Author: Staff Writers

The Hannah Montana Diabetes Connection: If you have tweenagers, or even those younger at home, they are likely very aware of the Disney television phenomenon Hannah Montana. Star Miley Cyrus pulls double duty as both Miley Stewart (normal teenager) and Hannah Montana (alter ego pop star). The show plans to tackle the issue of Type 1 diabetes.

Originally slated for last November the show was panned by those who felt it did not adequately portray the disease. In many instances the pre-viewing public considered the show to send out mixed signals at best and misinformation at worst.

While that original episode was not aired the desire to tackle the subject remained an issue for Disney and those associated with the show. New York Daily News stated, “Producers and Disney have reviewed the episode with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Afterward, they rewrote and re-edited several scenes.”

The end result is an episode featuring Mitchel Musso (Oliver) that centers around news he has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. His friends Hannah (Cyrus) and Lily (Emily Osment) work to both take in the news and then help their friend cope with the changes he will experience.

Nick Jonas (who actually does live with Type 1 diabetes) has been a guest on the show before and was originally scheduled to appear in spots related to the disease to air in the original showing.

In a letter to viewers Disney said, “We sincerely hope you will find that this revised story more accurately incorporates the subject of living with Type 1 diabetes, with the theme of the character Oliver learning to rely on his friends for support, no matter what challenges may arise.”

Diabetics can celebrate this news on two fronts. The first is that Disney took the issue seriously enough to do their best to get it right. Secondly there will be an incredible fan base that may learn something about this disease in a way classroom instruction could never do.

Disney should be applauded for seeking to bring this issue to the very audience that is most often diagnosed with the disease. You can bet the stars of the show have also learned something about the disease and Musso’s character is likely to be viewed in a new way by Type 1 diabetic fans of the show.

Where many shows work to incorporate politics into their presentation it is refreshing to see a complex disease that affects many young people given some much needed air time. It really does appear that Disney has taken corporate responsibility in developing this episode and then working through any issues required to ensure quality in content and believability in delivery.

No matter what the original intent was in creating the episode there are always going to be detractors. Some critics suggest that the best vehicle for a message on Type 1 diabetes is the newer series, Jonas. Since singer and actor Nick Jonas actually does live with the disease it is argued that he would be the best character to bring the subject to Disney viewers. I suppose the other side of the argument might be that there is a much larger fan base for Hannah Montana than Jonas. No matter how you may argue the point it is still a brave accomplishment in seeking to bring some understanding of the issue of Type 1 diabetes to fans of the program.

The original airing of “Uptight (Oliver is alright)” is scheduled for September 20th. Check local listings for show times.

A Hole-in-One Draws Attention to Diabetes: Their goal is to, “To improve the quality of life for people with or affected by diabetes, and to reduce complications and suffering related to the disease by providing high quality care and equipping the patient with the latest self-management tools through education.”

Who are they?

The Utah Diabetes Center (UDC).

How do they reach that goal?

Through golfing.

Well, not entirely, but a recent golf tournament does help them reach their goals by raising both support and awareness of the difficulties diabetics face.

In describing what they do the UDC states, “Our staff [provides] the best possible care, education, and resources for people with diabetes. These services are offered to caregivers of people with diabetes, and other healthcare professionals, to lessen the suffering that is caused by diabetes. Our expert researchers continue to work hard to find a cure for diabetes.”

One branch of the UDC is the “Treasure Chest Fund”. This was designed to provide, “Support for diabetes health care and education for those in need.”

This is where golf enters the picture. On September 15th at Red Ledges Golf Course in Heber City, Utah golfers gathered under the show of red cliffs to raise money for diabetes research and support through the UDC.

Among those stepping onto the greens that Tuesday morning was Jason Hargett, a local steakhouse manager. Like others he had been enjoying the morning and the beauty of the course. There had been talk about a hole-in-one prize of a million dollars, but Hargett had only hit a hole-in-one once in his life.

CBSNews.com indicated, “Six players who hit the ball closest to the hole on a par-3 were invited to participate in the hole-in-one contest. Hargett, who hit second, got a hole-in-one 150 yards away with a nine-iron.”

Hargett told CBSNews that he felt no pressure to make the shot, but having a crowd watch was difficult.

Hargett’s wife Amyee wasn’t sure what to believe when he called. “He told me that he had a chance, that he had a shot at winning a million dollars, so when he sent [at text message], I’m like, ‘He won.’ And I sent him a text message back to make sure it was true, and he didn’t respond, and I called him back and I heard all the people in the background screaming and yelling, and so then I knew that it was legitimate.”

