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Woman Permanently Loses Her Eyesight By Putting in Contacts KDRV Irenie Ekkeshi was 12 when she switched from glasses to contacts. It was a decision that, combined with bad luck and lack of information, eventually made her lose sight in her right eye years later. When Ekkeshi woke up with tears streaming from her ...

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Woman Permanently Loses Her Eyesight By Putting in Contacts - KDRV

TRAVERSE CITY His father had it. His maternal grandfather had it. So Ross Sussman assumed his Type 2 diabetes day of reckoning would come.

"It was just a question of when," said Sussman, 83.

But prepping for the diagnosis does not make living with it any easier, Sussman said, after "when" became official 20 years ago.

"Like many people, I enjoy sweets. I had to cut way back, and I lost weight in maybe the first couple years, but then it kind of stopped," Sussman said.

It took a toll on his wife, Evy, too. She tried not to police her husband's eating habits, but cherished social routines like post-movie-or-concert dining changed unpleasantly, she said.

"Socially, it just felt funny when you're ordering a salad when everybody else ordered strawberry pie," said Evy, 75.

But Ross' diabetes class last summer empowered them both, they said, as it combined clinical, group and follow-up approaches to positive behavior.

"It really encouraged me in the way that nobody else can make me do what I'm supposed to screw up my mind or unscrew it to do," Ross said. "It's different from making promises to myself, where I'd probably keep half of them."

The couple lives part time in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and part time in Northport, where the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan offered a pilot version of LIFE with Diabetes last summer.

The agency will offer the program to Grand Traverse area diabetics over 50 this spring.

The program kicks off with a consultation with a nurse diabetes educator and registered dietitian, and spouses and caretakers are encouraged to attend.

"I liked being included, " Evy said. "As many conditions are, it's a family issue."

The program continues with six weekly group sessions, then wraps up with a three-month post-program follow-up session.

It's geared to promote self management and encouragement for those who need it, said Darcia Brewer, AAANM's registered dietitian and program manager.

"Once you're diagnosed, you get the initial education session. But life changes, conditions change and we face so much more than diabetes," Brewer said. "No one ever can be perfect 100 percent of the time. Even people who know all the information get busy with life, and lax with what we're doing at different stages of the process."

Munson Healthcare's Community Dashboard shows almost a quarter of the 5-county area's Medicare population (over 65) has diabetes a trend that shows no signs of slowing, Brewer said.

"Statistically, with increases in obesity and the number of diabetics who go undiagnosed, it's unfortunate, but that will continue to grow," Brewer said.

They hope to offer the program in low-income housing and apply to Medicare for future funding, she said. The agency currently is offering initial consultations May 8-10 with group sessions May 23 to June 27 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan, at no cost.

Ross compared living with Type 2 to living on a stagecoach.

"It's moving, and some people are driving, some are running behind it, and others are just being pulled along," Ross said.

For more information or to register please call 1-800-442-1713 by April 28.

Session dates/times: Individual consultations will be offered May 8-10. Group sessions on Tuesdays, May 23 to June 27 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan, 1609 Park Drive.

Requirements: 50 or older who have Type 2 diabetes (and family caregivers) living in the greater Grand Traverse region. Registration is required by April 28.

Cost: No cost to attend but need a primary care physician referral.

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Diabetes program combines clinical, group and caregiver approach - Traverse City Record Eagle

By Dr. Allan Frankel, M.D. Greenbridge Medical

March 28, 2017 On Diabetes AlertDay it is fitting to discuss not only attempts at managing the disease, but also contributing factors and other conditions related to the disease.

For some time I have been recommending whole plant cannabis CBD for patients with Diabetes. We have seen a substantial lowering of their glucose levels in those with Type II Diabetes including several patients Hemoglobin A1C levels normalize so they are able to stop their Type II Diabetes medications.

The first time I saw this with a Diabetic, he called me after having some hypoglycemic episodes while taking CBD in addition to his Metformin. I told him to stop his Metformin and continue his CBD. His glucose levels normalized and he remained off Metformin. This is a good demonstration of blood sugar control over a three-month period. With any patient with Type II Diabetes, I warn them about this.

With regard to cholesterol, Diabetes can raise bad cholesterol levels and lower good cholesterol levels. Once a patients blood sugar levels are stable, if they are on a statin I will often discuss with the patient and their primary care doc, the idea of stopping the statin and monitoring their cholesterol levels. The drop in cholesterol is not overnight. It can take some months for reasons we dont yet understand. However, we are seeing improvements in cholesterol levels and many patients remain off their statins.

We have also seen improvements ranging from apparent stabilization of macular degeneration and help with neuropathic pain. Sometimes combined with THC, CBD is a vascular and renal protectant.

Finally with regard to weight and Diabetes, there is certainly a connection to being overweight and the onset of Diabetes. I have written about the effect of CBD on curbing appetite before. The ability to achieve weight loss with CBD is real.

So, when discussing CBD and Diabetes, it is a multi-pronged approach. Helping patients with weight, cholesterol and glucose issues. I believe this is all happening on a number of metabolic levels, such as bringingthe sensitivity of insulin back to normal.

So, help with many major issues resulting from, and associated with diabetes can be achieved with CBD. For certain, it is worth a try.

