Blood Sugar

Days after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, Brenda Maker's diabetes was gone — her body producing enough of the hormone insulin to turn sugar into fuel. It's a phenomenon seen in recent years by doctors who increasingly are using the operation not only to help patients lose weight and improve their health generally but specifically to address the national epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Now some researchers at the University of Maryland believe their work may explain why the surgery succeeds, and how a common drug may be used to induce similar effects.

Days after undergoing gastric bypass surgery, Brenda Maker's diabetes was gone — her body producing enough of the hormone insulin to turn sugar into fuel. It's a phenomenon seen in recent years by doctors who increasingly are using the operation not only to help patients lose weight and improve their health generally but specifically to address the national epidemic of Type 2 diabetes. Now some researchers at the University of Maryland believe their work may explain why the surgery succeeds, and how a common drug may be used to induce similar effects.

About a month ago, my son-in-law started taking one regular Bayer aspirin each morning and one Bayer PM before going to sleep. Two weeks into this regimen, he started bleeding from the mouth while he was sleeping. He stopped taking the aspirin, and the bleeding stopped as well. Is this a possible side effect? Aspirin can thin the blood by interfering with the sticky part of blood called platelets. Some people are especially susceptible to this effect, so even a standard dose might trigger bleeding.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun's health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth), which is reprinted here. This week, Rachel Ernzen weighs in on bad habits. Information about the relationship between food and health abounds in newspapers, magazines, books, TV and Internet. Foods have become more readily available and portion sizes have grown, but we lead more sedentary daily lives.

Q. Is it true that cinnamon can lower blood sugar? I am a diabetic (type 2) and fairly active, swimming every day. My doctor doesn't want to put me on insulin. I take glipizide, but it isn't completely effective. How much powdered cinnamon would it take to have an impact? A. Animal research has shown that cinnamon does indeed make cells more responsive to insulin. Theoretically, this could lead to better glucose control. Although clinical trials are still in the planning phase, one nutrition researcher has suggested that people like you might benefit.

Q: Recently, the newspapers reported that diabetics who maintained low blood-sugar levels reduced their likelihood of developing complications involving the kidneys and eyes. My doctor has been satisfied with my treatment during the eight years I have used insulin. My blood sugars are always around 200 when I check them each morning, and I wonder whether I need more insulin.A: For many years, it has been evident that control of blood sugar could prevent acute complications of diabetes, such as infections and diabetic coma (ketoacidosis)

A 17-year federal study has finally answered one of the most pressing questions about diabetes: Can tight control of blood sugar prevent heart attacks and strokes? The answer, reported yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine, is yes. Intense control can reduce the risk by nearly half. And, the study found, the effect occurred even though the patients had only had a relatively brief period of intense blood sugar control when they were young adults. Nonetheless, more than a decade later, when they reached middle age, when heart disease and strokes normally start to appear, they were protected.

Question: : I have type 2 diabetes, and I have recently started taking cinnamon capsules to help control my blood sugar. I have been extremely pleased with the results so far. The metformin I was taking was never as consistent at controlling my blood sugar as the cinnamon has been. Are there any negatives to taking cinnamon? Answer: : Although cinnamon may work more consistently for you, there is much more research supporting the beneficial effect of metformin on blood sugar. You should make sure your doctor is aware of your regimen, so you can work together to control your type 2 diabetes.

Federal researchers who tried to reduce heart attacks among diabetics by driving their blood sugar to low levels found that more patients were dying instead. The finding, announced yesterday, prompted officials to halt part of a major study of diabetes and heart disease.

The American Diabetes Association issued new dietary guidelines yesterday saying that people with the disease can eat sweets occasionally as long as they keep their blood sugar levels under control. The new guidelines are designed to improve the treatment and prevention of diabetes and to simplify the lives of an estimated 16 million Americans who have it. Although specialists have advised patients for years that they can consume sugary foods if they control their blood sugar levels, there is still widespread belief that a person with diabetes should never eat concentrated carbohydrates, such as sweets.

