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Prevent Blindness Wisconsin received a legacy gift of over $59,000 from local private donor, William Hoffman, the nonprofit and volunteer-based organization announced this week.

We are incredibly grateful for this gift which will support Prevent Blindness Wisconsins mission to improve the lives of children, adults, and families through early detection of eye conditions to prevent blindness and preserve sight, Tami Radwill, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin executive director said.

The gift will be used to strengthen the organizations endowment and support its visual screening program a free service that tests adults for vision impairments and refers patients to eye doctors.

Julie Cordero, Prevent Blindness Wisconsins development director, said the organization has not received a legacy gift of this amount for two or three years and that memorial donations are more common than legacy gifts.

Hoffman received the organizations free screening 25 years ago, which led him to seek early treatment for glaucoma and prevent severe vision loss. He made the legacy gift because he believed the organizations services saved his eyesight.

Prevent Blindness Wisconsin received a legacy gift of over $59,000 from local private donor, William Hoffman, the nonprofit and volunteer-based organization announced this week.

We are incredibly grateful for this gift which will support Prevent Blindness Wisconsins mission to improve the lives of children, adults, and families through early detection of eye conditions to prevent blindness and preserve sight, Tami Radwill, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin executive director said.

The gift will be used to strengthen the organizations endowment and support its visual screening program a free service that tests adults for vision impairments and refers patients to eye doctors.

Julie Cordero, Prevent Blindness Wisconsins development director, said the organization has not received a legacy gift of this amount for two or three years and that memorial donations are more common than legacy gifts.

Hoffman received the organizations free screening 25 years ago, which led him to seek early treatment for glaucoma and prevent severe vision loss. He made the legacy gift because he believed the organizations services saved his eyesight.

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Prevent Blindness Wisconsin receives legacy donation - BizTimes.com (Milwaukee)

Organisers of the Life After Blindness organisation at the launch event.

Community members with visual impairment have launched an organisation for the blind, named Life After Blindness.

Tembisa residents came out in numbers to Thafeni Park to be part of launch, on April 7.

Life After Blindness organisations founder, Mrs Mpho Matjie, said she started the organisation because there was no other organisation looking out for the needs of people with visual impairment.

Our aim is to empower people who are visually impaired by offering skills development programmes.

We will help be more independent and also offer moral support through peer counselling. Blind people should be able to do things by themselves and be independent, said Matjie.

She said people with visual impairment should be active community members, not locked up in their houses.

Matjie said at Life After Blindness, blind people will be taught, among other things, braille, bead work and computer skills.

When somebody loses their vision they feel like it is the end of the world and yet it is only the beginning.

Organisations like Life After Blindness are here to give them courage to move on with their lives and find new possibilities and excitement.

They shouldnt allow their disability to stop their dreams, said optometrist Ms Ntibeleng Masile.

Mr Nape Mashiane, from the SA Guide Dog Association (SAGDA), said Life After Blindness will have a positive impact on the community of Tembisa.

Mpho is visually impaired herself and for her to start the organisation will inspire people with the same condition, said Mashiane.

He said SAGDA will assist Life After Blindness by training members and running workshops.

Life After Blindness is situated at 871 Thami Mnyele Drive, in Mqantsa section.

Matjie said affiliation is free and interested people can call 011 042 3086 or 071 027 9319.

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Now there is Life After Blindness - Tembisan

I particularly remember a conversation that I had with a college advisor about race during my senior year of high school. Specifically, it was an incident of overt racism that involved the conscious exclusion of a student of color from an event. My college advisor, a white woman, reacted in what appeared to be a blend of horror and shame. At one point during the conversation, in what I imagine to be an attempt to distance herself from the event, she pronounced her color blindness. I cant believe some people are like that. I personally dont see color, I treat everyone the same. Initially, I remember being appreciative of her unbiased racial outlook. After all, race is a social construct; its conception is therefore contingent upon our social selves.

Later that evening, however, I grew concerned with my reactionor lack thereof. Race is something that is so present in the U.S. but its discussion is something that elicits discomfort in everyone. Was her insistence on color blindness merely a refusal to engage with the overt racism of the incident?

I realized that her words, I personally dont see color [race], had struck me: What does it mean to be color blind in a society colored by racism?

I would like to clarify: race refers to skin color, whereas ethnicity is more aligned with culture. There exists a tendency to conflate race and ethnicity. Thus, when we talk about racism we are referring to the marginalization and oppression of various groups of people on the basis of skin color.

Color blindness is the racial ideology that posits the best way to end discrimination is by treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race.

This adoption of racial color blindness is not uncommon: topics involving race are often difficult to discuss. The notion of color blindness is, then, used as a device to disengage from conversations of race and racism entirely. This tendency is most prominent as it relates to campus discussions of race. The subtext of certain campus talks about race appears to be directed towards individuals who harbor negative sentiments about race. Those who insist on color blindness thus avoid these conversations, thinking, Why would I need to attend this campus talk? Im not racist. These events, however, are designed to generate productive conversations about race.

While many of these discussions are directed towards the predominately white Bowdoin population, people of color often disproportionately outnumber white people in attendance.

Racial color blindness encourages people to look past race entirely and it encourages avoidance of acknowledging race in interactions and discussions.

Conversations about race, however, are necessary for everyone.

In a color blind society, white people, who are unlikely to experience disadvantages due to race, can effectively ignore racism in American life, justify the current social order and feel more comfortable with their relatively privileged standing in society. Many people of color, however, who are regularly hindered by race, experience color blind ideologies quite differently. Color blindness constructs a society that denies negative racial experiences, undermines cultural heritage and invalidates unique perspectives.

The notion that someone in the U.S. can lead a completely color blind life is not plausible. The awareness of race is woven into our nations history and its implications thus cannot be completely erased.

It is for this reason that I encourage campus discussions about race, as they simultaneously bring us away from a colorblind society and bring us towards a more racially conscious society.

I realize that there is no such thing as color blindness in our society. We cannot simply stop talking about race because skin color undeniably affects the way people experience the world. We all must actively engage with discussions of race.

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Debunking the myth of color blindness in a racist society - The Bowdoin Orient

Blindness due to a bacterial infection that causes trachoma is a serious problem worldwide. The currently recommended number of rounds of mass drug administration may not be enough to ensure elimination of the disease.

Christina Faust 14 Apr 2017

Blindness caused by repeated infection with Chlamydia trachomatis

Trachoma is a disease of the eye and is the most important infectious cause of blindness worldwide. The bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is responsible for the pathology- which includes eyelid scarring. After repeated exposure, the eyelid can become so scarred that it turns inwards and causes eyelashes to rub against the eyelid. This can scar the cornea and results in pain and light intolerance. If left untreated, infections can lead to vision impairment and even blindness.

Trachoma is spread either through direct contact with eye or nose discharge from infected people or through indirect contact, facilitated by flies that have contacted the eyes and noses of infected individuals.

