Dear Perez,

I know you take great care to be sensitive on your blog now, compared to the past, but I found your article, "Diabetes DOUBLES Your Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease" to be very insensitive to the diabetes community. You are attributing to the many misconceptions there are known about diabetes. Although, I do appreciate your blog dedicated to health, I would hope you would be very careful with the syntax you use, considering you have so many readers and what you say has a powerful affect.

I am frequent visitor of your blog, and I was very sadden to find the article, "Diabetes DOUBLES Your Risk of Developing Alzheimer's Disease". The reason I found it upsetting was you failed to mention which type of diabetes. As a person who has Type 1 diabetes, I am faced with many challenges due to people being uneducated in the differences with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. I hope you can please edit your article to specify Type 2 Diabetes because you cannot prevent Type 1 Diabetes. It is an auto-immune disease that is not reversible.

In the article, I notice in the quote the word Type 2 diabetes is used, but no where else. I urge you to please make the appropriate changes in an effort to better educate your reader and avoid any further misconceptions.

Thank you very much,

Lauren


Diabetes DOUBLES Your Risk Of Developing Alzheimer's Disease

Oh no! More bad news for those with diabetes and one more reason to take steps to prevent it in the first place!

A study in Japan of more than 1,000 men and women over the age of 60 concluded that people with diabetes were TWICE as likely as others in the study to develop Alzheimer's disease within 15 years.

They were also 1.75 times more likely to develop dementia of any kind.

It is not clear yet how diabetes affects the development of Alzheimer's, but researchers have a few hypotheses. According to sources, possible links between the two diseases include:

Insulin resistance, which causes high blood sugar and in some cases leads to type 2 diabetes, may interfere with the body's ability to break down a protein (amyloid) that forms brain plaques that have been linked to Alzheimer's. High blood sugar (glucose) also produces certain oxygen-containing molecules that can damage cells, in a process known as oxidative stress.

Additionally, high blood sugar and cholesterol can lead to the hardening and narrowing of arteries in the brain, which may cause vascular dementia.

There seems to be more and more research coming out that should only encourage people to get moving! It's one thing to have diabetes, but it's another to lose your mind!

Click here for 5 tips to prevent the development of diabetes!

I urge you all to email him as well and let him know how you feel about this article as well!

perez@perezhilton.com

This week, September 12-18, 2011 is Invisible Illness Week.

Check it out here and join in!

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know
1. The illness I live with is: Type 1 Diabetes
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2005
3. But I had symptoms since: 6 months before my diagnosis date
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Planning. No longer can I just run somewhere or carry cute small purses. Doing everything takes a plan and effort.
5. Most people assume: I can't eat any sugar
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Getting all my supplies and keeping my blood sugar in range. I tend to have a much higher carb ratio in the morning and that makes my life harder.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: Don't really watch one, but I used to watch Grays Anatomy
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: my Pump/Meter and my iPhone
9. The hardest part about nights are: worrying about a low blood sugar, and wondering if I'll wake up.
10. Each day I take insulin, all day long
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: would be interested in giving them a try
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: I would choose to have an invisible one, I hate getting looks of sympathy
13. Regarding working and career: I still work very hard and diabetes doesn't get in the way as much as people think.
14. People would be surprised to know: that many opportunities in my life have come to be due to diabetes
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: I am not like everyone else as much as I wish I could be
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Travel
17. The commercials about my illness: make me laugh and make me angry
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: living life more carefree
19. It was really hard to have to give up: worrying about everything
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: blogging!
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Travel and eat as much without thinking about it
22. My illness has taught me: responsibility
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "Are you sure you can eat that?
24. But I love it when people: Ask questions and really seem to want to learn
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:You can do this and there are others to help
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: you have to listen to your body very carefully
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: rub my back
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I want others to not feel alone
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: like you care and that my feelings are valid

Sometimes, I wonder why people think the way they do. Then I remember there are ads like these:

Warning: Dangerous Diabetes Drugs
Don't Work
How to Halt or Reverse Diabetes with Methods
That Are Natural, Easy ... and Virtually Free


Diabetes Drugs Don't Work D iabetes is the number-one lifestyle disease of modern times, and tens of millions of Americans are being handed prescriptions for anti-diabetic drugs that don't work. A large-scale study at Duke University School of Medicine and published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that despite serious risks and dangerous side effects, diabetes drugs offer few benefits and simply don't live up to their claims

Duke researchers found that the combination of the blood-pressure drug Diovan (valsartan) and the anti-diabetes drug Starlix (nateglinide) failed to reduce risk of heart attack at all and that Diovan was only slightly successful in slowing -- but not necessarily preventing -- development of type 2 diabetes.

