Recently in Health Category

I've actually been thinking more and more about leaving the US. I mean: for good. I find myself so disillusioned with what is happening in my native land.

My country forces education reform that is destroying creativity, problem solving, deep thinking, and analysis of knowledge to inform carefully considered long term solution-making for the immediacy of factionalized curriculum memorization. My country will not move beyond prejudice and discrimination. My country is squandering our national (as well as international) resources. My country is flinging privacy and personal freedom as fast as it escalates fear. My country cares more about greed, money, and possessing things than it does about people and their basic wellbeing. My country is removing the separation of church and state and forcing people to live by tenets of religion in which they may not personally believe. My country allows business, built on greed and outsourcing, to become so large they can not fail and must receive tax payer's money to keep the executes rolling in fat bonuses with shameless abandon. My nation's government is bought and sold by transglobal corporations and makes divisiveness its core ethic.

I can do little of nothing to stop or change any of this.

I wonder if this is a natural part of getting older--seeing the world through more jaded eyes. But I see other nations, not without their faults to be sure, at least maintaining some more moderate and productive sense of balance. I just think the US government is fundamentally broken and inept.

I shared last night at dinner that I actually don't think the US will be able to move to a better place within my lifetime. This saddens me greatly.

I've supported Lawrence Lessig's work for some time. I've had his "Change Congress" link on my site for some time. In this video he sums up things, and, unlike my dismal state of disillusion, offers a ray of hope. He doesn't frame the problem as conservative versus liberal or Republican versus Democrat. He is insightful and brilliant.

In sheer horror, I did the math. My waistline is only 12% larger now than it was when I was 18 years old. And I feel fat! If I had jumped 400%, I would wear size WHAT???!!!

The average waistline of people in the developed world has increased 400% in 25 years, with three-quarters of adults now overweight or obese. For the first time in history, there are literally more people overweight than there are starving."

(Via David Rock: Are Our Minds Going The Way Of Our Waists?)

Uninsured patients with traumatic injuries, such as car crashes, falls and gunshot wounds, were almost twice as likely to die in the hospital as similarly injured patients with health insurance, according to a troubling new study.

The findings by Harvard University researchers surprised doctors and health experts who have believed emergency room care was equitable.

"This is another drop in a sea of evidence that the uninsured fare much worse in their health in the United States," said senior author Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and medical journalist.

The study, appearing in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, comes as Congress is debating the expansion of health insurance coverage to millions more Americans. It could add fodder to that debate.

link: Uninsured ER patients twice as likely to die // Current

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - With the establishment of government-mandated death panels just days away, grandmothers began fleeing the United States in record numbers today, reports Fox News.

"I am never one to yell 'Fire' in a crowded theater," said Fox News host Glenn Beck. "But run for your lives!"

Across the country, slow-moving caravans of 1980s-era Cadillacs with turn signals blinking were making the torturous journey to the Canadian border, their back seats laden with cats, knitting projects, and bottles of Ensure.

Fox News may have set off the mass exodus by warning grannies that if they did not flee quickly enough they would face government-mandated organ harvesting.

Elsewhere, anti-healthcare protesters objected to the language of the House bill, saying there were too many polysyllabic words.

link: Fox News Reports: Millions of Grannies Flee U.S. as Death Panels Loom - Borowitz Report

I have no idea why I am so irritable. I've been in this state ever since the wind storm exploded my allergies. Additionally, I'm making a huge number of typographical errors--consistently leaving letters out of words. I'm so totally over it! I'm also wondering if it's because I've been taking vastly more insulin.

But this post is not about the horrid, irritable mood I'm in. This post is about my recent implementation of the Medtronic Paradigm Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring System with my MiniMed insulin pump.

I tried it for a whole week. I'm over it. I stopped using it today.

My objective was to have continuous information about my BG (blood glucose) level, test my BG less but be better informed. The continuous glucose monitor (CGM) did not accomplish that for me.

Things I liked:

• The sensor's transmitter looked cute and had a cleverly designed charger.
• The sensor provided a graph, with trend information, about my BG.

