Techcrunch covers Wellsphere – acquisition by HealthCentral

Just to remind you, we’re a part of their blogging network. Not a really active part but I think we need to stay informed about what’s happening. Thoughts?

For the next 16 weeks I’m going to be taking part in a research study testing the effectiveness of an insulin pump in type 2 diabetics. I go in next week to be fitted with a continuous insulin monitor. After one week of continuous monitoring, plus self-monitoring 6 or 7 times per day, I will be placed on an insulin pump for the duration of the study. They are hoping to demonstrate to the insurance companies that it is more cost-effective to pay for an insulin pump for a type 2 than to pay for the consequences of out-of-control blood glucose.

Hiya guys,

Got an email the other day from The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle that I thought some folk might be interested in. Up front, they are selling a product – their books and program. But the site also seems to have some good free resources and they are having a contest to give away the following:

The Lifestyle Center of America is offering one winner:

All-expenses paid travel to one of LCA’s campuses this fall

A 12-day residential stay to kick-start the new diet and lifestyle

Continued long-distance health coaching for the entire year

A digital video camera which will be used to chronicle the journey

Check it out for yourself if you like, let me know your opinion.

Medtronic Inc on Tuesday said it would eliminate about 1,100 jobs this year in businesses whose growth has slowed, including its flagship heart rhythm device unit.

This seems like bigger news to me than it’s being made out to be. Most of the articles I’ve seen are about other devices than the pumps – problems with recalls and possible kickbacks. Any pumpers hearing anything or having issues with the stability of Medtronic?

Check this out.  Some laboratory tests suggest that obesity may be, in part, due to a physical abnormality in the brain.  There is even some evidence that this defect can be corrected with proper medication.  It’s an interesting article.

I keep recommending joining Lifescan’s One Touch Gold even if you don’t use a One Touch meter. They have downloadable books every month or so. This month’s book is about dealing with the emotional part of diabetes. It’s a brief overview but worth reading.

Dieting hardest for emotional eaters

Who couldn’t have predicted these results?

An Interesting Article

Regarding the farm bill – the pyramid of farm subsidies is almost inversely proportional to the recommended diet food pyramid. I’ve commented for years that it’s more expensive to try to buy healthy foods than junk. Fresh fruits and vegetables are one of the hardest things to afford when you’re trying to stretch your grocery budget.

Rhesus Macaques Cross-Species Transplant Brings Us A Step Closer To Diabetes Cure For Humans

With an eye on curing diabetes, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys — all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection.

Interesting article – a step closer to a cure?

Byetta has been linked to acute pancreatitis.

The FDA is advising anybody who is taking Byetta and experiences severe abdominal pain, with nausea/vomiting or without, to contact their health care professional immediately. The FDA is also advising doctors to stop giving Byetta to patients who are thought to have acute pancreatitis, and not resume treatment with said drug if they cannot find another cause for their acute pancreatitis.

Link between insulin and drug addictions found

Okay, this one I found a little confusing to sort through so feel free to read it and correct my assumptions. It seems that in rats with type 1 diabetes, drugs such as amphetamines did not increase agitation. Stimulants normally flood the brain with dopamine and in the absence of insulin, this didn’t happen.

“This is really the first mechanistic connection in vivo between diabetes and amphetamine action,” Galli said. “This offers a completely new perspective on the influence of this disease (diabetes) on brain function, as well as diseases with altered dopamine signaling, such as schizophrenia and ADHD.”

What I’m wondering is what this means for people with type 2 diabetes. Because we don’t use insulin effectively, our bodies produce more insulin to try to compensate. Some of the meds we take increase insulin and/or we inject insulin.

Dopamine is commonly associated with the pleasure system of the brain, providing feelings of enjoyment and reinforcement to motivate a person proactively to perform certain activities. Dopamine is released (particularly in areas such as the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area) by naturally rewarding experiences such as food, sex,[4][5] use of certain drugs and neutral stimuli that become associated with them. This theory is often discussed in terms of drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines, which seem to directly or indirectly lead to the increase of dopamine in these areas, and in relation to neurobiological theories of chemical addiction, arguing that these dopamine pathways are pathologically altered in addicted persons. Wikipedia

So, food increases dopamine, insulin has some role in dopamine and addictive behaviors – do type 2 diabetics have a higher propensity for addictions? Is this a chemical explanation for why behavior change is so difficult (there are many purely psychological reasons that behavior change is difficult)? Interesting research and questions – which are not actually addressed in the article but I’m just wondering if there is a connection.