Diabetes

WHAT WOULD you say if I told you that you could profoundly cut your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer? Significantly decrease your risk for Alzheimer's disease, too? And, better yet, that you could do all this without spending a single dime? Impossible, right? Wrong. All that and more may be possible simply by following the sage advice of Dr. Michael Mosley, a British medical journalist and co-author of The FastDiet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting . The "Fast Diet" is all the rage in Britain and could take flight here as well.

Question: Can intense itching be a side effect for someone with diabetes whose blood sugars are poorly controlled? Answer: Poorly controlled diabetes is one possible cause for unexplained itching. Exactly how diabetes causes itching isn't certain, but suggested causes include diabetic nerve root injury, metabolic abnormalities from widely fluctuating blood sugars, and dry skin. If this is the cause, it should improve with better efforts to lower the blood sugars.   That said, there are many other causes for severe itching.

Kevin Montgomery, 17, never let diabetes prevent him from keeping an appointment, whether it was a basketball game or a performance in a school play. Montgomery, of Levittown, a senior at Holy Ghost Prep who was manager of the basketball team, died of a diabetic attack at his home Tuesday afternoon, after returning from school where he had taken midterm exams in the morning. He was found by his younger brother. "People who knew him knew this was a serious problem," said Tony Chapman, Holy Ghost's basketball coach.

THRIVING WITH TYPE 1 CATHERINE MILLER, who is 26 and lives in West Chester, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 15. "I wasn't really surprised because my mom has it, my grandmother and grandfather had it, a couple of my uncles have it, so it was inevitable for at least me or my brother to get it, and I was the lucky one. " It threw her for a loop initially. "I was 15 and they were giving me all sorts of medication," she says. "But I knew it was going to come. " Taking the time to eat right for blood-sugar control was her major challenge as a teenager.

Padres lefthander David Wells, known for larger-than-life appetites for food and beer, has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. San Diego chief executive officer Sandy Alderson, speaking at Padres camp in Peoria, Ariz., yesterday, termed the illness controllable, but said: "It's something he'll have to manage and something we'll have to help him manage. It's not unprecedented by any means. " Wells was diagnosed two weeks ago, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in yesterday's editions.

Georgetown's leading scorer Austin Freeman has been diagnosed with diabetes, leaving his status uncertain for the team's upcoming games. Freeman returned to practice Wednesday and yesterday after missing Monday night's loss to West Virginia. He was also limited in Saturday's loss to Notre Dame. Originally thought to have a stomach virus, Freeman learned he had diabetes when he went to the hospital Monday night. Coach John Thompson III said yesterday he is "100 percent" certain Freeman will play again this season, but the coach wouldn't say whether the junior guard will return for tomorrow's regular-season finale against Cincinnati.

Tom Benson needed a favor, and he went to the Triton field hockey team for help. With the same enthusiasm he uses to teach history at the Runnemede-based school, Benson told the Mustangs of his grandson Chris' battle with juvenile diabetes. He asked the players if they would help him in his quest to help find a cure for the disease. "When he sat down and talked to us, we were definitely in," junior captain Diana Hunt said. "Mr. Benson is such a lively individual - as a teacher and a person.

ERIK CHOPIN, 37, a Long Island, N.Y., delicatessen owner and family man, once carried more than 400 pounds on his 6-foot frame. The extreme weight was obvious, but what Erik didn't know was that he also had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Not to mention a body mass index of 55, a far cry from the recommended range of 18.5 to 24.9. Erik was just about to go under the knife for bariatric surgery when he was selected by lottery to be on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" last season.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first combination drug to treat type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol in one tablet. Merck & Co. Inc.'s Juvisync combines two previously approved prescription medicines in one tablet for adults who need both sitagliptin and simvastatin. About 20 million Americans have type 2 diabetes and many have high cholesterol.    - David Sell

DO IT RIGHT The versatile push-up is a favorite of mine. Do it anywhere and modify to any fitness level - against a wall, with bent knees on the floor, one-arm, dumbbell row, alligator, triceps, plyometric push-ups or 3-point, to name a few. The classic: Start on your hands and knees. With hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, feet together, shift weight onto your hands and feet and rise into an up plank position. Keeping your body and head straight, slowly lower your body to the ground by bending your elbows.

