In what promises to be a shocking episode, you’ll hear stories from those who have the disease as well as the often mis-understood risks associated with the disease.

Oprah Winfrey says "Diabetes is a ticking time bomb. It’s a silent killer. It’s annihilating the African American community. Literally. It’s killing almost 100 of us every single day in the African-American community".

Dr. Oz adds to this by predicting that "if we don’t fix the problem of diabetes in this country, we will bankrupt our future ability to pay for health care in the nation. Period".

Fitness Expert Bob Greene is on the program as well, showing where the hidden sugar is in everyday meals.  Watch out for celebrity chef Art Smith, who lost 85 lbs and reversed his own diabetes.  He’ll  be offering his own tips and tricks.

Also on the show, Oprah will tell you how every American can get their blood sugar levels tested for free.

This special edition of The Oprah Winfrey Show will help spread the awareness of this disease.

Source: Oprah.com

When blood sugar levels are high, a protein called siah-1 is produced and this protein helps move glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) into the nucleus of Muller cells.  As GAPDH accumulates, the Muller cells die.  Since Muller cells are in direct  contact with blood vessels in the eye, vascular damage in the eye occurs leading to diabetic retinopathy – a major cause of blindness in young adults.

The scientists investigating this issue believe that by inhibiting the movement of GAPDH into the Muller cells could slow the development of retinopathy in diabetics.  Stopping the GAPDH from entering the nuclei of the Muller cells could prevent retinopathy.

A new competitor of Byetta – Novo Nordisk’s Victoza, was approved by the FDA recently and that has given analysts more confidence in the approval of Exenatide.

The new once weekly exenatide is an injectable drug that lasts for a full week and has had impressive results in trials.

Source: Reuters

Those who were more likely to stick with their injection schedule included:

• Older patients
• Disabled patients
• Those following a healthy diet
• Higher household incomes

Those who were more likely to skip an injection included:

• Students
• Type 2 diabetics
• Those with more frequent injections
• Those who found injections interfered with their daily routine or caused embarrassment.

Insulin is a vital hormone in the regulation of blood sugar levels, and the risks of diabetes are well documented and include blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, cardiovascular problems, strokes, hardening of the arteries, coronary heart disease etc.

Novo Nordisk A/S is the world’s largest manufacturer of insulin, and this drug could generate huge sales in the next few years.

Victoza is seen by some as a direct competitor to Byetta.

On the Novo Nordisk website, a press release stated:

“The US approval of Victoza® represents a major advancement in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and is an important milestone for Novo Nordisk that follows the recent approval in Japan and the ongoing successful launch in Europe." says Lars Rebien Sørensen, president and CEO. "We are convinced that Victoza® will prove to be a valuable treatment option for people with type 2 diabetes in the US. The ability of Victoza® to substantially improve glucose control with a low risk of hypoglycaemia creates an opportunity for more patients with type 2 diabetes to achieve their individual treatment goals.”

In response to the new of FDA approval, share in Novo Nordisk hit a record high of 371.60 Danish crowns.

When Victoza does go on sale, it will include a health warning about pancreatitis.

Source: http://www.novonordisk.com/press

The report by Dr. Terry Maguire, has shown that waist circumference is a good indicator of this visceral fat, and therefore their risks of disease such as type 2 diabetes.  It also pointed out that visceral fat is more readily broken down for energy than the fat under the skin, and even relatively small amounts of lost visceral fat could make big differences in lowering health risks.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8436409.stm

The test subjects were split into three groups:

1. Control group given a short information leaflet.
2. Group given a three hour lecture on the disease.
3. A Group given the three hour lecture PLUS were given a pedometer and helped to set targets.

After one year, those in group three saw their blood sugar levels fall by 15%, whereas neither of the other two groups saw any significant falls.

The use of a pedometer in this test is significant, because this type of simple tool can help with motivation and allows subjects to monitor their own progress in a measured way.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/kate-devlin/6918062/Using-a-pedometer-can-cut-chance-of-developing-diabetes-by-half.html

In the western world, 15% of those who suffer from diabetes, also suffer from heart disease, but in India, that figure is 80% so he feels it is necessary to control diabetes in India.

Source: IANS

In normal humans, blood glucose levels are maintained within strict limits by insulin, which is secreted when insulin rises above about 90 mg/dl, and by glucagon which is released when glucose levels drop to low.  If you want to learn more, read How the Body Regulates Blood Sugar, and How Insulin Works.

Animals have been used for some time to detect drugs and explosives at airports and on police raids, so using them to help humans in the fight against diabetes is a sensible progression.  Dogs are highly trainable and their extreme loyalty to their owners make them the perfect partner for anyone needing constant, 24 hour attention.  A major problem is trying to find enough of the animals to fill the demand, since they are very expensive to train.

These types of service dogs can be especially important when a household is sleeping as any problems will not be detected for potentially hours.  They can sleep by the bed of a diabetic, sniffing throughout the night to detect problem levels of blood glucose and offer a medical alert when a problem occurs.

There are a few organizations that specialize in the training of this type of dog, such as Dogs4Diabetics, a non-profit organization that provides these canines to type 1 diabetic children and adults, with both training as well as placement of the animals and a follow-up service to make sure things are working out as planned.  They are trained to identify subtle scent changes (that humans cannot detect) that that occur in the human body when problems occur and then to respond with a trained signal, alerting another human so that action can be taken.

Another organization is All Purpose Canines, who have a number of professional services and programs involving dogs.  They have successfully shown that they can be used to detect sugar levels in the blood.  Unfortunately, according to their website, they are not accepting any new applications at this time, which I assume is because of the costs involved – specialist trainers, after placement costs etc.  However, a case study on their site shows the amazing story of “Boomer”, a German Shepherd/Lab mix who is an alert dog for a lad named Ryan.  Boomer was tested and certified in June 2004 by All Purpose Canines, and has been Ryan’s constant companion since that time.

Another organization is Heaven Scent Paws, whose dogs are trained to detect both low (hypoglycemia) as well as high (hyperglycemia) levels in the diabetic, and then alert the “support team” who could be parents, spouse or partner.

There is no doubt that this type of dog can assist relatives of a diabetic sufferer in helping monitor the situation 24/7.  However, just how accurate this is as a detection method remains to be seen, and putting too much faith in these extraordinary pets may not be wise. Those owners who have been lucky enough to get a diabetic alert dog does have that extra sense of security though.