What is this thing called the Autonomic Nervous System?
This is a very important component of the nervous system in the body. It works in the background and is responsible for almost everything that goes in inside your body that you don’t consciously control. The ANS ( autonomic nervous system) consists of two components – the sympathetic system and the parasympathetic system. They both […]
Autonomic Neuropathy leads to cardiovascular disease
This is a very well known fact. The attached paper reviews the current knowledge about treating autonomic neuropathy. Autonomic neuropathy is probably the most serious complication of diabetes. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/7/1688.extract There is discussion about whether autonomic neuropathy even precedes diabetes ! There is some evidence that it starts ( without external symptoms) even at the pre-diabetes […]
Autonomic Neuropathy is serious but can be taken care of
According to a study done by IA O’BRIEN, JP McFADDEN and RJM CORRALL The cumulative 5-year mortality rate was increased more than five-fold in those with autonomic neuropathy: 27 per cent vs. 5 per cent in those with normal autonomic function. Here’s the link for the paper http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/79/3/495.abstracthttp://qjmed.ox… Autonomic Neuropathy can be controlled/reversed according to a […]
Why don’t people understand that there are TWO kinds of neuropathy
It is very frustrating to find out that some complications of diabetes are not understood at all. If they are not understood how can they be treated? First off there are TWO kinds of neuropathy 1. Sensory neuropathy often referred to as plain neuropathy (WHICH IS WRONG) since neuropathy is a generic term and not […]
Why are Complications of diabetes not attacked?
While doing the clinical trials and having two populations to compare against, we were actually looking for issues with the nervous systems. This was when I discovered from quite a few endocrinologists that even though there is no cure for diabetes, it is actually the complications of diabetes that are worse than having diabetes itself. […]
The timing and relevance of wellness information
While grappling with this “how do you know you are well” question, I thought back to my roots at Hewlett-Packard (I spent 25 years with them during the glory days). They were a measurement company before they were a computer company. One of the fundamental principles of measurement is that the act of measurement should […]
What is normality? Who is normal?
This sounds like a simple question but not very easy to answer, I think. I was confronted with this when involved with clinical trials. We were trying to do two categories of people – normal and people with diabetes. We were able to find lots of diabetics (unfortunately!!). However, we got really hung up with […]
Knowing about wellness
I first became aware of the incongruity between people feeling well and then succumbing when I heard about the runner Jim Fixx in 1984. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/24/science/the-doctor-s-world-james-fixx-the-enigma-of-heart-disease.html?sec=health Here was somebody doing all the right things and then collapsing. Subsequently I have heard of others who would be the last people one would suspect of having a heart […]
How do you know that you are well?
How do you know that you are well? Last year (2009) over 172 billion dollars was spent on being healthy and looking good. People have started and stopped weight loss programs, diets, exercise programs……How does anybody know whether these things are working? Would you have been successful if you had stuck to it? Did you […]
