I am fully aware that my diabetes and pregnancy will not prove too
*difficult* I am well controlled.  But I am very concerned about the effect of
severe ITP treated with steroids, surgery, chemo and IVIG (currently, and bliss
fully in remission for the past year) I have searched both NIH, and medline for
outcomes both maternal and fetal on a patient similar to myself and recieved a
null search.  I am highly educated on both conditions but I am fearful of the
possible risks, could anyone out there provide hard evidence of success, it
would really ease my mind.  Also, my A1c have never been above 6.8, no evidence of complications, 11 years post IDDM dx, platelets have in the past been as
 low as 1,000.  Referal to good resource would also be appreciated.
Thanks
Suzi              
ITP= Immune Thrombocytopenia (an autoimmune disorder)
IVIG =  Intravenous Immune Globulins

Links

• hp coupon codes

        I posted about a month ago asking questions about Diabetes,
now, it turnes out I am diagnosed with type II, no medication, just
diet and excercise.  What I dont understand is…….
        1. Is type II as serious as type I ? it doesnt seem to be.
        2. I thought Type II’s were for the most part overweight and
over 40.  I am a 31 year old male, fit, and weigh 173.
        3. I purchased the Glucometer 3 and my blood sugar seems to
always be in the lower readings, sometimes dangerously low.  Why dont
I get higher or at least average readings ?  Do some diabetics have
an average lower reading all the time ??

        I come here for now for the answers to my questions because my
DR. is the impersonal type and I am in search of a new one.
        I want to thank anyone in advance for responding………

                                        Thank you and good health to you,

                                                        Chris O’Neill
—
        *************************************************
                    Christopher C. O’Neill
                   an…@freenet.buffalo.edu
        =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Please kindly advise on starting points for someone looking to learn about
Chronic Pain medicine in the Pacific/Asian region, specially in Japan.

I appreciate your support.

     I wonder who looks after the interests of diabetics here
in the USA.  I also wonder why a group of activists, who are
either themselves insulin-dependent diabetics or who have such
a person in their family, do not organize themselves into at
least a national (USA) group.

     For example, in the UK insulin-dependent diabetics are
organized as the British Diabetic Association (BDA), a group
that really stands up for the interests of diabetics.  But in
the USA, we only have the American Diabetic Association which
seems to always side with the commercial interests that
advertize in their monthly publication "Forecast".  A new and
different organization is needed here that would be set up more
along the lines of the BDA, for the purpose of protecting the
interests of diabetics themselves rather than furthering the
interests of those who profit from diabetics.

     At this juncture of history, the reorganization and
consolidation of the phramaceutical industry is eliminating the
availability of certian kinds of insulin on which a wide variety
of diabetics have relied on for many, many years.  This has had
and will have a progressive impact on many of us, as it is a
fact that diabetics vary widely in what works for them.  And
it goes without saying that neither pharmaceutical engineers
nor their representatives in the medical profession (the
"endos") have any first hand idea of what diabetics are up
against in their daily struggle to live a productive, active
life.

     At this moment, the BDA is conducting a campaign
collecting signatures on petitions to get the International
Insulin Cartel (Lilly/Novo) to resume the manufacture and sale
of the animal insulins that they have recently discontinued,
stating that "diabetics have the right to manage their condition
in the way that best suits them", in effect asserting their
freedom of choice as to method of treatment.  There is also a
gentleman (Mr. David G. Groves, the SysOp of Compuserve’s
Diabetes Forum) who is carrying on the same campaign here in
the USA.  But instead of doing it under the banner and auspices
of the ADA rather than the BDA, Mr. Groves says that he is going
to "present" his signed petitions to the ADA as well as take
them to the Lilly/Novo cartel.  That should tell us something
about whose side the ADA is on, if not demonstrate our complete
lack of organization and representation.

     I would appreciate it if you would think about each of the
problems that I have outline here and come back to share your
thoughts with the rest of us.  Remember that a famous despot
and enemy of the United States once said that American democracy
was nothing more that a collection of pressure groups.  I think
that there may be something to what he said about us being a
nation of pressure groups.  It does seem that unless you’re a
member of one, you won’t survive, particularly if you’re
disadvantaged in any way.

