concomitant weight gain,

You mean swell up like a baloon

[LadyPilgrim]

Later

[definitelynotaliberal]

ping

[Marie]

I know what you mean about the weight thing. My 15 year old son is a type 1 and is as lean as they come. He eats like he has a tapeworm, yet can't get "fat". If he gets sick he looses at least ten hard-won pounds every time.

I feel like punching the next person who says, "He's a diabetic because he ate too much sugar."

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

I have type 2 Diabetes I am a large mammal but i always have been and not through eating i am just big 6 foot 4 inches and 317 pounds Ive been around 300 pounds since i was 20 or so and I'm not fat

I take Glyburide for my t2d and i stay away from processed sugars i use no salt and i don't eat any kind of white food except for the occasional mashed potato's I put Vinegar in my iced tea and in my salads its not normal vinegar but unpasteurized I had a stint put in my heart 2 years ago for cholesteral blockage i never had high blood pressure before after the operation i have to take meds for that and for cholesteral control

I find that the glyburide makes me hungry its hard to fight eating but i find if i snack healthy it knocks off the hunger pangs i cna most times stay busy and just ignore it but other times when im idle it's harder to fight

I have fought hunger all my life when i was a kid i was always hungry even after eating a large meal over the years i have learned to control that too

It's mental Gymnastics to keep yourself from eating when your stomach is always growling but i deal with it most people could if they just slow down long enough to actually pay attention to themselves and what they can control ....

[VOA]

bump

[Pining_4_TX]

Oh dear. Where to begin... there have been several cases of people developing pancreatitis while taking Byetta. The FDA is starting to look at it now.

Also, it is quite possible that just lowering blood sugar numbers, particularly by means of drugs, may NOT do anything to alter the course of the disease. The damage could be done by the circulating insulin, not taken up due to insulin resistance by the cells, rather than the high blood sugar itself. I am afraid that doctors and patients are being lulled into thinking things are fine simply because the numbers look good. The numbers are a symptom; not the disease.

I know I’ve mentioned this several times before, but look up the articles by Nortin Hadler at abcnews.com, read the blog junkscience (junkscience.blogspot.com), and check out one of Nortin Hadler’s books from the library (The Last Well Person and Worried Sick).

All of these pills being pushed on us may not be doing any good, and in fact might be doing harm.