2017 Greenbridge Medical. All rights reserved. Posted by special permission. Original article appeared here.

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Diabetes-More Than Blood Sugar - Oregon Cannabis Connection

OUTinPerth

Diabetes rising NJ TODAY In the United States, 29.1 million people are living with diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes, and about 208,000 people younger than 20 years are living with diagnosed diabetes. This study is the first ever to estimate trends in new diagnosed cases of ... GRAI offer workshop for people with Type II DiabetesOUTinPerth all 2 news articles »

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Diabetes rising - NJ TODAY

Small losses, big gains artyme83/Shutterstock"Because most people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight, meal planning and physical activity usually focus on gradual weight loss, something on the order of two to three pounds per month, " says Paris Roach, MD, an endocrinologist with Indiana University Health and the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "Exercise is beneficial to metabolism independent of weight loss in that it lowers glucose levels and improves insulin resistance," says Dr. Roach. Just a five to ten percent reduction from your starting weight can have significant effects on blood glucose levels. That's good news if you haven't broken a sweat in a while. In addition, you'll also gain muscle strength, improve cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, balance, stamina, mood and overall good feeling. This workout normalizes blood sugar for type 2 diabetics. Keep an eye on blood sugar Syda Productions/ShutterstockExercise will not only help control blood sugar levels but also help you shed weight and keep your heart healthy. It's important you keep an eye on your blood sugar because any physical activity makes you more sensitive to insulin. "When you exercise, your body becomes more efficient at using insulin and this can lower blood sugar, both during exercise and up to 24 hours after," says Mark Heyman, clinical psychologist, certified diabetes educator, and vice-president of Clinical Operations and Innovation at One Drop, a mobile app that educates and coaches diabetics. Because blood sugar can drop dangerously low, check it before you exercise and again if you feel light-headed or weak during exercise, he says. "If your blood sugar is low (below 70mg/dl), eat 15 grams of simple carbohydrates, such as orange juice, glucose tablets or candy," says Dr. Heyman.

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Dragon Images/ShutterstockManaging type 2 diabetes may seem like a tiresome task, but as you begin to manage your blood pressure, you will feel better. "Physical activity does not need to be complicated," says Andrea M. Sosa-Melo, MD, physician and educator at Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa. "A daily brisk walk can help you live a healthier life." Remember, that 10-minute increments are just as effective as full-length session. Melo encourages wearing a pedometer. "Put it on in the morning and see how many steps you take in an average day, and then try to increase that number each week." Check out these easy-to-accomplish ideas from Melo:

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Crain's Detroit Business

Michigan tests 'pay- for-success' model for diabetes prevention Crain's Detroit Business The model is set to get another early test drive in Michigan, expanding a proven diabetes prevention program offered by the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan in six Metro Detroit and West Michigan counties. For nonprofits, the model promises a new ...

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Michigan tests 'pay- for-success' model for diabetes prevention - Crain's Detroit Business

According to researchers, the results of their study illustrate the importance of intestinal bacteria's contribution to the operation of diet, metabolism and health interface.

Results were published in Scientific Reports magazine. The study was conducted at the University of Eastern Finland LC-MS-metabolomiikkakeskuksessa. The partners had a large number of Finnish and Swedish experts.

The study compared two groups who took part in a wider Diabetes Prevention study (DPS). Everyone had at the beginning of the study excess weight and impaired glucose tolerance. During 15 years of follow-up part of the ill with type 2 diabetes, some not. Differences between these two groups studied the unallocated metabolomics analysis. It can be studied to determine the metabolic profile of a concentration of a large number of metabolites rather than examining only a few of the predetermined marker.

The main differences with type 2 diabetes affected and unaffected metabolism profiles was observed at concentrations of the indole propionic acids and certain lipid metabolism products.

High serum concentration of the indole propionic acids were protected with diabetes illness. Indole propionic acids are intestinal bacteria metabolite. A generous use of whole grains, dietary fiber boosted its content. Indolipropionohapon a greater amount of the pancreatic beta-cell insulin secretion appeared to remain preferred, which may explain the protective effect.

Indole propionic contacting the risk of diabetes explained DPS material in addition to the two population-based study file, the file METSIM Finnish and Swedish VIP material. Also, there it turned out to be diabetes protective factor.

The study identified several new lipid metabolism products, with a high concentration was associated with improved insulin sensitivity and reduced the risk of diabetes. These metabolites content of the higher, the less of saturated fat diet. They, as well as the indole propionic acids, showed a high concentration of the protective body in low-grade inflammation of the farm.

- intestinal bacteria have been found in other studies to affect the risk of developing excess weight. In light of these results, the indole propionic acids may be one factor that mediates diet and intestinal bacteria a protective effect, academy researcher Kati Hanhineva says.

Direct determination of intestinal bacteria is difficult, so produced by the metabolism of intestinal bacteria intermediates assay may be useful in methods to examine the role of intestinal bacteria such as diabetes pathogenesis.

The DPS is the first randomized controlled lifestyle intervention study, which demonstrated that type 2 diabetes is preventable lifestyle changes in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Major lifestyle changes were weight loss, increased physical activity and a change in diet more in line with the recommendations of, for example, whole grain cereals, fruit and vegetables with respect to the use.

This article has been republished frommaterialsprovided byUniversity of Eastern Finland. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

Reference

de Mello, V. D., Paananen, J., Lindstrm, J., Lankinen, M. A., Shi, L., Kuusisto, J., ... & Bergdahl, I. A. (2017). Indolepropionic acid and novel lipid metabolites are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study. Scientific Reports, 7.

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Gut Bacteria Offers Protection from Type 2 Diabetes - Technology Networks

Eating a diet with a higher amount of plant protein may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers from the University of Eastern Finland. While plant protein may provide a protective role, meat protein was shown to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

More than 29 million people in the Unites States are affected by diabetes, with type 2 diabetes accounting for between 90 and 95 percent of all cases. An essential part of managing diabetes is partaking in regular physical activity, taking medications to lower blood glucose levels, and following a healthful eating plan.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, healthy eating consists of consuming a variety of products from all food groups, with nonstarchy vegetables taking up half of the plate, grains or another starch on one fourth of the plate, and meat or other protein comprising the final fourth.