Hargett isn’t sure that being a million dollars richer will change his life significantly. The payout is over 40 years so the $25,000 he received annually will be a nice bonus to his managerial paycheck.

Interestingly it has been reported that Hargett almost didn’t play. He use borrowed clubs and played with a sore wrist.

In the end this jackpot now serves and way to point people back to the original mission of the tournament – diabetes.

And the UDC is there to provide details individuals might need. Consider these facts…

• In 2007, the five countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes are India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million), the United States (20.8 million), Russia (9.6 million) and Germany (7.4 million).
• By 2025, the largest increases in diabetes prevalence will take place in developing countries.
• Each year a further 7 million people develop diabetes.
• Every 10 seconds two people develop diabetes.
  (Source: www.healthcare.utah.edu)

Service Dogs for Diabetes: We’ve all seen service dogs that allow the blind and deaf to enjoy some normalcy in their lives. Now service dogs are being trained to help those with Type 1 diabetes determine when their blood sugars are either too high or too low.

According to King5.com 14 year-old Liam Kelly has a service dog named Max that has been able to accurately point Liam to use his blood glucose meter. “I personally won’t know where I’m at but someone I can rely on and trust will know,” Kelly told King5.

In a recent demonstration of how Max can detect blood sugar changes in Liam’s breath the dog was also able to correctly identify problems with audience member Ken Running who also lives with Type 1 diabetes. Running has been looking for an answer because he hasn’t been satisfied with the testing equipment he’s tried to date. Running told King5, “I’ve had extreme low blood sugars and I can’t detect them at all, to the point in the last four months, I’ve been in a coma three times and the hospital once.”

Liam’s mom, Lisa seems very pleased with the addition of the black lab to their family, “It allows me to be a mom instead of diabetes sheriff. I can sit back and not nag, ‘What’s your number? What did you do? What are you eating?”

Liam is alerted to issues when Max places his paw on his owner’s chest. When this happens Liam knows he needs to test – and take action.

The training Max received was from Ron Pace at the Canyon Crest K9 Training Center in Washington state.

According to the NewsTribune, “Using actions and rewards, the Paces taught Max to alert Kelly when his blood-sugar levels were too high (above 180 milligrams per deciliter) or too low (80 milligram per deciliter.)

“Knowing his blood-sugar level and keeping it close to normal helps Kelly prevent long-term physical complications that come with Type 1 diabetes, a disease that can’t be reversed.”

Lisa Kelly told NewsTribune that Max has, “Literally saved Liam’s life and allowed him to feel he can participate in sports or anything he wants. After football camp, Max was alerting four or five times a day. Liam thought he was fine, but the dog knew otherwise.”

Lisa and her husband, Michael, “Knew nothing about diabetes service dogs until she attended a conference on children with diabetes and met a woman with a dog who responded to her blood-sugar levels. She was convinced such a dog would give her son the healthiest life possible,” according to NewsTribune.

The couple still gets up 2-3 times a night to check on Liam, but Max catches most of the trouble Liam might encounter due to his Type 1 diabetes.

It is estimated that around 100 diabetes service dogs exist in the U.S. and there are very few trainers who specialize in this type of need.

Lisa Kelly went outside the box for Max’s training. She turned to Ron Pace who had been a dog trainer for thirty years. With the help of family (and completely donating his time) Pace was able to get Max to key in on glucose changes within 30 days.

Like most service dogs Max is on the job when he’s with Liam. Friends have had to learn to ignore Max so he can keep his senses focused on his owner’s glucose changes. Liam tells the NewsTribute he hopes to graduate from high school with Max.

Kondrake Calls For a Diabetic War: Morton Kondrake is quoted as saying, “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.” So when he recently took on the subject of diabetes we paid attention to a man who seems to understand the concept of dignity.

Kondrake is a journalist and writer for the non-partisan Capitol Hill newspaper, “Roll Call”. His recent piece was entitled, “Kondracke: Declare war on diabetes”.

Here are some highlights.

“The reason for a war on diabetes is that, like some cancers, Type 2 diabetes – the most prevalent type – is heavily a “lifestyle disease” resulting from overeating and lack of activity. Therefore, it’s preventable.”

“Diabetes can result in ghastly consequences for its 24 million victims, including heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, amputations and nervous system disease, and it is hugely expensive to the economy.”

