[01:00:03:15 - 01:00:19:10] (Water Running) (Dramatic Music) [01:00:38:10 - 01:00:41:29] Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you are in the world. [01:00:43:02 - 01:01:11:03] It's Mark Ashwin over here. It's a fantastic day down by the lake. I know it's a little bit boring maybe, looking at that. And the big old Canadian flag on the upper left there is showing us how much breeze we've got. It's very calm out and it's about 15 or 16 degrees and it's only 8 17 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. [01:01:12:16 - 01:01:28:02] So yes I missed the August update so this is the September update which will include the August update. And well here we are. [01:01:30:07 - 01:01:39:06] I mean the first thing to say is that I had some challenges that started at the beginning of the year in May or March. [01:01:41:07 - 01:01:43:23] With mobility. [01:01:44:29 - 01:01:55:13] I banged up my left hip and then my right knee and then my left hip again just as it was starting to heal. [01:01:56:22 - 01:02:27:09] And there was a little bit of misdiagnosis and a little bit of medication that I had a reaction to. So it's actually been quite a limited, limiting summer in some senses. But things are improving considerably now. That's great. And I'll be back to full mobility and full activity pretty soon. It hasn't stopped me writing. [01:02:28:14 - 01:02:29:19] There's a new book out. [01:02:30:24 - 01:02:33:15] Peripheral neuropathy and diabetes. [01:02:35:05 - 01:02:40:13] OK so let's start off with breaking this down. [01:02:42:05 - 01:03:41:12] Neuropathy is to do with the nerves and there are several nervous systems in the body. There's the central nervous system which is really the spine and the nerves and everything that's connected to the spine. There's also a nervous system for the autonomic systems. So breathing, our heart continues to beat even if we don't think about it. We breathe if we don't think about it. All these autonomic systems have their own nervous system. And there's also cranial nerves. There's a lot of nerves in the brain carrying information to and from the brain. I mean if you prick your finger you will sense it as an injury in your finger. And that is a nerve that is passing that information to your brain so that you can be aware of it. And it becomes part of your attention span. [01:03:42:16 - 01:03:52:06] So all of those nerves. Then there's the peripheral nervous system which is the first part of the title. [01:03:53:08 - 01:04:00:07] And that includes the more distant nerves. So the fingers, the toes, the feet, the legs, the arms. [01:04:01:29 - 01:04:06:14] Those kind of nerves will tell you whether you stop your toe. [01:04:07:20 - 01:04:24:12] If you get into the shower and the water is too hot or it's too cold, you will perceive that information through the nerves in your feet or your hands. Whatever you've come into contact with. [01:04:25:16 - 01:04:34:06] So the book concentrates on that and it introduces those concepts and that information. [01:04:35:16 - 01:04:59:04] But in terms of diabetes, high blood glucose levels over a long period of time will damage nerves, especially the peripheral nerves. This is where you start to hear about diabetics losing the sensation in their feet or their fingers. [01:05:00:16 - 01:05:22:25] Some people may have problems with their eyes and the transmission of images that the eyeball is witnessing passing that information to the brain so that you can turn that into a picture of a tree or water or like we're looking at here, a little inlet off Lake Ontario. [01:05:24:04 - 01:05:31:26] So this is where things start to get a little bit serious. I've got some facts from the back cover of the book. [01:05:33:08 - 01:07:10:26] Basically nearly 130,000 US diabetics have amputations each year. And that is peripheral nerve damage from the high blood glucose levels. They've damaged the nerves and you're not able to, or these unfortunate people are no longer able to sense injuries that they receive. So imagine, for example, if you drop a hammer on your foot or your toes and you're perfectly healthy, you will perceive that as an injury. It will be pain and you'll be directed to take care of it. A diabetic or anybody with peripheral nerve damage may not perceive that hammer falling on their toes as being an injury. It may not even happen in their own mind because they don't feel it. But the foot is still injured. The toes are still injured. And if the injury is not treated, it is going to get worse. There are all kinds of complications from injuries and foot ulcers that are not perceived by the diabetic because of peripheral nerve damage. And they don't always, but in extreme cases amputations will happen. 