Independence Blue Cross said Monday that it would spend close to $1 million over three years in a research collaboration with New York University to spot cases of undiagnosed diabetes and predict who is vulnerable for developing the disease. IBC's contribution includes a $600,000 grant and other support. The researchers at NYU's Initiative in Data Science and Statistics will apply artificial-intelligence tools to IBC's medical and pharmacy claims data to predict the future rather than analyze the past.

Independence Blue Cross said it will spend close to $1 million over three years in a research collaboration with New York University to learn how to use large-scale data analysis to spot cases of undiagnosed diabetes and to predict pre-diabetes.   IBC's contribution includes a $600,000 grant and other support. The researchers at NYU's Initiative in Data Science and Statistics will use IBC's medical and pharmacy claims data to develop artificial-intelligence methods for predicting which patients have undiagnosed diabetes and which patients are at risk of developing diabetes.

D EAR HARRY : I have a friend who is very conservative in his political and social views. As a result, I have always had to take his "fact" statements with a couple of grains of salt. He told me that the new Obamacare will replace the "death panels" (which never were a consideration) with age limits on care. He was very specific, indicating that he heard that starting in 2014, Medicare would no longer cover cancer and diabetes after recipients hit 80. I called my congressman and I got the response that there is no such provision in the law. What's going on here?

WHAT WOULD you say if I told you that you could profoundly cut your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer? Significantly decrease your risk for Alzheimer's disease, too? And, better yet, that you could do all this without spending a single dime? Impossible, right? Wrong. All that and more may be possible simply by following the sage advice of Dr. Michael Mosley, a British medical journalist and co-author of The FastDiet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting . The "Fast Diet" is all the rage in Britain and could take flight here as well.

In the Region Frontier to suspend flights   Frontier Airlines will suspend flights from the Trenton/Mercer Airport in Ewing, N.J., from Sept. 9 through Nov. 7 because of a scheduled runway project. Airport officials say the project involves safety upgrades required by the Federal Aviation Administration . Frontier, which began scheduled service at the Trenton airport in January, called the suspension temporary and thanked county officials for moving the work to the "lowest demand period of the year.

A Philadelphia foot doctor was named one of a few dozen physicians across the nation who have earned more than $200,000 in lucrative parttime speaking and consulting work for drug companies. Dr. Warren S. Joseph, of Huntingdon Valley, was No. 5 on ProPublica's list of "Top Earners," one of a handful of doctors who grossed more than $500,000 from the pharmaceutical giants. ProPublica is a nonprofit news organization devoted to investigative journalism . The list of doctors is the latest in their series, Dollars for Docs . Joseph practices podiatry at Roxborough Memorial Hospital.

WASHINGTON - A panel of federal health experts ruled Thursday that an experimental diabetes drug from Johnson & Johnson is safe and effective, though lingering safety questions must be tracked over the long term. The Food and Drug Administration's panel voted 10-5 in favor of J&J's canagliflozin to treat Type 2 diabetes. The drug is part of a new class of medications that work by increasing the levels of blood sugar excreted via urine. Panelists said the drug could be useful in combination with existing diabetes medications.

Question: I read so much about type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes being associated with obesity. About 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. However, I weigh just 98 pounds and am five feet tall with a small frame. My age is 80 and I'm still very active. Can you explain why I developed type 2 diabetes? Answer: Clearly, obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Eight-five percent of those who have developed diabetes are overweight or obese. Surprisingly though, 12 to 15 percent of adults with type 2 diabetes are of normal weight - sometimes even skinny.

NOVEMBER is National Diabetes Month, which gives us the perfect opportunity to shed much-needed light on this disabling and deadly disease, and provide some optimal strategies for prevention and disease management. Diabetes comes in several forms: _ Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disorder, accounts for about 5 percent of diagnosed cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. _ Gestational diabetes affects between 2 percent and 10 percent of pregnant women.

DO IT RIGHT The versatile push-up is a favorite of mine. Do it anywhere and modify to any fitness level - against a wall, with bent knees on the floor, one-arm, dumbbell row, alligator, triceps, plyometric push-ups or 3-point, to name a few. The classic: Start on your hands and knees. With hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, feet together, shift weight onto your hands and feet and rise into an up plank position. Keeping your body and head straight, slowly lower your body to the ground by bending your elbows.