• I had to test my BG far more often than I had been testing it.
• The new sensor that communicated wirelessly with the pump seemed to require constant attention: asking me to calibrate the sensor with another finger stick, notifying me my BG was out of range, telling me the sensor signal was weak, that there was a calibration error, that I would need to calibrate in 30 minutes, that my BG was high, that my BG was low, et. al.
• The sensor seemed to require attention at the most inconvenient times possible: test your BG for calibration now. But you're not supposed to test during or immediately after eating, exercising, or while your BG is changing significantly. Well, hell, it seemed to always know when that was or at 2:00AM when I'm sleeping, waking me up. This would have become a nightmare when I'm working.
• It requires a finger stick. No other testing location is acceptable. I stopped using my fingers years ago because it turns them black and blue and hurts like hell. I use my arm or thigh for BG monitoring. Those areas produce error readings when calibrating the sensor.
• The needle that inserts the wires into your body that read the BG level from the passing electrical charge in the interstitial tissue appears enormous. The nurse who trained me suggested I deaden the area before inserting it. And yes. Even after a cold compress, it was a very, very significant stick, dare I say "stab."
• Inserting the wire into my body for the sensor seemed very cumbersome and unnatural to me. Maybe I would have gotten better at it in time, but I felt as though I was fumbling with it every time.
• The transmitter had to be taped on for it to stay and not get pulled. I have a hairy stomach. This was problematic when I replaced the sensor.
• The damn sensor pulled out from the skin before it needed to be replaced. This happened with two sensors. They are ludicrously expensive to have them pull out and therefore need early replacement! One pulled out on the first day, even after being completely taped down. This is actually what served as the straw that broke the camel's back! The tape on the backside of the sensor itself did not hold it down to my skin. I didn't want an infection at the area where the wires went into my body.

The extra information that I learned from using the sensor: my BG skyrockets when I eat anything! It would go from 120 to 260 and be rising by 4 every 5 minutes. So, what would I do? I would take extra insulin. In this week, I gained 2 pounds! Gaining 2 pounds in one week is astounding to me! I already feel fat. Now I feel like a cow!

And worse yet, the insulin works so slowly, I would have to take about 80 units to achieve a result. Often, once the insulin began to work, within 30 minutes, my BG was low. Yet my body seemed to require such an absurd amount to even begin to impact the BG levels. This seemed very odd to me.

So, I gained weight. I'm not sure I really impacted my BG levels in any meaningful, sustained way and actually think I did not. I turned my fingers black and blue. I spent $130 out of pocket for medical supplies (the cost of the transmitter and one month's sensors).

The concept is good. I really like it. But... The application needs significant improvements before it will work for my life style. I want my diabetes management to be less intrusive and more effective, not, as was the case with the sensors, more intrusive with no improvement in outcomes for me.

Maybe this will work for others. Regrettably, it didn't work for me. I would have continued to work with it, but I am unwilling to have to stab myself more often with that large needle and waste sensors because they do not remain affixed to my body the way they should.

A couple of nights ago, a ferocious wind storm came through (a weather front without rain). I was walking along the sidewalk in Culver City, heading to meet friends for dinner at Fraiche, one of the many delightful little restaurants in downtown Culver City.

The wind was so fierce, debris was blowing into my hair and into my eyes. I've never experienced anything quite so irritating.

The weather became much cooler--dropping maybe as much as 20º. During the night the wind from the ocean was so strong I closed up the house. But too late.

As it so seldom rains, the pollens and dust permeated the air, filled the house, and have sent my sinuses into a belligerent rage. My allergies have been out of control ever since--nose bleeds, burning eyes, burning sinuses, et. al.

Deliver me!

For some time now I've thought the insurance industry was a corrupt monopoly that needed to go to the woodshed. Maybe that time has come!

Democrats launched a drive at both ends of the Capitol on Wednesday to strip the insurance industry of its decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws, part of an increasingly bare-knuckled struggle over landmark health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama.

If enacted, the change would put an end to "price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation in the health and medical malpractice" insurance areas, said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy said he would seek a vote on the plan when the Senate debates health care legislation in the next few weeks.

Leahy made his comments at the same time the House Judiciary Committee voted 20-9 to end an industry exemption that dates to 1945. Three Republicans supported the move.

