Diabetes

If we can accurately understand each patient’s risk for disease, we can create more nuanced preventive care plans and better invest our resources.

In this blog, the vice president of medical affairs for Quest Diagnostics discusses how Medicaid expansion has impacted diabetes diagnoses.

A new health rankings report indicates in which states health plans and health executives encounter the most challenges when caring for seniors.

Consensus is building on the promise of genetic testing and other technological advances to help individualize testing, prevention and treatment for better outcomes.

People in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are far more likely to be newly identified with diabetes than in non-expansion states, according to a study published online in Diabetes Care.

New study findings suggest that an epigenetic test could be created to identify those individuals early in the process of developing diabetes mellitus, providing hope for preventing the disease.

espite the fact that approximately 2.74 million patients used anti-obesity drugs in 2011, according to information services company IMS Health, the majority of health plans are following the lead of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and not covering them.

Unhydrogenated, unsaturated vegetable oils, such as canola oil, can have health advantages when included in as part of a low-glycemic index (GI) diet in people with type 2 diabetes, according to research presented at American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in San Francisco, and published in Diabetes Care.

Patients treated by physicians in designated medical homes reduced overall medical costs by 21% in the first year

Evidence shows that the traditional approach is not effective.

Older adults with diabetes mellitus may be at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia following a hypoglycemic event, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine on June 10th.

Forty-three members of Congress are urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) not to implement a new policy that prohibits independent community pharmacies from providing same-day, home delivery of diabetes testing supplies (DTS) to homebound seniors.

Although the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in hospitalized patients remains unknown, an estimated one-fourth of inpatients experience hyperglycemia.1 Hyperglycemia is linked to poor health outcomes, and there is evidence that intensive glucose control in the hospital reduces mortality, need for dialysis, infections, and length of stay.2 The American Diabetes Association (ADA) publishes clinical practice guidelines annually, which offer clinicians, patients, researchers, and payers current, evidence-based recommendations on all components of diabetes care, general treatment goals, and tools to evaluate the quality of care. The updated guidelines focus on changes in the recommendations for care of the hospitalized diabetes patient.

On March 29, 2013, FDA approved canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), a once-daily tablet, indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In November 2012, FDA approved tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Pfizer) 5 mg tablets for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have not had an adequate response to methotrexate or are intolerant to methotrexate. Tofacitinib, an oral non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) can be used as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate or other non-biologic DMARDs. It is contraindicated for use with biologic DMARDs or with immunosuppressive agents, such as azathioprine and cyclosporine.

FDA’s recent approval of canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen Pharmaceuticals) for adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), represents a new efficacy and unique approach to diabetes treatment, according to industry experts.

FDA’s recent approval of canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen Pharmaceuticals) tablets to be used with diet and exercise, to improve glycemic control infor adults with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), represents a new efficacy and unique approach to diabetes treatment, according to industry experts.

Obesity has become a highly prevalent chronic condition that is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Studies have demonstrated that even as little as 5% to 10% of weight loss is associated with an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors and a reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes in high-risk patients. Prior to the recent approval of lorcaserin and extended-release phentermine/topiramate, there had been no new pharmacologic agents approved for the treatment of obesity for 13 years. This article reviews the pharmacologic treatment of obesity including past treatment options, lessons learned in recent years, current short- and long-term treatment options, and future direction. Formulary considerations of currently available agents are discussed.

Patients with type 2 diabetes achieved 6% weight loss with liraglutide 3 mg in a phase 3a obesity trial, according to Novo Nordisk.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus taking glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1)-based therapies may have a higher risk of acute pancreatitis, according to a recent report published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The cost of managing diabetes patients is extremely high, and many patients still experience poor glycemic control and renal complications, according to results of a study published online in the journal Diabetes Care.

FDA has announced more conservative dosing recommendations for erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) when they are used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) because of the increased risks of cardiovascular events such as stroke, thrombosis, and death.

New studies confirm the lower levels of vitamin D are associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

Low-cost generic drug programs pioneered by Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers are a mixed blessing for patients with diabetes.

FDA announced May 18 to the public new restrictions to the prescribing, dispensing, and use of rosiglitazone-containing medications (Avandia, Avandamet, and Avandaryl, GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]) as part of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy.