Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

[Guest guest]

Becky,

Don't worry about the wrinkling. When you lose the weight, we'll put on my

super-duper stretching machine (which I have yet to invent) and we'll just

keep stretching you out until your skin has a nice tone to it. You might be

11 feet tall, which might make clothes-buying kind of difficult, but we'll

sure get rid of all those skin folds!

Bill

[Guest guest]

HI Bill:

and I'll be able to reach up and clean the gutters without a ladder, too.

LOL!

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

> Becky,

>

> Don't worry about the wrinkling. When you lose the weight, we'll put on my

> super-duper stretching machine (which I have yet to invent) and we'll just

> keep stretching you out until your skin has a nice tone to it. You might

> be

> 11 feet tall, which might make clothes-buying kind of difficult, but we'll

> sure get rid of all those skin folds!

>

> Bill

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Becky,

Not only would you be able to clean the rain gutters on the roof, think how

handy you'd be at changing light bulbs? Or how about your new job putting up

signs on marquees? Or how about this becoming the new basketball champ? From

11 feet up, no sweat putting the ball in the hoop every time. Doesn't even

matter that you're a woman, what men's basketball team wouldn't want you?

And just look at that tight skin, gosh, you don't look a day over....eh, 10.

Hahahaha.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Good luck Becky.

Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

Hi Pat:

Well, I'm hoping to lose a hundred pounds but won't pull out my hair if that

doesn't happen but I plan to refuse this stuff if approached about it

because it doesn't take a lot for me to get into serious trouble with

medications, or computers, for that matter. LOL!

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>>

>> March 2, 2006

>>

>> A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>> By

>> ALEX BERENSON

>>

>> The users call the drug Lizzie, the Big Brother or sometimes Gilly. On

>> blogs

>> they rave over its uncanny ability to melt away pounds, although some are

>> wary

>> of its side effects, which can include nausea and strange welts.

>>

>> The users are not fad dieters or methamphetamine addicts, but people with

>> diabetes.

>> And the subject of their rhapsodies is not a gray-market

>> diet

>> pill sold on late-night television but Byetta, a federally approved

>> diabetes

>> medicine, available only by prescription, whose popularity and sales have

>> soared

>> since its introduction last June.

>>

>> For diabetics, the weight loss caused by Byetta comes as a welcome

>> contrast

>> to the weight gain that often accompanies insulin and other diabetes

>> medicines;

>> the extra pounds can eventually worsen the disease. Some patients say

>> Byetta

>> has reversed the course of a disease that can lead to severe

>> complications

>> like amputations, blindness and kidney failure and even death.

>>

>> " I went from despair to life - no hope to lots of hope, " said the Rev.

>>

>> L. Dodson, a 73-year-old pastor in Felton, Calif. Mr. Dodson, 5 feet 6

>> inches

>> tall, says he has lost almost 60 pounds since starting Byetta last June

>> and

>> now weighs 178, his lowest weight since college.

>>

>> The drug seems so effective for weight loss that some nondiabetics have

>> begun using Byetta as a diet drug - causing concern among doctors who say

>> such use

>> has not been medically tested and could be dangerous.

>>

>> But for diabetics, weight loss from Byetta could be a particularly

>> important

>> benefit. Among the 21 million Americans with diabetes, about 90 percent

>> have

>> Type 2, which usually occurs in adulthood and has been linked to

>> obesity

>> and inactivity.

>>

>> Byetta is not a cure-all, doctors caution. Some patients cannot tolerate

>> its

>> side effects. And it has never been studied as a weight-loss agent in

>> people

>> with normal blood sugar.

>> Amylin Pharmaceuticals

>> and Eli Lilly, which jointly make and market Byetta, say they strongly

>> discourage its use solely as a diet drug. Based on tests in rats,

>> moreover,

>> some

>> scientists have raised the possibility that Byetta may increase the risk

>> of

>> thyroid

>> cancer,

>> although no evidence of that link has appeared in human clinical trials.

>>

>> Still, diabetic patients are embracing the drug, despite the requirement

>> that Byetta must be kept refrigerated and injected twice daily, making it

>> less

>> convenient than drugs taken in pill form. Users' enthusiasm is all the

>> more

>> remarkable considering that Amylin and Eli Lilly do not plan to advertise

>> Byetta

>> to consumers until at least this summer, a year after its introduction,

>> in

>> keeping with voluntary advertising guidelines that the drug industry

>> adopted

>> last year.

>>

>> Even without a big marketing push, prescriptions for Byetta are soaring,

>> as

>> news of the drug spreads among diabetics and doctors. From November to

>> January,

>> monthly prescriptions rose almost 40 percent, to almost 100,000, well

>> ahead

>> of analysts' forecasts. Byetta costs about $170 a month, or $2,100 a

>> year,

>> slightly more than most other diabetes drugs, but most insurers cover it.