Senior Democratic officials said the leadership was inclined to incorporate the measure into the broader health care bill expected to be brought to the floor for a vote within a few weeks. No final decision has been made, they added.

together, the actions reflect the fury Democrats have shown in response to recent insurance industry attempts to influence the shape of legislation. The events occurred less than a week after the insurers' trade association issued a report saying a measure that cleared the Senate Finance Committee would produce sharp increases in premiums for millions who currently have insurance. end of excerpt Source: MSNBC

link: Dems aim to strip insurers' antitrust protections // Current

He just needs to stand up to these thieves, bullies, and greedy thugs more often!

"This is the unsustainable path we're on, and it's the path the insurers want to keep us on. In fact, the insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest - to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo. They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people. [...]

"It's smoke and mirrors. It's bogus. And it's all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, "Take one of these, and call us in a decade." Well, not this time. The fact is, the insurance industry is making this last-ditch effort to stop reform even as costs continue to rise and our health care dollars continue to be poured into their profits, bonuses, and administrative costs that do nothing to make us healthy - that often actually go toward figuring out how to avoid covering people. And they're earning these profits and bonuses while enjoying a privileged exception from our anti-trust laws, a matter that Congress is rightfully reviewing."

link: Obama rips health insurance lobby as 'deceptive,' 'dishonest,' 'bogus.' // Current

Everyone knows I'm a technology addict. Therapy would be far less expensive.

So I have purchased a new Withings scale in the hopes it will motivate me to eat more healthfully and exercise more often. (Since I've added the insulin pump, my A1C is in the normal range, but I have gained 20 pounds over the past 3 years and just feel fat.)

The scale measures your weight and your BMI. It tells me how many pounds of my weight are fat. (Dreadful) It sends my weight to my online profile and my iPhone so I can see a graph of how well I am proceeding to my goal. I could even share my graph here on timtyson.us, but... well, how to say this succinctly... not a chance in hell!

Actually, though I really want to lose 20 pounds, I'm just barely outside a normal weight (a mere 2 pounds) for my height, and my fat mass is within the normal for my height range. I suppose the reason I'm not happy with my weight is that my lean body mass is near the bottom of normal for my weight. So I need to have more of my weight be muscle mass instead of fat.

The new scale looks very sleek and works amazingly. I stand on it for about 10 seconds and get a digital readout of total weight, lean mass weight, fat mass weight, and BMI. Within a minute the data is on my iPhone and online profile. Very cool.

I must confess to being among the first to purchase the new scale in the United States. Withings has been selling them abroad for some time now and just opened up the US market.

Scale Rating: Tim Likes!

To his credit, he apologized. But SC Republican Representative Joe Wilson should be humiliated by his typically Republican behavior. The President, while presenting his case for health care reform, showed remarkable restraint.

Rachel Maddow, my new heroine, sums it up nicely in the video below.

California's Real Death Panels: Insurers Deny 21% of Claims PacifiCare's Denials 40%, Cigna's 33% in First Half of 2009

More than one of every five requests for medical claims for insured patients, even when recommended by a patient's physician, are rejected by California's largest private insurers, amounting to very real death panels in practice daily in the nation's biggest state, according to data released today by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

link: California Nurses Association

Marion Nestle, NYU professor and blogger at FoodPolitics.com, gave a great presentation at the GEL conference about why we have doubled the percentage of our US population that is over weight in just 25 years. She offers these sensible ways to control your weight and eat healthfully:

• Eat Less
  
• Move More
• Eat Fruits and Vegetables
  
• Don't Eat Too Much Junk Food
  
• Enjoy Food

Watch her presentation:

Marion Nestle at Gel 2009 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage

1. Ends Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions: Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history.
2. Ends Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays: Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses.
3. Ends Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care: Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics.
4. Ends Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill: Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill.
5. Ends Gender Discrimination: Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender.
6. Ends Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage: Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive.
7. Extends Coverage for Young Adults: Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26.
8. Guarantees Insurance Renewal: Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick.

The immorality of unfettered capitalism never ceases to disgust me: the wealthy stealing from the people who need the most. But to then turn around and work them into a worried frenzy about cooked up lies to empower the wealthy to continue to rob from these needy people is unconscionable.

The "death councils" that will decide who lives and who dies, direct access to your bank accounts... on and on. This from the industry who actually does decide who gets treatments covered and who doesn't and who can not be held accountable for the many people denied coverage that not just severely impacts their quality of life but even kills them. Has no one stopped to wonder why people don't file lawsuits against the insurance industry? You can't. The had congress protect them from that as it would eat into their outrageously immoral profits.

