Honesty is the Best Policy . . .

Andreas Eenfeldt, MD, a trusted low-carb colleague posted this today. Couldn't help but repost it here. Thanks Andreas!

Artificial Pancreas . . . on the horizon

Montreal researchers are perfecting a dual hormone insulin pump that controls blood sugar through the release of insulin and glucose based on your blood sugar levels. . . now that's cool . . . and useful! I can't wait to see this in clinical practice . . .

Cholesterol Drugs Increase Risk for Diabetes?

A recent article in the January 9th edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine (1) found that post menopausal women had a 48% increased risk of getting diabetes if they used any of the STATIN type cholesterol medications. The Women's Health Initiative, an observational study of over 153,000 post menopausal women found this increased risk. This is a significant finding and a worrisome claim.

In a time when STATIN medications like Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, and Pravachol are being used more frequently to decrease risk of coronary heart and vascular disease, this poses a significant risk and raises a number of questions.  Is the increased risk actually due to the cholesterol lowering medication, or is the progression to diabetes a component of the patient's heart disease risk due to other genetic factors?  Is the mechanism of action in these cholesterol medications contributing to diabetes risk or are these patients already in the progression to diabetes and cardiovascular changes were identified and treated prior to progression to diabetes.
What should you and I make of this data?  Well, first, don't stop your cholesterol medication. Talk to your doctor about this study and your risk of diabetes.  Second, realize that cardiovascular changes and elevation in cholesterol starts up to 20 years before diabetes is diagnosed in many patients with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Third, further evaluation and research needs to be done and we shouldn't base our decisions on just one observational study.
More to come on this subject I'm sure . . .

Reference:
1. Culver AL, Ockene IS, Balasubramanian R, et al. Statin use and risk of diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative. Arch Intern Med. Published online 2012 Jan 9. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625

Ketogenic Diet Reduces Diabetic Neuropathy

Very impressive kidney results were found in both Type I and Type II diabetic mice placed on a low carbohydrate ketogenic causing diet in just 8 weeks. The nephropathy (passage of protein through the kidneys) was completely reversed in all the mice. This is the first in what I suspect will be a series of articles showing that ketogenic diets have significant effect on reversal of age related and diabetic tissue damage.  See the article here.

If You Have Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, or Insulin Resistance Take Your Folic Acid

Recent study published in Obesity ((23 September 2010) | doi:10.1038/oby.2010.210) reveals exciting information about protecting the blood vessels of patients with diabetes, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.

It is a well known fact that excessive small blood vessel damage in these patients leads quickly to renal failure, macular degeneration (damage to the retina of the eye), and painful numbness and neuropathy in the hands and feet.  Patients with metabolic syndrome and diabetes have been shown to have increased levels of nitric oxide in their small blood vessels. This is thought to be one of the major causes of the damage that occurs in these patients. Much attention and monitoring is given to these patient in attempts to protect their blood vessels from ongoing damage.
Recent data showed that in just four weeks folic acid decreased the amount of nitric oxide present in the blood vessels of  patients with metabolic syndrome thereby implying significant vascular protection and health.  Further study is needed to determine the degree of protection folic acid renders in these patients, but until then, I'm taking my folic acid!!

Waist Size in Childhood Predicts Risk for Adult Metabolic Syndrome

A recent study published in the Journal of Obesity begun in 1985 shows that your waist size as a child is a very strong and independent risk factor in your forming metabolic syndrome later in life.  Metabolic syndrome is a precursor stage to type II diabetes mellitus that puts you at significant risk for heart disease and stroke. The study was conducted in 2188 boys and these boys were followed and evaluated at age seven, fifteen, and twenty-seven years old (twenty years later).
Results show that as your waist circumference increases as a child, your risk for metabolic syndrome notably increases and is unrelated to waist changes between childhood and adulthood.  This means that emphasis on childhood weight is significant and must be a factor in evaluation of the child's overall health and risk for disease later in life.