DIABETES RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! #12: NEW Cause of Diabetes???

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: STARTING with a 2014 article, “Diabetes – Will it Ever be cured?”; I check up on the various therapies mentioned…

“A new study by researchers at Lund University provides increased support for the idea that epigenetic changes can cause type 2 diabetes. The researchers behind the new findings published in Nature Communications now aim to develop methods for disease prevention.” (Link below for the Science Digest condensed version!)

OK – so what does this mean? The key words are “epigenetic changes”.

You already know that we get our genes – hair color, body build, bone structure, even aspects of personality – from our parents. We’re made up of half of each parent’s DNA.

Now, the DNA doesn’t come out in us as a PERFECT half Mom-half Dad proportions. I can look more like my mom and my sister can look more like our dad than us being perfect blends of both parents.

The same is also true for susceptibility to disease, ability to recover from injury, tendency toward receiving certain kinds of injury. For example, while I am NOT TALKING ABOUT PREDESTINATION!!!!, it’s possible that bone and joint structure can lead to some siblings having “bad knees” and others having no trouble at all. Some siblings may show early signs of heart disease, others may have no trouble. Still others my experience kidney stones, while no on else in the family has that challenge.

“Epigenetics is the study of how your behavior and the environment around you can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.”

That was the simple explanation! How about this: you have you DNA. There’s ALL SORTS of information stored on there. Like say lung cancer is a big issue in your family. But when your parents got married, Dad insisted that because his parents died of lung cancer after smoking since they were old enough to hold a cigarette (and grew up in a house where Mom and Dad smoked like a coal-fired power plant). NO ONE IN HIS FAMILY WAS GOING TO EVER LET A CIGARETTE TOUCH THEIR LIPS.

While he dies of lung cancer, none of the ten kids ever have any kind of problem with lung cancer…because they weren’t exposed to the conditions that would “activate” the gene that would malfunction and allow them to develop lung cancer.

In fact, I spent my first six years of life with a dad who smoked regularly, yet I've never had a single issue in the sixty years since he stopped...

The article goes on to say: “…epigenetic changes that arise due to environmental and lifestyle factors can affect the function of genes.” And this means…what?

I have the genes that would let me develop Type 2 diabetes. If I had made different choices in my life: become a long-distance runner; learned to love exercise; paid even MODERATE attention to my diet (NOT just stop eating so much sugar…as I’ve pointed out before, TABLE sugar is SUCROSE; blood sugar is GLUCOSE. While related they are NOT the same. EVERYTHING you eat gets broken down into glucose – not just candy sugar! Fats, proteins, and carbohydrates all break down into glucose. Surprisingly, FAT is one of the biggest culprits of diabetes glucose surges. It’s why the October 23, 2023 article on the HealthLine website dings off 17 foods that can lower your blood sugar (aka GLUCOSE!!!)

They are (in no particular order): broccoli/broccoli sprouts; seafood (NOT FRIED!!!); pumpkin/pumpkin seeds; nuts/nut butter (NOT SWEETENED!); okra (EWWW! Sorry, not a big okra fan!); flax seed; beans and lentils; chia seeds; kimchi/sauerkraut (sauerkraut (EWWWW!) I love kimchi!); kale; BERRIES (any kind!); avocados; oats/oat bran (dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies sweetened with monk sugar?…can’t even tell the difference!); citrus FRUITS (not citrus DRINKS! They have tons of sugar-added); kefir and yogurt (a plus for me is the yogurt adds calcium – one cup, twice a week, keeps my legs from cramping!); eggs; apples (we live in Minnesota – we INVENTED some of the most popular apple varieties and we’ve gone apple picking every fall for years now!)…

So – even if you come from a family with parents who have Type 2 diabetes – you can make good choices NOW and prevent the same fate!

Links: 17 Foods to Lower Your Blood Sugar (healthline.com);
Image: https://asploro.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Diabetes-Research_Open-Access.jpg

Christmas 2023: "...the shadow of the cross is cast by the light of Bethlehem's star."

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer; the first hints of Dad's Alzheimer's; the first of my own grapples with diabetes...there was an awkward silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer, or parent or spouse had Alzheimer's Disease, or who had Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes themselves...seem disinclined to talk and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

I remember the first holiday during my wife’s recovery – the double mastectomy had been in March; chemotherapy had taken most of the summer. Then the holidays were upon us.

I didn’t write about ANYTHING having to do with them. I certainly don’t remember what we did, but my guess is that family time was curtailed and we likely spent that time at home.

The significant thing was that I DIDN’T WRITE ABOUT IT.

If you take a moment and notice the nearly 500 posts I’ve done since March of 2011, you can imagine the significance of that. I was writing about different kinds of cancers as well as describing the origins and effects of the various drugs she’d endured during chemotherapy.

I was NOT talking about either her feelings or my feelings during the holidays. There are no comments on Thanksgiving or the first day of school or any other significant days during that time. Everything was focused on CANCER. DEFEATING CANCER. My “Christmas Message” in 2012 was “Chemo Killed Colds?” How meaningful.

Maybe I was mad still? My daughter certainly was.

Finally, in 2013, I dealt with it. Below you’ll find the post I managed to write then…

"Random, huh? Whew! Talk about random! Why would thoughts of death intrude on this holy time of year when we celebrate Santa Claus, children, “Ho, ho, ho!”, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER…

Oh, and the Birth of the Christ Child.

I think about how Target and Walmart and Kay Jewelers and Marshall’s have coopted the season. And Christians fight back with pictures of Santa kneeling at the Manger.

