What’s The Deal With Magic Mushrooms?

Magic mushrooms have gained notoriety in Hollywood for their capacity to enhance mental health, reduce anxiety and depression, and improve cognitive function. 

What Are Magic Mushrooms?

Magic mushrooms are a type of mushroom that contains the chemicals psilocybin or psilocin. These chemicals cause you to see, hear, and feel things that are not real (hallucinations). They come in fresh, dried, or powder form. Powdered psilocybin can be inhaled (snorted) or injected (with a needle). Magic mushrooms are also taken as tea, cooked with food, or added to fruit juice.
But before adding magic mushrooms to your self-care for managing diabetes, you should talk to your healthcare collaborators.
Although the Food and Drug Administration is still conducting trials to study the effects of psilocybin on people with severe depression, most users agree that the results of micro-dosing with mushrooms are helpful.

Don’t Listen To A Trend, Listen To Your Healthcare Collaborators

Many celebrities like Kristen Bell and other over-stressed mothers are singing their praises.”I really wanted to try some psilocybin [the technical term for hallucinogenic mushrooms] and feel what kind of doors open, have a trip that was my own,” she explained.
It’s easy to be swayed by celebrities and media stories. A quick Google search found that the beta-glucans in magic mushrooms may improve insulin sensitivity and how glucose is used in the body. These mushrooms also have enzymes, vitamins, and potassium, which can help control blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.
If you’re concerned about your use of substances or a loved one’s, don’t hesitate to contact the SAMSHA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357. It’s a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish.

Diabetes and menopause can team up to have various effects on your body. Knowing what to expect and how to manage it is what we will be discussing in Divabetic’s Menopause & Diabetes Panel Discussion  & Sugar-Free Baking Demonstration on Zoom in honor of World Menopause Day on Wednesday, October 18, 2023, from 7 – 8:30 PM.

Catherine Schuller moderates a panel featuring Dr. Julianne Arena, MD, FACOG, ABAARM, Sweet Romance: A Woman’s Guide to Love And Intimacy With Diabetesco-author, COO for Diabetes Sisters Donna Rice MBA, BSN, RN, CDCES, FADCES, and photographer, Amparo.  Amparo discovered, quite unexpectedly, in the ER, that she has diabetes after doctors told her her glucose level was over 800! Over the past six months, she’s been taking charge of managing her diabetes while facing hormonal changes during menopause – it’s a true Divabetic Victory story.

After our panel, Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, demonstrates how to make her popular Sugar-Free Rum Cake Recipe.

One lucky winner will win a Divabetic Prize at the end of the program.
The purpose of World Menopause Day is to raise awareness of menopause and the support options = for improving health and wellness.

FREE – REGISTER NOW

 

Happy Birthday Ella Fitzgerald!

Happy Birthday Ella Fitzgerald, on her 106th birthday!

Ella Fitzgerald was living with type 2 diabetes. Sadly, she had both of her legs amputated. But losing her limbs didn’t stop her from performing on stage. I think that’s a great testament to her strong will and determination.

There are still so many obstacles blocking people with disabilities from living their best life. I’m sure Ella Fitzgerald encountered many of them, from the smallest stair to the pity and scorn in people’s eyes. Week after week, traveling on the road from city to city to perform at night makes it difficult to maintain and sustain a health regimen, especially diabetes self-care. As someone who has traveled on the road supporting musician, I can easily understand how the rigors of touring can take a toll on your physical and mental health.

It’s easy for someone to write her off for not taking care of herself because it’s harder to admit how easy it is to ignore your diabetes. The number of people who don’t manage their diabetes dramatically outnumbers those who do.

Sadly,  ignoring your diabetes leads to disastrous consequences. Mismanaged diabetes can lead to amputations, usually of the toes, feet, or legs. Causes include reduced blood flow or peripheral neuropathy. Managing your blood sugar is one way to help prevent it.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)Trusted Source, about 130,000 people in the United States who have diabetes have amputations yearly.