It is recommended that fatty or processed meat should be avoided and that lean meat, such as skinless chicken, should be opted for as an alternative.

Meat consumption has frequently been explored as a variable associated with diabetes, and previous research has found a link between a high overall intake of protein and animal protein, and a greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Eating plenty of processed red meat, in particular, has been connected with the condition.

The new research - published in the British Journal of Nutrition - adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the source of dietary protein may be important in altering the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The researchers set out to investigate the links between different dietary protein sources and type 2 diabetes risk. They used data from the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD), which was carried out at the University of Eastern Finland.

When the KIHD study began in the years between 1984 and 1989, the diets of 2,332 men aged 42 to 60 years old were assessed. None of the individuals had type 2 diabetes at the onset of the study. Over the course of the 19-year follow-up, 432 men were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Jyrki Virtanen, a certified clinical nutritionist and an adjunct professor of nutritional epidemiology at the University of Eastern Finland, and colleagues discovered that a diet high in meat was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The association was seen across all types of meat in general, including processed and unprocessed red meat, white meat, and variety meats.

The researchers say that the association may be a result of other compounds found in meat other than protein, since meat protein alone was not connected with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Men who included a higher intake of plant protein in their diets also had healthier lifestyle habits. However, their lifestyle habits were not shown to fully explain their reduced risk of diabetes.

Male study participants who had the highest intake of plant protein were 35 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than men with the lowest plant protein intake. Furthermore, using a computer model, Virtanen and team estimate that replacing around 5 grams of animal protein with plant protein per day would diminish diabetes risk by 18 percent.

The link between plant protein and reduced diabetes risk may be explained by the effect of plant protein in the diet on blood glucose levels. Those people who consumed more plant protein had lower blood glucose levels at the start of the study.

The primary sources of plant protein in this study were grain products, with additional sources including potatoes and other such vegetables.

A diet preferring plant protein to meat protein may help protect against type 2 diabetes. The authors conclude that:

"Replacing 1 percent of energy from animal protein with energy from plant protein was associated with [an] 18 percent decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. This association remained after adjusting for BMI. In conclusion, favoring plant and egg proteins appeared to be beneficial in preventing type 2 diabetes."

Overall protein, dairy protein, and fish protein were not connected with a risk of type 2 diabetes, the researchers note. The team also revealed that, confirming the group's earlier studies, a higher intake of egg protein was identified as able to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Learn how legumes may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Diet rich in plant protein may prevent type 2 diabetes - Medical News Today

Patch.com

Last Hurrah For Foxborough Against Diabetes 5K Patch.com FOXBOROUGH, MA The 17th running of the Foxborough Against Diabetes 5K will be the last for long-running charity run. Friday night, the event organizers announced on Facebook that the race will not be continued beyond 2017. No reason was given ...

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Last Hurrah For Foxborough Against Diabetes 5K - Patch.com

Most cystic fibrosis diagnoses today require sitting for 30 minutes while an instrument collects sweat.

That bodily fluid is usually transported off-site to a lab for analysis.

Researchers then look at chloride ion levels in the sweat for indicators of the genetic disease.

Its a long process. Many, many steps are involved and technicians involved and a lot of time, so the sample can get contaminated or degraded, said Sam Emaminejad, head of the Interconnected and Integrated Bioelectronics Lab at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

But Emaminejad has helped create a new device that may help solve those problems.

Its a sensor that collects sweat, analyzes its molecular makeup, and transmits the results for diagnosis.

All of that technology is contained in one wearable device.

This can be programmed to do it all on its own, to switch from extraction to testing in a self-contained device, Emaminejad told Healthline.

His findings were published this past week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Read more: A watch that tells you when youre getting sick

The sweat sensor is the first step in what Emaminejad hopes will become an ecosystem of sensors monitoring physiological signals in our blood, sweat, and urine.

Its also part of a broader revolution in bioelectronics that is helping to achieve faster, more accurate, and more convenient diagnoses.

Alphabet Inc., the owner of Google, has a dedicated life sciences arm, Verily Life Sciences. It also has a joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline and Galvani Bioelectronics.

The Silicon Valley firm is said to be developing products such as contact lenses that can track blood sugar levels.

Researchers at Cornell University are working on slashing the time it takes to diagnose strokes through a technology that requires just a drop of blood. The process lights up substances in blood tied to a recent stroke.

Ultrasound machines are getting smaller and smaller.

Smartphone apps can help monitor how strong tremors are in Parkinsons patients, and the severity of a head injury.

And Apple reportedly has a secret team of biomedical engineers working on noninvasive blood sugar sensors that could help treat diabetes.

Monitoring blood sugar levels without piercing the skin has been seen as a holy grail by diabetes researchers.

This sort of monitoring may be a big part of the future of wearable devices like the Apple Watch as well as the future of diagnosing, tracking, and treating our health.

Read more: Re-growing teeth and healing wounds without scars

Emaminejads device also takes on this futuristic quest.

In addition to testing its role as a diagnostic tool for diseases like cystic fibrosis, his team has examined whether high glucose levels in blood correlate to high levels in sweat.

That would make analyzing the composition of sweat a quicker, noninvasive way of monitoring.

In a small early trial, the correlation was there.

Its all part of what Emaminejad sees as the future of the internet of things and wearable technology.

Right now, the Apple Watch and similar products can only tell us macro things like steps and heart rate, Emaminejad said. If we want to really make smartwatches useful for health monitoring we need to think beyond heart rate and measure micro- and nano-scale particles like electrolytes and proteins.

