Author: Richard157

My online friend has done a wonderful job with creating the PDF format for my book and making all the corrections I requested. It looks great, but there are some items I would like to ask about here. I appreciate your opinions.

1.)After converting to PDF, most of the pics look blurred, out of focus. I feel certain they will look that way in the book too. I wonder if there is some way of making them look more sharp. Do you have any knowledge of whether this can be done?

2.) A book with color interior will cost more because the paper needed for color pics is more expensive. I think all pics should be shown in black and white so the paper and book will cost buyers less. Do you agree?

3.) If you had a choice, and you were thinking about reading this, would you prefer it be a book or would you rather read it online in Kindle? Kindle would be cheaper but then there would be no actual book. (I want to do only one of these at the start. I have my reasons.)

4.) I asked the owners of all 10 websites where I belong for permission to advertise. All of them have given me permission, some with enthusiasm. Amazon has every right to turn me down if they think the book will not be profitable for them. (I am not expecting a response to #4. I just needed to let that out. It has been worrying me. ) :rolleyes:

Who cares about snow, let’s celebrate the New Year!!!

Just kidding, Anita and I NEVER drink alcohol, but this pic is funny!

My diagnosis occurred in 1945 when I was 6. There were no diabetes types back then, all of us were given insulin to help with our fight against high blood sugar. My family lived in a small four room house that was not insulated. There was no insulation in the attic, or in the walls, so we stayed very cold in the winter time. It was very cold in the morning wnen I had to take my insulin. My father loaded the big glass syringe with my insulin and brought a big wad of cotton he had dipped in rubbing alcohol. I lowered my pants and felt the cold air in the room. It made me shiver as I rubbed a spot on top of my upper leg. The alcohol would run down my leg and it felt icy cold when it did that. I hated everything about taking those shots. Even the smell of that alcohol was very unpleasant. The needles were very long and thick and my father pushed it into my skinny leg, into the muscle on top of my cold, shivering leg. I hated the cold, the pain and the smell of the alcohol.

Fast forward to the year 1963. I was visiting my girfriend, Anita, at her home and meeting her parents for the first time. The meal served that evenng was very good but there was an unpleasant odor of alcohol in my glass. I had never tasted alcohol, my parents never had alcohol in our home. It was white wine in my glass and I wished it was water. I hated the taste and the smell of the wine. After explaining that I did not drink alcohol, Anita’s mother took my wine and brought me water. I hesitated doing that, I did not want to upset that evening in any way. The rest of the evening went very smoothly. I proposed to Anita in the downstairs family room in front of a warm fire her father had bulit in the fireplace. She said YES and we were very happy!!!

I did not taste alcohol again until 1972, while visiting the home of the president of the college, where I was teaching. He brought me a glass with with some vodka in it. There it was again, the dreadful smell of alcohol. I pretended to sip some of the drink. When my host was greeting some other guests I poured the vodka on the ground and asked for some sparkling water. I have never tasted of alcohol since that day.

It was not until earlier this year that I realized that my hatred of the smell of alcoholic beverages stems back to the time I was taking those shots during my childhood. I learned to hate the smell of alcohol then and I hate it just as much now. I don’t mind being with people who drink as long as they are not drunk, but I hate the smell of their drinks. It can actually take my appetite away.

I now realize that I do not drink because of my hating the smell of alcohol. That is probably a good thing. Maybe I should be grateful for the shots I had to take in my early years of diabetes. Who would have thought that experience would lead to my never drinking?

Anita and my younger son do not drink but my older son does have some wine with his dinner. I don’t complain but I try to sit as far as possible from him when we have dinner there.

This is a set of pics of my eyes, including ones of the backs of my eyeballs. This was part of my eye examination when I participated in the Joslin Medalist Study. Have any of you ever had pics like this taken?

Dr. George L. King, M.D., is the Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Joslin Diabetes Center. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He is also in charge of the Joslin Medalist Study.

Below you will find my questions and Dr. King’s answers.

Question #1….I have no relatives with Type 1. I feel that my diabetes was caused by a series of childhood diseases (measels, mumps and chicken pox) when I was 5. Immediately after that period of time I began displaying the classic symptoms of Type 1. There was a question posed on a diabetes website : "What Caused Your Type 1?". Most responses listed causes other than a genetic link. Almost all of those individuals who felt that their Type 1 was caused by diseases seemed to have no serious complications. Is it possible that when Type 1 is caused by disease then there is less likelihood of developing complications?

Dr. King’s reply:…"The question of the causes of type 1 diabetes is clearly very important. It is very common to have childhood diseases associated with the onset of diabetes. However, it is unclear whether these childhood diseases are causing type 1 DM. It is clear that if you don’t have the genes which makes you at risk for diabetes, then it is very unlikely that you will develop diabetes. The risk of complications for the eyes, kidney and nervous system is mainly related to glucose control for the non-Medalist diabetic patients. Thus, the type of diabetes is not so critical but the glucose control after getting diabetes is very important."