Map of endemic countries endemic for trachoma

The bacterium is endemic in many countries across the globe, but in 1996 the WHO Alliance for Global Elimination of Trachoma (GET2020) set a goal to eradicate blindness caused by repeated infection by 2020. Elimination of trachoma depends on the SAFE strategy, which covers four types of interventions: surgery (S), antibiotics (A), facial cleanliness (F) and environmental improvement (E).

While all of these interventions are essential for elimination, mass drug administration (MDA) with azithromycin is the cornerstone of control. Drugs are administered at a community level in conjunction with national control programs. Dosage is determined by a dose pole and length of treatment in a given community is determined by the baseline prevalence in the district.

Currently, the WHO recommends annual treatment of all individuals within an affected community for at least 3 years if the prevalence of clinical signs (trachomatous inflammation-follicular) is between 10-30% or 5 years if the prevalence of clinical signs is >30% in individuals under 10 years of age. MDA programmes often target children, as they are easier to treat en masse.

Mass drug administration of azithromycin for trachoma control in Ethiopia

Fortunately, modelling results show that treatment of children only is an effective strategy to reduce, and even eliminate, trachoma at the population level. Although termed elimination, the goal of the control strategy is to reduce prevalence to less than 5% among 1-9 year olds, thereby reducing the force of infection. It is estimated that 100 repeated exposures are required before an individual becomes blind, so reducing transmission will greatly reduce probability of becoming blind.

Although 2020 is the target for elimination globally, 182 million people live in trachoma endemic regions. Only three countries have been confirmed to have eliminated trachoma by WHO, with another seven claiming elimination. With so few countries meeting elimination targets, how effective have MDA programmes been and is there a risk of stopping them too early?

Azithromycin is effective at clearing individual infections, but mounting evidence suggests there are barriers to its effectiveness at a population level. In areas that are considered to have moderate endemicity (~20%), three annual MDAs do not seem to be enough for local elimination. Three MDA rounds did not provide sustained elimination three years after treatment stopped in an area where baseline was 30% prevalence. In hyperendemic areas (>50% baseline),seven toten rounds of MDAs may be needed before conducting a follow-up survey.

These findings point to a reevaluation of the current recommendation for length of MDAs. Current policy for MDA treatment rounds doesnt seem sufficient, especially in high endemicity areas. In concert with MDA, addressing hygiene and environmental risk factors in communities is essential for trachoma control. In regions where the endemic equilibrium is high, it is likely even more important to employ multiple strategies for reducing transmission. Controlling trachoma requires improving facial hygiene, awareness of the disease and improved sanitation. In addition, insecticide control of flies can be more effective in reducing trachoma than simply providing latrines, emphasizing the role of vectors in the spread of this pathogen.

Moving forward, it will be important to monitor areas where MDA has ceased, to ensure that there is no resurgence of cases. In districts where MDA is ongoing, control programs can integrate with other MDAs to reduce costs and treatment fatigue in communities. In settings where trachoma was above 20%, even 30%, it will be essential to extend MDA programs and integrate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions into control programs.

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Is 3 to 5 years of treatment enough to eliminate preventable blindness? Mounting evidence for more integrated ... - BMC Blogs Network (blog)

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Color blindness is a visual impairment that restricts color vision. Thus, colors arent entirely clear for color blind software users. There isnt much in the way of color blindness software for Windows that can assist users. However, these are a few Windows programs that color blind users can modify VDU display colors with as required.

Visolve is one freeware program for Windows, Mac OS X and iPhone platforms that transforms VDU display colors to enhance color perception. This software enables users to open a Visolve Deflector window frame that captures a portion of the desktop behind it. Then you can apply color Red-Green, Blue-Yellow or Increase saturation color transformations to the region captured within the frame. In addition, it comes with a toolbar that enables you to make color adjustments while browsing with Internet Explorer. The software also adds that toolbar to the taskbar so you can apply color configurations to the full desktop. This page on the publishers website shows you how the software adjusts display colors.

WhatColor is freeware software for Windows 10, 8 and 7 that enables users to identify colors by selecting pixels. Click wcol482e.exeon this web page to save the softwares setup wizard. The program magnifies an area around your cursor from which you can select some pixels to identify. The program will then tell you what the color of the pixel selected is and provide an RGB value for it. As such, this can come in handy if color blind users need to refer to colors in a document; or if another document or page refers to specific colors that might otherwise not be clear.

Sensible Colors is just one of the eight tools included with MantaDB Utilities for Internet Explorer, which is a freeware package you can add to Windows from this page. This enables users to remove all background images from website pages and converts text color to black on white background to enhance clarity. As Sensible Colors removes background images, it can also speed up browsing.

Color Enhancer is not exactly Windows software, but its a Chrome extension you can add to that browser from this web page. The extension adds a color filter to Google Chrome with which you can adjust page colors as required. To configure the colors, press the Color Enhancer button on the browsers toolbar and select Set-up to open the filter shown in the snapshot directly below. Then you can select one of the rows and drag the bar slider to configure page colors.

Those are a few programs and tools that can assist color blind software users. They enable users to adjust VDU display colors as required to enhance software window and web page clarity.

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Color blindness software for Windows PCs - Windows Report

When it comes to getting biotechnology innovations to market, with commercial protection, it can be tough. Around three quarters of patent applications normally fail to cut it. Although biotechnology is recognised as being important for the economy and society, it can also be highly controversial attracting public protests

The European Patent Office (EPO) has faced opposition in the past, for instance, over patents relating to processes for re-engineering genes, for use in medical research into cancer treatment. These processes could apply to various animals, including great apes and that became a magnet for criticism from animal rights campaigners.

The number of patent filings for biotechnology increased by 0.3 percent in 2016, to 5,744 making it the tenth largest sector in its field.

Youris.com spoke to Benoit Battistelli, President of the EPO, about the role of patent protection and how it can aid biotechnology innovation and the wider bioeconomy despite the obstacles faced by some.

How much of a focus is the bioeconomy for patents and what are some of the key developments?

Biosciences play an important role in patent applications at the EPO, given the growing convergence of technologies, which is widely responsible for technical progress in a wide number of sectors. Such inventions are mainly found in industrial biotechnology, for instance, in the development of novel products such as new detergents, functional food or even new eco-friendly material in construction, such as pollution-eating concrete and self-healing concrete.

The area of clean energy production is also very important. For example, when it comes to using biomass as an energy source [editors note: In 2011, a Danish inventor won a European Inventor Award organised by the EPO for developing a system which increases the types of biomass fuels that can be used. Typically, biomass materials have to be dried before they can be used as fuel, but Jens Dall Bentzens furnace design can also burn materials with a moisture content of up to 60 percent. Hes since reported to have attracted interest from Europe and the US, selling the furnace to an American manufacturer, as well as building two others for use in Denmark].

Is the bioeconomy an increasing sector?

