Dialog

Volume 11, Issue 1, Winter 2010

Living with Diabetes  
You are a key player on your health care team when it comes to managing your diabetes.

In this issue...

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Focus on: Diabetes then and now

Diabetes care: Changes during the last 20 years
a person with diabetes tests his blood sugar with a digital meter Did you know the first blood glucose meter was about the size of shoe box? It took 10 minutes to check blood glucose levels. Today, meters are about the size of a cell phone and take less than 10 seconds to read blood glucose levels.

Pat Kawlewski was diagnosed with diabetes almost 50 years ago. She shares how diabetes care has changed during her 20 years as a diabetes nurse educator...

Prescription for Success: Your next doctor's appointment

Checklists for a good doctor's visit
An important part of living well with diabetes is visiting your doctor every three to six months to: a doctor discusses diabetes foot care as a woman with diabetes sits on the exam table with her foot stretched out

  • review your diabetes treatment plan
  • have a foot exam
  • check on your height, weight and blood pressure.

These checklists can help you get the most out of your next doctor's visit...

Preventive Care: Avoiding blindness

Diabetes and your eyes
a middle aged man with diabetes wears eyeglasses Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in the United States for adults ages 20 to 74. That's one of many reasons why it is important have an eye exam at least every year. After all, the earlier you notice eye problems the better your chances are of keeping good vision...

Diabetes in the News

Diabetes drug looks safe for heart failure patients
The diabetes drug metformin previously carried a "black box" warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advising against its use in treating diabetes in heart failure patients. But a 14-year study of 401 patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced systolic heart failure suggests that metformin is safe and may be associated with better heart failure survival, say U.S. researchers...

Diabetes meds may be falling through 'doughnut hole'
Medicare's so-called "doughnut hole" could be forcing many American seniors to skip their diabetes medications, a new study suggests…

Fat hormone controls gene linked to diabetes
A fat hormone known as leptin controls a gene in the liver that's linked to the dampening of diabetes in animals. The finding suggests that the hormone could potentially have the same effect in people, says a study published in Cell Metabolism

Markers predict kids' risk of diabetes as adults
Body measurements and laboratory tests may predict the likelihood that a child will develop type 2 diabetes later in life, suggest long-term studies of black and white children…

New guidelines urge A1C test for diabetes diagnosis
In its latest set of clinical guidelines, the American Diabetes Association is promoting a more prominent role for the hemoglobin A1C blood test in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.

Long used in the management of diabetes, the A1C blood test measures average blood sugar levels for the previous two to three months. The new guidelines call for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at A1C levels above 6.5 percent, and prediabetes if the A1C levels are between 5.7 and 6.4 percent. The new guidelines are in Diabetes Care

Diabetics less prone now to end-stage kidney disease
The incidence of end-stage kidney disease, one of the most serious complications of diabetes, rose steadily in people with diabetes for decades. But, in 1996, the rate of diabetes-related end-stage kidney disease finally began to decline. Since then, the incidence has dropped about 3.9 percent a year, a new government study finds…

Diabetes drugs go head-to-head in study
A class of drugs still taken by millions of people with type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher risk of dying and heart failure than the newer treatment metformin. Sulfonylureas performed less well than metformin in a study of oral anti-diabetes drugs, but doctors said the findings aren't necessarily a reason to discontinue taking them…

Featured Recipe

Spice blend

Throw out the salt, but save the shaker! Fill it with this spice blend and use it on homecooked meals.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons dry mustard
1 tablespoons garlic powder
4 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons white pepper
1 tablespoon thyme
1 teaspoon basil
4 tablespoons paprika

Directions

  1. Combine spices and blend well.
  2. Put a small amount of rice in the bottom of your shaker to allow the spice blend to flow easily.
  3. Fill the shaker with spice blend, using a funnel.
  4. Label your spice blend shaker and keep it handy.

Nutritional Information
Serving: ¼ teaspoon (1 gram)
Servings per recipe: 196
Calories: 2 (1 from fat)
Fat: 0 grams (0 saturated fat, 0 trans fats)
Cholesterol: 0 milligrams
Sodium: 0 milligrams
Total carbohydrate: 0 grams (0 fiber, 0 sugar)
Protein: 0 grams

Source: Allina Patient Education, Helping Your Heart, third edition, cvs-ahc-90648



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