We have the most expensive healthy care in the world and are among the lowest ranked in the world for health. What is wrong with this picture? And then to frighten the elderly and the ill with lies to keep their money flowing into the coffers of the most wealthy is nothing but the worst evil. Hell will not be hot enough.

And why doesn't the media report on all of this? Have you paid attention to the number or advertisements the medical industry puts on CNN, for example?????

Journalism is dead.

A great expose of what senators and congressmen are bought and owned by the healthcare industry to stop helping the American people get better healthcare. As I have written before, we need return to government by, for, and of the people, not the corporations!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I recently needed to replace my toothbrush. I only have a few criteria in this order of importance:

• Medium bristles
• Some plastic or rubberized bristles
• Comfortable, over-sized grip
• Colorful and cheery

I was having a most difficult time locating brushes with medium bristles. Almost all of them were soft. The soft bristles don’t work well for me and certainly don’t last. The only one I could find didn’t have any plastic bristles and, of all things, was battery powered!

What? A battery powered toothbrush? How ecologically responsible is this? But, needing the medium bristles above all else, I decided to get it.

The vibrating brush is novel if nothing else. But what I found shocking is the fact that 2 of the 3 other toothbrushes in the house were also battery powered, and I had no idea. All this time I could have vibrated my teeth, and yet I didn’t realize my toothbrushes were electrified. One of them even has spinning bristles (pictured here).

I just thought the thicker handles were a fad. Little did I know.

Fascinating!  

This development from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Science Institute in Germany has made the creation of human skin much cheaper:

The basic skin production system, which Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft hopes to start selling next year, can produce 5,000 little swatches of human skin a month, for a total of over 600 square inches of mass-produced tissue. Each 0.12-square-inch section of skin would cost around $49 to produce, far less than the current cost.

The system, which should be available in 2010, is fully automated, with computers controlling the solution that the skin grows in, monitoring the vats for infection, guiding the blade that cuts the swatches, and even testing the quality of the final product. So far, this project has generated 19 patents for Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

[From Scientists Find Way to Mass Produce Human Skin - Neatorama]

This laser light mounted on the bike projects a bike lane onto the road around the cyclist for safety.

Source: Wired

A friend of mine has this and loves it. I want to add the continuous glucose monitor to my pump, which will support it, but that needle looks a little sharp!

Artificial pancreas: Scientists are pairing continuous glucose monitors, such as the device pictured here (white device, top), with insulin pumps, such as the one pictured here (pagerlike device, bottom), to create an artificial pancreas for people with diabetes. In this commercial system by Medtronic, the glucose monitor wirelessly transmits data to the pump via a meter (not pictured). However, the user must still decide how much insulin he needs and dose it out himself. In an artificial pancreas, specially-designed algorithms would calculate how much insulin is required, and how quickly, and then signal the drug’s delivery without human intervention.
Credit: Medtronic, Inc.

[Source: Technology Review: An Artificial Pancreas]

Yeah, I just don't think it's good to use a cell phone next to your ear. I prefer my bluetooth head set or bluetooth connection to the car. But is bluetooth any better?

Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.”

Dr. Vini Khurana, an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University who is an outspoken critic of cellphones, said: “I use it on the speaker-phone mode. I do not hold it to my ear.” And CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital, said that like Dr. Black he used an earpiece.

Along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis of a glioma, a type of tumor that critics have long associated with cellphone use, the doctors’ remarks have helped reignite a long-simmering debate about cellphones and cancer.

[Source: Well - Debate Over Link Between Cellphones and Cancer Is Revived - NYTimes.com]

Sounds interesting...

Cancer Therapy Without Side Effects Nearing Trials
By Jennifer Laloup 04.13.08

A promising new cancer treatment that may one day replace radiation and chemotherapy is edging closer to human trials.

Kanzius RF therapy attaches microscopic nanoparticles to cancer cells and then "cooks" tumors inside the body with harmless radio waves.

Based on technology developed by Pennsylvania inventor John Kanzius, a retired radio and TV engineer, the treatment has proven 100 percent effective at killing cancer cells while leaving neighboring healthy cells unharmed. It is currently being tested at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“I don’t want to give people false hope,” said Dr. Steve Curley, the professor leading the tests, “but this has the potential to treat a wide variety of cancers.”

