"Tom Hanks has...." Topic

…Type-2 diabetes:

link

He revealed his diagnosis just last night while he was a guest on 'Late Night with David Letterman'.

On a more personal note, unfortunately, diabetes runs in my family, too, as my brother and sister have it now, and I also have Hispanic ancestry. Also, my now-sainted Mom had it, being diagnosed in 1992, but she was able to successfully control it for the rest of her life, even to the point where her doctor took her off medication seven years after her diagnosis.

Gee. This news kinda makes me feel a little older now, since I knew about Mr. Hanks from his show 'Bosom Buddies' back in 1980. But, I didn't know that he was having sugar spiking issues since he was 36. For me, it's "so far, so good" (knock on wood!). I wish him the very best on controlling it.

I don't have diabetes, but I have family members who do. It runs on both sides of my family.

Ooh! Bosom Buddies! Had that cute littel Wendy Jo Sperber in it!

I suspect some of his issues come from the diet actions he took to prepare for various roles— losing weight for some, gaining it for others.

But the news is making me consider some of my own diet choices.

My heart goes out to him,as one with the same health challenge.

But the news is making me consider some of my own diet choices.

Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too. A co-worker of mine recently changed her diet to where she greatly limited her carb intake, and she's now feeling much better and even looking more "bright-eyed".

I've made some changes to my diet already: for the past 25 years I've been drinking only skim milk for breakfast (whole milk has more of a heavy cream consistency to me, now), I've recently began to use stevia to sweeten my cereal, I've generally reduced my white sugar intake, and I drink much more water than I did 10-15 years ago. About the last one, I've developed a habit of drinking water after every meal, as I like the cleansing feeling and aspect of it. I've noticed positive physical functions from that, too. Still, I can do more, but doggone it, food does taste good!

I know I shouldn't encourage him, but smokey, here ya go:

Diabeetus is still kicking my ass…

My dad has Diabetes, but I believe his was brought on by his heart attack. My grandfather also had diabetes, but I believe that was brought on by eating a gallon of ice cream in a sitting…

Damon.

Ooh! She's so chubby and hot!

"1941" was her best work. Oooooooooh!

Some good physical activity,I believe,is helping with my glucose count,in addition to my meds. And cutting back on a few things here and there.

How diabetes works:

The cells in a body use glucose to produce energy. Glucose is produced when a body digests carbohydrates. In fact, the first step in metabloism is conversion of simple and complex carbohydrates (starches and various types of sugars consumed) into a single simple sugar called glucose. Glucose is transported to the cells in the blood. The glucose molecule has to cross the cell wall to get inside and be useful. The way it does this is by combining with an insulin molecule which 'unlocks' the cell to allow entry. Diabetic hyperglycemia (too much glucose in the blood) is the result of a lack of insulin, a resistance to insulin (the insulin does't effectively unlock the cell wall), or some combination of the two.

The causes of diabetes:

There are two causes and they are commonly spoken of as Type I and Type II. Diabetes is classified as Type I when the pancreas (the gland that produces insulin) simply shuts down and produces no insulin. This most commly happens early in life. When the hyperglycemia is caused by the pancreas slowing down or insulin resistance it is classified as Type II. This commonly occurs later in life and is why Type II is commly called "adult onset."

The cause of Type II diabetes has nothing to do whit how much sugar one consumes. However, the amount of fat surrounding the pancreas does. There is a correlation between poor eating habits, obeseity, and that about of fat surrounding the pancreas (located in the belly behind the stomache). So while eating lots of sweets has no direct effect on the pancreas, such poor habits do have an effect on belly fat. Furthermore, there is an identifed genetic predispostion for diabetes. Basically, if the gene is present a person is able to develop diabetes and if not, then they will not.

The effects of hypergycemia:

So given that diabetes is present; why is it so dangerous? Untreated or poorly treated iabetes results in hyperglycemia. This excess glucose in the blood builds up and actually thickens the blood. The blood carries oxygen and glucose to the cells and the smallest blood vessels, cappillaries, are less than the width of a red blood cell. When the blood thickens, it cannot travel through these tiny vessels and the cells fed by the capillaries starve and die. If those cells are in critical locations in the brain, heart, retina, kidenys, etc., the effects can be stroke, heart attack, blindness, etc.

I hope these short paragraphs shed some light on what diabetes is and how it works. There are a lot of myths and misinformation floating around about causes, diets, and treatments. If you suspect that you, or a someone you know, may have a problem with hyperglycemia, get to a doctor for testing. The causes, severity and progression of diabetes is not something that one can handle by themselves. Handling the diabetes may or may not require medication, but it always requires education and monitoring by a doctor. Make no mistake, diabetes is always a progressive, cronic condition. Proper treatment and monitoring controls it, but it never goes away. Let untreated, it kills. Period.

Both my younger brothers now have been diagnosed with it. One after a heart attack(he's OK,so far) and the other following a stroke(he's still in hospital.)