Guy's Gotta Talk About Diabetes, Breast cancer, and Alzheimer's

Sunday, October 12, 2025

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

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

Sunday, October 5, 2025

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

Sunday, September 21, 2025

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

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

Sunday, September 7, 2025

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!)

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

Sunday, August 24, 2025

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #34: Is Ozempic FOREVER???

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’ve been taking Ozempic to manage my TYPE 2 DIABETES BLOOD SUGAR. Some people have said, “YOU’RE SO LUCKY!!! You don’t have to worry about what you eat anymore!”

Reality, as usual, is just as much of a punch in the face as it can be about everything else: “‘This isn’t a magic bullet or pill,’ said Edward Matias, 45, a Connecticut resident who works in IT. ‘It’s not the fountain of youth. It takes work and commitment. If people are asking for this med because they want to lose weight and think they can eat anything at all, they’re in for a rude awakening.’”

I started taking Ozempic a year or so ago when my A1c kept climbing until it hit 8.2. It SHOULD be less than 6.1, so I had moved from “Hmmm…” to dangerous.

What’s it mean and why’s it important? First thing I found out it’s an average blood sugar level over the past two to three months. It’s figured out by determining how much of the hemoglobin (which hauls oxygen in your blood) is being screwed up by TOO MUCH sugar. The A1c is a measurement of how badly the hemoglobin is coated with sugar. The more the sugar coats the oxygen, the LESS oxygen your blood carries…the less energy you have. If your energy level drops too far, you die.

Pretty simple, huh?

So, Ozempic works by prodding the pancreas to release insulin to get the sugar to your muscles rather than storing it as fat and lowers glucose production in the liver, improving blood sugar control. For weight loss, it acts on the brain to reduce hunger and slows stomach emptying, which helps me feel full longer so I eat less, leading to weight loss. So, I NEED it to lower the sugar floating around in my blood – and I lose a few pounds on the side.

Who cares if there’s too much free sugar floating around my blood? Well, remember when you were a little kid and ate an entire box of your FAVORITE sugar0coated breakfast cereal WITH NO MILK? Sick to your stomach? Your head spinning, ears ringing.

Mom probably muttered, “If you do that again, you’re probably going into a sugar coma!” We all knew what a coma was – we’d been watching MASH or Marcus Welby, MD, or whatever other hospital soap opera Dad was watching while he was typing up his reports. It’s when someone is alive but pretty much looks dead.

It wasn’t a good thing. That’s what happens when your body can’t even control the amount of sugar (GLUCOSE, not like…table sugar!) in your bloodstream. Besides feeling crappy, it also does a number of your internal organs. You can be really thirsty or hungry; frequent peeing, headaches, blurred vision, constantly feeling worn out, (weirdly) pre-diabetics can experience weight loss, vaginal yeast, worse than normal infections, and infections ON your skin, and finally, you heal much slower from cuts, and cuts can turn into oozing sores. That’s only the beginning, diabetes can become MORE serious maybe even drifting into something called ketoacidosis: your blood to become acidic. DKA can also affect people who have undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes like vomiting, dehydration, abdominal pain, labored breathing or hyperventilation, rapid heartbeat, confusion and disorientation, and you can pass out.

LONG term: liver failure, kidney failure, vision failure, nerve damage, paralysis of your STOMACH!!!, heart disease, and stroke.

Continuing to take Ozempic, Mounjarno, and Wegovy are just brand names of semaglutide – which you can’t get as a generic yet. But maybe someday.

Because as far as I can tell, I’ll be taking this stuff until I die…

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/ozempic-what-its-like-to-take-for-years-rcna93921

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

Sunday, August 10, 2025

DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #31: A VERY Brief History of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes and What They Mean To Me, Today, Now

YES: THIS IS A REAL, HEALTHY PANCREAS...

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: Past, Present, and the Future of Diabetes and HOW it affects me...Treatment – in fact the very existence of Type 2 diabetes is NOT expected to vanish any time soon – of Type 2 are not going to disappear any time soon.

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have similar names, but their causes, development, and treatment approaches are WILDLY different. “We don’t know when diabetes was first discovered but it was mentioned in Egyptian medical papyri dating back to 1500 BCE. These ancient documents describe a malady characterized by frequent urination, a symptom that is now associated with diabetes mellitus. However, the term ‘diabetes’ itself did not exist until around 250 BCE, when a Greek physician, Apollonius of Memphis, coined it.”

Type 1 diabetes wasn’t treatable. In the olden days, people DIED FROM IT. (In these days people DIE FROM IT as well…) “Canadian doctor Banting and his assistant Best discovered how to treat Type 1. Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy, became the first patient to receive an insulin injection, significantly improving his health. Banting and Macleod won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923 for their important discovery.” Scientists eventually discovered that the cause of Type 1 diabetes comes from a Human body attacking itself. “Type 1 is a condition that starts in childhood. It happens when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that make insulin.” It was this form of diabetes that my best male friend at the time, who was best man in our wedding, died a truly ugly death in direct result (one might even say direct DEFIANCE) of his Type 1 diagnosis…

My Type 2 is treatable. In fact, I just got a shipment of a brand-name semaglutide an hour or so ago…but what it comes down to is this. My best man had NO CHOICE in developing Type 1 diabetes. Unlike HIM, “Type 2 diabetes is largely a disease of lifestyle and usually develops later in life. Type 2 diabetes was first described in the 1930s, although its history is not as well-documented as Type 1 diabetes. It was recognized as a distinct condition, different from Type 1 diabetes, that generally affected adults and wasn’t dependent on insulin. The disease likely existed long before but was not distinguished from other forms of diabetes.”

