Diabetes care

452 articles · Since 2004

Articles, page 12

Checking blood sugar is a habit that must be formed

August 24, 2011Aug 24, 20115

If you don’t know there is a problem how can you fix it? Checking blood sugar for a diabetic is mandatory. This applies to both Type I and II diabetics. I check my blood sugar at least 8 times per day. I do this to allow me to closely monitor my blood sugar level. As a disciplined diabetic, I run the risk of low blood sugar episodes more frequently …

Patient voices

The physical and emotional costs of non-compliance

Stewart Segal, MD

August 16, 2011Aug 16, 20113

There are multiple costs to non-compliance, including financial, both personal and societal, and physical-emotional. When patients fail to comply with treatment protocols, fail to get prescribed tests, or fail to stop destructive behaviors, there is a societal cost. Today, I…

Today, I want to address the physical and emotional costs of non-compliance. I just read a brilliant article by Roxanne Sukol, MD. Dr. Sukol’s article discussed the fact that diabetes starts …

Conditions and diseases

The majority with diabetes do not lead a disciplined diabetic life

Trey Stephens

August 16, 2011Aug 16, 20112

"More than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or pre-diabetes by 2020, unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented, according to a new analysis. Diabetes is an epidemic, " according to Denise…

“More than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or pre-diabetes by 2020, unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented, according to a new analysis. Diabetes is an epidemic, ” according to Denise Mann in WebMD Health News.

At 14 months old, the doctor told my parents that the disease would ultimately take my life. The doctor motioned my father into the hallway of …

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Conditions and diseases

Doctors diagnose diabetes 10 years later than the disease warrants

Roxanne B. Sukol, MD

August 4, 2011Aug 4, 20112

I like my patients vertical. Not horizontal. If I can help it, I want to make sure that nobody gets a disease that could have been prevented. Sure, accidents happen. And illnesses show up every day in the lives of…

I like my patients vertical. Not horizontal.

If I can help it, I want to make sure that nobody gets a disease that could have been prevented. Sure, accidents happen. And illnesses show up every day in the lives of people who did nothing to deserve them, and who could have done nothing to prevent them. But not all illnesses.

Physicians know that newly diagnosed diabetic patients present to the doctor …

Conditions and diseases

Educated online by people with diabetes

Steve Woodruff

August 4, 2011Aug 4, 20116

Recently, I saw one of my sons blithely dipping a chip into salsa, happily munching away while multi-tasking at something else – not a care in the world about his food. It brought a smile to my face – but…

Recently, I saw one of my sons blithely dipping a chip into salsa, happily munching away while multi-tasking at something else – not a care in the world about his food.

It brought a smile to my face – but there was a touch of sadness with it.

You see, my work has brought me into contact with a number of PWDs (People With Diabetes) who are active on-line. And as I’ve …

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Educated online by people with diabetes

Patient voices

What is normal for a teen with diabetes?

Doctor D, MD

May 21, 2011May 21, 2011

A teacher asks Doctor D about a diabetic teenager in his class: "His sugar readings are often over 400. His mom says this is normal. Can this be normal?" What is normal? a) A state of harmony within the body…

A teacher asks Doctor D about a diabetic teenager in his class: “His sugar readings are often over 400. His mom says this is normal. Can this be normal?”

What is normal?

a) A state of harmony within the body and mind that leads to health and well-being.
b) The typical or status quo for a person; the way things usually are.
c) WTF? There is no such thing as “normal” …

Physician voices

Preventing disease saves the crippling costs of tertiary care

Kohar Jones, MD

April 12, 2011Apr 12, 20112

When I was a family medicine intern, I met a diabetic patient in the hospital who had stopped seeing his regular doctor after he lost his job and his health insurance. His untreated diabetes made his feet go numb. He…

When I was a family medicine intern, I met a diabetic patient in the hospital who had stopped seeing his regular doctor after he lost his job and his health insurance.

His untreated diabetes made his feet go numb. He stepped on a nail and didn’t realize it until he noticed …

Conditions and diseases

Are memory loss and mood disorders actually diabetes of the brain?

