Practically Classics Forum

For those of use with the problem this could be a game changer full article

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... sease.html

Diabetes could be cured as scientists find cause of disease
Scientists at Manchester University have discovered that the hormone amylin can clump together and stop cells producing insulin Diabetes could be cured after scientists discovered that toxic clumps of a hormone stop cells producing insulin.

Scientists at Manchester University have found that both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are driven by the same underlying mechanism.

The findings suggest that both forms occur when the hormone amylin begins to clump together, surrounding cells, and preventing them from producing insulin.

I'm already on one injection every 12 weeks for HRT one more at that time rather then 4 a day would be a heck of a lot less painful(yes I hate needles!) Once they get this on the market I just need them to make some stuff to undo the long term damage the diabetes has done over the long term!

Lets hope they are certain of their findings, be a good thing if it is

Kev

I am a NIDDM type 2 diabetic. I sent my forms in for my driving license on the 12th May as my license was due for renewal in late June. It was sent in with all the medical forms filled in by my doctor after a full examination along with a copy of my prescription plus another for my eye test and a photograph for my license. Total cost £125-00! Last week the DVLA wrote to me and said there was insufficient information on my form for medication. Note it was sent in on the 12th May. They said it was an EU Ruling that I also had to declare that I did a blood test twice daily and before driving. The DVLA would contact my Doctor to confirm this fact. If my Doctor could not confirm his only minimal categories would be allowed on my license. Vehicles under 3.5 tonnes and no trailers. This is of no use to me as I need them as part of my employment. I have minibuses and heavy vehicles (Non HGV) on it currently. I understood that if you were not a Type 1 the DVLA didn't need know. Apparently not. A mate of mine had a similar situation and his license was revoked. His Doctor couldn't say that he regularly tested his blood sugar. The letter from the Medical Specialist at the DVLA said. 'This decision is final and cannot be challenged'.

Another case of the EU dictating to us on what we can do yet other countries allow HGV's to be driven by folks who are Type 1! This country jumps through the EU hoop once again.

I have a letter from the DVLA issued in July to say I could continue driving until a decision was made. I had to make umpteen phone calls to get that and it only lasts for 3 months.

There are folks driving round with no license, no insurance, no MOT God knows what they have snorted and injected and yet I just want to do a job and enjoy my hobby.

If I was younger I'd bugger off from this sodding country. Nigel Farage for God's sake get us out of this mad house!

I am type 2 diabetic, apparently brought on by an infection to my pancreas a few years back.
As I am in control of it through 2 tablets per day, dont drink alcohol and my diet is pretty much ultra low carb, my 3 monthly HBa1c gives normal range readings, my doctor wont supply me with testing strips.
This means that I have to buy my own, I think it is fundamental to any diabetic to test regular and adjust their meds/meal to suit..works for me.
I really feel for those type 1 people out there

Kev

This sounds like good news. I should hate to have to watch my diet (Having been able to eat "Normally" all my life), at least beyond not making a pig of myself and ending up obese as a result. Then ofcourse there are the other problems like comas and I think it increases the risk of hear trouble My grandfather had diabetes for the last few years of his life (At least it was diagnosed when he went into hospital for something else), so in saying I've never had it, I realise I could get it, so this news is good news to us all . I just hope that the treatment has no side effects.

Wouldn't it be great if they found a cure for cancer, in all it's various forms....or one for getting older. Mind you, if they did that, we'd all have to stop having children (Not that I have even started)

If they did find a cure for cancer NICE would say the treatment was too expensive plus folks would live longer into old age and that would put an additional load on Social Services and the NHS and pensions or am I getting cynical in my old age? I wonder how the folks at NICE would think if somebody told them that keeping them alive was too expensive?

NICE already exclude certain drugs that can prolong life because of cost! However, I agree with Phil - one of the problems with the NHS is that they can now do so much to cure and repair (from improved drugs to new parts!) and there are some amazing pieces of kit in the pipeline that can pinpoint cancer cells to reduce the damage to other areas when giving radiotherapy etc. As Phil says, these cost a small fortune. That's not new: things like EMI scanners (NMR or CT scanners, I can't remember which they are) were out of reach to most hospitals in the 70's and there were appeals like the "Charley Bear" appeal in Newcastle to raise funds for them.