130,000 diabetics have amputations each year in the US. [01:07:12:21 - 01:07:18:26] 85% of amputations are preceded by ulcers, which if treated can reduce or prevent amputation. [01:07:19:26 - 01:07:30:19] We don't want to have feet or legs amputated. We don't want to lose fingers. We don't want to lose hands. We don't want to lose arms. [01:07:32:11 - 01:07:41:10] 75% of non-traumatic lower extremity amputation cases in the US are caused by diabetes. [01:07:42:14 - 01:08:56:23] So that is interesting because that also brings up non-traumatic lower extremity amputations. This is accidents, car accidents, cycling accidents, motorcycle accidents, any kind of accident that can damage your leg where there's no possibility of surgeons or doctors healing that situation and you lose a leg. There was a story many years ago of an English cricketer holidaying in the Caribbean. He was not aware that the outboard motor was still running and that the propeller was still turning. He came up behind the boat and his foot got enmeshed in the propeller blades and he lost all of his toes. As somebody who makes a living by running and competitive activity that you need the full grasp of the foot to propel you forward, that was a big thing for him. [01:08:57:23 - 01:09:21:22] Diabetes costs US$327 billion in 2017 and 72.5% of which went to direct medical costs. So there's a significant cost involved in all of these medical conditions related to nerve damage. [01:09:22:23 - 01:09:33:28] Just to broaden things a little bit further, there are other cases of nerve damage that are unrelated to diabetes. [01:09:36:11 - 01:10:36:15] And what I'm thinking of is chemotherapy for cancer. There are some drugs that will damage the nerves and either the chemotherapy has to be changed to avoid the nerve damage or lessen the nerve damage. Or unfortunately the person goes through the chemotherapy and comes out the other side with neuropathy or nerve damage in some part of their body. And they're not diabetics, they're just unfortunate cancer patients going through the cancer treatment process and ending up as a side effect of neuropathy. There's also the issue of statins. Statins are a group of drugs which are also described in the book which do wonderful things for cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. [01:10:37:20 - 01:10:58:27] Helping people through these, lowering cholesterol, lowering the triglycerides in the body, the lipids. Getting things, considerably improving things, getting things in order and reducing the incidence of or the likelihood of cardiovascular disease as a result. [01:11:00:13 - 01:12:05:17] One of the side effects for perhaps 10% of people taking statins is that they damage the nerves. And neuropathy results from taking the statins. And there is a debate that the value of statins for cholesterol level treatments and cardiovascular outweighs the issues of the possibility of developing neuropathy as a result of taking those statins. So the book is out now on Amazon. I'll include links to the webpage where you can select an e-book, audiobook, paperback and learn about this because as the numbers there said, just looking at it again. [01:12:06:18 - 01:12:14:10] 75% of non-traumatic, lower extremity amputations in the years are caused by diabetes. [01:12:15:12 - 01:12:21:17] And that is quite a significant number of amputations. [01:12:22:17 - 01:12:46:29] So if you think of the 130,000 US diabetics who had amputations each year, maybe 75% of that number could have been avoided if diabetes was under control and patients were making the lifestyle changes to improve their health. [01:12:48:00 - 01:12:58:26] Yes, it's a big issue because as diabetes increases worldwide, look at your own jurisdiction. [01:13:00:08 - 01:13:05:17] The book does have numbers for I think it's Canada, UK and US. [01:13:06:18 - 01:13:13:29] But I concentrate on Canada because that's where I am. That's what I identify as. I identify as a Canadian. [01:13:15:16 - 01:13:34:15] And in countries where there is a health plan, that is a considerable cost for diabetes but also for amputations as a result of not managing blood glucose, blood glucose as well. [01:13:35:15 - 01:13:39:13] Last point, and I promise this will be the last point. [01:13:40:29 - 01:14:56:12] I did actually get my blood glucose levels and my A1c done at the end of August. And I am now at 5.8. So since 2022, November 2022 or December 22, when I was diagnosed with as a diabetic with a blood sugar of 11.5, I am now consistently down at 5.8, which is still just a little bit above normal. But it's below what they call the at risk level. So that is very good news. And also my doctor had some special tests done for my cholesterol and that is all in line. That's all good. That's all within the accepted ranges. So I am healthy. Well, pretty much. I can do more exercise now that my leg and my hip are starting to repair. [01:14:57:13 - 01:15:32:01] And I'll keep you posted on what's happening and look out for some more special videos and podcasts and newsletters for diabetic issues and hints and ideas for being a more healthy person. If you are diagnosed as a diabetic and more healthy, if you are not yet a diabetic, you may be a pre-diabetic. [01:15:33:23 - 01:15:58:27] You just may simply want to not get to the either of those stages and just want to improve your health. So look out for all of those things coming at you. And I will close off this video now. Thank you very much for your attention. I hope you have a great day, a great weekend. This is a Friday. So have a great weekend and enjoy. Take care. Bye now. [01:16:04:05 - 01:16:20:00] (Water Running) (Dramatic Music) [01:16:20:00 - 01:16:20:00]