January 2003 Archives
OK, folks. Thanks to Mom's tireless research and my constant pestering of the clinic doctors - although they proved to be useless and under-informed - it has been determined that I have LADA: Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults Researchers estimate about ten percent of adults with type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA. Doctors should suspect LADA when type 2 patients fail to respond to diet, exercise, and medications (hypoglycemic agents) within two to three years of their diagnosis, particularly when patients are younger and non-obese. It’s important to start insulin therapy as soon as it’s needed to keep blood sugar levels under control and reduce the risk of complications from diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is usually seen in overweight patients, LADA can occur in adults who are of normal weight and have no family history of the disease. From: HealthBeat: Adult Type 1 Diabetes • By: Rebecca Somach:
Diamyd Medical (Reuter: Diam.st) is developing a GAD vaccine for insulin-dependent diabetes. The company reports that patient recruitment has been concluded, that all the patients have now received two vaccinations and that no negative safety indications have been reported for the vaccine so far. “We are now entering the final phase of our double-blind Phase II study. A few complementary vaccinations will be undertaken in February and we plan to issue a report of the results of the study in six to seven months,” says CEO Anders Essen-Möller. “ The first application of the diabetes vaccine is to prevent GAD-antibody positive diabetes patients being treated with tablets (so-called LADA patients) from developing insulin-dependent diabetes. From: News Online - Diamyd Medical - Press Releases
Some other very useful links concerning LADA are below: A long winded overview: LATENT AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES IN ADULTS (LADA) – OVERVIEW, EPIDEMIOLOGY, CURRENT ISSUES Medical Hope: LADA - Not just a slow motor vehicle but also an important subtype of slow onset diabetes type 1 in the adults
OK, folks. Thanks to Mom's tireless research and my constant pestering of the clinic doctors - although they proved to be useless and under-informed - it has been determined that I have LADA: Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults
Researchers estimate about ten percent of adults with type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA. Doctors should suspect LADA when type 2 patients fail to respond to diet, exercise, and medications (hypoglycemic agents) within two to three years of their diagnosis, particularly when patients are younger and non-obese. It?s important to start insulin therapy as soon as it?s needed to keep blood sugar levels under control and reduce the risk of complications from diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is usually seen in overweight patients, LADA can occur in adults who are of normal weight and have no family history of the disease. From: HealthBeat: Adult Type 1 Diabetes ? By: Rebecca Somach
Diamyd Medical (Reuter: Diam.st) is developing a GAD vaccine for insulin-dependent diabetes. The company reports that patient recruitment has been concluded, that all the patients have now received two vaccinations and that no negative safety indications have been reported for the vaccine so far.
"We are now entering the final phase of our double-blind Phase II study. A few complementary vaccinations will be undertaken in February and we plan to issue a report of the results of the study in six to seven months," says CEO Anders Essen-Mler. "
The first application of the diabetes vaccine is to prevent GAD-antibody positive diabetes patients being treated with tablets (so-called LADA patients) from developing insulin-dependent diabetes. From: News Online - Diamyd Medical - Press Releases
Some other very useful links concerning LADA are below:
A long winded overview: LATENT AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES IN ADULTS (LADA) ? OVERVIEW, EPIDEMIOLOGY, CURRENT ISSUES
A quiz with no wrong answers: Diabetes Mellitus Series
Medical Hope: LADA - Not just a slow motor vehicle but also an important subtype of slow onset diabetes type 1 in the adults
Not long ago, a high school friend asked what I did for a living and I gave, at best, a misleading explanation.
The truth is that I have worked harder than anyone I have ever met. But I only did that for a week, a month or a maybe a year. During that time I knew what it was like to be poor, without education and completely alone. I swore never to do that again. Since that time, I have never worked a day in my life - honest, bone rubbing work anyway.
What I have done for the past ten years is sell people dreams, and extracted money from them in the process. It hasn't always been fair - the extraction, but I trust in that fact that I am providing a service and actually care about my clients outcome. This differs from my mentors whereby they only seek the money, “Fuck the client's needs.”
The problem is that I am in this for the score - the unobtainable score - and always will be. That is my holy grail - the journey. And lately, I have considered that it will cost me the real game. The Game: wife, home, children, remembrance.
The question: “Is it enough of a risk to curb my ways?”
Answer: “No.”
This is who I am. I will either succeed or die trying. Happiness will come through small victories - where have I been, who have I met, what have I been a party to? But most important, have I done it on my own - without aid of corporate VP status via some prestigiously named firm. After all, don't middle Americans define themselves by their posture in the corporate structure? I'm only different in that I wish to have all the glory bestowed upon me, by me - risking failure that could only be applied to me. Whereby a corporate counterpart can claim downsizing or difference in opinion.
But here is the issue: Am I a boy living an unforgiving dream or am I a dreamer that deserves hope? Should I abandon all that I have learned to obtain peer comparison, or should I continue to say, “Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke. I will win.”?
I want children but I am glad that I don't have them now as they would only restrict my ability to try for the unachievable. But the big question is can I continue to risk the possibility of no children while I “play”?
Many may say that I have lived an easy life, but I have never gotten anything easily - I have had to scratch & claw for any achievement. But that doesn't make me worthy of anything but a chance to try, and try, and try again.
TIME Asia: Silent Killer - So, Diabetes stikes big. Best let the doctors of the world do something about it and quick. Read page 4 of this article,...sure sounded like me.
