I was going through some of the articles I intend to post here, since I have yet to figure out how to use the sidebars, and came across one that concerns a comment I made earlier, that the A1c marker used to measure the diabetic patient’s condition, indicated the long-term attachment of glucose to the hemoglobin molecule, but that the attachment was not immediately harmful. Actually, what I asked my doctor originally, about 8 years ago, was, ‘did the attachment interfere with the hemoglobin’s ability to ferry oxygen?’ and he assured me it didn’t. Of course, that’s not the whole story. This article, published in 2000, concerning AGEs or Advanced Glycosylation End Products, which have severe consequences for cells exposed to high levels of sugar over long periods of time. This is why it’s so important to maintain sugars as closely to normal as possible. Here’s the article, I’ll continue below.
A.G.E. Formation - The Road To Diabetes,
Disease, & Aging
http://www.alteonpharma.com/age_backgrounder.htm
3-14-00
It appears that A.G.E. formation is an important element in solving the (aging) mystery. The same common chemical process that toughens and discolors food in storage also takes place in the human body, and apparently may play a direct role in the development of diabetic complications such as kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, and in age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
When glucose, the most abundant sugar in the body, attaches itself to proteins without the aid of enzymes, a series of chemical reactions results in the formation and eventual accumulation of irreversible bonds, or Crosslinks, between proteins. This “molecular glue”, known as Advanced Glycosylation End-product, or A.G.E.s, causes proteins that are normally flexible and separate to become rigid and attached, making cells, tissues and organs stiff and increasingly less functional. In healthy individuals, this process occurs naturally, though slowly, as the body ages. In diabetic patients, the rate of A.G.E accumulation and the extent of protein cross-linking is accelerated, probably playing a role in many medical disorders.
The nonenzymatic reaction between glucose and proteins, known as the Maillard or browning reaction, begins when sugar carbonyl groups and protein amino groups combine, forming Schiff bases. These unstable combinations quickly rearrange into somewhat more stable substances called Amadori products. On long-lived proteins that are not normally recycled within the body for months or years, problems can develop when some of the Amadori products dehydrate. They then rearrange themselves forming A.G.E.s and eventually mediate the cross-linking of proteins.
In the early 1980s, researchers speculated that large amounts of A.G.E.s occurred in diabetic patients as a result of their elevated blood sugar levels. The A.G.E.s could be the missing link between diabetes itself and the devastating complications of the disease which occur after years of high blood sugar. Subsequent research conducted at more than 40 institutions around the world has supported this hypothesis, offering encouragement that severe diabetic complications such as kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, skin ulcers and lower extremity amputations can potentially be prevented or controlled. Currently there are few viable alternatives for the prevention or treatment of diabetic complications.
The effect of diabetes on numerous organs and tissues has been described as accelerated aging because of the similarity between certain diabetic complications like cataract, joint stiffness and atherosclerosis (a build-up of plaque in the artery walls) and disorders of the elderly. Research suggests that if excess glucose hastens the onset of complications in diabetic over a relatively short time-span, normal amounts of glucose might play a part in a wide range of age-related disorders that occur much more slowly and appear only later in life. For example, studies indicate that nonenzymatic glycosylation of the eye’s lens proteins may contribute to the formation of cataracts. More recent studies implicate A.G.E.s in age-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and stroke.
Similarly, scientists speculate that glucose encourages plaque formation characteristic of atherosclerosis by causing A.G.E.s to develop on the collagen in blood vessel walls. Circulating low-density lipoproteins or LDL are also subject to A.G.E. chemistry and may be trapped from the blood and accumulate to form cholesterol deposits.
Alteon’s current research and drug development focused on A.G.E. technology takes two directions: the prevention or slowing of A.G.E. formation, and the breaking of A.G.E. Crosslinks between proteins in order to prevent or reverse damage.
Obviously, glycosylation is minimized when sugars are maintained as near normal as possible.
OK, now it should be obvious that the more blood sugar is kept near or close to normal, the better you’ll be in the long run. The other major factor in staying healthy, is easy to say, but oftern hard to do:
DON’T EAT WHEN YOUR SUGAR IS HIGH!!!
Or, at least don’t consume foods which have a significant glycemic index rating. Nothing that breaks down (quickly) into sugar, in your bloodstream. That is, no carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes etc.), absolutely no sweets, and probably fried food (I don’t eat fried food since I started on Humulin(TM) so I can’t speak from experience). You CAN, in moderation, eat protein like meat or fish, alone, not mixed with other things, seeds and nuts (remember, peanuts and cashews are beans, not nuts) up to a point, most (raw) root and leafy vegetables. Not beets! (Don’t eat them myself due to an unfortunate childhood experience, but it seems unlikely, since they make sugar out of them), and remember, things get sweeter as they decay. A banana that’s just past being green is barely sweet at all and has little effect on your blood sugar, but try another one a couple of days later, especially if it’s going soft, and watch your sugar skyrocket.
Part of getting to normal every day is bringing your sugar down when it stays high for more than a few hours. In my case, it usually returns to normal [on the days when it leaps up to an abnormal degree following a small breakfast, the same each day, consisting of a balanced, measured amount of carbohydrates, vegetables and protein, in that order (actually tastier than it sounds)] as my insulin activity approaches its peak 7 to 8 hours after my morning injection. Usually, although not predictably, it then drops back to normal and I eat. When it doesn’t come down in time for me to be able to eat before bed, I will resort to using a fast-acting analog, either Humalog(TM) or some of the small amount of Regular(TM) I have left. Humalog(TM), I use if I can remain awake for the action cycle of about 3 hours (actually, I like to allow up to 4), but if I need to go to sleep, Regular had become quite useful until Lilly stopped making it a few of years ago. See, when Lilly stopped making their Regular (I’ve always hated that name, you can’t say ‘my regular insulin,’ without having to explain that Regular wasn’t your regular insuline, that was something else) insulin from animals and started brewing it in vats, they changed the activity cycle from 3 hours to 9 hours. I know this, because I was keeping my insulin/food/exercise log when I needed to add a supplemental couple of units of Regular for a few days to cover a higher postprandial excursion I’d been experiencing. I showed the log to my doctor at the time, who remarked,”that’s exactly what I’d do.” I’d been doing this when needed for years with Regular, and knew what to expect. After a few days, however, it became obvious something was different. My sugar remained very high after breakfast, didn’t come down by lunch, as it usually did, and then suddenly, 8-9 hours after the shot, plummetted. After a few days of this, I stopped taking the Regular(TM) and told my doctor about it, that its onset seemed to be delayed and started acting at the same time I was starting the NPH peak. He agreed it was curious.
I looked online and found out that was indeed the case, the activity cycle had been changed upward but no-one, it seemed had informed any doctors. The doctors I worked with at the time hadn’t heard of it. It turned out, a nine hour insulin was very convenient for the situation described above, where you have to go to bed, but need your sugar to come down while you sleep, and for those of us with HGU (hypoglycemia unawareness), having an insulin that let us go through most of the night without having to worry about blacking out in our sleep is very handy.
So, up til now we have:
GET TO NORMAL EVERY DAY (whatever it takes)
DON’T EAT WHEN YOUR SUGAR IS HIGH
In addition to these simple principles, there are a few techniques for maintaining general health, but which are especially useful for diabetics. I’ll list them now, then come back over the next few days and detail them
Breathe Completely
Eat Less
Oxygenate the Blood
Enhance Blood Flow
To be Followed