Biotech is among our top ten technical fields and it has increased. At the end of the patent granting process, its about 50 percent on average that become a patent. Its only 26 or 27 percent in the case of biotech. Why? Because it is a very sensitive issue and we are applying the patentability criteria very rigorously. There are huge European capacities in biotech and we have seen that we must find a good balance between the regulatory constraints and the economic capacities that this sector represents.

The position of the EPO is very clear and simple. There is an EU directive concerning biotech, which we respect and which we have integrated in our own legal framework, the European Patent Convention. Then you have the interpretations of the Directive by the European Court of Justice and we adapt our practice to these judgements.

Overall, how complicated is it to obtain a patent, and is it expensive?

I would not say that it is complicated, but it is a difficult process, because we always start from the basis that a patent is an exception to the principle of free trade, free industry, free competition. Globally, for around 20 to 25,000 euros, you can obtain a patent as the EPO. For this amount, 5,000 euros are the EPO fees and the rest is the fees of those who helped to draft a patent and then discuss it with the patent office.

So, with a patent, you are giving the holder the exclusive right of commercially exploiting his invention, for a certain period of time, a maximum 20 years.

By Damon Embling

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Biotechnology: navigating a minefield - Cordis News

WASHINGTON Overly cautious regulations that contravene decades of academic research and ignore the lessons from massive real-world experience are stifling innovation in plant and animal improvement, said the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

The Trump administration should roll back overly precautionary regulations to encourage much-needed innovations that produce safer and more sustainable crops and livestock while still preventing unreasonable risks to public and environmental welfare, argues the science- and tech-policy think tank in a recently released report.

"From reducing the need for pesticides to increasing crop yields, genetically modified crops have already made farming more safe and environmentally friendly," said L. Val Giddings, a senior fellow at ITIF and the report's author. "Researchers are discovering ever more precise, predictable, and easy-to-use techniques derived directly from nature. But despite decades of evidence on the safety of genetically improved crops, unfounded fears and politically driven opposition have led to regulations that chill innovation. It's time to rethink these policies and allow and enable a new generation of discoveries that can feed the world even more safely and sustainably."

Giddings explains that in the 1980s, the U.S. government decided to regulate biotech-improved crops using the same principles and methods it would for any other crops, because expert bodies repeatedly found no unique or novel hazards that made these crops and livestock any different than those derived from the classical plant and animal breeding that has occurred for millennia. But since then, Giddings says the disparity between the minimal risk associated with these innovations and the major regulatory hurdles they must clear has widened from a gap to a chasm.

This discordance between the degree of regulatory oversight and the actual hazards is posing economic and environmental costs, as innovative new products are delayed from reaching the market, Giddings said. To overcome these barriers and unleash a new generation of innovation in agricultural biotechnology, the report recommends that:

The Trump administration should enforce the mandate from the Office of Science and Technology Policy that agencies update their regulations and policies for innovative agricultural-biotechnology products, and that the revised regulations should be effective in preventing unreasonable risks while still encouraging and enabling innovation;

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service should set aside its proposal for process-based revisions to existing regulations;

The Food and Drug Administration should enforce the federal law prohibiting misleading food labels;

The FDA should revise its current proposal for regulating gene-edited animals, withdraw its proposal for gene-edited plants, and develop new proposals to exercise its discretion in preventing unreasonable risks;

The Environmental Protection Agency should not prematurely obstruct gene-silencing technologies;

The Fish and Wildlife Service should immediately withdraw the prohibition on planting biotech-improved seeds on national refuge lands; and

The Trump administration should pursue efforts through the World Trade Organization to hold China and the European Union accountable for continuing to discriminate against crops improved through biotechnology, despite being obligated otherwise.

"Biotechnology innovations have improved the lives of farmers around the world, enhanced their stewardship of the land, and benefitted consumers and the environment," Giddings said. "The principle obstacle to even greater and more widespread benefits is regulatory hurdles that aren't grounded in the facts. Setting these barriers aside will unshackle innovators to solve challenges impeding our ability to meet the food, feed and fiber needs of a growing population while reducing undesirable environmental impacts."

Read the full report at http://www2.itif.org/2017-unshackle-agricultural-innovation.pdf?_ga=1.155989245.717142650.1491235245.

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Trump Administration should unshackle further innovation in ag biotechnology by rolling back undue regulations - Fence Post

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Separation Systems for Commercial Biotechnology" report to their offering.

The market for bioseparation systems is growing rapidly across all regions. Bioseparation purifies biological products on a large-scale. The report focuses on the global market of bioseparation systems and provides an updated review, including basic design and its applications, in various arenas of biomedical and life science research.

The bioseparation techniques that are covered in this report are chromatography, centrifugation, electrophoresis, membrane filtration, flow cytometry, microarray, lab-on-a-chip, biochip, and magnetic separation. Among chromatography techniques, liquid chromatography is the most active market.

Also included in the report are relevant patent analysis and comprehensive profiles of companies that lead the bioseparation systems market. Key players include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent Technologies Inc., Bio-Rad Laboratories, Danaher Corp., Qiagen N.V., Merck KGaA GmbH, and Waters Corp. among others.

Key Topics Covered:

1: Introduction

2: Summary and highlights

3: Overview

- History of biotechnology

- Classification of biomolecular separation systems in biotechnology

- New methods of biomolecular separations

- Molecular classes of biomolecular separation

- End users of biotechnology separation systems

4: New Developments

- Mergers and acquisitions

5: Market Analysis

- Market by type

- Market by region

6: Industry Structure

- Chromatography

- Centrifugation

- Electrophoresis

- Membrane filtration

- Flow cytometry

- Magnetic separation

- Microarrays

- Biochip

- Lab-on-a-chip

7: Patent Analysis

- Patents by year

- Patents by type

- Patents by company

- Patents by country

- Patents by assignee

8: Current Situation

- Factors affecting bioseparation system market

- Market opportunities

9: Company Profiles

- 3M Company

- Abaxis Inc.

- Abtech Scientific Inc.

- Agilent Technologies Inc.

- Alfa Laval Group

- Alfa Wassermann Separation Technologies

- Arrayit Corp.

- BD BioSciences (Becton, Dickinson and Company)

- Biocept Inc.

- Biodot Inc.

- BioMerieux SA

- Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc.

- Boston Microfluidics

- Customarray Inc.

- Danaher Corp.

- DNAmicroarray Inc.

- Falcon Genomics Inc.

- Flottweg Separation Technology

- GE Healthcare Life Sciences

- Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd.

- Illumina Inc.

- Luminex Corp.

- Merck KGaA

- Microarray Inc.

- Nanostring Technologies Inc.

- Novasep Inc.

- PerkinElmer

- Qiagen Gmbh

- Randox Laboratories Ltd.

- Sartorius Corp.

- Shimadzu Scientific Instruments

- Spectrum Chemical Manufacturing Corp.

