Floyd County newpspaper editor calls on readers to make lifestyle changes to address area's diabetes health crisis

The editor of an Eastern Kentucky newspaper has joined an advocacy group's call for residents in his county to make simple, healthy lifestyle changes, serving as an example of how local newspapers and community members can engage the public to confront poor health status of the area, which is often put on the back-burner despite alarming warning signs.

Recently, the Tri-County Diabetes Partnership declared the rate of diabetes in Floyd, Johnson and Magoffin counties (map) "a crisis of epidemic proportions." The rate in 2002-10, the latest available, was 14 percent.

If the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "saw a similar increase in any other illness, they would probably declare a national emergency,” said J.D. Miller, vice president of medical affairs for Appalachian Regional Healthcare, who chaired the meeting.

The group's statement was an appropriate response to direct public's attention to the imperative of addressing the area's skyrocketing rate of the disease, Ralph Davis of The Floyd County Times wrote in an editorial.

Diabetes will remain a crisis unless we do something about it, said Davis, and "if you have been waiting for a crisis before making healthy lifestyle changes, we’ve got one for you. In fact, we have several," Davis said.

The Central Appalachian region suffers from disproportionate rates of diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and Floyd, Magoffin and Johnson counties have much higher rates of obesity than state and national averages, Davis notes. Floyd County ranks last among the state’s 120 counties in overall health measures, and Johnson and Magoffin counties are ranked 108th and 104th, respectively.

To do something about this problem, Davis calls for concentrated attention by health care providers and government officials, but the problem won't be solved without action from the community and individuals, he says. Simple, healthy lifestyle changes are needed.

"It’s going to require the conscious decision by everyone in the region to do what they can to improve their diet and exercise habits, and to encourage their friends and family to do the same," said Davis.

Calls like Davis's are needed even more in most of the counties that surround the three counties, based on data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System. The counties in dark blue had rates above 14 percent; the highest was Greenup, at 17 percent.

The editor of an Eastern Kentucky newspaper has joined an advocacy group's call for residents in his county to make simple, healthy lifestyle changes, serving as an example of how local newspapers and community members can engage the public to confront poor health status of the area, which is often put on the back-burner despite alarming warning signs.

Recently, the Tri-County Diabetes Partnership declared the rate of diabetes in Floyd, Johnson and Magoffin counties (map) "a crisis of epidemic proportions." The rate in 2002-10, the latest available, was 14 percent.

If the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "saw a similar increase in any other illness, they would probably declare a national emergency,” said J.D. Miller, vice president of medical affairs for Appalachian Regional Healthcare, who chaired the meeting.

The group's statement was an appropriate response to direct public's attention to the imperative of addressing the area's skyrocketing rate of the disease, Ralph Davis of The Floyd County Times wrote in an editorial.

Diabetes will remain a crisis unless we do something about it, said Davis, and "if you have been waiting for a crisis before making healthy lifestyle changes, we’ve got one for you. In fact, we have several," Davis said.

The Central Appalachian region suffers from disproportionate rates of diabetes, cancer and heart disease, and Floyd, Magoffin and Johnson counties have much higher rates of obesity than state and national averages, Davis notes. Floyd County ranks last among the state’s 120 counties in overall health measures, and Johnson and Magoffin counties are ranked 108th and 104th, respectively.

To do something about this problem, Davis calls for concentrated attention by health care providers and government officials, but the problem won't be solved without action from the community and individuals, he says. Simple, healthy lifestyle changes are needed.

"It’s going to require the conscious decision by everyone in the region to do what they can to improve their diet and exercise habits, and to encourage their friends and family to do the same," said Davis.

Calls like Davis's are needed even more in most of the counties that surround the three counties, based on data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System. The counties in dark blue had rates above 14 percent; the highest was Greenup, at 17 percent.

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Stroke Risk Greatly Increases With Drinking Soda

   Drinking Soda Increases Stroke Chance

It doesn't matter whether it's sugary or diet: High consumption of carbonated soft drinks significantly increases your risk of stroke, research shows.

Researchers found that those with higher consumptions of both sugar-sweetened and low-calorie soda were significantly more likely to suffer from strokes.


"Greater consumption of sugar-sweetened and low-calorie sodas was associated with a significantly higher risk of stroke," the researchers wrote. "This risk may be reduced by substituting alternative beverages for soda."

Read The Whole Soda Causes Stroke Story Here

   Drinking Soda Increases Stroke Chance

It doesn't matter whether it's sugary or diet: High consumption of carbonated soft drinks significantly increases your risk of stroke, research shows.

Researchers found that those with higher consumptions of both sugar-sweetened and low-calorie soda were significantly more likely to suffer from strokes.


"Greater consumption of sugar-sweetened and low-calorie sodas was associated with a significantly higher risk of stroke," the researchers wrote. "This risk may be reduced by substituting alternative beverages for soda."

Read The Whole Soda Causes Stroke Story Here

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Diabetes Increases Risk Of Stroke

Patients with diabetes remain at greatly increased risk for ischemic stroke at all ages, but especially in the under-65 age group, a new study shows.

“Our results suggest that diabetics aged under 65 have up to a 12-fold increased risk of stroke compared to people of a similar age who do not have diabetes,” lead investigator Jane C. Khoury, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, commented to Medscape Medical News. “In the over 65s, there was still an increase in stroke of about 2- to 3-fold in diabetic patients.”

Read The Entire Story HERE

Patients with diabetes remain at greatly increased risk for ischemic stroke at all ages, but especially in the under-65 age group, a new study shows.

“Our results suggest that diabetics aged under 65 have up to a 12-fold increased risk of stroke compared to people of a similar age who do not have diabetes,” lead investigator Jane C. Khoury, PhD, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, commented to Medscape Medical News. “In the over 65s, there was still an increase in stroke of about 2- to 3-fold in diabetic patients.”

Read The Entire Story HERE

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State Health Department gets diabetes prevention funding; will focus on prediabetes detection and lifestyle changes

The state Department for Public Health has been awarded a $134,380 federal grant to help reduce high rates of prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes in Kentucky.

“Diabetes is a tremendous public health concern that is both horrific for the individual, if unmanaged, and costly in terms of medications, various complications and long-term hospitalizations that are so often associated with the disease,” Audrey Haynes, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in a press release.

In 2009, Kentucky's rate for diagnosed diabetes was the fourth highest in the nation at 11.4 percent of the population, compared to a national median of 8.3 percent. The rate means an estimated 366,000 adults in Kentucky have diabetes. An additional 266,000 Kentuckians are estimated to have prediabetes, according to the CFHS website.

Prediabetes often leads to Type 2 diabetes, the most common type, within a few years, but lifestyle changes promoted by the federal Diabetes Prevention Program can decrease the risk of developing diabetes by almost 60 percent, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“We must act now to begin reversing the devastating impact of diabetes on our state,” Haynes said. “We are excited to continue our work with the Diabetes Prevention Program to help more Kentuckians start making healthier lifestyle choices so they can avoid developing diabetes and lead longer, healthier lives.”

The DPP specifically targets individuals with prediabetes and works with them to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The risk factors for both are: being older than 45, being overweight or obese, physical inactivity, having a family history of diabetes, ever having gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, having a history of cardiovascular disease and being African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander. Click here to take the diabetes risk test.

The federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that national efforts to prevent Type 2 diabetes could save $5.7 billion in health care costs by preventing 885,000 cases in the next 25 years. Kentucky will focus on three diabetes prevention strategies that involve raising awareness among health care providers to improve detection and treatment of prediabetes and encouraging both state/local government and business to add lifestyle change programs to the list of covered services under health plans, says the news release. (Read more about diabetes and prevention in Kentucky).

The state Department for Public Health has been awarded a $134,380 federal grant to help reduce high rates of prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes in Kentucky.

“Diabetes is a tremendous public health concern that is both horrific for the individual, if unmanaged, and costly in terms of medications, various complications and long-term hospitalizations that are so often associated with the disease,” Audrey Haynes, secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said in a press release.

In 2009, Kentucky's rate for diagnosed diabetes was the fourth highest in the nation at 11.4 percent of the population, compared to a national median of 8.3 percent. The rate means an estimated 366,000 adults in Kentucky have diabetes. An additional 266,000 Kentuckians are estimated to have prediabetes, according to the CFHS website.

Prediabetes often leads to Type 2 diabetes, the most common type, within a few years, but lifestyle changes promoted by the federal Diabetes Prevention Program can decrease the risk of developing diabetes by almost 60 percent, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Preventive Medicine.

“We must act now to begin reversing the devastating impact of diabetes on our state,” Haynes said. “We are excited to continue our work with the Diabetes Prevention Program to help more Kentuckians start making healthier lifestyle choices so they can avoid developing diabetes and lead longer, healthier lives.”

The DPP specifically targets individuals with prediabetes and works with them to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The risk factors for both are: being older than 45, being overweight or obese, physical inactivity, having a family history of diabetes, ever having gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, having a history of cardiovascular disease and being African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander. Click here to take the diabetes risk test.

