***Welcome Home***

Home | Profile | My Sharing Love and Prayers Friends | SLP FRIENDS | Judyretired, Judy, Judy, Judy | Gifts From On-line Friends | More friend's gifts | more Friends from on-line & hometown | Genealogy | Ancestry | Nanaimo Photo Album | Family Photos | My First Quilt | My Links | More Links | Graphics & PSP | Banners | Banners 2 | Banners 3 | Banners 4 | Banners 5 | Banners 6 | Causes that I believe in | More things I care about | Missing children Causes | Contact Me

Diabetes

Diabetes, often viewed as a "simple little sugar problem," is actually a very serious disease that affects 120 million children, women and men worldwide--and the number is increasing. This silent killer, which is a leading cause of blindness, amputations, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and other devastating complications, is desperately in need of a cure. The Gray Ribbon Campaign began with a small group of people who decided it was time to get the message across. And noting the success of other ribbon campaigns this group realized that diabetics (and those who care about them) should have their own ribbon---with gray representing clouds (every cloud must have a silver lining) and with the stone symbolizing blood. Thus the Gray Ribbon was born. The ribbon campaign has caught on and is spreading like wildfire...in the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Greece, Mexico....wherever there is someone who has heard about the Gray Ribbon. The support has been amazing. PLEASE JOIN THE CAMPAIGN AND WEAR
A RIBBON!!! HELP FIND THAT SILVER LINING....A CURE!

It's a bad disease

greyribbani.gif

I'm always looking here are some to look into:

newbuttons5frect5fmulti5f007.gif

Potential New Treatment For Insulin-dependent Diabetes

look at a maybe cure

in the news

More on Diabetis
 
I will report more soon as I discover it. If you have diabetes go to your eye Dr. and a Podiatrist regularly.
 
Personally I almost lost my leg due to ulcers but a Wound Vac saved it.  It has been 5 1/2 years since they started and with constant watching by WH and Dr's and nurses I still have my leg.
 
You can never become lazy because June; for 3rd timel my foot ulcer broke out again; time for more Dr. appointments and nurses coming to change bandages so please keep a close watch and pray for me please.  It is now closed over; September 2007; not healed till 2 years is past.  New Dr. this year mine semi-retired and he has done several tests; waiting to see a vascular surgeon for a blocked artery.  I am being booked for surgery soon.  Ask your doctor to keep doing tests look into new things don't get lax it is you who have to be finding something to help yourself.
 
My eyes were almost blind but 3 years ago November I had cateract surgery and can see again in my left eye.  The right eye is blind after my stroke in '98 and high pressure in it.  Last December BIG scare went blind again you never know with theis disease.
 
My retinopathy Dr. keeps a close look on my eye.  Once in a while needs laser surgery.
 
Please please have your eyes and feet checked all the time.

Effects of Diabetis
 
Personally going blind myself this is one cause that I beg every Diabetic to look into:
 
Diabetes is a common cause of neuropathy (degenerative changes in the nerves), which too often proceeds to foot ulceration and the need for amputation. Neuropathy is often found in association with two other complications of diabetes nephropathy (kidney disease) and retinopathy (deterioration of vision). All three complications are thought to have a common underlying change degeneration in the small blood vessels of the organs involved. They often occur in connection with high blood pressure (hypertension).
Angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are a type of drugs that are used for treating hypertension. However, they have also been found to be useful in slowing the progression of both diabetic kidney and eye disease. A new study, summarized here, examines the effects of an ACE inhibitor, trandolapril, on diabetic neuropathy.1
Forty-six male patients, with insulin-dependent or non-insulin dependent diabetes, were enrolled. They were aged between 18 and 70, free of kidney disease, had no other causes for neuropathy except for diabetes, and were not taking any possibly medications that would interfere with the results.
Neuropathy was assessed using a symptom score (burning, numbness, tingling, aching, cramps, etc), a disability score based on a full neurological exam, and a vibration perception reading. Electrophysiologic measurements were done on the nerves in the leg most affected. An electrocardiograph (ECG) was done to check any drug effect on heart function.
Patients were given either trandolapril or a placebo tablet, once daily. They returned after 6 months and 1 year on their medication.

The ACE inhibitor drug produced only minor changes on the blood pressure in these patients, who had normal blood pressures at the outset - systolic blood pressures (the higher readings) were slightly lowered in these patients at 1 year.
The neuropathy symptom and disability scores and the vibration tests showed no differences between trandolapril and placebo treatment patients at 6 months or 1 year. There were no changes in heart function.

