DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #6: Trial Runs Of ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS Successful for Type 2 Diabetes Patients!!!!!

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: Well, JUST LOOK AT THE HEADLINE ABOVE!!!!

At the University of Cambridge (England), researchers have successfully developed on of the first devices that might be used to treat Type 2 Diabetes: “The device -- powered by an algorithm developed at the University of Cambridge -- doubled the amount of time patients were in the target range for glucose compared to standard treatment and halved the time spent experiencing high glucose levels.”

Now, does that mean we can all run out, throw away our Ozempic pens [to the joy and relief of all the really…um…weighty people for whom drugs like Ozempic are…um…a great HELP in their continuing…uh…“battle” against…er…Inexplicable High Mass Syndrome (IHMS, aka, being fat…)…].

HOLD YOUR HORSES, BABA LOUIE! If you read the first sentence of the Science Daily article SLOWLY instead of skipping all words and leaving ONLY what I read as: “This [MIRACLE] device…doubled the amount of time…you can ignore your diabetes and eat whatever you want!"

My mind THINKS it's reading ‘patients were in the target range for glucose…and halved the time spent experiencing high glucose levels’. But then, my mind tends to be out to lunch in matters of what it can and can't direct my insulin-resistant body to do!

In case you’re new to this whole Type 2 diabetes thing, what is Type 2 diabetes? The English can explain it pretty well, “Type 2 diabetes causes levels of glucose -- blood sugar -- to become too high. Ordinarily, blood sugar levels are controlled by the release of insulin, but in type 2 diabetes insulin production is disrupted. Over time, this can cause serious problems including eye, kidney and nerve damage and heart disease.”

What that means is that…well, the outcome of our Type 2 diabetes is NOT trivial (which is sometimes what I allow myself to think – the whole, “Oh, I live in the 21st Century and I’m SURE that there’ll be a miracle cure pretty soon, so I don’t have to go all weird and stop eating doughnuts and drinking REGULAR soda, and I can eat like I’m 13 again. You just need to take on the ‘correct’ perspective…”

Anyway, the new device works something like this: For those of us with Type 2, it’s a fully closed loop system. The people for whom the device was originally developed – the ones with Type 1 have to “text” their artificial pancreas to let it know that they’ll be eating a meal. The AP (Artificial Pancreas) adjustment the amount of insulin it releases. For someone with Type 1, the AP adjusts automatically – just like your normal pancreas does.

The researchers recruited 26 patients. One group would use the AP eight weeks, then switch to doing multiple daily insulin injections. The other group would do multiple daily insulin injections for eight weeks, then switch to the AP.

The researchers monitored several things.

First: how much time did the patients spend with their glucose levels within a target range. They found that patients using the artificial pancreas spent two-thirds of their time on target. The other group only spent one third of their time on target.

Second: how much time spent did they have glucose levels 180? Average glucose levels fell from 170 to 106 about 70% of the time! The people using the insulin injections spent the same amount of time over 170!

Also, after using insulin injections, the average HbA1c levels were 8.7. Using the artificial pancreas they were 7.3!

By now you know that for those of us with Type diabetes, the higher the A1c, the greater the risk of developing diabetes-related complications. “Over time, high A1C levels may lead to impaired fasting glucose, high blood pressure, obesity, and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.”

When all was said and done, the researchers found that “…participants were happy to have their glucose levels controlled automatically by the system, and nine out reported spending less time managing their diabetes overall. Users highlighted the elimination of the need for injections or finger prick testing, and increased confidence in managing blood glucose as key benefits.” As is usual, not EVERYONE was happy with the AP. Some reported “…increased anxiety about the risk of hypoglycemia, which the researchers say may reflect increased awareness and monitoring of glucose levels, and practical annoyances with wearing of devices.”

All-in-all, I think if I could get this TEST DEVICE right now, I’d volunteer to be first in line!

Link: (ScienceDaily) https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/354064720_646111904223281_7263858063343004950_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=0debeb&_nc_ohc=ZihRXv-v-1sAX-1jkdq&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.xx&oh=00_AfBqk3DsoM2Y_v7tOlwbVKCMsaYoQooSsd_VrctAhwqmEA&oe=64933E1E; (The ACTUAL Article from the University of Cambridge (England): https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/artificial-pancreas-successfully-trialled-for-use-by-type-2-diabetes-patients
Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…DIABETES #10: Can I REALLY Get Rid of Diabetes By Losing Weight and EATING Right?

For the first times since I started this column 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!

