Archive for September, 2011

Is It Safe To Reuse An Insulin Syringe?

September 30, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
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Is it safe to reuse an insulin syringe? Bethany from California asked this question of Conditions Expert Dr. Otis Brawley on the health website CNN Health. Dr. Otis’ answer reads in part:

“Insulin syringes are expensive, and many patients want to reuse needles to save money. Many also reuse the lancets used to prick the skin and draw blood to measure blood sugar.

You are right that the reuse of insulin syringes and lancets is dangerous. A used needle can have bacteria from the skin in and on it. Bacteria can contaminate the bottle of insulin when reinserted into the bottle. The bottled insulin is a growth medium that can allow the bacteria to reproduce. Insulin is stored in a refrigerator to prevent bacterial growth. Read the full article

Woman Murders Husband with Massive Insulin Injection

September 29, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Injections, Uncategorized 
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The prosecutor in Alicante, Spain has requested a prison term of 29 years for a woman accused of murdering her husband with a lethal insulin dose.

Fifty-one-year-old Gregoria CS, a Spanish woman on diabetes medication since 1998, was responsible for administering medication to her husband, Juan Antonio GC, diagnosed with HIV.

Gregoria allegedly first dosed her husband with insulin on March 30th, 2007 after a family row, resulting in his admission to hospital in a hypoglycemic crisis. He remained in hospital for a month.

On a second occasion on June 28th, 2010, she injected her sleeping husband in the neck with a massive dose using three insulin pens, and when he woke up smothered his cries for help with a pillow.

The next morning the couple’s children raised the alarm when their father would not wake up. He was transferred to hospital in Elche with severe hypoglycemia and was stabilized, but remained in a vegetative state until his death on February 4th, 2011.

The woman had accused her husband of psychological abuse. The prosecutor’s requested term of imprisonment comprises 11 years for the first murder attempt and 18 years for the second.

From the online newspaper, RoundTownNews.

Maggot Therapy for Diabetic Ulcers

September 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Foot Care, It's Complicated 
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diabetic ulcer

Photo: stevenfruitsmaak

One of the complications of diabetes can be ulcerated wounds that won’t heal, particularly on the feet. This is because diabetes causes nerve damage and impairs blood flow and circulation to the extremities. About 1 in 5 diabetics who seek hospital treatment do so because of foot problems, and diabetes is one of the leading causes of lower limb amputations worldwide.

The medical removal of dead or infected tissue from wounds such as diabetic ulcers is called debridement. Doctors typically use scalpels, high pressure fluid, or tissue-dissolving enzymes for the procedure. A less known procedure is maggot debridement therapy, or MDT. Read the full article

Living with a Diabetic Dog

September 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes in Dogs and Cats, Living with Diabetes 
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diabetes in dogs

Photo: Pleple2000

Just as in people, there has been an alarming upsurge in cases of diabetes in dogs. Also as in people, diabetes in dogs can be either type 1 (requiring insulin injections) or type 2 diabetes (often connected to an overweight animal).

Dogchannel.com, the self described “website for dog lovers”,  has posted an article titled Seven Essential Tips for Living with a Diabetic Dog, discussing how to successfully manage your dog’s diabetes in daily life.

The article offers common sense tips (carry a small packet of honey with you in case your pet has an episode of low blood sugar) and some not as well-known advice (if your dog stops responding well to insulin, it may have a urinary tract infection) for owners of dogs with diabetes.

For a more in-depth article on the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes in dogs written by a veterinarian, visit Caring For Your Diabetic Dog.

Insulin “Master Switch” Discovered

September 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News 
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Australian researchers have discovered a gene that regulates other genes in beta cells – the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. What’s more, they’ve discovered that this gene, called Id1, is “switched on” by a high fat diet.

“We’re saying that Id1 is the molecular link between environmental factors – such as a high fat diet – and beta cell dysfunction,” said Dr. Ross Laybutt from Sydney’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research, “Not only does the presence of Id1 appear to initiate all the other gene expression changes that take place in dysfunctional beta cells, its absence completely protects the beta cell.”

Laybutt and his team intend to treat diabetic mice with a chemical compound that is already in development to block Id1 in cancer. If they can delay diabetes or improve insulin secretion in mice, they believe there is new hope for people with diabetes.

