October 29, 2008

FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved the rapid-acting insulin glulisine to use for diabetic children who are four years and older. This is to improve their glycemic control. This approval came after FDA reviewed it through comparison with lispro. How did they conduct the review?

The 572 study participants were given either the lispro or the insulin glulisine before meals. Both groups also received a conventional treatment of either the neutral protamine hagedorn two times a day or the insulin glargine once a day. More participants received the insulin glargine.

The researchers then compared the results of the two groups according to the A1C test. The result for both the lispro and glulisine groups was the same. The A1C change in the glulisine group was +-0.08 while for the lispro group it was +-07. As you can tell, the result was alike.

As for the glycemic control after meals, the researchers assessed the glucose values that the participants monitored themselves. Again, the result was the same. There was also no significant difference between the two groups when it came to the report of hypoglycemia episodes. How did they arrive at this conclusion? Just read the evidence below.

Regarding the hypoglycemia report, the researchers included the serious unfavorable reaction. And we know how this adverse reaction could affect the person concerned as well as those around him. The result for the glulisine group was 7.2%. And for the lispro group? The result was 8.1% and again the outcome was strikingly similar.

With this, I hope we know how important it is to be properly informed regarding hypoglycemia. We know that this condition is also called low blood sugar and this happens when the blood glucose level drops so low that there is no adequate energy for all the body's activities.

What to do in such a case? Check the blood glucose level. If it is below 70 mg/dL or below, take one of these right away: 1/2/cup fruit juice, 2 or 3 glucose tablets, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of regular soda, 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar or 5 to 6 pieces of candy. After 15 minutes, check the blood glucose level again, repeat taking the above until the blood glucose is 70.

Fighting Obesity, Diabetes And Other Metabolic Diseases By Computer

We all know that healthy and diseased tissues behave differently. Now a new way that describes the difference between the two may just give the medical science a new tool to fight diabetes, obesity and other metabolic disorders. Before this new tool, the researchers relied on the observations made on the cellular level because they did not have the information.

Enter Moran Cabili, Professor Eytan Ruppin and Tomer Shlomi from Tel Aviv University's Blavatnik School of Computer Science who developed a new computational approach in a model that may aid the scientists in getting a clearer picture of the metabolic processes.

This model could help improve the diagnosis of the metabolic disorders. In so doing, it may lead to new ways to treat and develop new cures. The finding of this research is published in the journal called "Nature Biotechnology".

The computerized model incorporates the information on the tissues from the diseased and healthy organs and compares it to the existing model to foretell the metabolic behavior. This finding was shared with Bernard Palsson and Markus Herrgard of the University of San Diego and recognized a computational basis for the study of the human metabolism.

The computational model employs ten assortments of human tissues to expose the functions accountable for the metabolism. This allows for the study of the chemical reactions in the tissues to grow and respond to the reaction of the body. This tool can be expanded and used for tissues other than the ten and eventually to whole organs.

Before this new approach, what the scientists used did not illustrate how metabolism worked in the different tissues. With this new model, the scientists will be able to see how metabolism works in the different tissues and organs like the liver, brain, heart and pancreas.

This will help the scientists to identify new metabolic biomarkers that will help with the diagnosis. This could lead to the development of new treatments that will not target both healthy and diseased tissues. This research is still at the basic level but could lead to easier diagnosis and more effective treatment.

Diabetes Medical News Nuggets

Diabetes Expo 2008 For Information and Inspiration

October 21, 2008

This is a wonderful kick off for the World Diabetes Month. On November 1, there will be a Diabetes Expo where those with diabetes and their families will gain access to some information. And then you will also have the chance to talk to some experts. Follow the link below for information on where, time and telephone number to call.

Researchers found two new gene locations that increase the risk of type 1 diabetes. This is great news as this identification is helping solve the puzzle of this condition. From this, the expectation is for improvement of tests and the finding of more strategies to prevent this condition.

Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph D. who is the leader of this research said this may enable them to develop tests that will be able to predict who will acquire this condition. Dr. Hakonarson is also the director of Philadelphia's Children's Hospital's Center for Applied Genomics.

The result of this research is online in the journal of the American Diabetes Association called "Diabetes". The co-leader of the study is Constantin Polychronakos, M.D. He is Pediatric Endocrinology's director in Montreal's McGill University.

Once called juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes is a condition that commonly starts in childhood when the immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. This lack of insulin makes the blood glucose levels go haywire. If left untreated, this can damage the kidneys, eyes and nerves.