Question #2….I have often thought that the presence of C-peptide in long term Type 1 diabetics might explain their longevity and lack of complications. There have been studies that seemed to imply that. I thought that I might have a C-peptide level much like the Study participants whose C-peptides were 0.6 or greater. I asked my doctor to include a C-peptide test in my September lab work. It showed that my C-peptide is less than 0.1. I was disappointed. Your assistant said that there are other participants like me who have a very low C-peptide, but do not have complications. I suppose that there must be some avenue(s), in addition to a low C-peptide, that may explain our lack of complications after 50 years or more.

Dr. King’s reply…."In general, type 1 diabetic patients with residual insulin production have better glucose control and thus fewer complications. However, this relationship does not seem to apply to the Medalists."[/b]

Question #3…."Creative Peptides" is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 1996 and located in Stockholm, Sweden. Their purpose is to develop drugs which will help treat long-term complications of Type 1 diabetes.
Creative Peptides has developed a product for C-peptide replacement in Type 1 diabetics. Clinical studies involving the use of this product in more than 400 Type 1 diabetics have shown encouraging results with patients having nerve and kidney damage. There were no C-peptide related adverse reactions seen while treating these patients. Positive results have also been seen in a group of more than 160 Type 1 diabetics with peripheral neuropathy. The Swedish company has filed a patent on the product used for C-peptide replacement. I hope they are sucessful with this and other drugs and that Type 1 diabetics can receive C-peptide with great results.

Here is the online link:

Welcome to Creative Peptides

Dr. King’s reply…."C-peptide for treatments of diabetic complications. There are some preliminary data to suggest C-peptide may help but it is very unclear. Type 2 diabetic patients have elevated levels of c-peptide yet they have many of the same complications as type 1 diabetic patients. If c-peptide is helpful, I believe the effect will be very small."

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Follow-up….The Medalists have been Type 1 for 50 years or more and most of them have no complications, or no serious complications. It has been clear to me that the Medalists are a separate group unto themselves in that so many of them have no complications even though they have little or no insulin production. Many of them have not had a history of good diabetes care. I ran very high blood sugar for most of my life, until modern times, but I do not have complications. I gather that most of the Medalists have a similar history. There was no guide to good diabetes control during most of their lifetimes. It seems clear that there has to be some explanation for their success stories. The Joslin Medalist Study is ongoing and there may be very important findings when it concludes in 2011.

My medical and lab reports from my Joslin Medalist Study arrived recently.

My lab report showed: Cholesterol-126, HDL-60, LDL-52, Trig-69, A1c-5.8. The rest of the report also showed good numbers, much the same as my Sept. report done in my home town.

The Complete Blood Count showed some mild abnormalities: WBC (White blood cell)-4.3, RBC (Red blood cell)-3.78, HGB-12.8, HCT-38, PLT-126….. all those are somewhat low. Then there was: MCV-100.6, MCH-33.8…both of those are somewhat high. I Googled those and anemia was considered a possible cause for most of those abnormalities. I have had occasional anemia ever since my radiation for prostate cancer in 2003. I had no surgery, just radiation, and occasional anemia is my only remaining side effect. Now I will be taking Vitamin B12. That has worked in the past very nicely. The rest of my blood tests were normal.

My BP was 126 over 64. The rest of the report was very good. My eye exam, including pictures of the back of my eyeballs, showed that my eyes are very healthy.

My fasting that morning was 119 (usually 80-100 at home). When they gave me my Glucose Tolerance Test my BG was determined every 30 minutes for the next two hours. Those numbers were: 169, 244, 290, 320. I had my morning basal but I was not permitted to bolus until the test was completed. I needed a bolus of 20 units. Since my BG kept increasing for the entire two hours, it is apparent that I am not producing any insulin. I was told that many Nedalists had high BG for the first hour after drinking the glucose but then their BGs during the second hour were lower. They are the ones still producing some insulin. To find Type 1’s still producing insulin after 50 years, or more, of diabetes is amazing! Those individuals have no serious complications. I produce none and still have no complications. There are a few others just like me. They are very interested in that subgroup where there is no insulin being produced but there are no complications. Makes me feel like some kind of freak! :T I was also told that there were several Medalists who had not taken good care of themselves, and still don’t, but they have no complications either. Another interesting subgroup. Some, or all, members of the latter subgroup probably produce some insulin.

My eye exam was done after the tolerance test. I felt sick and had a hard time concentrating on the opthamologist’s discussion with me. I had cataracts removed many years ago so I had an artificial lens in my eyes. A high BG does not affect an eye exam under those circumstances. For those Medalists who still had their natural born lens, however, the high BG would cause the lens to "wrinkle" and the eye exam would be affected. I suggested that to the opthamologist and she agreed. I sent an email to Joslin this week and they are considering having the eye test done first and the tolerance test done later for the rest of the Medalist testing. LOL! They actually listened to me! 😮

Dr. King, head of the study, was in Europe the day I was examined and I did not get to meet him. His assistant told me that I could send him an email and ask questions I wanted answered.

This post is getting way too long. I may post my discussion with Dr. King some other time. It is a rather long report.

Dr. George L. King, M.D., is the Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Joslin Diabetes Center. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.