Campaigning Conditions

From the Mayo Clinic website: "The A1C test is a common blood test used to diagnose type 1 and type 2 diabetes..."
There is an important aspect to this for Type 2 diabetic and some healthy patients: it is used to diagnose. Over the past decade, the exact number used to diagnose Type 2 has changed up and down several times and is reported inconsistently by different sources. The pharmaceutical companies are involved in that, the same way those companies create "syndromes" such as "restless leg." The pharmaceutical companies are for-profit enterprises that are looking to sell you products, and the lower diagnosis numbers favor their sales. Realistically, how many of us would have heard of things like fibromyalgia if we had not been for all the ads hawking drug treatments? These drugs amount to patented combinations of pain relievers and antidepressants.
If you feel I am being cynical about a serious condition that cripples so many poor unfortunate women, I will steer you towards the latest pharmaceutical ad campaign. The male problems of all aging but not yet old male farts could be "Low T." Ad campaigns like this begin with apparent innocence. You can go to a web site to learn about the condition. The TV ads do not mention the new designer drugs that may solve the problem you did not previously know existed, never mind that the tired feelings and loss of drive may mean that you have this debilitating but potentially crippling condition. Future ads will sell you on the drugs; right now the pharmaceuticals are trying to sell you on a condition. You do have a condition with that tiredness and diminished drive and/or capacity. It’s called old age. Older guys are statistically more likely to carry chromosomal imperfections. Your "Low T" and diminished drive and/or function is nature’s way of making you less likely to share sperm that could produce weak or unhealthy offspring. You can try the drugs, or do what our fathers did: be more physically affectionate with your wife/partner and make sure there’s always a fresh supply of batteries in the house.
In the diabetes sense, the "created" condition is "pre-diabetes." They’re setting you up as early as possible to be receptive to taking drugs in the near future.
In fairness, early detection of Type 2 can prevent devastating ill effects of diabetes. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical profiteers help define the diseases you will soon have.
People need to use their own judgment, and take to heart the catchphrase "when diet and exercise are not enough." Your body very well has the level it wants to be at on its own. Taking drugs will almost certainly change that biochemically, but the pharmaceutical balance sheets may derive more from it than you will, and beginning the drugs too early may make your body lazy with its own functions. If that happens, you are guaranteeing lifelong dependence on the drugs.
I have overweight friends who have low A1C numbers, and fit friends who are told by their doctors that they are pre-diabetic or have "a touch of" diabetes.
Don’t tale my word for this casually, but don’t agree to doctors’ recommendations without asking questions and doing your own research.

The ADA Wants You{r Money}

I looked over the main site of the American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/ in late July, 2012.
The site name indicates that the ADA "owns" diabetes. Technically with the way domain names are managed, they do, at least on the .org level. The dot-com version is owned by Health Coach. The irony is that the ADA’s "org" site comes across as a lot more commercial.
"Donate" is more prominent on the main navigation bar than "News and Research" is. The prominent upper left directly below the navigation bar has changing content that confuses us who have visual impairment. The other images in the spot sell a book; beg for donations; advertise for a meal planning site; and entice browsers to be the first to raise $1,000 online in order to receive a free necklace. Th four advertising spots cycle endlessly.
Other elements of the site sell tote bags "for a good cause; ask for recruitment into support circles; list non-disappearing links with options of different ways to donate to the ADA; "pledge to end" diabetes; attend an ADA seminar "session;" sign up for "latest news ...and opportunities to support the American Diabetes Association;" chances to buy or renew a subscription to the ADA’s magazine; and a section allowing you to "shop to stop diabetes." The bottom panel is the clearest section of the entry page. It has four logos, all to assure you that passing your credit card number to the ADA online is perfectly safe.
Other than a couple pleas for money that talk about "an end" to diabetes, there is no reference to a cure or a search for one.
Hoping to find some type of research meant to cure diabetes rather than ways to manage it (alwaysto the benefit of the pharmaceutical companies,) I clicked on "Research Discoveries." A pop up bleep, but my computer blocked the ad/unsafe element without telling me what the ADA wanted me to buy or give next. That page is another eye-unfriendly jumble of content. A link list stays in place on the left, offering "research advances" and "research merit" and another opportunity to ADA magazines. I was kind of surprised to learn that PDF versions were linked, but did not follow the links to see if the PDF’s were free.
The ADA "researchers continue to make significant contributions to the care and treatment of diabetes and its complications" but "bring hope of a cure for tomorrow" rather than "research" such a cure.
The "Recent Advances" header link entices "Learn about exciting recent advances attributable to American Diabetes Association-funded researchers." One of two things explains why I could find no mention of the most promising development towards a cure (1) I’m blind and the general layout of the site made it hard for me to find or (2) the American Diabetes Association does not discuss breakthroughs developed in non-capitalist, non-pharmaceutical dominated countries like England and Canada.
I suspect the latter.

