Tom Hanks on his diabetes, pirates, and rapping with Dan Ackroyd

[BDBoop]

Tom Hanks on his diabetes, pirates and rapping with Dan Aykroyd | Film | The Guardian

It feels charmingly apt that when Tom Hanks – simultaneously one of the biggest movie stars in the world for the past 20 years and also famously one of most "aw, hell, shucks" normal men around – is talking about "the most fascinating days of my life", he is not referring to when he acted in zero gravity in Apollo 13, the time he became only the second actor in history to win back to back Oscars, or even learning to dance on a giant piano in Big. Rather, he is talking about his recent stint on jury duty.

"The people there, the process," he says, almost sentimentally recalling the days he spent trapped in a hot room with a dozen or so people "just eating my sandwich for lunch. Just fascinating!"

Sadly, Hanks's sandwich-eating came to an abrupt end because, being the highest-grossing film star on the planet, his presence attracted some attention and a mistrial was called when a member of the Los Angeles prosecutor's office approached him.

Hanks's life seems like one long battle to balance his high-profile persona with his determinedly low-key personality. A few days before we meet he appeared on the David Letterman Show in the US and mentioned that he has diabetes. Cue celebrity gossip meltdown.

"Yeah! I got type-two diabetes!" Hanks shouts out in the room, mimicking the media hysteria. "I'm sure there's going to be some media scandal now, saying I got it because I gained and lost weight for movie parts or something –" he gained two stone for his brilliant turn in A League of Their Own and lost three stone for the less fun Cast Away – "but I doubt that."

Just a fun read about a genuinely nice guy.

 

[waltky]

Diabetes surgery 'missed by thousands'...

'Thousands miss out' on surgery for type-2 diabetes
Tue, 24 May 2016 - Thousands of people with type-2 diabetes in the UK are missing out on obesity surgery that would slash blood sugars and even lead to remission in some cases, a team of experts say.

Leading surgeon Prof Francesco Rubino described the gut operation as "the closest thing to a cure" available. UK guidelines already recommend the surgery for some patients. But experts argue the guidance needs to be expanded and made more prominent, as most doctors do not offer it.

'Biggest changes'

About three million people in the UK have type-2 diabetes, which can lead to serious complications, including kidney failure, blindness and heart disease. The team predict up to 100,000 obese diabetic patients - including those who are only mildly obese and have already tried medication and lifestyle changes - could benefit from the surgery, which involves removing part of the stomach or re-routing the gut. But they estimate fewer than 6,000 bariatric operations were carried out for type-2 diabetes last year. They looked at a growing body of evidence that suggests the treatment - traditionally used for weight-loss - not only reduces weight but also alters gut hormones and the lining of the gut to get blood sugars under control. This reduces the need for daily drugs or insulin injections and leads to a period of remission in more than a third of cases, experts say.

'I lost three stone'

Anne Mulvaney, aged 51, from London, said the surgery had given her a lifeline. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes four years ago and her weight climbed to 19 stone (120 kg). She tried to lose weight but she says it was nearly impossible. She was offered surgery in March, when taking anti-diabetic medication every day. Three months later she is now 15.6 stone (99kg) and though not yet what doctors would consider an ideal weight, she no longer has to take drugs to keep her blood sugar under control.

She said: "Before the operation I no energy and was thirsty all the time. "Now I have lots of energy, don't crave sugar anymore and can exercise without getting breathless as quickly. "But it is not a quick fix. You have to be dedicated and make changes. The whole process, including seeing a psychologist, took about two years. "It feels a bit like a corset that gets tight when you have a spoonful too much. "I don't eat as much as I used to now - but I don't get hungry. "I definitely don't regret it - it has given me a new lease of life." Scientists argue the operations - which cost about £6,000 in established centres - would pay for themselves within two years, by cutting the cost of drugs and the expense of treating diabetic complications. They say the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) needs to make this option explicit in their diabetes guidance and to expand it to ensure long-term diabetics on the cusp of obesity are also considered.

'Needless barriers'

 

[waltky]

Soldering on with DIY diabetes monitoring kits...

The DIY diabetes kit that's keeping us alive
Thu, 14 Jul 2016 - Meet the growing number of type 1 diabetics who are building their own unapproved, open source monitoring systems.

"I was sending a seven-year-old to school with a drug that could kill him," says Alistair Samuelson, whose son George, now nine, has type 1 diabetes. Frustrated with traditional monitoring and its risks, Mr Samuelson and George have since joined a growing group of T1 sufferers who are building their own solutions to manage their diabetes - even though they come with their own uncertainties. Traditional monitoring involves taking blood samples from the fingertips several times a day and administering precise injections of insulin to maintain blood sugar levels. However, over the course of an hour they can change dramatically and too much insulin can be fatal.

Alistair Samuelson and George with their phone and smartwatch​

It works for many - new British Prime Minister Theresa May has talked openly about living with type 1 diabetes since her diagnosis in 2012. "In basic management terms, it's the same for everybody," she told Diabetes UK in an interview. "You have to get into a routine where you are regularly doing the testing." But Mr Samuelson and George are among thousands who have chosen a different approach.

Open Source

They are using Nightscout, an open source platform developed and run by a global community of type 1 diabetics. Open source means it is freely available for anyone to use and modify - in this case at their own risk. It's a combination of a commercial product called a Continuing Glucose Monitor (CGM), which provides constant updates, a DIY transmitter and the freely available Nightscout programming code which enables the CGM data to be shared with a cloud data storage area - where it can then be distributed to other devices. So both father and son now receive constant updates on their phones (and George's smartwatch) and are able to assess George's needs minute by minute. It has given George the gift of freedom - he can now join his friends on sleepovers and enjoy his favourite sports.

Mr Samuelson acknowledges that it is not without risk. "I am using open source software to do calibrations. Open source software is giving me final numbers and it is not an approved algorithm - it's not going to be exactly the same as the proprietary algorithms," he says. "But you have to make an informed decision... compared to all the other risks the benefits massively outweigh them." Why not use the commercial products offering this shared data? There are not many on the market - and they are expensive. Rachel from Guildford is using G5, a system by Dexcom, to monitor her son Joe, also nine, but at current rates it will cost the family thousands of pounds a year. Most of Dexcom's apps are also only compatible with Apple devices.

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