>>

>> Byetta's active ingredient is a protein, exenatide, that encourages

>> digestion and the production of insulin. The fact that exenatide was

>> initially discovered

>> in the saliva of the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard found in the

>> Southwest, explains the nicknames Lizzy and Gilly for Byetta - if not the

>> pronunciation.

>> Gilly (GILL-ee) bears little phonic resemblance to Gila (HEE-la). (The

>> third

>> nickname, the Big Brother, refers to the 10 microgram dose, which

>> patients

>> say is more likely to cause nausea than the smaller 5 microgram dose.)

>>

>> Though still far behind long-acting insulin, for which nearly a million

>> prescriptions were written in January, Byetta is already ranked eighth

>> among

>> the

>> most widely prescribed drugs for diabetes.

>>

>> " My patients have done strikingly well on the drug, " said Dr. Alan J.

>> Garber, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a former

>> member of

>> the national board of the American Diabetes Association. " It's a better

>> choice for an overweight diabetic. "

>>

>> Dr. Garber, who says he has not consulted for Amylin or Lilly, estimates

>> he

>> has about 30 patients on Byetta and that none have experienced serious

>> side

>> effects. Byetta is also easier for patients to use than insulin, because

>> it

>> is less likely to cause low blood sugar than insulin is, he said.

>>

>> In a clinical trial of 537 patients who tested Byetta against insulin,

>> the

>> average Byetta patient lost five pounds after six months, while the

>> typical

>> patient

>> on insulin gained four pounds. Another trial of 146 patients showed that

>> they lost an average of 12 pounds after two years on Byetta, with their

>> losses

>> increasing the longer they took the drug.

>>

>> While the drug does not work for everyone, some people report much larger

>> weight loss and say Byetta seems to suppress their appetite and leave

>> them

>> feeling

>> full even on small meals.

>>

>> " I used to have a love affair with my refrigerator, " said Granger, a

>> computer consultant in Richmond, Va., who began taking Byetta in early

>> January.

>> " I eat about half of what I used to eat. "

>>

>> Mr. Granger, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, says he

>> has

>> lost 20 pounds since starting on Byetta. His blood sugar has also

>> dropped,

>> he said.

>>

>> " My numbers are fabulous, " he said. " My numbers are good even for a

>> nondiabetic now. "

>>

>> Mr. Dodson, the pastor, said he had previously used insulin to control

>> his

>> blood sugar, but he disliked insulin because it caused him to feel

>> lethargic

>> and his joints to ache. As soon as he began taking Byetta, he was able to

>> stop using insulin, greatly improving his quality of life, he said.

>>

>> " I can't tell you what it means to me, " Mr. Dodson said. " I used to hate

>> pictures, literally hate them, and now I ask people to take my picture. "

>>

>> The reports of weight loss raise the question of how widely Byetta will

>> be

>> prescribed as a diet drug to people who are not diabetic - a so-called

>> off-label

>> use. Doctors can legally do so, but the F.D.A. and the makers say the

>> drug

>> is supposed to be prescribed only to people with diabetes whose blood

>> sugar

>> is too high even though they are already taking other diabetes medicines.

>> And insurers generally will not cover the drug for nonapproved uses.

>>

>> Amylin and Eli Lilly say people who are not diabetic should not take

>> Byetta.

>> The companies say they have no plans to study Byetta as a weight-loss

>> treatment

>> in people with normal blood sugar.

>>

>> " We do not nod and wink to off-label, " said Quattro, vice

>> president

>> for marketing at Amylin. " It's the wrong thing to do for the patient. "

>>

>> Many doctors also say that Byetta is probably inappropriate as a

>> weight-loss

>> drug. Although many diabetic patients appear to tolerate it reasonably

>> well,

>> the drug's most common side effect is nausea, which for some patients is

>> so

>> serious that they must stop using it. The drug also causes a rash, fever

>> and

>> chills in some patients, although those effects often fade with continued

>> use.

>>

>> Byetta is designed to work in a way that carries a lower risk than

>> insulin

>> of causing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar - a dangerous condition that

>> can

>> lead to coma or death in severe cases. In clinical trials, a small number

>> of

>> people taking Byetta had mild or moderate hypoglycemia, and some patients

>> taking the drug now report similar problems.

>>

>> Despite the cautions and drawbacks, some doctors appear to be prescribing

>> Byetta primarily as a weight-loss aid in people who do not have elevated

>> blood

>> sugar.

>>

>> Lynn Cole, a software project manager in Rochester, says that she has

>> been

>> taking Byetta since October even though her blood sugar levels were at

>> near-normal

>> levels when she started taking it.