They start differently and are treated differently…but could they be CURED the same way?

The key is an organ in your belly called a really WEIRD looking thing called a pancreas.

What IS this thing? Something oogy. Gag-inducing. Ugly. (You probably noticed it when you followed my link…)

But so important that last year, treating the main malady of this tiny organ cost the world over a trillion dollars. Yes, that’s right: treating everyone who had diabetes (Type 1 and 2 together) in 2024 cost $1,000,000,000,000. https://www.statista.com/statistics/241831/health-care-costs-due-to-diabetes-worldwide-by-region/#:~:text=Health%20care%20expenditure%20due%20to,433%20thousand%20diabetes%2Drelated%20deaths.

The emotional cost is far beyond that. In 2024, diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, was responsible for 3.4 million deaths globally; at least one person loved every one of those people who died. This equates to one death every nine seconds. The Western Pacific region had the highest number of diabetes-related deaths, with approximately 1.2 million.” https://diabetesatlas.org/#:~:text=to%20tackle%20it.-,589%20million%20adults,3

This is serious stuff people. VERY serious. And I am one of a very small group of people who can afford to treat something I brought on myself (with a little help from my genetics…) But I DO have resources…

I’ve probably depressed you by now, so I’ll stop for here. But I’m not done. One last thing – I’m not pointing a finger or making accusations at YOU: I’m reflecting on the choices I MADE MYSELF. You can make your own choices…up to you.

And while I’m only RESPONSIBLE to myself, my choices affect the lives of many other people…and so do yours…

Links: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5278808/

Image: https://diabeticinfobiology.weebly.com/uploads/2/5/3/7/25377896/6064508.jpg?601

Sunday, July 27, 2025

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #33: Type 2 Diabetes & Alzheimer’s

“There is, then, a strong connection between diabetes and AD, reflecting underlying insulin resistance leading to [Aβ accumulation and tau hyperphosphorylation] (colloquially known as plaques and tangle). Appropriately powered clinical trials of GLP‐1 RAs and SGLT2 inhibitors, as well as of further potential therapies, are needed to determine effective strategies for prevention and treatment. Conceptually, physical activity and a healthy diet can improve insulin sensitivity and should be effective in reducing AD, but existing evidence to develop effective lifestyle approaches is limited, and this too appears to be an important potential area for research.”

The first part is totally disheartening, and makes me feel like there’s nothing for me to do but to lie down and let the Alzheimer’s and resign myself to sharing inappropriate anecdotes with my children and other friends, or forgetting the name of my youngest child…

Both of those happened with Dad. Outbursts of anger, as well (though, to be perfectly frank, Dad was well known for not only the anger thing, but also a getting in fights thing when he was a kid growing up in Loring Park (downtown Minneapolis).

It was the loss of his grip on reality that frightens me most. He called me a 3:00 am more than once to tell me that he thought that “Your mother has left me. I don’t know why.” I would have to calm him with the tale that my mother had passed away a few days/months/years ago. Which would bring him crashing into reality in total silence.

Those times, or when I had to explain that the person driving him home from a fishing trip was my younger brother, Paul. Or explaining over and over that Mom had died…

Now, I find out that my being a Type 2 diabetic increases the chance of my developing those plaques and tangles and a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s.

Finally, I read the WORST part: “Clinical trials are underway to investigate the potential of the GLP‐1 RA semaglutide (which you may know as the WONDERDRUG used by people desperate to lose weight by giving themselves shots of…well, I could write out the actual name, but the brand names of semaglutide start with O, W, M, Z and their ilk) rather than controlling their appetites. This has led to insurance coverage being reduced or eliminated in modifying Type 2 diabetics. It is also preventing the potential to control and treat Alzheimer’s Disease among early‐stage symptomatic patients. The sodium‐glucose co‐transporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i; known as those letters listed a few sentences ago) may also have neuroprotective antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects, increasing neurogenesis and synaptic activity and decreasing ischemic neuronal damage and mitochondrial dysfunction, as well as improving hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity.”

So, there you go. First, Type 2 diabetes may lead to Alzheimer’s; and the treatment for both prevention and treatment has been adjudged to be nothing more than a cure for obesity. (and therefore ELECTIVE and therefore probably not covered by insurance or cash on the barrelhead...)

Have a nice day.

Breast Cancer: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/04/observations-of-breast-cancer-husband.html
Alzheimer’s: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2016/09/guys-gotta-talk-aboutalzheimers-1.html
Type 2 Diabetes: https://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2022/10/guys-gotta-talk-aboutdiabetes-1.html

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12088849/#:~:text=The%20relationship%20between%20diabetes%20and,these%20factors%20with%20insulin%20resistance.

Image: https://img0.etsystatic.com/il_170x135.112225675.jpg