- Sysmex Partec Gmbh

- Thermo Fisher Scientific

- W. R. Grace & Company

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/npn5zk/separation

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Separation Systems for Commercial Biotechnology Market 2017: Key Players are Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent ... - Business Wire (press release)

Eli Lilly said U.S. regulators have rejected its much-anticipated pill for the immune disorder rheumatoid arthritis, the drugmaker's second drug development setback since November.

The Food and Drug Administration said in a letter to the company that it needed more information about the drug's safety and the best doses, Lilly said Friday in a statement.

Lilly said it disagrees with FDA's conclusions but will work with the agency on a plan to eventually get the drug, baracitinib, approved for U.S. patients.

In November, Lilly's experimental medicine solanezumab flopped in a closely watched test in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease, after having already failed in testing in patients with more advanced Alzheimer's.

The arthritis drug, which has the proposed brand name Olumiant and was approved for use in Europe in February, was expected to be a big seller in part because most other new rheumatoid arthritis drugs are injected, making them less appealing for patients.

Christi Shaw, president of the Lilly division that developed the drug, said the company remains confident in the drug's ability to safely treat moderate and severe rheumatoid arthritis.

About 23 million people worldwide, three-fourths of them women, have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disorder in which the immune system attacks the body's tissues. It causes painful swelling and progressive destruction of joints, which can leave them deformed and, in severe cases, lead to disability. It can also damage other body parts, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels.

Eli Lilly & Co. and Incyte Corp., its partner in developing baracitinib, applied for FDA approval of the drug in January 2016. Normally the review process takes 10 months, but this January, FDA said it needed three additional months to review more information. Still, drug industry analysts as recently as this week were advising clients that approval of baracitinib was likely.

Despite the setback, Lilly reaffirmed its 2017 financial forecasts Friday, for earnings per share of $2.69 to $2.79, excluding one-time items, and revenue between $21.8 billion and $22.3 billion. It said Incyte, which is based in Wilimington, Delaware, was evaluating the rejection's impact on its position and would update investors when it reports first-quarter results, likely in mid-May. Lilly is expected to report its quarterly results on April 25.

Follow Linda A. Johnson at https://twitter.com/LindaJonPharma .

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Lilly's rheumatoid arthritis pill rejected by regulators - ABC News

Lifestyle HEALTH LINES: Arthritis common condition, but not easily understood by all

WILLIAM PILLOW

Arthritis is a condition that is very common, but not well understood by most. It is not a single disease. There are actually more than 100 types of arthritis.

More than 50 million adults and 300,000 children have some type of arthritis. It is more common in women and is the leading cause of disability in America. Common arthritis complaints are joint pain, swelling and stiffness.

Inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid, lupus) is an overreaction of the bodys immune system. The body attacks the cartilage and destroys it. Metabolic joint disease (gout) occurs when crystals are deposited in the joints and cause acute pain. These are best treated by a primary care physician, nurse practitioner or specialist (rheumatologist) with medications and changes in diet. Blood tests are often used in the diagnosis.

Osteoarthritis (wear and tear arthritis) is the most common type. Cartilage is the thick cushioning surface on the ends of bones. With time this cartilage can wear down (thinning/mild arthritis) and progress to the point where bone rubs on bone (severe arthritis).

Orthopaedic Sports Medicine has significantly advanced the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis. As a physician at NEO Sports Medicine, I am often asked when someone should seek medical treatment. Anyone in their teenage years or younger with a joint that stays swollen for more than a few days should be seen urgently to rule out cartilage damage or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Mild non-traumatic joint pain in someone 30 or older can start initial treatment with weight loss, anti-inflammatory medication (Aleve, Advil, Tylenol), and reasonable exercise that does not cause pain. Primary care physicians can prescribe stronger anti-inflammatories.

If this does not provide relief, a referral to an orthopaedist is the next step. Patients should not assume an appointment means imminent surgery. X-rays will give the doctor a good idea of the condition of the joint. At NEO Sports Medicine, physicians look at the whole person not just a joint. Many times a course of physical therapy to strengthen the muscles (the shock absorbers of a joint) will help. A steroid injection into the joint can also provide relief. Braces can also be used on a short-term basis to give the joint a rest.

Joint pain is not always arthritis. Torn cartilage can often be repaired with an outpatient arthroscopic surgery using a small camera that is quite minor. An MRI can be helpful to get a better picture of the joint. For major joint damage that has failed conservative treatment, a joint replacement can provide life-changing relief. Replacements are available for the knee, hip, shoulder and even finger joints.

Modern joint replacements are now meant to last longer than 15 years and can allow patients to get back to a more active lifestyle. My partners and I provide accurate diagnoses and seek to exhaust all forms of conservative treatment. If surgery is indicated, we provide minimally invasive joint surgery to get patients back to the lifestyle they desire.

Dr. William Pillow is an orthopedic surgeon at North East Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine.

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HEALTH LINES: Arthritis common condition, but not easily understood by all - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Morningside Maryland Site (press release) (blog)

New Study Reveals Rheumatoid Arthritis Tests May Be Impacted By Obesity Morningside Maryland Site (press release) (blog) A group of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Health System obesity may impact blood tests that are utilized for diagnosing and monitoring rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women. Blood tests for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C ...

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New Study Reveals Rheumatoid Arthritis Tests May Be Impacted By Obesity - Morningside Maryland Site (press release) (blog)

Maryanne Kass is a fun-loving mother, a proud grandmother, a retired teacher and a Type-2 Diabetic. "It wasn't in my family; no one had had it." Nearly a decade later, Maryanne's vision started to worsen - as a result of diabetic macular edema. "It was at a point where I didn't want to drive at night." As you can imagine, the thought of losing her sight was terrifying. "How devastating it would be to lose it, which is why the gift she recently received was absolutely perfect.

Artist Bryce Chisholm brightens any room he is in with his paintings. "My style is colorful; a little graffiti inspired street art people would say." He paints beautiful women in nearly every medium - from oil and acrylic to water color and spray paint.

Through a campaign called Look to Your Future - Bryce was asked to paint the eyes of one more. "He and I sat down for coffee and he just asked, tell me your story." Bryce quickly realized the focus of her life and was excited to capture it on canvas.

In Maryannes painting, you see crystal blue eyes representing her own along with a bright scenecapturing her favorite childhood beach in southern California. In the forefront of the painting, you see two people she treasures. "If you haven't been a grandparent before, oh my gosh! They're the loves of my life!"

The painting and her eyes in particular - represent the importance of the steps she took to help protect against vision loss. As soon as Maryanne noticed a change in her eye sight, she saw a specialist who was able to restore much of her vision. It is not perfect, but better. Her message to people is to remain vigilant and proactive when it comes to your eye health and that is whatthe Regeneron Look to Your Future campaign is all about. "The campaign is just to raise awareness mainly and do not ignore it!" As a result of Bryce's eye, Maryanne can look at her Look to Your Future painting and be reminded of the importance of looking after her eyes. "There's so much to see and so much to love. It's so beautiful out there."