I reckon that we could pay 100% income tax to the NHS and it would still lack funding. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to that problem. OTOH, the NHS "hype" gives the impression that, with "adequate" funding, everyone will live longer and healthier lives.

I don't want to be negative, but I wouldn't read too much into reports of experiments and research. Much of it is done by relatively junior researcher (including doctors) as part of their attempts to climb the ladder. It is similar in Engineering: if you produce and publish a good thesis, it can speed your progress to obtain your "Chartered Engineer" status (probably the nearest equivalent to a Consultant). Unfortunately, their research tends to be quite narrow and you get things like "Drink green tea and you won't get Alzheimer's" based on a test sample of under 1,000 people.

As Mother had Alzheimer's in her later years, it was unfortunate that her preferred newspaper (the Daily Wail) kept publishing reports as if they were accurate fact. However, she already did most of the things that they said would help - walked for miles, didn't smoke, ate plenty of veg and so on. Strangely, when she was diagnosed by a consultant, I mentioned that her sister had the condition and that I thought some of the problem was lack of socialising (most of Mother's friends had already gone). The consultant said I was wrong - but a year or two later, the papers reported that it could run in families and socialisation was helpful in slowing the rate of deterioration! Ironically, one of my friends has got Alzheimer's now - he was a non-smoking farmer (plenty of exercise and fresh veg) and has few close friends - he wouldn't go and see anyone (and fell out with a lot of people!). His sister also had the complaint!

I read that Metformin used for treating diabetes could help slow Alzhiemers. I asked my Doctor if it was true. He said he had read that but had no evidence. I said I found it hard to believe because I have forgotten to take my Metformin a few times!

Lot's of folk who forget things aren't suffering from Alziemers. We are in fact filling up our memory bank with all the garbage that we need in todays World, ie passwords, pin numbers, e mail addresses etc. The 'real' things we should remember are all in there but lost. If we could be trained in how to store stuff in our brains properly we may be in with a chance. How often can you 'see' a word or a name in your head and cannot actually say it. Or you struggle to remember something and then an hour or so later it comes into your head. Your brain keeps on searching even though you don't realise it. I am told we only use a small percentage of our brain. The percentage we use apparently depends on how smart we are. It must be true because I read it on Wikipedia.

I can cope with memory loss (mine started failing after I had chemo 36 years ago), it's the confusion and mobility problems that go along with it - not to mention the hallucinations! My main problem is remembering names - I gather that's common with males though: something about not needing to know an enemy's name when we were cavemen. Some say we still are cavemen...

Before Ma could get the drugs, she had to have a CT scan of her head as part of the diagnosis. The GP said that there were a lot of "holes" in her brain - where the cells had died off. Apparently, a certain amount of loss is normal, but Ma's brain was like a sponge - but didn't absorb anything!

IIRC the QI lot reckoned that all of the brain is used and, while they often talk a load of c**p, I also heard that on one of those medical "fly on the wall" programmes. Apparently there's a lot of information stored in there and, as I saw in Ma's complaint, once links are broken, there are step changes in the progression of the condition. Considering she was a favourite with the high-ups in the war because she could code and decode messages without needing the code book (but ended up having a breakdown just before D-Day), it was a crashing blow when she didn't remember who my sister was one day!

The most annoying thing is I suffer with prosopagnosia (facial blindness). No idea what is wrong with my brain but it is misfiring somewhere.
If the other half irons her hair then asks me to meet her somewhere and doesn't tell me. I could walk straight past her. After 30 odd years you sort of get used to it but people that don't know me very well sometimes get annoyed thinking that I am ignoring them. Some people with unique face shapes or distinctive outlines I can point out with no problem but the rest of the time, I'm stuffed. I hope I never get asked to point someone out in a police lineup!