DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #35: Are Blood Glucose and Blood Pressure Connected?

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Blood glucose and blood pressure…what’s the connection?

There seems to be a pretty simple answer; but no one ever made the connection for me until I had the idea for this blog post. A paper in the JOURNAL OF HYPERTENSION, noted: “Yes, there is a strong connection between blood glucose and blood pressure, as both conditions share risk factors, have common underlying mechanisms, and can worsen each other. High blood sugar can lead to high blood pressure by damaging blood vessels, while the two conditions often coexist due to shared factors like obesity, inflammation, and insulin resistance.”

As well, the website of New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Diabetes Resource Center notes, “Two out of every three people with Type 2 diabetes also have high blood pressure. Both are diseases of lifestyle and aging and share common risk factors. The good news is that diabetes and hypertension can be modified through behavior, including eating a healthful diet, exercise, weight control and, if your doctor prescribes it, medication. Either a T2 diabetic does not have enough/or effective enough insulin to process glucose so that it accumulates in the bloodstream causing widespread damage to the blood vessels and kidneys.”

While this sounds dire – and it IS, the good news is that both can be modified through behavior, including eating a healthful diet, exercise, weight control as well as medication.”

What started me on this is looking at my numbers after I started taking Ozempic-brand semaglutide (what does it do, anyway??? I know it lowers my blood sugars, BUT HOW? “semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone called GLP-1 to help the pancreas release insulin, lower blood sugar, and reduce the amount of sugar released by the liver.”)

Ohhhh! So, that’s what happens?!

But you know what? Shooting myself once a week with semaglutide does NOT work miracles! I can’t eat like a pig, take my shot and then slim down to my high school weight and build! I had to make LOTS of changes in how I ate – fewer in what I DID (During the brief period of “warm Minnesota weather”, I bike somewhere between 4 and 20 miles a week. More difficult is the rest of the year – so this winter, I’ve decided to walk a mile (working up to two, and MAYBE three) every other day. I’ve never done that before. It’s a new adventure.

All that to point out a couple things. First, is that I’m a retired science teacher. I LOVE data. So, when I began my journey in T2, I started to record on a chart EVERY DAY – the date, time, blood pressure, weight, and blood sugars. Starting on February 24, 2023 with a BP of 155/80, weight of 253.8, and blood glucose 189…I pretty much ignored the numbers until my doctor prescribed semaglutide in August of 2025 (yes, only three months ago!). My current (as of yesterday) data is BP = 127/71; weight = 233.8; glucose = 134 (average of last 10 days, 124.86).

I discovered VISCERALLY that when I walk and watch what I eat, my blood pressure comes down as does my blood glucose. So, I can report to you that I KNOW the statement is true: blood pressure and blood sugars ARE intimately connected…

Just so you know.

Links: https://journals.lww.com/jhypertension/fulltext/2025/05002/the_correlation_between_blood_glucose_levels_and.76.aspx 

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #37: Diabetic Holiday Eating – With Recipes And OTHER Links!

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two years ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

I don’t know about you, but when Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve roll around, I imagine that ALL foods served are (in the Spirit of the Season) CALORIE FREE!!!

I think maybe, ATTEMPT to imagine that all foods are calorie free. In fact, I know exactly what I’m eating, have figured out how it will impact my blood sugars and my blood pressure – and then just ignore it!

I’m hoping I’m not the only person to think this way, but even if I am, I’d like to share a couple of recipes we like to do during the holidays that seem to have a minimal effect on our diabetic lifestyle!

PICKLE ROLL UPS

Ingredients
Package of deli-thin-sliced turkey
2 (8 ounce) packages LIGHT cream cheese, softened
1 (16 ounce) jar medium-sized dill pickles

Preparing
Spread cream cheese over a single meat slice to cover
Place a pickle on one end, and roll the meat up. Keep going until ingredients are gone.
Cut into 1 1/2 inch disks/pieces
Chill until ready to serve.

