The Unsweetened Truth About Sugar

It can be tough to navigate one's way through all the information (and misinformation!) out there about nutritional health in general.  To de-muddy the waters on added sugars and the dangers of added sugars to human health, physicians and scientists at three American universities have gotten together to produce an authoritative resource to learn about the dangers of added sugar.


The website is fantastic, well worth a good read.  They have reviewed over 8,000 research articles, and distilled the information down to inform us about how added sugar contributes to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease.

They have a page of new research alerts and a resource kit to help you share research-supported facts about sugar with others.

Images in this post come directly from their website.  Big Kudos to SugarScience!

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www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Intestinal 'Condom' For Diabetes Treatment?

Another interesting approach to less invasive obesity/metabolic surgery that is currently being studied is the duodenal-jejunal bypass liner.  This is a temporary 60-cm liner that is delivered into the upper part of the small intestine endoscopically (ie, by putting a camera and insertion equipment down through the mouth).  It is left in place for a number of months, and then removed.  It's sometimes referred to as the 'duodenal condom' in that... well, you can see the resemblance... but both ends are open to allow food to pass through.

The idea behind this is to mimic (in a shorter version) the intestinal component of the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, where the intestines are surgically rerouted to bypass about the first 150cm of small intestine.  We think (based on studies) that one of the major reasons why type 2 diabetes often improves dramatically after gastric bypass surgery is the hormone changes that happen when the intestine is rerouted in this fashion; therefore, there is a lot of interest in seeing whether the liner would have an effect not only on weight loss, but also on type 2 diabetes.

                              Gastric Bypass Surgery


A clinical trial was recently done on the liner, where 77 patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity were randomized to receive either the liner, or dietary counselling (control group).  After 6 months, patients who had the liner had greater weight loss, better diabetes control, and required less diabetes medication than the control group.

Patients then had the liners removed, and both groups were followed up for an additional 6 months after liner removal, with 66 patients completing the full study. There was some weight regain in the group who had previously had the liner, though at 1 year they still had greater weight loss than the control group.  At 1 year, there was no longer a difference in diabetes control between the groups.

In the short term, it appears that the liner is quite effective to help people lose weight and improve their type 2 diabetes control.  However, removal of the liner has to happen at some point, because the longer the liner is left in, the higher the risk that it can lose its hold and migrate further down the intestine, or cause bleeding or perforation (a hole in the intestinal wall), which are all serious complications.  So far, the liner has been shown to have a low risk of these complications after 6 months, and a few studies have now been published suggesting the risk is also low after 1 year.

The liner's current temporary nature is reminiscent of many of the 'diets' out there - they do nothing to help make permanent lifestyle changes, so after the diet (or the liner) is gone, the likelihood is that weight will be regained, along with its metabolic complications.  It would be interesting if the liner could be left in safely for a longer period of time - I'll be watching this area with interest, as the duration of study is growing.  In the meantime, while the liner's results look good in the short term, I'm not overly enthusiastic about an intervention if it is only temporary.

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Do iWant the iWatch?

Big news in the technology world - the Apple Watch was unveiled for the first time, and it's expected to arrive on shelves in 2015.  Of the multitude of fascinating features, one aspect that is getting a lot of attention is the iWatch's ability to track physical activity and provide integrated fitness/activity apps to help guide your progress.   You may find yourself asking - is this something that iWant? that iNeed? Will iBenefit?? Can iTrust it??

While there are many fitness apps out there, here's what catches my attention: the iWatch can measure your heart rate, and your total body movements (via an accelerometer).  It also uses the GPS and wifi in your iPhone to track how far you've moved.  There's a little circular icon that fills up each day as you move - even letting you know how many minutes you have stood during the day.

Pretty nifty that you can now track your activity, heart rate, and personal info all together in one internet-linked system.  I also really like the encouraging nature of the movement icons filling up, with Apple's stated goal to be 'Sit less, move more, and get some exercise by completing each ring each day.'

There are rumblings as well that the iWatch will someday be able to check blood sugar without poking the skin.   (Currently, the closest a diabetic can get to this is with a continuous glucose monitor, which still requires that a sensor is worn under the skin, and it has to be calibrated against the standard finger-poke twice a day.  There is also a brand new technology just approved in Europe early this month, whereby a small round sensor is placed on the skin with a small filament that is inserted just under the skin; a reader is scanned over the sensor to get a glucose result. More on this on drsue.ca soon - stay tuned.)      As testing blood sugars can be painful and frustrating for my diabetic patients, this news not only got me sitting up, but also spiked my own heart rate to well over 100.

With real time, painless monitoring of these parameters, I get carried away into a dream land where patients could be monitored in second-to-second real time with internet data transmission to their family members, caregivers, or health care professionals anywhere in the world... do I dare to dream?? (editorial note: there are a number of established glucose monitor companies working on this for blood glucose monitoring, in various stages of development)

Before we get carried away, though, we need a lot of questions answered.  How have they validated their technology?  How accurate is their accelerometer? How accurate is the heart rate monitor?  Can the heart rate monitor pick up irregularities and notify the patient or caregiver?  If they are going to incorporate a blood glucose monitor, how will this be tested and validated for precision and accuracy?  I suspect these details and information will become available as the iWatch unfolds into the marketplace, but if we as people, patients, and health care professionals are going to trust the data, we need to know that the studies have been done to prove that it is worthy of our trust.