The electrophysiologic measurements after 1 year of treatment showed significant changes in the treated patients, compared to those given placebo. The speed of conduction and amplitude of the nerve stimulus was increased, and the latency to onset decreased, in those subjects given trandolapril.
In one large study of diabetics with neuropathy, nerve conduction speed was reported to decrease by an average of 0.54 meters/second per year.2 In this study, conduction in the placebo group decreased by 0.8 m/s over 1 year, while in the trandolapril patients it increased by 1.1 m/s. In other words, treatment with an ACE inhibitor reversed the expected deterioration in nerve function.

In addition to tight control of blood sugar levels, treatments used in diabetic neuropathy include aldose-reductase inhibitor drugs, gamma linoleic acid, and antioxidants. In this study, the ACE inhibitor produced significant improvements in nerve conduction comparable to those seen in clinical trials of aldose-reductase inhibitors. (check for heart attack symptoms) The only side effect reported was a stubborn cough in one of the 23 patients given trandolapril.
The authors of the study emphasize that the findings, though promising, need confirmation in further large controlled studies before changes in clinical practice can be recommended. We hope that such clinical studies are quickly implemented, as numerous diabetics are looking for relief for this distressing condition
 

KCI is a Wound Vac that saved my leg please tell anybody don't amputate needlessly, ask at least.

My whole health story

"They saved my leg"

From Hugs & angels This info on Diabetes is from the American Diabetes Association website.

When I almost went blind I looked into Braille if you might go learn before not after it is easier:
 

Contents

Contents

The Six Magic Dots of Braille

Braille is a tactile system of raised dots representing letters of the alphabet. To read braille, the fingers gently glide over paper that has been embossed with the braille code. For notetaking, a pointed instrument is used to punch out the dots on paper held in a metal slate. The readable raised dots appear on the other side of the paper.

History

Braille has been an effective means of communication for blind persons since 1829 when it was invented in Paris, France by Louis Braille. Louis Braille lost his sight at the age of three as a result of an eye injury. As a young boy at school, he became frustrated with the large and bulky raised letter alphabet used to learn reading and writing skills. Later in his life, a French artillery officer, Charles Barbier de la Serre, gave him the idea of reading by a tactile code. After many years of experimenting, Louis Braille developed a successful reading and writing system that today is used around the world.

The Braille System

The basis of the braille system is known as a braille cell. The cell is comprised of six dots numbered in a specific order. Each dot or combination of dots represents a letter of the alphabet. For example, by checking in the braille alphabet, you will see that dot 1 is the letter "a" and dots 1 and 2 the letter "b".

Braille Alphabet

Numbers and punctuation signs are also represented in braille. By looking at the chart below, you will see that braille numbers are announced by a sign using dots 3, 4, 5, and 6. The use of dot 6 just before a letter indicates a capital.

Try and read the following phrase adapted from the novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

The phrase you just read is in Grade 1 elementary braille. Just as sighted people invented shorthand, blind persons use a contracted version of braille which is space saving and allows for more rapid reading and writing. The next sequence is the contracted version of the first half of the braille phrase you just read.

Braille is to the blind person what the printed word is to the sighted individual - access to information and contact with the outside world.

It is the building block for language skills, a means to teach spelling to blind children, and the most direct contact with the written thoughts of others. Braille books are available in all subject areas, ranging from modern fiction to mathematics, music and law. As with print, braille is used for taking notes and labeling objects. Braille-adapted devices such as watches, games, playing cards and thermometers are examples of some of the practical and recreational uses of braille.

Learning Braille

Like any new "language", braille takes time and practice to learn. Braille is taught to blind persons as part of the C N I B's adjustment to blindness program. It is also taught in schools within the community. Sighted volunteers transcribe the original printed text into braille.

It takes eight months of training before volunteers become certified C N I B braillists. The rigorous training program conforms to standards set in cooperation with the Braille Authority of North America. Further training is required before brailling educational material for students or specializing in transcribing music into braille.

Braille is produced in a number of ways. It can be transcribed from the original printed text on a machine that resembles a typewriter. The braille writer has six keys which correspond to the six dots of the braille cell. Computers are also used to transcribe and reproduce braille texts. The electronic revolution is changing the way braille is produced, stored and retrieved, making it easier to use in the work place.

back to causes
bee.gif