Better diabetes management and foot care have caused lower limb amputations over the past 20 years. However, 2018 research suggests that young and middle-aged adults in the United States are experiencing an uptick in diabetes-related amputations.

With ongoing diabetes management, foot care, and wound care, many people with diabetes can limit their risk of amputation or prevent it entirely. Education is crucial.

We proudly celebrate the First Lady of Song and raise awareness for the greater need for diabetes education on this episode of Divabetic’s podcast with Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES, Susan Weiner MS, RDN, CDCES, CDN, Lorraine Brooks, Ansley Dalbo, Anna J. Stewart, and Leola and Cornelia.

New Diabetes Cases Linked to COVID-19

New reporting indicates that some patients who’ve recovered from COVID-19 are developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes according to Insider.

In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers stated it was “plausible” that COVID-19’s effects on the body’s ability to metabolize glucose could either complicate existing insulin levels or create new issues, leading to the onset of diabetes.

Although some patients already had diabetes and were unaware of it until they were hospitalized for COVID-19, evidence also suggests that COVID-19 might be enough to worsen existing metabolic health issues into full-blown type 2 diabetes according to  Dr. Jose Aleman, assistant professor of endocrinology at NYU Langone Health reports Insider.

“Stressful conditions lead to elevated levels of regulatory hormones that raise blood sugar to aid the body in fighting whatever insult it’s facing, such as illness or injury,” Aleman told Insider. “For people with underlying conditions, that can be enough to kick them over the edge.”

Back in April 2020, doctors in Wuhan, China first reported a link between COVID-19 and elevated blood sugar levels.

More than 34 million people in the United States have diabetes, and 1 in 5 of them don’t know they have it according to the Centers for Diabetes Control and Prevention.  More than 88 million US adults—over a third—have prediabetes, and more than 84% of them don’t know they have it.

Take The Prediabetes Risk Test – Take The Risk Test

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk?

Join the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic for this free, virtual diabetes support event with style. Divabetic’s dynamic diabetes empowerment meeting features a Hat & Face Mask Fashion Show presented by  Harlem Heaven’s Hats owner Evetta Petty and a Diabetes Educational Group Activity and Discussion presented by Maryann Nicolay  MEd, NDTR on Thursday, February 4, 2021, 7 – 8 PM, EST on Zoom.

FREE REGISTRATION 

Surprise Medical Bills Update

Last Sunday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health Committee announced a bipartisan agreement on legislation to shield the U.S. public from the “devastating financial toll of surprise medical bills.”

The White House and major consumer groups had also endorsed the plan to stop surprise medical bills, the often exorbitant bills faced by patients when they go to a hospital that takes their insurance but are treated by a doctor who does not, which was to be included in the year-end spending bill.

READ MORE

Carb Kitty by Divabetic

Could This Be Why Staying Slim Is So Difficult?

In a new study published today, a team of researchers from the New York University School of Medicine have unlocked a molecular mechanism controlling weight gain and loss in mice: a protein that shuts down the animals’ ability to burn fat in times of bodily stress, including when dieting or overeating. This discovery might hold the key to understanding why it’s so hard for humans to lose weight, and even harder to keep it off.

The new findings contradict the idea that weight loss is just calorie deficits and willpower. “Weight loss is very, very difficult,” says the study’s lead researcher, Ann Marie Schmidt, an endocrinologist from the New York University School of Medicine. “Only by studying the good things, the bad things, and how sometimes things that were meant to be good can go awry can we figure out the big picture and how to safely make people’s lives healthier and better.”

READ MORE

What’s Your Dog IQ?

 Ttry your luck at Divabetic’s new quiz!

Win $500 Gift Basket & Enter our Cutest Dog Contest in support of Divabetic’s newest outreach program, Collar Greens Health & Wellness Day at Central Farm Markets in North Virginia on September 29, 2019. This free outreach program aims to educate both dogs and dog owners about diabetes and their risks for heart disease. MORE INFO

Find out what it’s like to live with diabetes for 50 years! Catherine L. shares her experience on August’s Diabetes Late Nite with music from P!nk

LISTEN NOW

Why 2 Young Women Died of Heart Trouble

18-year-old Félicité Tomlinson reportedly passed away from a heart attack/cardiac arrest. A person in the apartment called for an ambulance, but paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene after failing to revive her. She was the sister of One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson, the oldest of seven siblings.

