Living Well With Diabetes

Boy, if it were only that easy.

Researchers have identified a gene, named Rfx6, needed by cells to develop into insulin-producing beta cells. They found that mice lacking the gene did not develop insulin-producing beta cells either. In people, they found a deficiency of Rfx6 resulted in the development of diabetes in those people.

Researchers admit they don’t fully understand the process by which insulin-producing beta cells develop, but now they know that Rfx6 plays a central part in it. Let’s hear it for Rfx6!

There’s a summary of the study here:

Gene Critical to the Development of Insulin-Producing Cells Identified

If the summary leaves you wanting more information about the study, you can also find the complete article on the study in the journal Nature:

Rfx6 directs islet formation and insulin production in mice and humans

although it appears that you’ll have to pay Nature for your Rfx6 news fix.

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Pat and I spent another day sailing yesterday. We were crew members on a boat in the Spring Regatta on the Great Salt Lake.

I think we finished last in all three of the races. Dennis (the Captain) didn’t seem too concerned about how we did though. He said he mostly enjoyed just getting out on the water and sailing. I like that attitude and I couldn’t agree more.

Here are some photos from the day:

This was the third time I’ve been out to spend a day sailing and the third time I’ve watched my blood sugar go from normal to high during the first few hours of sailing even though I’ve eaten nothing during the entire outing. I’m not sitting idle in the cockpit either. It’s not aerobic exercise for sure, but believe me, there’s plenty to keep you active. There’s attaching the mainsail and foresail and running and affixing lines before you leave the marina. After you’re on the water, there’s raising the sails which, believe or not, is hard work. Those sails, even for this 28-foot boat, are pretty big and heavy. I now know why sailboats any larger than 25 feet or so come with winches to help you raise sails.

The first two times out sailing maybe I was distracted by the novelty of going sailing. This time however, it had to be something else causing my blood sugars to drift high because I was very careful about my blood sugar levels leading up to the sailing yesterday and I didn’t eat anything during the race. When blood sugars rise without being influenced by the intake of food, that sounds like an incorrect basal rate to me. Between now and the next day of sailing, I’m going to double-check my basal rates.

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A week ago or so there was a story in the Salt Lake Tribune about a study done at the University of Utah which found that teenagers with type 1 diabetes do better in managing their diabetes when their parents are more involved.

From the story:

A University of Utah study found when parents become less involved in their teens’ care of type 1 diabetes and when their relationship quality drops, teens are less likely to manage the disease. … When the relationship improves and when parents, say, monitor their children’s insulin levels, the teens do a better job of watching their diet, exercising and testing their blood-sugar levels.

The study authors suggest parents continue to be involved in their child’s diabetes management even as the child reaches an age when he or she is increasingly independent. By the age of 13, children can physically do the work of managing diabetes, but “They’re still making gains in cognitive development until late adolescence, ” says the study’s author. They need parental guidance while they fully develop problem-solving and reasoning skills.

The story appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune here:

Diabetic teens do listen

You can also find stories about this study in these places:

• Parents keep diabetic teens on track
• Parents Keep Diabetic Teens on Track
• Parents key managing diabetes in teens

This story really made me think back to my own teenage years. I was diagnosed with type 1 at the age of 13 and I struggled with it throughout my teens and not really fully accepting that I had diabetes until I was in my twenties. I wonder what this study would say about the teenager who wants nothing more than for the whole diabetes thing to just go away?

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I’m still working away at my boat. Now that the weather has warmed up, I have no excuses not to work on it. Last night, I put the third, and last, coat of paint on the exterior of the hull of my Eastport Pram.

You know, I should stop calling it “the Eastport Pram.” That’s like a parent calling their newborn baby “the human being.” I’ve got a name for it, “Barely A Wake,” which seems apropos given the tininess of this vessel. Even if it weren’t, I’m NOT going to change it since it’s bad luck to change a boat’s name and the lettering for it is now on the rear transom of the boat and encased below three or four coats of epoxy.

These photos are taken the next morning after applying the third coat of paint. It needs to cure for another 6-8 hours and then I’ll move on to varnishing.

It took me five days to complete the priming and painting of the exterior hull. I did one coat of primer/paint each day which, with 16 hours of drying time in between, is about all the quicker you can go.

Compared to the painting, I have SO much more varnishing to do: mast, rudder, tiller, daggerboard, boom, yard, and the remainder of the hull (interior and the top panel on the exterior). As nice as it is to have the painting done, I still have a long way to go.

Nearby Little Dell Reservoir is probably within two or three weeks of being open and ready (and warm enough) to sail on. If I can keep at it, Barely A Wake is going to be there.

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I spent another day sailing on the Great Salt Lake. Again, it was as a crew member on Exodus, the boat of one of Pat’s coworkers. This time though, Pat came along too and we were the only crew members.

Last time, as the first-timer, I didn’t contribute much because I didn’t know how to do anything. Simply having seen it being done last time was a big help this time out. I was able to help out so much more. I was happy to help out because I wanted to learn, but I also had to help out and learn quickly because there was nobody else to do it.

The first job was to “bend on” (a sailing term meaning to attach or fasten) both the mainsail and the genoa jib. I was especially proud of successfully tying two bowline knots to attach the jib sheets to the jib. The mainsail is attached to the boom by running a boltrope on the foot of the sail through a groove on the top of the boom. Then the mainsail is attached to the mast by guiding sail slides, one by one, onto a track on the fore of the mast. Then, finally, the mainsail is flaked (folded loosely in such a way that it is ready for use) on top of the boom and then fastened there. This is done so the boat is not influenced by the wind as it you motor out of the marina.

The water was pretty calm despite the winds. I’m told the high salinity of the Great Salt Lake means it takes higher winds to makes waves.

I’m coming to realize the biggest challenge for me sailing. Besides all the new terminology and skills, I need to re-learn how to manage my diabetes. When I’m out riding my bike, I know what to expect. I know the ins and outs of how my body reacts. I rarely have a day ruled by chronic highs or lows. Years of practice will do that, I think. Sailing though, is another matter. Both times I’ve been sailing this spring, I’ve spent most of the day with higher than normal blood sugars. I’ve been so busy with the activities in the cockpit that I don’t feel I have a spare moment to go check a blood sugar, much less do anything about it. I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t a low blood sugar I had to deal with. That would be dangerous instead of just annoying.

Overall it was a great day. I hope you enjoy the photos I took while we were out on the lake.

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