Body of Proof - Type 1 Diabetes Stops Nothing

In last night’s episode of the coroner crime drama Body of Proof, the character of the  daughter of the lead was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It was done very well.

Life is going on and nobody seems to see anything coming. Grandma is at home with the teen while mom is at a business function. The teen is rushed to the hospital but nobody is sure why. Test show it is DKA associated with T1D.

Later we see mom and daughter in a hospital room. The girl has a bunch of IV tubes hanging. She is scared. Mom is scared. The girl doesn’t understand how she can have diabetes if she isn’t over weight diabetes.

Mom tells her that is type two and it is acquired but her diabetes is different.

The girl knows diabetes is incurable. She is afraid she will loose her legs or go blind.

Mom says, “You forget everything you have ever heard about diabetes. Okay? Those are misconceptions. It is a completely manageable condition...  and I am going to be with you every step of the way. Okay.”

So many things right here:

• Diabetes sneaks up on you - you don’t see it coming. 
• It is scary, for everyone in the family. 
• There are different types of diabetes. 
• Type 2 and type 1 are not the same thing.
• There is no cure.
• Forget the misconceptions. 
• I am going to be there with you every step of the way. 

There was more.

After the broadcast ABC ran a little PSA with the actresses Dana Delany and Mary Mouser on the set. They mention JDRF and speak of the kids and adults diagnosed by type 1 everyday, “like me” says the teen actress.

Wait! kid and adults... like me!

Yes. Mary Mouser, teen actress has T1D.

On the her twitter feed @MaryMMouser she wrote her goal “was to prove that Diabetes stops nothing! :)”

As the father of an aspiring young actor who also happens to be T1D the message that diabetes stops nothing is particularly poignant.

Thanks ABC.
Thank Body of Proof.
Mostly, thanks Mary.

Diabetes stops nothing!


(You can watch the episode here: http://abc.go.com/watch/body-of-proof/SH5580165/VD55179081/identity. The scene with the mom and daughter is at the end time at 40:30. Sadly the Public service announcement at the end of the broadcast is not included.)

Update: Scott posted a link the PSA in the comments, thanks Scott, here it is:

Damn Mice.

Apparently mice can now turn their gut cells into insulin producers. Seriously is it possible to spit on a mouse in a lab without curing diabetes? I think these diabetic mice just spontaneously cure themselves to stay in the media. Kinda like Charlie Sheen. 

Anyway here is the article and I notice the picture they ran is not a mouse. New Approach to Treating Type 1 Diabetes? Transforming Gut Cells Into Insulin Factories 

Not only do mice get cured at the drop of a hat they also have kick ass abs. Only way that is a mouse is if she was one of the dancers who work the Mickey suit at Disney World...

... get to hang out at Disney too. 

Damn mice 

#TwoBits on Change by @Strangely_T1 and @1LittlePrick

Two piece from around the DOC that I enjoyed this morning:

Scott Strange as a wonderful essay on change. Riffing on a #DSMA comment about not letting diabetes change us. Scott make a strong case for the idea that change is what we make of it

Katie Peterson show one change for the better. And by better I mean Double Chocolate Cherry Cookies. Gluten free to boot. Check out the recipe at One Little Prick.

I am from the school of diabetes is a catalyst. It makes changes happen. Now if I can just make the cookies happen...

Abbott InstaLinx FDA Approved

Abbott received FDA approval for their FreeStyle InsuLinx Blood Glucose Monitoring System.* It is a meter using their FreeStyle band test strips and with touch screen is also an automated logbook with software to analyze and trend data.

Here is what they said in the press release:

March 08, 2012

Alameda, California — Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for the FreeStyle InsuLinx Blood Glucose Monitoring System,[*] the first from Abbott to include a touch-screen interface, automated logbook and several personalization features designed to improve the diabetes management experience for patients. This unique device is also equipped with built-in FreeStyle Auto-Assist software that enables patients to track progress, analyze trends and easily display data for their health care providers. The FreeStyle InsuLinx System will be available to U.S. consumers within the coming months.

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), approximately 25.8 million people in the United States have diabetes,[**] and of those, many require insulin to manage their condition. The FreeStyle InsuLinx System is the newest addition to Abbott’s portfolio of glucose monitoring systems and is designed to use FreeStyle technology to help insulin-using patients monitor their blood glucose levels to allow them to more effectively manage their condition. Specifically, the FreeStyle InsuLinx System offers:

• Touch screen designed for ease of use
• Automated logbook that assists with tracking logged insulin doses and blood glucose levels
• Personalization features, including the ability to upload weekly messages, pre-and post-meal markers and a personal photograph to the home screen
• FreeStyle Auto-Assist software that can be uploaded to a computer via USB connectivity and is designed to help people with diabetes, health care teams and caregivers manage diabetes with reports, reminders and messages

*FreeStyle and related brand marks are trademarks of Abbott Diabetes Care Inc. in various jurisdictions.
** American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/

Technology #TwoBits: Carb Counting Blues by @CelloBard

Marie Smith aka @CelloBard has a fun post sharing her observations on sensing. She likens her Dexcom to a school hall monitor and a bit of an unwelcome snitch. With good humor Marie shows the value of sensing to improve carb counting. Oh and oatmeal gets outed.

I also love her picture. It is great to see an image that make me hear.