Advance Gratitude

My blog readers who might be interested in sampling some of my fiction had a reduced-price opportunity at one story, if they read on Kindle.
Amazon has the Kindle edition of _The Aether Age Helios_ on sale for $0.99 today. I have no idea how long the sale will last.
This anthology is a concept book in the alternate history genre. The concept was a fascinating one: what if the world-changing industrial revolution occurred in ancient Egypt?
The book includes my story "Advance Gratitude," which opens with a dead grandmother and reveals the fate of her "promised one" grandchild.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Aether-Age-Helios-ebook/dp/B005EZHFRC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344265375&sr=8-2&keywords=aether+age+helios
My website always links to some free fiction reads under the "Short Story" page at http://www.kozzi.us/short%20stories.html
The stories here range from my "Sivil Galaxi" science fiction to mainstream humor and some of my Rhode Island stories, as well as a 2006 professionally published essay.

Diabetes Development

Based on a site inspection in late July, 2012, I express my usual opinion of the diabetes industry. The site I looked over was the main site of the American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/
I write this without clicking on any links to more involved or in depth stories. This isn’t laziness. I am legally blind, and even triple-magnified onscreen reading is usually more difficult than it’s worth. I will fact check or seek specific information, but general browsing is just too difficult.
And that difficulty is the first observation of the ADA site. Diabetes is the leading case of blindness. Therefore a diabetes site should be in large print and as easy to navigate as possible. It should not contain multiple columns and smatterings of design elements that scatter attention. The page does not follow in an easy to follow pattern. I need a magnifying mouse; I cannot see an entire page all at once in any detail. The combination of horizontal and columned elements makes it tough for me to tell what goes together without clicking on the magnifier and examining each element separately.
I thought, to their credit, that they do not use "hover-activated" or "floating" hyperlink menus. Those are next to impossible for me to catch in the magnification. I was wrong; the pop up menus actually appear too far down for me to see with the magnifying box. The first link under the first nav-bar link is a list of links that begins with the pharmaceutical company-created condition called "pre-diabetes."
The page contains at least three different navigation bars in different locations. This does not make things easy to find.
I do have training and professional experience in electronic and print publishing including layout and design, so I am not issuing empty criticism. This blog contains more thought to deign elements geared to my "expected audience" than would be readily apparent to casual observers or home-taught developers. This is "Blindsided!" and is of natural interest to other people with visual impairments. The type is large. The white on black reduces glare. The main content is arrange vertically and appears in full on zoom-magnified screens with links and extras off to the right. This positioning decreases the chance that the readers need to scroll right to see all of the main content panel at once. Other elements do not interrupt the main flow of information. I have yet to use any pictures. These aren’t of high value to blind folk and can fluster programs that do the reading.
Some of the ADA’s site’s pictures change, which is jarring to people who can’t quite see what’s happening and if the change was a rollover effect or just something that happens. The hover menu I first hit appeared over the rotating images, which as why I first thought the ste did not use hovering menus.
The navigation bar extends past the edge of the screen on my usual 150% magnification. A more casual look would have led me to miss the link for "research." Maybe I am being presumptuous, but I think that research and other details are more important than some of the links that appear more prominently. This of course leads me to a brief analysis of content, but to keep things in blog-friendly length, that can of worms will be opened next time.