SOMETHING MORE SUBSTANTIAL
Turkey on Crackers with cheese and veggies

Roast a single, small turkey breast
Slice into sizes that will fit the crackers you’ve chosen (or use LIGHT cream cheese)
Diabetic-friendly crackers (Rye Crisp, Nut Thins, Black Bean Rounds, Ritz Thin Veggie, Triscuits, Cauliflower Crackers, Wheat Thins)

Things to stack besides turkey and cheese: Cukes, zukes, tomatoes, sweet potato (THIN), radishes, peppers of various colors and HEAT, mushrooms, green beans, whatever else you want!

Just don’t go crazy with HOW MANY you eat! If I’m at home, I take a glance at the “serving size”. Otherwise – just give yourself a limit

I know I miss stuffing my face with candy, cakes, and all the other treats the Holidays bring. But I’m finally learning to pace myself and eat REASONABLY!

Find a bunch more recipes below. The ones above are meant to be EASY stuff you can try!

LINKS: https://www.tristarhealth.com/healthy-living/thrive/eating-healthy-during-the-holidays-when-you-have-diabetes ; https://www.hcamidwest.com/healthy-living/blog/eating-healthy-during-the-holidays-when-you-have-diabetes ; https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/best-diabetic-friendly-recipes/ ; https://diabetesfoodhub.org/recipes/holidays-entertaining ; https://www.familyhconline.com/diabetic-friendly-holiday-recipes/ Image: https://nycancer.com/media/images/2020/01/08/iStock-1036967058_-small.jpg

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #34: Type 2 LAME Excuse: Diabetics CAN Be Reversed If You Lose Weight!

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: “Researchers See Type 2 Diabetes Develop for the First Time”

This scientific report – usually written in language I have to translate – spells out this discovery (EDITORIAL COMMENT: “How the…_ _ _ _ is this a “discovery”???”): “We saw that when a person accumulates too much fat, which should be stored under the skin, then it has to go elsewhere,” said Taylor. “The amount that can be stored under the skin varies from person to person.”

“When fat cannot be safely stored under the skin, it’s pushed into the liver and over-spills to the rest of the body including the pancreas, ‘clogging it up’. The clogs switch off the genes which direct how insulin should effectively be produced, and this causes type 2 diabetes.”

The end result of the study seems more a “duh!” moment than a revelation: “Excess calories leads to excess fat in the liver. As a result, the liver responds poorly to insulin and produces too much glucose. Excess fat in the liver is passed on to the pancreas, causing the insulin producing cells to fail. Losing less than 1 gram of fat from the pancreas through diet can re-start the normal production of insulin, reversing Type 2 diabetes. This reversal of diabetes remains possible for at least 10 years after the onset of the condition.”

This graphic sums up their result – though it hardly needs a scientist to either draw it or interpret it:

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S155041311930662X-fx1.jpg

The end result of this (I don’t know if I was more startled by the results or the idea that someone said, “Let’s make everyone lose weight, then figure out if their blood sugars return to normal.”) is that it does. Rocket science? I think not…

HOWEVER, read my post from last month, here: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2025/10/guys-gotta-talk-abouttype-2-diabetes-36.html

One last thing, and this did come as both a surprise and a vindication to my current condition of having Type 2 Diabetes, “The amount [of body fat] that can be stored under the skin varies from person to person, indicating a ‘personal fat threshold’ above which fat can cause mischief.” So…not EVERYONE, not even everyone in a family will be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

That diagnosis DEPENDS on their “subdural lipid storage capability”.

Link: https://beyondtype1.org/researchers-type-2-diabetes-develop/?lead_source=PPC&lead_source_detail=Google&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_campaign=bt1|general|pmax&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=6188803963&hsa_cam=21858550764&hsa_grp=&hsa_ad=&hsa_src=x&hsa_tgt=&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21868968196&gbraid=0AAAAADgX8fMJFJZJsVOhfeNhUkWEpsSxj&gclid=Cj0KCQjw35bIBhDqARIsAGjd-ca23s834Puk0eXYUcHrrbW9OqM0t3YyB5fCo2IiGMQSPFYQgHQBo4MaAjcdEALw_wcB 