>>

>> " I'm not hungry; I don't have a desire to eat, " Ms. Cole said. " I

>> definitely

>> do not eat as much as I used to. " Ms. Cole, who is 5 feet 4 inches and

>> 250

>> pounds, said she had lost about 20 pounds taking Byetta. The weight loss

>> has

>> also encouraged her to join a gym and begin to work out, she said.

>>

>> Jan Knorr, the director of the diabetes disease management program at the

>> Jewish Guild for the Blind in New York, says she expects that doctors

>> will

>> prescribe

>> Byetta to overweight people who are " pre-diabetic, " or have moderately

>> high

>> blood sugar but no other complications of diabetes.

>>

>> " Even though it's a needle, people are desperate to do anything to

>> achieve

>> weight loss or curb their appetite, " she said.

>>

>> Byetta's active ingredient, exenatide, works by mimicking the effects of

>> a

>> human hormone called GLP-1, which is normally released after meals,

>> stimulating

>> digestion and insulin production. GLP-1 also discourages the liver from

>> producing too much sugar.

>>

>> Exenatide was found by Dr. Eng, an endocrinologist at the Bronx

>> Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York City, who struggled for years

>> before finally

>> convincing Amylin to test the hormone as a diabetes treatment.

>>

>> The companies are testing several other versions of Byetta, including a

>> long-acting formulation that would need to be injected only once a week.

>> Analysts

>> say that version has the potential to become a blockbuster drug, with

>> sales

>> of up to $2 billion in the United States alone, although they say it will

>> not

>> reach the market before 2009 at the soonest.

>>

>> Meanwhile, many patients appear more than happy to inject themselves

>> twice

>

>> a

>> day and endure upset stomachs, as long as they can keep losing weight.

>>

>> " Initially, I really had quite a bit of nausea, " said Brady, 51, a

>> computer programmer in Houston. But Ms. Brady, who has diabetes and takes

>> Byetta

>> along with metformin, another diabetes drug, said that she had stayed

>> with

>> Byetta and lost 50 pounds in the last five months. At 5 feet 5 inches she

>> now

>> weighs 150 pounds.

>>

>> The drug does not permit her to overeat, she said.

>>

>> " What you eat stays in your stomach forever, so if you do overeat, you're

>> going to be in for a really unpleasant time, " she said. " I've only done

>> it

>> once,

>> but it was a good teacher. It keeps me honest. "

>>

>> List of 11 items

>> Copyright 2006

>> The New York Times Company

>> Home

>> Privacy Policy

>> Search

>> Corrections

>> XML

>> Help

>> Contact Us

>> Work for Us

>> Site Map

>> Back to Top

>> list end

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

[Guest guest]

And me also. I'll be glad to lend you about forty pounds to lose. At

that rate, I'd be skinny as a rail but anything for the cause!

Mike

> Becky,

> While you are losing this weight would you mind losing about 50 for me?

> Thanks, I k new I could count on you....Dad...

>

> Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>

> Hi Pat:

>

> Well, I'm hoping to lose a hundred pounds but won't pull out my hair if that

>

> doesn't happen but I plan to refuse this stuff if approached about it

> because it doesn't take a lot for me to get into serious trouble with

> medications, or computers, for that matter. LOL!

>

> Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

> maddpoodle27@...

> A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>>>

>>> March 2, 2006

>>>

>>> A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>>> By

>>> ALEX BERENSON

>>>

>>> The users call the drug Lizzie, the Big Brother or sometimes Gilly. On

>>> blogs

>>> they rave over its uncanny ability to melt away pounds, although some are

>>> wary

>>> of its side effects, which can include nausea and strange welts.

>>>

>>> The users are not fad dieters or methamphetamine addicts, but people with

>>> diabetes.

>>> And the subject of their rhapsodies is not a gray-market

>>> diet

>>> pill sold on late-night television but Byetta, a federally approved

>>> diabetes

>>> medicine, available only by prescription, whose popularity and sales have

>>> soared

>>> since its introduction last June.

>>>

>>> For diabetics, the weight loss caused by Byetta comes as a welcome

>>> contrast

>>> to the weight gain that often accompanies insulin and other diabetes

>>> medicines;

>>> the extra pounds can eventually worsen the disease. Some patients say

>>> Byetta

>>> has reversed the course of a disease that can lead to severe

>>> complications

>>> like amputations, blindness and kidney failure and even death.

>>>

>>> " I went from despair to life - no hope to lots of hope, " said the Rev.

>>>

>>> L. Dodson, a 73-year-old pastor in Felton, Calif. Mr. Dodson, 5 feet 6

>>> inches

>>> tall, says he has lost almost 60 pounds since starting Byetta last June

>>> and

>>> now weighs 178, his lowest weight since college.

