The Polymeal The article about the polymeal ran in December,2004 in the footsteps of the article about the polypill which ran in June of 2003 – both in the British Medical Journal. The authors of the polypill looked at the effect of combining a statin (cholesterol lowering drug), three blood pressure lowering drugs each at half standard dose, folic acid, and an aspirin, on reducing Ischemic Heart Disease(IHD) event rates. The authors of the article claimed that IHD event rates went down by 88%, and stroke by 80%. They rightly suggested that everyone aged 55 years and older should take the pill combination. The authors of the article about the polymeal claim they have devised a nutritional alternative to the polypill that will reduce cardiovascular disease events by 76%. For men, they claim an increase in life expectancy of 6.6 years and for women 4.8 years. They conclude by stating that “the polymeal is an effective non-pharmacological, safe cheap and tasty alternative to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and increase life expectancy in the general population.” Included in the diet were food items shown by medical research to have a significant effect on reduction of cardiovascular disease. The items included were: wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruits and vegetables, almonds, and garlic. The quantities required and shown to be of benefit were as follows: Wine 150ml/day, fish 114gm four times/week, dark chocolate 100gm/day, fruit and vegetables 400gm/day, garlic 2.7gm/day, and almonds 68gm/day. The article does not go into what other ingredients are allowed, but seems to imply that including the above is sufficient. This certainly seems like a good recommendation for all diabetics, and excluding the garlic, I see myself also trying it out.
Rice Bran Oil A very small study recently showed that rice bran oil supplementation has the quality of lowering LDL-cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). This oil is typical for Japan and India , but may also be found in health food stores. The authors say that it's preliminary and that they cannot endorse it yet, but the results seem promising. The oil was consumed as one third of the total daily dietary fat for a period of five weeks. Please wait before rushing out to get this oil, but keep your eyes open for more news about it.
Insulin Cell Transplant From Live Donor Dr. James Shapiro from Edmonton , Canada , is the head surgeon for the team transplanting cadaver islet cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. A recent article describes a new feat for this team – transplanting islet cells from mother to daughter. This took place in Japan where a 56 year old mother gave up part of her pancreas to help her 27 year old diabetic daughter. Islet cells were separated from that pancreatic portion, and injected into the daughter's liver, where they promptly started secreting insulin. Apparently, the daughter is doing well, and her sugars are controlled. This is a further step towards curing this disease, and mothers everywhere should be proud.
	Periodontal Disease and Diabetes The NIH (National Institute of Health) recently studied a group of Pima Indians(628) with type 2 diabetes whom they followed for 11 years. Patients were classified according to groups relative to the severity of periodontal disease or lack there of. During the follow-up period, 204 of the 628 died. The number of deaths rose in direct relation to the severity of the periodontal condition. Although the main cause of death was cardiovascular, the authors stressed that greater emphasis should be placed on oral hygiene when treating patients with diabetes. Maybe I should set-up a dentist in our office so that he/she can check all the diabetics. Anyone care to comment?
Dr. Litvin's Blogs If you haven't had the pleasure of browsing through Dr. Litvin's blogs, you're in for a real treat. Dr. Litvin provides us with his commentary on diabetes and diabetes in the news. The following are some of the Blogs Dr. Litvin has written: Dieting According to Your DNA Supercentenarians Salt Ferry Street Apples from McDonald? The Trans Fat Story Homo Sapiens A New Diet C-Reactive Protein International Study about Heart
Our New Web Site - HTTP://DIABETES-DOCTOR.COM The Litvin Centers for Diabetes launched their new web site only 2 months ago and already we're experiencing a lot of traffic and excitement about it! The site contains helpful tips and information to assist you with managing diabetes. There is new functionality, new content, user friendly navigation, and more! If you haven't visited us yet, please do so and tell others about it. The Litvin Centers for Diabetes is dedicated to improving those afflicted with diabetes.  We plan on adding additional functionality to this new website in the months to come.  We'll keep you posted on our progress.  In the meantime, visit us often and let us know what you think.  We welcome your feedback. Enjoy!

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