“Nineteen different federal agencies spent only $3.9 billion on disease-prevention or health-promotion activities with some impact on diabetes.”

“If a ‘war on diabetes’ were declared, it ought to begin with a war on obesity, the epidemic most responsible for rising incidence of Type 2 diabetes among both adults and, increasingly, children.”

“Fighting obesity ought to be a major focus of health care reform.”

“Obesity costs – as much as 27 percent of recent increases in national health spending, according to health analyst Kenneth Thorpe.”

“There’s a need for better diabetes screening in government health programs. Medicaid and Medicare ought to adopt the kind of intensive disease-management techniques that many insurance plans employ.”

“The Congressional Budget Office estimates costs and savings only within a 10-year ‘window,’ whereas chronic-disease management probably would show results over a longer period.”

“A new study in the journal Health Affairs estimated that what amounts to a ‘war’ on diabetes, costing $800 million a year, would merely pay for itself over 25 years, not cut the actual costs to the government.”

“Such a war surely would prevent many strokes, heart attacks, leg amputations and kidney failures. It’s hard to believe that wouldn’t save money, too.”

Kondrake is an advocate of providing some rather graphic video footage of what some diabetics may experience in an effort to shock teens into making better choices in food and lifestyle.

The ‘war’ on diabetes must always come back to one fighter – the individual. Kondrake’s comments seemed especially targeted at preventable Type 2 diabetes and not Type 1 where development is not contingent on lifestyle choices.

Most health professionals would welcome extra funding to help in educational endeavors as well as prevention techniques and mentoring. Kondrake indicates a strong inclination that the government itself makes some beneficial advances more difficult. He cites testing equipment specifically. In Asian countries for example there is testing equipment that can be used to wirelessly send data to a computer for tracking. Such devices would need approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) every time the device is altered for technological reasons in the U.S.

The battle for funding continues for organizations that have waged their own war on diabetes. The good news is that as you read through this site you will discover a multitude of new studies offering promise and hope. You will read of individuals who have managed their own personal battles and are holding the line. While there is hope that more help will come, the responsibility for our health often rests squarely with us. So, we keep working to provide information you can use to fight. Together perhaps we will one day win.

Amazing Grace: The Young and the Hopeful: When the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Kansas needs lobbying help from someone living with Type 1 diabetes there is one name that always seems to come up – Grace Chisholm.

This summer she joined other diabetics in lobbying President Obama for more funds to help in the fight against diabetes. But Grace seems almost tireless in her drive to help however she can.

Grace seems to be well known in her home state of Kansas. In fact JDRF-KC Executive Director Yvonne Miller told Fox4KC.com, “We use Grace a lot. She is quite the advocate for diabetes research and education. I don’t know if I have anyone better than Grace to go out into the community and explain what we do as an organization.”

A video of Grace shows her talking with Congressman Dennis Moore in which she asks the congressman, “Promise to remember me?”

Grace is described as articulate and a “take charge” activist. She remains a Youth Ambassador for JDRF and has helped raise awareness for her disease. But Grace also is a very capable fundraiser. It is estimated that she has been directly linked to donations of over $50,000.

Former teacher Diane Thompson spoke of the way Grace manages her diabetes. She told Fox4KC.com, “She just had a handle on it, unlike most kids older than she is. [She does] everything she had to do every day to stay well — religiously, on her own and to a T. I attribute it to her intelligence and her personality.”

Grace checks her blood sugar 10-12 times a day and enlists the help of her two sisters in pushing for support for diabetes research. Grace will be taking part in a walk in October that is designed to help raise money for diabetes research. She is seen in the Fox video stuffing more than a hundred envelopes with information about her walk, and it’s a safe bet she expects recipients to participate in some way. That’s just Grace.

Her inspirational story was why Fox4KC named Grace Chisholm a recent Young Achiever. Did I mention she’s nine years old?

The walk she is working on is scheduled for October 10th in Kansas City, KS at The Legends. Grace tells potential donors, “Finding a cure for diabetes would mean the world to me. It would be the most amazing thing. I don’t even have the words. Life with diabetes is a struggle everyday. From managing my blood sugars to changing my insulin pump site, this disease is horrible and will never go away unless we keep fighting for a cure”.

As of this writing Grace was at about 30% of her $5,000 goal. If her past experience with lobbying is any indication she will meet and likely exceed that goal.

Grace’s fund raising letter also states, “While Grace does most of the things other kids do, she can never relax. Every bite of food, physical activity, illness, stress and hormones require Grace to think about her diabetes and attempt to control her blood sugars. There is no vacation from this disease.”