Being able to capture and analyze something like sweat would be a natural application of wearable tech.

A new drug could come out that doesnt work on every patient with a particular ailment, for instance.

Wearables could be used to test in real time how patients respond and adjust their treatment.

One day, these technologies could be combined to create a monitoring network scanning our blood, sweat, urine, movements, eyes, and anything else that can be analyzed to make sure everything is working as it should.

There are some biomarkers in blood that arent in sweat, and vice versa, said Emaminejad.

He said his labs new device is a good proof of concept and a first step toward that connected future.

Read more: Hip replacement surgery in one day

Excerpt from:
Wearable Technology That Can Diagnose Diabetes, Cystic Fibrosis - Healthline

A dad who achieved fame as a bailiff on Channel 5's Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! has been handed a 'death sentence' unless a donor can be found to rescue him from a terminal blood cancer.

Delroy Anglin, who reached unexpected stardom on the show, has been stricken by an aggressive form of leukaemia which ravages the blood and bones of its sufferers.

The dad-of-six was confined to a hospital bed while undergoing chemotheraphy.

But Delroy, 56, desperately needs a bone marrow transplant so he can beat the debilitating disease.

However, it's proven difficult to find a matching donor because of his minority background, and he has suffered for months since first hearing the news of his deadly illness.

Delroy, from Croydon, told the Croydon Advertiser: "You feel as if someone has pronounced a death sentence.

"Life changed in an instant. When they tell you, you're just hoping someone has made a mistake, but they haven't.

"At the end of the day, unless somebody says differently - I'm terminal."

His condition was first discovered after he requested a check-up because he had been catching more colds than he usually would.

A blood test revealed what was really affecting his usually robust health.

AML affects the stem cells in bone marrow, causing a huge amount of white blood cells to be produced. Less than half of patients can be cured of the rare disease, which causes a dangerous reduction in the number of red blood cells in the body.

"I think I was in denial because I felt so fine," said Delroy, who has been forced to quit his on-screen work.

"Life changed straight away, from diagnosis to entering the hospital was a matter of days.

"Your life just changes instantly. Everything is chaotic and it remains like that for while."

Delroy, now a grandfather, is continuing to battle the disease, which developed with shocking speed, alongside his family.

His children have rallied to support him, and although his 82-year-old mum worries, her home cooking gives him strength.

"You don't want to worry your mum," said Delroy, who is now being treated at the Royal Marsden in Sutton.

"She does worry. She comes from a generation where leukaemia was a death sentence.

"But you get the home cooking from her and build up your strength it's funny how it never changes.

"You don't know how your kids are going to react. Some react well, some become aware of their own mortality a bit, and hate going to hospitals.

"But my family have reacted so well, and I think that's because they've seen my reaction. They've been absolutely amazing."

"It's strange, people don't usually like bailiffs," he said.

"But I have had so much support, from everyone including complete strangers."

The #Match4Delroy appeal is to be led by blood cancer charity the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) and encourages people to join the donor register.

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Bailiff dad who reached fame on Channel 5's Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! gets 'death sentence' diagnosis - Mirror.co.uk

India has come up with a new definition of blindness, in line with WHO criteria, a step that would drastically bring down the number of people considered "blind" in the country.

bccl/representational image

Redefining the criteria after over four decades, the new definition says a person who is unable to count fingers from a distance of three metres would be considered "blind" as against the earlier stipulation of six metres.

The definition has been revised the first time after 1976 with the objective of generating data which can be compared with global estimates and achieve the WHO goal of reducing the blindness prevalence of India to 0.3% of the total population by 2020.

bccl/representational image

The notification in this regard has been issued by the health ministry.

Going by the new definition, the population of blind people in India will reduce from 1.20 crore (as per National Blindness survey 2007 data) to 80 lakh.

bccl/representational image

Further, India has to achieve the goal set by WHO which recommends reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.3% by 2020 to achieve the elimination of avoidable blindness.

The previous definition of blindness was adopted at the time of the inception of the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) in 1976.

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New Definition Of 'Blindness' Will Bring Down Number Of Blind In The Country By 40 Lakh - Indiatimes.com

You are here: Home Opinion Britains wilful blindness

In January 1983, the government of President Robert Mugabe launched a massive security clampdown in Matabeleland and parts of Midlands, led by Fifth Brigade a division of the Zimbabwean National Army.

guest opinion BY Hazel Cameron

This coincided with the imposition of a strict curfew in the region. Thousands of atrocities, including murders, mass physical torture and the burnings of property occurred in the ensuing six weeks.

Members of the unit told locals that they had been ordered to wipe out the people in the area and to kill anything that was human.

Mugabe named this North Korean trained unit Gukurahundi Fifth Brigade, a Shona term that loosely translates to the early rain that washes away the chaff before the spring rains.

The term Gukurahundi not only refers to Fifth Brigade, but also to the period of political and ethnic violence perpetrated by this unit in Zimbabwe between 1983 and 1985.

Gukurahundi resulted in huge losses for the Ndebele people of Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands.

The late Joshua Nkomo (leader of Zapu), in a letter to Mugabe dated June 7 1983, estimated that in the first six-week period of Gukurahundi, which commenced on January 20 1983, Fifth Brigade killed between 3 000 and 5 000 unarmed civilians in Matabeleland North.

The West German ambassador to Zimbabwe, Richard Ellerkmann, reported on March 11 1983 that the churches estimate of total deaths, based on data collected from African sources, is about 3 000.