To learn more about the Regeneron campaign, log on to http://www.looktoyourfuture.com. You can check out more of Bryces work as well on his website, http://www.abcartattack.com.

Originally posted here:
Look to Your Future Campaign - KTVN

Research conducted at the University of Adelaide has discovered that bees have much better vision than was previously known, offering new insights into the lives of honey bees, and new opportunities for translating this knowledge into fields such as robot vision.

The findings come from "eye tests" given to western honey bees (also known as European honey bees, Apis mellifera) by postdoctoral researcher Dr Elisa Rigosi (Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden) in the Adelaide Medical School, under the supervision of Dr Steven Wiederman (Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide) and Professor David O'Carroll (Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden).

The results of their work are published today in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

Bee vision has been studied ever since the pioneering research of Dr Karl von Frisch in 1914, which reported bees' ability to see colors through a clever set of training experiments.

"Today, honey bees are still a fascinating model among scientists, in particular neuroscientists," Dr Rigosi says.

"Among other things, honey bees help to answer questions such as: how can a tiny brain of less than a million neurons achieve complex processes, and what are its utmost limits? In the last few decades it has been shown that bees can see and categorize objects and learn concepts through vision, such as the concept of 'symmetric' and 'above and below'.

"But one basic question that has only been partially addressed is: what actually is the visual acuity of the honey bee eye? Just how good is a bee's eyesight?"

Dr Wiederman says: "Previous researchers have measured the visual acuity of bees, but most of these experiments have been conducted in the dark. Bright daylight and dark laboratories are two completely different environments, resulting in anatomical and physiological changes in the resolution of the eye.

"Photoreceptors in the visual system detect variations in light intensity. There are eight photoreceptors beyond each hexagonal facet of a bee's compound eye, and their eyes are made out of thousands of facets! Naturally, we expected some differences in the quality of bees' eyesight from being tested in brightly lit conditions compared with dim light," he says.

Dr Rigosi, Dr Wiederman and Professor O'Carroll set out to answer two specific questions: first, what is the smallest well-defined object that a bee can see? (ie, its object resolution); and second, how far away can a bee see an object, even if it can't see that object clearly? (ie, maximum detectability limit).

To do so, the researchers took electrophysiological recordings of the neural responses occurring in single photoreceptors in a bee's eyes. The photoreceptors are detectors of light in the retina, and each time an object passes into the field of vision, it registers a neural response.

Dr Rigosi says: "We found that in the frontal part of the eye, where the resolution is maximized, honey bees can clearly see objects that are as small as 1.9 -- that's approximately the width of your thumb when you stretch your arm out in front of you.

"This is 30% better eyesight than has been previously recorded," she says.

"In terms of the smallest object a bee can detect, but not clearly, this works out to be about 0.6 -- that's one third of your thumb width at arm's length. This is about one third of what bees can clearly see and five times smaller than what has so far been detected in behavioral experiments.

"These new results suggest that bees have the chance to see a potential predator, and thus escape, far earlier than what we thought previously, or perceive landmarks in the environment better than we expected, which is useful for navigation and thus for survival," Dr Rigosi says.

Dr Wiederman says this research offers new and useful information about insect vision more broadly as well as for honey bees.

"We've shown that the honey bee has higher visual acuity than previously reported. They can resolve finer details than we originally thought, which has important implications in interpreting their responses to a range of cognitive experiments scientists have been conducting with bees for years.

"Importantly, these findings could also be useful in our work on designing bio-inspired robotics and robot vision, and for basic research on bee biology," he says.

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Honey bees have sharper eyesight than we thought - Science Daily

Irenie lost her vision in one eye after it became infected (Picture: Getty)

A woman lost the sight in her right eye after it became infected with a bacteria typically found in tap water whenshe changed her contact lens.

Irenie Ekkeshie, now 36, was hospitalised in 2011 after she woke up with her right eye streaming with tears.

Doctors gave her a cornea scrape a procedure that takes cells from the surface of the eyeball and antiseptic eye drops to take hourly.

She wasdiagnosed with Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK), a rare but serious eye infection caused by a micro-organism thats common in tap water, sea water and swimming pools.

Although no one could be certain it was thought she may have changed her contact lens with wet hands.

But given they caught it early, doctors at Moorfield Eye Hospital were hopeful that Irenie would recover in three weeks.

But the opposite occurred, it took months for doctors to get the infection under control by which time her eye had scarred leaving her with blurred vision.

So in May 2013 she had a corneal transplant, which appeared to be successful.

AKis an infection of the cornea that affects around 125 people in the UK every year. Most cases involve contact lenses

But devastatingly the infection returned and, after a second transplant, she completely lost the vision in her right eye. Doctors think the inflammation caused by the AK was the source of the problem and it is unlikely to return.

After discovering that none of her friends or family knew of the risks of exposing a contact lens to water she decided to raise awareness of the issue.

She has since designed No Water stickers with the British Contact Lens Association that opticians can puton the outside of boxes.

She has spread the campaign in America as well after attracting the attention of the American Academy of Optometry.

Her hope is the graphic will be printed automatically on all boxes and has co-founded The New Citizenship Project to help others create change.

My advice to people is simple. Never let your lenses come into contact with water in the shower, swimming or when washing, she told the BBC.

Although infections like AK are rare, Im proof they can happen and the results can be devastating.

You should always:

Source: NHS Choices

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Woman goes blind in one eye after contact lens became infected - Metro

BBC News

I was blinded by my contact lens BBC News However, something then went wrong with her retina and she completely lost her vision in that eye. Doctors have told her they suspect that inflammation caused by AK was the source of the problem - and that her sight is unlikely to return. During her ... and more »

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I was blinded by my contact lens - BBC News

A string of life sciences companies have attempted to develop sensors that can monitor blood sugar without drawing blood. Thus far, all of these efforts have failed.

Now, it's Silicon Valley's turn.

Apple is the latest to throw its hat in the ring, CNBC reported on Wednesday. The company has a team of about 30 people in an office in Palo Alto working on this problem using optical sensors, which suggests it intends to bring blood sugar tracking to its devices.

Biotechnology experts said such a breakthrough would make the Apple Watch a must-have device for millions of people with diabetes. "There is definitely a huge market opportunity here," said Steve Pacelli, executive vice president of strategy and corporate development at Dexcom, maker of glucose monitoring products.

Shares of Dexcom briefly dipped on Thursday, following the news of Apple's efforts in the space.

A device that could accurately monitor glucose non-invasively and continuously would be a boon for people with type 1 diabetes, who currently rely on finger-pricks and test strips for accurate measurements. It might also prove alluring for people with type 2 diabetes, which affects 29 million adults in the U.S. alone, and so-called "quantified selfers" who are buying glucose monitors to track their blood sugar proactively.

The market opportunity is huge, but many are skeptical about whether such technology is viable -- at least in the near-term.

