Amanda Burton - Yet another dietitian promoting a high carb diet for diabetics

Myth: Low carbohydrate diets are good for those with diabetes as they need to avoid carbs.

Fact: Carbohydrates (carbs) are the body’s preferred source of energy, and everyone needs a specific amount each day to help the mind, muscles and rest of body properly function. Carb-containing foods ideally should comprise about 50 to 60 per cent of your total calories each day. That’s for people with or without diabetes. Low carb diets can often overloaded with protein and fat, as aside from carbs, these are the only other two nutrients we can get energy from (alcohol aside). Following a high fat, high protein diet over the long term has been shown to increase risks of heart or kidney disease in adulthood (people with diabetes are already at increased risk for this), another reason why it is ideal for half the body’s calories to come from foods like fruits and veggies, low fat dairy, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.

http://www.cbncompass.ca/

How big pharma must love these dietitians that make claims that 50 to 60% carbs is the ideal target for Type 2 diabetics.

Wonder just where she gets the long term studies to back the claims she makes about the increase in heart and kidney disease?

Graham

Health and Safety - Friend or Foe ?

With the Christmas Season almost upon us, in fact many may argue it’s here already, in towns and villages across the UK Winter Carnival Processions are planned.

I used to regularly attend one that was local to where we lived. When the children were young they would take part and thoroughly enjoy the occasion. Always dressing for the part and dressing warmly, as December could be very cold.

The procession would start and included bands, colourful floats, walking entries with people dressed up in the theme of the procession, some even on bikes. The atmosphere was great and all the families and friends who were taking part, or just simply watching, thoroughly enjoyed the day. The main highlight for the ‘kiddies’ was of course Father Christmas and his attendant elves or Snow Princesses.

One of the other highlights was a local Morris Dance Group - a great group of people who gave their time to dance with great energy and would have the crowd clapping and ‘jigging’ along. The streets used to be closed and the procession and dancing would take place on the road. These processions always raised money for Charity, and people were always generous, wanting to help those not as fortunate as themselves. One year the Charity was a local children’s hospice, another year it was ‘Hearing Dogs For the Deaf’ 

In recent years the number of Christmas Carnivals has dwindled. Probably for many reasons, lack of money to pay for stewards, lack of people wanting to put the effort in, that word apathy comes to mind. But I think the main one is the huge increase in ‘Health and Safety’ red tape. Of course we have to keep people safe but common sense does also need to prevail and many times this isn’t the case.

You may have already read this article, or a similar one.

Health and Safety gone too far - well have a read and see what you think.

For those of you who may not know what Morris Dance is, I’ve put a short piece below about it. However you enjoy your dance it can help keep you fit.

Morris Dance - Details Taken From Wikipedia

Morris Dance is a form of English Folk Dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. 

The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance is dated to 1448, and records the payment of seven shillings to Morris dancers by the Goldsmiths' Company in London. There are further mentions of Morris dancing in the late 15th century and beyond.

The earliest records mention ‘Morys’ in a court setting, and a little later, in the Lord Mayors’ Processions in London, The Morris Dance had adopted the nature of a folk dance and was performed in the parishes.

Outside of England, there are around 150 Morris sides or teams. In the United States, Australia, New Zealand plus other countries there are isolated groups who continue the tradition and keep Morris Dancing alive and kicking ….....
I can hear those bells now.

All the best Jan

Heart attack: Cholesterol and statins are the biggest medical fraud of the century

We have been fooling the public all through by manipulating in every field of science and medicine. Heart attacks, cholesterol and statins are only the present avatar of this fraud!

The Second World War was a great event in the history of the world as also in the history of so called scientific developments in Europe. Science got a fillip with the success of the atom bomb, although that was the first indication of how reductionist science could be used for power and money! Prosperity came to Europe since that war. With prosperity comes better living standards, making people want to buy more and consume more.

Fredrickson was the first who studied the relationship between increased fat intake and incidence of coronary heart disease. He was successful in showing that the rise in heartdiseases was directly proportionate to the increased intake of fat. Thus was born the ‘fat theory’ which is a bane to mankind even to this day, despite the fact that many famous researchers like John Yudkin, Peter Taggart and others had shown similar relationship between sugar intake and buying clothes, etc. They were only co-variants and not cause-effect relationships.

