The old drugs work better

As many of you know, I am a type 2 diabetic, now nearly three years running. This news in the Chron today is good for me:

Older, cheaper diabetes drugs are as safe and effective as newer ones, concludes an analysis that is good news for diabetics and may further hurt sales of Avandia, a blockbuster pill recently tied to heart problems.

The clear winner: metformin, sold as Glucophage and generically for about $100 a year. It works as well as other diabetes pills but does not cause weight gain or too-low blood sugar, the analysis found. It also lowers LDL or bad cholesterol.

"It looks to be the safest," said Dr. Shari Bolen, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who led the review, which was published online Monday by the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Consumer Reports also published a consumer guide of the results. Besides metformin, it rates glipizide and glimepiride, sold as Amaryl and Glucotrol, as best bets.

Metformin and glipizide are the two I have been taking from the outset, and the only two I have ever used to control my blood sugar. (I also take Tricor for elevated triglycerides, Lipitor to elevate my good cholesterol -- I have never had an issue with high LDL -- as well as a mild diuretic called Triamterene to control symptoms of Meneire's, and Lyrica for diabetic neuropathy in my feet.) In addition to the prescriptions, I take some over-the-counter yet doctor-recommended remedies, including low-dose aspirin therapy and a fish oil capsule (omega 3's also help lift HDL) with each meal. I do not inject insulin; all of my meds are oral.

The good doctors of Baylor Family Medicine have helped me effectively manage my diabetes, particularly Dr. Grace Kuo. My A1C score, 12 at the time I was diagnosed, is now under 7, about as good as a person with a functioning pancreas can do.

And yes, I exercise regularly and watch what I eat, as every diabetic should.

I'm fortunate that my insurance plan is good. The co-pays on all these range from $10 to $20, which means I still spend nearly a hundred bucks a month for them. God forbid my insurance went away.

Have you seen SiCKO yet?

Don't piss on my shoes and tell me it's raining

Don't tell me you didn't get with no hoes in N'Awlins.

Don't tell me you're a Nigerian prince who's had an unfortunate accident and needs to deposit a large amount of money in my bank account.

Don't tell me I can make thousands of dollars working from home.

Don't tell me bah bah bah bah bah, you're lovin' it.

Don't tell me you've got a bridge for sale.

Don't tell me to apply it directly to my forehead.

Don't tell me to tell ten people to send me ten dollars, then tell them to tell that to ten other people.

Don't tell me it's time for a fourth meal.

Don't tell me James Garner wants me to take out a reverse mortgage.

Don't tell me one of my deceased relatives ordered a monogrammed Bible for me, COD.

Don't tell me I can publish my poems in your journal for a low introductory rate.

Don't tell me I need a pill to keep my restless legs from bothering me at night.

Don't tell me you're concerned about the great deal of time multiple impeachment trials would take away from Congress working on the problems of the country, the time it would take for the House to consider articles of impeachment, and for the Senate to conduct multiple trials, would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for Congress to do what it was elected to do -- end the war and address some of the other terrible mistakes this administration has made over the past six-and-one-half years.

Because I ain't buyin' it.

Which breed are you?

Via Gary, and from this book. Take the test:

1. Which bumper sticker would you most likely put on your car?
   1. I’m Already Against the Next War
   2. Nice Hummer—Sorry About Your Penis
   3. America: One Nation Under Surveillance
   4. Of Course It Hurts, You’re Getting Screwed by an Elephant
   5. Evolution Is Just a Theory . . . Kind of Like Gravity
   6. May the Fetus You Save Be Gay
   
   
2. A second civil war has just broken out in America. Who is to blame?
   1. Imperialistic neocons—for launching simultaneous wars against Iran, North Korea, and France
   2. Global warming deniers—for bringing us an eco-apocalypse
   3. The South—for never having gotten over the fact that they lost the first War of Northern Aggression
   4. Corporate greedmongers—for outsourcing every last American job to Bangalore
   5. FOX News—for fomenting a war with a flashy “March to Civil War” logo and theme music
   6. Bible-thumping puritans—for banning abortion, gay people, and sex
   
   
3. An asteroid is headed for Earth. You have a seat on the last shuttle off the planet. If you could bring only one book with which to build a future civilization, what would it be?
   1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
   2. An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore
   3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
   4. A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
   5. Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin
   6. America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, by Jon Stewart
   
   
4. If the Founding Fathers were alive today, they would be most appalled by which of the following?
   1. The Republicans’ blatant manipulation of terror fears for partisan gain
   2. America’s crack-like addiction to Saudi oil
   3. President Bush’s blatant dictatorial power grab
   4. Government of, by, and for corporate cronies
   5. The hijacking of government by radical Christian wackjobs
   6. That hemp is illegal. Come on, what wasn't clear about the "pursuit of happiness"?
   
   
5. If you could time-travel back to any historical event and bring one thing with you, what would you choose?
   1. The 1967 Summer of Love—with a truckload of condoms
   2. The dawn of the Industrial Revolution—with a copy of the Kyoto Protocol
   3. The day before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans—with FEMA
   4. The day Monica Lewinsky brought Bill Clinton pizza—with a copy of the Starr Report
   5. Election Day 2000 in Palm Beach County—with non-butterfly ballots
   6. The night of Howard Dean’s 2004 Iowa concession speech—with a tranquilizer dart
   
   
6. If you were a candidate for political office, what would your theme song be?
   1. “Peace Train,” by Cat Stevens
   2. “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” by Kermit the Frog
   3. “Fight the Power,” by Public Enemy
   4. “Born in the U.S.A.,” by Bruce Springsteen
   5. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” by U2
   6. “Not Ready to Make Nice,” by the Dixie Chicks
   
   
7. If you could pile any three people into a naked pyramid, who would you choose?
   1. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld
   2. The CEOs of Exxon, Chevron, and Shell
   3. Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito
   4. Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow,and the ghost of Ken Lay
   5. Bill O’Reilly, Ann Coulter, and Rush Limbaugh
   6. Revs. Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and Ted Haggard