[From Cancer Therapy Without Side Effects Nearing Trials ]

This seems unseemly!

Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones: Scientific American

We compulsively wash our hands, spray our countertops and grimace when someone sneezes near us—in fact, we do everything we can to avoid unnecessary encounters with the germ world. But the truth is we are practically walking petri dishes, rife with bacterial colonies from our skin to the deepest recesses of our guts.

All the bacteria living inside you would fill a half-gallon jug; there are 10 times more bacterial cells in your body than human cells, according to Carolyn Bohach, a microbiologist at the University of Idaho (U.I.), along with other estimates from scientific studies. (Despite their vast numbers, bacteria don't take up that much space because bacteria are far smaller than human cells.) Although that sounds pretty gross, it's actually a very good thing. ...

But the bacterial body has made another contribution to our humanity—genes. Soon after the Human Genome Project published its preliminary results in 2001, a group of scientists announced that a handful of human genes—the consensus today is around 40—appear to be bacterial in origin. ...

[From Humans Carry More Bacterial Cells than Human Ones: Scientific American]

I found that last paragraph cited of interest as I have always joked with people, to see if I can get an incredulous reaction, that bacteria are actually alien life forms that are attempting to colonize the earth by mutating our bodies into their original alien likeness. Good God! Is it true?! <eg>

Rarely, but sometimes none the less, a day comes along that is filled with horrible negative energy. Today was such a day!

Today I spent hours dealing with technology that just didn't want to work properly. I was on the phone with a tech support "specialist" at Apple for well over 2.5 hours who insisted I'm insane. He stated that something I've been doing for years and years with multiple Macs and different display devices is not and has never been possible. Therefore, it is not an issue with the new 10.5.1 operating system. I suppose I'm delusional.

I also spent an ungodly amount of time dealing with Apple's Pages program trying to print a basic mail merge for the Christmas newsletter. The program crashed a multitude of times. Then the paper, having been printed on one side, started to curl and go through the printed crooked when printing the second side. Maddening.

A "simple" little digital movie task almost worked the first time I tried it. Every subsequent attempt wholly failed to work in any shape, form, or fashion. The technology never again performed in the way the program is supposed to perform when using iChat Theater to present a Keynote presentation.

Then I got a traffic ticket for running a stop sign. What irks the hell out of me is that I was not in any hurry at all. I was driving well below the speed limit through this neighborhood. I never even saw the stop sign, and I'm a rather attentive driver. No other cars or people were around except for a parked police car right in the area. Hmm... My guess: it's a favorite and easy money maker for Dekalb County. For all the bluster, It's not about safety, really, or the county would make sure the sign is more readily visible. The police car just sits and waits to write another ticket.

Today I learned that a former co-worker is retiring next week. I'm disappointed that I will not be able to attend the celebration as I will be out of town.

But the worst part of the day was learning that the little girl that has cut my hair for several years, who started her own hair salon a couple of years ago, who was young, who was easy-going, kind, and thoughtful, who got married about a year ago, who had two unexpected strokes 2 weeks ago, died shortly thereafter. Two weeks earlier she shared with me about how deeply meaningful her prior weekend had been to her: she had just been on a spiritual retreat to a monastery associated with her faith. Hard to believe. Tremendously sad.

Today I was on my way over to get my hair cut when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number as it appeared on Watts' dashboard (my car). The person called me by name (those sales calls always start by calling me by my legal first name and I hang up without even responding). It was a friend of the girl who has cut my hair for years.

She told me that Sarah, who is probably in her twenties, had two strokes this week and is in critical condition in the ICU. Her mother and husband can only visit her for very brief periods of time each day as she is unconscious.

This is so hard to imagine as she is so young, laid back, and easy going. Send your thoughts and prayers her way.

How many nuclear bombs have been tested in the atmosphere? Where did the radioactive fallout land? When? How many nuclear bombs have been tested under ground? What are the radioactive readings of the water in those watersheds?

Has anyone produced a graphic showing where the levels of cancer in relationship to these test sites? (Well, I'm sure "someone" has, but will we ever see this information?)

I find it hard to believe that the Russians, or any government on this planet, would detonate in our earth's atmosphere a nuclear device that was 10 times more powerful than all of the munitions used in World War II combined. And yet the narrator sounds so matter-of-fact, even cheery about it all. Small comfort! Small comfort indeed!