Theoretically, blocking Id1 could eliminate the need for diabetes medication for type two diabetics. To read the press release from Australia’s Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, >Click Here.<

A Humorous Account of Caring for a Diabetic Cat

September 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes in Dogs and Cats 
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cat with diabetes

Photo: Wieke de Rijk

Megan Radford has written a humorous post titled Babysitting a Diabetic Cat, or How I Learned That Karma Bites Back for the website DiabetesDaily. A diabetic herself, Radford was the obvious choice to care for her sister’s diabetic cat (who requires twice daily insulin injections and occasional glucose testing) when her sister went away. The post begins:

I am the friend who is used to needles. The one who doesn’t flinch or faint at sight of blood or sharp things. When my sister asked me to take care of her diabetic cat for a week while she and her husband were out of town, I blustered and puffed about like nobody’s business. “No problem!” I said with gun-slinging fervor. “Piece of cake!” With a wink and the fingers twisting into an okee-dokee gesture, I delivered the final blow with a wry smile: “It’s not like I’m afraid of needles or anything!”

To read more about Radford’s adventures in cat sitting, and learn how karma bit her back, >Click Here.<

Edible Film a Possible Insulin Delivery Platform

September 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery, Living with Diabetes, Oral Diabetes Medication 
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In another promising development in the world of diabetes medication, the specialty pharmaceutical company MonoSol Rx is testing its unique PharmFilm as a possible oral insulin delivery platform. PharmFilm is a quick-dissolving film that can be impregnated with medication and placed under the tongue or against the inside of the cheek. The medication is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream through the mouth’s mucosal membranes.

The FDA has already approved two applications of the edible film – Zuplenz to treat nausea and vomiting, and Suboxone to treat opiod dependence. MonoSol Rx is now testing two new applications for PharmFilm, one dispenses a drug to treat ADHD, and the other delivers insulin for diabetics.

Read the full article

Overcoming Injection Anxiety

September 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections 
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Have you or someone close to you been newly diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic? Are you anxious about giving yourself or your dependent insulin injections? Many diabetics say that giving themselves an insulin injection is the hardest part of the condition.

Or perhaps you’re an experienced diabetic who hasn’t kept up to date on the latest insulin delivery methods like spring loaded syringes, insulin pens and insulin jet injectors. Skipping doses of diabetes medication can lead to poor blood sugar control and diabetes complications. WebMD feature writer Stephanie Watson offers some practical advice in an article titled Overcoming Objections to Injections.

Diabetic Emergency: Treating Hypoglycemia with Glucagon

September 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes in Children, Diabetes Medication 
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glucagon kit

Photo Credit: Intropin

Like insulin, glucagon is a hormone made in the pancreas. But the two hormones have opposite effects – insulin lowers blood sugar, while glucagon raises it. This means glucagon can be used to treat an episode of severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in diabetics.

Severe hypoglycemia is rare in most insulin dependent diabetics, but can cause a loss of consciousness and should be considered a medical emergency. Type 1 diabetics are advised to have a glucagon kit on or near them at all times, as are the parents and caregivers of children with diabetes.

About.com diabetes coach Gary Gilles has written a valuable guide to treating severe low blood sugar with glucagon, describing when and how glucagon should be used. Glucagon is administered as an injection, but unlike an insulin injection, it should be injected deep into the muscle.

To read Gilles’ article on About.com, >Click Here.<

Insulin Nasal Spray Tested as an Alzheimer’s Treatment

September 16, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News 
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insulin nasal spray

Photo credit: robin_24

A team of Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) researchers were intrigued by studies that suggested that low levels of insulin in the brain could contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers, led by Dr. Suzanne Craft, decided to test the benefits of restoring normal insulin levels in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.

Insulin is an important hormone which plays a major role in turning blood sugar into energy for cells. A lack of insulin, or an inability to properly use it, results in diabetes. Diabetes is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s, although the connection is not yet clear.

Alzheimer’s is a disease in which cognitive functioning declines over time, causing progressive memory loss, loss of motor and language skills, impaired reasoning, emotional instability, and eventually full-blown dementia. The disease is associated with abnormal protein deposits in the brain called plaques. Read the full article

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