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions that afflicts children in the US. In fact, it is second only to asthma. Diabetics depend on insulin injections or medications to survive. Thanks to Dr. Banting for discovering insulin. Otherwise, this condition is deadly.

Thanks also to researchers who are continuing to study this. Now they are able to use automated tools that scan genes. These sophisticated tools are able to locate the genes that are responsible for the development of diabetes. The researchers were able to fine-tune their search for DNA samples based on the other information from the scientists before them.

I won't bore you with the exact gene locations but suffice it to say that this study is significant as it will proceed to identify more and more genes which in turn will enable the scientists to develop strategies for early intervention. How? They will target the gene pathways with therapies to prevent the condition from developing. Wouldn't that be grand!

Diabetes Medical News Nuggets

Vision Loss More Common In People With Diabetes

October 14, 2008

What more do we have to do short of getting the blood glucose level as close to the normal range as possible? We hope to get more information on this delicate topic so that our working hard will bring good result. It does not help that this complication has been tied to factors such as lack of insurance and low income. Remember though that if your family income is low, you can apply for Medicare coverage. I know some people who have done this.

There's a new research in town that found gestational diabetes could be diagnosed earlier. How? It's by looking at the level of adiponectin in pregnant women nine weeks or so of pregnancy. What is adiponectin? It is the hormone that is sensitive to insulin.

Apparently, researchers found that the reduced level of the hormone sensitive to insulin could be a signal that gestational diabetes is on the horizon. This is so much earlier than the diagnosis that at present is 20 to 22 weeks. This so important they published the findings on these warning signs in the "Clinical Endocrinology."

How did they come up with this finding? Dr. Kristine Lain of the University of Kentucky and her team compared two sets of pregnant women: 30 who developed gestational diabetes later during the period of pregnancy and 29 women who did not develop the condition.

The researchers measured the levels of adiponectin from the samples of blood taken from the first three months of pregnancy. They grouped these levels and used the highest group as a reference. Both groups of women were screened for gestational diabetes 24-28 weeks of pregnancy.

They then used logistic regression analysis to evaluate the chance of developing the condition on the basis of the adiponectin measurements. Guess you know by now where this report is leading. Those with lower levels of this particular hormone developed the condition.

I won't bore you with the statistics but suffice it to say that those with lower adiponectic measurement had ten times more chance of developing gestational diabetes. Between the two groups, no difference was detected regarding race, age of the mothers, birth weight and BMI.

So, what does this tell us? Adiponectin has some properties that protect against metabolic disorder and if at reduced level could lead to type 2 diabetes in healthy patients who are not pregnant. This is the first time that this type of study was conducted for pregnant women.

Diabetes Medical News Nuggets

Not Enough Diabetes Doctors in Portage

October 7, 2008

I like the good news that you shared. Yes, diabetes complications can be prevented and that they are imparting this knowledge to people the same way they're doing it all over the country so despite the shortage of endocrinologists, the show goes on.

The Journal of General Internal Medicine published in their October 2008 issue the findings on the causes of the death of the elderly with diabetes as associated with depression. The findings were from a study that lasted for two years.

Previously, Dr. Wayne Katon who is the lead author of the study and University of Washington's professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said that diabetes and depression were a deadly mix in the young and middle-aged group. This newer study indicates that the same is true for the elderly with diabetes.

The participants of this study were 10,704 elderly with diabetes who were also registered in Florida's disease management program in Florida. What the researchers did was track these people whose mean age was 75.6 years, by first surveying the group using a health assessment questionnaire.

They found proof of depression from the diagnosis of physicians, the participants' responses to a short screening test and the reports of taking an antidepressant the year before the study was conducted. The researchers tracked these people's cause of death for two years through checking with Medicare twice a month and phone calls to the patients' families.

What did they find? They found that those with both depression and diabetes had a higher risk of about 36 to 38% of dying from any cause during the next two years. Among the participants, 12.1% who had the two conditions died while those without depression 10.4% died during the two-year period.

Those who were treated with antidepressant had a 24% higher risk to die. For the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, there was no difference when the data from those treated with antidepressant and those who had no depression were analyzed.

The authors think that the reason for the higher mortality rated for those with depression and diabetes were due to insufficient self-care and unhealthy habits like overeating and smoking. That said, depression is also linked to problems in the nervous and endocrine systems.

The study had some limitations. The subjects came only from one geographic area and the follow-up period was short. Also, depression defined from the doctor diagnosis and treatment may have been for those with more serious illnesses. In addition, the study did not take into consideration the income, weight, physical activity and compliance in taking treatment of the participants.