Type 1 diabetics are well acquainted with the struggle Grace faces every day. Like Grace, other Type 1 diabetics are pushing to find ways to work together for a cure.

Grace mentions in her note one more compelling fact, “While we understand the economy is down, diabetes has not slowed down.”

And the drive shown by Grace every day has JDRF-KC Executive Director Yvonne Miller telling Fox4KC.com, “I don’t think they say no to her.”

Interior Schools Reach Out to Slow Diabetes: In response to the prevalence of diabetes and obesity among Native Americans a combined effort between former All-American football standout and Rhodes scholar Myron Rolle and the U.S. Government is leading to a high specific program developed for American Indian schools.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar discussed the program with Native American Times, “Our objective in this initiative is to inspire American Indian and Native Alaskan students to live healthier lifestyles through exercise, outdoor activity, and proper nutrition. The program developed by the Myron Rolle Foundation will celebrate the uniqueness of their heritage and identity in curriculum, develop trust amongst peers, train leaders and involve the community to ensure their needs are met.”

Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk called the initiative “innovative” and claimed, “Children and their families [are encouraged] to incorporate physical fitness and healthy choices into their daily lives.”

The new program aimed at middle school students is called One Way to Health and is being implemented in five Interior run Indian schools in New Mexico and Arizona.

Myron Rolle told Native American Times, “I am inspired by the way American Indian tribes have persevered and thrived, while retaining their cultural heritage and identity. There are, however, significant health concerns that challenge this population — in particular diabetes and obesity.  Through the Our Way to Health Program, our goal is to encourage and help American Indian children in middle school to begin managing not only their own diet and exercise but, hopefully by extension, influence the adults in their lives to also begin adopting healthy life style changes.”

Native American Times discussed the origins of the program by saying, “One Way to Health provides incentive-based learning experiences, team-building physical activities in the outdoors, health education and diabetes awareness sessions. Rolle initially developed the curriculum for American Indian fifth-graders at a charter school in Okeechobee, Florida, when he was working with the Seminole Tribe.”

If the program is successful in the New Mexico and Arizona schools it has the potential of expanding. The program is not a one-size-fits-all proposition either. The program allows for variations between schools to best reach the student base that will be engaged in what it offers. Rolle plans to visit each school twice and participants who successfully complete the program will be taken to either an NFL or collegiate football game.

The Native American Times report indicates, “Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education serves 42,000 students in 183 schools and dormitories across the country on 64 reservations in 23 states.”

This isn’t the only health gesture offered by Myron Rolle. His family came from the Bahamas and he is working to give back to those living there. ESPN reported, “Myron Rolle and his family… announced plans to build the Myron L. Rolle Medical Clinic and Sports Complex, in Steventon, Exuma in the Bahamas.”

Rolle told ESPN, “It’s really pertinent, because the people of Exuma, if there is something really serious happening to them, medically, at night especially, and they have to catch a flight to Nassau, the main island, it’s very inconvenient, and a lot of people can’t afford that flight.” This medical and sports complex is expected to be operational by 2012.

It is expected that Rolle will enter the NFL draft in 2010 after completing a master’s degree program in England, but Rolle continues to make an impact even before he accepts a new jersey.

How Diabetes Can Change a Family: We often hear about how diabetes affects the individual, and we are very aware that it does, but what about the family that loves and cares for them? This is a family story where diabetes affects multiple aspects of life and challenges the way a family responds.

BND.com describes Parker Weiss as a kid who enjoys sports, bike riding and the family trampoline, but like many Type 1 diabetics he has to monitor his blood glucose levels and he absolutely must watch what he eats. Says Parker, “On my birthday, I had a couple desserts, and I threw up that night. I had too much junk.”

Parker has been living with the disease for two years now and was diagnosed after flu like symptoms and an unhealthy desire to use the restroom.

He plays sports, raising money for Type 1 diabetes research, but this story is less about Parker and more about the family who calls him son and brother.

Let me introduce you. Parker’s dad is Jason and his mother, Amber. He has two younger brothers, JJ and Killian. The BND.com report says, “The Weisses have made dramatic lifestyle changes, especially when it comes to food. They prepare meals that fit with Parker’s diet and limit everyone’s portions to keep him from feeling so restricted.”

Jason Weiss said, “We cut out 100 percent of grazing between meals, and we started measuring our servings. And when you measure servings, you lose weight.” The family takes a nutritional pocket guide with them everywhere they go to help Parker deal with his disease. The difference is what is good for Parker becomes good for the family – what’s bad for Parker is not allowed by the family. They have decided to identify with their son’s disease in a very personal way.