The medical industry was quick to grasp this opportunity to sell drugs and food to lower fat intake. The Diet-Heart Study, which started in 1954, showed that diet had NOTHING to do with heart disease as long as one does not overeat. This report was conveniently brushed under the carpet as the industry had already come up with crude drugs like Cholestyramine to reduce blood fats in diet.
 

In 1957, one of the first studies testing the idea that substituted polyunsaturated fat with saturated fat in the diet that would lower cholesterol and protect against heart attacks, was launched in New York. This was the beginning of the many such fraudulent studies. A new medical fraud and science fraud was perpetrated on mankind to sell more statins to reduce fats in the blood was done by the American Guidelines’Committee.
 

“An online calculator designed to help doctors assess heart disease risk is flawed, a problem that could result in millions of people being prescribed statin drugs who don’t need them”, the New York Times reported.
 

How the first medical fraud and science fraud was committed? The 1957 study was done (on 1,100 subjects) to show that replacing saturated fats in diet with polyun saturated fats will lower blood fat levels. The study DID show that but it also showed that this effort increases death at the end of the day. The second sacred truth is being suppressed even to this day. There have been numerous such studies as also studies of cholesterol lowering with chemical drugs over the last six decades and ALL OF THEM did show that total mortality increased whenever the artificial lowering of cholesterol or replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats was attempted!
 

The climax came in a very expensive study which ran for 25 years called the MRFIT (Multiple Risk Factor Interventional Trial). The results showed that while risk factors could be reduced by our interventions THE RISK OF PRECOCIOUS DEATH increased significantly. MRFIT was just a boondoggle. There were no risk factors as far as the MRFIT study was concerned. They had studied sugar, fats, blood pressure etc. in that study. All the benefits of lowering these parameters called risk factors did not reduce the risk of early death.
 

Dr Norman Jollife, director of the New York City Health Department, was convinced that the hefty intake of saturated fat common at that time was one of the driving forces in the development of coronary heart disease. He recruited about 1,100 male subjects into a group he styled as the ‘Anti-Coronary Club’. The subjects consumed this Prudent Diet for several years, and cholesterol levels fell fairly markedly.
 

One can see how this Prudent Diet study results were sexed up and published to show enormous benefit thus:
 

• • Cholesterol levels fell sharply in those that ate the polyunsaturated fat-rich diet. Along the way, the researchers released interim results that caught the attention of the press. The New York Times published an article on the study in 1962 and another in 1964. Both presented the studies as showing major health improvements in the intervention group following the Prudent Diet.
   
• • The results were finally published in the JAMA. The trick of the trade was to show the drastic reduction in blood fat levels in the subjects and also a marginal fall in non-fatal heart attacks, but was silent on the increased total deaths in that group.

• • When you read the body of the paper it is very clear that a significantly higher percentage of people died in this group compared to the controls! According to Proteinpower.com, ”There were 26 subjects who died during the study, while only six subjects died from the control group. It gets even worse when you look at heart disease, the very problem this diet was designed to prevent.”

Read more here: http://www.moneylife.in/

Graham

Parents Fined For Not Sending Ritz Crackers In Kids' Lunches

It's quite possible that the single stupidest school lunch policy on the planet comes courtesy of a strange interpretation of the Manitoba Government's Early Learning and Child Care lunch regulations (an earlier version of this article incorrectly pointed at the Manitoba Child Care Association as the source of the strangely interpreted policy).

Apparently if a child's lunch is deemed "unbalanced", where "balance" refers to ensuring that a lunch conforms to the proportions of food groups as laid out by Canada's awful Food Guide, then that child's lunch is "supplemented", and their parent is fined.

Blog reader Kristen Bartkiw received just such a fine.

She sent her children to daycare with with lunches containing leftover homemade roast beef and potatoes, carrots, an orange and some milk. 

She did not send along any "grains".

As a consequence the school provided her children with, I kid you not, supplemental Ritz Crackers, and her with a $10 fine.

As Kristen writes, had she sent along lunches consisting of, "microwave Kraft Dinner and a hot dog, a package of fruit twists, a Cheestring, and a juice box" those lunches would have sailed right through this idiocy. But her whole food, homemade lunches? They lacked Ritz Crackers.

So what say you? Have you come across a more inane school lunch policy? Because I sure haven't.

[Kristen also updated me that consequent to parents failing to pack "balanced" lunches they've moved to a hot lunch program that she describes as great. So perhaps some good came out of Manitoba's idiocy after all] 

http://www.weightymatters.ca/ 

Graham

Alcohol consumption is inversely associated with stage 3 chronic kidney disease in middle-aged Taiwanese men

Abstract (provisional)

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major global public health burden, but there is limited understanding of the relationship of alcohol consumption with CKD.

