Insulin’s high cost leads to lethal rationing
BY BRAM SABLE-SMITH: Diabetic ketoacidosis is a terrible way to die. It’s what happens when you don’t have enough insulin. Your blood sugar gets so high that your blood becomes highly acidic, your cells dehydrate, and your body stops functioning.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is how Nicole Smith-Holt lost her son. Three days before his payday. Because he couldn’t afford his insulin.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Smith-Holt says looking at her son’s death certificate on her dining room table in Richfield, Minn. “That cause of death of diabetic ketoacidosis should have never happened.” (read more)
Follow-up before diagnosis improved metabolic control in children with type 1 diabetes
BY ROXANNE NELSON: Children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes and who were enrolled in longitudinal follow-up before being diagnosed with diabetes have better metabolic control when they are diagnosed, and the positive effect on HbA1c lasts for at least 5 years, according to a study published in Diabetologia.
The Diabetes Prediction in Skåne (DiPiS) study is a prospective, longitudinal study conducted in Sweden of children who are at increased risk for type 1 diabetes. The goal of the current study was to assess glycemic control during a longer period, past the period of partial remission and after diagnosis, in children who participated in the DiPiS. Participants in the DiPiS were then compared with children who were not enrolled and who are receiving equivalent diabetes care. (read more)
Sedentary lifestyle in 30s can up risk of stroke, cardiac arrest, diabetes
BY SMITA BALRAM: For techie Kunal Sharma (name changed), it was a regular workday after a few night shifts over the week. Little did he know that he would be rushed to hospital straight from his meeting. All of 38 years, Sharma suffered a paralytic stroke.
“I had no bad habits like drinking or smoking. I shuttled my time between work and home only. Doctors attributed the stroke to my erratic eating pattern, sleep disturbance due to night shifts and no dedicated fitness routine,” says Sharma. (read more)
Health benefits of working in an open-plan office highlighted in study
BY JACK WOODFIELD: Employees who work in an open-plan office reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes by moving more compared to those working in smaller working environments, an American study suggests.
Open-plan office workers are also less stressed compared to people who are based in small private rooms or cubicles, the University of Arizona study found.
Studies have linked excessive sitting to health problems, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, and research worldwide is investigating how to combat this. Earlier this month, Australian scientists reported on how sit-stand desks could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes among office workers. (read more)
BY BENEDICT JEPHCOTE: People without diabetes or prediabetes get high sugar levels in response to common high carbohydrate foods such as breakfast cereal, a new study reports.
The trial involved 57 participants. Most of the participants were those without diabetes or prediabetes, however a number of the participants were included who had either prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.
Researchers from Stanford University in California, USA carried out the interesting study. The participants were each given a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to measure their sugar levels through the day. The researchers were keen to assess how well different people’s sugar levels responded to different meals. (read more)