>>>

>>> The drug seems so effective for weight loss that some nondiabetics have

>>> begun using Byetta as a diet drug - causing concern among doctors who say

>>> such use

>>> has not been medically tested and could be dangerous.

>>>

>>> But for diabetics, weight loss from Byetta could be a particularly

>>> important

>>> benefit. Among the 21 million Americans with diabetes, about 90 percent

>>> have

>>> Type 2, which usually occurs in adulthood and has been linked to

>>> obesity

>>> and inactivity.

>>>

>>> Byetta is not a cure-all, doctors caution. Some patients cannot tolerate

>>> its

>>> side effects. And it has never been studied as a weight-loss agent in

>>> people

>>> with normal blood sugar.

>>> Amylin Pharmaceuticals

>>> and Eli Lilly, which jointly make and market Byetta, say they strongly

>>> discourage its use solely as a diet drug. Based on tests in rats,

>>> moreover,

>>> some

>>> scientists have raised the possibility that Byetta may increase the risk

>>> of

>>> thyroid

>>> cancer,

>>> although no evidence of that link has appeared in human clinical trials.

>>>

>>> Still, diabetic patients are embracing the drug, despite the requirement

>>> that Byetta must be kept refrigerated and injected twice daily, making it

>>> less

>>> convenient than drugs taken in pill form. Users' enthusiasm is all the

>>> more

>>> remarkable considering that Amylin and Eli Lilly do not plan to advertise

>>> Byetta

>>> to consumers until at least this summer, a year after its introduction,

>>> in

>>> keeping with voluntary advertising guidelines that the drug industry

>>> adopted

>>> last year.

>>>

>>> Even without a big marketing push, prescriptions for Byetta are soaring,

>>> as

>>> news of the drug spreads among diabetics and doctors. From November to

>>> January,

>>> monthly prescriptions rose almost 40 percent, to almost 100,000, well

>>> ahead

>>> of analysts' forecasts. Byetta costs about $170 a month, or $2,100 a

>>> year,

>>> slightly more than most other diabetes drugs, but most insurers cover it.

>>>

>>> Byetta's active ingredient is a protein, exenatide, that encourages

>>> digestion and the production of insulin. The fact that exenatide was

>>> initially discovered

>>> in the saliva of the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard found in the

>>> Southwest, explains the nicknames Lizzy and Gilly for Byetta - if not the

>>> pronunciation.

>>> Gilly (GILL-ee) bears little phonic resemblance to Gila (HEE-la). (The

>>> third

>>> nickname, the Big Brother, refers to the 10 microgram dose, which

>>> patients

>>> say is more likely to cause nausea than the smaller 5 microgram dose.)

>>>

>>> Though still far behind long-acting insulin, for which nearly a million

>>> prescriptions were written in January, Byetta is already ranked eighth

>>> among

>>> the

>>> most widely prescribed drugs for diabetes.

>>>

>>> " My patients have done strikingly well on the drug, " said Dr. Alan J.

>>> Garber, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a former

>>> member of

>>> the national board of the American Diabetes Association. " It's a better

>>> choice for an overweight diabetic. "

>>>

>>> Dr. Garber, who says he has not consulted for Amylin or Lilly, estimates

>>> he

>>> has about 30 patients on Byetta and that none have experienced serious

>>> side

>>> effects. Byetta is also easier for patients to use than insulin, because

>>> it

>>> is less likely to cause low blood sugar than insulin is, he said.

>>>

>>> In a clinical trial of 537 patients who tested Byetta against insulin,

>>> the

>>> average Byetta patient lost five pounds after six months, while the

>>> typical

>>> patient

>>> on insulin gained four pounds. Another trial of 146 patients showed that

>>> they lost an average of 12 pounds after two years on Byetta, with their

>>> losses

>>> increasing the longer they took the drug.

>>>

>>> While the drug does not work for everyone, some people report much larger

>>> weight loss and say Byetta seems to suppress their appetite and leave

>>> them

>>> feeling

>>> full even on small meals.

>>>

>>> " I used to have a love affair with my refrigerator, " said Granger, a

>>> computer consultant in Richmond, Va., who began taking Byetta in early

>>> January.

>>> " I eat about half of what I used to eat. "

>>>

>>> Mr. Granger, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, says he

>>> has

>>> lost 20 pounds since starting on Byetta. His blood sugar has also

>>> dropped,

>>> he said.

>>>

>>> " My numbers are fabulous, " he said. " My numbers are good even for a

>>> nondiabetic now. "

>>>

>>> Mr. Dodson, the pastor, said he had previously used insulin to control

>>> his

>>> blood sugar, but he disliked insulin because it caused him to feel

>>> lethargic

>>> and his joints to ache. As soon as he began taking Byetta, he was able to

>>> stop using insulin, greatly improving his quality of life, he said.