My wife and daughter and I watched one of our season’s favorites the other night, Joyeux Noël (a 2005 French film about the World War I Christmas truce of December 1914, depicted through the eyes of French, Scottish and German soldiers…written and directed by Christian Carion…screened out of competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival…nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards. The film was one of Ian Richardson's last appearances before his death on 9 February 2007.)

The one Christian Holy Day Wall Street has never been able to coopt is Easter, because Easter is secularly speaking, about a gruesome, governmental execution. For Christians it’s about sacrifice and Resurrection – much like the film, Joyeux Noël.

Much like life in the shadow of death that breast cancer brings to everyone who experiences it, or loves someone who experiences it, or works with those who experience it. Like the inevitable end of virtually every Alzheimer's patient. Even when a diagnosis of diabetes seems to throw a shadow over the future.

This holiday season is somewhat sober for me for many reasons. Yet somehow that has created in me a deeper appreciation for the joy of this same season – a profound thankfulness for many, many things. This thankfulness isn’t like the Christmas play in MERRY CHRISTMAS, CHARLIE BROWN! Rather it’s like the thankfulness of Linus’ recitation of Luke 2: 1-14 – calm, peaceful, fully aware of what he is saying.


An interesting side-story, from Wikipedia: "Christian Carion (who wrote "Joyeux Noel") spent his youth in his parent's farm fields in Northern France, where he was constantly reminded of World War I as the family often found dangerous, unexploded shells left over from the conflicts in the fields. He had also heard of the stories in which French soldiers would leave their trenches at night to meet with their wives in the surrounding German-occupied towns and return to fight the next morning. Carion stated that he'd never heard of the actual Christmas truce incidents while growing up in France, as the French Army and authorities suppressed them, having been viewed as an act of disobedience. He was introduced to the stories via a historian who showed him photos and documents archived in France, Great Britain, and Germany, and became fascinated. He tried to portray all of the soldiers with equal sympathy, as "the people on the frontline can understand each other because they are living the same life and suffering the same way", so he could understand how the truce could have come about. He endeavored to stay true to the real stories, but one of the things he had to change was the fate of the cat that crossed into various trenches. In reality, the cat was accused of spying, arrested by the French Army and then shot by a firing squad, as an actual traitor would have been. The extras in the movie refused to participate in this scene, so it was amended to have the cat imprisoned."]

On that sobering note, and as a reminder of something I discovered a few days ago, "I forget that the shadow of the cross is cast by the light of the star over Bethlehem", I go to ponder this again...


May your Holy Day Season remind you of the same.

Image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2146696283_afc861ff00_o.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT…TYPE 2 DIABETES #17: Diabetes and Holiday Cheer…

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’m sure you’ve got all of your “hacks” for surviving the holiday Food Onslaught! I’m aware of it this year because my wife and I had our FIRST big party – making and decorating sugar cookies, Russian teacakes, with tacos afterward…

Haven’t taken my blood sugars yet, but I’m sure they won’t be great. My stomach is rumbling as well, so it inspired me to do a bit of work for myself, and I’ll share with you:

The A-1 thing to do during the holidays is to PLAN AHEAD! Your eleven-year-old granddaughter can eat six cookies and burn it off the next day. My 66-year-old metabolism DON’T WORK THAT WAY ANYMORE!

Make fruits and veggies a BIGGER part of our holidays than usual; and make them good so OTHERS will join me in eating healthier.

I need to pay Attention to how MUCH I’m eating.

I’ve tried the “fast-and-binge” method and it doesn’t work well for me – ON THE OTHER HAND, the “ignore-what-I’m-eating-and-it-will-all-go-away” hasn’t been particularly helpful, either!

I need to make sure I DRINK WATER! In our place, with three grandchildren, six kids and their spouses – we lay on the cases of soda. I should be drinking SOME water, at least!

I SHOULD test the blood sugars regularly – the problem with my is that I only get so many test strips each cycle (that insurance pays for), so I have to stick (no pun intended) with taking it once a day. My wife’s got a constant glucose monitor, so that’s one thing she can do regularly!

If I work to spread out the KINDS of carbs I'm indulging in and MAYBE avoid eating 18 sugar cookies with frosting or two bowls of chocolate-dipped pretzels. Steer toward oatmeal-raisin cookies, maybe broccoli instead of corn, and bring a lentil stew for everyone to enjoy.

When I toast in the New Year – I can work hard to control the amount. I don’t NEED a bottle of champagne when a fluted glass will do just fine!

One thing about youngsters during the holidays, they WANT to be out in the snow! I'm planning to join them sometimes!

If the holidays bring sadness with them – and they often do – I need to be aware of that and make a plan for doing something thoughtful that reminds me of happier days. The holidays are SUPPOSED to be a celebration of the things we hold dear. What can WE do or ask other to HELP US DO that will add a spark of peace to the holidays?

Finally, from THE STRAWBERRY POST: Here to Entertain, Educate & Inspire!

“Diabetes isn’t meant to stop you enjoying Christmas, but it’s good to be aware of what can happen during this time. So please be aware in the lead up to Christmas and make sure that you know what could occur and how to fix it so you can enjoy the day as much as possible.”

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!

Resources During The Holidays: https://our.today/wellness-watch-how-to-maintain-your-diet-as-a-diabetic-during-the-christmas-season/ ; https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/better-me/how-can-i-manage-my-diabetes-and-still-enjoy-the-holidays

Image: https://thestrawberrypost.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/table-with-christmas-decoration-and-food.jpg