March 27 is the American Diabetes Association’s Alert!Day this year. It’s your chance to take a simple, online Diabetes Risk Test and see where you fall.
It won’t take much time and it could mean a head start that will make a difference to your longterm health.
Join us over at Type2Beat after you take the test!
I’ve just finished listening to “Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of OliveOil” by Tom Mueller. Mueller lives in Italy and writes for The New Yorker, among others. His book is an exhaustive tome on the history, virtues, and adulteration of olive oil.
I’ve been interested in this topic for about three years. Ever since I first met Michael Sideris of Vordonia Athenolia Extra Virgin Olive Oil. His stories of adulteration and outright mislabeling piqued my interest but my attempts to dig deeper didn’t get me very far.
Mueller’s book took me everywhere I wanted to go – and beyond. He explains that true 
extra virgin olive oil is actually olive juice — not the bland, processed stuff we pay a premium for at the grocery store. That makes even more sense when you take a store brand and compare it to an artisinal extra virgin.
I’m especially intrigued by the claim that true extra virgin olive oil is a good anti-inflammatory. For those of us who are allergic to aspirin, this is an important attribute of any food. It’s definitely one I’ll be exploring.
Come back and see what I learn. Or, leave a comment of your own!
Sounds like a snoozer but I’m betting it will be anything but on Tuesday, February 14 when Frontline airs “The Interrupters.” Awarded “Best Documentary of 2011,” this two-hour program follows three CeaseFire Chicago “violence interrupters.” Their goal? To stop the next act of gun violence from occurring in much the same way public health officials work to stop the next contagious act when dealing with a public health threat.
This was the premise of a crime show I saw last year. It caught my attention because it made so much sense to reach the person at the moment of decision and offer them another way to view the situation as they decide upon their next step. It also intrigued me that an epidemiologist envisioned this approach. In my experience, when people think outside the box and come to a problem with fresh eyes, the ideas that bubble up create an entirely new paradigm. It’s exciting. And redefining what it means to be a hero in communities rife with gun violence is certainly an enterprise that’s worth our time and attention.
The organization in the film, CeaseFire, was developed in 1995 by an epidemiologist, Dr. Gary Slutkin, to reduce gun violence among youth. You can hear Slutkin speak about Disrupting Violence in this video, or read more about the CeaseFire approach. A current evaluation of the CeaseFire program in Chicago by the National Institute of Justice found that “all seven communities experienced statistically significant reduction in gun violence.”
Join me in viewing “The Interrupters” on Tuesday night. Then check back here to post your comments.
Here’s your chance to see what the test entails! It’s also your chance to take some steps to protect your health! See more at American Diabetes. For book reviews, progress blogs, and the scoop on monitors check out the Type2 Beat.
Ready?
Set?
Go!
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March 22 is a special day in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. It’s the start of the American Diabetes Association’s 23rd annual, month-long Join the Million Challenge to get people to assess their risk for type 2 and take the necessary steps to delay or prevent it. With the rising number of type 2 diabetics and the serious long-term health implications it holds if not treated properly, it’s essential that people take the time to take this seriously.
Type 2 diabetes is a disorder in which the body either cannot produce sufficient insulin or the cells ignore the insulin that is produced. The result? The insulin is not utilized to take the sugar from the blood in the cells. The result? A build up of glucose in the blood that actually makes the blood more viscous and leads to diabetic complications.
Check out the Type2 Beat for book and product reviews, as well as news and info for the newly diagnosed.
I recently read a piece, “The Case Against Breast-Feeding,” by Hanna Rosin in the Atlantic, which called the benefits of breast-feeding to babies into question. Former breast-feeding mom that I am, Rosin’s argument caught my attention and has had me mulling it over for several weeks. I hadn’t come to any conclusion when I spotted “Mother’s Milk a Lifesaver for Preemies?” by Dr. Sanjay Gupta at CBSnews.com today. Gupta’s report is about the encouraging results with preemies and breastmilk experienced at UC Davis San Diego Medical Center. In particular, last year the use of breastmilk brought the rate of an often fatal illness, NEC or Necrotizing Enterocolitis, down from 5.8% to less than 1%. All of which leaves me wondering if there is a breastmilk benefit to term babies after all?
Videos:
Rosin “The Case Against Breast-Feeding”
Gupta “Mother’s Milk a Lifesaver for Preemies?”
Originally posted April 11, 2008 on The Witches of Agnesi
I’ve recently received my first issues of Gemini Research News - in excellent translation – from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