>>>

>>> " I can't tell you what it means to me, " Mr. Dodson said. " I used to hate

>>> pictures, literally hate them, and now I ask people to take my picture. "

>>>

>>> The reports of weight loss raise the question of how widely Byetta will

>>> be

>>> prescribed as a diet drug to people who are not diabetic - a so-called

>>> off-label

>>> use. Doctors can legally do so, but the F.D.A. and the makers say the

>>> drug

>>> is supposed to be prescribed only to people with diabetes whose blood

>>> sugar

>>> is too high even though they are already taking other diabetes medicines.

>>> And insurers generally will not cover the drug for nonapproved uses.

>>>

>>> Amylin and Eli Lilly say people who are not diabetic should not take

>>> Byetta.

>>> The companies say they have no plans to study Byetta as a weight-loss

>>> treatment

>>> in people with normal blood sugar.

>>>

>>> " We do not nod and wink to off-label, " said Quattro, vice

>>> president

>>> for marketing at Amylin. " It's the wrong thing to do for the patient. "

>>>

>>> Many doctors also say that Byetta is probably inappropriate as a

>>> weight-loss

>>> drug. Although many diabetic patients appear to tolerate it reasonably

>>> well,

>>> the drug's most common side effect is nausea, which for some patients is

>>> so

>>> serious that they must stop using it. The drug also causes a rash, fever

>>> and

>>> chills in some patients, although those effects often fade with continued

>>> use.

>>>

>>> Byetta is designed to work in a way that carries a lower risk than

>>> insulin

>>> of causing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar - a dangerous condition that

>>> can

>>> lead to coma or death in severe cases. In clinical trials, a small number

>>> of

>>> people taking Byetta had mild or moderate hypoglycemia, and some patients

>>> taking the drug now report similar problems.

>>>

>>> Despite the cautions and drawbacks, some doctors appear to be prescribing

>>> Byetta primarily as a weight-loss aid in people who do not have elevated

>>> blood

>>> sugar.

>>>

>>> Lynn Cole, a software project manager in Rochester, says that she has

>>> been

>>> taking Byetta since October even though her blood sugar levels were at

>>> near-normal

>>> levels when she started taking it.

>>>

>>> " I'm not hungry; I don't have a desire to eat, " Ms. Cole said. " I

>>> definitely

>>> do not eat as much as I used to. " Ms. Cole, who is 5 feet 4 inches and

>>> 250

>>> pounds, said she had lost about 20 pounds taking Byetta. The weight loss

>>> has

>>> also encouraged her to join a gym and begin to work out, she said.

>>>

>>> Jan Knorr, the director of the diabetes disease management program at the

>>> Jewish Guild for the Blind in New York, says she expects that doctors

>>> will

>>> prescribe

>>> Byetta to overweight people who are " pre-diabetic, " or have moderately

>>> high

>>> blood sugar but no other complications of diabetes.

>>>

>>> " Even though it's a needle, people are desperate to do anything to

>>> achieve

>>> weight loss or curb their appetite, " she said.

>>>

>>> Byetta's active ingredient, exenatide, works by mimicking the effects of

>>> a

>>> human hormone called GLP-1, which is normally released after meals,

>>> stimulating

>>> digestion and insulin production. GLP-1 also discourages the liver from

>>> producing too much sugar.

>>>

>>> Exenatide was found by Dr. Eng, an endocrinologist at the Bronx

>>> Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York City, who struggled for years

>>> before finally

>>> convincing Amylin to test the hormone as a diabetes treatment.

>>>

>>> The companies are testing several other versions of Byetta, including a

>>> long-acting formulation that would need to be injected only once a week.

>>> Analysts

>>> say that version has the potential to become a blockbuster drug, with

>>> sales

>>> of up to $2 billion in the United States alone, although they say it will

>>> not

>>> reach the market before 2009 at the soonest.

>>>

>>> Meanwhile, many patients appear more than happy to inject themselves

>>> twice

>>

>>> a

>>> day and endure upset stomachs, as long as they can keep losing weight.

>>>

>>> " Initially, I really had quite a bit of nausea, " said Brady, 51, a

>>> computer programmer in Houston. But Ms. Brady, who has diabetes and takes

>>> Byetta

>>> along with metformin, another diabetes drug, said that she had stayed

>>> with

>>> Byetta and lost 50 pounds in the last five months. At 5 feet 5 inches she

>>> now

>>> weighs 150 pounds.

>>>

>>> The drug does not permit her to overeat, she said.

