Diabetes Medication Adherence Cuts Costs By 4%, Boosts Outcomes

Diabetes Medication Adherence Cuts Costs by 4%, Boosts Outcomes

For the 11.6 million commercially-insured patients using diabetic medications, this could produce a total savings of more than $210 million per year in medical and pharmaceutical costs while reducing long-term complications from the extremely common metabolic disease.
“Adherence to diabetes medications is critical not only for preventing the catastrophic consequences of the disease, but also for lowering total healthcare costs,” explains the report.
While adherence rates have increased slightly since 2014, only 63 percent of diabetic adults with commercial insurance were adherent to their drug regimens in 2016, Express Scripts found.
This relatively low number indicates a significant opportunity for pharmacists and healthcare providers to improve the way they educate patients, deliver medications, and foster continued engagement.
READ MORE: Medication Nonadherence Challenges 70% of Statin Patients
Payers spend more than $9000 per diabetic individual on medical expenses, which is close to triple what it costs to care for a beneficiary without diabetes. Those costs can rise drastically when patients do not have access to injected or oral medications, either due to financial hardship or behavioral issues.
Out-of-pocket drug costs for patients are on the rise, significantly complicating the issue. A quarter of patients are paying more for their drugs in 2017 than they did a year ago, says one recent survey, and 14 percent have skipped filling a prescription because they could not afford it.
Failing to fill prescriptions can have serious impacts on individual health as well Continue reading

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Starting low carb with diabetes medications

So you have diabetes and you want to try a low-carb diet? Congratulations! It may be the single best thing you could ever do for your health. It can start to reverse your type 2 diabetes, and dramatically increase your blood sugar control with type 1 diabetes.
However, you need to know what you are doing. Once you start eating low carb you may instantly have to lower any insulin doses, a lot.
Avoiding the carbohydrates that raise your blood sugar decreases your need for medication to lower it. Taking the same dose of insulin as you did prior to adopting a low-carb diet might result in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
You need to test your blood sugar frequently when starting this diet and adapt (lower) your medication. This should ideally be done with the assistance of a knowledgeable physician.
No drugs
If you have diabetes and you’re treated either by diet alone or just with Metformin there is no risk of low blood sugar on low carb. You can get started right away.
Insulin
As a general guide you may need to lower your doses by 30-50% or more when starting a strict low-carb diet.
Unfortunately there’s no way to know the doses required in advance. You’ll have to test your blood sugar frequently and adapt (lower) insulin doses. This should ideally be done with the assistance of a knowledgeable physician.
Note that as a general rule it’s easier to err on the low side, and take more insulin later if needed. That’s fine. If instead you overdose and get low sugar you’ll have to quickly eat or drink more carbohydrates, and that obviously reduces the effect of the low-ca Continue reading

Gout and Diabetes

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Gout is a form of arthritis (inflammation of joints) caused by high levels of uric acid. Gout can be a painful condition but one that can be managed to reduce the frequency at which gout attacks occur.
Gout is known to affect around 1 in 100 people in the UK and is around four times more common in men than in women.
Research shows that people with gout are significantly more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people without gout.
Gout and diabetes
A number of research papers have shown associations between gout and type 2 diabetes including a study from Harvard Medical School, published in 2014, which showed gout to be associated with a 70 increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A common medication for treating gout, allopurinol, has shown promise for reducing thickening of heart muscle and is currently undergoing testing as a possible medication for reducing risk of diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease).
Symptoms of gout
Gout is characterised by swelling of joints. The base of the big toe is most commonly affected by gout. More than one joint may be affected by gout in some people.
Symptoms can come on quickly, with swelling occurring within a few hours. The swollen joint can be very painful and sensitive to touch. During swelling, skin covering the joint may typically turn red and shiny in appearance.
The swelling and symptoms may occur for several days if not treated. Once the inflammation has subsided, the skin on the joint may become itchy and flaky.
Causes of gout
Gout occurs if high levels of uric acid in the blood leads to crystals of sodium urate fo Continue reading

Studies on Medical Marijuana and Illness, Part 4: Arthritis, Diabetes, and Chronic Pain

Welcome to the fourth and final part of our series on medical studies and Cannabis. In this segment, we’ll examine some of the documented health benefits of medical marijuana for patients who suffer from chronic pain, diabetic neuropathy, and arthritis. You may also be interested in reading the other portions of this series for more information about other qualifying medical conditions:
Part 1 – Medical Marijuana for Cancer, Tumors, and Glaucoma
Part 2 – Medical Marijuana for Nausea, ALS, and MS
Part 3 – Medical Marijuana for Anxiety, Insomnia, and PTSD
If you or someone you love is living with any of these conditions, medical Cannabis may be able to offer a greater degree of pain relief and symptom management than unsupported traditional treatment. To discuss whether you qualify for medical Cannabis in Massachusetts, call Inhale MD today at (617) 477-8886. We will keep your information confidential.
Medical Marijuana and Arthritis Pain Relief
Arthritis is one of the most common medical conditions in the United States. According to CDC data, approximately 52.5 million adults “reported being told by a doctor that they have some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia.” This data means that about one fifth of Americans live with arthritis today. Older adults are particularly susceptible, with nearly half of all adults aged 65 or older reporting a diagnosis.
There are dozens of different types of arthritis. Two of the most common forms are known as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). While there are significant differenc Continue reading

Blueberries, grapes and apples linked to lower risk of diabetes

A large cohort study involving researchers from the US, UK and SIngapore, which focused on individual fruit consumption and risk of diabetes, reveals that certain fruits - but not juices - may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in adults.
The study, published in BMJ, pulled data from three studies: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS 1984-2008), the Nurses' Health Study II (NHS II 1991-2009) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS 1986-2008).
In total, there were 187,382 participants, both men and women, who took part in the study, and participants who had diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer at the start were not included.
The researchers used food frequency questionnaires every 4 years in order to analyze the participants' diet, and ten fruits were used in the study:
Grapes or raisins
Peaches, plums or apricots
Prunes
Cantaloupe
Apples or pears
Oranges
Grapefruit
Strawberries
Additionally, fruit juice, such as apple, orange and grapefruit juice, was included.
Over the course of the study, 6.5% of the participants developed diabetes, but the researchers found that consuming three servings per week of blueberries, grapes, raisins, apples or pears reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 7%.
However, the results also showed that the greater amount of fruit juice an individual drank, the more their risk for type 2 diabetes increased.
In general, substituting fruit juice with whole fruits decreased this risk, but strawberries and cantaloupe were the exception to this finding.
The researchers write in the study:
Individual fruits might not be equally associated with ri Continue reading