The federal Centers for Disease Control estimates that national efforts to prevent Type 2 diabetes could save $5.7 billion in health care costs by preventing 885,000 cases in the next 25 years. Kentucky will focus on three diabetes prevention strategies that involve raising awareness among health care providers to improve detection and treatment of prediabetes and encouraging both state/local government and business to add lifestyle change programs to the list of covered services under health plans, says the news release. (Read more about diabetes and prevention in Kentucky).

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First major study of diet and strokes links fried, sugary Southern diet, low on fruits and vegetables, to increased risk

Genuine Kentucky fried platter:
Cornbread, fried catfish, fried green
tomatoes, fried apples and fried okra
(Photo from Ramsey's, Lexington)

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

People with a Southern diet, or one heavy on fried food and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soft drinks, are more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain people in the nation's "stroke belt" or southern states suffer more of them, reports Marilynn Marchione of The Associated Press.

These findings have important implications for Kentuckians because stroke accounts for 5.5 percent of Kentucky deaths each year and more than 81 percent of Kentucky adults eat fruit and vegetables fewer than 5 times a day, which is a indicator of risk for stroke:

Heart Disease and Stroke Risk Factors from federal Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System national survey	Ky.	U.S.
Eat fruits and vegetables less than 5 times/day	81.6	75.6
Overweight or obese	69.1	62.9
No moderate or vigorous physical activity	55.8	50.5
High total blood cholesterol	38.5	37.6
High blood pressure	30.0	27.8
Cigarette smoking	28.2	19.8
Diabetes	9.9	8.0

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.  For the study, a southern diet also included jerky, red meat, eggs, and whole milk.


Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure and sweet drinks increases risk for diabetes- both are known stroke risk factors, Judd said.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of "Southern" foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk, reports Marchione.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week. 

These findings were reported last week at the American Stroke Association conference. The study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them.

Stroke death rates in Kentucky vary widely among counties. Here's a county map of the rates, from KentuckyHealthFacts.org, which has a county-by county list:

The map shows stroke rates in ranges per 100,000 population from 2003 through 2007. Purple counties had rates above 69; blue counties ranged from 52 to 69; turquoise were 44 to 52; light blue were 31 to 44 (the number that is about the national average), and tan were 18 to 31.

Genuine Kentucky fried platter:
Cornbread, fried catfish, fried green
tomatoes, fried apples and fried okra
(Photo from Ramsey's, Lexington)

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

People with a Southern diet, or one heavy on fried food and sugary drinks like sweet tea and soft drinks, are more likely to suffer a stroke, a new study finds.

It's the first big look at diet and strokes, and researchers say it might help explain people in the nation's "stroke belt" or southern states suffer more of them, reports Marilynn Marchione of The Associated Press.

These findings have important implications for Kentuckians because stroke accounts for 5.5 percent of Kentucky deaths each year and more than 81 percent of Kentucky adults eat fruit and vegetables fewer than 5 times a day, which is a indicator of risk for stroke:

Heart Disease and Stroke Risk Factors from federal Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System national survey	Ky.	U.S.
Eat fruits and vegetables less than 5 times/day	81.6	75.6
Overweight or obese	69.1	62.9
No moderate or vigorous physical activity	55.8	50.5
High total blood cholesterol	38.5	37.6
High blood pressure	30.0	27.8
Cigarette smoking	28.2	19.8
Diabetes	9.9	8.0

"We're talking about fried foods, french fries, hamburgers, processed meats, hot dogs," bacon, ham, liver, gizzards and sugary drinks, said the study's leader, Suzanne Judd of the University of Alabama in Birmingham.  For the study, a southern diet also included jerky, red meat, eggs, and whole milk.


Fried foods tend to be eaten with lots of salt, which raises blood pressure and sweet drinks increases risk for diabetes- both are known stroke risk factors, Judd said.

People who ate about six meals a week featuring these sorts of "Southern" foods had a 41 percent higher stroke risk than people who ate that way about once a month, researchers found.

In contrast, people whose diets were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish had a 29 percent lower stroke risk, reports Marchione.

"It's a very big difference," Judd said. "The message for people in the middle is there's a graded risk" — the likelihood of suffering a stroke rises in proportion to each Southern meal in a week. 

These findings were reported last week at the American Stroke Association conference. The study was launched in 2002 to explore regional variations in stroke risks and reasons for them.

Stroke death rates in Kentucky vary widely among counties. Here's a county map of the rates, from KentuckyHealthFacts.org, which has a county-by county list:

The map shows stroke rates in ranges per 100,000 population from 2003 through 2007. Purple counties had rates above 69; blue counties ranged from 52 to 69; turquoise were 44 to 52; light blue were 31 to 44 (the number that is about the national average), and tan were 18 to 31.

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Diabetes in people and cats: a shared disease

Osto M, Zini E, Reusch CE and Lutz TA. Diabetes from humans to cats. Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2012; 182C: 48-53.
 
Feline diabetes shares many features in common with human type-2 diabetes with respect to pathophysiology, risk factors, and treatment strategies. In this review article, the authors discuss the current knowledge on similarities and differences between diabetes in cats and humans. Both cats and humans are prone to develop obesity-induced insulin resistance, impaired beta-cell function, decreased number of beta-cells, and pancreatic amyloid deposition. In addition, cats and humans are susceptible to the detrimental effects of excess glucose (glucotoxicity); therefore, rapid restoration of normoglycemia may reverse glucotoxicity in the endocrine pancreas and restore beta-cell function and mass. 

In contrast to humans, hyperlipidemia does not appear to affect basal insulin levels or glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in cats. However, both hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia induce a systemic inflammation in cats that resembles that observed in human type-2 diabetes. Interestingly, in contrast in human with type-2 diabetes, local inflammatory reactions in the pancreatic islets are not observed in cats. Future studies are needed to clarify the role of inflammation (systemic or localized in the endocrine pancreas) and evaluate whether the activation of the same inflammatory mediators and ultimately the same inflammatory mechanisms occur in feline diabetes and human type-2 diabetes. [GO]

See also: Hoenig M. The cat as a model for human obesity and diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2012; 6: 525-33. 

Related blog articles:
New approaches to treatment of feline diabetes mellitus (Sept. 2012)
Blood glucose monitoring in cats (Aug. 2012)
Quality of life for cats with diabetes (Nov. 2010)

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Google+

Osto M, Zini E, Reusch CE and Lutz TA. Diabetes from humans to cats. Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2012; 182C: 48-53.
 
Feline diabetes shares many features in common with human type-2 diabetes with respect to pathophysiology, risk factors, and treatment strategies. In this review article, the authors discuss the current knowledge on similarities and differences between diabetes in cats and humans. Both cats and humans are prone to develop obesity-induced insulin resistance, impaired beta-cell function, decreased number of beta-cells, and pancreatic amyloid deposition. In addition, cats and humans are susceptible to the detrimental effects of excess glucose (glucotoxicity); therefore, rapid restoration of normoglycemia may reverse glucotoxicity in the endocrine pancreas and restore beta-cell function and mass. 

In contrast to humans, hyperlipidemia does not appear to affect basal insulin levels or glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in cats. However, both hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia induce a systemic inflammation in cats that resembles that observed in human type-2 diabetes. Interestingly, in contrast in human with type-2 diabetes, local inflammatory reactions in the pancreatic islets are not observed in cats. Future studies are needed to clarify the role of inflammation (systemic or localized in the endocrine pancreas) and evaluate whether the activation of the same inflammatory mediators and ultimately the same inflammatory mechanisms occur in feline diabetes and human type-2 diabetes. [GO]

See also: Hoenig M. The cat as a model for human obesity and diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2012; 6: 525-33. 

Related blog articles:
New approaches to treatment of feline diabetes mellitus (Sept. 2012)
Blood glucose monitoring in cats (Aug. 2012)
Quality of life for cats with diabetes (Nov. 2010)

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Google+

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Increased Risk Of Stroke for Thyroid and Diabetes Patients!

Increased Risk Of Stroke for Thyroid and Diabetes Patients!

Attention: If you or someone you know is stricken with diabetes along with low thyroid, known as hypothyroidism, then you MUST read this article.  Your life may already be hanging on by a thread, a thread that your doctor doesn’t even know may be unraveling quickly.

Research has shown that diabetic patients are commonly found to have concurrent thyroid disorders.

In comparison to the normal population, diabetics have over 30% more hypothyroid disease, an 11% increase in postpartum diabetes and studies have shown that diabetics have over 5 times the incidence of sub-clinical hypothyroid disease compared with the normal population!

An autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis accounts for between 70%-80% of all hypothyroid disease cases in American adults.  It is the most common cause of hypothyroid in the adult population. In people with hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune disease it has been found that they have, as a group, multiple other conditions along with the hypothyroidism.

It is known that patients with one organ-specific autoimmune disease are at risk of developing other autoimmune disorders, and because thyroid disorders are more common in females, it is not surprising that so many female diabetes patients have thyroid disease.

