[MelodyL]

Hi All!!:

Just wanted to update you all on what's been happening with me and my participation in the ACCORD trial at Cornell.

Today was my last clinical visit. They took an EKG (normal), they took my blood, they took urine, they checked my feet (GOOD JOB ON MY FEET), The doctor said my neuropathy HAS NOT PROGRESSED. (HELLLOOOOO METHYL B-12).

She did the filament thing on my feet and I FELT EVERYTHING. She said 'very good".

I still have the loss of the vibration (same as before), but I have no idea what this means. She bangs a tuning fork and instructs me to "tell me when it stops vibrating".

I did as instructed and she said "you still have loss of vibration) or something to that effect, cause I can't remember it all.

But I FELT THE FILAMENT and she was pleased as punch and so was I.

When I began the Cornell trial, my A1c was 9 point something and now it's 6.2.

I went from 46 units of Lantus and 2000 of the Metformin and......

TAH DAH!!!

I am now on 12 of the Lantus and that's it.

She is very hopeful that one day I can get off of all diabetic meds for good.

Time will tell, but I'm doing good and that's what's important.

Oh, my blood pressure (that was part of the study also), was 110 over 68. She took it 3 times. It was just fine.

In this clinical trial, I was in the conservative part of the Blood Pressure Study, and the regular part of the Diabetic Study.

The whole part of the trial was to see if keeping one's blood sugar under control, well, if that would lessen the risk of that person developing cardiovascular disease.

IT SEEMS THAT IT DID NOT LESSEN THE RISK. In fact, some people died. So they stopped the conservative diabetic study and put all the diabetics in the regular study (the one I was in).

The people who died were ON A LOT OF DIABETIC MEDS. The final report is coming out in 2010. I shall get a copy of what they found about ME!!!

How exciting. I'm a part of a clinical trial.

Hey, if this leads anyone to do any thing in stem cell research, they can do anything they want with my DNA. They have a sample of that also.

Someone asked me how I've been able to keep eating the way I do.

I simply said "When you get afraid enough, you make changes, and I got afraid enough". He didn't get it.

But I get it, and that's what is important.

I also like my vegetarian way of eating, and I adore my sprouts.

As a matter of fact, on the Access-a-ride trip going there, I met a lady who would LOVE to be a vegetarian but her family hates it and demands meat.

She was raised on a farm and loves to grow stuff. I talked to her about how I grow sprouts in my kitchen, and she blurted out 'HOLY COW, REALLY??" And we spent the whole trip going into New York City, talking about sprouting seeds and sprouting trays. I think the bus driver thought we were insane. lol

So I gather some day soon, there will be little sprouts adorning her kitchen.

So hope all of you are doing well!!!

Melody

[mrsD]

Congratulations Mel. That is just great.

Sharing all your experiences has been a huge gift to NT...
others can really benefit from your posts and the information they contain.

Keep it up!

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by mrsD

Congratulations Mel. That is just great.

Sharing all your experiences has been a huge gift to NT...
others can really benefit from your posts and the information they contain.

Keep it up!

Happy to do it!!! You have literally saved my life with all your good advice and wisdom.

And it is MUCH appreciated, believe me.

Oh, I forget to mention one little tidbit of info that the doctor told me. I never knew about VINEGAR and the affect it has on the body before we eat.

She said 'If you take some vinegar right before you eat a meal, it will change the aspects of the meal and make it more low-glycemic"

NEVER KNEW THIS.

You know what I'm buying today?? A small bottle of vinegar. I hate balsamic (too strong for me). So I'll just get a small bottle of vinegar and add it to my sprout salad, and then have my fish.

Hey, I'll do ANYTHING I need to do to get my body in fighting shape.

And she also explained something very interesting about people who have gastric bypass surgery.

We had both watched various shows on the Discovery Channel, and we also both watch the Biggest Loser.

I asked her what she thought about Gastric Bypass surgery for the morbidly obese and she said 'There are people who absolutely need this to save their life"

Then she said "And we found something very interesting about Gastric Bypass surgery".

She said "We have had diabetics on, for example, 20 units of insulin" The day after the bypass surger (and remember, they haven't begun losing the weight yet, they just had their stomachs resectioned and the little pouch made", well, the very next day after the surgery, their insulin was reduced to perhaps 1 or 2 units".

I looked at her and said 'wow, how come"? and she said 'We really don't know, we just know that the stomach plays a role in how much insulin the body needs to process, and we found out that just cutting into the stomach, to do gastric bypass surgery, well, this is what happens, ...the next day the person does not need the same amount of insulin, that he needed BEFORE the surgery."

Fascinating piece of information, don't you think?

I love to learn stuff, and every time I went to Cornell, I learned something new.

So thanks again for all the lovely pats on the back.

I am now going to harvest my clover and fenugreek.

Tonight I'm making Alan a Falafel sandwich.

I'm making a large sprout patty, putting it in one of those pita bread things, I'm adding a bunch of my colorful sprouts and some sliced tomatoes, and then I'm taking my home-made yogurt, adding some minced cucumbers and dill, and making a yogurt sauce, and adding it to the sandwich mix..

Kind of like making a healthy falafel sandwich. Over here, in my neighborhood, during the feasts, they sell these sandwiches for 6 bucks.

And they are loaded with fat and grease.

I'm going to attempt to make Alan and very low-fat version of this.

Should be interesting. He'll either hate it, or he'll go "Make me this tomorrow night".

lol

[mrsD]

First of all they don't cut into the stomach anymore.

They put a band around the neck instead.

Secondly, the studies that were released about diabetics improving was shown to be false...
I can't find that article now...but it claimed that the people who showed improvement in diabetes were only 10% of those who had the bariatric procedure...that the claims were skewed and manipulated. Most of the media coverage of these claims are based on inflated results.

