Welcome to my website! My name is David Mendosa, and I am a freelance medical writer, advocate, and consultant specializing in diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease that perhaps more than any other depends much more on the patient than on the doctor. Hence, the purpose of this website is to provide you with honest and accurate information to help you manage your diabetes.

If you wish to know why I started this website and began writing about diabetes in 1995, then please read this page.

How to get started?

You can start reading about diabetes by accesing the most popular articles and blog posts below.

Alternately, you can read articles Ive written over the years on various aspects of diabetes, by using the navigation bar on the top of this website.

Finally, you can visit my diabetes blog called Diabetes Developments, where I write about the most recent developments in diabetes research and on strategies to manage diabetes.

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David Mendosa: Helping Defeat Diabetes Since 1995

Diabetes is on the rise in the U.S. and cases are at a record high. Chances are you know someone with the disease since over 37 million Americans, or 1 in 10 people have diabetes according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and describes the diabetes as "a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Most people's bodies naturally produce the hormone insulin, which helps convert sugars from the food we eat into energy that the body can use or store for later. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make insulin or doesn't use its insulin well, causing your blood sugar to rise. High blood sugar levels can cause serious health problems over time. With type 1 diabetes, the body can't make insulin. If you're diagnosed with type 1, you'll need to take insulin every day to survive. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn't use insulin well. The good news is that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes." In spite of what many think, diabetes isn't a childhood condition or something older people get. Anyone at any age can get it and Eat This, Not That! Health spoke with Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, Urgent Care Medical Director and Physician, Carbon Health, and Saint Mary's Hospital, who explained what to know about diabetes and what the signs are that you might have the harmful health condition. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID.

Dr. Curry-Winchell shares, "Diabetes can be caused by the immune system which is a network within your body that normally keeps you healthy. The immune system starts attacking the body targeting the pancreas, an (organ that produces a hormone) called insulin. Insulin is designed to help your body process or break down the sugar (glucose) you consume. When this happens, it is referred to as Type 1 diabetes and commonly associated with children, teens, and young adults.

A secondary cause of diabetes is referred to as Type 2 diabetes in which the hormone (insulin) is unable to regulate the amount of blood sugar in your body. The best way to think about it is to imagine a thermostat in your house that is normally set to a specific temperature based on the weather. The thermostat is no longer producing AC or heat.

The best way to prevent Type 2 diabetes is to eat a well-balanced meal and participate in daily exercise. Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that is new and not associated with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. It is caused by the body not being able to process elevated levels of blood sugar."

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Dr. Curry-Winchell says, "Type 1 diabetes is typically found in children, adolescents, and young adults however you can develop this type at any age. There is an association with patients developing. Type 1 diabetes that had a family history of someone (i.e., parent or sibling with the disease). Type 2 diabetes is typically diagnosed in those that are overweight and not actively participating in low to moderate forms of exercise."

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According to Dr. Curry-Winchell, "It's multifactorial and related to the options and choices people choose as snacks and daily meals. The pandemic has played a role in increasing risks of developing diabetes through stay-at-home orders, change in work distribution, and increased comfort/emotional eating."

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Dr. Curry-Winchell explains, "Most people with diabetes are living full lives. If your diabetes is not under control, it can affect your energy, ability to concentrate, mood, appetite and cause organ damage leading to complications that can require hospitalization. Diabetes increases your overall risks to ward off other illnesses and infections therefore it's important to have a health care provider keep a close eye on your health status."

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Dr. Curry-Winchell reveals, "Because you have increased blood sugar circulating throughout your body it places a strain on your kidneys affecting your ability to get rid of the increased sugar in your body."

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"The increased blood sugar in the body which normally would be converted for energy is stationary which leads to fatigue due to unused glucose within the body," says Dr. Curry-Winchell.

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Dr. Curry-Winchell states, "Extra blood sugar is harmful to your eyesight causing damage to part of your eyes needed for vision which can affect a person's ability to focus."

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Signs You Have Diabetes, Say Physicians Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - In September of 2021, the Montana VA (MTVAHCS) took a look at how to improve its diabetes care, especially in Great Falls where over 600 VA patients have diabetes.

So, they developed a new and unique program...

It's a 12-week program and 15 veterans have crossed the finish at the Great Falls VA Clinic on March 23 after starting the program in January.

"For diabetes, education is the key," said Air Force veteran, James Hollinon.

The program is an innovative shared medical appointment program.

"We've found great benefits in bringing people together that have similar chronic illnesses and diseases and helping them. So, we applied that model, we took research and applied that model to what do here at the VA and our veterans absolutely love it," said Jason Gleason, certified nurse practitioner (NP-C) for the Great Falls VA.