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #36: Indictment of an Insincere Rant I Read In An Old Issue of The Guardian

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

FORTUNE MAGAZINE on 10/13/25

"Lay’s drastically rebrands after disturbing finding: 42% of consumers didn’t know their chips were made out of potatoes"

https://fortune.com/2025/10/10/pepsico-lays-rebrand-consumers-didnt-know-made-of-potatoes/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNZ6v1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFaUjVGbFlEdHdFcEpSN2t0AR4plAGexWZ-aJD0zVs8IhBT9_lIGoDGd2_8m0EXZCIIvNsORmsk_QdE1Q5uoA_aem_TWzYlg9UvqBILTax6a3AwQ

OK -- go ahead and read my essay below -- you'll understand why the article above supports my argument below...

FROM Sunday, December 4, 2022

ANY diet I submit to will be for the remainder of my life. I WILL NOT say I get this whole thing of living with my diabetes yet. I’ve had Culver’s and Dairy Queen treats. I don’t live in a monastery on a mountain top! But I need to control them. I need to substitute FRUITS and vegetables for sauces and rice. Make better menu choices that EMPHASIZE meat and vegetables rather than rice and nacho cheese…(we’re going out tonight, Mexican!)

Like I said, I’m not good at this yet. But I’m working on it. It’s just I have to remind myself that I CAN’T dawdle anymore. This I important. I’ve damaged my body with 65 or so bad habits…

In case you were wondering? This isn’t the last you’ve heard me on the subject of “diet” – and I’m not preaching at you. I’m trying to figure out how to live longer with my diabetes!

ALMOST THREE YEARS LATER…

[As I get a bit ranty in a few paragraphs, I’d like to say that I am NOT a fan of Big Pharma and have been known to rant against THEM at times. But I really, really really dislike insincerity exhibited by people who have a captive and sympathetic audience…]

I now take Ozempic (see LOTS of my previous posts!) and a veritable cornucopia of drugs that help me help me live a happy and productive life.

So, let’s start with the one I’ve had and heard DIRE warnings about. First words from the (OBVIOUSLY EVIL AND ENTIRELY CORRUMPT Pharmaceutical Establishment)

“Metformin-containing medicines are available by prescription only and are used along with diet and exercise help control blood sugar in a number of ways. These include helping the body respond better to the insulin it makes naturally, decreasing the amount of sugar the liver makes, and decreasing the amount of sugar the intestines absorb from food. It is available as a single-ingredient product and also in combination with other medicines used to treat diabetes. See FDA Approved metformin- containing Medicines. Common side effects of metformin include diarrhea, nausea, and upset stomach.”

I’d like to note here that these are ALSO side effects of having children, working a job, eating too much, exercising too much, NOT exercising enough, and tax season.

The deep concerns of others is that metformin will cause Vitamin B12 deficiency, metallic taste, and weight loss (HOW IS THAT A CONCERN??).

The main concern of our fringe friends is “Lactic acidosis, a potentially life-threatening buildup of lactic acid in the blood”. This can make you feel very tired, breathless and faint, so your doctor may check the vitamin B12 level in your blood. If your vitamin B12 levels become too low, vitamin B12 supplements will help.

So, while researching this, I was stunned to read the following in that paragon of British Journalism, THE GUARDIAN: “The American Diabetes Association takes millions from companies that stand to profit from our reliance on drugs. Is that affecting their guidance?”

After several paragraphs of ranting about drug makers and the GLORIES of “just tell people to eat less carbs and no one will need any Type 2 Diabetes drugs ever again!!!!” (That was never written, but constantly and consistently proclaimed)> The closest the author (“Neil Barsky, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and investment manager [and] the founder of The Marshall Project.” (Wikipedia writes: “… a journalism nonprofit intended to shed light on the United States criminal justice system, as well as to promote prison abolition.” How this makes Mr. Barsky an expert on Type 2 Diabetes (he is a Type 2 diabetic), I’m not sure as I’m also a Type 2 Diabetic…) says...in fact stating emphatically is “The ADA is far from the only obstacle to widespread adoption of a low-carb diet. Absent a national health education initiative that links carbohydrates to the diabetes epidemic, low-carb clinicians will be a voice in the wilderness. It can be challenging for many people with diabetes to forgo the breads, sweets, pastas and starches that form the basis of many diets. And given the dearth of healthy eating options on the shelves of many American supermarkets, some clinicians I spoke with, each of whom was dedicated to their patients’ wellbeing, said it was more effective to simply prescribe their patients pharmaceuticals.” (see link below)

