December 10, 2012

Research Posted on The BS101 FB Page Since September

It's time to collect and post all the substantive, research-related posts that have been posted on the Blood Sugar 101 Facebook Page.

As you can see there is the usual mix of disturbing findings about environmental pollutants, bad diet advice, dangerous prescription drugs, mistaken medical policy, and the benefits of lowering blood sugar by cutting back on carbohydrates.

I have put red arrows (==>) next to a few studies that have immediate, serious health implications for people with diabetes.

I continue to be less than thrilled with FB, but since so many people use it I've concluded it is a pretty good way to reach people who would otherwise never find this blog.

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Study: After weight loss, Roux-en-Y causes dramatic post-meal blood sugar spikes. Banding makes no difference in blood sugar. Stats argue against either being a "cure" for diabetes, doesn't it.

See this chart:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/64895/figure/4

From this article http://www.jci.org/articles/view/64895
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Ketones may why calorie restriction leads to life extension. So don't starve yourself, cut back on carbs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206142025.htm
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Apparently, free speech extends to drug reps lying about prescription drugs. We're all screwed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-offlabel-conviction-idUSBRE8B21DC20121204
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"Countries that use high fructose corn syrup in their food supply have a 20% greater prevalence of type 2 diabetes compared with countries that do not" Study says.

http://americannewsreport.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup-blamed-for-worldwide-diabetes-epidemic-8816853
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Dangerous concentrations of PCBs are found in many women's blood. They are known to promote diabetes.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121128143944.htm
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You'll find lots of low carb holiday treats including cookies and other desserts here that you can indulge in without spiking your blood sugar.

http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/lowcarbrecipeswap/forum/topics/holiday-foods?commentId=583967%3AComment%3A2487538
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Flame retardants are hormone disrupters that promote obesity. You can't avoid them if you own upholstered furniture.

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Chemicals-in-furniture-hard-to-avoid-4072857.php
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What a shocker: The Wash Post notices that drug companies have polluted high impact medical research studies.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/11/25/bias-may-taint-big-pharma-research.html
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A mouse study finds the specific cancer gene that is silenced when dietary carbs are restricted.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133152.htm
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PCBs which concentrate in body fat (and therefore in the fat of the meat we eat) not only cause diabetes, they lead to infertility. This is a serious issue for people eating low carb diets, alas. Organic meat may be better, but the pervasiveness of these toxins in our environment makes them difficult to avoid with husbandry practices, as the animals still have to breath polluted air and drink polluted water.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121114084027.htm
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A UK study concludes that screening for diabetes doesn't prevent bad outcomes. No one draws the obvious conclusion--UK treatment for diabetes sucks. Which it does.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61422-6/abstract
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BPA slows thyroid in pregnant animals and their offspring.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121114083226.htm
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==> The EU has approved dapagliflozin which will be sold as Forxiga. This drug blocks absorption of glucose in the kidney, so you lower blood sugar by peeing away glucose. The FDA did NOT approve it because of possible liver damage and signals of breast and bladder cancer. Do NOT take this new drug until it has been on the market for at least 5 years and we know a bit more about what it really does.

http://medcitynews.com/2012/11/eu-approves-bristol-astra-diabetes-drug-forxiga-after-fda-rejection-due-to-cancer-risk/
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Arsenic, DDE, dioxin and pesticides all are strongly associated with both diabetes and obesity. It's NOT personal choices damaging our children.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121113134928.htm
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==> FDA committee approved very long lasting basal insulin. But it isn't better than Lantus/Levemir and the 70/30 mix makes it impossible to cover post-meal spikes safely.

http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/online/%7B61213728-C9A3-46E8-AD49-0010CE03911E%7D/Insulin-degludec-degludecaspart-receive-FDA-committee-approval-in-8-4-vote
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More evidence that sulfonylureas are worse for the heart than metformin. There is a well-understood reason why this should be true. They are discussed HERE

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121107122453.htm
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Doctors really are biased against fat people. If you thought your doctor was dissing you, it wasn't paranoia.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121107200036.htm
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==> Low vitamin D levels correlate to longevity in this new study. Perhaps because high levels often result in calcium in arteries.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121105130355.htm
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==> If you have heart disease and diabetes don't let a cardiologist rush you into stenting, the way this NEJM editorial explains they will. A major long-term study found coronary artery bypass produces much better results in people with diabetes than stenting.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1212278
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Another study proves that soy is useless against menopausal symptoms. Since it also promotes autoimmune attack by promoting leaky gut, wise women avoid soy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121101110633.htm
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The radical weight loss surgeries can lead to significant bone loss.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121102115342.htm
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==> If you have any signs of early diabetic kidney disease Pradaxa could be very dangerous. The FDA is being defensive since it approved it. Doctors are rarely aware of the fine print about who should NOT get a new, heavily marketed drug.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/business/a-rising-anti-stroke-drug-is-tied-to-risk-of-bleeding-deaths.html
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Cochrane Review: Cranberry juice for Urinary Tract Infections is a myth promoted by people funded by the cranberry industry. It's extremely high in sugar and terrible for blood sugar. High blood sugar promotes UTIs.

