Jerry Douthett, 48, of Rockford had been unaware of his type-2 diabetes and had put off medical treatment for the toe’s festering condition, according to an account in the Grand Rapids Press. As he slept in a drunken stupor, Douthett’s terrier, Kiko, gnawed off most of his right big toe, apparently detecting the infection’s odor.

Douthett finally did go to the hospital when he came to, alerting doctors to his dangerously high blood-sugar level of 560. Surgeons then amputated the remainder of the toe.

Following the initial press account, Douthett had been inundated with interview requests from around the world, including the U.K.’s Telegraph. Douthett is now on diabetes medication, and Kiko is home after a stint with county officials to ensure he had not contracted rabies.

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Leonard Campos says he went into diabetic shock, causing the terrible accident, but police say he could have done more to prevent the crash that killed 64-year old Peggy Mikkelsen, who was pulling weeds in her front yard when she was crushed by a trailer that was thrown from Campos’ work truck. An 18-year old passenger in the truck was also injured in the crash. The authorities say Campos’ gross negligence led to the accident. His blood sugar level was in the low 40s following the accident. A normal range is between 80 and 120.

Campos lost control of his truck, which struck a utility pole before it rolled over several times and caught on fire, reports Tehachapi News. He claims he has no memory of the accident and that he was passed out in diabetic shock.

Police say the case against Campos is very unique and that it took so long to bring the charges because they “wanted to get it right.” They say the passenger in the truck urged him to pull over, but he refused. They also say Campos knew he had diabetes and ignored the warning signs that something might be wrong just before the wreck, according to KGET 17.

Just five minutes before the crash, Campos stopped at a store to buy beer and ice. Campos says he had not drank any of the beer and police have not charged him with an alcohol-related crime. Campos says the police questioned him as to why he didn’t purchase a soda or something else at the store that would have boosted his sugar levels back into the normal range. Campos claims he didn’t realize his sugar was low and wasn’t noticing any of the warning signs. Some people with diabetes, especially those who have lived with the disease for a greater amount of time, can become less sensitive to the warning signs of low blood sugar.

It is not clear from the reports whether Campos has Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, but he did note that he takes his medication regularly, which suggests he has Type 2 diabetes.

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While no one is looking, Noah sneaks onto one of his neighbors’ front lawn and places a blue flamingo there. The flamingos are blue because that is the color associated with Type 1 diabetes awareness. Attached to each flamingo is a letter explaining Noah’s mission.   

Noah, who was diagnosed with the disease two and a half years ago and wears an insulin pump, says each of the flamingos has a name that starts with “D,” such as Duncan. He encourages people to take a picture with the visiting flamingo so that he can post it on his website www.thediabetesdude.com.

Noah and his family usually retrieve each flamingo the next day, but some recipients of the fake birds can pass them along to others. Noah tracks the location of the flamingos on his website and ultimately wants one blue bird in each of the 50 states in the United States.

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After being rushed to the hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis in March, a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes, Bowersox bounced back to make it to the finals. Judi Clapper, a 60 year old diabetic, who watched the live season finale while sitting in one of the bars Bowersox performed at when she was just 14 said that Bowersox gives hope to kids with diabetes “that there’s more to life than shots and insulin pumps,” according to a report from the Associated Press.

Bowersox has generally not been overly vocal about her diabetes, but her presence and excellence on the show has provided a boost to diabetes awareness.

Also this week on American Idol, recently crowned Celebrity Apprentice Bret Michaels, who has made an amazing comeback from several serious medical issues, made a surprise appearance on stage to sing his Poison hit “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” with eliminated Idol contestant Casey James. Check out a video below.

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I recently came across this video, which is about a year old, which explains how scientists are using stem cells to search for a cure. The stem cells that are talking about are harvested from the blood of the umbilical chord. Check it out below.

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Lee is a Type 1 diabetic who developed severe neuropathy because his diabetes was not diagnosed for a long time. It prevents him from walking for long distances. He primarily uses a wheelchair to get around.

Due to his condition, Lee has been unable to work. He addresses many of physical and emotional issues of his disease in the documentary. He is also currently trying to raise awareness and money for the disease by embarking on a 20km wheelchair ride in England in June. He hopes to raise 1,000 pounds.

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Earlier in the week Crystal was rushed to the hospital reportedly from complications from her Type 1 diabetes. As a result, American Idol moved the men’s portion of this week’s show to Tuesday and pushed the women back to Wednesday. It is still unclear what happened to Bowersox, or how severe her illness was, but she came back strong on Wednesday night.  

“Crystal, I know how sick you were actually over the last 24 hours. It wasn’t just like catching a cold or something, you really were ill and I didn’t know whether you were going to be back here this week,” said judge Simon Cowell. “What’s great about you is you didn’t play the whole sympathy thing. You chose a great song…I completely misunderestimated you last week. … The vocal was incredible. This was like the moment we realized with Kelly Clarkston that we’ve got a serious artist here. “

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In fact, women that pack on more pounds than recommended by the Institute of Medicine had a 50% greater chance of developing gestational diabetes, a form of the disease that appears during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes typically only lasts the length of the pregnancy, but can remain as Type 2 diabetes, also known as “insulin-resistant” diabetes. Insulin is the hormone that regulates the amount of sugar in the blood.

Gestational diabetes can cause complications in 7% of pregnancies in the U.S, including early delivery, C-sections, oversized babies, and an increase risk of Type 2 diabetes for the child later in life. Additionally, women that have gestational diabetes are also more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes later on in life as well.

For this particular study, Kaiser Permanente examined 1,145 pregnant women from an ethnically diverse population – 345 of which had gestational diabetes. The association between weight gain and gestational diabetes risk was more pronounced among overweight, non-white women.

Most women are typically screened for the condition between the 24^th and 28^th weeks of pregnancy. While the exact cause of any form of diabetes is not known, researchers hypothesize that with gestational diabetes, rapid weight gain early in pregnancy ultimately leads to the “exhaustion” of the beta-cells in the pancreas that make and release insulin. This could reduce beta-cells’ capacity to secrete adequate levels of insulin, leading to the development of gestational diabetes.

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Last year at the World Championships, he finished in fourth at the same event.  However, in what he described as his worst race in two years, Freeman said his skis weren’t well-suited for the Olympic course. He also took a wrong turn down the homestretch, landing him in 59^th place, 3:05.3 behind the winner.

Dario Cologna of Switzerland took the gold, while Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy took the silver and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic earned the bronze medal.

Freeman, who said his blood sugar levels were not a problem, expects to do better in his other races at the games. He is scheduled to compete in Men’s Individual Sprint today and the Men’s 30km Pursuit on Saturday Feb. 20^th. He will also be competing in the Men’s Team Sprint on Feb 22 and the Men’s 50km Mass Start on Feb. 28.

Check out (below) a clips of Kris in training. You can also view an article we ran on Kris on Monday, which includes his video interview with the Today show. (see Diabetic Olympian: ‘No Limits’ )

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Check out this interview Freeman gave to Today. (Article continues below the video)

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Freeman is one of only a few athletes with diabetes to compete in an Olympic sport that requires such endurance, and is considered the second most successful American cross-country skier of all time. Freeman, who wears an Omnipod system, has a busy week. He will be competing in the Men’s 15km Individual Freestyle event on Monday, Feb. 15^th, the Men’s Individual Sprint on Wednesday Feb. 17^th and the Men’s 30km Pursuit on Saturday Feb. 20^th. He will also be competing in the Men’s Team Sprint on Feb 22 and the Men’s 50km Mass Start on Feb. 28.

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