Definitely exciting, though - my eyes will be focussed on these interesting developments in health technology.

Thanks to Glenn for the heads' up, and to Anita Dobson for her input.

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Diabetic Beauty Queen Rocks the Insulin Pump!

A shout out and a big High Five! goes out to Sierra Sandison this week. She's a type 1 diabetic who just won the Miss Idaho 2014 beauty pageant - wearing her insulin pump proudly for all to see, from evening wear to the bikini contest!


This has sparked the #ShowMeYourPump campaign, a Twitter campaign for awareness of diabetes and pumps, where diabetics have been invited to tweet pictures of themselves wearing their insulin pumps with pride.

In Sierra's words,

"Diabetes turned my life upside down when I was first diagnosed. Don't let your challenge hold you back or slow you down. Use it to not only empower yourself and grow as an individual, but to serve and influence other people as well."

Inspiring!  Thanks to Bob for the heads' up on this story.

@drsuepedersen

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A Different Kind of STAMPEDE

Obesity (bariatric) surgery has become accepted as an option for the treatment of type 2 diabetes by most diabetes guidelines around the world. The data on which these recommendations are based are from shorter studies, from weeks to months to up to 2 years. 

Now, in a landmark randomized controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 3 year data shows us that the benefit of bariatric surgery to diabetes control is sustained out to at least 3 years.

The study, called the STAMPEDE study, randomized 150 people with type 2 diabetes, to receive either intensive medical treatment of diabetes alone (with a goal A1C of 6.0%), vs medical treatment plus gastric bypass surgery, vs medical treatment plus sleeve gastrectomy.

The study clearly shows that gastric bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy are superior to intensive medical therapy alone, to have control of type 2 diabetes at 3 years. Thirty-eight percent of patients who had gastric bypass surgery had tight control at 3 years, compared to 24% after sleeve gastrectomy, compared to only 5% receiving medical treatment alone. (The difference between the gastric bypass and sleeve groups was not statistically significant.)

With the above being said, I do take issue to how this study was structured, in that the goals for control of diabetes were too tight. We no longer recommend an A1C of 6.0% as a goal, as another landmark study (the ACCORD study) showed that control this tight was associated with an increased risk of death. It would be interesting to know how the numbers would have panned out if the commonly accepted A1C target of 7.0% was used instead.

However, the point of the article remains that gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy results in control of type 2 diabetes in significantly more patients than medical treatment alone. There is no doubt that Bariatric surgery is an important tool in our toolbox of diabetes therapy in the 21st century.

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Could Cinnamon Be...Dangerous?

Cinnamon first came to my attention over a decade ago, when a randomized clinical trial was published suggesting that cinnamon improved blood sugars and cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes.  Another randomized controlled trial confirmed the improvement in blood glucose as well.  However, the quantities used were quite large, up to 6 grams per day - imagine dumping that amount of powder on your cereal in the morning?!  Ick.

It turns out that taking in generous quantities of cinnamon may in fact be harmful - depending on what kind of cinnamon you consume.  The most common type of cinnamon sold is cassia cinnamon, which contains a natural but toxic component called coumarin, which has been associated with possible liver toxicity. This is contrasted with ceylon cinnamon, which is thought to contain little coumarin.

It actually doesn't take that much cinnamon to exceed the daily tolerable intake of coumarin - as little as a teaspoon (which is just under 3 grams) of cassia cinnamon per day may be too much.

This has lead to an outrage and heartbreak in Denmark, where the cinnamon bun or kanelsnegle (a staple Danish bakery product) has come under attack following the EU's recent moves to limit cinnamon consumption due to the risks noted above.

So, cinnamon is not a great treatment for patients with diabetes - cassia cinnamon must not be taken in the quantities needed to have an impact on blood sugars due to possible toxicity, and eating that amount of ceylon cinnamon every day just isn't practical.

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Type 1 Diabetics Climb Kilimanjaro!

Here's an inspirational story to kick off 2014 - check out this amazing group of people with type 1 diabetes who conquered Kilimanjaro.   They have put together a fantastic documentary that describes their journey and some of the challenges they encountered along the way.

When climbing with diabetes, some important things to consider include:

• several factors that play into blood sugar control and the impact on need for diabetes medications and insulin.  This includes the high daily calorie burn which may DECREASE diabetes med or insulin requirements, but also includes the increase in hormones like adrenaline and cortisol that may increase blood sugar and could therefore INCREASE medication/insulin requirements (and this balance can vary from moment to moment, hour to hour, day to day)
• keeping insulin, meter, and meter batteries from freezing
• acclimatizing well and staying well hydrated
• preventing and treating altitude sickness
• preventing and treating gastroenteritis - ie viral or bacterial travellers' diarrhea (particularly if climbing in developing countries - the Kili team struggled with this)

If you are a diabetic and considering a climb, be sure to contact your doctor, your diabetes educator, and a travel clinic with a doctor that has experience in counseling and preparing diabetic climbers.   It is also best if the climbing team includes health care professionals with experience in supporting diabetic climbers. 

A heartfelt congratulations for the Type 1 Diabetes Kilimanjaro Expedition!

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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