Furthermore, practically all anti-diabetic drugs result in weight gain and eventual total dependency upon insulin injections, according to researchers Krentz, Nichols, and Gomez-Caminero in 2 recent articles published in Current Medical Research Opinion and Diabetes Obesity Metabolism.

Lead researcher Robert Califf of the Duke study said, "This is a sobering confirmation of the need to continue to focus on lifestyle improvements."

Unfortunately, the medical mainstream has failed miserably to help diabetic patients reverse their diabetes naturally. This failure is inexcusable considering that anyone can reverse type 2 diabetes and stop type 1 diabetes in its tracks in less than 4 weeks with the right plan -- a plan that....

* Gets your blood sugar under control in 4 weeks
* Stops type 1 diabetes
* Reverses type 2 diabetes
* Eliminates dependence on diabetes drugs
* Is so inexpensive that it's almost free
* Is simple and easy to use
* Has already helped patients and former diabetics all over the world
* Completely reverses your diabetes, pre-diabetes, syndrome X, and blood sugar woes

Unfortunately, very few diabetics know what actually does work. And that's because most doctors simply lack the necessary training and knowledge to steer their patients in the right direction.

Too many doctors don't even discuss nutrition with their patients, and those who do often make matters worse by advising overly restrictive diets or unrealistic amounts of exercise. A recent paper published by the Society for Biomedical Diabetes Research says, "Diabetic patients encounter . . . confusing and contradictory advice from a variety of sources."

As a result, diabetic patients "exhibit restrictive eating behaviors, they express feelings of dietary deprivation, and rigid dietary control is perceived as the only way to a proper diet and weight management. Binge eating, [excessive] restraint, and body dissatisfaction frequently occur among these patients."

So if you've tried and failed to manage your diabetes naturally, it's not your fault! Doctors and the media do more to confuse than to clarify, and meanwhile the diabetes freight train leaves a staggering path of heartbreaking consequences in its path, such as the following:

* Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the United States.
* Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
* Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States.
* A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that at the rate things are going, as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults will have diabetes by 2050.

"These are alarming numbers that show how critical it is to change the course of type 2 diabetes," said Ann Albright, Ph.D., director of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation. "Successful programs to improve lifestyle choices on healthy eating and physical activity must be made more widely Natural Solutions to Diabetesavailable, because the stakes are too high and the personal toll too devastating to fail."

The key phrase here is successful programs. To succeed you need to know exactly how to eat foods you love -- and feel satisfied, while still banishing diabetes. And you need to know about inexpensive supplements that help you slash your blood sugar effortlessly, such as . . .
==> The simple mineral that lowers diabetes risk. Researchers at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill conducted a 20-year study of 4,497 people and found that the risk of diabetes was 47% lower among participants with the highest intake of this mineral than among those with the lowest.

==> A well-loved spice that slashes blood sugar. Test subjects took as little as 1/4 teaspoon of this common spice daily, and nearly all subjects with diabetes showed substantial improvement. And the spice and diabetes were clearly connected because when the spice was no longer consumed, volunteers' blood sugar levels started to rise again.

Obviously, a spice and a mineral alone aren't going to single-handedly reverse your diabetes permanently, but such powerful supplements combined with the right effective, easy, and inexpensive natural methods can put you on your way to ending diabetes. No drug in the world can do that, no matter what Big Pharma promises. In fact, drugs are often worse than ineffective -- they can even make your life miserable or even be more risky than diabetes itself.

Consider the drug Avandia, once the most popular diabetes drug in the world, which was found in 2008 to dramatically increase risk of heart attacks and death. It took the FDA until last month to finally pull Avandia from the U.S. market.

Another popular diabetes drug, Actos, has its own array of ugly side effects, including average weight gain of nearly 9 pounds and a higher risk of dangerous and possibly deadly fluid buildups. Furthermore, Actos's heart risks may be almost as bad as Avandia's, and some researchers have linked this drug to bladder cancer.

A handful of doctors are getting behind the push to educate patients about what really works to cure diabetes. Dr. Scott Saunders. M.D., says natural approaches are the key. "Studying natural medicine is power," he says, explaining that you can absolutely reverse your diabetes yourself with simple steps that ...
==> Are fast, painless, safe, and natural
==> Based on proven home remedies
==> Have zero negative side effects
==> Will help you save thousands of dollars in medical bills, drugs, and hospital stays
==> Will free you from stress and fear of diabetic symptoms
==> Can halt the degenerative side effects of diabetes
==> Are safe for type 1 & type 2 diabetes
==> Will improve your overall health and immune system

If you suffer from diabetes or pre-diabetes, you cannot afford to ignore the truth about how to stop this dangerous degenerative disease. Diabetes can kill you ... if you let it.