http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001321/cranberries-for-preventing-urinary-tract-infections
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Losing weight using a low fat/high carb diet that raises blood sugar won't reduce heart disease. Duh. It isn't the weight. Note the supposed experts never ask, "What diet?" But just assume "diet" doesn't work. The "experts" cited are drawing huge sums as they are  on the payroll of drug companies as "consultants" and other weaselly terms meant to hide the fact that they are drug pitchmen.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/moderate-weight-loss-alone-doesnt-lower-heart-disease-risk-in-diabetics-study-shows/2012/10/19/89cee7cc-1a22-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story.html
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Ex- top insurance exec (at a company I used to write software for) reveals how insurers deceitfully manipulate data to make it look like people are uninsured by choice.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/10/15/11413/opinion-myths-healthy-uninsured
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The Sweetarts sold at drug store and convenience store counters have shrunk. The new nutritional info shows they are no longer 2 grams each. Now they are 1.6 grams. Important to know if you use them to correct lows.
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Doctors finally admit that lowering post-meal blood sugars is ALL you need to do to avoid heart attack. But they also want to link it to DPP-4 inhibitors, ignoring the cancer and immune system risks. If you can lower your post-meal blood sugar without these dangerous drugs, do it.

http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/diabetes/news/print/endocrine-today/{3d16eba1-1568-4b2d-8e92-b516391831f7}/dpp-iv-inhibitors-appear-to-reduce-cv-risk-in-type-2-diabetes-
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It took 6.5 years to "decades" before the benefits of tight control became obvious in the landmark diabetes studies. Lowering A1c DOES help. If you wait another decade until ignorant doctors finally admit lowering your A1c 5% range using SAFE technique WILL significantly lower the rates of all complications, it may be too late for you as the higher blood sugars associated with 7% A1cs will have damaged and destroyed your organs.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1208169
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BD is announcing a new Ultra-Fine needle that is supposedly even thinner than their previous ones. My experience with the short ultra-fines is that they are painless. The new ones should be even better.  Note, however, that contrary to what you may be told, many of us find we can get several days worth of injections from one pen needle before it starts to blunt.

http://www.bd.com/us/diabetes/page.aspx?cat=7002&id=7409
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Almost all rice contains the inorganic form of arsenic that’s known to cause bladder, lung and skin cancers. And to destroy pancreas' ability to secrete insulin, too.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fda-working-on-plan-to-limit-arsenic-levels-in-rice/2012/09/18/3238a578-0133-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html

5 comments:

Howard said...

Enough meat in there for at least a dozen blog posts. I was especially intrigued by the Vitamin D study that seems to say that lower D3 levels lead to longer lives. I will be looking over that one for possible confounders (and taking a look at funding sources if I can find them).

Another was rice and arsenic. I had considered rice to be a semi-"safe" starch which just needed to be limited, but I can see that I have good reason to avoid it completely.

And, I supposed it's time to drag out the BG meter again, because I've noticed the weight starting to creep up.

Adam Becker Sr said...

Here's one for you, Jenny:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/776736


Medscape Medical News
Autoantibodies Found in 10% of Adult-Onset Diabetes Patients

Miriam E. Tucker
Dec 26, 2012



Nearly 10% of patients with adult-onset diabetes were found to have diabetes-associated autoantibodies in a large European cross-sectional study.

Many of those with autoimmune diabetes did not require insulin at diagnosis and, although they tended to be younger and leaner, overall did not show categorically distinct clinical differences from autoantibody-negative patients with type 2 diabetes.

"Only with screening for autoantibodies, especially [glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA)], can they be identified with certainty," Mohammed I. Hawa, PhD, from the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, and colleagues write.

Their findings were published online December 17 in Diabetes Care.

The 6156 study patients were aged 30 to 70 years (mean, 54.4 years) with less than 5 years (mean, 2.2 years) since diabetes diagnosis. Most (84.6%) were white, and 58.5% were men. The patients were recruited between 2004 and 2007 from 9 European countries at primary care, community, or hospital centers participating in the Action Latent Auto-Immune Diabetes in Adults (LADA) study.

At least a single type of diabetes-associated autoantibody was found in 9.7% of the total group. These included GADA in 8.8%, insulinoma-associated antigen-2 autoantibodies in 2.3%, and zinc-transporter 8 autoantibodies in 1.8%.

Of the 598 patients with autoantibodies, nearly a quarter (24.1%) had more than a single different autoantibody type and 90.5% were positive for GADA.

"These observations show that adult-onset autoimmune diabetes is not rare," the authors note.

"Clinically, knowledge that adult-onset diabetic patients have GADA should alert physicians to the increased likelihood of more rapid progression to insulin therapy," they add.

Compared with patients with autoantibody-negative diabetes, those with autoantibodies were significantly younger (49.6 vs 54.9 years; P < .001) and had significantly lower body mass indexes (27.2 vs 30.9 kg/m 2; P < .001). They also had lower systolic blood pressure and triglyceride levels and higher levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (all P < .001), but low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values were not different between the 2 groups.
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Abstract for the complete study is at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2012/12/14/dc12-0931.abstract

Jenny said...

Adam,

Thanks! That 10% figure meshes with what I've seen elsewhere. For some reason, this past week I kept hearing from normal weight people misdiagnosed with Type 2 who almost certainly had LADA.

Unfortunately, most family doctors have never heard of it and misprescribe utterly useless drugs to people who fall into that category, leaving them with sky-high blood sugars.

Adam Becker Sr said...

Jenny, at http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/25311847.php
you write:

A study shows that these drugs appear to inhibit DPP-4, in a manner similar to Januvia. As we have explained in our discussion of Januvia this is a potentially dangerous way to lower blood sugar, because DPP-4 has been found to be a tumor suppressor gene, so while inhibiting it does RAISE blood sugar, it also may allow cancer cells to proliferate.


I think you mean 'lower', not 'raise'.

I noted this when following a discussion which claimed that the herbal Berberine is superior to Metformin:
http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine/article/2439-berberine-is-superior-to-metformin

It cites research that shows, inter alia, that Berberine inhibits DPP4. So I think I'll stick with Metformiin.

Jenny said...

Adam,

You are correct. Thanks.