diabetes

Many parents don’t think twice about giving fruit juice to their kids, especially as a substitute for soda and other sugary drinks. But it could pose risks just like those from soda.

You don’t have to skip parties just because you have diabetes. Learn how to navigate high-calorie party foods without ruining your diet.

Nerve damage caused by diabetes can lead to serious foot problems. Learn how to protect your feet.

Diabetes could be damaging your teeth and gums. Find out how to avoid tooth decay and infections.

Sea salt is an increasingly popular alternative to table salt. But is it really better for you? Our Healthy Skeptic investigates.

What exactly is quinoa and why is it being touted as a superfood? Get the facts.

My kids are going to kill me. I just know it. I've spent the last 10 days with them. No school, daycare or summer camp. In short, I was on vacation--and they were on vacation with me.

Don't get me wrong--I love my kids. But two days in the car and eight days in a small beach condo listening to them bicker over who gets to play Mario on the Nintendo DS can really raise my blood pressure.

But it also got me wondering: Does having kids extend or shorten a man's life expectancy?

Apparently, the scientific record is a bit thin on the impact of fatherhood on life expectancy. For example, we know something about its effect on the lifespan of our kids. Children whose parents live long lives tend to live long lives themselves.

We also know it may be a component in long-lived men. A 2007 study of centenarians suggested men who are trim (not me), were raised on a farm (nope) and have four or more children (thank the maker, no!) are more likely to reach 100 than their counterparts.

But that study didn't really tell us anything about the relationship between a father, his children and his life expectancy. For example, did the fathers live with their kids? Did they take long horse and buggy rides with the kids bickering over who got to play with the cornsilk doll?

Another study suggests men who continue to produce offspring into their 50s, 60s and 70s with much younger women may help their offspring live longer lives, but, sadly, it doesn't seem to help the fathers stay alive. As my wife points out, we can't all be Hugh Heffner or Charlie Chaplin--especially me.

In fact, what we don't know about the impact of fatherhood on longevity is staggering, especially since we know so much about the effect of motherhood on longevity.

Women, for example, who conceived children naturally in their 40s and 50s tend to live longer than women who have children earlier; lifespan increases with more children; and mothers tend to reap extra years by being grandmothers that men do not get by being grandfathers.

But with Father's Day on the horizon, I'm not sure a definitive study showing that being a father lengthens a man's life is all that important--at least to me. Even if being a father doubled a man's chances of living to 100, I doubt I'll live longer. There are other factors--like diabetes and family history--that are far more likely to impact my lifespan.

As my father told me when he was reminiscing about raising my brothers and me, it's not the quantity of life you live, but the quality of life. I may not live longer because I'm a father, but because of my children, the life I live will be better.

In short, my kids might kill me--or make me live longer. Either way, I'm going to die with a smile on my face.

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The Holy Grail for Diabetics--Sort of
If you have diabetes and an iPhone, life may get easier. Our friends at DiabetesMine.com reported this week that a European pharmaceutical company has produced a medical device that plugs into the iPhone and can check your blood sugar. The Sanof-Aventis iPhone iBGstar glucose meter still has to be approved by regulators, but you can look at photos and details now. It may not be an artificial pancreas, but it sure could make checking your blood sugar cool.

Give the Feds Your Old Meds
If you've ever wondered how to dispose of your old medications, the Drug Enforcement Agency has a new suggestion: Don't throw them out, give them to the DEA. Sept. 25 is the DEA's National Take-Back Day for expired prescription drugs, according to CNN.

Being Overweight Is Pricey
A new economic study has pegged the yearly cost of being overweight: $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men. The new study, detailed on MSNBC.com calculates the what it costs to be bigger from more sick days and lost productivity to higher fuel costs. What's with the big difference between costs for men and women? Heavier women earn less than their skinnier counterparts, while men make equal pay despite their weight, the study found.

Amputee Swims Channel
A lot of people have measured their swimming stamina by crossing the English Channel. But when quadruple amputee Philippe Croizon swam it this week in 13 hours, he proved he could come back from a harrowing injury and still knock off a major bucket list item. Read more about his swim from Time.com.

Eggs have gotten a bad rap for being high in cholesterol. But can they be part of a heart healthy diet? Our Healthy Skeptic is on the case.

If you or a loved one has been recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, just managing the information onslaught can be a real challenge. I know it was for me, and I came from a family steeped in diabetes history. In fact, my grandfather was in the first generation of diabetics to take insulin for the disease.

A decade after being diagnosed, I still encounter things about managing the disease that surprise me. Here are five facts about type 2 diabetes that might surprise you:

5. Exercise can actually increase blood sugar.

It doesn't seem to make much sense. Exercise is supposed to burn sugar and bring blood glucose levels down. Intense workouts, however, can have the opposite effect. That's because the body releases stress hormones that tell your body to increase available sugar as fuel for your muscles.