One problem that arises with having these two conditions together is that, due to the diabetic state of glucose dysregulation, glucose is inefficiently transported to the cells and the metabolism of glucose is diminished. This results in an increase of glucose in the blood stream.

As a result, the body will convert the excess sugar to triglycerides to be stored in adipose tissue for use as energy when it may be needed.

Because hypothyroidism decreases the overall rate at which you burn calories (Think of the thyroid as your body's furnace) and low thyroid also slows down hormone production, your triglycerides are more likely to remain in your fat cells because of the lowered energy needs of the body, this is one reason many people with low thyroid have cold hands and / or feet because the byproduct of energy production is heat, so if the bodies “furnace”, is functioning below what is required, one symptom could be those cold hands and feet.

Hypothyroidism may also increase your LDL levels (low density lipoproteins, which are wrongly called our “bad” cholesterol) by increasing the absorption of cholesterol through your liver, preventing it from effectively eliminating excess cholesterol.

So you see, diabetes causes you to make more triglycerides and then hypothyroidism helps you to keep them around, either stored as fat because you don’t utilize them for energy or within the bloodstream.

High triglyceride blood plasma levels are one marker used to show increased risk factor for heart disease, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and stroke. 

In fact two studies found that increased triglycerides were a more reliable marker for future strokes that LDL or that so called “bad cholesterol”.

Prior to these two studies elevated LDL levels were always deemed the prime suspect in the development of stroke.

In the first study that was done, spanning over 4 years, researchers at UCLA collected data on more than 1,000 patients who were admitted to the medical center for TIA’s.

All of the study patients had fasting lipid panels drawn the day following admission to the hospital. After comparing the lipid panels, researchers found that patients with the highest triglyceride levels were 2.7 times more likely to suffer a stroke than those with low triglyceride levels.  

LDL levels, however, showed no correlation to stroke risk.

A 2001 study reported similar results. An Israeli team of scientists’ analyzed more than 11,000 patients, all of whom had coronary heart disease but had never suffered a stroke. 

During an 8-year follow-up period, 487 of those study patients had a TIA or full-blown stroke.

In studying these patients’ findings along with those whom had high triglycerides, researchers determined that diabetics with thyroid conditions who had triglyceride levels of 200 mg/dL or more had a 30% greater risk of having a stroke than patients with normal triglyceride levels.

This information has been around for over 10 years, and if your triglycerides have always been an issue in your blood panels, has your doctor ever explained this to you?

If the doctor does any reading of research at all they should know this connection between Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, Glucose, Triglycerides, Heart Disease and Strokes.

If they don’t acknowledge this and, instead continue to prescribe you statins for your supposed high cholesterol, then maybe it’s time for you to find a doctor that does actively search out the newest, life saving research.

You deserve to have a health care provider that actually provides “health improving care”, not just  “keep you from dying care”. 

Think about the definition of medicine: The prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease.

Knowing that definition would you say that, in your opinion, the doctors you see for your health, have they prevented any of your diseases? Have they cured you of any of these disease conditions?

 I bet the your answers to those 2 questions is a profound “No!”.  In fact, when you have your blood chemistry tested and a blood chemistry result comes back on your test that is out of range the doctor probably tells you "We'll watch it.", not giving any explanation or a limited explanation at best about what they are watching and waiting for.

Well let me clue you in, this “watch and wait” is really a code for “We need for your health to become worse because, in reality, you aren’t sick enough for the type of care that we provide.”   

That's Not Health Care, That's Sick Care!

This is why you continue to deteriorate as the years go by because no one is trying hard enough for you! They aren't getting to the root cause of your problems.

You need a health provider who is willing to investigate your health in order to find what the cause of all these problems you are saddled with. A health-rejuvenating clinician that doesn’t blame your "Bad Luck" for what you are going through.

Saying a person with your health is just unlucky is a cop-out. It is a lazy doctor’s excuse to be incompetent. It's their way of dealing with their inadequate and falsely labeled “health care” treatment.

The best that you get from the medical doctor is an attempt to alleviate your symptoms, but even then they are ignoring this huge elephant in the room that I just went over with you, which is:  

Triglycerides, Not Cholesterol, Is How You Assess The Risk Factor Of A Future Stroke In Those Patients With Both Hypothyroid Disease And Diabetes!

You are invaluable to your family, friends and loved ones, don’t you think you are deserving of a doctor who’s life mission it is to contribute to his patients allowing them the opportunity to achieve the most optimal health imaginable?

A doctor who will look at your health as a whole so that you are afforded the very best care by using his knowledge of the human body and all it's systems to find the common cause of your multiple health system issues! That doctor would then need to know what to do for you so that you are no longer burdened with that always present fear that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing when the next “health crisis” shoe will drop causing you to become even more ill.

To live is to be able to enjoy your life as it was meant to be, it's not just going through the motions of the day unable to do the things that you love because of your poor health. Isn't it time to stop beating your head against the wall and change the direction of your life? Well then you are going to have to find someone that knows how to look at hypothyroidism and diabetes from a functional perspective.

Has your doctor even tested you for an autoimmune thyroid? If not, how does that doctor know what in the world is really going on in your body?

The doctor you entrust your health, and ultimately your life with needs to look beyond the labels of hypothyroidism and/ or diabetes so that they are able to do some real, health improving detective work to find the root cause(s) of your specific issue(s).

Do you get blood work results that are out of range and yet your doctor doesn’t seem to concerned with those pathological findings, telling you that we’ll just watch those results and see how they are on the next follow-up and when that time comes the doctor does the same thing again?  Worse yet, does your doctor not even acknowledge the negative results and instead tells you that your blood work is fine, making up some lame excuse like it’s ok for your age and weight?

If that's the case it is imperative that you find someone who understands the interaction between Hypothyroidism, Diabetes and the rest of your body's systems.

The combination of these two diseases in one individual is a deadly serious problem that cannot be swept under the rug and ignored, you must find a doctor that fully understands the gravity of this situation and will give it the attention it deserves by analyzing all the facts from a functional medical perspective.

Fortunately, I have spent many countless hours on these specific disease processes. I have the background, knowledge and desire it takes to get to the root of your problems so that you don’t become a statistic of an ever increasingly cold and incompetent health care system.

Patients often times are forced to blindly travel down the path of poor health as it meanders along due to a doctor that is either far too busy, too lazy or just too damn stubborn to stay up to date with the most current scientific research.

Chronic health conditions such as these are given the most inadequate of care in our current health care system and a huge reason is the health insurance companies. You see, they are the controller of the money and they dictate what care a patient will receive; many times a doctor is unable to exercise their full clinical skills due to the fact that they wouldn't be reimbursed by the insurance company as well as they dare not go against what has been set as the "Standard Of Care" for a particular health condition even though that Care is generic in that it is based on the diagnosed condition and not based upon an individual patient's uniqueness.

Unfortunately our health care system for the chronically ill patient is broken and patient care is no longer based on the individual but instead, it is has become an assembly line of “cookie cutter” treatment protocols that do not deviate much from patient to patient within the same diagnosis.

If you have been in the medical system for any length of time, you know this to be the case.

You are expected to wait, sometimes hours after your appointment time to see the doctor, then, when you finally get into your exam room, the doctor asks you a few questions, may or may not order blood work and then write you a couple of prescriptions for Synthroid^®to cover the hypothyroid and Metformin^® for your diabetes.

They can’t take the time to explain why your blood work is the way it is, nor will they have an answer as to why you continue to feel as you did before beginning your thyroid replacement hormones and the diabetes support medications.

Don’t you think you deserve better than what you have been getting in regards to your healthcare?  

Isn’t your life as important as anyone else’s?

Shouldn’t the doctor you employ to recover your lost health make it his fundamental duty to do all that is within his God given talent and power so that you no longer continue on the downward spiral of decreasing health in which you find yourself now?

If you are finally sick and tired of being sick and tired and you want to find someone that cares as much about your health as you do, then call my office at 281-812-8101 and set up a free, no obligation Health Recovery Workshop so you may see for yourself that there is hope and you are not destined to live a life of misery.

My door is open for those that want to take responsibility for their own health and stop relying on some profit driven, corporate health insurance company with their doctors that feed into this international profit driven machine at the expense of their patients’ health and many times the patient pays the ultimate cost by losing that same health and life that they and entrusted with the doctor to protect, nurture and improve.

If you have any questions or just want to sit down and talk about the possible solutions to your health issues, then please give my office a call at: 281-812-8101.

If you want to learn more please go to my website at:

http://LifeChangingCareHouston.com

http://FixMyThyroidNow.com 
http://FixMyDiabetesNow.com

In Health,

Dr. Walter K. Crooks DM (P), DC, CCCN

Increased Risk Of Stroke for Thyroid and Diabetes Patients!

Attention: If you or someone you know is stricken with diabetes along with low thyroid, known as hypothyroidism, then you MUST read this article.  Your life may already be hanging on by a thread, a thread that your doctor doesn’t even know may be unraveling quickly.