Her shocking death comes days after former Miss Teenager Universe Lotte van der Zee passed away at 20 after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest the day before her birthday.

Why would young women who seemed healthy die that way so suddenly?

According to HollywoodLife, Dr. Reed Wilson, a Beverly Hills GP and cardiologist  stated, “a heart attack is caused by a blocked artery to the heart. The part of the heart that is supplied by the blood vessel dies and no longer pumps. If the area is small enough the individual can do very well. If it is a large area and there is no longer enough heart to pump, the patient can die. The most common deadly problem following a heart attack are abnormal heart beats that result in deadly arrhythmias and ultimately cardiac arrest where the heart stops.”

Since there were reportedly no warning signs, one can’t help wondering if a defect that went undetected?

Dr. Wilson states “some young adults can be born with abnormalities of the coronary arteries that can lead to sudden death. The heart has two arteries, a right and a left (the left immediately splits into two). But some individuals have just one that supplies the whole heart, while others have arteries that travel in strange directions to get to the heart. Both of these can lead to heart attacks.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked, and sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating unexpectedly. A heart attack is a “circulation” problem and sudden cardiac arrest is an “electrical” problem.

On March’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast we spoke to Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE about the findings from a recent study the more young women are having heart attacks. 

The study states that the proportion of heart attack–related hospitalization rates for women ages 35 to 54 increased from 21% to 31% over the last two decades.

Scientists can’t say for sure what’s causing an increase in heart disease among young women, but they do have some ideas. Last month’s study found that not only had hospitalization rates for heart attacks increased among young people since 1995, but that hypertension and diabetes rates had increased as well. The young women in the study were also more likely to be black than the young men, suggesting that heart disease is hitting young black women especially hard.

Another interesting finding was that, compared to the young men in the study, the young women were less likely to have previously been treated for conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or stroke. This suggests that women are being under-treated this link opens in a new tab for heart disease risk factors, wrote Viola Vaccarino, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist at Emory University, in a commentary published along with the study. Prevention guidelines may also underestimate risk among this age group, she added.

It’s also interesting to note that the estrogen in birth control pills and in hormone patches, implants, vaginal rings and injections can cause an increase in blood clotting, which could result in a heart attack. However, that risk is still very small for most women, especially for those under 35 who do not have other risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking or obesity.

Divabetic will presenting the first-ever Diabetes & Heart Health Escape Room Experience: Clued Inn on Diabetes Alert Day, Tuesday, March 26, 2019 in New York City. Currently we have over 150 pre-registered for Clued Inn but there’s still room for you and your friends to participate! Register now at CluedInn.org.

Many Women with Early Breast Cancer may not need Chemo, Study finds

Most women with early-stage breast cancer may be able to avoid chemotherapy, a new study finds.

Researchers found that patients with smaller-sized tumors that had not spread to the lymph nodes did just as well without chemo as those who got the treatment, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Experts added that the findings may not apply to those who have larger tumors or those with cancer that has started to spread, or metastasize. More studies are needed to look at those groups of women, they said.

“This is a really big deal,” said Dr. Adam Brufsky, a coauthor on the new study and a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. The bottom line, Brufsky said, is that doctors now have a test to determine which early-stage patients — and that’s most of them — can skip chemotherapy.

Of the more than 250,000 women in the U.S. expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer, the new findings could benefit more than 63,000 with non-invasive, or early stage, disease.

Mr. Divabetic Show podcast on Breast Cancer with guests Dr. April Speed, Award-winning Songwriter and Author Mary Sue Englund, Actress and Writer, E.P. McKnight, TeamWILD Founder, Mari Michelle Ruddy and Poet Lorraine Brooks  CLICK HERE

Is There a Connection Between Diabetes and Breast Cancer?

