Diana Ross’s iconic performance in Lady Sings The Blues inspires us to discuss the link between diabetes and depression and diabetes distress.
When Diana Ross chose to make her feature film debut playing the role of Billie Holiday in the biopic Lady Sings The Blues; there were more than a few skeptics. The Motown Queen’s solo career started as a slow burn – only one of her four post-Supremes albums to date had made the US Top 40.
Thankfully, she persevered through people’s doubts and the physically and emotionally grueling film production. Her captivating performance on film and record earned her an Academy Award nomination and a #1 solo Pop Album in the US — aptly, on the chart date that would have been Billie’s 58th birthday, April 7, 1973. The double LP features Ross singing gems from the tragic singer’s catalog, such as God Bless The Child, Strange Fruit, and the title song.
Sadly, Billie Holiday had already been gone for 13 years when Lady Sings The Blues was released.
Why Is It Called the Blues?
In the 19th century, the English phrase blue devils referred to the upsetting hallucinations brought on by severe alcohol withdrawal. Over time it was shortened to the blues, which described states of depression and upset, and it was later adopted as the name for the melancholic songs that the musical genre encapsulates.
If you’re feeling blue, symptoms include sadness, lack of sleep, or loss of appetite. Depression has these symptoms and more, including prolonged insomnia, significant weight loss or gain, and extreme fatigue or disinterest in regular activities.
Many people with diabetes struggle with depression. The daily demands of diabetes can be stressful and lead to symptoms of depression. Diabetes can cause complications and health problems that may make symptoms of depression worse. Don’t be afraid to seek help.
What Is Diabetes Distress?
According to our friends at Diabetes.UK, diabetes distress is what some people feel when they’re overwhelmed by the relentlessness of diabetes. This can lead to diabetes burnout.
Diabetes distress has been described as worrying about not taking enough care of your diabetes but not feeling motivated to change. Symptoms include avoiding going to appointments or checking your blood sugars, making unhealthy food choices regularly, and feeling alone and isolated.
Many people feel like this sometimes, but you must get help.
Billie Holiday was a true artist of her day and became a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and ability to boldly turn any material she confronted into her music made her a superstar of her time.
Today, Billy Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, creativity, and vivacity, as many of Holiday’s songs are as well known today as they were decades ago. Holiday’s poignant voice is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz voices of all time.
Billie Holiday inspires us to talk about the ‘MILESTONES’ related to diabetes wellness with a stellar lineup of guests featuring Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDCES,Susan Wiener RD, CDCES, Best-Selling Author Brenda Novak, Poet Lorraine Brooks and Mama Rose Marie.
This Divabetic podcast features music from across Billie Holiday‘s extraordinary career, including What A Little Moonlight Can Do, Them There Eyes, That Ole Devil Called Love, Blue Moon, Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child, and more courtesy of SONY MUSIC.
Are body shammers responsible for why singer, Mariah Carey chose to undergo weight loss surgery?
According to a source, Mariah Carey‘s insecurity about her weight caused her to elect to have the gastric sleeve surgery, which shrinks the size of the stomach so patients eat less.
“She always fluctuates and it makes her upset,” said a source close to Mariah Carey. “She lives in denial about it; she has the tags cut out of clothes, so she can be blissfully unaware of her size.”
Today we are all surrounded by idealized images of beauty more than ever before so it’s not surprising that even someone as successful as Mariah Carey would feel insecure about her image. Image shown on social media can create expectations that are impossible to meet, leaving us feeling inadequate and ashamed about our own looks.
One way to address body dissatisfaction is to change the way we think about our bodies, shifting the focus from evaluation and critique to care and appreciation.When we’re focused on how our body looks, we’re often less aware of how it feels—and therefore less in touch with signs of hunger and fullness, feelings of pleasure and pain, and even the sensation of our heartbeat. Research suggests that self-compassion is associated with lower levels of self-objectification, the tendency to habitually take an observer’s perspective on one’s own body rather than experiencing it from the inside outWe will be discussing self-compassion on November’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast with guest, Dr. Beverly S. Adler PhD, CDE.
Do you feel Mariah Carey’s weight loss surgery was necessary?
After all, body mass index or BMI is an important measurement to determine if you qualify for the surgery. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy was traditionally reserved for highly obese patients. If you have a BMI higher than 40 or are at least 100 pounds overweight you are considered extremely obese (which Mariah was not strictly judging from recent photos).
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy isn’t for the casual dieter hoping to lose a few pounds. Instead, the procedure requires an assessment that focuses on physical and mental considerations to make sure you can succeed with weight loss following the surgery. While the surgery may change the size of your stomach, it’s up to you to change your eating habits.
The surgery is a permanent change to your stomach, which means you must carefully consider your options before undergoing this surgical option.
Gastric sleeve surgery removes 70% of the stomach where the hunger hormone ghrelin is produced.
Diabetes remission rates after sleeve gastrectomy are also very high (more than 60%) and, in some studies, similar to results seen after gastric bypass.
Most patients who have gastric bypass or a sleeve gastrectomy experience weight loss and changes in their gastrointestinal tract. Weight loss surgery causes profound changes in the incretins — hormones in the gastrointestinal tract that cause insulin to be released. These changes lead to significant improvement in type 2 diabetes and can cause long-term changes in the pancreas that causes diabetes to go away.
Let’s consider that Mariah Carey may not have elected to have weight loss surgery for purely ‘vanity’ reasons.
Mariah Carey had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her six-month-old twins Monroe and Moroccan in 2011. It’s well documented that after having gestational diabetes, you are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that all women with a history ofgestational diabetes have a two-hour glucose tolerance test at six weeks and at least every three years after giving birth.
The less severe type 2 diabetes is before sleeve gastrectomy, the greater the likelihood patients will be disease free afterwards, according to new research presented here during ObesityWeek 2014, the largest international event focused on the basic science, clinical application and prevention and treatment of obesity.
Whether or not she had weight loss surgery six weeks ago for health and/or vanity reasons, the GRAMMY winner showed off a slimmer figure at her hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood last Wednesday.
A second source tells ET that Mariah feels “much better about herself” now, adding, “this is a new beginning for her.”
We’re talking about ‘Weight Loss Surgery & Diabetes’ on Diabetes Late Nite podcast with music from Etta James.
Etta James is a Grammy Award-winning singer known for hit songs like “I’d Rather Go Blind” and “At Last.”
Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins on January 25, 1938, in Los Angeles, California, to a 14-year-old mother, Dorothy Hawkins, who encouraged her daughter’s singing career. James would later say, “My mother always told me, even if a song has been done a thousand times, you can still bring something of your own to it. I’d like to think I did that.” James never knew her father.
Etta James was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1993, prior to her signing a new recording contract with Private Records.
Etta James underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost over 200 pounds. The dramatic weight loss had an impact on her voice, as she told Ebony magazine, “I can sing lower, higher and louder.” Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach, Dr. Monique Renee Rolle DPM, Catherine Schuller AICI, CIP, Susan Greenberg Weiner MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, and Mama Rose Marie. Prize giveaways courtesy of Earth Brand Shoes, Dr. Greenfield’s Diabetic Foot Creams, Cabot Cheese and Nu Naturals. LISTEN NOW
