Well, I'm
finally getting my life back to order.
Don't think Mike, my husband appreciated my being away at the IDF Diabetes
World Congress for 5 days (I averaged 12 hour days there), as my Domestic
Engineering duties sort of went the way of the dodo bird. I am back on track, almost, just don't pay me
a surprise visit right now, as it still looks like a bomb went off in my house
(I need a housekeeper as one of my friends says - treat yourself).
So, below
you will find a rather amusing picture of me.
It was a way to let off some steam I think for all the delegates that
were there, as attending seminars, learning new ideas of coping with diabetes
can sometimes make for a tired brain. It
was fun seeing people from all over the world, putting on the RCMP uniform and
standing with the Canadian Rockies behind them! Of course, I had
to do something different didn't I? Being the animal lover, I had to go and pet
the moose. He was very bristly, incase
you are wondering! The staff had no problem the next day remembering my
picture, no number required - just had to tell them - "I'm the moose lover!"

I went to
the Novo Nordisk booth because I was interested in learning about Victoza,
which Type 2 diabetics can inject once a day.
They can either use it alone, or combine it with their Metformin or
sulphonylurea treatment. The big thing
with this insulin that they are thumping their chests about is that it helps
patients gain better blood glucose control WITHOUT the weight gain, which often
happens when going on insulin therapy.
According to one of the documents I have on hand, visceral fat (this is
fat that surrounds our internal organs) was reduced by 13% to 16% in patients treated
with Victoza + Metformin. I know for a few
diabetics diagnosed with Type 2, weight can be an issue, and of course, the sooner
we shed it, eat sensible and exercise, the better our diabetes is controlled!
So in a
nutshell it'll be able to do the following -
- Reductions
in A1C of up to 2.74%
- Reductions
in weight by up to 2.8 kg
- Reduction
in blood pressure readings
- Improvement
is beta-cell function (makes me wonder with time, if you start early enough -
you might reverse diabetes as your pancreas start to produce insulin).
Not sure
when it will be coming to the market in North America as all the information I am finding is based in Europe - therefore I'm unable to post the Novo Nordisk link for
you to check it out for yourself unless you register there yourself. I've
done abit of research on Victoza and there seems to be some problems with
bringing it to the market due to labeling of the product believe it or not in
the United States!
We'll just have to wait and see and be patient with FDA, but the
forecast is for sometime in 2010.
Also, if
there are any of my friends from abroad reading my scribbles, and you've got some insight into
Victoza, please feel free to share with us!