So, aside from it being “challenging” to anyone who is Type 2 diabetic; and (really? Where does this man live? He can’t shop at the places I shop – like CUB, Rainbow, Target, and other easily, widely present grocery stores) “the dearth of healthy eating options on the shelves of many American supermarkets”…they’re all there. Even at the corner FASTANDEASY Mart…they OPTIONS are there.

The real problem is that the Human Species has EVOLVED to find the EASIEST way to get their calories. This writer, in order to BLAME OTHERS for his own condition, finds it easier to PREACH the idea of “BLAME OTHERS” for the choices most Americans make all the time, every time, and if you check the annual profits of MacDonald’s and any other restaurant on Earth, available to the fabulously NOT wealthy. According to him, “The losers are the millions of people with diabetes who suffer amputations, blindness, neuropathy, often daily shoot themselves with insulin and eat carbohydrate-rich foods because they simply are not informed about their healthier options. It is not too late for the ADA to, loudly and in no uncertain terms, tell people with diabetes the truth.”

I’m unsure what conclave of Humans entirely insulated from First World societies this writer lives in, but writing this, he provided a MASSIVE boost to the millions of First Worlders searching for someone to blame – instead of choosing not to stuff their faces with fattening, truly horrible foods rather than saying to themselves, “Nah, I don’t need to order two triple-burgers with the works, and a quadruple order of fries with cheese sauce, and my favorite flavored sugar syrup water! I sure wish someone told me that there were sensible alternatives! No one ANYWHERE HAS EVER MENTIONED THAT I DON’T HAVE TO EAT SO MUCH THAT I FEELING LIKE PUKING…or fall into a FOOD COMA the moment I sit down in my overstuffed recliner…”

And as always, I’ll remind readers (and Mr. B though it won't matter, because I don't have his audience or probably even his attention..) that when I point a finger at anyone, I’m firmly aware that the other three fingers are pointing directly back at me…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/17/ada-american-diabetes-association-big-pharma
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-/diabetes.jpg

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #33: THE Sure Cure For TYPE 2 Diabetes DISCOVERED!!!!!

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: THE SURE CURE FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES DISCOVERED!!!!

A recent article at CNN Science read, “The development of blockbuster type-2 diabetes and weight-loss drugs that mimic a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1, has shaken up the world of health care.”

“SGLT2 inhibitors, which include empagliflozin (the active ingredient in JARDIANCE), as a treatment option for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, with or without metformin.”

“One in 8 people in the world live with obesity — a figure that has more than doubled since 1990 — and the medication, which lowers blood sugar and curbs appetite, has the potential to usher in a new era for obesity treatment and related conditions such as type 2 diabetes.”

As a beneficiary of that research and the development of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Metformin, manufactured insulin (“…using recombinant DNA technology, where the human insulin gene is inserted into bacteria (like E. coli) or yeast cells. These genetically modified microorganisms then ferment and produce human insulin, which is extracted, purified, and prepared for use in people with diabetes.”)

What caught my attention today was the phrase, “…people in the world live with obesity – a figure that has more than doubled since 1990.”

In 35 years, the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes has DOUBLED???? THE HECK?!?!?!?! So, I started to DIG…

“To our knowledge, this study is the first global analysis of trends in both diabetes prevalence and treatment coverage that covers all countries. We reanalyzed and pooled hundreds of population-representative studies with measurements of glycemic biomarkers and data on diabetes treatment. We used a diabetes definition that included both FPG and HbA1c, thus closing a major gap between global health statistics and clinical practice and guidelines.”