The BND.com report talks about Parker’s brothers. “They rarely get to drink soda, eat candy or go out for ice cream, but they have healthier eating habits than most kids.” Their father says, “It affects them in a good way because they’re not getting as much junk.”

Parker’s grandparents own a winery and a special tasting is set aside each year with funds going to benefit Type 1 diabetic research. This event has raised more than $20,000 over the last three years.

Amber Weiss explained the change in their family by saying, “You hear of people going through things like this, but our family has never had any health problems.”

It can be easy to think of diabetes as being something that happens to someone else or to another family. There is never the expectation that this is something that will happen to you or someone you love, yet the Weiss family has purposed to support Parker by ensuring that things seem relatively normal for their oldest son because it has become the norm for the entire family.

BND.com reports, “The Weisses try to keep a positive attitude and know things could be worse, but they speak honestly and openly about the realities of their son’s condition.”

Those conditions are being bravely faced by every member of Parker’s family. The support they are providing Parker comes with a personal price tag, yet their sacrifices are also serving as a springboard for inspiration among those who know them, and those who read their story.

Type 2 Diabetes and Women’s Heart Health: New research indicates a much higher percentage of the incidence of atrial fibrillation among women who also had Type 2 diabetes.

MayoClinic.com suggests that, “During atrial fibrillation, the heart’s two upper chambers (the atria) beat chaotically and irregularly — out of coordination with the two lower chambers (the ventricles) of the heart. Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow to the body and symptoms of heart palpitations, shortness of breath and weakness.

“Atrial fibrillation can also cause fatigue and stroke. It’s often caused by changes in your heart that occur as a result of heart disease or high blood pressure. Episodes of atrial fibrillation can come and go, or you may have chronic atrial fibrillation.

“Although atrial fibrillation itself usually isn’t life-threatening, it is a medical emergency. It can lead to complications. Treatments for atrial fibrillation may include medications and other interventions to try to alter the heart’s electrical system.”

HealthDay New quotes study author Gregory Nichols, “We found that people with diabetes have about a 44 percent higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation. When we stratified the data by sex, the association was still elevated for men — but not statistically significant — but for women, it was still statistically significant.”

The study released in the October 2009 issue of Diabetes Care does not pinpoint a definitive cause, but “The authors theorize that diabetes may affect the cardiac autonomic nerves in much the same way the disease damages peripheral nerves and causes a condition known as peripheral neuropathy.”

Dr. Howard Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City is not convinced, “In people with diabetes, the cluster of other cardiac risk factors, like obesity and hypertension, increases the risk of atrial fibrillation,” he said.

Essentially what this means is there is new data to report, but not firm conclusion. What this information does provide is a new mechanism of study that may help in answering the question of cause and allow medical science to pursue a solution.

The study that finds medical professionals asking more questions collected, “data from more than 10,000 members of an HMO diabetes registry who had type 2 diabetes, and then matched them by age and sex to more than 7,000 people without diabetes. The study period was January 1999 through December 2008.”

One of the key progressions from this study is that new physicians can pay close attention to the possibility of atrial fibrillation among female Type 2 diabetic patients. Nichold noted that, “among women, diabetes was a stronger predictor of atrial fibrillation than obesity and elevated blood pressure.”

The HealthDay News reported, “this study didn’t include comparisons of echocardiograms (an imaging test of the heart), which would have allowed researchers to assess heart health at the start of the study, and ensure that no one with preexisting, but undiagnosed, heart disease was included. Additionally, the researchers didn’t look to see if blood sugar control made a difference in the rates of atrial fibrillation.”

It should further be noted that while an increase of 44% is significant the report further states that, “the overall incidence of atrial fibrillation was 3.6 percent among people with type 2 diabetes, while the rate for people without the metabolic condition was only 2.5 percent.” Essentially the overall incidence of this disorder occurs in a relatively small percentage of adults, still this information will have a bearing in the care of diabetic patients.

The United Nations has designated November 14 World Diabetes Day. For more information, click here.

The Diabetes Scholars Foundation will be awarding at least fifteen $5,000 college scholarships to incoming freshmen with Type 1 diabetes. The applications will be available on our website beginning in January. In the past two years we have awarded almost $200,000 ($5,000 each) in college scholarships to students with Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes Scholars Foundation
diabetesscholars.org