When she was 11 years old, Alexis Ross discovered she had type 1 diabetes. She had lost 20 pounds, lacked any energy and was unable to quench her thirst. Finally, one day, she was rushed to the hospital by her mother, Caroline. "My blood sugar was over 1200," Alexis said quietly. "Normally it should be between 80 and 150. " She spent a week at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. The seventh grader learned to give herself four injections of insulin a day, and to check her blood sugar six to nine times daily.

Dr. Christopher Dyer Saudek, founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Diabetes Center and a pioneer in the development of the implantable insulin pump, died Wednesday of metastatic melanoma at his Lutherville home. He was 68. "We have lost one of our giants," said Dr. Edward D. Miller, dean of the faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins medicine. "He always tried to make things better for patients. I so enjoyed referring patients to him because I knew that he would not only give them great medical care but that his compassion and understanding of the human condition was unsurpassed," Dr. Miller said.

Question:: Have you ever heard of ibuprofen helping men with prostate problems? I am a runner and frequently use ibuprofen after a long run. I discovered that on the days that I took ibuprofen, I didn't have to get up at night to go to the bathroom. When I have beer with the boys in the evening, I take ibuprofen afterward and don't have to get up to go. Normally, I would be up and down a couple of times. Answer:: At first we were skeptical that ibuprofen could have any benefit for benign prostate enlargement.

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of moderate and severe vision loss in working-age Americans. It is a major public health problem now, and it will become even more so as the incidence of type 2 diabetes increases, says Dr. Peter Campochiaro, a professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins. Obesity predisposes people to type 2 diabetes, and thus, to retinopathy. A healthy diet and regular exercise help reduce obesity and the risk of diabetes.

Question: : What can you tell me about the pain reliever salsalate? My doctor says that it will not only help ease my arthritis pain, but might help control my blood sugar. Diet has not controlled my borderline diabetes. Answer: : Salsalate has been used for more than a century to relieve arthritis pain. The name indicates its chemical connection with salicylic acid, which is similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Like aspirin, salsalate is effective against inflammation and pain, but it does not irritate the digestive tract as aspirin does.

Question: : I have type 2 diabetes, and I have recently started taking cinnamon capsules to help control my blood sugar. I have been extremely pleased with the results so far. The metformin I was taking was never as consistent at controlling my blood sugar as the cinnamon has been. Are there any negatives to taking cinnamon? Answer: : Although cinnamon may work more consistently for you, there is much more research supporting the beneficial effect of metformin on blood sugar. You should make sure your doctor is aware of your regimen, so you can work together to control your type 2 diabetes.

Rising levels of blood sugar can subject diabetics and nondiabetics alike to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and death, according to two studies being released today. Reports in Annals of Internal Medicine suggested that doctors evaluate blood sugar alongside cholesterol and blood pressure in assessing a person's risk of heart disease. What's more, researchers said, the current epidemic of diabetes among both children and adults could foretell an epidemic of heart disease in years to come unless people take aggressive steps to control their blood sugar.

Biospherics Inc. of Beltsville has new evidence that its research-stage sugar substitute may also be a leading edge treatment for the most common form of diabetes, a researcher from the University of Maryland told an American Diabetes Association conference in San Francisco yesterday.The evidence is a small study based at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, the first human study aimed at discov- ering whether Biospherics' sugar substitute -- D-tagatose -- may also control the negative effects that diabetics experience from eating many carbohydrates and complex sugars that remain even on diabetes-restricted diets.

New once-a-day medication helps control Type 2 diabetes People with Type 2 diabetes may soon get a very different treatment approach: A drug that helps control blood sugar via the brain - an idea sparked, surprisingly, by the metabolism of migrating birds. The Food and Drug Administration approved Cycloset, maker VeroScience Inc. announced last week. It's a new version of an old drug called bromocriptine, used in higher doses to treat Parkinson's disease and a few other conditions. But unlike its older parent, Cycloset is formulated to require a low, quick-acting dose taken just in the morning - no other time of day. That timing provides a bump of activity in a brain chemical that seems to reset a body clock that in turn helps control metabolism in Type 2 diabetes, said VeroScience's Anthony Cincotta, who led the drug's development.