Tag Archives: breast cancer

Lantus Doesn’t Increase Cancer Risks

11 Sunday Dec 2011

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I am not currently using Lantus insulin, but I have on and off for many years when I was not wearing the pump. So the news that Lantus does not increase the risk of cancer is welcome.

“The study’s lead investigator, Peter Boyle and president of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France, said the meta-analysis “highlights the need to go beyond single study reports and utilize all available data.” He added that “in the context of all available information, the current evidence supports that insulin glargine is associated with no increased risk of cancer as compared to other insulin therapies.”

Read More here: DiabetesinControl

NPR asks: Does Diabetes Need A Blue Button To Establish Its Disease Cred?

21 Monday Nov 2011

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Yes NPR, we do need blue…..

Read more on one color for diabetes:

Breast cancer has a pink ribbon. Cystic fibrosis has a purple ribbon. Heart disease has a red ribbon.

Would diabetes be easier for people to talk about if it had a blue circle?

Some advocates think so and have been pushing various diabetes groups to unite behind the color blue. The idea has a lot of traction outside the United States.

Hundreds of edifices around the world, from Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg, South Africa to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, were illuminated with blue lights on Nov. 14, World Diabetes Day.

But in the United States, diabetes groups are all over the color spectrum. The American Diabetes Association uses red; the American Association of Diabetes Educators favors orange and gray; while the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation goes with blue.

Since more than one-third of Americans are either diabetic or pre-diabetic, you’d think here’s one disease that doesn’t a color to establish cred. Then there’s the fact that Americans may be suffering from awareness ribbon fatigue, seeing as there are nowhundreds of variants, for diseases from Lyme disease (green, of course) to interstitial cystitis (teal)…..

“Save the Beta-Cells!” Living in the shadow of Breast Cancer

08 Saturday Oct 2011

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Here we are in the pink month of October and once again, as a woman with diabetes, I feel like the ugly step-sister. I drive my car to Target and see the pink ribbon bumper stickers, I open the newspaper and read the front page profiles of breast cancer survivors. Every year it’s the same thing. Hordes of men, women and children across the country register for the Susan G. Komen 5k races, while others dye a strand of pink in their hair. Various charities put on art or food and wine events to raise money for breast cancer and every where I look there is this powerful storm of a community, raising awareness about breast cancer.

And then November, Diabetes awareness month, rolls around and I feel second best. I look in the paper for stories of women living with diabetes, I look for a local 5k or even a walk for diabetes and the closest one is a 2 hour drive away. In my car at the stop light I search for diabetes bumper stickers, but there are none. With almost 30 million diabetics in the US compared to approx. 2.5 million breast cancer survivors, why are we the David compared to the breast cancer goliath?

I want to have a cute bumper sticker for diabetes. I want a cute slogan like “Save the ta-ta’s” but “save the beta cells” just doesn’t have the same punch. Somehow breast cancer is sexy and powerful and when you see a woman with a scarf tied around her head, you are filled you with compassion. And I don’t know if the same can be said when you see a woman checking her blood sugar or pulling her pump from under her shirt.

I understand that these diseases are very different-one is a chronic illness that can be managed with diet, exercise and insulin while the other can be deadly. (I think we all know that diabetes, if poorly controlled, can also lead to death.) And I don’t want to sound like the whiney underdog. What I want to do is learn from this community of breast cancer survivors. I want see diabetes stickers, tee shirts, races and fundraisers everywhere I look during the month of November. I want our color (is it blue or red?) to appear on the packages of food in grocery stores across the country. I want to raise the same kind of cash for diabetes research that is being raised for breast cancer. I want diabetes to get out of the pumpkin and ride to the castle in a gold plated horse carriage, no longer the ugly step-sister.

stopdiabetes.

Diabetes and Mammograms – Diabetes Health

24 Wednesday Aug 2011

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Diabetes and Mammograms – Diabetes Health.

I wrote this article for Diabetes Health after reading a study that said wwd don’t get screened for breast cancer as often as we should. When I read the study I realized not only had I never been screened (I’m 40 years old), but I also haven’t been to my OBGYN since Reid was born 2 years ago. Oops! I haven’t been to the endo, the dermatologist, or the dentist. I don’t have a general practitioner, and the only reason I’ve been to the optomitrist is because I needed new contacts. What is going on here?

I used to say it was because after so many doctor appointments during my pregnancy that I needed a break, but Reid is two years old today, so that excuse no longer holds up.

After reading this study, I realized that I may be able to blame diabetes for my laissez faire attitude toward doctor appointments. (I’m partly kidding). I no longer blame everything on diabetes because I’ve realized that it doesn’t get me anywhere except feeling sorry for myself, however, this study has shown that many wwd do not get screened for breast cancer because they/we feel overwhelmed by doctors and medicine and life with illness. So, what do we do? How do we help wwd feel less stressed out about going to the doctor? Suggestions welcome!