Shari Eppel, Zimbabwean human rights advocate and forensic anthropologist, estimates the total number of unarmed civilians who died at the hands of Fifth Brigade throughout the entire Gukurahundi period to be no fewer than 10 000 and no more than 20 000.

Thousands more were beaten, tortured and raped.

The arbitrary arrests, detentions without charge, torture, summary executions and rape, suffered by the Ndebele, created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust, which persists to this day between the people of Matabeleland and the government of Zimbabwe.

This article illuminates the wilful blindness of Margaret Thatchers Conservative British government between January and April 1983, when the Zimbabwean state-sponsored violence of Gukurahundi peaked.

The analysis of this study was undertaken through the prism of hitherto unavailable official British and US government communications pertaining to the Matabeleland massacres, obtained by Freedom of Information requests to various British government ministries and offices, and to the US Department of State.

This unique dataset provides minutes of meetings and other relevant communications between the British High Commission, Harare, the Prime Ministers Office, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence, London, as well as the US Department of State and the US embassy in Harare.

The mining of such rich data permits a unique insight into the role of the British government in Gukurahundi and establishes: what information was available to the British government about the persistent and relentless atrocities taking place against the Ndebele people of Matabeleland North during the early part of 1983; what the British diplomatic approach was in response to this knowledge; and what the British governments rationale was for such policies.

Importantly, this data is triangulated by analysis of the US declassified documents. It must be acknowledged that the documentary material considered in this study is not complete.

However, the 2 600 pages of documentation analysed, indicates that Robin Byatt, the British High Commissioner in Harare during the peak period of Gukurahundi violence, in addition to his diplomatic team and Major General Colin Shortis, the commander of the British Military Advisory Training Team, were consistent in their efforts to minimise the magnitude of Fifth Brigade atrocities.

It is indisputable that this is the general theme of the available cables that were forwarded from the British High Commission, Harare, to London during the period under study for this article.

Furthermore, this article will reveal that while both the UK and US were influenced by realpolitik, the US government demonstrated concern for the victims of Gukurahundi and placed a focus on the development of strategies and policies designed to challenge the state sponsored violence being perpetrated by Fifth Brigade so as to end the suffering of the black Ndebele people.

This was contrary to the approach of the UK government who wilfully turned a blind eye to the victims of these gross abuses.

Instead, the Zimbabweans who were of concern to the British government, and influenced their diplomatic approach, were the many white Zimbabweans living in the affected regions, and who were unaffected by the extreme violence of the Fifth Brigade.

The rationale for such naked realpolitik is multi-layered and expressed clearly in numerous communications between Harare and London.

This can be neatly summarised here by quoting a cable from the British High Commissioner, Harare, to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Geoffrey Howe, on June 24 1983.

He notes that: Zimbabwe is important to us primarily because of major British and western economic and strategic interests in southern Africa, and Zimbabwes pivotal position there.

Other important interests are investment (800 million) and trade (120 million exports in 1982), Lancaster House prestige, and the need to avoid a mass white exodus.

Zimbabwe offers scope to influence the outcome of the agonising South Africa problem; and is a bulwark against Soviet inroads.

Zimbabwes scale facilitates effective external influence on the outcome of the Zimbabwe experiment, despite occasional Zimbabwean perversity.

One can but assume that occasional Zimbabwean perversity refers to Gukurahundi and the summary killings and commonplace torture and rape of tens of thousands of Ndebele people.

This is an extract of a report that was recently published in the International History Review journal providing new information on the Gukurahundi atrocities.

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Britain's wilful blindness - The Zimbabwe Standard

A fundamental question for investors is 'what is your edge?' Starting with the idea that each time we buy or sell, someone else is making the opposite decision, anybody seeking to maintain their investment performance has to have an answer to that question. It could be better analysis, or a more disciplined approach, or that one has turned over enough rocks to find something new that no one in the market is watching.

Slingshot Insights goes one further step with the 'what is your edge' question; their approach is to find experts on a given topic and ask them about what does or doesn't matter. Given Slingshot Insights' focus on healthcare and biotech, where expertise is at a premium, getting scientific or other high-level insight would seem especially 'edge-worthy'. The group's Marketplace service is fittingly called Become The Smart Money. We emailed with the team to hear about their approach and about what they're hearing in the still rocky healthcare sector, and where they're looking to learn more.

SA Marketplace: Could you talk about your approach generally with Slingshot Insights? What led you to this direction?

Slingshot Insights, author of Become The Smart Money: At Slingshot Insights we work to connect investors with questions to the most knowledgeable experts with answers. Why do we do this? Because we know that the best capitalized professional investors spend more money on expert and management access than any other diligence resource. Until now, these tools were not affordable for the vast majority of people. We think direct access to those closest to the situation, be it doctors, buyers, or management teams, brings life to the independent research investors currently do.

By speaking to experts directly, investors are able to probe big picture proclamations by management teams. We are currently focused on healthcare with plans to expand into additional sectors in 2017.

We started with healthcare because of the complexity and diversity of the industry. For example, if a management team has claimed a new medications addressable market is 500k patients, a lot more research needs to be done. Speaking to a physician who has treated the illness for 20 years and was involved in the drugs development can provide valuable granularity to that number. Carefully crafted questions and follow-up inquiries can peel back patients that might be too sick to go on therapy, already satisfied, or contraindicated. Often these nuances can mean the difference between missing launch estimates and a huge takeout premium.

SA: How do you make sure to get value out of the calls? Interviews or Q&As can be tough to control, so how do you handle that?