Research has shown that diabetic patients are commonly found to have concurrent thyroid disorders.

In comparison to the normal population, diabetics have over 30% more hypothyroid disease, an 11% increase in postpartum diabetes and studies have shown that diabetics have over 5 times the incidence of sub-clinical hypothyroid disease compared with the normal population!

An autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis accounts for between 70%-80% of all hypothyroid disease cases in American adults.  It is the most common cause of hypothyroid in the adult population. In people with hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune disease it has been found that they have, as a group, multiple other conditions along with the hypothyroidism.

It is known that patients with one organ-specific autoimmune disease are at risk of developing other autoimmune disorders, and because thyroid disorders are more common in females, it is not surprising that so many female diabetes patients have thyroid disease.

One problem that arises with having these two conditions together is that, due to the diabetic state of glucose dysregulation, glucose is inefficiently transported to the cells and the metabolism of glucose is diminished. This results in an increase of glucose in the blood stream.

As a result, the body will convert the excess sugar to triglycerides to be stored in adipose tissue for use as energy when it may be needed.

Because hypothyroidism decreases the overall rate at which you burn calories (Think of the thyroid as your body's furnace) and low thyroid also slows down hormone production, your triglycerides are more likely to remain in your fat cells because of the lowered energy needs of the body, this is one reason many people with low thyroid have cold hands and / or feet because the byproduct of energy production is heat, so if the bodies “furnace”, is functioning below what is required, one symptom could be those cold hands and feet.

Hypothyroidism may also increase your LDL levels (low density lipoproteins, which are wrongly called our “bad” cholesterol) by increasing the absorption of cholesterol through your liver, preventing it from effectively eliminating excess cholesterol.

So you see, diabetes causes you to make more triglycerides and then hypothyroidism helps you to keep them around, either stored as fat because you don’t utilize them for energy or within the bloodstream.

High triglyceride blood plasma levels are one marker used to show increased risk factor for heart disease, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and stroke. 

In fact two studies found that increased triglycerides were a more reliable marker for future strokes that LDL or that so called “bad cholesterol”.

Prior to these two studies elevated LDL levels were always deemed the prime suspect in the development of stroke.

In the first study that was done, spanning over 4 years, researchers at UCLA collected data on more than 1,000 patients who were admitted to the medical center for TIA’s.

All of the study patients had fasting lipid panels drawn the day following admission to the hospital. After comparing the lipid panels, researchers found that patients with the highest triglyceride levels were 2.7 times more likely to suffer a stroke than those with low triglyceride levels.  

LDL levels, however, showed no correlation to stroke risk.

A 2001 study reported similar results. An Israeli team of scientists’ analyzed more than 11,000 patients, all of whom had coronary heart disease but had never suffered a stroke. 

During an 8-year follow-up period, 487 of those study patients had a TIA or full-blown stroke.

In studying these patients’ findings along with those whom had high triglycerides, researchers determined that diabetics with thyroid conditions who had triglyceride levels of 200 mg/dL or more had a 30% greater risk of having a stroke than patients with normal triglyceride levels.

This information has been around for over 10 years, and if your triglycerides have always been an issue in your blood panels, has your doctor ever explained this to you?

If the doctor does any reading of research at all they should know this connection between Diabetes, Hypothyroidism, Glucose, Triglycerides, Heart Disease and Strokes.

If they don’t acknowledge this and, instead continue to prescribe you statins for your supposed high cholesterol, then maybe it’s time for you to find a doctor that does actively search out the newest, life saving research.

You deserve to have a health care provider that actually provides “health improving care”, not just  “keep you from dying care”. 

Think about the definition of medicine: The prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease.

Knowing that definition would you say that, in your opinion, the doctors you see for your health, have they prevented any of your diseases? Have they cured you of any of these disease conditions?

 I bet the your answers to those 2 questions is a profound “No!”.  In fact, when you have your blood chemistry tested and a blood chemistry result comes back on your test that is out of range the doctor probably tells you "We'll watch it.", not giving any explanation or a limited explanation at best about what they are watching and waiting for.

Well let me clue you in, this “watch and wait” is really a code for “We need for your health to become worse because, in reality, you aren’t sick enough for the type of care that we provide.”   

That's Not Health Care, That's Sick Care!

This is why you continue to deteriorate as the years go by because no one is trying hard enough for you! They aren't getting to the root cause of your problems.

You need a health provider who is willing to investigate your health in order to find what the cause of all these problems you are saddled with. A health-rejuvenating clinician that doesn’t blame your "Bad Luck" for what you are going through.

Saying a person with your health is just unlucky is a cop-out. It is a lazy doctor’s excuse to be incompetent. It's their way of dealing with their inadequate and falsely labeled “health care” treatment.

The best that you get from the medical doctor is an attempt to alleviate your symptoms, but even then they are ignoring this huge elephant in the room that I just went over with you, which is:  

Triglycerides, Not Cholesterol, Is How You Assess The Risk Factor Of A Future Stroke In Those Patients With Both Hypothyroid Disease And Diabetes!

You are invaluable to your family, friends and loved ones, don’t you think you are deserving of a doctor who’s life mission it is to contribute to his patients allowing them the opportunity to achieve the most optimal health imaginable?

A doctor who will look at your health as a whole so that you are afforded the very best care by using his knowledge of the human body and all it's systems to find the common cause of your multiple health system issues! That doctor would then need to know what to do for you so that you are no longer burdened with that always present fear that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing when the next “health crisis” shoe will drop causing you to become even more ill.

To live is to be able to enjoy your life as it was meant to be, it's not just going through the motions of the day unable to do the things that you love because of your poor health. Isn't it time to stop beating your head against the wall and change the direction of your life? Well then you are going to have to find someone that knows how to look at hypothyroidism and diabetes from a functional perspective.

Has your doctor even tested you for an autoimmune thyroid? If not, how does that doctor know what in the world is really going on in your body?

The doctor you entrust your health, and ultimately your life with needs to look beyond the labels of hypothyroidism and/ or diabetes so that they are able to do some real, health improving detective work to find the root cause(s) of your specific issue(s).

Do you get blood work results that are out of range and yet your doctor doesn’t seem to concerned with those pathological findings, telling you that we’ll just watch those results and see how they are on the next follow-up and when that time comes the doctor does the same thing again?  Worse yet, does your doctor not even acknowledge the negative results and instead tells you that your blood work is fine, making up some lame excuse like it’s ok for your age and weight?

If that's the case it is imperative that you find someone who understands the interaction between Hypothyroidism, Diabetes and the rest of your body's systems.

The combination of these two diseases in one individual is a deadly serious problem that cannot be swept under the rug and ignored, you must find a doctor that fully understands the gravity of this situation and will give it the attention it deserves by analyzing all the facts from a functional medical perspective.

Fortunately, I have spent many countless hours on these specific disease processes. I have the background, knowledge and desire it takes to get to the root of your problems so that you don’t become a statistic of an ever increasingly cold and incompetent health care system.

Patients often times are forced to blindly travel down the path of poor health as it meanders along due to a doctor that is either far too busy, too lazy or just too damn stubborn to stay up to date with the most current scientific research.

Chronic health conditions such as these are given the most inadequate of care in our current health care system and a huge reason is the health insurance companies. You see, they are the controller of the money and they dictate what care a patient will receive; many times a doctor is unable to exercise their full clinical skills due to the fact that they wouldn't be reimbursed by the insurance company as well as they dare not go against what has been set as the "Standard Of Care" for a particular health condition even though that Care is generic in that it is based on the diagnosed condition and not based upon an individual patient's uniqueness.

Unfortunately our health care system for the chronically ill patient is broken and patient care is no longer based on the individual but instead, it is has become an assembly line of “cookie cutter” treatment protocols that do not deviate much from patient to patient within the same diagnosis.

If you have been in the medical system for any length of time, you know this to be the case.

You are expected to wait, sometimes hours after your appointment time to see the doctor, then, when you finally get into your exam room, the doctor asks you a few questions, may or may not order blood work and then write you a couple of prescriptions for Synthroid^®to cover the hypothyroid and Metformin^® for your diabetes.

They can’t take the time to explain why your blood work is the way it is, nor will they have an answer as to why you continue to feel as you did before beginning your thyroid replacement hormones and the diabetes support medications.

Don’t you think you deserve better than what you have been getting in regards to your healthcare?  

Isn’t your life as important as anyone else’s?

Shouldn’t the doctor you employ to recover your lost health make it his fundamental duty to do all that is within his God given talent and power so that you no longer continue on the downward spiral of decreasing health in which you find yourself now?

If you are finally sick and tired of being sick and tired and you want to find someone that cares as much about your health as you do, then call my office at 281-812-8101 and set up a free, no obligation Health Recovery Workshop so you may see for yourself that there is hope and you are not destined to live a life of misery.