The connection between having a high body mass index (a height-to-weight ratio that’s used as the standard measure to assess weight-associated health risks that you can calculate for yourself on the National Institutes of Health website) and breast cancer is well established and thought to be related to metabolism, inflammation and hormones.

A meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2012 that found “the risk of breast cancer in women with Type 2 diabetes is increased by 27 percent, a figure that decreased to 16 percent after adjustment for BMI,” meaning the researchers had controlled for overweight and obesity. This elevated risk was seen in Type 2 diabetes and among post-menopausal women.

Additionally, breast cancer survivors, who are post-menopausal, have a higher chance of developing diabetes. Scientists are becoming increasingly aware of an association between diabetes and cancer.

Mr. Divabetic Show podcast on ‘Diabetes, Breast Cancer & You’ featuring guests Dr. April Speed MD, Dr. Andrea Chisholm OBGYN, Amy, who is a four time cancer survivor living with type 1 diabetes and Jana, who is a breast cancer survivor living with type 2 diabetes  CLICK TO LISTEN

Tune in to Divabetic’s 8th Year Anniversary podcast, Diabetes Late Nite featuring music by Edith Piaf on Tuesday, June 12, 2018, 6 PM, EST.  Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Dr. Lori Shemek PhD, Dr. Andrea Chisholm OBGYN, Cindy Lou from the ‘Diabetes What To Know’ community, and Mama Rose Marie. Throughout this podcast we will be featuring music from ‘EDITH PIAF TOP 40’ album courtesy of SONY Music.

Kenneth Jay Lane’s ‘Fake’ Jewels Inspire Look into ‘Fake’ Sugar Health Headlines

The recent death of Kenneth Jay Lane, famed costume jewelry designer whose ‘fake’ diamond designs were worn by legends such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo, Babe Paley and Diana Vreeland, inspires us to examine the recent AND alarming health headlines related to ‘fake’ sugars.

He was a champion for attainable luxury, making it acceptable and even chic to wear costume pieces. 

“Kenneth Jay Lane is a nonconformist who changed the perception of the establishment toward costume jewelry. He even got the Duchess of Windsor and a host of British royals to wear costume jewelry — unheard of at the time,” says British filmmaker Gisele Roman wrote, produced and directed the new documentary about Kenneth Jay Lane’s life entitled, Fabulously Fake: The Real Life of Kenneth Jay Lane, “His designs still define the modern era, and he continues to work at 85!”

Actress Joan Collins was once stopped at customs with her KJL jewels and even the customs official couldn’t stop complimenting her about the baubles. “I was going through customs in Mexico — I keep all my jewelry in a box — and the customs man saw it and said, ‘Let me open it. Let me see it.’ He looked at it and I said, ‘Can we go into a private room? Because I don’t want people to see it,’ even though it wasn’t real,” says Collins. “We went into the private room, and the customs man is picking it up and said, ‘Very nice, these earrings very good.’ Finally, I said, ‘It’s not real, you know. It’s not diamonds and gold and rubies; it’s faux jewelry. And finally he closed it and said ‘You have very nice stuff here!’”

Fashion Designer Carolina Herrera, said there was a robbery during a friend’s dinner party in Caracas, Venezuela, and the KJL gems were the only concern. “We were at the home of a friend of mine who has a lot of jewels, and during dinner the butler came to say there’d been a burglary in the house, and they were very concerned about it because it had been upstairs. Her only reaction was ‘Oh, gosh! I hope they didn’t take any of my Kenny Lanes!’”

Kenneth Jay Lane was honored with numerous awards for his jewelry designs, including a special Coty Award in 1966, the Harper’s Bazaar International award in 1967, and the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award in 1968.

In 1996, Kenneth Jay Lane released a memoir titled Faking It, which detailed his life and career as a famous faux jewelry maker.

Kenneth Jay Lane’s love of fake jewels inspires us to discuss two health headlines related to ‘fake’ sugar.

The first one is the alarming findings of a linking diet drinks (made with fake sugar) to dementia published in the study in the journal Stroke.

“One can a day of artificially sweetened drink are nearly three times as likely to have a stroke or develop dementia.”