But the good news is you don't have to let that happen. And you don't have to fear blindness, heart disease, chronic wounds that won't heal, or even amputation. And you definitely don't have to rely on expensive, dangerous drugs that don't work! You can reverse your diabetes in less than a month when you watch a free, informative video, and see how to fix the real cause of your diabetes ... using natural, safe, and easy methods that are virtually free.

Now you can empower yourself with cutting edge information on healing yourself or your loved ones of diabetes. Watch this free video and learn to halt or reverse your diabetes.

GUYS! How did we not know about this! We can reverse our diabetes in FOUR WEEKS! Well crap! Let's get on it!

Not sure if you can tell, but this upsets me. Obviously we cannot be cured in four weeks. This sends the wrong message and truly is just upsetting.

Sometimes when I read about diabetes in the news, I get so upset that I want to scream. Then I remember, that I really can do things about this.

We can spread the word about how ridiculous it is that:

Diabetic Walgreens clerk fired for eating chips
Associated Press, 09.09.11, 02:39 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the Walgreens drugstore chain on behalf of a diabetic clerk in South San Francisco who was fired for taking a bag of chips to stabilize her blood sugar levels.

The commission alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that Walgreens' decision to terminate Josefina Hernandez after her nearly 18 years of unblemished service to the company constituted discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Article Controls


According to the suit, Hernandez was working as a cashier in September 2008 when she felt an attack of hypoglycemia coming on. She grabbed a bag of chips, gobbled them down and paid for them as soon as she could the same day.

Walgreens declined to comment.

It sure it interesting that they did not comment...

Would they have had a worse case on their hands if this person had died on the job due to the low?

Why must everything be harder for people with diabetes. Hopefully this perosn is given justice and then some!

I finally decided to participate in the Walk To Cure Diabetes in Orange County. Ultimately, my team is my family and they are down there. So here is the letter sent to everyone:

This year, on November 6, 2011 at UCI, I'll be taking part in JDRF's Walk to Cure Diabetes, along with one-half million other walkers across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising $89 million.

Type 1, or juvenile diabetes, is a devastating disease that affects millions of people, a large and growing percentage of them children.

As you may or may not know, I have Type 1 Diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was 15 years old. Sometimes, it can be scary thinking about the future, but there is some good news.

JDRF is our best hope for finding a cure. It funds more type 1 diabetes research than any other charity worldwide and it's making progress along many promising paths toward better treatments and a cure.


Now, more than ever, you can make a crucial difference. I would love for you to join me and walk, but if you can't won't you please give to JDRF as generously as possible? Together, we can make the cure a reality!

The picture above is me at diagnosis. The fear I was feeling is hidden well behind that smile. I was so scared, but now thanks to blog, I am a happy healthy young adult.

Thank you DOC!!! Anyone who could help, it would be greatly appreciated!!

Here is my personal page:

http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR/Walk-CA/Chapter-OrangeCounty4049?px=1524915&pg=personal&fr_id=1397

Last post I talked about having side effects from taking Victoza. Luckily, the site First Life Research reached out to me and informed me about their site. I must say, it is very helpful. Not just for diabetic medications, but for any medication. Thought I would let you all know in case you had similar questions as well.

I fail on my JDRF Walk team...I know I need to put it together, but I cannot decide if I should do LA or Orange County's walk. Usually my team is just my family and boyfriend, who all live in Orange County. The Walk in LA is at Dodgers stadium, which is very exciting, but parking etc is more difficult and then everyone would have to come here...hmmm Once I decide on that, I also need a name!! Any suggestions?!?!

Decisions, decisions.....


or...




I also haven't been as good with testing lately. I know...I know...I was doing so well!! I need to get back on track. It has just been hard with everything going on. Do you have tips to keep on top of testing etc. while life seems to demand all of your attention?

With everyone starting school, is seems that stress levels are rising and we all know that isn't good. So I plan on breathing a little extra and getting on top of my testing again.

Hope you all had a great labor day!!

Right now, I am on a medication that has changed my diabetes care for the best. I attribute my last great A1C to it.

The only issue is that is has some unpleasant side effects. The more I take, the worse the side effects become. They are strictly cosmetic side effects, but none the less, unpleasant. The more I take of the medicine, the better it works, but the worse the side effects.

I am thinking I need to just find a balance. Obviously, all medicine usually has side effects, but I just wish they didn't!

Any one else had to face this decision?