My door is open for those that want to take responsibility for their own health and stop relying on some profit driven, corporate health insurance company with their doctors that feed into this international profit driven machine at the expense of their patients’ health and many times the patient pays the ultimate cost by losing that same health and life that they and entrusted with the doctor to protect, nurture and improve.

If you have any questions or just want to sit down and talk about the possible solutions to your health issues, then please give my office a call at: 281-812-8101.

If you want to learn more please go to my website at:

http://LifeChangingCareHouston.com

http://FixMyThyroidNow.com 
http://FixMyDiabetesNow.com

In Health,

Dr. Walter K. Crooks DM (P), DC, CCCN

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Children with TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to have extra fat, three times greater risk of heart disease and diabetes

Kids who have TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to be fat and nearly three times as likely to be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as those who don’t, according to a new study that elevates concerns about health and screen time. The research, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, studied 369 children, 5 to 18, who have TVs in their rooms and watched more than five hours of television a day. They showed dramatic evidence of extra belly fat, bigger waists, greater risk of heart disease and diabetes and elevated triglycerides, or fat in their bloodstream, said Amanda Staiano, a scientist with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. (Getty Images photo)

A 2010 study cited by Staiano indicated that 70 percent of American children have a TV in their bedroom. In the Pennington study, 66 percent of the kids had a TV in the room and the precise relationship between TV and health, as measured by height, weight, waist measurements, blood pressures, fat deposits and other exams, revealed the stark disparity between the groups with and without their own TV. (Read more)

Kids who have TVs in their bedrooms are twice as likely to be fat and nearly three times as likely to be at risk for heart disease and diabetes as those who don’t, according to a new study that elevates concerns about health and screen time. The research, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, studied 369 children, 5 to 18, who have TVs in their rooms and watched more than five hours of television a day. They showed dramatic evidence of extra belly fat, bigger waists, greater risk of heart disease and diabetes and elevated triglycerides, or fat in their bloodstream, said Amanda Staiano, a scientist with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. (Getty Images photo)

A 2010 study cited by Staiano indicated that 70 percent of American children have a TV in their bedroom. In the Pennington study, 66 percent of the kids had a TV in the room and the precise relationship between TV and health, as measured by height, weight, waist measurements, blood pressures, fat deposits and other exams, revealed the stark disparity between the groups with and without their own TV. (Read more)

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British researchers say a simple calculation can predict likelihood of a baby's chance of becoming obese during childhood

If only we knew from the start which babies were predisposed to becoming diabetic and hypertensive and overweight . . . News out this week suggests we can. NBC News reports that British researchers have published findings in the journal PLOS ONE saying that a simple assessment can predict at birth a baby's likelihood of becoming obese during childhood. The formula, available as an online calculator here, estimates the child's obesity risk based on its birth weight, the body mass index of the parents, the number of people in the household, the mother's professional status and whether she smoked during pregnancy.

The hope is to help families will take steps to control the weight of babies and small children before medical problems arise. Philippe Froguel of Imperial College London, who led the study, explained that teaching parents about the dangers of over-feeding and bad nutritional habits at a young age is much more effective than having to teach children how to lose weight. Froguel's team developed their formula following 4,000 Finnish children since 1986. Childhood obesity is a leading cause of early type 2 diabetes, as well as various types of cardiovascular disease. (Read more)

If only we knew from the start which babies were predisposed to becoming diabetic and hypertensive and overweight . . . News out this week suggests we can. NBC News reports that British researchers have published findings in the journal PLOS ONE saying that a simple assessment can predict at birth a baby's likelihood of becoming obese during childhood. The formula, available as an online calculator here, estimates the child's obesity risk based on its birth weight, the body mass index of the parents, the number of people in the household, the mother's professional status and whether she smoked during pregnancy.

The hope is to help families will take steps to control the weight of babies and small children before medical problems arise. Philippe Froguel of Imperial College London, who led the study, explained that teaching parents about the dangers of over-feeding and bad nutritional habits at a young age is much more effective than having to teach children how to lose weight. Froguel's team developed their formula following 4,000 Finnish children since 1986. Childhood obesity is a leading cause of early type 2 diabetes, as well as various types of cardiovascular disease. (Read more)

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One S.C. county serves as incubator for state's efforts to battle weight problems, with some good results

PE teacher Sharon Williams, right,
leads morning exercises before
classes start at Bells Elementary.
(The State photo by Tim Dominick)

With nearly two-thirds of South Carolina deemed overweight or worse, lucky Colleton County got picked to be a test case for doing better. That is, for improving its chances to beat the state's already overwhelming rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke and for helping to lower the state's $1.2 billion dollar medical bill. Lucky, because in 2010, the county was awarded almost a half million Eat Smart Move More grant by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation to see if it could promote health eating and more physical exercise countywide. Joey Hollerman of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reports that "the results have been striking," though he notes that changing obesity numbers is "like turning an aircraft carrier, it's a slow process." Mostly, he's talking about attitude and perseverance.

How does the county-wide program work on a daily basis? First, of course, you have to have buy-in, which this county did. Hollerman explains that now when children arrive at Bells Elementary School in the county seat of Walterboro, "they go straight to the gym and walk laps before heading to classrooms. Worshipers at Power of Faith Delivery Ministry harvest collards as well as souls, and fried chicken is discouraged at church dinners. The local farmers market has a sparkling new home and a system set up to accept cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." The Let’s Go, Eat Smart program and exercise programs are posted in schools, workplaces, grocery stores and churches.

So how, if the numbers aren't clear yet, how to measure if it's working? Well, only one fried chicken basket showed up at a recent church supper and the member who brought it ended up apologizing for her breach. On the day the reporter visited only the elementary school only one child in the entire first grade tried to slip through without selecting a fruit or vegetable. He was sent back and grabbed a plastic container of grapes from the Go (instead of the Slow or Whoa) food options, Hollerman reports. There are also anecdotes galore, including those of children, once on insulin, who are now fine without it.

South Carolin's BlueCross BlueShield recently awarded another grant to Eat Smart Move More, in part to continue the work in Colleton County but also to for expand it to other communities. (Read more)

PE teacher Sharon Williams, right,
leads morning exercises before
classes start at Bells Elementary.
(The State photo by Tim Dominick)

With nearly two-thirds of South Carolina deemed overweight or worse, lucky Colleton County got picked to be a test case for doing better. That is, for improving its chances to beat the state's already overwhelming rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke and for helping to lower the state's $1.2 billion dollar medical bill. Lucky, because in 2010, the county was awarded almost a half million Eat Smart Move More grant by the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation to see if it could promote health eating and more physical exercise countywide. Joey Hollerman of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reports that "the results have been striking," though he notes that changing obesity numbers is "like turning an aircraft carrier, it's a slow process." Mostly, he's talking about attitude and perseverance.

How does the county-wide program work on a daily basis? First, of course, you have to have buy-in, which this county did. Hollerman explains that now when children arrive at Bells Elementary School in the county seat of Walterboro, "they go straight to the gym and walk laps before heading to classrooms. Worshipers at Power of Faith Delivery Ministry harvest collards as well as souls, and fried chicken is discouraged at church dinners. The local farmers market has a sparkling new home and a system set up to accept cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." The Let’s Go, Eat Smart program and exercise programs are posted in schools, workplaces, grocery stores and churches.

So how, if the numbers aren't clear yet, how to measure if it's working? Well, only one fried chicken basket showed up at a recent church supper and the member who brought it ended up apologizing for her breach. On the day the reporter visited only the elementary school only one child in the entire first grade tried to slip through without selecting a fruit or vegetable. He was sent back and grabbed a plastic container of grapes from the Go (instead of the Slow or Whoa) food options, Hollerman reports. There are also anecdotes galore, including those of children, once on insulin, who are now fine without it.

South Carolin's BlueCross BlueShield recently awarded another grant to Eat Smart Move More, in part to continue the work in Colleton County but also to for expand it to other communities. (Read more)

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Study: Raising cigarette taxes does curb even heavy smoking

The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.

The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. “Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,” says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. “But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that’s very good news.” In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average.  In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)

In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky’s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.

The more you raise cigarette taxes, the less people smoke. That presumption was confirmed this week in a study by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This has some resonance in Kentucky, where just last week the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform told Gov. Beshear the state should raise taxes on tobacco, to $1 per pack from 60 cents. Other forms of tobacco would get a corresponding tax hike, reports Beth Musgrave of the Lexington Herald-Leader. The changes would raise an estimated $120 million in revenue and, if the research is right, cut down on long-term health care costs.

The researchers are the most adamant about the last point. “Most clinicians and researchers thought these very heavy smokers would be the most resistant to price increases,” says study author Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD. “But our study points out that, in fact, change can occur. And that’s very good news.” In fact, in states where taxes on tobacco products rose by at least 35 percent, heavy smokers -- who averaged 40 cigarettes a day or more -- lowered their daily smoking by 14 cigarettes, on average.  In real numbers, the price for a pack of cigarettes increased from an average of $3.96 in 2001 to $4.41 in 2004. (Read more)

In Kentucky last year, almost 30 percent of residents said they were smokers, the highest in the nation. The state also has the highest rates of diabetes and lung cancer, reports Jim Malewitz of Stateline News. Kentucky’s cigarette tax is also among the country's lowest.

