Diabetes News

When counting carbohydrates, people sometimes ask if they should include values for aspartame and maltodextrose, which appear in the fiber supplement Metamucil.   Read Dr. Hirsch's reply...

Social networking: It's a hot trend, but many people are still in the dark about this exciting development. So get educated May 13 at 3 p.m. EDT when I host a special, one-hour Gab With the Gurus Radio Show on the subject. (Please note that my show was formerly called the Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio Show, but the URL remains the same.) I'm thrilled to be able to present a group of distinguished panelists. You'll get tips and insights from the acclaimed new media specialist Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs and new media professor at Columbia Journalism School. Sree...

Live or work in or near New York City? If so, catch me live Thursday, May 15 at the JCC in Manhattan from 7 to 8:30 p.m. so that you can get help to break free of your sugar habit. Register here now or call 646-505 5708 to sign up for this inexpensive course -- it's only $10 for members and $15 for non-members. So join me so you'll get tools and tactics so that you won't have to "take orders" anymore from cookies, candies and cakes. (That's the way one former sugar sufferer put it.) Instead, you'll have control...

Note from Connie: It's always fascinating to learn about new research relating to obesity, diabetes, etc. But this latest discovery offers an interesting twist. Jennifer Moore brings you the info. Subcutaneous fat -- the kind found right under the skin around the buttocks and hips -- may actively protect against diabetes, according to research in Cell Metabolism. Ronald Kahn, M.D. of Harvard Medical School and his team took both subcutaneous and belly fat from some mice and injected these substances into other mice, either under their skin or into their abdomens. The mice who received the subcutaneous fat lost weight...

Note from Connie: Diabetes, we already know, has so many complications, but now chalk up yet another one -- decreased ability in the lungs. Jennifer Moore brings you the details. As we age, it's normal for the lungs to function less well, but Diabetes Care recently published a study finding that diabetics suffer even faster decline than is normal with age. "Based on the current study, we suggest physicians add lung function on the watch list as they care for their diabetes patients," lead author Hsin-Chieh Jessica Yeh, Ph.D. of Johns Hopkins University said, as quoted in a Health Day...

Note from Connie: Pregnant women, please take note: If your blood sugar levels are high (which are undoubtedly caused by the culprit carbs you're eating), you're playing with fire! You are putting yourself and your baby for a number of health risks just because of your bad dietary habits. While I already spotlighted this development in my book SUGAR SHOCK!, yet another study just came out, which documents this discovery. Jennifer Moore gives you more info. Pregnant women with blood sugar counts that are elevated but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes are at higher risk of problems...

Note from Connie: After a night of not enough sleep -- naughty me, I stayed up way too late and then woke up early to get work done -- I learned about a fascinating new study that connects insufficient zzz's with obesity. Researcher/blogger Jennifer Moore tells you about this fascinating study. Americans who get either less than 6 hours or more than 9 hours of sleep daily are more likely to be obese than those who get 7 or 8 hours of shuteye, according to a new study released by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. People who sleep...

It's the police's job to protect and serve us -- and of course, to arrest suspected criminals. But how do you arrest obesity in the police officers? Well, bring in a diet coach. That's what's the Los Angeles Police Department has done, a development I learned about, thanks to the AP's Shaya Tayee Mohajer. And it sounds like dietitian Rana Parker is offering some valuable suggestions like backing off from burgers, microwave burritos and greasy slices of pizza. Indeed, I like Parker's point of view that, as Mohajer explain, "officers can better take a bite out of crime if they...

Now that my recent bout with food poisoning is now just an unpleasant memory (thankfully!), I got intrigued by the subject. If I got sick after eating salmon with pesto sauce from a famous gourmet supermarket in New York City, what are restaurants and other delis doing that would make a person get so incredibly sick? While scouting around the Web, I came across this eye-opening article, 10 Things Your Restaurant Won't Tell You, thanks to Smartmoney. Of course, given my recent history of being doubled over in pain and nausea -- and my stomach distress lasting a week --...

Changes in respiratory function may be more significant in obese asthmatics, according to new research from the University of Otago in New Zealand that was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. After researchers triggered asthma-like episodes in their 30 female subjects, they found "increases in functional residual capacity and decreases in inspiratory capacity were significantly greater in obese participants," the study says. This means that "obese individuals lose the ability to inhale as deeply or exhale as fully as normal weight individuals," lead author D. Robin Taylor, M.D. said in Health Day story on this...