Few have done so as successfully as Wasim Akram. His first hint that something was amiss came in 1997 when he found himself rapidly losing weight. He felt weak and tired, craved desserts and kept waking at night to urinate. A doctor in Lahore diagnosed him with Type 1 diabetes and told him to go on insulin at once. “I was very down,” says Akram. “I had heard diabetes only happened to obese people. I'm not fat.” Indeed, at the time, Akram was a world-class athlete, a man of 30 and at the height of his career as a fast bowler for Pakistan's national cricket team.
But Akram refused to let diabetes beat him. After three weeks, he was back on the field. He tested his sugar levels 10 times a day, pricking a hole in each finger to draw blood. He injected himself with insulin three times daily and ratcheted up his fitness regimen, heading to the gym for two hours a day. “I learned that the best way to control the sugar levels is to exercise,” he says. Akram also came to quickly recognize signs that he is weakening. “I start sweating and feel hungry,” he says, “and I have a chocolate on the boundary line.” Only when he's bowling does he miss an insulin shot, since the exertion burns off enough sugar to keep his body functioning without medication.
His efforts have paid off. In 1999, just two years after being diagnosed with diabetes, Akram captained Pakistan to the World Cup finals. Today, he reigns as one of the game's all-time greats: only three bowlers in the history of test-match cricket have taken as many wickets. Next year, Akram plans to retire from cricket and focus increasingly on educating people about diabetes. He's already traveled throughout Pakistan, as well as to Australia and England, to speak about combating the disease by living healthily. “People listen to me,” he says. “They think: If he can do it, so can we.” TIME Asia: Silent Killer
Many thanks to ::soy sauce and garlic:: for this link. How I have waited to hear of another like me!
Task: List ten (10) different identities for yourself and write a short paragraph describing yourself for each of these identities.
Writer seeks reader(s). Attractive NYC SWM, GenXer, Self Employed, LADA (Type 1.5) Diabetic. Enjoys Geek & Gear things. Is a Jack-of-all-trades Artist and a part-time Essayist. Can be Analytical or Humorist when not Tree Hugging or playing with Cats. Negatives include poor Son, Grandson & Brother and is currently a Renter.
1. As an Attractive NYC SWM I have learned love and pain. I know what it feels to work with all might against a more powerful tide. I know that life is a series of moments strung together loosely at best. Looking for meaning and reason in their randomness or ability to surprise is both a waste of time and an awesome blunder - causing you to miss the very wonder of it all: the splendor another person can bring to you if you simply hold still. I know that we are all crazy, self absorbed, deaf, selfish and hopeless. But, we try.
2. As a GenXer I saw Carter elected and witnessed the first Shuttle disaster - both as a kid. I played with Legos when they first came out. We had a (1) computer in school by the time I reached 2nd grade and it didn't do anything; but it was an Apple Macintosh, so that's cool.
3. As a Self Employed person I enjoy and suffer complete freedom to make my own path. If I don't want to work, I don't have to and need not worry about being fired or scolded by a boss. However, I also have no safety net to support me if I fail or go through periods of little or no work-for-hire. I often do not relate to clock-punchers as they rarely relate to me. We are in two different worlds with separate schedules and priorities. To me, the job, the deal, the task, the research is all important as it is my livelihood. At 5 o'clock, they go home.
4. As a LADA (Type 1.5) Diabetic I am pissed off and angry that I have been robbed of a life more normal. However I have learned to be patient and accepting of those things I cannot change. I manage extremely well and challenge myself to stay up-to-date and often times, more informed than my doctors. This is my life, not theirs after all. If I allow poor health to overtake me it will be mine own fault and not those to whom I can pass blame.
5. As a Gear Head & Computer Geek I feel in touch with change - demand it! Faster! I know that tomorrow brings better technology, faster and more intuitive services and real promise for a more hopeful & brighter future. As an Xer I don't get bogged down with the knowledge that my VCR or Mac will be out of date before the shipping box is carted away by the trash men. The best technology is cutting edge today! Use it now! Buy it, use it & upgrade to better tomorrow. What you make of it today will allow for you to afford it, know it and command it tomorrow.
6. As a Jack-of-all-trades Artist and a part-time Essayist I realize that I have no “completeness” feeling when creating art because I lack a refined skill in one medium which I excel. This is frustrating. Instead I must honor my passion to create through a myriad of outlets that form a mishmash collage of my creativity - none of which, if not taken in as a whole, would solicit much credit; and together barely satisfy me. Again, this is frustrating.
7. As a person who can be Analytical or a Humorist I have learned to think it through twice and act afterward. I have also found that laughter is a magical ingredient - best used when redirecting tough situations.
8. As a person who can be Tree Hugging or playing with Cats I have learned that there is a fine line between anger and discipline and what should be done to one is often confused with how the other feels temporarily. As a poor but mindful Pagan I try with all might to remind myself: do as you will, but harm none.
9. As a poor Son, Grandson & Brother I have lamented over the fact that I seem always to have little time for those around me but for a select and interchangeable few. When younger I used to say that I only had room in my day-to-day life for one or two relationships; but to them I could give a 110%. Older now, I realize that I have a better grasp of math and have become even more mindful that I share but small portions of me with those around me. Sadly, this forces relations with my family and distant friends to times of holiday or the occasional mini-break. Remarkably, and perhaps a keen indicator to my willingness to accept this, I survive quite well this way - requiring as little from them as I give in return. While I wish there was more of a connection I cannot ask for that which I am unable to reciprocate.
10. As a Renter I could say that I am unattached and could go anywhere at anytime if I so choose but I know it really means: I must try harder and make more of myself. I want for more and know that a life with someone else requires promise for and of tomorrow.