Elderly Adolescence

I use the term "elderly adolescence" frequently. I either coined the term or unknowingly absorbed it from a long-forgotten source. It is when old people get rebellious against doctors, nurses, their grown children, etc who place constant restrictions or limitations. Just because an old fart gets a little confused does not mean they are incapable of making any decisions for themselves. They get frustrated at having their remaining capabilities ignored to a total loss of control over their own lives. I get frustrated like that a lot, often because people with GREAT intentions INSIST on helping rather than asking if help is needed.
Often, the help hoisted on me is not what I wanted or needed to do. Sometimes, the presumed help actually makes what I wanted or needed to do more difficult. Think of someone moving my drink closer to me. What they have done is moved something around on a blind guy, thus increased the chance for an accident.
The whole social phenomenon makes old people into crotchety old people, and/or worsens people who were crotchety as young people.
Imagine being elderly but still in possession of a strong set of teeth, and being put in a nursing home. You will never be served a fresh apple or corn on the cob again, because "no one" in the home can physically eat those things. You miss those luxuries and ask the nursing home staff for them. They get tired of hearing this same complaint that they consider an "unreasonable" demand from anyone in a nursing home. They will soon have you labeled as one of the difficult patients and be warning every new employee against you.
The elderly have too much opportunity to look back on their lives and remember what they used to do for themselves, how they used to do things in ways that are no longer allowed by caregivers, whether due to the oldster’s decline or the caregiver’s convenience.
Getting old, or in my case going gimp, is a loss of function and independence and freedom. Neither of my two disabling problems, blindness and Charcot Foot, developed overnight, so I am perhaps too empathic to the plight of the declining elderly. Month by month over a period now approaching three years, I have had to accept more and more things I just can no longer do comfortably, if I can do them at all.
Yes, an oldster with visual or reactionary impairments may have to have a grown child take their car keys away because the oldster is a public danger who won’t stop driving on their own. But this does not mean their house key should also be taken away "because they might lose it" or "you’ll never go anywhere without one of us anyway."
The "best" way to determine the extent of exertion needed over an elderly grandma is the individual’s willing to compromise to rational argument.
Just keep in mind that "rational" cuts both ways, and the caregiver’s convenience should not always be the top priority.
Someone may need help dressing; that does not mean they should be told what clothes to wear every day. I need restaurant menus read to me. That doesn’t mean someone else has to order for me.

Practical Definitions

Before bridging insulin topics to blood sugar topics, I wanted to clarify some definitions, particularly ones in the label/tag bubble that serves as a link menu. I am fully aware that I am using many terms in practical definitions rather than legal or official ones.
"Cialis = Blindness" applies to all boner pills. I do apply it to posts that speak of the onset of the loss of my "good eye" as nothing can convince me that the vitreous hemorrhage would not have happened if I had not taken that damned pill. I apply it because I want the warning always prominent on the blog site, and will continue to do so for as long as the pharmaceutical companies insist that the incidences of these hemorrhages result from underlying condition/s that necessitate boner pills. This catch-22 is shameful, because the drug is intended for the people most at risk. I focused on Cialis because that is the brand that I took. The risks are the same with Levitra and Viagra. Boner pill ads warn about sudden loss of vision but fall far short of warning customers that their eyes might bleed.
I mark "Feedback" on any post that write in response to commented, e-mailed, or personally discussed reaction to a prior post.
I refer to "medical malpractice" as an ethical term, not a legal sense. If the actions of a doctor makes me want to say "Shame on you! I consider it malpractice. It does not necessarily mean something that could trigger a lawsuit, although I probably should consider consulting a lawyer about some of my experiences "Pharmaceutical monopoly" gets applies to any post that refers to the stranglehold of pharmaceutical companies over American life and economy. This ranges far and wide from deceptive advertising to actions (such as the elimination of pork and beef insulin by Eli Lilly and Company) that get decided in favor of profits over patients, to marketing drugs that have not been fully tested over the long term.
"Diabetes" refers to Type One/Diabetes Mellitus and posts that would also apply to age advanced diabetics get marked with "Type 2."
"Social Impact" posts discuss the psychological or interpersonal effects of the blindness or other conditions discussed in the blog.
"Blogging Experience" can relate and overlap with social impact, but is more restricted to observations that stem from the blog itself rather than the conditions blogged about.
When I started the blog, I thought I would be referring to my GP more often than I have so far. I’ve been seeing him since 2005. He’s never done anything to alienate me, but by my reckoning and other people who serve as caregivers or otherwise know details, he’s not a great doctor, so he will remain anonymous.
"The Healthy ears" posts talk about the time before I was seeing the GP, when I managed my diabetes in isolation from medical professionals. I felt a lot healthier before the professionals got involved.
"Caution: Blind Driver" is used when I talk of doing things that visually impaired people "shouldn’t" be able to do, such as driving a car or using power tools.
"Hemorrhage" refers to the vitreous hemorrhage that the Cialis caused. This is different from an eye hemorrhage that produces dark floaters instead of brilliant red blood.
"God Complex" applies to any and all doctors who demonstrate arrogance and "authority" far above the patients who seem to be expected to worship their word and fulfill their will. These doctors talk at patients rather than to them and do not seem to listen to patients.
The other terms should be pretty self explanatory to most, save perhaps "A1C," which will be the topic of an upcoming post.