Larry McCleary, MD

April 9, 2011Apr 9, 20113

An excerpt from Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly. by Larry McCleary, MD As diseases, memory loss and mood disorders appear to have very little in common. But could memory loss (even severe memory loss such as that which occurs…

An excerpt from Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly.

by Larry McCleary, MD

As diseases, memory loss and mood disorders appear to have very little in common. But could memory loss (even severe memory loss such as that which occurs in Alzheimer’s disease) and mood illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder, actually be treated much the same …

Conditions and diseases

Treating patients with pre-diabetes: Weight loss and carbohydrate restriction

David B. Nash, MD, MBA

April 8, 2011Apr 8, 20114

What physician has not stifled a groan when a patient presents with a chief complaint of "I just don't feel right, Doc." About this time last year, I had that "not quite right" feeling and vague, seemingly unrelated symptoms ...…

What physician has not stifled a groan when a patient presents with a chief complaint of “I just don’t feel right, Doc.”

About this time last year, I had that “not quite right” feeling and vague, seemingly unrelated symptoms … sweating, mid-morning headaches, and frequent feelings of hunger, which I was accustomed to satisfying with a muffin.

Like most people — patients and clinicians alike — I ignored these subtle signals.

One evening, …

Health policy

Our health is worsening at a time when medicine has never been better

David Gratzer, MD

February 14, 2011Feb 14, 201120

With little notice, UnitedHealth released a major paper recently considering diabetes in America. First the bad news: a large portion of our population either has the disease or is pre-diabetic. Now, the really bad news: diabetes and pre-diabetes rates are…

With little notice, UnitedHealth released a major paper recently considering diabetes in America.

First the bad news: a large portion of our population either has the disease or is pre-diabetic.

Now, the really bad news: diabetes and pre-diabetes rates are going to soar in the coming decade, according to the analysis, in part driven by the obesity crisis.

I’ll return back to the study in a moment, but it underscores a …

Physician voices

Hospital meals make it difficult to control blood sugars

Roxanne B. Sukol, MD

December 30, 2010Dec 30, 201022

My mom doesn’t take any diabetes medicine. She keeps her blood sugars normal through a combination of common sense and careful carbohydrate consumption. A few months ago, she had to be hospitalized for what she calls a “minor procedure.” The…

My mom doesn’t take any diabetes medicine. She keeps her blood sugars normal through a combination of common sense and careful carbohydrate consumption.

A few months ago, she had to be hospitalized for what she calls a “minor procedure.” The procedure went fine, but not the food. The first meal they brought her consisted of breaded fish (frozen), mashed potatoes (instant), corn (canned), a dinner roll (frozen), and tea (2 sugar …

Conditions and diseases

Diabetes and leg amputations in McAllen, Texas

Merrill Goozner

November 23, 2010Nov 23, 20106

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health is once again throwing a harsh spotlight on McAllen, Texas. This time the Mexican border town has the highest rate of leg amputations in the nation, a new report released recently showed. McAllen's rate was…

The Dartmouth Atlas of Health is once again throwing a harsh spotlight on McAllen, Texas.

This time the Mexican border town has the highest rate of leg amputations in the nation, a new report released recently showed. McAllen’s rate was ten times the rate of Provo, Utah, which had the lowest rate of leg amputations among the Medicare eligible population. The national average was one-third of McAllen’s rate.

McAllen became notorious earlier …

Physician voices

How dietary guidelines can help prevent disease

Stephen C. Schimpff, MD

November 13, 2010Nov 13, 20106

Most of the illnesses that occur today are chronic like diabetes, heart disease, cancer or kidney disease. These stay with us for the rest of our lives, are debilitating, and are expensive to treat. But in many cases they are…

Most of the illnesses that occur today are chronic like diabetes, heart disease, cancer or kidney disease.

These stay with us for the rest of our lives, are debilitating, and are expensive to treat. But in many cases they are not all that difficult to prevent. Unfortunately, our dietary guidelines are of little or no help in this regard but could be.

In 1941, following studies that demonstrated …

Drugs and prescribing

Avandia, Actos and behind the scenes of study 175

Matthew Mintz, MD

November 7, 2010Nov 7, 20102

Though I am not going to say that the New York Times lied, they either purposely and grossly misrepresented the truth or did a horrible job of reporting. In their article, "Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data, Files Indicate" the…

Though I am not going to say that the New York Times lied, they either purposely and grossly misrepresented the truth or did a horrible job of reporting.

In their article, “Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data, Files Indicate” the Times states that Avandia maker GSK “secretly began” a study which “provided clear signs that it (Avandia) was riskier to the heart.”