"Abbott, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Becton, Dickinson and Company and Roche, just to name five established big clinical companies, have taken decades to where we are today," said Doug Schenkel, a senior research analyst with Cowen and Company. "What Apple is trying to do is harder," he added. "This is really tough stuff."

Companies like Dexcom have developed continuous glucose monitors for users to get readings every five minutes with a tiny wire under the skin.

Alphabet's life sciences arm Verily is also making a bid in this space. Unlike Apple, it is taking a partnership-driven approach. One of its experimental efforts is a contact lens, which reads blood sugar levels in tears. Verily is also working with Dexcom on smaller, cheaper glucose sensors.

Despite the challenges with developing non-invasive alternatives, those in the space are not surprised that the opportunity has attracted interest from both Apple and Alphabet.

This is "the most expensive health care problem in society today," said Jeff Dachis, chief executive for diabetes app One Drop. The cost of care and related complications is already costing hundreds of billions of dollars, he said, and 1 in 3 people in the United States are at high risk of the disease. "It's a runaway freight train," he said.

--Additional reporting by Meg Tirrell and Anita Balakrishnan

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The payoff would be huge if Apple or Alphabet solved this 'really tough' diabetes problem - CNBC

Two new studies on diabetes deliver good and bad news, but the overall message is that the blood sugar disease remains a formidable public health burden.

The first study looked at the incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in U.S. children, and uncovered this troubling trend: From 2002 to 2012, the rates for both types of diabetes increased, especially among racial and ethnic minorities.

But a bit of hope was offered up in the second study: Swedish researchers reported a drop in the incidence of heart disease and stroke in adults with both types of diabetes.

"These studies highlight our concerns about the increasing prevalence of diabetes. Every 23 seconds, another person is diagnosed with diabetes [in the United States]," said Dr. William Cefalu, chief scientific, medical and mission officer for the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Cefalu added that the Swedish study was encouraging and shows that things are "trending in the right direction. Because of research in diabetes, we've been able to improve the lives of millions of people with diabetes around the world, but the disease is still increasing worldwide. We still have a lot of work to do."

In the United States, approximately 29 million people have diabetes, according to the ADA. The vast majority of those have type 2 diabetes. About 1.3 million people have type 1 diabetes.

RELATED: Dealing With Diabetes Distress

In people with type 2 diabetes, the body doesn't use insulin properly. This is called insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that helps usher sugar from foods into the body's cells to be used as fuel. When someone has type 2 diabetes, this process doesn't work well and blood sugar levels rise. Obesity is the main risk factor for type 2 diabetes, though it's not the only factor involved in the disease.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body's immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This leaves someone with type 1 diabetes with little to no insulin. To stay alive, someone with type 1 diabetes must replace that insulin through injections.

"The specific genes and environmental/behavioral factors that cause type 2 diabetes are different than those that cause type 1 diabetes," explained Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, the author of the study on diabetes incidence in children.

Mayer-Davis and colleagues found that type 1 diabetes was increasing 1.8 percent a year. The increase was significantly larger for Hispanic children, at 4.2 percent a year. That compared with 1.2 percent for white children, the findings showed.

The factors underlying the increase aren't entirely clear, she said.

Although far fewer children have type 2 diabetes, the disease is increasing faster than type 1. Between 2002 and 2012, the rate of type 2 diabetes increased 4.8 percent a year. The annual increase in type 2 diabetes in black children was 6.3 percent. For Asian/Pacific Islanders, the yearly increase was 8.5 percent, and for Native Americans, it was almost 9 percent, the investigators found.

"The increase in incidence of type 2 diabetes is likely related primarily to the increases in overweight and obesity in youth, although this is not the only reason," said Mayer-Davis. She's a professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

The second study looked at all of the people registered in a Swedish National Database from 1998 through 2012, and followed their health through 2014. The database has nearly 37,000 people with type 1 diabetes and more than 457,000 with type 2 diabetes. These patients were compared to similar people without diabetes (the "control" group).

The researchers saw roughly a 40 percent greater reduction in heart disease and stroke in people with type 1 diabetes compared to the matched controls. In people with type 2 diabetes, there was roughly a 20 percent greater drop in heart disease and stroke compared to the control group, the study showed.

When it came to deaths during the study period, people with type 1 diabetes had similar reductions in the number of deaths compared to controls. People with type 2, however, had smaller reductions in deaths versus the control group, the researchers found.

Even with these improvements, people with either type of diabetes still have much higher overall rates of premature death and heart disease than the control groups, the study authors noted.

"We believe the changes observed in our study most likely reflect a combination of advances in clinical care for patients with diabetes," said study author Dr. Aidin Rawshani. He is from the Institute of Medicine at the University of Gothenberg in Sweden.

"Perhaps the most important is improved management of cardiovascular risk factors," he said. These risk factors include high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, signs of early kidney damage and poor blood sugar control. He said treatment with high blood pressure medications and cholesterol-lowering drugs likely contributed to the improvement.

Both studies were published April 13 in theNew England Journal of Medicine.

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Diabetes Continues Its Relentless Rise - Everyday Health (blog)

Last fall, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) won FDA approval of a closed-loop system that automatically tracks blood sugar levels and delivers insulin as necessary. The system is being heralded as a major advance in treating diabetes, because it significantly reduces the need for finger sticks and insulin shots. Will this new device be a hit?

There are about 1.25 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes, and for these patients, managing their blood sugar levels can seem like a full-time job.

Image source: Getty Images.

Type 1 diabetes patients must regularly check their blood sugar levels with finger sticks, and then dose themselves with insulin when blood sugar levels require it. Unfortunately, this scattershot approach to managing the disease results in many patients failing to maintain appropriate blood glucose levels, especially at night, or when exercising. Because time spent outside of desired blood sugar ranges can accelerate disease progression and lead to life-threatening conditions, inadequately controlled diabetes remains a big problem.

Fortunately, medical device makers have developed new technology like insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors that help patients better control their disease, however, until now, there wasn't a FDA-approved closed-loop system for the monitoring and dosing of insulin available.

The FDA gave Medtronics MiniMed 670G a green light after trial results showed that it helped patients remain within their desired blood sugar range over a three-month period. The trial included bothadults and children with Type 1 diabetes, and A1C levels fell from 7.7% to 7.1% in children and from 7.3% to 6.8% in adults. There also was a 44% decline in time spent with blood glucose below 70 mg/dL and a 40% decline in time spent with dangerous hypoglycemia, or levels below 50 mg/dL.

Image source: Medtronic.

The MiniMed 670G uses sensors to automatically monitor blood glucose levels every five minutes and it uses a pump to automatically administer insulin as it's needed. A daily finger-stick is still required to calibrate the system, and the insulin pump needs to be refilled every few days, but the system still significantly reduces the treatment burden on patients.

The MiniMed 670G system includes a sensor that's attached to the body and that must be changed weekly, an insulin pump that's worn on the waist, and an infusion patch that connects to the pump to administer insulin via a catheter.