Before you overreact to this alarming headline let’s examine some possible reasons why an increased stroke risk was associated with diet drinks and not sugary drinks. One is what is called “reverse causality”. People who come to realize that they are ill and have a high risk of a stroke then switch their behavior by choosing diet drinks long after sugary drinks have helped cause the problem.

When it came to dementia, the link with diet drinks that new study’s researchers saw disappeared once they took some elements of the health of the people in the study into account. “When the researchers accounted for other risk factors for Alzheimer’s, such as risk genes, diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol levels and weight, this significant association was lost, suggesting that these drinks are not the whole story,” said Dr Rosa Sancho, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The researchers point to it themselves: “We are unable to determine whether artificially sweetened soft drink intake increased the risk of incident dementia through diabetes mellitus or whether people with diabetes mellitus were simply more likely to consume diet beverages,” they write. But they call for more research and others will support them in that.

The second ‘fake’ sugar headline reports that artificial sweeteners may be associated with long-term weight gain and increased risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Let’s face it, the health effects of artificial sweeteners are necessary because so many people use them. Another study published earlier this year found that a quarter of U.S. children and 41 percent of adults reported consuming them, most of them once per day. Even more people may be consuming them unwittingly in products such as granola bars or yogurt.

“We were really interested in the everyday person who is consuming these products not to lose weight, but because they think it’s the healthier choice, for many years on end,” says Meghan Azad, lead author of the review and a research scientist at the University of Manitoba. While more research needs to be done, from what we know now, “there is no clear benefit for weight loss, and there’s a potential association with increased weight gain, diabetes and other negative cardiovascular outcomes,” says Azad.

Both of the study linked to the ‘fake’ sugar headlines have their pluses and limitations. Randomized trials are typically shorter term and don’t include as many people because of the cost and effort involved.

They also may not reflect how people behave in the real world. Observational studies can track far more people for a much longer period, and they better reflect how people actually live. But the links they find between habits and health issues are associations, not direct evidence of cause and effect.

All that to say, that more research on ‘fake’ sugar is necessary given the widespread and increasing use of artificial sweeteners.

Tune in to our Luther Vandross Tribute podcast to learn more about the link between diabetes and stroke.

Luther Vandross died at age 54, two years after suffering a stroke related to his type 2 diabetes.

African-American men have a significantly higher risk of stroke, and death caused by stroke, than white males, according to the American Stroke Association. In 2002, the latest year for which data are available, the stroke-mortality rate for black men was 82 per 100,000 population, while the stroke mortality for white men was 54 per 100,000. Likewise mortality is higher in black women, at 72 per 100,000 population, versus white women, who die from stroke at a rate of 53 per 100,000.

Black men and women generally have more stroke risk factors such as diabetes and hypertension, according to George Howard, Dr. P.H., who chairs the department of biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. He is an authority on the demographics of stroke.

In the years since Luther’s passing, one constant has remained to define his life and musical success: the voice. Like any great singer of the past 100 years, Luther Vandross’ voice and distinct singing style led to not only monumental success, but an instant recognition when you hear him singing–through your stereo, car radio, on TV or in a movie. Coupled with that voice was Luther’s unique ability to write and sing about love and the shared emotions we all feel in that search for and enjoyment of love. Through his songs, for the last two generations Luther Vandross became a staple in the most joyous moments of people’s lives.

Luther’s style harkened back to a more genteel era of crooning, with songs that spoke to heartfelt emotions and gentle pillow talk rather than explicit sexuality.

“I’m more into poetry and metaphor, and I would much rather imply something rather than to blatantly state it,” said Luther. “You blatantly state stuff sometimes when you can’t think of a a poetic way to say it.”

Featured guests on our Luther Tribute podcast include Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Tawatha Agee, Steve Kroon, Seveda Williams, Pat Lacy, Luther historian Leon Petrossian, members of ‘The Luther Vandross Experience’, friends and fans.

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring selected songs from the album entitled ‘Luther Vandross’ courtesy of SONY Music.