In fact, the study in question, called study …

Drugs and prescribing

Avandia aftermath: winners and losers

Larry Husten, PhD

October 11, 2010Oct 11, 2010

Responses to the Avandia panel have been all over the map, as cleverly noted on the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog. Avandia is “dead” (Forbes), or, perhaps worse, “now a Zombie” (BNET). By contrast, others thought the panel granted Avandia…

Responses to the Avandia panel have been all over the map, as cleverly noted on the Wall Street Journal‘s Health Blog. Avandia is “dead” (Forbes), or, perhaps worse, “now a Zombie” (BNET). By contrast, others thought the panel granted Avandia a “reprieve” (Wall Street Journal and that Avandia would now probably be allowed to stay on the market (Los Angeles Times, Pharmalot).

All …

Read more…

Avandia aftermath: winners and losers

Drugs and prescribing

Switching diabetes patients from Avandia to Actos

Matthew Mintz, MD

September 21, 2010Sep 21, 20106

I have a lot of diabetes patients and have been an avid user of the thiazolidinediones (TZD) class. There are many reasons to like the TZD's: The older, generic medicines like metformin and sulfonylureas are known to fail over time.…

I have a lot of diabetes patients and have been an avid user of the thiazolidinediones (TZD) class. There are many reasons to like the TZD’s:

The older, generic medicines like metformin and sulfonylureas are known to fail over time. After 3 years, most patients on one of these drugs lose control of their blood sugar. In contrast, patients on TZD’s maintain glycemic control (at least up to 4-5 years which

…

Conditions and diseases

Diabetes is responsible for many heart disease deaths

MedPage Today

July 30, 2010Jul 30, 2010

by Kristina Fiore More than one in 10 heart disease deaths may be attributable to diabetes, researchers say. In a meta-analysis of more than 100 studies, diabetes was associated with a twofold increased risk of the disease and was estimated…

by Kristina Fiore

More than one in 10 heart disease deaths may be attributable to diabetes, researchers say.

In a meta-analysis of more than 100 studies, diabetes was associated with a twofold increased risk of the disease and was estimated to be accountable for 11% of vascular deaths, according to Nadeem Sarwar, MD, of the University of Cambridge in England, and colleagues.

They reported their findings online in The Lancet and will present …

Drugs and prescribing

Rosiglitazone (Avandia) stays on the market, with stronger warnings

MedPage Today

July 14, 2010Jul 14, 2010

by Emily P. Walker An advisory panel voted 20-12 to recommend that the FDA allow rosiglitazone (Avandia) to stay on the market, but most panelists want to see the controversial diabetes drug carry tougher warnings on its label. Wednesday's vote…

by Emily P. Walker

An advisory panel voted 20-12 to recommend that the FDA allow rosiglitazone (Avandia) to stay on the market, but most panelists want to see the controversial diabetes drug carry tougher warnings on its label.

Wednesday’s vote marks the second time an FDA advisory panel has essentially endorsed rosiglitazone. In 2007, a panel voted that while the drug appears to …

Drugs and prescribing

Will Avandia survive the FDA advisory panel?

MedPage Today

July 13, 2010Jul 13, 2010

by Crystal Phend and Emily Walker Despite hints that the FDA may be leaning toward pulling rosiglitazone (Avandia) from the market, it's going to be a tough decision for the advisory committee slated to begin meeting on Tuesday, and things…

by Crystal Phend and Emily Walker

Despite hints that the FDA may be leaning toward pulling rosiglitazone (Avandia) from the market, it’s going to be a tough decision for the advisory committee slated to begin meeting on Tuesday, and things could still go either way, leading endocrinologists predict.

“I think the FDA advisory committee is going to struggle with this because none of the data is conclusive,” …

Conditions and diseases

Diabetes prevention can be led by health insurance companies

David B. Nash, MD, MBA

May 20, 2010May 20, 20108

Whether I'm wearing my health policy hat or seeing patients in the office, one condition continues to surface as a source of concern and frustration. Diabetes, one of the nation's most serious and costly health burdens, now affects almost 25…

Whether I’m wearing my health policy hat or seeing patients in the office, one condition continues to surface as a source of concern and frustration.

Diabetes, one of the nation’s most serious and costly health burdens, now affects almost 25 million people in this country — a conservative estimate. Another million new cases are diagnosed each year.

Three years ago, the American Diabetes Association estimated the total diabetes cost in the U.S. …

Diabetes care

Articles, page 12

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