Type 2 and Parkinson’s gene linked

The following headline on the Diabetes Blog caught my eye this AM: Type 2 diabetes directly linked to one gene causing Parkinson’s. According to this article, the scientists concluded that biochemical changes brought on by diabetes can switch off functionality of a the PINK1 gene, causing Parkinson’s. I’d be interested to see the study itself to find out which biochemical changes they are referring to – are they the result of high blood sugars or perhaps related to insulin resistance? Is Type 2 only mentioned because there were no study participants with other kinds of diabetes? My father was diagnosed with Parkinsons shortly after I was diagnosed with diabetes, so this link gives me even more reasons to keep those sugars in tight check.

How is everyone? Things are good here – just chugging along with low-carbing and the occasional correction dose with insulin. Life is busy and I’ve fallen off the obsessive record-keeping and food-measuring wagon, but am still testing frequently and exercising. My numbers are looking good, save the occasional morning when I hover in the “helpless zone” of 130-140. 140 and above are fixable, but 130 is a tricky number for me because it’s too low to correct with the 1 unit minimum that my Humapen can do, but high enough that I want to do something about it. At my next appointment I plan to ask for a prescription for and a lesson on good old fashioned syringes and insulin vials. I love the convenience of the HumaPen, but now that I’m mostly using insulin for post-meal corrections, 1 unit doses are more often than not too large. Why Lilly would make a pen that allows half-unit increments only after the 1st unit is beyond me.