Glucose

New research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that sugar can enhance the effectiveness of calcium in women's diets to prevent osteoporosis, a weakening of bones that affects mainly elderly women, scientists said last week. Scientists at the department's Nutrition Research Center on Aging, at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., found that about a teaspoonful of glucose sugar taken with calcium can increase the body's absorption of the mineral by nearly 25 percent. Glucose polymers, which are sold in drugstores as calorie supplements, are as effective as sugar, the researchers said.

THIS IS YOUR ..brain on sugar - for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating. After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found. It's a small study and does not prove that fructose or its relative, high-fructose corn syrup, can cause obesity, but experts say that it adds evidence that they may play a role.

A half-dozen medical students crowd into a lab at Jefferson Medical College as Jeffrey Joseph points to a graph of a patient's blood sugar. While healthy levels stay within a narrow range, this man's pattern is wildly erratic, peaking at four times the normal amount after a meal and plunging dangerously low during sleep. The graphs are from a diabetic named Brian who had his blood sugar, or glucose, continuously monitored over three days for a study, says Joseph, head of Jefferson's Artificial Pancreas Center.

In a medical advance that could end painful finger pricks for the seven million diabetics who do them every day, researchers have extracted blood sugar right through the skin, without needles. The technique uses ultrasound to open microscopic spaces in the skin through which a tiny bit of fluid can escape. The fluid is then analyzed to determine glucose, or sugar, levels in the blood. The method, which was successfully tested on seven diabetics, is reported in the current issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

The rabbit died. That's how women once learned they were pregnant, their suspicions confirmed by blood tests using a female lab rabbit that was sacrificed in the process. A doctor telephoned with the news. Today, in the privacy of her home, a woman can learn within minutes if she is pregnant. the at-home pregnancy test, in fact is the most popular of several self- diagnostic tests available. Others approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration include ovulation predictors, blood-glucose monitors, blood-pressure meters, a test for urinary tract infections and a test for intestional bleeding that can be a sign of colon cancer.

STAY IN LINE: A Minnesota appeals court has ruled that in-line skates used on highways are vehicles. In other states, courts have ruled that roller bladers are merely fast-moving pedestrians. The legal distinction makes a difference if the skater is involved in an accident. The Minnesota court ruled that the family of a young man killed by a car while skating on a highway was not entitled to damages because the skater wasn't wearing lights or reflectors, which are required of vehicles.

Echo Therapeutics Inc., of Philadelphia, said its common shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Wednesday. The over-the-counter stock will keep the ticker symbol ECTE. Echo is developing a needle-free glucose monitoring system for patients with diabetes and for use in hospital critical care units. Echo, which had 17 people working in its original facility in Franklin, Mass., moved its corporate headquarters to 8 Penn Center in Center City in early May, and could add 25 people in the next 18 months, chairman and chief executive Patrick T. Mooney has said.

Two years ago, when Carole Yass and Jamie Dillinger attended the annual American Diabetes Association conference, they sat in the auditorium with other diabetes specialists and listened to speakers. But at this year's conference, last month at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel, they missed the speeches because they had something more important to do: sell the interactive CD-ROM they created in November. Called Meals 'n Carbs, the disk explains what diabetes is, and helps those with the disorder eat properly by teaching them how carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels and how to plan meals.

(Editor's note: Jane Fonda, like millions of other American women, once put herself through a debilitating cycle of crash diets, pills and binges in the effort to achieve an "ideal" figure. She learned the hard way that the real goal is in achieving your best and healthiest self - losing fat but retaining muscle, raising your metabolism and lowering your natural set-point weight. Now, in "Jane Fonda's New Workout and Weight Loss Program," she makes her hard-won knowledge available to everyone.

After she lost her job as a social worker last year, and her health insurance with it, Vanessa Sheppard chose a risky way to save money: She stopped buying the disposable test strips she needed to check her blood glucose level. Once, having not tested herself for days, the Type 2 diabetes patient felt so ill that she could not get out of bed. Her mother, who also has diabetes, came to visit and insisted that she borrow her glucose meter and a test strip. The result: a disturbingly high level exceeding 200. "You get real worried," said Sheppard, 50, of South Philadelphia, whose doctor had told her to shoot for readings between 90 and 130. "You know you need this to maintain your health.