On the topic of technology it stands to reason that some technology is out of date. DiabetesInControl.com makes that point about meters. Some where in this post there is a grain of common sense about meter accuracy and making sure you use supplies that are not expired (even if I don’t love the semi condescending tone of patient blame. Hey who teaches the patient anyway?) Still the post is on point, use a modern meter with test strips that are in date and have been properly stored. It also gives me a chance to suggest that folks never buy a meter.

#TwoBits: Starting a dBlog and wisdom from the dBlog that started us all

Starting your own diabetes blog has never been easier with the easy and free ebook from the Girls Guide to Diabetes. No you don’t have to be a girl to read it. 

http://thegirlsguidetodiabetes.com/2012/03/05/free-ebook-start-diabetes-blog

My two cents in this two bits is read blogs, join the conversation with comments on blogs, as you develop you voice reag teh ebook and start your own. 

I am among those who view David Mendosa as the original and still king of the diabetes blogs. This week he writes about testing in, The Trouble with Glucose Testing. The key is being taught what to do about it, particularly for non insulin using T2Ds. Studies show the BG test don’t do any good and in large part it because the key part of the equation is missing: what to DO with the results. David has some insights on what to do. 

http://www.mendosa.com/blog/?p=1204

I just love this image. Gotta wear a latex glove on your other hand when you test you blood. I hope this give you as big a smile as it gave me. 

AP on CNN

Nice piece of reporting on the AP by CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/04/health/artificial-pancreas/index.html

Hey DOC! Welcome Maryam #TwoBits

Hello my Diabetes Online Community friends. Meet Maryam or Myrm as my son calls her, all though I have no idea how that nick name is spelled. (Regular YDMV reades will know I have no idea how anything is actually spelled and not be surprised.)

She bring the DOC the much needed sound of young america which is actually the name of a PRI show but you get the point.   

Here is the bio for her blog: 

Maryam Elarbi is an 18-year-old freshman in college who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 10. Eight months after her diagnosis, Maryam’s family began attending the “Children With Diabetes” conferences, which changed their entire view on Type 1 and how to cope with it. Over the past eight years, Maryam has been actively involved in advocating for people with Type 1 through these conferences, as well as fund-raising for diabetes research through JDRF’s annual “Walk to Cure Diabetes.” In her spare time, Maryam enjoys reading (especially works by Jane Austen and Kurt Vonnegut), writing, spending time in the beautiful city of Philadelphia, and defeating her brothers in the new “Dance Central 2″ game.

She and the brothers she thrashes at Dance Central 2, helped my son feel welcome at CDW years ago. What a great gift. You can see her almost live in theBetesNOW's fashion report form the FFL Red Carpet. So DOC welcome Maryam! Here’s two of her recent posts:

Adventures in Hypoglycemia

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/Kids-And-Diabetes/adventures-in-hypoglycemia/

The Importance of Consistency

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/Maryam-Elarbi/the-importance-of-consistency/

YDMV on the Goal of diabetes management and teens

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Prayers

When it rains and it pours, we need reflect a ray of sunlight.

Bad thing happen to good people. I see that as an essential part of the freedom to choose good. I have written my feeling on that topic before and you are free to go read it. What matters now is simply say the obvious, bad thing happen to good people.

Event’s in life aren’t some silly punishment by a petulantly juvenile deity. They are just life. Some folks get a lot of life and they give back as much or more. Our diabetes online community is blest with Meri and her family. Three kids with type 1 diabetes and yet she finds the time and energy to be a ray of sunshine brightening the lives of all she share with through ourdiabeticlife.com.

More than once she has been the dove that brought a leaf to my drifting lost in the flood of life’s challenges. Life is like that. We get down. We feel alone.

I think God shares His infinite mercy though other like ourselves because through them, we can see the light of His love. At times maybe only through others can we really see that love.

Meri’s family is now facing yet another deluge. Her husband is entering cancer treatments. I pray that they find as much love they have shared coming back to them as they face the flood of doubt, concern and fear that rains down with the diagnosis.

I pray that I can be a small reflection of the love she has shared with me, with us all. I pray that she and her family feel less alone and that we her friends online can bring her small tokens that let her know our love is with her. I pray that though us God’s love is more visible to them.

Please. Share your love. Share your prayer for the Schuhmacher family. A little sun light can do magic when it rains.

You can join Meri’s friends on Facebook here.

YDMV on spirituality.


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Study Shows: T2Diabetes Varies

Who would have though it? The picture of type 2 is different that what folks may think.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2012) - The largest genetics study to date of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has identified new gene variants associated with risk for the common metabolic disease. An international scientific consortium, studying multiethnic populations, uncovered genes that may point to biological targets for developing more effective drugs for T2D.Multiple genes and environmental factors interact with T2D, which affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. The majority of the gene variants remain undiscovered.

Study identifies gene variants among multiple ethnic

Scientists have identified only about 10 percent of the genetic variants contributing to T2D, and most previous studies have been based on people of European ancestry," said senior co-author Brendan J. Keating, PhD, of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. This international study found that many gene variants associated with T2D overlap across multiple ethnic groups." The current study included subjects with African-American, Hispanic, Asian and European ancestry.

What is important here? What you think you know about diabetes (any type), from late night comedians and snaky comments about weight is probably wrong. Is the image of Type 2 one of cellular biology, no body image maybe. Perhaps that needs rethinking.