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The world is getting fatter, but Kentucky's rate of obesity is two and a half times the world rate

Take no solace from The Economist, which proclaims in its yearly analysis-and-prognostication issue that this is the year world leaders will take on worldwide obesity because, writes Charlotte Howard, "they will realize something must be done."

So, no, it is not just you, Kentucky. In fact, Howard, the health-care correspondent for the magazine, writes that 30 percent of Mexico's adult population is obese. That is precisely the same percentage of Kentuckians that were considered obese by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health analysis released in August. (We ranked sixth fattest state nationwide.) It is also the same percentage of Chinese adults that are, as Howard put it, "too wide" -- a term that Howard uses here to include the overweight as well as the obese.

But there is no room to crow here. Kentucky is far ahead of the trend. Only 12 percent of the world counts as obese today. We beat that two and half times over. (The number of Kentuckians who were merely overweight was not calculated or included in the figures in the study.) A study released in September by the same group found that if trends continue, 60 percent of Kentuckians will be obese by 2030. The World Health Organization's estimate of the world's obesity was at 15 percent by 2020.

The Economist folks favors an approach that a democratic path to better health and fiscal sanity, given the health care cost ramifications of obesity. They like a tax on soda -- it's pure sugar, no real nutrition. They like subsidies to make fresh produce cheaper. And they like better school lunches and labeling, labeling, labeling so consumers will make better choices.

Take no solace from The Economist, which proclaims in its yearly analysis-and-prognostication issue that this is the year world leaders will take on worldwide obesity because, writes Charlotte Howard, "they will realize something must be done."

So, no, it is not just you, Kentucky. In fact, Howard, the health-care correspondent for the magazine, writes that 30 percent of Mexico's adult population is obese. That is precisely the same percentage of Kentuckians that were considered obese by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health analysis released in August. (We ranked sixth fattest state nationwide.) It is also the same percentage of Chinese adults that are, as Howard put it, "too wide" -- a term that Howard uses here to include the overweight as well as the obese.

But there is no room to crow here. Kentucky is far ahead of the trend. Only 12 percent of the world counts as obese today. We beat that two and half times over. (The number of Kentuckians who were merely overweight was not calculated or included in the figures in the study.) A study released in September by the same group found that if trends continue, 60 percent of Kentuckians will be obese by 2030. The World Health Organization's estimate of the world's obesity was at 15 percent by 2020.

The Economist folks favors an approach that a democratic path to better health and fiscal sanity, given the health care cost ramifications of obesity. They like a tax on soda -- it's pure sugar, no real nutrition. They like subsidies to make fresh produce cheaper. And they like better school lunches and labeling, labeling, labeling so consumers will make better choices.

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Share of Kentuckians reporting they had been diagnosed as diabetic nearly tripled from 1995 to 2010

We're not just getting fatter, Kentucky, we're becoming chronically ill because of it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of diagnosed diabetes in Kentucky has increased dramatically in the last decade and a half.

In Kentucky, 9.3 percent of adults reported having been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2010, up from just 3.6 percent in 1995, according to response to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing national telephone survey. (Data from 2011 were not compared because the survey methodology changed.)

The figure is undoubtedly less than the actual percentage of Kentuckians with diabetes; nationally, 18 million people say they have been told they have the disorder, and another 7 million are estimated to have it but not be diagnosed. In 1958, the national rate of diagnosed diabetes was 1 percent; now it's 8.2 percent. Not surprisingly, Mississippi, the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese, has the highest diabetes rate, at nearly 12 percent.

The biggest jump in diagnosed diabetes from 1995 to 2010 was in Oklahoma, where it more than tripled. The South, as a region, had the most frightening numbers, almost one in 10 adults. That was more than double the rate in 1995. Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," CDC report lead author Linda Geiss told The Associated Press. Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar. Even with medications to help control it, it can cause damage to the kidneys, circulation and nervous system. It is the nation's seventh leading cause of death. (Read more) To read the CDC report, go here. 

We're not just getting fatter, Kentucky, we're becoming chronically ill because of it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate of diagnosed diabetes in Kentucky has increased dramatically in the last decade and a half.

In Kentucky, 9.3 percent of adults reported having been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2010, up from just 3.6 percent in 1995, according to response to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, an ongoing national telephone survey. (Data from 2011 were not compared because the survey methodology changed.)

The figure is undoubtedly less than the actual percentage of Kentuckians with diabetes; nationally, 18 million people say they have been told they have the disorder, and another 7 million are estimated to have it but not be diagnosed. In 1958, the national rate of diagnosed diabetes was 1 percent; now it's 8.2 percent. Not surprisingly, Mississippi, the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese, has the highest diabetes rate, at nearly 12 percent.

The biggest jump in diagnosed diabetes from 1995 to 2010 was in Oklahoma, where it more than tripled. The South, as a region, had the most frightening numbers, almost one in 10 adults. That was more than double the rate in 1995. Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," CDC report lead author Linda Geiss told The Associated Press. Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar. Even with medications to help control it, it can cause damage to the kidneys, circulation and nervous system. It is the nation's seventh leading cause of death. (Read more) To read the CDC report, go here. 

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New approaches to treatment of feline diabetes mellitus

Final report, Winn grant W09-015
The incretin effect: A potential role for GLP-1 analogues in the treatment of feline diabetes?
Investigators: Chen Gilor, Thomas Graves; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 
A compelling animal model for diabetes is the cat because cats develop a spontaneous form of diabetes that closely resembles human type 2 diabetes. Incretin hormones are secreted from the intestines in response to specific nutrients. They potentiate insulin secretion and offer beneficial effects of glucose homeostasis. Two incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), account for the incretin effect in humans. One goal of this study was to determine whether the incretin effect occurs in cats by comparing the effect of oral glucose, lipids, or amino acids on serum concentrations of insulin, GIP, and GLP-1 in 10 healthy cats. The results indicated that the incretin effect does exist in cats but the effect on glucose-dependent insulin secretion is not as substantial as it is in people. They also noted that this potentiated effect is mediated by GLP-1 but not GLP. This lack of GIP response and a weak incretin effect could make the cat relatively glucose intolerant and might lead to inappropriate glycemic control in cats fed a diet high in carbohydrates.
 
Exenatide is a GLP-1 mimetic drug that has a glucose-dependent insulinotropic effect. In people with type 2 diabetes, exenatide is effective in controlling blood glucose with minimal side effects. The other goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of exenatide on insulin secretion during euglycemia and hyperglycemia in 9 young, healthy cats. The results indicate that exenatide in cats does stimulate glucose-dependent insulin secretion that is similar to the effect of exenatide in people. Further evaluation of the results did not show improved glucose tolerance with exenatide because its duration of effect was too short. The investigators feel that GLP-1-based medications have potential in treatment of diabetes in cats. Though exenatide will most likely not be clinically useful in cats, other drugs with a similar mechanism of action but longer duration of effect may be helpful. Such drugs would likely promote insulin secretion but may be safer than insulin injections because of the reduced likelihood of hypoglycemia. [VT]
 
Gilor, C., T. K. Graves, et al. (2011). The GLP-1 mimetic exenatide potentiates insulin secretion in healthy cats. Domest Anim Endocrinol 41(1): 42-49.

Gilor, C., T. K. Graves, et al. (2011). The incretin effect in cats: comparison between oral glucose, lipids, and amino acids. Domest Anim Endocrinol 40(4): 205-212.

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Google+

 

Final report, Winn grant W09-015
The incretin effect: A potential role for GLP-1 analogues in the treatment of feline diabetes?
Investigators: Chen Gilor, Thomas Graves; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 
A compelling animal model for diabetes is the cat because cats develop a spontaneous form of diabetes that closely resembles human type 2 diabetes. Incretin hormones are secreted from the intestines in response to specific nutrients. They potentiate insulin secretion and offer beneficial effects of glucose homeostasis. Two incretin hormones, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), account for the incretin effect in humans. One goal of this study was to determine whether the incretin effect occurs in cats by comparing the effect of oral glucose, lipids, or amino acids on serum concentrations of insulin, GIP, and GLP-1 in 10 healthy cats. The results indicated that the incretin effect does exist in cats but the effect on glucose-dependent insulin secretion is not as substantial as it is in people. They also noted that this potentiated effect is mediated by GLP-1 but not GLP. This lack of GIP response and a weak incretin effect could make the cat relatively glucose intolerant and might lead to inappropriate glycemic control in cats fed a diet high in carbohydrates.
 