Medtronic's device is an important advance in automating diabetes treatment, but it's not approved for use in Type 1 diabetes patients who are younger than 14 (yet), it still requires some patient involvement, and it's arguably a bit bulkier of a solution for active patients, who may prefer wireless pumps, such as Insulet's (NASDAQ:PODD) Omnipod.

Omnipod is atubeless insulin management system that delivers insulin for up to three days using a wireless programming device. Oftentimes, patients pair Omnipod up with a continuous glucose monitor, such as those made byDexCom(NASDAQ:DXCM), to provide even better control of their disease.

Medtronic only began shipping the MiniMed 670G to patients recently, so the verdict isn't in on whether it will win away consumers from these other solutions. If it does, then it could be an important new source of revenue for Medtronic. However, that tailwind could only be temporary, because the MiniMed 670G may face stiff competition soon.Insulet, for example, is working on its own closed-loop system that incorporates DexCom's sensors, and if trials are successful, its system could be available as soon as next year. Similar systems are also being developed by Tandem and Bigfoot Biomedical, so you'll want to pay attention to their progress, too.

Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned.His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned.The Motley Fool owns shares of Medtronic. The Motley Fool recommends Insulet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Is Medtronic's Artificial Pancreas the Next Big Thing in Diabetes? - Motley Fool

Nearly four of every 10 people in parts of Chicagos South and West Side neighborhoods have Type 2 diabetes, risking serious and even life-threatening health problems as they age.

Rates of diabetes range from 17 percent to 37 percent in Chicagos South and West Side neighborhoods where for decades, high crime and poverty, inadequate health-care outreach, lack of safe exercise spaces, and few affordable or easy-to-reach fresh and healthy foods restrict peoples choices. (See map below)

Dr. Brian Layden, division chief of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism and an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), says people at risk should have their blood sugar checked in their 30s or 40s and that the consequences of ignoring the issue are truly life threatening.

Despite diabetes being a disease you dont notice, it does shorten your life if you dont take care of it, Layden said. The most serious complications include blindness, nerve damage, kidney failure and limb amputation.

Two Chicagoans who knew they were at risk of such dire consequences took action proving that you can stop the downward spiral toward diabetes if you recognize it before its too late.

Jaime Diaz, pictured in the exercise room where he attended weekly sessions when he began the Elm program at Rush University Medical Centers Triangle Office Building, on Thursday, March 24, 2017. | Michelle Kanaar/For the Sun-Times

Nearly three years ago, Jaime Diaz got a wakeup call from his doctor: His weight, which topped out at 332, along with high blood sugar and fat levels, showed that he was pre-diabetic and had metabolic syndrome, putting him at risk of a stroke, heart attack and full-blown diabetes.

Dr. Rasa Kazlauskaite at Rush University Medical Center, where Diaz, 36, works as an Information Systems engineer, put it to him straight: If Diaz wanted to celebrate his then-three month old daughters Quinceanera party or walk her down the aisle at her wedding, hed have to quickly reverse his health crisis.

I was shocked, said Diaz, who has since lost 100 pounds, exercises for an hour each weekday at lunchtime, gave up soda, beer and a high-carbohydrate diet and no longer has any characteristics of pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Diaz advises anyone who is overweight, who has a family history of diabetes or who simply believes he or she is at risk to get a baseline screening as soon as possible, and to prepare for a long but ultimately fulfilling journey.

Jaime Diaz reviews his records with Dr. Rasa Kazlauskaite at Rush University Medical Centers Triangle Office Building on Thursday, March 24, 2017. Diaz has lost 102 pounds since he enrolled in the ELM Program for pre-diabetes in the summer of 2013 and has since reversed his condition. | Michelle Kanaar/For the Sun-Times

The first four to six weeks were the toughest, he said, noting that he isolated himself from friends with poor eating habits until he figured out how to replace carbs with healthy foods.

I started walking around with packs of nuts, yogurt and lettuce leaves, he said. If I was invited to a cookout, Id bring lettuce leaves in place of tortillas, and have my answers ready when somebody said, What are you doing? Youre being a little girl.

I had friends who tried to talk smack to me, Diaz said. After a while, they started respecting my choices and let me be.

Diaz also joined Rushs ELM (Eat well, Love better, Move more) program, a six-month program where a group of patients meets once or twice a week to make healthy habits part of their daily routine. The idea is that healthy living is not about deprivation; its about enjoying life.

One of Diazs habits his workouts started when he joined the Rush Fitness Center in the summer of 2014. Since Diaz started the program, he has lowered his blood sugar level to 75 from 101 grams per liter. A blood sugar level less than 100 grams per liter is normal; from 100 to 125 is considered pre-diabetic and 126 or higher on two separate tests indicates diabetes. He also lowered his level of triglycerides to 80 from 220.

He said he now appreciates every moment of his new routines, including going out Latin-dancing with his wife, Joanna, and running, jumping and playing with children Alyssa, 6, and Emma, 3.

Trainer Maurice Durr and Lynda Powe pose for a photo during Powes workout session Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Forest Park, Illinois. | Tim Boyle/For Sun-Times Media

Lynda Powe, a 70-year-old retired Chicago Public Schools teacher, followed her doctors advice, too, by starting a workout program with personal trainer Maurice Durr, who operates First2Train in southwest suburban Forest Park.

(Durr) is very clear about not only what [exercises] we do, but why we do it, Powe said. Powe credits Durr with being a calm and patient force on her seven-year journey. She has lost 125 pounds, ditched her soda-pop habit, took control over food portion sizes and completed her first 5K run.

Powe, who had had pre-diabetes during her third pregnancy in 1983 at age 36, said she turned to her doctor, Dr. Crystal Peoples, when she felt frustrated that she kept gaining weight despite going to a gym, and wanted to avoid veering into diabetic territory again.

I knew I was heading in the wrong direction, and that, if I didnt get myself together, there would be no pre (diabetes) about it, said Powe, who spent most of her 36 years teaching at CPS schools on the citys West Side. I needed to take care of myself so I wouldnt have to worry about (getting diabetes) in the future.

Lynda Powe works with trainer Maurice Durr during a workout session Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Forest Park, Illinois. | Tim Boyle/For Sun-Times Media

Powe has lowered her blood sugar level to an average of 73 from her previous level over 125, and reduced her triglycerides to 35 from her original level over 150.

Dr. Kazlauskaite said diabetes prevention is particularly difficult to deal with because so many people believe Type 2 diabetes is a poor persons disease that results from a character flawjust as people once thought of depression. Yet Kazlauskaite said that in her native Lithuania, diabetes is a disease of the rich: Those with access to soda pop and highly processed food available only to the affluent get diabetes.

