I have my A1C down to 5.5! I got my A1C down really quickly from 7.8
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Wow 14 years!!!
I hear AD patients only live like 8 years at the most and you’ve beat that!
So their just putting information out there to put it out there even if its not true or cant be proven on the correlation and not causality part?
T1s in the last few decades are living longer healthier lives than ever before. Unfortunately there is no cure. Nothing short of a complete cure can really fix it.
On the upside, there are a few Type 2 medications that lowers the risk of cardiovascular issues. On going research is needed to see if they’re effective for T1s to take along with insulin.
I wonder if that is the same for T2… We’re living longer and healthier now due to advancements in tech and medication?
I’m lucky so far. There are folks with AD that live for 20 or more years.
The reality is that we don’t have a clue as to how a brain works when it is fully functional and healthy. If we don’t know this basic information, how do we think we can figure out what goes wrong in AD.
The human brain is radically different from the animal models used in research. You see a lot of research using mice and even fruit flies. To date, nothing proved to ‘work’ in animal models has ever changed the trajectory of AD in humans.
The early onset AD genetic mutations are well known and as of yet, we can not treat those cases. The late onset AD does not have any known genetic faults to pin the blame on, so we have nothing to even shoot at.
I know that if a discovery is made today, I will not live to see a viable treatment become available.
John
John
The cause versus correlation criticism is certainly valid, but considering that the correlations of AD are generally negative lifestyle factors, - these are not always choices - I would argue that it doesn’t matter. To the best of one’s knowledge it seems it would pay to live a healthy life.
Granted some correlations have underlying factors that are not immediately evident, like hearing loss and socialization, or education and income factors that correlate with things like alcohol consumption and exercise frequency, but one still has to make choices in life, and to me, that should be to the best of one’s ability. No one is perfect.
To me the choices seem obvious, regardless, fitness and exercise, a healthy diet a la Mediterranean, mental activity via work and learning, and socialization a la friends and family.
Sampling of some recent reports:
I had a new endo tell me this year that hypos put you at a high risk of damage to brain function and dementia. Said there is scientific evidence associating it. It was the first time I heard of this association in the 20’plus years I’ve been a diabetic.
I find that I’m not as quick in my thinking now and have bad memory. Initially I thought it was just the process of getting older but if the endo is right it may also have to do with hypos. I dunno. I’m in my early 40s.
It’s true, but it also moderated by severity. Moderate hypoglycemia might not be harmful, and the research is more often referring to instances where the person required assistance from others (see second quote) as being damaging, or so I believe.
I’ve taken this mostly on faith, and it seems like I need to do some research…
Just a snippet from a quick search:
However, studies examining the effect of severe hypoglycemia in humans are conflicting. Severe hypoglycemia has been shown to alter brain structure (5–7) and cause significant cognitive damage in many (5,7–12) but not all (13–16) studies. Reasons for the discrepancy between human and animal studies are unknown, but a major contributing factor may be the extent of glycemia control (including recurrent hypoglycemia) prior to the episode of severe hypoglycemia.
Mini-review: Impact of recurrent hypoglycemia on cognitive and brain function (nih.gov)
In contrast to the concerns of many diabetic patients, there is little or no evidence for a long-term deleterious impact of recurrent moderate hypoglycemia on brain function. Indeed, the literature suggests that if anything, the brain responds to RH by increasing support for cognitive functions, and in particular by enhancing fuel supply, resulting in improved cognitive performance which may extend across large portions of the lifespan. The major caveat to that rosy picture is that there is a clear interaction between hypoglycemic history and acute glycemic state in modulation of cognitive and neural function: animals or humans with a history of RH have a variety of alterations which contribute to impaired ability to meet the challenges posed by a further hypoglycemic event. This is important clinically, as the primary time of concern is when a diabetic patient with a history of RH is about to experience a further episode of hypoglycemia and may be considering e.g. driving. Moreover, the fact that RH impairs both the patient’s ability to detect further episodes of hypoglycemia and counterregulatory responses to such hypoglycemia means that RH remains a significant clinical and therapeutic issue. Increased understanding of the mechanisms involved in the brain’s response to RH, however, may allow for introduction of preventative therapies such as the use of medium-chain fatty acids as a nutritional supplement. For non-diabetic individuals considering adopting a regimen of reduced caloric intake, who are at low risk for future hypoglycemia, the data are supportive of potential benefits to cognitive function and brain fuel supply.
Hypoglycemia: The neglected complication (nih.gov)
Hypoglycemia, an often neglected complication of diabetes therapy, has far-reaching clinical, economical, and social impacts. Mild hypoglycemia reduces QoL, while severe hypoglycemia is life-threatening and can precipitate major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.
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I’ve been diagnosed with T1 in 1965. Modern methods of glucose control weren’t yet invented. A1Cs are but an average. You would have to have your glucose level clamped at 95 24x7 to never get any complications. We can think like a pancreas but we sure cannot function as well or as quickly as a working pancreas. That’s why early cardio vascular scannings for T1s and T2s saves lives and prevents amputations, heart attacks, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease.
A T2 can and should be in tighter control than a T1. Using a CGM really helps with control.