The video is dark or pixelated for less than 5 seconds but then displays properly.

Amazingly, a 109 this morning. I haven't awoke to a normal blood glucose for many years! I should have become the bionic "mac" sooner.

Today I became a bionic man. I am now tethered to an insulin pump. The doctor's office asked that I not take my morning insulin. So my blood glucose was high this morning. After a couple of hours on the pump I was in the normal range, where I have remained all day. At dinner tonight I had a blood glucose of 97!! This is shocking! I don't recall the last time I was below 100 other than when having a low blood sugar "episode."

And I love the new Paradigm Link® Blood Glucose Monitor that came with the pump. I chose the black model. It automatically beams the reading into the pump. All I then have to do is enter the number of grams of carbs I am eating and the pump recommends the correct bolus dose of insulin. Very cool.

The nurse that trained me on the pump today was very helpful. She also taught me how to test on my arm. I am willing to bet money that I would not have been so bad at testing if I had known how to do this sooner. It doesn't hurt at all. In fact, I don't even feel it!! Honest to god!! If someone had told me this I wouldn't have believed them.

And only the tiniest amount of blood comes to the surface of the skin. It seems that the new testing monitor virtually only requires a single molecule of blood to suck it up onto the testing strip. In 3 - 5 seconds the monitor provides the reading and beams it to the insulin pump. I love this!

And finally, I can never remember to check my blood glucose. In fact, more times than not, I forget to even eat lunch. The insulin pump vibrates to remind me when it's time to eat. It even vibrates 2 hours later to remind me to check the blood glucose level again. Since it doesn't hurt and is a very quick process, I don't mind doing it nearly as much!

So what's the down side? The cost of the testing strips is absurd. My insurance only provides an 11% discount, so the difference is the "co-pay." They should call it the "you-pay." I will have to learn how to count the grams of carbs I eat. I am not good at determining the portion size. And I'll see how sleeping with the pump goes tonight.

Oops! I'm vibrating. Time to check my blood glucose level. Dear god, only 156 two hours after dinner!! This will be a very interesting journey.

I posted earlier this month about the Lima, a cute little handheld device to measure blood glucose levels with an infrared beam. I decided to investigate this further, to see if I could go to Europe and purchase one. Sadly, this appears to only have been a mockup of a fictitious product by a product designer. Does the technology to use infrared light to measure blood glucose levels through the skin exist at all? Is it under development?

At any rate, click here to see a little movie from the product designer.

Historically, science inevitably renders narrow-mindedness irrelevant. I think this is the beginning of that process on this very complex issue. As those who know me well already know, I love a good controversy as long as it is respectful. Controversy often produces deeper understandings.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists say they've created embryonic stem cells by stimulating unfertilized eggs, a significant step toward producing transplant tissue that's genetically matched to women.

The advance suggests that someday, a woman who wants a transplant to treat a condition like diabetes or a spinal cord injury could provide eggs to a lab, which in turn could create tissue that her body wouldn't reject.

Source: Wired News - AP News

If I had these when I was a child, I might have become a diabetic sooner! I loved Froot Loops cereal as a chid!

"Cory Doctorow: Kellogg's Cereal Straws are straws lined with powdered sugar-cereal dust that kids can drink milk through. It makes the milk taste like the sludge left at the bottom of a cereal bowl. We feed kids gross things, but this reaches new levels of grotitude.

Upon perforating one of the two packages, the perfume of fake fruit and powdered milk permeated the air and tempted the taste buds (try to say that without sounding like Daffy Duck, I dare you). There’s something about unabashedly artificial flavoring that’s both charming and nostalgic…sexual, even. Alright, maybe not sexual, but something pleasant nonetheless. The straws were thinner than what the box indicated, looking more like real straws than giant-sized novelty pens. They are lined in the middle with that sickly sweet powdered milk that seems to be popping up in granola and cereal bars everywhere. Someone needs to tell these guys that it does NOT replace milk and that we can all tell it’s just sweetened coffee creamer. Fortunately, the flavor of that is masked by the Froot Loop shell.

Sources: Cereal Straws -- powdered sugar-cereal drinking straws , Link (via The Consumerist) (Via Boing Boing.)