Diabetes

Frank Hu, MD, PhD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, provides insight into the report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which spends days reviewing hundreds of thousands of scientific studies in order to develop the report that will later become the basis for policy decision making, according to Dr Hu.

Combination therapy in diabetes care can offer benefits but might not be right for certain populations or at certain stages of care.

A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that a TV program questioning the link between statin use and cholesterol reduction resulted in more than 60,000 Australians reducing or discontinuing the medication.

With a growing world population and a growing proportion of elderly, more people are living in suboptimal health around the world. A third of the world's population experienced more than 5 ailments in 2013, according to a study published in The Lancet.

This week the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions was held in Boston with results on 2 cardiovascular outcomes trials for diabetes drugs, and FDA advisory panels voted in favor of 2 PCSK9 inhibitors.

Considerations such as the potency of the drug, the practicality of the regimen, and the price go into decision-making.

In the keynote presentation at Patient-Centered Diabetes Care 2015, Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, discusses how new payment models can improve care in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

What patients have heard from others with diabetes matters when they receive a diagnosis, according to the opening speaker at Patient-Centered Diabetes Care 2015.

A proposed soda tax failed at the ballot last fall but may be revisited. Warnings would apply to outdoor advertising in the city limits.

The drug, baricitinib, is a JAK-STAT inhibitor being developed for rheumatoid arthritis. Research by scientists at the Unviersity of Michigan found a key role for the pathway in diabetic patients suffering from kidney disease.

Editorials that appeared during the run-up to the FDA advisory committee meetings noted the lack of long-term cardiovascular data and the need to be cautious about lowering cholesterol at any cost.

Developed jointly by Sanofi and Regeneron, alirocumab (Praluent) was approved 13-3 by an FDA advisory committee.

Results are the first from a cardiovascular safety trial in the GLP-1 agonist class. A commentator at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association asked whether the FDA-mandated studies are giving physicians the right information.

The long-awaited results, presented Monday at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, are expected to strengthen sitagliptin's position against its competitors in the DPP-4 inhibitor class.

In a packed session at the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, the lead investigator told attendees how a matchstick-size device delivered exenatide, producing lower blood glucose levels.

An innovative education method asks an influential family member to take diabetes classes alongside the person with T2DM. The intervention produced positive health results for African Americans in a North Carolina study.

Patients who received canagliflozin from their health plan showed significant A1C improvement, even though the study group had poor glycemic control despite treatment with multiple therapies. The study period covered the months immediately following FDA approval.

The study found that certified diabetes educators were able to act quickly on intensifying therapy, resulting in improved A1C and cholesterol.

A study of Medicare claims suggests that policies that ask seniors to pay more out of pocket for prescriptions may lead to lower adherence and result in higher healthcare costs.

The study published in The Lancet found a 45% rise in global diabetes during a study period that spanned more than a decade, between 1999 and 2013.

Studies presented at the 2015 American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions take different approaches on what percentage of carbohydrates should be part of a diet for persons with type 2 diabetes.

Osama Hamdy, MD, PhD, and other researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center showed that patients with obesity and diabetes who lost at least 7% of their weight the first year stood a better chance of keeping it off.

Just as diabetes care started the movement toward population management, it is leading the way to new payment models, according to speakers who appeared at a symposium to open the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

We assessed challenges and barriers to annual diabetic eye examinations for a managed care Medicaid population and make recommendations to improve population-level screening.

This week CMS released their third round of annual data, the value-based topics of the American Society of Clinical Oncology gained new ground, and The American Journal of Managed Care will travel to their 75th session of the American Diabetes Association in Boston.

Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, chief medical officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, believes that payment reform is the tool that will drive innovation and value in the healthcare industry.

John Kitchens, MD, discusses the impact of diabetic eye disease and macular diabetic edema for patients on both a societal standpoint and an individual standpoint.

Brenda Schmidt, MS, MBS, moderates a discussion on the diabetes online community and the opportunity for social media in type 1 and type 2 diabetes care. She is joined by panelists Hope Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, BC-ADM; Thomas C. Hawkins, MD, MS; Amy Tenderich, MA, and Kerri Sparling.

Silvio Inzucchi, MD, professor, Yale University School of Medicine; sectional chief of endocrinology, and medical director of Yale Diabetes Center, believes that the landscape for diabetes is constantly changing in terms of managing glucose-lowering medications.

Published in Diabetes Care, the study found that earlier detection, and importantly, initiating treatment early, can reduce cardiovascular risks.