>>>

>>> " What you eat stays in your stomach forever, so if you do overeat, you're

>>> going to be in for a really unpleasant time, " she said. " I've only done

>>> it

>>> once,

>>> but it was a good teacher. It keeps me honest. "

>>>

>>> List of 11 items

>>> Copyright 2006

>>> The New York Times Company

>>> Home

>>> Privacy Policy

>>> Search

>>> Corrections

>>> XML

>>> Help

>>> Contact Us

>>> Work for Us

>>> Site Map

>>> Back to Top

>>> list end

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

[Guest guest]

Skinf olds? I thought they were love handles!

Mike

> Becky,

>

> Don't worry about the wrinkling. When you lose the weight, we'll put on my

> super-duper stretching machine (which I have yet to invent) and we'll just

> keep stretching you out until your skin has a nice tone to it. You might be

> 11 feet tall, which might make clothes-buying kind of difficult, but we'll

> sure get rid of all those skin folds!

>

> Bill

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh there ya go, love handles. Gee golly gosh, that sounds so much better

than skin folds.

Bill Powers

[Guest guest]

Say, Bill, I never thought of that. The world would sure open up a lot if I

were eleven feet tall. I could make enough money to share with everyone just

by being that tall.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

> Becky,

>

> Not only would you be able to clean the rain gutters on the roof, think

> how

> handy you'd be at changing light bulbs? Or how about your new job putting

> up

> signs on marquees? Or how about this becoming the new basketball champ?

> From

> 11 feet up, no sweat putting the ball in the hoop every time. Doesn't even

> matter that you're a woman, what men's basketball team wouldn't want you?

> And just look at that tight skin, gosh, you don't look a day over....eh,

> 10.

>

> Hahahaha.

>

>

> Bill Powers

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Is that what they call them? LOL!

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

> Skinf olds? I thought they were love handles!

>

> Mike

>

>

>

>> Becky,

>>

>> Don't worry about the wrinkling. When you lose the weight, we'll put on

>> my

>> super-duper stretching machine (which I have yet to invent) and we'll

>> just

>> keep stretching you out until your skin has a nice tone to it. You might

>> be

>> 11 feet tall, which might make clothes-buying kind of difficult, but

>> we'll

>> sure get rid of all those skin folds!

>>

>> Bill

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Pat.

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>>>

>>> March 2, 2006

>>>

>>> A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

>>> By

>>> ALEX BERENSON

>>>

>>> The users call the drug Lizzie, the Big Brother or sometimes Gilly. On

>>> blogs

>>> they rave over its uncanny ability to melt away pounds, although some

>>> are

>>> wary

>>> of its side effects, which can include nausea and strange welts.

>>>

>>> The users are not fad dieters or methamphetamine addicts, but people

>>> with

>>> diabetes.

>>> And the subject of their rhapsodies is not a gray-market

>>> diet

>>> pill sold on late-night television but Byetta, a federally approved

>>> diabetes

>>> medicine, available only by prescription, whose popularity and sales

>>> have

>>> soared

>>> since its introduction last June.

>>>

>>> For diabetics, the weight loss caused by Byetta comes as a welcome

>>> contrast

>>> to the weight gain that often accompanies insulin and other diabetes

>>> medicines;

>>> the extra pounds can eventually worsen the disease. Some patients say

>>> Byetta

>>> has reversed the course of a disease that can lead to severe

>>> complications

>>> like amputations, blindness and kidney failure and even death.

>>>

>>> " I went from despair to life - no hope to lots of hope, " said the Rev.

>>>

>>> L. Dodson, a 73-year-old pastor in Felton, Calif. Mr. Dodson, 5 feet 6

>>> inches

>>> tall, says he has lost almost 60 pounds since starting Byetta last June

>>> and

>>> now weighs 178, his lowest weight since college.

>>>

>>> The drug seems so effective for weight loss that some nondiabetics have

>>> begun using Byetta as a diet drug - causing concern among doctors who

>>> say

>>> such use

>>> has not been medically tested and could be dangerous.

>>>

>>> But for diabetics, weight loss from Byetta could be a particularly

>>> important

>>> benefit. Among the 21 million Americans with diabetes, about 90 percent

>>> have

>>> Type 2, which usually occurs in adulthood and has been linked to

>>> obesity

>>> and inactivity.

>>>

>>> Byetta is not a cure-all, doctors caution. Some patients cannot tolerate

>>> its

>>> side effects. And it has never been studied as a weight-loss agent in

>>> people

>>> with normal blood sugar.

>>> Amylin Pharmaceuticals

>>> and Eli Lilly, which jointly make and market Byetta, say they strongly

>>> discourage its use solely as a diet drug. Based on tests in rats,

>>> moreover,

>>> some

>>> scientists have raised the possibility that Byetta may increase the risk

>>> of

>>> thyroid

>>> cancer,

>>> although no evidence of that link has appeared in human clinical trials.