SI: We have many steps and procedures in place to ensure our customers get value from the telephone interviews we set up. First and foremost is expert selection. We screen each expert for relevant experience, analyze their biography, and evaluate more than one candidate. The experts on our network are often in the small group of authoritative voices on a specific topic. They are called Key Opinion Leaders for a reason and even other professionals look to them for direction. Once an expert has been selected, we organize both specific questions and an overarching goal of the conversation to make sure the time is well-spent. By connecting preparation with selection we are able to consistently deliver insightful conversations.

A good expert is essential, but a strong call leader is also important. Our calls are led by an impressive group of investors, many of whom manage millions of dollars professionally and have closely followed the companies discussed for years. We have been consistently impressed with the caliber of dialogue and degree of sophistication our call leaders bring to the table.

SA: And then where does your expertise in the industry come in? When making your final conclusions, if any, where is there room for you to insert your opinion and analysis independent of the collective expert opinion (for example, if you have 2 or 3 experts who disagree on something)?

SI: An investors individual experience is critical to maximizing the value of a call. Understanding the salient points on a topic going into the conversation can often mean surprising the expert with a good question.

Beyond asking clever questions, interpretation of the answer also takes skill. Frequently investors listening to the exact same conversation will come away with different conclusions on the investment implications due to their own larger experience and knowledge basis. Oftentimes as professional investors do, our members will execute multiple calls on a topic, further refining investor questions and drilling further into specific learnings from the prior call(s) to form the basis for a strong investment thesis.

SA: What's the biggest revelation you've heard on a call over the last few months, and what's the significance for investors?

SI: Often the biggest revelations will be surprising answers the expert takes for granted. This dismissal of a management claim out of hand can be particularly surprising to call listeners. Two recent examples are particularly stark. In the first an expert explained why anatomically a drugs delivery method would not work for that indication. The drug just wouldnt reach the part of the eye needed to treat the disease. A second involved a new treatment similar to what was the current generic standard of care, but supposedly did not cause 2 key side effects. Talking through these improvements the doctor made it very clear the risks were theoretical at best and not something he or his patients were worried about in reality. These comments are very actionable and a great check against rosy management proclamations.

SA: In the previous roundtable you joined, you mentioned healthcare policy was a big factor to watch for, while at the same time mentioning skepticism that drug pricing would change much. With a few more weeks of information, what's your current outlook for the regulatory/political environment for healthcare companies?

SI: Sadly it seems that the political bashing and rhetoric around healthcare over the past 12-18 months has soured many investors on the space. General interest is down and sexy stories are harder to find. We have the view that sectors out of favor are the most fruitful for diligence and selective investment. Value exists and sizzle is cyclical.

SA: You also mentioned in that roundtable that Slingshot Insights doesn't tend to take positions. How come?

SI: We see Slingshot Insights great value as empowering investors to form stronger theses for where they put their money. By serving as an open platform connecting investors with information, the communitys creativity and idea generation is endless. Much like Seeking Alpha only endorses strong articles, rather than forming a portfolio, we see ourselves as a platform rather than one more stock tip newsletter. Our offering is experiential and is hands-on for our members. We believe the only way to consistently beat the market is with well-researched and differentiated ideas, not a hot tip.

The differentiator for Slingshot Insights is broad access to this previously closely guarded resource. Despite professional investors spending more than $600mm annually on expert access, the number of investors utilizing it was a small % of the overall market. We see these conversations becoming the backbone of countless investors' theses and raising the caliber of investment discourse broadly.

SA: What is an area of strong interest for you right now, and why?

SI: As we mentioned in the round table recently, oncology remains a very hot topic; not only because oncology broadly represents dozens of smaller diseases, but also because of the degree of innovation in the field right now. Investors, governments, and scientists have focused on oncology broadly for many years now and that work is finally bearing fruit.

One of the biggest cancer conferences of the year is the first week of June and a list of all the papers and presentations were released this past Thursday (4/20). Events such as ASCO are where the progress of an entire medical field is unveiled, and investors are rightly very excited and focused on them. We will be hosting a number of Expert Interviews and Management Calls both before and after this event to help orient investors on the latest breakthroughs.

SA: What is an area you are finding more difficult for investors or experts to shed light on, and what are the challenges in that area?

SI: The hardest area for us to get good experts on right now is public policy. Through a combination of regulatory restrictions on what government employees may speak to investors about as well as a general lack of political consensus, it is an opaque topic. Fortunately, there are still many names on both the long and short side that can work despite these challenges.

***

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Next week's Roundtable: Personal Finance

Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Marketplace Roundtable: Talking To The Experts - Seeking Alpha

KrisAnn Krause dangled from a pair of silken ribbons, spun around and struck a pose to uproarious applause.

Its like you are flying, Krause said.

Le Sueurs Your Time Fitness hosted Night at the Circus Saturday, a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation.

The fundraiser featured games, a silent auction, raffles and a series of showcases for circus arts performed by students and instructors.

Circus arts is a blanket term for a wide range of activities. At this fundraiser, visitors were treated to shows of aerial silk dancing, pole dance and lyra hoop performances.

Krause, who runs the fitness studio, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 27.

It changed my life, she said.

However, she was able to get in contact with the Arthritis Foundation, whichconnected her with resources to support her and help reduce her symptoms. Through the foundation, Krause was able to connect with doctors and get treatment to help her carry on with life.

The Arthritis Foundation is an advocacy organization that supports arthritis research and acts as a support system and community to those suffering from the condition. Arthritis causes painful inflammation and stiffness in joints. In some cases the condition can make it difficult to move, write or perform other basic tasks.

Now 38, Krause has become a big supporter for the Arthritis Foundation, and used this event as a way to help support itscause.

Betty Harsma, a fitness instructor who works with the studio, helped organize the event, and announced prizes for the raffle and the silent auction at the end of the night, as well as introduced all of the performers.