"Besides the education, the interaction and the knowledge that we've gained has just been very helpful," said Hollinon.

Hollinon has been diabetic since 1995 and says in terms of education - this program has been the best.

A Montana Army National Guard veteran, Mark Hall, served overseas in Iraq, and for him, this program has helped change his outlook on life.

"I think about my family and my children and I think about all the interactions where I had to say no, I can't go and do that or I'm not feeling well. You know, and they're excited to tell me something but I have the grumpy look on my face and it just makes them feel bad. That's not today. Today when they tell me something exciting, I'm like I get to be involved in that and not be the grumpy face," said Hall.

MTVAHCS cares for 38,502 veterans and 4,935 of them have diabetes with 996 (20%) of them having uncontrolled diabetes (A1C >8%).

Which means the Great Falls VA Clinic pit crew got to work.

"For myself, I did the check-in and I kept everybody on task because we had 15 different people going to different stations," said Mike Nagel, assistant manager, RN northeast region.

"I do education, most veterans, most people who come in that were diagnosed with diabetes and say how did I get this, what is this, why do I have this, what do I do, can I ever just get rid of it," said RN Mary Toren.

It doesn't matter if you handled education, were a facilitator, a presenter, or the project lead - veterans tell Montana Right Now this program excites them.

"Today my future, I think, looks super bright and I'm excited for it," said Hall.

Gleason says they hope to continue this program in the future so more veterans can win the race against diabetes.

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Winning the race against diabetes with the MTVAHCS | Great-falls | kulr8.com - KULR-TV

Despite its global impact, there is still no cure for diabetes. But there is hope! All over the world, new therapies that offer the promise to delay and improve the quality of life for patients with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) are being investigated. Disease experts Prof Chantal Mathieu, Coordinator at T1D consortium INNODIA and Principal Investigator of the Imcyse IMPACT Phase 2 trial, and Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) members represented by Manon Perquy talk here about the needs of patients and how new approaches, such as immunotherapies, can change the landscape for T1D and what needs to be done to make this a reality.

Over 100 years ago, diabetes became treatable. And for most of the 9 million adolescents and adults worldwide (1), living with T1D, insulin turned the disease from a death sentence into a chronic condition. Still, it is not a cure.

In T1D, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed through an autoimmune attack, making patients dependent on daily glucose control and insulin injections for life. Even with modern technologies, controlling blood glucose levels to a level that will eliminate complications, such as organ damage caused by high blood sugar remains unachievable for most patients.

T1D is a very heterogeneous disease. Blood sugar levels are affected by much more than just what we eat and how much we exercise. There are a multitude of factors to consider everyone reacts differently. No two patients are alike, says Manon and the PAC members. This is what makes management of this disease so hard and why only a small fraction, around 30%, actually reach their treatment goals.

The fear of not managing T1D adequately stems from immediate risks, such as hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia and serious long-term consequences. Patients need to self-manage their disease round-the-clock which is a huge burden on them, their families, and caregivers. It is a 24/7 balancing act. Insulin helps people survive, but it is not enough, explains Manon and the PAC members.

Although important technological advances in the management of T1D have occurred in the past 40 years, most of the research has focused on developing better delivery and optimised insulin: long-, short- and ultra-rapid-acting insulins to better match the varying time-action needs, as well as insulin pumps and hybrid closed-loop systems for better control. This leaves an urgent need for new advances that can replace daily injections and give people a break from constant monitoring. Even though we have better tools today, the burden and impact on the quality of life of people living with T1D remains enormous. What we urgently need is innovation, which reduces the number of times a day, patients must think about their disease, says Manon and the PAC members.

The problem is that despite extensive research, the underlying causes and mechanisms of T1D are still far from being completely understood. This is why effective prevention strategies or causal therapies beyond insulin replacement are still lacking and treatment efforts to halt progression of the disease are to date unsuccessful, adds Prof Chantal Mathieu.

However, there is hope for potentially making insulin treatments obsolete. Researchers from all over the world have come a long way in recent years investigating alternative therapy options that offer the promise to delay T1D onset and improve life for patients.