Exenatide is a GLP-1 mimetic drug that has a glucose-dependent insulinotropic effect. In people with type 2 diabetes, exenatide is effective in controlling blood glucose with minimal side effects. The other goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of exenatide on insulin secretion during euglycemia and hyperglycemia in 9 young, healthy cats. The results indicate that exenatide in cats does stimulate glucose-dependent insulin secretion that is similar to the effect of exenatide in people. Further evaluation of the results did not show improved glucose tolerance with exenatide because its duration of effect was too short. The investigators feel that GLP-1-based medications have potential in treatment of diabetes in cats. Though exenatide will most likely not be clinically useful in cats, other drugs with a similar mechanism of action but longer duration of effect may be helpful. Such drugs would likely promote insulin secretion but may be safer than insulin injections because of the reduced likelihood of hypoglycemia. [VT]
 
Gilor, C., T. K. Graves, et al. (2011). The GLP-1 mimetic exenatide potentiates insulin secretion in healthy cats. Domest Anim Endocrinol 41(1): 42-49.

Gilor, C., T. K. Graves, et al. (2011). The incretin effect in cats: comparison between oral glucose, lipids, and amino acids. Domest Anim Endocrinol 40(4): 205-212.

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Google+

 

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Report: Two-thirds of Kentuckians obese by 2030 if trends continue; cost to nation's future unquestionably high

Nearly two-thirds of adults in Kentucky will be obese by 2030 if rates continue to climb as they are now, an analysis reported Tuesday. The level of obesity, defined as being roughly 30 or more pounds overweight, is projected to reach 60.1 percent in Kentucky in 2030, up from 30.4 percent in 2011, according to an analysis commissioned by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nancy Hellmich and Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville report that if states’ obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020, and double again by 2030. Medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases could increase by up to $66 billion per year by 2030, and the loss in economic productivity could be as high as $580 billion annually. (Read more)

The joint report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index (BMI) of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030. Doing so would spare millions of Americans serious health problems, and the country could save billions of dollars in health spending. See the interactive map showing how much improvement could be made if that small change were made here.

The report also features a series of joint policy recommendations from TFAH and RWJF, including full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, protection of the federal health reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, and inclusion of additional physical education and activity components in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To download the full report, go here. 

Nearly two-thirds of adults in Kentucky will be obese by 2030 if rates continue to climb as they are now, an analysis reported Tuesday. The level of obesity, defined as being roughly 30 or more pounds overweight, is projected to reach 60.1 percent in Kentucky in 2030, up from 30.4 percent in 2011, according to an analysis commissioned by the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nancy Hellmich and Laura Ungar of The Courier-Journal in Louisville report that if states’ obesity rates continue on their current trajectories, the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and arthritis could increase 10 times between 2010 and 2020, and double again by 2030. Medical costs associated with treating preventable obesity-related diseases could increase by up to $66 billion per year by 2030, and the loss in economic productivity could be as high as $580 billion annually. (Read more)

The joint report also shows that states could prevent obesity-related diseases and dramatically reduce health care costs if they reduced the average body mass index (BMI) of their residents by just 5 percent by 2030. Doing so would spare millions of Americans serious health problems, and the country could save billions of dollars in health spending. See the interactive map showing how much improvement could be made if that small change were made here.

The report also features a series of joint policy recommendations from TFAH and RWJF, including full implementation of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, protection of the federal health reform law's Prevention and Public Health Fund, and inclusion of additional physical education and activity components in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. To download the full report, go here. 

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Is there a correlation between food-stamp use and obesity? Some say yes, and that corporations are getting fat in the process

"Who's getting fat off food stamps?" asks ABC News' Alan Farnham, reporting that a record number of Americans -- 46.7 million, or nearly 1 in 7 -- now uses the benefit, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It cost $72 billion last year, up from $30 billion four years earlier. Budget hawks have targeted the program's swollen size and cost, helping prevent passage of a new Farm Bill. Now Farnham reports, "There are those who say SNAP is making two different constituencies fat -- big corporations and the poor -- the first, figuratively; the second, literally."

In Kentucky -- with its extraordinarily high rate of obesity and, as of June 2012, its 406,689 households on food stamps -- the correlation between those two bears close scrutiny.  Many health advocates who are concerned about Americans' increasing obesity argue that "food stamp purchases should be disallowed for items high in salt or fat or sugar," Farnham notes. Consumer watchdog groups such as Eat Drink Politics similarly argue that food and beverage makers are making a mint from SNAP, and are spending equal portions to oppose legislation antithetical to their interests.

Hard numbers about what the program buys are hard to come by, says the report, in part because the U. S. Department of Agriculture either doesn't have or does not release certain crucial data: "It lacks the legal authority, for example, to require retailers to report what products SNAP participants are purchasing. It knows the dollar value of transactions, but not whether the customer bought Cheesy Puffs or broccoli."

As for the increasing obesity of the poor, data on that problem are readily available, but food stamps' complicity in it is the subject of much debate. Julian Alston, professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis, has studied the question in depth. Alston and his co-authors conclude that food stamp participants are more likely than non-participants to be overweight or obese. Farnham writes that "they don't say food stamps are making them fat. The authors then go on to analyze whether the exclusion of certain food items from program eligibility might make participants healthier." (Read more)

"Who's getting fat off food stamps?" asks ABC News' Alan Farnham, reporting that a record number of Americans -- 46.7 million, or nearly 1 in 7 -- now uses the benefit, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It cost $72 billion last year, up from $30 billion four years earlier. Budget hawks have targeted the program's swollen size and cost, helping prevent passage of a new Farm Bill. Now Farnham reports, "There are those who say SNAP is making two different constituencies fat -- big corporations and the poor -- the first, figuratively; the second, literally."

In Kentucky -- with its extraordinarily high rate of obesity and, as of June 2012, its 406,689 households on food stamps -- the correlation between those two bears close scrutiny.  Many health advocates who are concerned about Americans' increasing obesity argue that "food stamp purchases should be disallowed for items high in salt or fat or sugar," Farnham notes. Consumer watchdog groups such as Eat Drink Politics similarly argue that food and beverage makers are making a mint from SNAP, and are spending equal portions to oppose legislation antithetical to their interests.

Hard numbers about what the program buys are hard to come by, says the report, in part because the U. S. Department of Agriculture either doesn't have or does not release certain crucial data: "It lacks the legal authority, for example, to require retailers to report what products SNAP participants are purchasing. It knows the dollar value of transactions, but not whether the customer bought Cheesy Puffs or broccoli."

As for the increasing obesity of the poor, data on that problem are readily available, but food stamps' complicity in it is the subject of much debate. Julian Alston, professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Davis, has studied the question in depth. Alston and his co-authors conclude that food stamp participants are more likely than non-participants to be overweight or obese. Farnham writes that "they don't say food stamps are making them fat. The authors then go on to analyze whether the exclusion of certain food items from program eligibility might make participants healthier." (Read more)

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Investigating new drugs for feline diabetes mellitus

Final report, Winn grant W10-020
Pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone in lean and obese cats
Investigators: Levent Dirikolu, Margarethe Hoenig, Duncan Ferguson; University of Illinois
 
Diabetes mellitus and hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) are common problems in feline medicine. Both diseases are associated with obesity and may be prevented by maintaining an ideal body weight. However, weight control is difficult in many cats and once these diseases develop, specific treatment is needed. Current treatment for diabetes mellitus in cats is either insulin or drug therapy with glipizide, along with dietary modification. The only treatment available for hepatic lipidosis is aggressive nutritional support, often with a feeding tube. In human medicine, new anti-diabetic drugs called thiazolidinediones such as pioglitazone improve insulin sensitivity and reverse fatty changes in the liver. The purpose of this project was to begin investigation of pioglitazone in cats so that it may be evaluated in clinical trials in the future.

The investigators’ objectives in this study were to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of this drug in lean and obese cats in an effort to provide a foundation for assessment of its effects on insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism. Pioglitazone was administered intravenously (median dose 0.2 mg/kg) or orally (3 mg/kg) to six healthy lean cats and six obese cats. There were no statistically significant differences in pharmacokinetic parameters between lean and obese cats subsequent to either oral or intravenous administration. No adverse effects were noted with oral dosing in any of the cats. It appears that achieving therapeutic concentrations of pioglitazone, potentially at a dose of 3 mg/kg, appears feasible. [VT]

Clark MH, Hoenig M, Ferguson DC and Dirikolu L. Pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone in lean and obese cats. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2012.

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Final report, Winn grant W10-020
Pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone in lean and obese cats
Investigators: Levent Dirikolu, Margarethe Hoenig, Duncan Ferguson; University of Illinois
 
Diabetes mellitus and hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) are common problems in feline medicine. Both diseases are associated with obesity and may be prevented by maintaining an ideal body weight. However, weight control is difficult in many cats and once these diseases develop, specific treatment is needed. Current treatment for diabetes mellitus in cats is either insulin or drug therapy with glipizide, along with dietary modification. The only treatment available for hepatic lipidosis is aggressive nutritional support, often with a feeding tube. In human medicine, new anti-diabetic drugs called thiazolidinediones such as pioglitazone improve insulin sensitivity and reverse fatty changes in the liver. The purpose of this project was to begin investigation of pioglitazone in cats so that it may be evaluated in clinical trials in the future.