>>>

>>> Still, diabetic patients are embracing the drug, despite the requirement

>>> that Byetta must be kept refrigerated and injected twice daily, making

>>> it

>>> less

>>> convenient than drugs taken in pill form. Users' enthusiasm is all the

>>> more

>>> remarkable considering that Amylin and Eli Lilly do not plan to

>>> advertise

>>> Byetta

>>> to consumers until at least this summer, a year after its introduction,

>>> in

>>> keeping with voluntary advertising guidelines that the drug industry

>>> adopted

>>> last year.

>>>

>>> Even without a big marketing push, prescriptions for Byetta are soaring,

>>> as

>>> news of the drug spreads among diabetics and doctors. From November to

>>> January,

>>> monthly prescriptions rose almost 40 percent, to almost 100,000, well

>>> ahead

>>> of analysts' forecasts. Byetta costs about $170 a month, or $2,100 a

>>> year,

>>> slightly more than most other diabetes drugs, but most insurers cover

>>> it.

>>>

>>> Byetta's active ingredient is a protein, exenatide, that encourages

>>> digestion and the production of insulin. The fact that exenatide was

>>> initially discovered

>>> in the saliva of the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard found in the

>>> Southwest, explains the nicknames Lizzy and Gilly for Byetta - if not

>>> the

>>> pronunciation.

>>> Gilly (GILL-ee) bears little phonic resemblance to Gila (HEE-la). (The

>>> third

>>> nickname, the Big Brother, refers to the 10 microgram dose, which

>>> patients

>>> say is more likely to cause nausea than the smaller 5 microgram dose.)

>>>

>>> Though still far behind long-acting insulin, for which nearly a million

>>> prescriptions were written in January, Byetta is already ranked eighth

>>> among

>>> the

>>> most widely prescribed drugs for diabetes.

>>>

>>> " My patients have done strikingly well on the drug, " said Dr. Alan J.

>>> Garber, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a

>>> former

>>> member of

>>> the national board of the American Diabetes Association. " It's a better

>>> choice for an overweight diabetic. "

>>>

>>> Dr. Garber, who says he has not consulted for Amylin or Lilly, estimates

>>> he

>>> has about 30 patients on Byetta and that none have experienced serious

>>> side

>>> effects. Byetta is also easier for patients to use than insulin, because

>>> it

>>> is less likely to cause low blood sugar than insulin is, he said.

>>>

>>> In a clinical trial of 537 patients who tested Byetta against insulin,

>>> the

>>> average Byetta patient lost five pounds after six months, while the

>>> typical

>>> patient

>>> on insulin gained four pounds. Another trial of 146 patients showed that

>>> they lost an average of 12 pounds after two years on Byetta, with their

>>> losses

>>> increasing the longer they took the drug.

>>>

>>> While the drug does not work for everyone, some people report much

>>> larger

>>> weight loss and say Byetta seems to suppress their appetite and leave

>>> them

>>> feeling

>>> full even on small meals.

>>>

>>> " I used to have a love affair with my refrigerator, " said Granger,

>>> a

>>> computer consultant in Richmond, Va., who began taking Byetta in early

>>> January.

>>> " I eat about half of what I used to eat. "

>>>

>>> Mr. Granger, who is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, says he

>>> has

>>> lost 20 pounds since starting on Byetta. His blood sugar has also

>>> dropped,

>>> he said.

>>>

>>> " My numbers are fabulous, " he said. " My numbers are good even for a

>>> nondiabetic now. "

>>>

>>> Mr. Dodson, the pastor, said he had previously used insulin to control

>>> his

>>> blood sugar, but he disliked insulin because it caused him to feel

>>> lethargic

>>> and his joints to ache. As soon as he began taking Byetta, he was able

>>> to

>>> stop using insulin, greatly improving his quality of life, he said.

>>>

>>> " I can't tell you what it means to me, " Mr. Dodson said. " I used to hate

>>> pictures, literally hate them, and now I ask people to take my picture. "

>>>

>>> The reports of weight loss raise the question of how widely Byetta will

>>> be

>>> prescribed as a diet drug to people who are not diabetic - a so-called

>>> off-label

>>> use. Doctors can legally do so, but the F.D.A. and the makers say the

>>> drug

>>> is supposed to be prescribed only to people with diabetes whose blood

>>> sugar

>>> is too high even though they are already taking other diabetes

>>> medicines.

>>> And insurers generally will not cover the drug for nonapproved uses.

>>>

>>> Amylin and Eli Lilly say people who are not diabetic should not take

>>> Byetta.