Methods

In this cross-sectional multivariable study, all participants of a health check-up program in Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital in Taiwan from 2003 to 2009 (15 353 women and 11 900 men) were included for analysis. Estimated glomerular filtration rate was used to define CKD stage and history of alcohol consumption was obtained by self-reporting. Multivariable logistic regression analyses of gender-specific association of alcohol drinking with stage 3 CKD were conducted. A trend tests was conducted to check the dose--response relationship of alcohol consumption with renal disease. A sensitivity test was conducted to rule out the likelihood of reverse causality.

Results

The prevalence of stage 3 CKD was lower in drinkers than non-drinkers (p < 0.001) and the percentage of drinkers with stage 3 CKD was less than that of non-drinkers. Multivariable analysis indicated that alcohol consumption was negatively associated with the presence of stage 3 CKD in men (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for occasional drinking: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.59 ~ 0.78, p < 0.001; aOR for frequent drinking: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.35 ~ 0.63, p < 0.001). Advanced age, hypertension, anemia, BMI of at least 24, hyperuricemia, and proteinuria were also associated with stage 3 CKD in men. Trend tests indicated lower odds of having stage 3 CKD with increased alcohol consumption in both genders. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity tests also indicated the reverse association between alcohol consumption and stage 3 CKD in men regardless of age, diabetes status, and other risky behaviors.

Conclusions

Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with stage 3 CKD in Taiwanese men. However, considering the potential of other health damage with alcohol consumption, the current results should be interpreted cautiously.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production. http://www.biomedcentral.com/ Graham

The Best Low Carb Christmas Pudding Ever …. Well probably !

No I don’t drink 'Carlsberg' but I guess the play on words is quite similar ?

However, I do think that for YOU out there who are following a low carb high fat lifestyle this Christmas Pudding recipe is one to be recommended.

Of course each to our own, but isn’t choice an amazing thing !

The slightly worrying aspect of posting this is -  I’ve just realised that Christmas Day is just five weeks away - I don’t know where the year has gone, but it‘s certainly flown by.

I pity Father Christmas and his Elves who are so busy getting everything ready …….. well so my grandchildren tell me.  

Hope you all enjoy the Christmas Pudding

Ingredients:
100 grams ground almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of melted butter
2 tablespoons of double cream

100 grams of lowcarb thawed frozen fruits. Blueberries, blackcurrants and strawberries.

60 grams of 90-95% cocoa dark chocolate

Two tea spoons of cocoa powder

One large shot of brandy

A handful of almond flakes and broken walnuts Extra thick cream

 Method:

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

Melt the butter, use a Pyrex jug, add the eggs, cream, and fruit. Add the dry ingredients and mix. Pour into a medium size Pyrex mixing bowl. Microwave in a 700watt for 5 minutes. Turn out upside-down onto five layers of kitchen paper on a flat plate. Zap in micro-wave for a further two minutes. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl standing in a saucepan of boiling water. Pour over pudding and serve with a scoop of extra thick cream. Serves four

Hope you all enjoy the Christmas Pudding more ideas coming soon.

All the best Jan 

Gluten Summit Wrap-up with Dr. Tom O'Bryan!

Sean Croxton has long been one of my guru's, as you can see he can talk the talk and walk the walk. Here he interviews Dr. Tom O'Bryan. Another must watch for people interested in diet and the massive implications for our health. BTW anyone remember AliB, a woman that was railroaded off some UK forums, yet again we see the woman was on the right track. Eddie

Frederick Sanger: Double Nobel Prize winner dies at 95.

Frederick Sanger, the British biochemist who twice won the Nobel Prize, has died at the age of 95.

Fellow researchers have described him as "one of the greatest scientists of any generation" and as "a real hero" of British science. He is considered the "father of genomics" after pioneering methods to work out the exact sequence of the building blocks of DNA. Dr Sanger also developed techniques to determine the structure of proteins. He was born in 1918 in Gloucestershire and initially planned to follow his father into medicine. However, he followed a career in biochemistry at the University of Cambridge.

He is the only Briton to win two Nobel Prizes and the only scientist to have been awarded the prize for Chemistry twice.

The first came in 1958 for developing techniques to work out the precise chemical structure of proteins.