After I read several summaries of different reports, I ran into THIS gobbledygook: “The number of people with untreated diabetes increased…from 1990 to 2022 (figure 5). The largest contributor to this rise was the increase in the size and age of population, because diabetes is more prevalent in older age groups…In other places, population change accounted for 61–83% of the increase in untreated diabetes cases, and rise in diabetes prevalence accounted for 15–42% of the increase in untreated diabetes cases. In high-income western countries, followed by central and eastern Europe, Latin America, and east Asia and the Pacific, the rise in the number of people with diabetes was countered to some extent by the improvement in treatment…”

That’s great data, BUT WHY? People getting older is the sole cause of the sky-rocketing number of people diagnosed with Type 2? Really?

I am, to say the least, skeptical.

The Mayo Clinic headquartered here in my home state of Minnesota, has a very neat and clinical explanation: “Type 2 diabetes…is caused mainly by cells in muscle, fat and the liver [that] don't respond to insulin as they should. As a result, the cells don't take in enough sugar. The gland that makes insulin, called the pancreas, can't make enough to keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range.” OK – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193

So, WHY are blood sugars so high that the pancreas can’t make enough insulin to control the level of sugar (to be clear, it’s NOT like…Cinnamon Toast Crunch sugar! That’s SUCROSE. It can’t control the level of GLUCOSE…) But again, WHAT? Where does the glucose come from that overwhelms an organ that EVOLVED (or was created) a very, very long time ago and seemed perfectly adequate for that very, very long time IN THE PAST 32 YEARS???

My spiffy little AI summarized ALL pertinent internet information and came up with the following: “Widespread obesity: Excess body fat, particularly around the abdomen, is the strongest risk factor for Type 2 diabetes and directly contributes to insulin resistance. The epidemic of obesity mirrors the rise in diabetes cases globally. Sedentary lifestyle: Lack of physical activity is a major contributor, as regular exercise improves insulin sensitivity, helps control weight, and encourages cells to use glucose for energy. Unhealthy diet: Diets high in processed foods, refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and inflammation.”

Lemme see if I can translate this: “people are fat”; “people are lazy”; “people eat shit (aka, too much white sugar)”

Shocking, eh? If you are like me, you probably responded by saying, "Duh!"

Let me be clear: THE FINGER I’M POINTING AT Y’ALL HAS THREE FINGERS POINTING RIGHT BACK AT ME.

So with my succinct diagnosis, what do I (we) need to do: “Stop overeating, MOVE enough to make you tired, cut out most of the sugar you eat.”

KNOW that most of the sugar is hidden by big words and methods of cooking and baking. Know also, JUST FROM MINNESOTA: “2.278 million Short Tons Raw Value, which corresponds to a stocks-to-use ratio of 18.0 percent, up 1.8 percentage points from last month and edges 2012/13 to be the highest in 20 years.”

And so, I am proud to announce the CURE FOR Type 2 Diabetes!

Stop eating too much ALL THE TIME; move MORE (notice I avoid using the “E-word”, oh, fine!) I HAVE TO exercise more!; and I NEED TO STOP EATING SO MUCH SUGAR. OK -- let's get to work!

Links: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/04/science/nobel-prize-worthy-scientific-discoveries , https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/fromdnatobeer/exhibition-interactive/recombinant-DNA/recombinant-dna-technology-alternative.html, https://patient.boehringer-ingelheim.com/us/products/jardiance/type-2-diabetes/type-2-diabetes-and-your-heart?s_kwcid=AL!6545!3!738671423413!p!!g!!manage%20type%202%20diabetes&cid=cpc:GoogleAds:EA_JAR-T2D_DTC_GADS_US_EN_NONBRAND_GENERIC_TRAFFIC_DISCOVERY_g::T2D_Manage_%26_Avoid_p_kwd-manage%20type%202%20diabetes&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=13541658712&gbraid=0AAAAADEx4vCmVl9_t-RD4Fh7lHvxsQGgS&gclid=CjwKCAjwi4PHBhA-EiwAnjTHuQ7NfP9LFg39oalhGVIndNkh_R478JmUyI0Wu98W3kQh8KkwsLqZGRoCfkIQAvD_BwE, https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/diabetes-lancet-1.7383245 , https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02317-1/fulltext

Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #35: Can I Ditch Ozempic? Probably Not, BUT…

For the first time since I started this blog eleven years ago, it’s going to be about me. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes two weeks ago. While people are happy to talk about their experiences with diabetes, I WASN’T comfortable with talking about diabetes. My wife is Type 2, as are several friends of ours. The “other Type” of diabetes was what caused the death of my Best Man a year after my wife and I got married. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was a kid. It was called Juvenile Diabetes then. Today it’s Type 1. Since then, I haven’t WANTED to talk about diabetes at all. But…for my own education and maybe helping someone else, and not one to shut up for any known reason, I’m reopening my blog rather than starting a new one. I MAY take a pause and write about Breast Cancer or Alzheimer’s as medical headlines dictate; but this time I’m going to drag anyone along who wants to join my HIGHLY RELUCTANT journey toward better understanding of my life with Type 2 Diabetes. You’re Welcome to join me!

I asked my doctor a few days ago, “Is Ozempic a forever drug?”

Briefly, he said, “Yes.”

OK – so I’m not a fan of taking ANY drug forever! I’m not excited about taking drugs to lower my cholesterol or my blood pressure, either. So…how did we get here?

A number of factors seem to have come into play:

Physical inactivity is the absolute DRIVER of heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity – and at the risk of sounding crass AND INCLUDING MYSELF – comfortable being fat. Sitting behind a desk – even walking back and forth in front of a classroom doesn’t compare favorably with being hunted by animals or having to hunt for even the simplest foods. We are BUILT to run, chase, and walk. We are NOT built to sit in a desk chair, a car chair, or in front of a TV.

And yet we do, so we get fat, our hearts don’t have to work very hard, and we burn WAY less calories than we eat. So what happens? I have to either take Ozempic, Lipitor, and Lisinopril (or their competitors or a generic drug that does the same thing) or die.

But that’s not exactly true, is it? I COULD opt out of the drug regimen by choosing to eat reasonable amounts of food. For example, is a Big Mac with fries and a shake a REASONABLE amount of food for one meal? No. Not really. MAYBE if I was a farmer and working in the fields all day long! But not for being a classroom science teacher!

But the company does offer a more reasonable meal: a kids meal. Hamburger, fries, and a drink – MOST sensibly, water; but even a diet drink would be sometimes OK.

Because our jobs have us burning fewer calories we -- you AND ME -- experience higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and high cholesterol. “The World Health Organization has declared sedentary lifestyles a leading cause of chronic illnesses globally.”

Stress does a number on us and while I see their point, what could be more stressful in the modern world than bubonic plague, roaming wild animals, danger of invasion by some other tiny country wanting your land or slaves in the 1700s? If “modern life triggers a "fight-or-flight" response that floods the body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can raise blood pressure and blood sugar levels; why weren’t there many fat people in Victorian England or the American Colonial period or among Australian Indigenous people?

The rise of easily accessible, processed, and refined foods has fundamentally changed our eating habits. This diet is typically high in sugar, unhealthy fats, and sodium, and low in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. This shift is a major contributor to obesity, inflammation, and chronic illnesses.

But let’s be honest – it’s MADE to taste wonderful, easy to access, and for many of us, in UNENDING QUANTITIES. I don’t HAVE to stop eating if I don’t want to! And I have plenty of money, I can buy whatever I want and no one can tell me I can’t…well, at least no one here in middle-to-upper class America.

I can even buy Ozempic to “magically lose weight!” HOWEVER, I DID write about that! (https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2023/03/diabetes-research-right-now-3-most.html and more recently https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2025/08/guys-gotta-talk-abouttype-2-diabetes-34.html)

But as a long-term solution? Ouch. If I WERE to stop using Ozempic, I would have to have a very clear plan – and I would have to CHOOSE RIGHT at every turn. Exercise more (I do bike 5-10 miles a week in the summer); I park farther out in the parking lot than I need to); change my diet – or even more importantly DON’T EAT SO MUCH!