Simple Answer to the title above is: Nope.

“…there's no cure for type 2 diabetes.”

“However, studies show it's possible for some people to reverse it. Through diet changes and weight loss, you may be able to reach and hold normal blood sugar levels without medication. This DOES NOT MEAN YOU’RE CURED. Type 2 diabetes is an ongoing disease. Even if you're in remission, which means you aren't taking medication and your blood sugar levels stay in a healthy range, there's always a chance that symptoms will return.”

So…how come there’s research going on in the UK (which has medical practices and health care easily comparable to what we have here in the US) with the intent of people reaching remission and not having to use diabetic meds – and that kind of research IS NOT HAPPENING HERE?

The only article I could find published in an American journal had this to say: “There is a plethora of treatment options available for patients with T2DM [aka Type 2 Diabetes], yet less than half achieve treatment goals. Current conventional clinical practices have proven largely unsuccessful in attaining adequate glycemic control and maintaining HbA1c under the recommended standard of 7.0%. Importantly, this is not due to a failure of therapeutic innovation. Over the last 20 years, several novel and promising anti-diabetes medications and technologies have been developed with consistent improvements in glycemic efficacy…metabolic surgical methods…intensive lifestyle modification plans.”

“Despite this, uncontrolled T2DM continues to have [gotten worse]…Given that evidence demonstrates that early glycemic control is paramount to avoiding microvascular complications and disease progression, this standard of care is unacceptable.”

Sorry, folks – it’s not the standard of care; it’s not the availability of programs; it’s not that there ARE no programs.

The problem, folks – is US.

Witness the wild scramble to get hold of Ozempic (semaglutide); Victoza (liraglutide); Rybelsus (semaglutide); Trulicity (dulaglutide); and many, many others – but NOT to control Type 2 Diabetes – stamping their feet and threatening lawsuits in their doctor’s office because at a high enough dosage, these can all MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT without that nasty, sweaty “exercise” thing; or that horrible, restrictive “diet” thing; we go right to our usual mode of operation: demanding that the world and whatnot is what we INSIST it to be rather than what it IS.

Drugs used to treat Type 2 Diabetes are the fat American’s answer to popping a pill and eating whatever you want. THERE’S NO EFFORT REQUIRED! We’ve been looking for this Golden Nugget for forever. We want to eat and then take a pill (or a shot) and “watch the pounds melt away”. You all see the ads, they pop up alongside pretty much whatever type of social media you use.

The problem is that it’s an American problem. The British study is pretty clear on how you and I can send Type 2 Diabetes into remission – but the method is full of nasty words: “diet change”, “weight loss”, “low calorie”, “restricted diet”, “more physical activity”, “bariatric surgery” – I mean, these all involve me DOING SOMETHING that’s not stuffing my face with donuts, candy, bread, cereal, whole milk, cream cheese puffs, potato chips, super-hyper-monstrous Burgers and sixteen orders of fries with melted cheese and ranch dip…

“Several studies in England have looked at the effects of a very low-calorie diet on overweight people with diabetes. Two had people follow a mostly liquid diet of 625-850 calories a day for 2-5 months, followed by a less restricted diet designed to help them keep off the weight they lost. Both studies found that nearly half the people who took part reversed their diabetes and kept their blood glucose near the normal range for at least 6 months to a year.”

The saddest sentence in the two articles came from the American study: “Despite evolution in treatment options and improved understanding of pathophysiology, the treatment of type 2 diabetes remains unsatisfactory.” And folks, it’s not the METHODS that aren’t working – it’s US who aren’t working.

Americans have come to expect “instant answers” and have a “one shot cures it all!” attitude. The pandemic only served to reinforce this attitude. While 6,900,000 people died, the world has pretty much decided that with vaccines, COVID-19 is done and we can go back to normal life.

It’s my opinion that Type 2 Diabetes hasn’t reached that point yet, but most people who suffer from it are waiting patiently for the “one shot cures it all!” – and many have decided that the drugs used by patients who actually have been diagnosed with Type 2 HAVE to be used so those who love to overeat can CONTINUE to overeat with impunity – just take a shot a week and BAM! Back to the troughs!

Jaundiced POV? Nah, jaundice is a DIFFERENT disease.

Source: UK: https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/can-you-reverse-type-2-diabetes#:~:text=Although%20there's%20no%20cure%20for,diabetes%20is%20an%20ongoing%20disease. ; US: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4540/4/1/11
Image: https://www.hcd.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/living-well-with-diabetes.jpg