>>> The companies say they have no plans to study Byetta as a weight-loss

>>> treatment

>>> in people with normal blood sugar.

>>>

>>> " We do not nod and wink to off-label, " said Quattro, vice

>>> president

>>> for marketing at Amylin. " It's the wrong thing to do for the patient. "

>>>

>>> Many doctors also say that Byetta is probably inappropriate as a

>>> weight-loss

>>> drug. Although many diabetic patients appear to tolerate it reasonably

>>> well,

>>> the drug's most common side effect is nausea, which for some patients is

>>> so

>>> serious that they must stop using it. The drug also causes a rash, fever

>>> and

>>> chills in some patients, although those effects often fade with

>>> continued

>>> use.

>>>

>>> Byetta is designed to work in a way that carries a lower risk than

>>> insulin

>>> of causing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar - a dangerous condition that

>>> can

>>> lead to coma or death in severe cases. In clinical trials, a small

>>> number

>>> of

>>> people taking Byetta had mild or moderate hypoglycemia, and some

>>> patients

>>> taking the drug now report similar problems.

>>>

>>> Despite the cautions and drawbacks, some doctors appear to be

>>> prescribing

>>> Byetta primarily as a weight-loss aid in people who do not have elevated

>>> blood

>>> sugar.

>>>

>>> Lynn Cole, a software project manager in Rochester, says that she has

>>> been

>>> taking Byetta since October even though her blood sugar levels were at

>>> near-normal

>>> levels when she started taking it.

>>>

>>> " I'm not hungry; I don't have a desire to eat, " Ms. Cole said. " I

>>> definitely

>>> do not eat as much as I used to. " Ms. Cole, who is 5 feet 4 inches and

>>> 250

>>> pounds, said she had lost about 20 pounds taking Byetta. The weight loss

>>> has

>>> also encouraged her to join a gym and begin to work out, she said.

>>>

>>> Jan Knorr, the director of the diabetes disease management program at

>>> the

>>> Jewish Guild for the Blind in New York, says she expects that doctors

>>> will

>>> prescribe

>>> Byetta to overweight people who are " pre-diabetic, " or have moderately

>>> high

>>> blood sugar but no other complications of diabetes.

>>>

>>> " Even though it's a needle, people are desperate to do anything to

>>> achieve

>>> weight loss or curb their appetite, " she said.

>>>

>>> Byetta's active ingredient, exenatide, works by mimicking the effects of

>>> a

>>> human hormone called GLP-1, which is normally released after meals,

>>> stimulating

>>> digestion and insulin production. GLP-1 also discourages the liver from

>>> producing too much sugar.

>>>

>>> Exenatide was found by Dr. Eng, an endocrinologist at the Bronx

>>> Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York City, who struggled for

>>> years

>>> before finally

>>> convincing Amylin to test the hormone as a diabetes treatment.

>>>

>>> The companies are testing several other versions of Byetta, including a

>>> long-acting formulation that would need to be injected only once a week.

>>> Analysts

>>> say that version has the potential to become a blockbuster drug, with

>>> sales

>>> of up to $2 billion in the United States alone, although they say it

>>> will

>>> not

>>> reach the market before 2009 at the soonest.

>>>

>>> Meanwhile, many patients appear more than happy to inject themselves

>>> twice

>>

>>> a

>>> day and endure upset stomachs, as long as they can keep losing weight.

>>>

>>> " Initially, I really had quite a bit of nausea, " said Brady, 51, a

>>> computer programmer in Houston. But Ms. Brady, who has diabetes and

>>> takes

>>> Byetta

>>> along with metformin, another diabetes drug, said that she had stayed

>>> with

>>> Byetta and lost 50 pounds in the last five months. At 5 feet 5 inches

>>> she

>>> now

>>> weighs 150 pounds.

>>>

>>> The drug does not permit her to overeat, she said.

>>>

>>> " What you eat stays in your stomach forever, so if you do overeat,

>>> you're

>>> going to be in for a really unpleasant time, " she said. " I've only done

>>> it

>>> once,

>>> but it was a good teacher. It keeps me honest. "

>>>

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>>>

>>>

[Guest guest]

Becky,

Sharing the wealth with the rest of us peons because of your being 11 feet

tall is mighty big of you.

Bill

[Guest guest]

HI Bill:

Well, I figure I might as well seeing as how I'll never be able to spend all

of it and you all might just as well help me out and benefit, to. LOL!

Becky and Cassidy, Pilot Dog, Poodle

maddpoodle27@...

Re: FW: A Ray of Hope for Diabetics

> Becky,

>

> Sharing the wealth with the rest of us peons because of your being 11 feet

> tall is mighty big of you.

>

> Bill

>

>

>

>

>

>