Christal Lustig has been training with aerial silks for about a year, and she used her performance to show off what she can do on the dual ribbons.

Its really an adrenaline rush, Lustig said, adding that she liked the full body work out.

For some of the performers, it was the first time they had shown off their moves in front of a crowd. Kim Dvorak has worked with Your Time Fitness for 12 weeks, and said that her husband and son had never seen her perform before the fundraiser.

Dvoraks aerial silk routine took her high off the floor, slowly rotating upside down before she threw out an arm as a counter balance. After she disengaged from the silken ribbons, she said she was happy with her show.

It went so much better than practice, so thats all you can really ask for, she said.

Her husband, Rett Dvorak,was impressed and happy to see his wife finally perform after only seeing pictures for months.

At the end of the night, instructor Teresa Tebbe and Krause both got on the rings, treating the crowd to faster-paced aerial performance that saw the two spinning and flipping in sync with each other.

The event also featured a raffle that gave out a variety of prizes including discounts on workout sessions at the gym and gift certificates to local businesses. The silent auction featured prizes donated by local businesses, with some of the prizes going for over $70 by the time the auction closed.

Reporter Ben Farniok can be reached at 507-931-8576 or follow him on Twitter @LNHben.

Link:
High-flying acts: acrobatic workout raises funds for arthritis - Southernminn.com

Muskogee area residents will have an opportunity to be a hero and make a life-and-death difference in someones life Tuesday when a Be the Match Registry donor drive is hosted by the Muskogee Education Association.

For people between the ages of 18 and 44, the event will be held from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday in the lobby of the Fine Arts Auditorium at Muskogee High School. The event is free and is being held in honor of Muskogee teacher Angela Gideon and her daughter, Nevaeh Oswalt, said Michael Walcutt, president of the association.

We urge people to stop by, fill out a form and be tested for possibly being a potential match, Walcutt said. The test is a simple self-administered mouth swab.

Gideons daughter had a transplant match found through a registry.

This is something Angela is very passionate about, and its a way for the association to support our teachers and causes they feel are important, he said. Nevaeh died in 2011 but lived longer than anticipated after receiving a transplant that enhanced her life.

Gideon became aware of just how important finding a matched donor is after Nevaeh was born with a rare genetic disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH. When Nevaeh turned 8, doctors began the worldwide search for a transplant donor, Walcutt said.

That search revealed just one person in the entire world who was a match for Nevaeh, he said. While that transplant went well, Nevaeh died in 2011 from multiple complication of her disease over the years and trying to recover from the transplant.

Gideon is a math teacher at Alice Robertson Junior High School. Walcutt said she responded a couple of months ago when the education association dispatched word that its members were interested in supporting causes important to local educators.

As an association we try to support our educators, Walcutt said. This is so important.

Tuesdays event is being held in conjunction with the Be The Match Foundation through the Oklahoma Blood Institute, said Institute spokeswoman Audrey Womack.

For thousands of people with blood cancers like leukemia or other diseases like sickle cell anemia, a marrow transplant is their only hope for life, Womack said.

She said the reason donors between the 18-to-44 age limit are sought is because they are proven to provide the best outcomes should a transplant be needed.

For people showing up at Tuesdays drive, Womack said there is no charge. For people older than 44, she said they can still be donors but they would be required to go in person to the Oklahoma City location of the Oklahoma Blood Institute and would be required to pay a $100 fee to register.

Womack said that should a person be matched with another needing a marrow transplant the process is similar to donating blood platelets, plasma or stem cells with the donors blood withdrawn through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that will collect only blood-forming cells. The remaining blood is returned to the donor in the other arm.

If you go

WHAT: Be the Match donor drive.

WHEN: Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday; the entire process takes from one to 15 minutes.

WHERE: Muskogee High School, 3200 E. Shawnee Bypass.

WHO: Area residents between the ages of 18 and 44.

COST: Free.

Visit link:
Marrow donor registry drive set Tuesday - Muskogee Daily Phoenix

Welcome to this weeks Research Roundup.These Friday posts aim to inform our readers about the many stories that relate to animal research each week. Do you have an animal research story we should include in next weeks Research Roundup? You can send it to us viaour Facebook pageor through thecontact formon the website.

The March for Science champions robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity.We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policy makers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest. https://www.marchforscience.com/ #MarchforScience

Somatic stem cells exist naturally in the body. They are important for growth, healing, and replacing cells that are lost daily through wear and tear. Source: University of Utah

Zebrafish: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Image courtesy of National Library of Medicne

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Research Roundup: March for Science, promising headway in stem cell treatments, new treatment for cystic fibrosis ... - Speaking of Research

FARGO, N.D. Those attending the recent International Sugarbeet Institute in Fargo got a glimpse of what the future of agriculture is going to look like. That peek into the future was made possible by the keynote speaker Robert Fraley, Ph.D., the executive vice president and chief technology officer at Monsanto. In addition, he is often recognized as the father of agricultural biotechnology.

In his position, Fraley has his finger on the pulse of agricultures future, which he claims is very strong and promising.

Ive been doing this at Monsanto for 37 years, he said, and I would tell you today that the amount of science coming into agriculture is just stunning. I helped invent GMO. Today we are talking about the second or third generation beyond GMO.

From those first Roundup Ready soybeans and BT cotton approved about 20 years ago, a wide variety of crops have been added to the list such as corn, canola, sugarbeets and alfalfa, along with many other lesser crops, he noted.

Fraley feels the most important advancement of adapting GMO technology is the ability to use germplasm from all around the world.