Proteins are made up of amino-acids. Dr Sanger was able to determine which amino-acids and in what order were used to build the hormone insulin.

More on this story here.

Eddie

Why do some medical professionals refuse to learn ?

Anyone here ever heard of a man called Ignacio Ponseti ? thought not. Let me tell you about this genius. He devised a method of correcting club foot in children. His idea was to use manipulation and plaster casts to correct club foot. All around him were naysayers from the medical establishment, surgery was the only way they said and Ponseti was wrong. Well Ponesti was right, very right ! Let's move forward a bit.

From Wiki.

Clubfoot (talipes equinovarus) affects almost 150,000 children annually. Almost 80% of these children live in developing nations. Dr Ponseti's technique is painless, fast, cost-effective and successful in almost 100% of all congenital clubfoot cases. The Ponseti method is endorsed and supported by World Health Organization^[3][4] National Institutes of Health,^[5] American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons,^[6] Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America,^[7] European Pediatric Orthopedic Society,^[8] CURE,^[9] STEPS Charity UK,^[10] STEPS Charity South Africa,^[11] A Leg to Stand On (India)^[12] and others.

At the 2007 International Clubfoot Symposium attended by 200 doctors from 44 countries, papers were presented for an estimated 10,000 children successfully treated with the technique around the world in the past few years.

The Ponseti International Association for the Advancement of Clubfoot Treatment was founded in 2006 at the University of Iowa. The Ponseti International Association aims to improve the treatment of children born with clubfoot through education, research and improved access to care.

Now here is the $64,000 question, when did the great man come up with this idea ? Again from Wiki.

The Ponseti method is a manipulative technique that corrects congenital clubfoot without invasive surgery. It was developed by Dr. Ignacio V. Ponseti of the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, USA in the 1950s, and was repopularized in 2000 by Dr. John Herzenberg in the USA and Europe and in Africa by NHS surgeon Steve Mannion. It is a standard^[1] for the treatment of club foot.

How many years will it take the medics to realise, treating type two diabetes with a high carb diet and a bag of drugs is not the way to go ? 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

Just a thought.

Eddie

DCUK quote of the day, sending Bill Gates welfare parcels.

"Afternoon all

Dietician was a waste of time TBH.

I was "squeezed" in between appointments as she was booked until may. Spent the 15 mins i had pretty much arguing about carbs.

I spoke to her about this forum, and she kind of agreed, but she had to follow NICE guidelines?

Anyway, pretty much ignored her advice on starchy carbs, been eating low carb and doing ok i think.

Thanks for asking"

If I had a tenner for every time I have read a post like that, I would be sending Bill Gates welfare parcels.

Check out a Dietitian that is a million miles from "a waste of time" here.

Eddie

The engineer who fixed his own heart and others too !

As an engineer, Tal Golesworthy is no stranger to taking things apart, figuring out what the trouble is and putting them back together with the problem solved.

But for more than 30 years, he lived with a life-threatening issue that was less easy to fix.

That is, until he took an idea from the garden, combined it with some basic procedures borrowed from the aeronautical industry and came up with a "beautifully simple" solution to treat his own heart condition.

He then managed to convince surgeons to put it into him.

And nine years since his operation, the 57 year old engineer from Gloucestershire in the UK, has managed to help over 40 people with similar conditions.

Andrew Ellis, a keen footballer, has benefited from Mr Golesworthy's inventiveness.

At just 27 years old, Mr Ellis said it was daunting to put himself through an experimental medical procedure experienced by so few, but he was glad he did.

Five years after his surgery, he remains fit and healthy and "feels like someone without a heart condition".

More on this very interesting story here.

Eddie

BTW Doctors Bernstein, Wortman and other great Doctors were first engineers. That also goes for a couple of old codgers that work on this blog.

My friends take on ‘Cajun Chicken Breasts’

I don’t know what you may have enjoyed for dinner tonight. For Eddie and I, it was one of our favourites …. low carb pork and herb sausages, served with buttery mashed swede plus onions in gravy. Really tasty, not expensive and low carb - of course !

A friend had earlier been telling me about a tasty dish she’d enjoyed. It was her take on Cajun Chicken Breasts. I don’t have a recipe as such, but she gave me some sketchy details, which when you read through, is quite an easy one to follow …. I think.

Skinless Chicken Breasts marinated in oil with paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, a little garlic puree, mixed herbs, red wine vinegar, salt, and red chilli puree.