My goal is to get off Ozempic. I just have to practice saying “No.”

To my self…

Source: https://www.webmd.com/obesity/features/natural-glp1-boosters

Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-diabetes.jpg

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #32: Will developments in treatments be able to counteract the resulting impact on Type 2 morbidity and mortality?

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THIS MORNING AT 5 AM...BUT I'VE SORTA BEEN BUSY. SORRY!

From the first moment I discovered I had been diagnosed with DIABETES, I joined a HUGE “club” that has been rapidly expanding since it stopped being a death sentence in the early 20th Century. Currently, there are about HALF A BILLION PEOPLE who have Type 2 Diabetes. For the past 3500 years – dating back to Ancient Egypt – people have suffered from diabetes. Well, I’m one of them now… Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting Diabetes research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: The incidence of Type 2 diabetes is increasing for a number of reasons. Will technology be able to keep pace with that increase?

As far as I can tell, there's no new, magic pill coming out that all I have to do is pop it and BOOM! my blood sugars will return to normal and I can live the life I lived when I was 15 and could eat everything in sight and watch TV 24/7 and still weigh 150 pounds...

“Before the availability of insulin in the 1920s, hailed not only as the cure for diabetes but also as one of the greatest advances in the treatment of any disease, a person diagnosed with diabetes would have faced death within a few years.”

That would have been the news for me if I’d been diagnosed with diabetes in 1922 instead of in 2022, I “…would have faced death within a few years.”

Like, now. Instead of writing this column, I’d have been dead. Possibly even LONG dead…

OK – I need to stop jumping up and down in excitement. In the research paper linked below and posted on the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE, “In reality, the impact of diabetes is so significant that it is affecting overall life expectancy: in the United States (US), life expectancy is falling for the first time since statistics were collected, due to obesity…”

Whaaaat??? (My younger grandson would have said). I’m taking my metformin, lisinopril, glipizide, Ozempic, and rosuvastatin. I’ve been part of this trend because I’ve been fat since I was a kiddo; then lost weight when I went to West Africa (returning at 180); and gaining weight until recently and topping out at 260+. With the help of Ozempic and diet changes and MAKING GOOD CHOICES, I’m finally down to 240. Still WAY beyond my ideal weight (according to the Mastermind of the Internet – AI Overview) “For a 5'10" 68-year-old male, the ideal weight is a range that allows for a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), generally between 132 to 174 pounds”…ouch.

So…I’m not in IMMINENT danger of dropping dead (but who knows?) But, I’m still interested in what might be to come? How about Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) programs???

Apparently, they might be covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most other insurance plans to help people with diabetes manage their condition, improve their health, and prevent complications. To access these programs, patients need a doctor's referral. Supposedly, this kind of program helps with meal planning, medication management, coping with the condition, and setting realistic goals to achieve better health outcomes. I drew a line through what I don’t really need help with at this time. What I DO need help for is to set realistic goals for.

To find an Accredited Program, our doctors can refer us, or we can use online tools to find accredited DSMES programs near us. How about at my clinic? It would have to be a “hands on”, rather than a lecture. Speaking of which, have you ever noticed that there are NO fancy-pants “Cooking Shows” aimed at people with diabetes? I know, I’ve checked. There are LOTS of shows that help me to cook my way into an early Obesity Grave. I’ll check again…just a second…I guess there ARE a couple! First: IN THE KITCHEN WITH DIABETES CANADA

2024 series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz218ICsOY9obzaVUGsSLdQbRLArc1jTW
The 2025 series is coming soon!
https://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/local-programs-events/in-the-kitchen-with-diabetes-canada#panel-tab_Weeklythemes

This might be what I’m looking for – a better way to control my blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. A DSMES could conceivably help prevent or delay diabetes-related complications, leading to a better quality of life. By improving health outcomes and reducing complications, DSMES can help lower overall healthcare costs. Increased confidence, gaining knowledge, and skills might help me feel more confident in managing my diabetes effectively.

Follow me here to see where THIS adventure takes me.

Links: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3498849/ (see above!)

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