Georges Braque’s L'homme à la guitare (1914)
My Favorite Cube

My most recent articles are:

• David Mendosa’s Diabetes Blog. Here is an easier way to find my blog articles. Of course, each month I describe and link my new articles here. I have also included the complete list in my main Diabetes Directory, but there are so many other articles there, that my blog articles can be hard to find.

  The Health Central Network hosts my blog about diabetes at http://blogs.healthcentral.com/diabetes/david-mendosa.

  MyDiabetesCentral.com, of which my blog is a part, won the 32nd Annual Freddie Award for excellence in the International Health and Medical Media in the Diabetes category. I was pleased to be called to the podium for acceptance of the Freddie at the awards ceremony on November 3, 2006, in New York City.

  The easiest way to read this and any blog is to use a blog reader. I use Bloglines, as I describe in my blog article, “Reading Health Blogs.”

  Allison Blass maintains the most complete diabetes blog directory. She calls it The Official O.C. Website. I don’t know what makes it official, but I do know that in this context “O.C.” stands for “on-line community,” not “Orange County.” The website has a new layout and directory, which now features four different subcategories for the more than 140 diabetes blogs.

  So far I have written more than 100 blog articles about all aspects of diabetes, all of which I describe and list at David Mendosa’s Diabetes Blog.

• My New Diabetes Blog Articles
  HealthCentral.com published nine of my new diabetes blog articles in November:
  1. When Byetta Fails. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, Byetta stops facilitating weight loss. And sometimes people never get started on losing weight with it. Here is how some people figured out how to continue to lose weight with the help of Byetta.

  2. Monitoring our Heart Rate. Everyone needs regular exercise, but people like me with type 2 diabetes have to take special care of our bodies. Only if you wear a good heart rate monitor while exercising (or stopping to count how fast your heart is beating), can you tell if you are exercising hard enough to do some good for your heart  —  or making it work too hard.

  3. The Biggest Diabetes Scams. Finally, the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration are cracking down on the biggest diabetes scams that prey on us via the Internet. Here are the names and address of the worst of the worst.

  4. Taking 10,000 Steps. I am regularly taking 10,000 steps, which I count with a great new pedometer. But I don’t take 10,000 steps every day. Here’s why.

  5. Periodontal Therapy and Diabetes. There is new evidence for the connection between the periodontal disease and diabetes in a tantalizing preliminary study in the November issue of Journal of Periodontology, which I review here. When we control periodontal disease, we can help to control our diabetes at the same time.

  6. GlucoCom Telemonitoring. The GlucoCom itself is a normal blood glucose meter. All by itself it is worthwhile. But what really makes it special is the device that works with it to automatically send and store your blood glucose readings in a secure database. From there, if you choose, the readings can go on to your doctor or others whom you want to see how you are doing.

  7. Soy Yogurt. Yogurt  —  particularly soy yogurt  —  can help us keep our diabetes and high blood pressure in check. Soy yogurt and fruit-enriched yogurt  —  especially those made with blueberries  —  have active natural compounds that may help us.

  8. Pelikan Sun. I finally got a Pelikan Sun lancing device. For a few days I let my wife use it. She also has type 2 diabetes, but uses insulin, so she needs to test even more than I do. But I couldn’t do without it, and took it back. Ever since then I have been a happy tester. But not my wife. She told me, “After using the Pelikan Sun, everything else seems barbaric.” It isn’t available yet in the United States. But the company is test marketing it right now in Australia. So I did what a caring husband has to do and ordered one for my wife.

  9. Exercise and Diabetes. Three new studies gave me the motivation to start up my exercise program again after being laid low with a virus. Exercise can reduce our A1C levels. It can also help us lose weight.

Announcements:

• This Newsletter
  Diabetes Update keeps you up-to-date with new articles, Web pages, and books that I have written about diabetes.

  I list and link most of these on my at Diabetes Directory and in the site’s menu at the upper left of all my Web pages.

  From time to time Diabetes Update may also include links to other Web pages of special interest.

• HTML Format
  I send out Diabetes Update email in HTML format, which all Web browsers and most modern email programs can display. HTML has live links to all the sites named in the text so that with a simple click of a mouse you can connect to the site you have just been reading about.

• My Guarantee
  This newsletter:
  1. Is and will remain free.
  2. Will never include advertising (except targeted Google ads at the bottom of the web page and not in the email newsletter).
  3. Nor will I ever sell, rent, or trade your email address to anyone.
  4. I will link sources of information.
  5. I will disclose any conflict of interest.
  6. If and when I learn of any errors of fact, I will correct them.

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