The investigators’ objectives in this study were to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of this drug in lean and obese cats in an effort to provide a foundation for assessment of its effects on insulin sensitivity and lipid metabolism. Pioglitazone was administered intravenously (median dose 0.2 mg/kg) or orally (3 mg/kg) to six healthy lean cats and six obese cats. There were no statistically significant differences in pharmacokinetic parameters between lean and obese cats subsequent to either oral or intravenous administration. No adverse effects were noted with oral dosing in any of the cats. It appears that achieving therapeutic concentrations of pioglitazone, potentially at a dose of 3 mg/kg, appears feasible. [VT]

Clark MH, Hoenig M, Ferguson DC and Dirikolu L. Pharmacokinetics of pioglitazone in lean and obese cats. J Vet Pharmacol Ther. 2012.

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More bad news about childhood obesity: Study finds it can change some kids' brains and damage their mental 'flexibility'

It's not news that Kentucky is lagging in child fitness. In fact, the Truth for America's Health "F as in Fat" report found that the state has the third highest childhood obesity rate in the country. This is bad news, alright, and it's about to get worse. Dr. Claire McCarthy writes in The Boston Globe that a new study in the current issue of Pediatrics and shows that obesity can hurt kids' brains.

"Researchers looked at 49 adolescents with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome, a consequence of obesity, is the triad of insulin resistance (pre-diabetes or diabetes), high blood pressure and high blood lipids," McCarthy writes. "The researchers compared the adolescents with 62 adolescents who had the same socioeconomic background but didn't have metabolic syndrome. The kids with metabolic syndrome had more trouble with arithmetic, spelling, attention and mental 'flexibility' than the ones who didn't have metabolic syndrome. Even more frightening, the researchers saw actual changes in their brains, in the hippocampus (which plays a crucial role in memory) and the white matter (which passes messages through the brain). It was only a small study, and not all kids with obesity have metabolic syndrome. But this study is alarming -- especially since we don't know if losing weight can make the brain go back to normal."

In her column tagged "MD Mama," McCarthy goes on: "Given that brains are still developing in adolescence, it's very possible that the changes could be permanent. What else do we need before we take the problem of childhood obesity really seriously?" (Read more) To read the study in Pedatrics, go here.

It's not news that Kentucky is lagging in child fitness. In fact, the Truth for America's Health "F as in Fat" report found that the state has the third highest childhood obesity rate in the country. This is bad news, alright, and it's about to get worse. Dr. Claire McCarthy writes in The Boston Globe that a new study in the current issue of Pediatrics and shows that obesity can hurt kids' brains.

"Researchers looked at 49 adolescents with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome, a consequence of obesity, is the triad of insulin resistance (pre-diabetes or diabetes), high blood pressure and high blood lipids," McCarthy writes. "The researchers compared the adolescents with 62 adolescents who had the same socioeconomic background but didn't have metabolic syndrome. The kids with metabolic syndrome had more trouble with arithmetic, spelling, attention and mental 'flexibility' than the ones who didn't have metabolic syndrome. Even more frightening, the researchers saw actual changes in their brains, in the hippocampus (which plays a crucial role in memory) and the white matter (which passes messages through the brain). It was only a small study, and not all kids with obesity have metabolic syndrome. But this study is alarming -- especially since we don't know if losing weight can make the brain go back to normal."

In her column tagged "MD Mama," McCarthy goes on: "Given that brains are still developing in adolescence, it's very possible that the changes could be permanent. What else do we need before we take the problem of childhood obesity really seriously?" (Read more) To read the study in Pedatrics, go here.

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Blood glucose monitoring in cats

Hoenig M, Pach N, Thomaseth K, DeVries F and Ferguson DC. Evaluation of long-term glucose homeostasis in lean and obese cats by use of continuous glucose monitoring. Am J Vet Res. 2012; 73: 1100-6.
Diabetes mellitus is of increasing concern in both humans and cats. Obese cats are found to be at higher risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Information has not been available on whether glucose concentrations in obese cats differ from those in lean cats throughout the course the course of a day during their regular activities, including consuming food. 

This study evaluated intra-day and inter-day variations in glucose concentrations in lean and long-term (>5 years) obese cats during a 156-hour period and tested the utility of a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS). A CGMS is used frequently in humans with diabetes. The investigators did not detect differences in glucose concentrations between lean and obese cats during the study periods. They also did not detect differences in daily variations in glucose concentrations between lean and obese cats. The results indicate that the CGMS can be useful in evaluating the long term effects of drugs or diet on glucose homeostasis in cats. [VT]

See also: Dietiker-Moretti S, Müller C, Sieber-Ruckstuhl N, et al. Comparison of a continuous glucose monitoring system with a portable blood glucose meter to determine insulin dose in cats with diabetes mellitus. J Vet Intern Med. 2011; 25: 1084-8.

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Hoenig M, Pach N, Thomaseth K, DeVries F and Ferguson DC. Evaluation of long-term glucose homeostasis in lean and obese cats by use of continuous glucose monitoring. Am J Vet Res. 2012; 73: 1100-6.
Diabetes mellitus is of increasing concern in both humans and cats. Obese cats are found to be at higher risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Information has not been available on whether glucose concentrations in obese cats differ from those in lean cats throughout the course the course of a day during their regular activities, including consuming food. 

This study evaluated intra-day and inter-day variations in glucose concentrations in lean and long-term (>5 years) obese cats during a 156-hour period and tested the utility of a continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS). A CGMS is used frequently in humans with diabetes. The investigators did not detect differences in glucose concentrations between lean and obese cats during the study periods. They also did not detect differences in daily variations in glucose concentrations between lean and obese cats. The results indicate that the CGMS can be useful in evaluating the long term effects of drugs or diet on glucose homeostasis in cats. [VT]

See also: Dietiker-Moretti S, Müller C, Sieber-Ruckstuhl N, et al. Comparison of a continuous glucose monitoring system with a portable blood glucose meter to determine insulin dose in cats with diabetes mellitus. J Vet Intern Med. 2011; 25: 1084-8.

More on cat health:
Winn Feline Foundation Library
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Read the Cat Health News Weekly
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Next phase of health reform: New and renewed insurance policies will have to cover birth control, other preventive care for women

Even though the decision was widely expected, as part of health care reform, the news is still what Julie Rovner of National Public Radio termed "a pretty big deal." Earlier this week, she reports, the Department of Health and Human Services adopted in full the women's health recommendations issued two weeks ago by the independent Institute of Medicine. "Since birth control is the most common drug prescribed to women ages 18-44, insurance plans should cover it," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a press briefing. "Not doing it would be like not covering flu shots, or any of the other basic preventive services that millions of other Americans count on every day."

The upshot: Starting a year from now, most new health insurance policies, and eventually almost every policy, will have to offer a comprehensive list of women's preventive health services with no co-pay or deductible, including all forms of prescription contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These services include: Screening for gestational diabetes; counseling about sexually-transmitted infections; support for breast-feeding, including supplies and counseling; and domestic violence screening and counseling.

Rovner reports that "The new rules do take into account the complaints from some conservative and religious groups, by allowing religious organizations that provide health insurance to refrain from offering contraceptive coverage 'if that is inconsistent with their tenets.' HHS says that part of its proposal is modeled on the most common exemption used by the 28 states that already require contraceptive coverage to be offered in health insurance policies. The department, however, is specifically asking the public to comment on that portion of the rules, 'as we work to strike the balance between providing access to proven prevention and respecting religious beliefs.' Already the reactions are pouring in. Some people object to the religious exemption." (Read more)

Even though the decision was widely expected, as part of health care reform, the news is still what Julie Rovner of National Public Radio termed "a pretty big deal." Earlier this week, she reports, the Department of Health and Human Services adopted in full the women's health recommendations issued two weeks ago by the independent Institute of Medicine. "Since birth control is the most common drug prescribed to women ages 18-44, insurance plans should cover it," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a press briefing. "Not doing it would be like not covering flu shots, or any of the other basic preventive services that millions of other Americans count on every day."

The upshot: Starting a year from now, most new health insurance policies, and eventually almost every policy, will have to offer a comprehensive list of women's preventive health services with no co-pay or deductible, including all forms of prescription contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These services include: Screening for gestational diabetes; counseling about sexually-transmitted infections; support for breast-feeding, including supplies and counseling; and domestic violence screening and counseling.

Rovner reports that "The new rules do take into account the complaints from some conservative and religious groups, by allowing religious organizations that provide health insurance to refrain from offering contraceptive coverage 'if that is inconsistent with their tenets.' HHS says that part of its proposal is modeled on the most common exemption used by the 28 states that already require contraceptive coverage to be offered in health insurance policies. The department, however, is specifically asking the public to comment on that portion of the rules, 'as we work to strike the balance between providing access to proven prevention and respecting religious beliefs.' Already the reactions are pouring in. Some people object to the religious exemption." (Read more)

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