There has always been an enormous enthusiasm among researchers to try and find better ways to predict and prevent T1D but also to arrest the progression of the disease because we as clinicians see what a terrible disease it is, says Prof Mathieu. One promising approach are immunotherapies that target the underlying cause of the disease by reprogramming the immune system so that it no longer attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

Among the four interventional trials currently being conducted under the INNODIA umbrella, the ImotopeTM approach, developed by Belgian company Imcyse, is one such immunotherapeutic being investigated in a Phase 2 study (IMCY-0098 Proof of ACtion in Type 1 Diabetes, IMPACT). ImotopesTM are based on modified peptides that induce cytolytic CD4 T cells to kill other immune cells involved in the destruction of a specific target, in this case, insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This action works without affecting other functions of the immune system. Prof Mathieu explains the approach: The aim of this approach is to interfere early enough in the disease progression, so the aberrant immune response is halted. The immune system is recalibrated to stop the destruction of beta-cells and block the autoimmune response. Through this intervention, the pancreas maintains its natural ability to produce insulin and the rest of the immune system continues to function fighting infections. It is a very interesting, different approach and the safety profile we have seen so far is very impressive. A more detailed description of Imcyses technology is available in a previous article. (2)

To advance their immunotherapy as a safe and effective therapy for patients with early T1D, Imcyse has joined forces with INNODIA, gaining access to a broad supportive research network. To really make a difference, everyone needs to work together, says Prof Mathieu. Newly diagnosed patients need to get the opportunity to participate in these studies, clinicians need to inform their patients about ongoing intervention trials, companies need the patient perspective, there is this aspect of public funding and the industry side. This is why networks such as INNODIA are so important.

In the future, immunotherapies could help patients and those at risk of developing T1D, by stopping the disease in its tracks or preventing the condition entirely. For the latter, early intervention could prevent the immune attack from happening in the first place. In newly diagnosed patients, immunotherapy has the potential to stop the attack in its tracks and preserve surviving beta cells. In addition, researchers are currently working on manufacturing new beta cells in the lab to transplant into patients. To protect these new beta cells from the bodys immune system, immunotherapies will play an important part.

We may not be able to remove T1D from our lists of human ailments just yet, but what is most important is getting the news out to newly diagnosed patients and their families, that there are opportunities to join the research and ultimately help change the future of T1D, conclude Manon and the PAC members.

To learn more about T1D and for further information on clinical trials currently ongoing and how to get involved, please visit: INNODIA or T1D UK Consortium.

For more information about INNODIA please visit: https://www.innodia.eu/

References

*Please note: This is a commercial profile

2019. This work is licensed underCC-BY-NC-ND.

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Diabetes - Is life without insulin possible? - Open Access Government

At a Glance

In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas, called beta cells, that make insulin. Insulin helps glucose, a sugar from food, get into your cells to be used for energy. Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults, although it can appear at any age.

Pumps or regular injections can supply insulin to people with type 1 diabetes and prevent blood glucose from rising to dangerous levels. But insulin treatment comes with health risks and high costs. Currently, no oral drugs are approved to treat the disease.

In previous research, a team led by Dr. Anath Shalev from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that a drug used to treat high blood pressure, called verapamil, protected beta cells and reversed diabetes in mouse models of type 1 diabetes. In a small clinical trial, they showed that the drug could improve the functioning of beta cells in people recently diagnosed with the disease.

But howand for how longverapamil could protect beta cells wasnt clear. To better understand how verapamil slowed the progression of diabetes, the team analyzed blood samples from 5 of the study participants who received verapamil and 5 who received an inactive placebo.

The study was funded in part by NIHs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Results were published on March 3, 2022, in Nature Communications.

The researchers found that levels of 53 proteins changed in the blood after a year of verapamil treatment. One in particular, called chromogranin A (CHGA), stood out. It changed the most over time, dropping substantially in people who received the drug. CHGA is found in beta cells and suspected to play a role in the immune system attack that causes type 1 diabetes. CHGA blood levels were elevated in people with type 1 diabetes compared to healthy people.

After a year of treatment, people who received verapamil had levels of CHGA and markers of immune activity that were similar to people without diabetes. They also had better production of insulin by their beta cells. In contrast, CHGA levels remained high in people who received the placebo. This was true through the second year of the study as well.

Further experiments using isolated pancreas tissue revealed that verapamil treatment also changed patterns of gene activity in and around the beta cells. These changes signaled increased cell survival and a more normal immune response.

People who took verapamil needed less insulin. Those in the study who stopped treatment after a year needed more insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. The amount of insulin required by people who took the drug for a second year remained low and stable.

The fact that these beneficial verapamil effects seemed to persist for two years, whereas discontinuation of verapamil led to disease progression, provides some additional support for its potential usefulness for long-term treatment, Shalev says.