Price Pact with a Devil

The break in the Eli Lilly Company’s monopoly of the insulin industry came circa 1997, from the Lilly company itself in a situation like following national news by watching Jay Leno monologs.
I received an important notice from the pharmaceutical company. I was on ancient mailing lists, mostly from syringe manufacturer BD. The Lilly Company was concerned about me and wanted to remind me about the dangers of making changes to insulin outside doctor supervision. They didn’t send me such a notice when they caused diabetics who could not afford doctors when they eliminated the availability of beef and pork insulin, but they had become aware of a new peril to diabetics everywhere.
After years of monopoly and manipulation by the Lilly Company, the Humulin patent had run out. Wal-Mart’s pharmaceutical division had produced a generic.
Diabetics needed this urgent reminder for their own health and well being. They should not change insulin to a potentially unreliable product. The letter had a bunch of scare tactic propaganda in it. I choose to curtail memory to avoid incorrect memory or embellishment, but the bottom line message was one that indicated that Wal-Mart was the mortal enemy of diabetics everywhere. And as reward for being a "loyal Lilly customer," the mailing included a coupon for $5 (maybe it was $10...old memory again) off any purchase at K-Mart.
In the time since two-eye blindness onset by a dose of the Lilly product Cialis, the Lilly Company started manufacturing the generic insulin for Wal-Mart. Maybe it was even longer than that; time flies and remembering exactly has that jarring realization that a "four year old" never-seen cousin is actually now in college. The price has gone up a couple times since then, but remains less than $25.00 as opposed to the $50.00+ of non-generic.
To the best of my knowledge, the generic is still exclusively available only at Wal-Mart; I have not re-checked that fact since the last time I was away from home and needed insulin on the spot. The generic is packaged under Wal-Mart’s Reli-on "brand."
I know of and agree with many criticisms of Wal-Mart’s corporate practices. Electronics and powered devices often have models numbers or price bar codes that are exclusive to Wal-Mart while the same item has the same bar code at every other store. Despite quality or social issues regarding their employees, Wal-Marty earned considerable loyalty from me. Wal-Mart stood up to at least this one pharmaceutical giant in a way that only another corporate behemoth can successfully do. Wal-Mart has saved me thousands in the past 15 or so years, and I have never felt as if I had gotten a bad vial.
It also is apparent to me that Wal-Mart’s $4 prescription program also triggered a small pharmaceutical revolution that has been of direct benefit to American consumers. Pharmacy chains have had to come up with similar programs to stay competitive. This reaped benefits for private consumers and Medicaid programs. I lament the blow to smaller mom-and-pop pharmacies, but the competition brought too much gain to too many people for me to join any Wal-Mart protest movement.
Wal-Mart is the giant corporate enemy that is in front of our faces, an obvious enemy. I’d prefer to save my revolutionary’s energy for the less obvious enemies such as pharmaceutical companies who disguise their pursuits of corporate profit under distractions like "it’s so dangerous to change away from our product lightly."