This means the next improvement in corn could easily come from a breeder in South America or the next advancement in soybeans could come from a plant breeder in China. Now that we have every gene sequenced in these plants, each one of these breakthroughs can quickly be bred in.

Monsanto is currently spending over half of its research and development budget on breeding crops better with these new technologies, he said.

One of the biggest advancements to be used in the last two or three years is what is known as gene editing, and what is remarkable about it is the fact it isnt a GMO, even though it has the power to literally change every gene and do it in a very specific and precise way.

The distinction is, when we make a GMO, like a Roundup Ready sugarbeet, we have added a new gene to the sugarbeet, he said. In the case of gene editing, we are just precisely changing the genes that are there, but doing it in a way that gives us an enormous ability to improve the crop.

He listed several new products that Monsanto will soon be bringing to the market in an effort to make agriculture more productive and profitable.

Some would claim that only a few companies are involved in finding new products and services to bring to the ag industry. However, a study conducted by Fraley has shown that approximately 4,000 entities, both private and public, from around the world are working on a wide range of subjects ranging from the planting phase to the harvest phase of the industry.

Just considering the planting phase of agriculture, the survey shows over 325 companies are involved with planting equipment, over 525 with crop protection products and approximately 1,240 companies associated with fertilizers.

Over the last two years, investors in start-up companies, have invested over $10 billion in agriculture, Fraley said. There are literally a thousand new start-up companies involved in satellites, imagery and gene editing. It is a very dynamic area, with lots of new players coming in.

We are seeing the best of all worlds thousands of new startups and players coming in, and we are seeing some of the established players realize that they need to up their game, raise the ante and do more. And that is a really healthy thing.

The latest word on wheat

According to Fraley, wheat is the last major crop that has not seen the real benefits of biotechnology, molecular breeding or gene editing that we have seen for the other crops.

Monsanto, through its acquisition of WestBred and merger with Bayer, has started to do some of this work in wheat. The combination of the companies capabilities creates a pretty strong presence to be able to drive innovation in wheat.

I think that is one of the upsides from the business combination, he said, referring to the eventual merger of the two agribusiness firms.

Methods of winning acceptance of biotechnology

The final challenge Fraley issued to those attending his presentation is the need to communicate more. Today, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population is engaged in farming.

We are the 1 percent that needs to reach out, magnify our voices, and continually explain to consumers, politicians, the decision makers, the regulators the importance of agriculture innovation, he said. The consumers need to understand and can support and be comfortable with the kinds of innovations that we need to farm better, farm more profitable and to farm more sustainable.

This was the 55th annual International Sugarbeet Institute that brings together the growers and the allied industries that are engaged in sugarbeet production.

Read more:
Agriculture's biotechnology has a bright future - Farm and Ranch Guide

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Favorable Media Coverage Likely to Affect Puma Biotechnology ... - The Cerbat Gem

Being overweight can aggravate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms and make it harder to achieve remission.

But did you know that it can also make RA harder to diagnose in some cases?

A new study shows that being obese can skew RA tests due to inflammation caused by excess weight, particularly in women.

The inflammation caused by obesity can occasionally make RA disease activity appear worse than it is, leading to a misdiagnosis or an improper categorization of disease severity.

This study, out of the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that obesity can alter the results of common RA lab results like SED-rate and CRP. These blood tests are frequently used in the diagnosis and monitoring of RA.

Read more: Rheumatoid arthritis linked to mood disorders

The study, published by Dr. Michael George, MSCE, of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and his colleagues, found that there was a link between body mass index (BMI) and SED rate and CRP elevation.

In some cases, the inflammation from weight gain was what was throwing off the tests, not elevated disease activity or symptoms.

In order to deduce these results, the team of researchers looked at 2,103 people with arthritis. The researchers said the more severe the case of obesity, the bigger correlation there was between BMI and elevated RA markers.

This correlation did not always carry over to male patients.

In a statement to the press, George said, Our results suggest that obesity may lead to increased levels of CRP and ESR in women with rheumatoid arthritis. The increase in these levels of inflammation was not because rheumatoid arthritis was worse in these women. In fact, we found that obesity leads to very similar increases in these lab tests even in women without rheumatoid arthritis.

In the press statement, he continued, Physicians might assume that high levels of inflammation mean that a patient has rheumatoid arthritis or that their rheumatoid arthritis requires more treatment when in fact a mild increase in levels of inflammation could be due to obesity instead.

Read more: Rigorous exercise could reduce rheumatoid arthritis symptoms

These findings were published in the medical journal Arthritis Care and Research, and some people with arthritis were not surprised.

Diana Bryan of Maryland thought she had RA. It turned out that she might not.

I went to my primary care physician you know, my general doctor. He ran labs and told me I had an elevated rheumatoid factor and SED rate. He said those indicate RA. I was so scared, she told Healthline. I went to a rheumatologist who did more tests and a physical exam. He asked my whole medical history and does not think I actually have rheumatoid. He said my inflammation could be from other factors. Im overweight so now Im wondering if thats why. I do have osteoarthritis but months later after eating an anti-inflammatory diet and taking NSAIDs, plus losing some weight, my blood tests were normal, so who knows.

To me, it makes sense, said Janet McKay of Pennsylvania.

McKay has RA and is also a certified nutrition coach.

A poor diet and a high BMI can lead to inflammation. That inflammation isnt always from an inflammatory condition like rheumatoid arthritis, though sometimes it is, she told Healthline. It is hard to say just how much the two are connected, but I do believe that lowering BMI is healthy for patients with RA and other chronic pain problems.

Go here to read the rest:
Obesity Poses a Challenge in Diagnosing Rheumatoid Arthritis - Healthline