Michel Martin Devine
San Diego, California USA
m…@powergrid.electriciti.com

Eric, I’ve just subscribed to this news group, so if you have already
recieved a reply, sorry.

I’ve been a type 2 diabetic for about 2 years now, and that dang pricker
bothered me a long time, too.

My sugestions:
buy a "soft touch" finger prick.   Nice feel, hair trigger,and cocks with a  
pump action.

use only superfine lancets in it. they have a narrower needle, and if  your
skin is not "real thick" they work just fine.

Prick yourself on the _SIDE_ of your finger, about 5-8 mm down from the nail.
the nerves are less sensitive there. And of course, ROTATE your sites between
fingers!

Unfortunately Iv’e lost the packaging for my lancet, but I believe it’s from
Boehringer Mannheim.

Hope it helps.

Mark Lambert
#=================================================================#
# mlamb…@maximus.apana.org.au                Dyslexia lures, KO #
#  Dont take life too seriuosly, you won’t get out of it alive!   #
#=================================================================#

joe carp asks:

   does anyone have any information concerning how the proposed health
   initiative will handle federally funded research and development with
   regard to Diabetes and complications?  

the june third issue of _Science_ presents mixed news. budgets are not being set
to allow for inflation or growth or replacement of laboratory facilities. the
title of the article says it all:

   Memo Backs Basic Research With Words, Not Cash.

here is a quote from the director of NIH:

   "We’re in a time of unprecedented opportunities for biomedical
    research—some of which are spelled out in the memo—but there’s no
    point having a vision of the future if you don’t have any more money to
    spend."
             Harold Varmus

the health care proposals before congress do not attempt to address this paucity
of funding for basic research. yes there are lovely words but no cash.

basic research is hard to sell politically because it does not seem useful
until it is applied.

sadly the political climate has become dominated by disease of the month club
and one-issue lobbying. this divided approach to securing funds for research
means that investigators have to figure out which disease group is most likely
to possess the resources to fund a project. in the four decades in which i
have been reading _Science_ i have noticed a splintering of research into feudal
types of enclaves. this grouping of data by disease obscures the sharing
of data among researchers.

diabetes research depends upon unrelated basic research in biomaterials, in
drug delivery and development, work on combinatorial chemistry and so forth.
it is very very dangerous to assume that funds allocated directly for a diabetes
cure will be the most efficient pathway to achieve results. basic research
by its nature is almost indescribable.

research used to be investigator-driven, with top scientists being able to
secure funding for their labs with the freedom to devise new tools and to ask
unexpected questions part way through a project. forcing investigators
to align their laboratories with politically mandated issues lessens the oppor-
tunities for serendipitous discoveries. the best work is usually the unintended,
the accidental, the marginal or off-goal shot. here i will mention an example
from my family. edward’s father, now a professor emeritus of quantum chemistry,
was stirring acetone absent-mindedly in the lab with his toothbrush handle
almost four decades ago. the handle oozed into a lovely mess. dr. reid was
concerned that his wife would be upset as he had ruined several toothbrushes
that way recently. he decided to use the mangled handle as a membrane for
reverse osmosis. his lab observation resulted in the very first practical
membrane for desalinisation by reverse osmosis. his off-hand play yielded
major new ways to provide water for irrigation and for power-plant cooling.

i am very much opposed to the type of activism which chooses particular
outcomes or diseases to fund. this approach orphans those who suffer from rare
diseases. it also isolates information into disease categories rather than
linking the information by functional fields or by metabolic pathways. it
places too much temporal pressures upon investigators. there must be room
for discoveries which are unanticipated by grants writers.
                                 melynda claire reid

melynda reid   who wears hats but does not type caps
  eel:   mely…@titipu.resun.com  or  nosc.mil!titipu.resun.com!melynda
  snail: p o box 378 greensboro, florida 32330

I am a type II diagnosed in early ’91. Have had what I thought was fairly
good control, with TouchII readings averaging 140-150, and A1C’s
confirming. I was just informed by my endo that the degree of neuropathy
that I am experiencing is "quite severe". He is proposing a program
of tight control (with averages in the 120 range or lower), and is going
to start me on insulin within a few days to assist here. I have been using
oral meds up to now, but they seem to have lost their effect. I am very
curious to find out if any of you have experiences you can share regarding
the neuropathy. I have lost much of the sensation in the toes of both feet,
with the left foot being much more pronounced. Both feet, behind the toes,
are very sensitive to the presence of any footwear, again with the left one
being the more pronounced, due, I think, to the fact that the big toe joint
is arthritic. There are times when the balls of the feet become very
painful to walk on. Lower legs not very encouraging in their response to
temperature change or vibration.

