Are you in the K.N.O.W. with your type 2 diabetes? Randy Jackson, TV personality and music industry veteran is the spokesperson for The Heart of Diabetes campaign.

What does the K.N.O.W. stand for?

• K - Keep active and maintain a healthy body weight
• N - Normalize your critical health numbers
• O - Opt for a healthy lifestyle
• W - Work with a healthcare provider

Jackson is teaming up with immediate-past president of the American Heart Association, Daniel Jones, M.D. for a webcast on October 14th at 1:00 PM (edt). The webcast is open to anyone who is touched by type 2 diabetes.

Better management of type 2 diabetes is what it's all about. Dr. Jones and Jackson will provide a lot of good information and helpful tips to help you achieve your treatment goals.

Topics of discussion include:

• Information on type 2 diabetes and its link to cardiovascular disease
• Randy Jackson’s personal struggle with type 2 diabetes
• Their involvement in The Heart of Diabetes campaign
• Tips on how to better manage type 2 diabetes
• Educational information and tools available through The Heart of Diabetes program

If you would like to tune in to this informational event, click here for registration...

• Stay in the K.N.O.W. about Type 2 Diabetes with Randy Jackson

Photo courtesy of Lucian Capellaro

The drug, pentazocine, a pain reliever, has been shown to prevent damage to the retina in diabetic mice. According to a press release from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), where the study took place, the results are impressive.

"The effects of this drug on retinal health are phenomenal," says Dr. Sylvia Smith, retinal cell biologist and co-director of the Vision Discovery Institute in the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.

The drug appears to bind with sigma receptors in the retina and helps boost the protection of cells from stress. Excess glucose in the blood can cause stress and ultimately damage in the retina by interfering with the function of nerve cells. Sigma receptors help manage cellular stress by regulating protein synthesis.

What does this mean? When sigma receptors are activated, they make sure that enough proteins get where they need to go, to keep cells working properly. When the retina is under attack from a stress like diabetes, the sigma receptors are called into action. Pentazocine binds with the sigma receptors and increases the effectiveness of this process, resulting in a dramatic preservation of the retina and it's function.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the U.S. This study holds promise that medications that bind with the sigma receptor in the eye might someday help treat not only retinopathy but also conditions such as glaucoma.

The study is published in the September issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

More on retinopathy...

• Why does Diabetes Damage Eyes?
• Advances in Diabetes Care

A study from Johns Hopkins shows that although high liver fat levels are common among people with type 2 diabetes, the condition can be turned around with exercise.

77 men and women who had diabetes participated in the study. Half of the participants exercised three times a week for 45 minutes each time. The other half did not. The half who exercised had lower levels of fat in their livers than the ones who didn't.

Says Kerry Stewart Ed.D., exercise physiologist, professor of medicine and director of clinical and research exercise physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Heart and Vascular Institute, “People with type 2 diabetes have added reason to be active and to exercise, not just because it is good for their overall health, but also because our study results pinpoint a key benefit to trimming the fatty liver that complicates their illness and which could accelerate heart disease and liver failure,”

Read the press release here...

• People with Type 2 Diabetes can put Fatty Livers on a Diet with Moderate Exercise

Results of a clinical trial presented at the First World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes on September 16th showed promise in improving blood glucose levels and weight loss.

The unique procedure mimics the way gastric bypass surgery works, without using surgical methods.

The EndoBarrier™ Gastrointestinal Liner, is a non-invasive, removable device which is inserted orally and ultimately positioned in the small intestine, forming a barrier which blocks absorption of food. When the liner is in place, it has an immediate effect, by producing weight loss and possible resolution of type 2 diabetes. Clinical trials support these findings.

Read the press release here...

• GI Dynamics Announces Data Demonstrating Immediate and Sustained Reduction in HbA1c in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Using EndoBarrier™ Gastrointestinal Liner

_{Photo of human small intestine courtesy of Stockbyte/Getty Images}