A little fender "scratcher." Here is the imprint of the license plate on the auto that bumped me.

Family Portrait

Great Grandma Sadler and Taylor, Austin, and Payton

UPDATE

I am living in a new place. Des Moines, WA. It is so beautiful here. I love it. Right by Puget Sound. Under the flight path of SeaTac. Sweet sweet airplane sounds. Nursing in a public hospital in a nearby city.

Avandia, Implicated in Osteoporosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Avandia, a medicine that is used to boost the effects of insulin for type 2 diabetics, may be increasing the risk of brittle bone disease by interfering with new bone formation. See the article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7117764.stm

Avandia contains:
hypromellose
lactose monohydrate
magnesium stearate
microcrystalline cellulose
Opadry orange OY-L-23028
glycerol triacetate
hypromellose 6cP r
iron oxide red E172
iron oxide yellow E172
lactose monohydrate
macrogol 3000
purified talc
titanium dioxide (E171)
rosiglitazone maleate
sodium starch glycollate (type A) ( http://medguides.medicines.org.uk/document.aspx?name=Avandia&use=diabetes&section=ingredients )

The study says that mice were used as the subjects. What I still want to know is this:

1. What is the incidence of osteoporosis and patients with diabetes who take Avandia and What is the incidence of osteoporosis and patients with diabetes who do not take Avandia.

2. What is the incidence of osteoporosis and patients with diabetes who take Avandia and who also have gluten intolerance and those who do not)

3. What is the source of microcrystalline cellulose.

*************

Of course I am wondering because of my own personal experience with Actonel, which basically prevented me from absorbing food for about 2 days out of 7, which contains

Resedronate Sodium

Crospovidone

ferric oxide red (35 mg and 75 mg tablets only)

ferric oxide yellow (5 mg and 35 mg tablets only)

hydroxypropyl cellulose

hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

lactose monohydrate (5 mg, 30 mg and 35 mg tablets only)

magnesium stearate

microcrystalline cellulose

polyethylene glycol

silicon dioxide

titanium dioxide

By the way, I contacted the local gluten free society to let them know that Actonel contained cellulose (which may be derived from wheat straw) and they politely told me that they believed that Actonel did not contain gluten.

*****************************

So the other thing I am wondering is where does that cellulose come from? I did a small search on this before and was unable to show a definitive link to wheat. I just saw one reference to it coming from wheat straw.

I am also wondering what other medications contain cellulose and if there is an increased incidence of osteoporosis in any other groups.

There is a magazine: I can check it out:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/100153/

Possibly the editor of the journal could help me find the information.

Well, dear reader (myself). This is a little unorganized, but at least my concerns are posted.

I thought I would share this drawing I did about a year ago. I realized it has been quite a while since I posted some art work. I have been working on improving my art skills and just trying to get into the habit of working every day. I seem to have a lot of negativity to overcome but it is getting better as I continue with the project.

Barriers to Current Diagnositc Criteria for Gluten Intolernace:
E-Mail Letter to World Gastroenterologists Organizaion

I thank you for your time.

I am a Registered Nurse in Renton, Washington. My own story of being gluten intolerant does not include the appropriate "gold-standard" diagnosis because of numerous barriers. I have a feeling that I am not unique in these respects. In a nutshell, these are the barriers I encountered:

1. Personal Prejudice: I was aware of gluten intolerance because my mother-in-law had it. She managed to make such a big deal out of it and her suffering that I personally distrusted her claims.

2. Personal Denial: When I first had malabsorption, I ignored it for a year . . .thinking it would go away. Then I looked up the possible causes on the Internet and selected "pancreatic cancer" as a likely cause. However when I had no other pancreatic cancer symptoms for over a year . . . I was forced to consider gluten intolerance.

3. Physician Denial: I approached my personal care physician and her response was. "Oh I think that is very unlikely. More likely, you have a lactose intolerance. That is much more common. Try cutting milk out of your diet."

4. Lack of Access to Medical Services: At the time, I lived on a remote island in Alaska. The gastroenterologist (internist) visited the town about once every 2 months. On the time I scheduled a visit with him, his visit was cancelled. The time I just wanted to mention it to him (because I helped him with conscious sedation for upper GIs) he became acutely ill with a kidney stone.

5. Family Prejudice: My own husband, at the time, was a retired surgeon. His opinion of me was that I was a hypochondriac and that the disease was in a category that was similar to other "quasi-illnesses." He was also very embarressed that I became a "picky eater."

Given this host of barriers . . . and realizing that it would take another 9 months or so to be properly diagnosed, I went ahead with the gluten free diet. Over time, I got a lot better. The family prejudice continued to be problematic, so when we moved to Oregon later that year, and I was able to get medical insurance there, I determined that I would try the appropriate tests. I consulted a gastroenterologist and under his guidance returned to a regular diet. Because of family prejudice, and contraints of moving back to Alaska, the 6 week period was shortened to 4.5 weeks. Also because I had been on a gluten free diet for almost a year, I did not become symptomatic with malabsorption till then. Just the same, the blood tests were not conclusive . . .and the stool sample was lost by the lab. My marriage was in a wreck at the time. I was very depressed and crying every day. I left my marriage, my job, and my association with the gastroenterologist. By this time the gastric symptoms were severe, with malabsorption, and stomach pain. But again, I had a lack of access to medical services because I did not have a job.

I just went ahead and decided that I personally had enough clinical proof. I determined to return to the gluten free diet.

When I reconsidered going back and having the "gold standard" diagnosis, I realized that I could not sacrifice another 6 months of illness in order to "prove" that I had the disease. So the final barrier is:

6: Current standards of testing are too invasive, expensive, and unethical: Asking persons to return to a state of illness to prove that they have that illness is just not ethically right. Would we ask a diabetic person to eat an inappropriate diet for 6 weeks and then ask him to have a procedure where he had to be sedated to prove that he had diabetes? Also it will take 6 more months to heal up from that diagnostic period, if ever.

Consider as well, that no matter what a test "proves," the clinical situation is the one that affects the patient.

I thank you for the opportunity to send you this email. My purpose here is not to complain, but to start a dialogue related to this issue. I welcome your response.

Yours truly,

Colleen Davenport, RN, BSN, MSN

AFFEREMENA

Clarification:

The phenomena (stimuli) that elicits the afferent (sensory) nerve depolariztion.