I am looking for any words of encouragement/advice from anyone with any
insight here.

TIA

Jim Mackelvey

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                                             jimb…@netcom.com

Hi everyone! Thanks for the posts re: my wanting to
switch from NPH to UL on my own.  I’ve been out of town
a few days, so I am just now getting back on the newsgroups.
(Actually I was out of town for my brother’s wedding, and
had hoped to start UL before the trip, but no such luck.)

After some of your msgs and posts, I called my MD and
told the nurse that I wanted to speak with my MD
personally, or I was going to change my insulin regimen
myself, and did not want to wait until the end of July.
My MD later called, (somewhat upset that I had left
5 messages – but she had not responded for over a week!).
She strongly recommended that I not change myself, and
agreed to squeeze me in for a 5 minute consultation
on June 30.  She said that she couldn’t do it on the phone
but I’m not sure why – maybe she wants to make sure
she gets paid for her efforts??  Anyway, I am going to
wait, but overall, this has really changed my level of
respect and trust for my MD (that she didn’t respond to
my calls, couldn’t see me any sooner, wasn’t willing to
work with me over the phone, etc, her irritable attitude
that I had left 5 messages when she wouldn’t call me back
for over a week).

Mr. Reid wondered why I was so eager to start UL.
I am currently on regular before each meal, with NPH at bedtime.
But with my irregular schedule as a graduate student, this
has been very tough to follow.  My HbA1s are around 8-9, top of
normal is 6.5.  And I end up feeling guilty, like I am a
‘bad’ diabetic, because I sometimes sleep in, can’t eat
dinner at the same time every night, sometimes can’t get to
a lunch and end up eating peanut butter and crackers for lunch because
I can’t wait, etc.  And from talking to people on this
newsgroup, I realized that with UL I have more flexibility.
And I’m not bad because I have an irregular schedule which I
have not been able to make regular even with my best efforts.
So I was very eager to start on UL, kind of like turning over
a new leaf.  And when you’re motivated to make a change for the
better, it’s hard to be told to wait 6 weeks. (like if a smoker
has finally got up his motivation to quit smoking and is told
to wait 6 weeks before he stops.)

Also, this was going to be kind of an intermediate step to see if
I could get good control with UL or whether I might should
consider a pump.  By waiting so long to start UL, if I was
going to start the pump, that would just be even longer away.

I am just trying to get under control.  I have been struggling
to keep decent control for 20 years.  And the idea of UL seems
to suit my lifestyle better (theoretically), and I was eager to
see if it would make a difference.

I will keep you posted.  My appointment is June 30, so there will
be no changes til then.
Thanks again, – Betsy.

I’ve started a new non-profit organization for people with diabetes and we’re
offering a free copy of our newsletter to anyone who would like one.  Just send
your name and address to me here or via e-mail.  I also looking for people to
write articles for
the newsletter.  (BTW do I have to hit a <CR> at the end of everyline or does
the system realign everything when the message gets posted?)
*Belver

In a message dated 06-12-94  tonlw…@indiana.edu wrote to  ALL:
 >
 > I am new to this group.  I started reading a few days ago after being
 > recently diagnosed with Type II Diabetes.  I am sorry if I violate the
 > etiquette of this group.

I think you can safely say "hello" without violating anything. I’m sure no one
will fault you for it. So, Hi. I’m new too. I was diagnosed with Type II about
a month ago and I must say that I feel better than I have in the past 4 years.
I’m sure that folks aren’t going to jump all over someone for saying hi, at
least I would hope not.

 > Does anyone know if there is a Gopher or Web server with Diabetic
 > information
 > on it?
 >
Yeah, I second this request, if there is a FAQ, then, please point me towards
it.
 -> Alice4Mac 2.3.1 E QWK Eval:02May94
 * Origin: Small Frozen Potato Products, Inc. San Francisco CA

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