This article is interesting too.
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2...and-kills.html

If you Google it you might find the article I saw.
Many people develop severe malasorption syndromes from bariatric surgery. And many gain the weight back. The proponents don't tell you that.
We know one gal who lost almost 200 lbs and she is gaining it all back! The body tends to want to be at a certain place, and will circumvent things like bariatric surgical procedures.

Here is the vinegar thing:
http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowCo...f_vinegar.html
I have to wonder though, when food leaves the stomach in a normal person it is highly acidic...and then neutralized by the enzymes from the pancreas which provide bicarb. People with NO ACID in their stomachs because they are taking the drugs like Nexium etc their doctor's give them, would have terrible issues with carbo digestion. Using the vinegar in this case may help. But I doubt it does much for a normally acid person. The normal stomach is very acidic...VERY, already.

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by mrsD

First of all they don't cut into the stomach anymore.

They put a band around the neck instead.

Secondly, the studies that were released about diabetics improving was shown to be false...
I can't find that article now...but it claimed that the people who showed improvement in diabetes were only 10% of those who had the bariatric procedure...that the claims were skewed and manipulated. Most of the media coverage of these claims are based on inflated results.

This article is interesting too.
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2...and-kills.html

If you Google it you might find the article I saw.
Many people develop severe malasorption syndromes from bariatric surgery. And many gain the weight back. The proponents don't tell you that.
We know one gal who lost almost 200 lbs and she is gaining it all back! The body tends to want to be at a certain place, and will circumvent things like bariatric surgical procedures.

Here is the vinegar thing:
http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowCo...f_vinegar.html
I have to wonder though, when food leaves the stomach in a normal person it is highly acidic...and then neutralized by the enzymes from the pancreas which provide bicarb. People with NO ACID in their stomachs because they are taking the drugs like Nexium etc their doctor's give them, would have terrible issues with carbo digestion. Using the vinegar in this case may help. But I doubt it does much for a normally acid person. The normal stomach is very acidic...VERY, already.

I hear you on the stomach absorbtion thing.

I once read that "When you hear a person say "I have an iron stomach, I can eat anything, I don't have any acid", well, that MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD THING because you need acid to break down what you eat and then you absorb all the vitamins and minerals, etc. from what is broken down. So if you don't break down anything (and wouldn't these people be constipated all the time because they don't break down anything??), well, then how can they get the B-12 THAT THEY NEED, and they wouldn't get any nutrients right?

I have a friend who says "I can eat anything, it passes right through me and I go the bathroom 3 times a day" She also drinks Polish Mineral water, and takes Magnesium Citrate (in a bottle from Solgar), every day. She says she used to have bad cramps in her legs BEFORE she took the Magnesium Citrate.

I once said "That's the reason you go to the bathroom all day long, you take Magnesium citrate every day, it has a laxative effect".

Am I incorrect in my assumption? Because in the drug store, on the laxative aisle, there is a bottle of liquid marked Magnesium citrate and it's marketed as a laxative.

I told this to my friend and she said "No, that's not what I take, I take Magnesium Citrate from Solgar and it's in a pill and that's completely different from the liquid in the bottle in the drugstore".

So my dear Mrs. D, isn't Magnesium citrate, well, isn't it MAGNESIUM CITRATE, no matter what the form??

Thanks,

Melody

P.S. I just went out for breakfast, passed the grocery store, and wouldn't you know it, I forget to buy the vinegar. As we are having some kind of Nor Easter here in Brooklyn, it's like a mini hurricane outside, and I'm staying put.

I really wanted to go for a nice walk in the sunshine, but not day.
Oh, the doctor also told me "If you want to get a good night's sleep (without any meds), make sure you get plenty of sunshine during the day, and don't go on the computer for 2 hours before you go to bed, because it stimulates the brain".

I said "oh, you are talking about regulating the circadium rythm right?"

We both laughed and she said "Exactly".

lol
Mel

[mrsD]

magnesium citrate is both.

In lower doses it does not usually have laxative action.

In higher doses it may. People vary in response to it.
Some can take more before getting loose. The liquid in the store is designed to be taken all at once for bowel prep for Xrays and various tests.

Others like me get effects at lower doses. That is why I prefer food sources as a primary source.

Citrate Magnesia (liquid) has 290mg/30ml. The bottle is 8 ounces or 2320 mg/8oz or 2.4 grams

Solgar Magnesium Citrate has 200mg/tablet.
If your friend takes them all at once, they may be more laxative than if she spaces them during the day. But no guarantees on that, since people differ alot.

Both are the same thing, only different in dose.

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by mrsD

magnesium citrate is both.

In lower doses it does not usually have laxative action.

In higher doses it may. People vary in response to it.
Some can take more before getting loose. The liquid in the store is designed to be taken all at once for bowel prep for Xrays and various tests.

Others like me get effects at lower doses. That is why I prefer food sources as a primary source.

Citrate Magnesia (liquid) has 290mg/30ml. The bottle is 8 ounces or 2400 mg/8oz or 2.4 grams

Solgar Magnesium Citrate has 200mg/tablet.
If your friend takes them all at once, they may be more laxative than if she spaces them during the day. But no guarantees on that, since people differ alot.

Both are the same thing, only different in dose.

See, YOU TAUGHT ME ANOTHER THING TODAY!!!

lol
thanks much

Melody

P.S. I just harvested some Broccoli, Fenugreek, and some Clover sprouts, and made it into a salad. I added some grape tomatoes, some sliced black olives, and the whole thing is bursting with various colors.

Who is going to eat this? My neighbor around the corner. She LOVES sprouts.
lol