Before I Forget this Evening...

Another long day, so a short post.  Another worry as  I enter the autumn of my years, beside a shrinking 401k, is a shrinking memory.  Type 2 diabetics who don't manage to control their problem, or those who get it in their declining years, well, decline even faster.


But first, while I remember it,

The Numbers.

• Fasting Blood Glucose Level:  103 mg/dl.
• Weight:  187 lbs. 
• Exercise:  45 minutes of one very sweaty bike ride.  Houston has had several days of rain and the it was humid as the sun came up this morning. 
• Mood:  7.5. BG was a bit high, but it's Friday Eve.  

The Menu:

• Breakfast:  A apricot kolache, which is like Czech danish, which sounds like the start of a joke, the a morning fruit medley.
• Lunch:  Leftover lentils and salsa stuff.
• Dinner: Thursday night,home pizza night after cutting the grass and generally making the yard look nice for the weekend. One slice only and a salad.  
• Snacks:  A few almonds. 

Diabetes is Linked to Memory Problems in Older Adults. 

Another great incentive for me to control my blood glucose is the keep my brain healthy.  I plan on making it to my 50th wedding anniversary and that would put me 95 years old.  I think I can do it. 

Older diabetics who don't keep the blood glucose levels under control risk high memory loss, attention and other cognitive skills. Diabetes has also been linked to dementia and Alzheimer's.  In other words, we will fail to be one the old people labeled as still sharp as a tack in the nursing home.  I plan on staying sharp as a tack.

Why this happens is not really understood and there is no proven cause and effect yet, but the correlation for this is very strong, according to a study from the University of California, San Fransisco.  The most likely suspect is inflammation and vascular damage caused by high glucose. 

As the rise in diabetes continues, the affects of this on an aging population  and what that is going to cost in human and financial terms is staggering. Scary enough for me to want to get on my bike for another ride today to burn off some more glucose.  I can see why some physicians say the blood glucose levels should be on the lowest possible side of the normal range.

There was also a study published a few months ago that said elderly patients with diabetes were more likely to have shrinking brain.