The real culprit is far more complex in the United States, with Type 2 diabetes affecting Latinos and African-Americans moreso than whites, and reflecting not only a disorder of the pancreas, but also how a persons liver handles food nutrients from the digestive tract. Other risk factors include obesity, age, high blood pressure and a family history of diabetes, doctors say.

The best treatment is to prevent [diabetes] in the first place with lifestyle changes, said Kazlauskaite, who works in Rushs preventive medicine department.

Courtesy Illinois Department of Public Health

Medical startups and community groups are leading an effort to bring diabetes prevention programs to Chicago, including a pilot program sponsored by Northwestern University in partnership with Saint Anthony Hospital, Alivio Medical Center and Latino community healthy lifestyle centers Enlace Chicago and Universidad Popular.

Their efforts are filling a void left by the YMCA of Metro Chicago, which is taking a wait-and-see position before it implements a diabetes prevention program. By contrast, the YMCAs in Berwyn, Cicero, Oak Park and Joliet are spearheading such programs.

The YMCA of Metro Chicago is watching how the diabetes prevention programs work in area suburbs and what happens to federal and state funding before it commits to implementing the program, a spokeswoman says.

How do people reverse pre-diabetes? Heres advice from two people who did it:

Dont expect quick results. And dont beat yourself up when you hit a rough patch. Lynda Powe, who lost 125 pounds over seven years, said she and her exercise group regained the weight they had lost during a recent spring break. Their trainer, Maurice Durr, maintained his calm, positive demeanor while he acknowledged their work would eventually pay off, Powe said.

Put movement, nutrition and recovery at the center of your new lifestyle. This isnt about dieting and exercise. Its about how you live.

Find a support system, including a doctor you trust, an exercise or lifestyle coach, and/or a motivational group.

Start reading food labels and measuring the amounts of starch, sugar, calories and other ingredients youre consuming. Replace high-carb foods such as pasta, bread and tortillas with high-fiber lentils and vegetables, and substitute fish, chicken and black beans for red meat. Lose the soda pop and, as much as possible, beer and alcohol. Jaime Diaz, who lost 100 pounds and reversed his pre-diabetes over three years, says he started making cauliflower rice by chopping up cauliflower heads and frying them in salt, seasoning and olive oil. He also started making flaxseed pancakes and almond flower pancakes. When Diaz spent about six weeks on a fasting diet, he was allowed 700 calories every other day, based on his weight and body type. He chose to drink seven 100-calorie protein shakes throughout the day on those days.

Drink lots of water. Make it more palatable by adding lime, cucumbers, strawberries or sparkling water.

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Diabetes awareness, treatment need big push among minorities - Chicago Sun-Times

A diagnosis of diabetes can be scary and confusing for many people, especially with all the myths surrounding the disease and how to manage it.

But if you are one of the millions of Americans diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes each year, understanding the facts can help you make positive changes and gain control over the condition so you can lead a healthier life.

The Diabetes Management Program at University Medical Center of Princeton (UMCP) helps adults and children diagnosed with diabetes learn how to live with the condition. It also provides education to enable patients to make informed lifestyle changes based on facts rather than myths.

MYTH:The most important item to watch in your diet is sugar, and if a food is sugar-free, you can eat as much as you want.

FACT:Years ago, people were advised that to prevent and control diabetes they just needed to avoid or reduce sugar in their diet. However, just because a food is low in sugar or sugar-free, it could still be high in carbohydrates. And total carbohydrates are the real culprits in raising glucose levels after you eat.

Carbohydrates include starches (such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, and cereals), fruits, milk and vegetables. Most vegetables are low in carbohydrates, and protein and fats have minimal or no carbohydrate. When it comes to managing diabetes, it is not enough to just avoid sugar, it is important to watch your total carbohydrate intake for meals and snacks.

Everyone is different though and the amount of carbohydrates you need varies by individual. For example, people with type 2 or pre-diabetes may need to limit or controlthe amount of carbs they eat each day, while someone with type 1 diabetes may need to match their insulin doses to how much carbohydrate they want to eat.

MYTH:You dont need to do anything if you are told you have pre-diabetes or borderline diabetes.

FACT:Not true! Pre-diabetes is defined as having fasting glucose levels between 100-125, or a hemoglobin A1c between 5.7-6.4. This is higher than normal, but right below the cut-off point for diabetes. More than 86 million American adults more than 1 out of 3 have pre-diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While having pre-diabetes is a risk factor for developing diabetes, you may be able to reverse the progression or delay the development for years through diet and exercise. If you are able to lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight and get at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week, you can increase your chances of keeping diabetes at bay. In addition, if you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes, it is important to follow up with your doctor and have your hemoglobin a1c levels checked every three months, and to monitor your glucose at home if necessary or desired.

MYTH:There is only one diabetic diet, or one way to eat for managing diabetes.

FACT:Also, not true! There may be general guidelines to make it easier to get started, but each person needs an individualized plan, taking into consideration their preferences, lifestyle, activity, weight, diabetes medications, and glucose levels. While one person may be able to eat three regular meals a day, another may benefit from eating three small meals and two to three snacks. Amounts of carbohydrates, fat, and calories will be different for each person as well. For someone monitoring their glucose levels at home, they can see the effects of their diet on their glucose levels and make changes accordingly. Registered dietitians, especially those who are also certified diabetes educators, can help develop a diet plan tailored to individual needs.

MYTH:If you cant exercise for 30 to 60 minutes or more a day, dont bother.

FACT:Research has shown that just 10 to 15 minute increments of exercise or activity two to three times daily or even every other day can be beneficial and reduce glucose levels, especially after meals. For people who sit most of the day, getting up and walking around for 5 minutes every 30 to 60 minutes can be beneficial as well. Also, exercise can include chair exercises, strength training and using weights, or a combination of aerobic and strength. Put simply, moving more is good for your health.

Nationally Recognized Care

There is now a wide range of effective treatments for diabetes, greatly reducing the risks of serious complications. Finding a healthy personal balance learning to control your blood sugar levels through a combination of good nutrition, exercise and often medication is key to successfully managing your diabetes.

The Diabetes Management Program at UMCP is recognized by the American Diabetes Association as a quality diabetes self-management education program that meets the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education. This award is based on a rigorous clinical review process every four years to ensure high standards of diabetes care and education.

The program is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of diabetes specialists, including registered nurses and registered dietitians, who work closely with each individual patient and their physician and other healthcare providers to help effectively manage their diabetes and enjoy an improved quality of life. Services include:

Individual and group education sessions by registered nurses and dietitians

Blood glucose monitoring instruction

Community outreach programs

Diabetes care and management for pre-pregnancy/conception and during pregnancy

Medical Nutrition Therapy/nutrition education and meal planning

Professionally facilitated monthly support groups

For more information about the Diabetes Management Program at UMCP, go to http://www.princetonhcs.org or call 609-853-7890.

Sandra Byer-Lubin is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator with University Medical Center at Princetons Diabetes Management Program.

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HEALTH MATTERS: Busting Diabetes Myths - Packet Online