She puts the chicken breasts in a foil container, which can later be cooked in the oven. She makes up the other ingredients in a small bowl and then pours the mix over the chicken breasts. Leave to ‘marinate‘ over night in the fridge. Next day cook in the oven at 190 C for just over 30 minutes, until the juices run clear and the meat isn‘t pink.

She served hers with white rice EEK ! And some chopped red peppers cooked in a frying pan.

Now SHE isn’t diabetic and doesn’t go mad on the carbs, but she does eat more carbs than Eddie and myself …. My suggestion, if you are following a low carb high fat lifestyle, serve this wonderful sounding dish with Cauliflower Rice.

A great recipe idea for cauliflower rice can be found here.  

Enjoy

All the best Jan

DCUK quote of the day !

"Thanks everyone. Just got my new dinner plate from Diabetes.uk. It is great, half section for salad or veg and a quarter for protein and a quarter for starchy carbs. Much more my style!"

Groan, it gets worse !

"and given I am morbidly obese I am very interested in this. I will discuss with my diabetic nurse at my surgery and I will brave and ask at hosp diabetic nutrition clinic if I can do this."

Bangs head on desk !

Eddie 

The Eyes Have It Part 2

Following on with my two previous Eyes posts, namely. 'The Eyes Have It - Introduction' and 'The Eyes Have it Part 1'. I now have another Part for you to read.

Here is 'The Eyes Have it Part 2'. These are my personal experiences and thoughts which I hope will be of interest and use to readers.

As an aside, thank you, for the comments and emails received with regard to my previous 'Eyes' posts. I know many readers have found them interesting and helpful.

When second and subsequent appointments are necessary at the hospital eye clinic the procedure may differ slightly as additional tests may have been requested by the Doctor. before you are seen again .

FIELD TEST
Part I referred to the Field of Vision test which may have been requested if pressures in the eyes appeared to be high or if there is a family history of glaucoma. In this case the patient may already have been tested by his/her own optician./ optometrist. The test used in my hospital is known as Automated Perimetry. This test evaluates your vision field by flashing random lights of different strength (generated by computer) in your peripheral vision field while your eyes are fixed on a source light straight ahead. The patient uses a button to indicate the presence of objects. There may be a blind spot if you fail to see objects in a certain portion of the visual field. This test requires the patient to be able to co-operate and concentrate and requires a certain amount of co ordination so is not suitable for everyone. There are other alternatives so don’t worry if there is a problem for you. I dislike this test because it appears to trigger my claustrophobia and makes my eyes water copiously.

A doctor I spoke to recently said that it was stressful because lights are shown which are outside the normal field of vision, and patients sense this is the case and feel anxious. because they have failed to register the flash. I don't think it is ever taken as definitive in itself, - few tests are. It may be worth asking for it to be noted, however, if you have a headache or if your eyes are affected by hay fever or sinus problems. The Doctor will give you the result during your consultation.

OCT SCAN
It is also routine for an OCT scan to be requested. I have one almost every time I visit the eye clinic. OCT means Optical Coherence Tomography. This is a wonderful tool with many applications. It is a way of photographing cross sections of the retina in 3D, when used in ophthalmics. As well as its diagnostic uses it is also used to measure the success of various procedures and even indicate hazards which might occur in surgery. It can identify the areas where sub retinal fluid is present which means that injections or laser may be targeted more accurately in maculopathy and macular oedema.

The patient is asked to look into the camera. .Then it is just a matter of keeping the eyes wide open and not blinking while focusing on a central point for a few seconds. There is with the older machines a brief flash of light at the end but nothing else to disturb or alarm. Wheelchair users can remain in their wheelchairs for the scan. The results will be available on computer screens within minutes.

When I first began having regular OCT scans they were carried out by a skilled and experienced biometrist, then, a few years ago nurses were trained on the procedure. Some are excellent and there are no problems, but others find it challenging. Unless the image is clear it is useless. Occasionally the scan has to be repeated. The operator can examine the finished product and decide it is not good enough or the equipment senses that an error has occurred. I am so used to it all that I can tell with some accuracy when a retake is going to be necessary. It is usually because the focus wasn't correct to begin with.

While searching for images I came across this in Netscape the American Ophthalmology magazine. Link here to article. 

Also the images below show the scan in the top picture macular oedema while that underneath shows normal.