Data from larger, ongoing studies of verapamil will be needed to confirm these results. CHGA might also be useful as a simple blood test to help track beta cell destruction in type 1 diabetes and determine whether therapies to protect beta cells are working.

by Sharon Reynolds

Funding:NIHs National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK); American Diabetes Association.

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Medication helps protect insulin production in type 1 diabetes - National Institutes of Health (.gov)

Virtual diabetes clinic 9am.health has partnered with Ascensia Diabetes Care to add the Contour Next One blood glucose meter to its patient diabetes toolkit.

As part of the collaboration, the clinics type 2 diabetes and prediabetes patients can now add Ascensias blood glucose meter and 100 to 300 test strips to their personalised treatment plan.

The addition of blood glucose meters will enable regular blood sugar check-ups at home.

This will complement lab tests, diabetes medications, telemedicine visits and all-in-one virtual diabetes care offerings.

The blood glucose meter will be offered for free on all patient care plans, while the test strip addition will be available to patients through a monthly or quarterly subscription added to their existing care plan.

9am.health noted that patients will also be able to further supplement their plan with a one-time order of a lancing device and lancets.

9am.health co-founder and co-CEO Frank Westermann said: The availability of blood glucose meters has been repeatedly requested by our customers from the very beginning, and we are proud to have partnered with Ascensia to provide their exceptional Contour Next One meter.

The company stated that regular blood glucose self-monitoring can help manage diabetes and prevent complications.

Ascensia Diabetes Care blood glucose meter marketing and strategy head Frank Held said: We are excited to team up with 9am.health to bring the benefits of our products to more people with diabetes.

Our remarkably accurate Contour Next One glucose meter is a great addition to their virtual diabetes clinic.

We look forward to working together to help make it as simple and affordable as possible for people to manage their diabetes.

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9am.health and Ascensia partner on diabetes toolkit blood glucose meter - Medical Device Network

A new study of older adults with diabetes is providing insight into the risk of hypoglycemia from glycemic overtreatment among nursing home residents in the US.

An analysis of data from more than 7000 patients in Veterans Affairs nursing homes, results provide insight into factors associated with increased risk of overtreatment and suggest nearly 1-in-5 patients met criteria for overtreatment and an additional 23% met criteria for potential overtreatment.

I hope this work lays the foundation for future projects that promote appropriate deintensification of glucose lowering medications in nursing home residents, said lead investigator Lauren Lederle, MD, of the San Francisco VA Medical Center, in a statement.

Together with colleagues from the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Virginia Medical Center, Lederle and a team of investigators designed the current study with the intent of developing a more thorough understanding of incidence of overtreatment and deintensification practices in nursing home residents with diabetes. To do so, investigators created a cohort study using data from VA nursing homes admitted from 2013-2019 over 65 years of age with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, which was defined using HbA1c or ICD codes.

Including all adults aged 65 years or older with type 2 diabetes and a length of stay of 30 days or more, investigators identified 7422 individuals for inclusion in their analyses. This cohort had a mean age of 74.6 (SD, 7.9) years, 98.4% were male, and a mean HbA1c of 7.1 (SD, 1.4).

Overtreatment was defined as an HbA1c less than 6.5% with any insulin use and potential overtreatment was defined as an HbA1c less than 7.5% with any insulin use or HbA1c less than 6.5% on any glucose-lowering medication other than metformin alone.

Of the 7422 residents included, 17% met the criteria for overtreatment and an additional 23% met criteria for potential overtreatment. In analyses assessing treatment strategies among patients with overtreatment or potential overtreatment, deintensification of medication regimens was observed among 27% of those meeting criteria and 19% among those meeting criteria for potential overtreatment.

Further analysis suggested use of long-acting insulin (OR, 1.37 [95% CI, 1.14-1.65]) and hyperglycemia (OR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.10-1.66]), defined as 300 mg/dL or greater, before index HbA1c were associated with increased likelihood of continued overtreatment. Additionally, results indicated severe functional impairment was associated with decreased odds of continued overtreatment (OR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.56-0.95]), but hypoglycemia was not associated with decreased of overtreatment.

We found that overtreatment of T2DM is common in VA nursing homes residents and that a minority of NH residents have their medication regimens appropriately deintensified. Based on our study results, it will be important to develop deprescribing initiatives in nursing homes at time of admission that use behavior change principles to overcome prescribing inertia in overtreated residents, wrote investigators.

This study, Glycemic treatment deintensification practices in nursing home residents with type 2 diabetes, was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

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Overtreatment of Diabetes Leading to Hypoglycemia in Nursing Home Residents with Diabetes - Endocrinology Network