Refuse To Regain

1 IN 3 ADULTS HAVE BLOOD SUGAR DISORDER. Who cares? Very few.

by Barbara Berkeley, MD Diabetes is decimating us. This week, the CDC reports a sharp escalation in blood sugar problems, a rising tide of deadly disease. This should come as no suprise as this medical equivalent of global warming has been predicted for some years. What continues to be a surprise is the utter lack of concern about what is happening to us and to our children. Are we really so busy shopping, texting and watching America's Got Talent? Let's... Read more →

Insulin and Dementia: Taming the Spider

By Barbara Berkeley It’s funny how we tend to think of the brain as a different kind of organ, one that has jobs that are quite distinct from the activities going on in the rest of us. But nothing could be further from t truth. The brain is fed by the same blood vessels and blood supply as the rest of the body. It is completely and intimately connected to the moment to moment choices made by that body. If... Read more →

The Age That Counts

By Barbara Berkeley Lots has been made of calculating your “real age”…an interesting device for assessing how old you may be on a cellular level. In reality, no one can tell you exactly how much older or younger you are when you change the way you live and eat. Nevertheless, these kinds of quizzes remind us of the fact that our lifestyle choices cause real life consequences and can reap honest-to-goodness rewards. I am more interested in another kind of... Read more →

Take Care of Your Beta Cells and Perhaps Live Longer

By Barbara Berkeley The body is an incredibly complex mechanism. Just when we think we understand how one part works, another layer of signaling, hormones and pathways reveals itself. Like a child playing with a Matruschka doll, we open up one of the bodys’ mysteries only to find another one within. I say this because I am about to talk about insulin and I want everyone reading this to know that I fully realize that there are many other underlying... Read more →

Along the Unibetes Highway

By Barbara Berkeley There’s a new study about diabetes that just came out in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association). Of course, it doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a diabetic. Or does it? Perhaps we should stop thinking about weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and triglycerides as problems that affect someone else. What they actually turn out to be are near-universal responses to our modern eating style. They are an octopus of diseases... Read more →