A very little experience, allows the patient to correlate the inconsistencies in vision apparent when tested on the standard eye chart with the images shown on the scans. Overlapping letters sloping and missing letters can all be matched to the irregularities on the OCT. I think my consultant is still trying to work out how I always know which eye is shown on the screen at any one time. I can only imagine the improvement in diagnosis and treatment which this amazing piece of technology has made possible while being so comfortable and non-invasive for the patient.

FUNDUS FLUORESCEIN ANGIOGRAPHY
The final test which may be advised for patients with diabetic eye disease is Fundus Fluorescein Angiogram commonly known as FFA [of course.] This procedure or the suggestion of it has been the cause of more anguish in my correspondence than any other. For a start to most people an angiogram means a coronary angiogram, they will never have heard it associated with eye problems. It is used to obtain more information about the blood vessels in the retina. It will show if there is leakage or bleeding and where treatment, if necessary, should be targeted. Patients - especially the newly diagnosed, are often terrified by the consent form they are asked to sign and the warnings they are given. The fact is that the dye used in this procedure, the fluorescein, yellow dye is not licensed to be used in this procedure, and was not developed for this purpose. It is however commonly used and very effective. The use of unlicensed substances is very common and something for which we should all be grateful. The hospital is obliged to tell patients of this and also to advise them of the risks involved in this procedure, for insurance reasons amongst others. Many people feel slightly nauseous for a few seconds after the injection, others may experience some slight allergic reaction on their skin afterwards, and very rarely, - one in about 25,000 patients will experience a more severe reaction which will be dealt with immediately by the emergency team. The benefits of the procedure are considered to far outweigh any risk.

I have had 3 angiograms and am still here to tell the tale! Before the procedure begins you will have your blood pressure checked and pupils dilated. You will be asked about allergies. There is a particular concern about iodine allergy so a bad reaction to shellfish would be something which must be disclosed. After your pupils have been dilated a cannula will be placed in a vein in your arm. You will be seated in front of a camera with chin and forehead rest and a series of rapid photographs will be taken. The dye is then injected via the cannula and this is the point at which nausea may be felt. I have only experienced this feeling once. On the other two occasions the officiating nurse believed that injecting the dye very slowly prevents nausea and this seemed to work.

More photos are then taken accompanied by more flashing lights, and after a while you will be allowed to rest for a few minutes. Then the final photos are taken. It is normal for the cannula, - now disconnected from the dye to be left in the arm until you are discharged, after about 30 minutes to allow you to recover and to check that no side effects occur. Some patients may need antihistamines for rash or redness at the cannula site. Tea and coffee is supplied in my clinic.

For 24 - 48 hours afterwards your skin and urine may appear orange or yellow, this is harmless and nothing to worry about. Drinking a lot of water should help to get rid of the dye. Then you are free to go. The doctor will generally discuss the results with you on your next visit. The only problem I have experienced apart from momentary nausea is with the insertion of the cannula. This very much depends upon the nurse. I have been very fortunate in having the same excellent nurse do this twice and it was totally painless. It is after all a very small cannula and a very fine needle used in this procedure. On one occasion a male nurse had seven tries in one arm and four in the other and was unable to insert the needle. It was excruciatingly painful. Having had a much larger cannula inserted by a paramedic on one occasion and a doctor on another I knew that the individual must be inept. Eventually I suggested that they try the wrist and this was successful. He had been suggesting a direct injection of the dye without the cannula but I was reluctant because I had no confidence in him by this time. I was later told that it is never a good idea to allow multiple attempts at inserting a cannula, or at drawing blood, as permanent and serious damage could be done.

I can‘t help but feel that it is the HCPs who ought to be aware of this and that the onus should not lie with the patient. In fact staff should be properly trained and proficient before being allowed to practice upon patients. I have heard from others that my experience is, by no means unusual or uncommon. If the cannula is not inserted properly and the dye escapes into the surrounding area it can cause burning which, while not serious, should be avoided if possible.

I have a great deal of sympathy for anyone asked to have an FFA shortly after diagnosis, I can well imagine the anxiety this would cause. I have had 3 FFAs in 3 years but this is unusual. It depends on the individual eye condition.

