Why Don't People Take Their Insulin as Prescribed?
February has arrived, which means that Valentine's Day cannot be far behind. Please look at the Entertaining menus for this special day.
Why Don't People Take Their Insulin as Prescribed?
The February issue of Diabetes Care has an article about type 1 and type 2 diabetics who do not take their insulin as prescribed. "Correlatives of insulin injection omission" by Mark Peyrot, PhD et al examined the reasons why patients do not comply with their insulin regime.
In this study, they compiled the results of an internet survey of 502 American adults that addressed the reasons why they didn't take their insulin as directed.
More than 20% of the responders said they didn't take their insulin as prescribed on a regular basis—a very significant finding for those who treat people with diabetes.
It is not surprising that non-compliance in type 1 diabetes patients was associated with poor eating habits. The researchers found that younger age, lower income, and embarrassment were the most important factors for poor compliance in people with type 2 diabetes.
Although the results address the needed educational intervention, especially when it comes to embarrassment, pain, and interference with activities, it also points to the fact that healthcare teams need to talk with patients before this becomes a common practice, rather than a single occurrence.
To read more about this research, click here.
Get Active to Stave Off Type 2 Risk
Each month, we bring reports on how important exercise is for health—and more importantly, for staving off the onset of type 2 diabetes. This month, Diabetes Care featured an article titled "Deleterious associations on sitting time and television viewing time with cardiometabolic risk biomarkers, Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study 2004-2005" by Alicia A. Thorp, PhD, et al
The researchers measured waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, triglycerides (a form of body fat), HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol), fasting and 2-hour post-load plasma glucose, and fasting insulin in 4,864 men and women 30 years or older. None of the participants had been diagnosed with diabetes during the study period.
The findings revealed sitting for long periods of time had a negative effect on waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure (which is the top number in a blood pressure reading), fasting triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, 2-hour post-load glucose levels, and fasting insulin in both men and women.
The researchers concluded that activities should be planned for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This can help get them away from the television and help them become active.
If you haven't read our exercise articles please look at the list of different types—from gardening to skiing to swimming. But before you begin a new exercise program, always talk to your doctor. He or she will help you develop the right exercise plan for you. But before you begin a new exercise program, always talk to your doctor. He or she will help you develop the right exercise plan for you.
To learn more, you may read the abstract of this study here.
Stress Hormone May Benefit People with Type 2
Our last headline titled "Stress hormone's surprise powers" by Shirley S. Wong comes from the February 2, 2010, Wall Street Journal. Those of us with diabetes know that when we are under stress, our blood glucose levels may rise, and we have to learn how to adjust our medications to control glucose levels.
Stress causes the fight or flight reaction. The corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulates cortisol production when it's released. You can learn more about this hormone in an overview of the adrenal glands.
This hormone has some negative side effects, such as hypertension and immune system stress. But now researchers have found that CRH increases both insulin secretion and the number of beta cells that produce insulin. For people with type 2 diabetes, this may well become very important in the future. Today, medications that treat type 2 diabetes attempt to overcome insulin resistance in the body. These new findings may help the beta cells remain alive and allow for new beta cells to grow, according to Patricia Kilan, who is the head of the beta-cell regeneration program at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), which partially funded the study.
This study has helped researchers better understand how blood glucose levels are controlled in healthy people but also in people with diabetes and in those who are obese. But much research is needed before we understand how it will change the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
CRH will not affect those of us with type 1 diabetes because it cannot stop the beta cells from being destroyed. There is also the problem of stopping the side effect of hypertension, which CRH causes in that fight-flight response—even as it stimulates insulin production.
You may read the full article here.