THIS IS YOUR ..brain on sugar - for real. Scientists have used imaging tests to show for the first time that fructose, a sugar that saturates the American diet, can trigger brain changes that may lead to overeating. After drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn't register the feeling of being full as it does when simple glucose is consumed, researchers found. It's a small study and does not prove that fructose or its relative, high-fructose corn syrup, can cause obesity, but experts say that it adds evidence that they may play a role.

A half-dozen medical students crowd into a lab at Jefferson Medical College as Jeffrey Joseph points to a graph of a patient's blood sugar. While healthy levels stay within a narrow range, this man's pattern is wildly erratic, peaking at four times the normal amount after a meal and plunging dangerously low during sleep. The graphs are from a diabetic named Brian who had his blood sugar, or glucose, continuously monitored over three days for a study, says Joseph, head of Jefferson's Artificial Pancreas Center.

Echo Therapeutics Inc., of Philadelphia, said its common shares will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on Wednesday. The over-the-counter stock will keep the ticker symbol ECTE. Echo is developing a needle-free glucose monitoring system for patients with diabetes and for use in hospital critical care units. Echo, which had 17 people working in its original facility in Franklin, Mass., moved its corporate headquarters to 8 Penn Center in Center City in early May, and could add 25 people in the next 18 months, chairman and chief executive Patrick T. Mooney has said.

Desiree Ramos was watching a science film in her ninth-grade homeroom at New Foundations Charter School when she began to feel shaky - a sign she knew meant low blood sugar. Ramos, a type 1 diabetic since age 5, whispered an explanation to her teacher and headed to the nurse's office. She deftly pricked her finger and watched as a test strip swallowed the tiny bead of blood. Within seconds, her glucose meter registered 42 (normal blood glucose is between 80 and 180). "I was a little scared," she recalls.

After she lost her job as a social worker last year, and her health insurance with it, Vanessa Sheppard chose a risky way to save money: She stopped buying the disposable test strips she needed to check her blood glucose level. Once, having not tested herself for days, the Type 2 diabetes patient felt so ill that she could not get out of bed. Her mother, who also has diabetes, came to visit and insisted that she borrow her glucose meter and a test strip. The result: a disturbingly high level exceeding 200. "You get real worried," said Sheppard, 50, of South Philadelphia, whose doctor had told her to shoot for readings between 90 and 130. "You know you need this to maintain your health.

On the morning of June 12, Cyrus Guo started getting worried when his diabetic grandmother didn't wake up to take him to the school bus. He pricked her finger to test her sugar level and revived her from a diabetic coma, all before the Uwchlan Ambulance arrived at his West Whiteland Township home. Cyrus is only 6 years old. His actions inspired the Uwchlan Ambulance Corps to give out their first "Hero" award last Sunday to the little boy who saved his grandmother's life.

In a medical advance that could end painful finger pricks for the seven million diabetics who do them every day, researchers have extracted blood sugar right through the skin, without needles. The technique uses ultrasound to open microscopic spaces in the skin through which a tiny bit of fluid can escape. The fluid is then analyzed to determine glucose, or sugar, levels in the blood. The method, which was successfully tested on seven diabetics, is reported in the current issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

Annie Greenspun's first thought after learning she had diabetes in August 1998 wasn't about life or death, or even about the way her daily routine was about to change. Her first thought, as she sat in the Bryn Mawr Hospital emergency room, was about a soccer tournament. "About a week and a half later, I was supposed to go to Detroit for the Maccabi Games," Greenspun said. "That's what I was focused on. I really wanted to play. " She did. Having diabetes didn't stop the Haverford High junior then, and it hasn't stopped her now. "That's what got her out of the hospital," said her father, Eric.

Sherrie Chinn, a 51-year-old Camden woman who learned late in life that she has diabetes, knew she should check her blood sugar every day. But she hated blood. And she didn't experience many symptoms - so it was easy to pretend the disease was not there. "I was very in denial," she said. "I was just like, 'I'll do it later, I'll do it later.' " Now, she does it every day - twice a day even. The difference, for Chinn, was a new computer program that links to her doctor.

Two years ago, when Carole Yass and Jamie Dillinger attended the annual American Diabetes Association conference, they sat in the auditorium with other diabetes specialists and listened to speakers. But at this year's conference, last month at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel, they missed the speeches because they had something more important to do: sell the interactive CD-ROM they created in November. Called Meals 'n Carbs, the disk explains what diabetes is, and helps those with the disorder eat properly by teaching them how carbohydrates affect blood glucose levels and how to plan meals.