As with many tests and procedures the anticipation is worse than the experience. A newly diagnosed person may feel that this is only the beginning of a series of invasive tests but this is not the case at all. If you are a new patient and FFA is recommended it will certainly help in diagnosis and to pinpoint areas where treatment may be necessary. Most hospitals produce their own fact-sheets about these procedures, but these vary a great deal, and can  be misleading. I would advise anyone who is at all concerned to look at the information provided by several different hospitals which are usually available online in PDFs. This provides a fuller picture. Your hospital will always answer questions, but it is worthwhile doing your own research as it is very easy to misunderstand and not all hospital staff can be familiar with every procedure. Confusing and sometimes slightly uncomfortable as these tests may be it is worth while reflecting that not so long ago none of them were available and diagnosis and treatment would not have been possible until it was too late. It is much rarer for people to lose their sight completely these days and many new treatments are in the pipeline.

Next time I would like to share my experience of laser and eye injection, ln the hope that they will be of interest and use to others. These are matters which worry many diagnosed with retinopathy

Kath
 

Contraceptive pill 'doubles glaucoma risk' !

Women who take the contraceptive pill for more than three years are twice as likely to suffer from glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness, a study has found.

The hormone oestrogen, a crucial component of oral contraceptives, could play a role in the development of the condition which causes irreversible damage to the optic nerve, scientists said.

Long-term users of the Pill should be routinely screened for glaucoma and monitored regularly by eye doctors for any changes in their condition, they claimed.

Glaucoma is caused when fluid pressure builds up in the eye and the most common, chronic form of the disease affects about 480,000 people in England.

The contraceptive pill has previously been linked to a host of eye conditions, with some studies suggesting oestrogen could play a role in the development of glaucoma.

More on this story here.

Eddie

The crazy fu**ing world we live in !

Checking out Channel four news tonight, there was an article on top flight footballers. I know some footballers earn over £100,000 per week, some on twice or three times that amount of money. The question I find myself asking ? how can a footballer earn more in a week than a neurosurgery consultant surgeon earn in a year.

The world is completely mad in my opinion. But what do I know ?

Eddie

Some 'Healthy' Vegetable Oils May Actually Increase Risk of Heart Disease

 Some vegetable oils that claim to be healthy may actually increase the risk of heart disease, and Health Canada should reconsider cholesterol-lowering claims on food labelling, states an analysis inCMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Replacing saturated animal fats with polyunsaturated vegetable oils has become common practice because they can reduce serum cholesterol levels and help prevent heart disease. In 2009, Health Canada's Food Directorate, after reviewing published evidence, approved a request from the food industry to apply a heart disease risk reduction claim on vegetable oils and foods containing these oils. The label suggests "a reduced risk of heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels."

"Careful evaluation of recent evidence, however, suggests that allowing a health claim for vegetable oils rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but relatively poor in omega-3 α-linolenic acid may not be warranted," write Drs. Richard Bazinet, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto and Michael Chu, Lawson Health Research Institute and Division of Cardiac Surgery, Western University, London, Ontario.

Corn and safflower oil, which are rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but contain almost no omega-3 α-linolenic acid, are not associated with beneficial effects on heart health according to recent evidence. The authors cite a study published earlier this year in February 2013 "… in which the intervention group replaced saturated fat with sources of safflower oil or safflower oil margarine (rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but low in omega-3 α-linoleic acid). They found that the intervention group had serum cholesterol levels that were significantly decreased (by about 8%-13%) relative to baseline and the control group, which is consistent with the health claim." However, rates of death from all causes of cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease significantly increased in the treatment group.

In Canada, omega-6 linoleic acid is found in corn and safflower oils as well as foods such as mayonnaise, margarine, chips and nuts. Canola and soybean oils, which contain both linoleic and α-linolenic acids, are the most common forms of oil in the Canadian diet. "… it is unclear whether oils rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but low in omega-3 α-linolenic acid also reduce this risk. We suggest that the health claim be modified such that foods rich in omega-6 linoleic acid but poor in omega-3 α-linolenic acid be excluded," conclude the authors.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/

Graham

The Statin Insanity

The medical student was confused. "Well, that's not good."

He was seeing, in black and white, the benefits and harms of statin medicines. After years of systematic inculcation about the power of cholesterol reduction, this was the first time he had seen the numbers.

"I don't get it. I thought cholesterol was the big player in heart attacks."

Not really. Three-quarters of people having a first heart attack, for instance, have normal cholesterol levels.

"Seriously?"

Indeed. In fact, 50 years ago during the Framingham Heart Study, researchers first suggested that cholesterol may be a weak risk factor for heart disease. This led to a parade of drugs (fibrates, niacin, ezetemibe, etc.) that, despite lowering cholesterol, didn't help people live longer or avoid heart attacks.