4. Testing gets expensive...

Most blood glucose meters are either very cheap or free. Unfortunately, the test strips needed to operate them aren't. (Companies that make razors use a similar model.) Retail prices for some strips of some meters exceed $1.50 each. If you test five times a day (before meals and bed time, for example), testing supplies can run you more than $225 a month.

3. ... And it's not all that accurate.

The Food and Drug Administration requires that blood sugar monitors be only so accurate. That tolerance--within plus or minus 20 percent of the actual blood glucose level--means that a monitor may read normal when your blood sugar is actually high. Or it may read high when your glucose levels are actually normal. The good news: Most meters are more accurate than the FDA requires, and the agency is considering stricter standards.

2. It's not only about sugar.

I still find it funny that people think diabetes is about sugar. The disease, still called "sugar diabetes" by many older Americans, isn't caused by overeating sugary foods. In fact, we don't know what causes either main type of diabetes, though scientists and physicians have many excellent ideas.

For type 2, being overweight, which can easily come from eating too many sweets or from just eating too much and not exercising enough, plays a big roll. But there are also genetic and environmental contributors. And there's a surprising number of new cases in populations that are considered thin. Misconceptions abound.

1. There's a silver lining to having type 2 diabetes.

Finding out you have type 2 diabetes can be devastating. Managing the disease is expensive and frustrating, and it generally requires major life changes. But the diagnosis can also be a wake up call. In most cases, gaining tight control over diabetes requires frequent exercise and healthy eating habits--things that are good for diabetes and also good for general health. Everything you do that's good for diabetes is good for the rest of you.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes 10 years ago, there weren't many places to turn to for help. I tried a support group, but I was the youngest person in the class by 20 years; the other recently-diagnosed patients faced different challenges than I did.

The few people I knew my age with diabetes had type 1, a disease that seemed at the time as different from type 2 as arthritis. I could find no one, it seemed, who was dealing with the same disease and circumstances that I was.

What a difference a decade makes. Thanks to social networks, bloggers, FaceBook and Twitter, rich communities exist that allow the afflicted to connect with one another and share information.

A lot of people might have scoffed at the benefit of such sites just a few years ago; really, who in their right mind would turn to a chat room or bulletin board for medical information? And who would publicly share details of their disease?

Count me among those initial skeptics. But I've come around. I like connecting with other diabetics--especially as my disease has progressed and become more complicated to manage. Now I use Twitter to share blood sugar readings, read blogs by other writers with diabetes and share interesting articles on my Facebook profile. While I still distrust much of the medical information I find, I feel more connected to people suffering from the same chronic illness as me--and I feel as though I have a community of support.

And it turns out I'm not alone: Studies show that such online activity helps mute the loneliness, stress and depression symptoms that attend chronic conditions like heart disease, arthritis, celiac disease and diabetes.

In one study, for example, women who participated in breast cancer groups online boosted their quality of life and decreased depression.

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Are the java jitters a hazard to your heart? Is a two cup-a-day habit dangerous? Our healthy skeptic separates myths from facts.

We all know that a good laugh can help you feel better. But can humor also improve your health?

The late Norman Cousins thought so. When the writer and editor was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in the 1970's, his self-prescribed treatment included humorous TV shows and films, which he credited for helping him recover. He called laughter "internal jogging."

Three decades later, there's new research that may support Cousins' belief. In a study of 20 diabetic patients, half of whom were exposed to humor as part of their treatment, those in the laughter group had higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and fewer signs of inflammation in their blood vessels (a possible risk for heart disease) than those not exposed to humor.

To be sure, a study with only 20 subjects is far from conclusive, and it has yet to be published. Still, it follows other research suggesting that laughter may help increase blood flow, reduce levels of stress hormones, and enhance immune function.

By itself, laughter therapy won't cure cancer or keep you from getting sick. But it certainly can't hurt. At the very least, it may make your pursuit of better health more enjoyable. Watch, for example, how some yoga practitioners are incorporating laugher into their routines.

One physician, Dr. Brad Nieder, has gone so far as to become a stand-up comedian. If further research corroborates that, as the Bible says, a "merry heart doeth good like a medicine," then the good doctor may indeed be on to something by keeping people in stitches.

Is high-fructose corn syrup really hazardous to your health? Our Healthy Skeptic separates the truth from the rumors.

Dietitian Carolyn O’Neil comes to the rescue of an actor whose late-night rehearsal schedule is wreaking havoc on his waistline and blood sugar levels.