 The new 670G Medtronic pump is truly a wonderful amazing device. What surprised me more than anything else is what an absolute pearl of a lesson it is in terms of how insulins work and the daily awful grind and variability of being a Type 1. Honestly congratulations to this development team, you have come up with a genius product. Genius! It expertly and simply solves for so many of the dilemmas Type 1’s face daily. And in a safe and perfect way. Truly a product that answers so many of the questions that we have up to now not solved. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The MARD was my biggest happiness on the sensor – 8.7- wow - Yay! So many reasons that in my opinion as many Type1 patients should get onto this technology in terms of cost saving in the long run for medical aid schemes and longevity with quality for patients both old and young.
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Tandem T-slim have Basal IQ on offer. It has arrived. The great wonderful benefit of the algorithm is that it has very simple rules and is robust in it’s ability to prevent lows, suspend insulin and recommence as soon as the trend picks up. One of the biggest conundrums with insulin is not enough results in high sugars and too much, even just a little too much, results in lows and no two days are ever the same for diabetics. This new offering offers a solution. And if you know what lows feel like and do to your functioning you will recognise the benefit. For long-term health this is a huge benefit. All the new trials confirm that TIR (time in range) is what saves : eyes, limbs, kidneys, heart and brain. Thanks to Ethitech for bringing this to market. Yay yay yay for patients!  2/8/2017 0 Comments The injustice of medical aids So I have applied for continuous monitoring for a type 1 patient who has multiple hypos affecting daily living. He is on a top plan of momentum (I have other patients on this plan who fund continuous monitoring). I then appealed and put in a second appeal to their DECLINE.
We have been told in writing that they have declined it a third time but with no reason and that they are withholding their criteria from us. This is common garden crime! I say this is bullshit! to put it mildly. In south africa where we have human rights we have a very progressive legislation and law. We have so much and yet we have nothing. Medical aids keep moving the goal posts and now we don’t even know what they are in this case. NO transparency. NO patient care. NO clear communication. I believe that there needs to be a tide by both patients and doctors against this kind of bullshit decision and policy. Let me know if you are in and we can go to the ombudsman. 24/7/2017 0 Comments Diabetes does not have to be To be or not to be – TYPE 2 I mean. Lifestyle induced diabetes. This is a disease that we hardly saw 100 years ago. It’s a new thing really. A question of quality of life I believe. Both to prevent it and to “cure” it. Type 2 diabetes is essentially “toxicity of life” disease. Too much sugar, too much bad stuff, mainly sugar that causes inflammation generally but is specifically bad for the pancreas and the reason being it is like flogging a horse.  Every time YOU demand insulin of the pancreas (every time you eat sugar or carbs) it has to produce it. Only it only has so many b cells to do this and the harder you flog it the harder those cells work and you literally flog your pancreas. At some point – once you have lost 50 % of those cells you become diabetic. Now here ‘s the interesting thing. At 49.9% you are not diabetic but at 50% you are – go figure. Like with a lot of things there is a spectrum. So, surely you understand that one can “pick up ” this continuum BEFORE you qualify for type 2. So why not find out?  Once you have Type 2 for real it is a matter of time before you flog those last 50% and then need insulin to save eyes, heart, limbs etc. However IF you take it seriously and “recruit” dying cells that are about to become apoptotic you can actually turn it around a bit, not back to 100% but you can slow the progress and retard the disease. So why not do that? To be or not to be ? The choice is yours and the decision in your hands for the grab or not? 
9/7/2017 1 Comment a retreat for diabetes Innate Hilton has put together a package that involves a little bit of relaxing, and a little more learning about yourself and your diabetes.
The package includes:
Our structured package gives you the chance to focus on your diabetes but also allows your mind a bit of a reprieve from the daily grind as you soak up the fresh air of the Midlands. 6/7/2017 0 Comments WHY HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT? Why is it important to see a team when you have diabetes?
Well because complications are preventable. Dialysis, amputations, blindness, heart attacks and strokes are sequelae to sugars above 10. Why? This is like pouring coke on the floor, the vessels stick to each other and everything else – creating a sticky stuck mess. Hence blindness, renal failure, amputations etc. The answer is to be vigilant. See your team every year at least once a year and some of them twice a year, some even 4 x like your doctor if you are a type 1. The team : dietician (1-2), the podiatrist (1), the educator (1-2) -essentially also the co-ordinator, GP (2-4), or endocrinologist, ophthalmologist (1). Additional benefits : psychologists, biokineticists, nutritionists, life coach. 3/7/2017 7 Comments Libre flash monitoring The patient driven and marketed Freestyle Libre has arrived in South Africa!
Cost implication, making it the cheapest on the South African market:
You scan your button and get a reading every 5 minutes. The device has functions like calculated a1c (3 month average) as well as about 100 more. Visit the Freestyle Libre website here. Should you be interested you will need to fill out a form, pay the amounts after which the device will be couriered to you. Email: drleesecretary@myinnatehealth.co.za for forms or contact us on 033 343 1826. |
Dr Claudine LeeSomewhat ramblings, somewhat significant. My thoughts in my own words with little, or no, filter as I address the realities of health and wellness in the little bio dome of Hilton in the context of South Africa. Archives
August 2019
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