"I've never heard that."

It gets worse: When the completed, 30-year data from the study was analyzed, in most age groups high cholesterol wasn't associated with more deaths. In fact, for older people, deaths were more common with low cholesterol.

"Now wait. Statins are supposed to be a 'miracle drug.' Heart disease is declining, right?"

Actually, heart disease deaths started dropping 40 years ago and the rate of that decline is completely unchanged since statins came into widespread use. On a public health scale, statins are a failure.

"This is insane."

------

It is also insane that medical schools around the country do not teach the failures of the cholesterol model of heart disease. Even for heart patients, a group in whom the benefits of statin drugs are broadly accepted, 80 people have to take the drug for one life to be saved. And just one in 40 will be spared from a heart attack. For these scraps of hopeful benefit, there is a price: the drug will give one in every 50 diabetes. Those are the numbers my student was looking at.

The American Heart Association's new guideline changes things most dramatically, however, for people who derive even less benefits. The guideline seems to expand recommendations for statins in those without known heart disease. For these individuals the chance of contracting diabetes due to the statin is roughly the same as the chance of avoiding a nonfatal heart attack. And while I would prefer to have neither, diabetes is a life-altering chronic condition and a nonfatal heart attack is a few days of temporary discomfort. Worse yet the pills don't save lives, or else they save so few that topic is stillhotly debated.

There is another reason to doubt the benefits of statins: The studies were mostly performed by drug companies with a history of gamesmanship and fraud in the reporting of results. The numbers are likely to be the rosiest version of reality (to understate). Of course, the cardiologists on the committee that wrote the guidelines are quite familiar with the drug companies that make statins, since 7 of 15 have financial ties to them.

History will judge the American Heart Association guidelines by their effect. We currently have a statin epidemic with 25 percent of adults over the age of 45 taking the pills, a large majority of whom do not have heart disease and have not seen the numbers. But they are simple, and available. No doctor should be prescribing a statin and no person should be taking one, unless they have seen them. If more people without heart disease take statins it will be a victory of misinformation.

And then I would have to agree with my student: This is insane.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Graham

ETYM quote of the year !

"Ok, so I've not been around much lately, but when I have, all I've been reading is people eating a shed load of carbs and promising to get back to low carb tomorrow. Well people, today is tomorrow!

You are killing yourselves. Sorry to put it bluntly, but no amount of sympathy and empathy is going to help here. You are eating high carb high fat and it is killing you. Either get back to low carb and reduce your BG or stop pretending you're low carbing and reduce your fat intake. You can't have it both ways. It is killing you and tomorrow never comes!"

Smidge

Too right Smidge

Just don't mention cakes and commiserations club, or carboholics, and never ever say they are doing a Grazer.

Eddie

The Complete Skinny on Obesity !

Another must watch video hot off the press. Eddie

Dr Mike Schachter who's payroll is this man on ?

Cholesterol is the single greatest risk factor for heart disease and a major risk factor in stroke and disease of the arteries. Statins reduce harmful cholesterol by slowing its production in the liver.

They’re proven to reduce heart attack and stroke by reducing harmful cholesterol which thickens arteries and increases risk of clots. A review of 90,000 statin users by the Medical Research Council in Oxford and the University of Sydney concluded that risk of fatal heart attack or stroke fell by about a third.

Benefits started immediately, increased the longer they were taken and the further cholesterol fell. It reported statins are especially valuable to people at high risk of heart attack or stroke and they protect patients whose cholesterol was considered normal.

Dr Kendrick uses studies selectively. He doesn’t mention the trials involving tens of thousands of people showing benefit from statins. He focuses entirely on the negative. Equally you don’t have to believe that the whole population should be on statins. I certainly do not.

Check out this story on Dr Mike Schachter here.

"Cholesterol is the single greatest risk factor for heart disease and a major risk factor in stroke and disease of the arteries."

Total nonsense !

Eddie

Whiskey is the Life of Man - Bellowhead (This is for John)

Santana - SMOOTH (Live) featuring Rob Thomas

I am seriously considering divorce.

I am seriously considering divorce. All my life I have been a car nut and I want an Ariel Atom. Jan says get one of these and I'm walking. What do you think? the car or a good wife? Eddie

The Mavericks - Back In Your Arms Again.

Saturday night again, this is a great band with a great foot tapping beat. Eddie