News Flash: The FDA Just Approved A Breakthrough Diabetes Device

News Flash: The FDA Just Approved a Breakthrough Diabetes Device

Diabetes is often referred to in the medical community as the "silent killer." Affecting more than 30 million people in the U.S. (9.4% of the population), diabetes was listed the cause of death for nearly 80,000 people in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its comorbidities, such as hypertension, heart disease, and kidney disease, can also cause lifelong problems and themselves lead to death. Though it may not inspire the same fear in patients as a cancer diagnosis, it's a very serious disease.
Diabetes is also a costly disease to treat. The CDC's National Diabetes Statistics Report released earlier this year estimated the direct and indirect estimated costs of diagnosed diabetes at $245 billion as of 2012. Mind you, nearly 24% of the 30.3 million people with diabetes in the U.S. are undiagnosed, meaning this $245 billion estimate is probably conservative and underrepresenting the actual costs of treating diabetic patients. It probably also fails to fully account for the lost worker productivity as a result of diabetics missing work or passing away earlier than people who don't have diabetes.
These statistics demonstrate why research into new medicines and devices designed to improve the quality of life of diabetics is so important.
The FDA green-lights another breakthrough diabetes device
Well, folks, I have some good news to report. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved a breakthrough diabetes device from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) that should make life considerably better, and less painful, for diabetics.
The device, kno Continue reading

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Renal Handling of Ketones in Response to Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibition in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Pharmacologically induced glycosuria elicits adaptive responses in glucose homeostasis and hormone release, including decrements in plasma glucose and insulin levels, increments in glucagon release, enhanced lipolysis, and stimulation of ketogenesis, resulting in an increase in ketonemia. We aimed at assessing the renal response to these changes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We measured fasting and postmeal urinary excretion of glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate (β-HB), lactate, and sodium in 66 previously reported patients with type 2 diabetes and preserved renal function (estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥60 mL · min−1 · 1.73 m−2) and in control subjects without diabetes at baseline and following empagliflozin treatment.
RESULTS With chronic (4 weeks) sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition, baseline fractional glucose excretion (<2%) rose to 38 ± 12% and 46 ± 11% (fasting vs. postmeal, respectively; P < 0.0001) over a range of BMIs (range 23–41 kg/m2) and creatinine clearance (65–168 mL · min−1 · m−2). Excretion of β-HB (median [interquartile range]: 0.08 [0.10] to 0.31 [0.43] µmol · min−1), lactate (0.06 [0.06] to 0.28 [0.25] µmol · min−1), and sodium (0.27 [0.22] to 0.36 [0.16] mEq · min−1) all increased (P ≤ 0.001 for all) and were each positively related to glycosuria (P ≤ 0.001). These parameters changed in the same direction in subjects without diabetes, but changes were smaller than in the patients with diabetes. Although plasma N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide levels were unaltered, plasma erythropoietin c Continue reading

10 Signs Of Diabetes Everyone Should Know, Don’t Ignore Them…

Diabetes also known as diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease and it is characterized by high blood sugar levels.
Beginning from 2014, around 387 million people from the entire world have diabetes problems.
Diabetes happens when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or the cells are actually not completely able to respond properly to the production of insulin. There are 3 main types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes: it is also known as juvenile diabetes and it happens when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin.
This is an autoimmune disease. Factors which increase the risk of Type 1 diabetes can be family history, the presence of damaging immune system cells in your body, exposure to viral disease and low vitamin D levels.
Type 2 diabetes: this is the most common diabetes type and it happens when the pancreas is not able to produce enough insulin for regulation of the blood sugar or the cells are not able to use the insulin properly.
Inactive lifestyle, obesity, aging, family history, history of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, polycystic ovary syndrome, and abnormal triglyceride cholesterol and triglyceride levels are some of the most common risk factors for this kind of diabetes.
Gestational diabetes: It happens after pregnancy and there is no diabetes history. Women who are older than 25 and Hispanic, African-American, Asian and American have higher risk of developing this kind of diabetes.
The risk of this type of diabetes can become higher if the person has diabetes or obesity. Starting from 2014, around 90% of diabetic people has type 2 diabetes an Continue reading

12 Diabetes Food Tips to Avoid

CONTRAVE® (naltrexone HCI/bupropion HCl) is a prescription weight-loss medicine that may help adults with obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2), or who are overweight (BMI greater than or equal to 27 kg/m2) with at least one weight-related medical condition, lose weight and keep the weight off. CONTRAVE should be used along with diet and exercise.
One of the ingredients in CONTRAVE, bupropion, may increase the risk of suicidal thinking in children, adolescents, and young adults. CONTRAVE patients should be monitored for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In patients taking bupropion for smoking cessation, serious neuropsychiatric adverse events have been reported. CONTRAVE is not approved for use in children under the age of 18.
Stop taking CONTRAVE and call a healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms, especially if they are new, worse, or worry you: thoughts about suicide or dying; attempts to commit suicide; depression; anxiety; feeling agitated or restless; panic attacks; trouble sleeping (insomnia); irritability; aggression, anger, or violence; acting on dangerous impulses; an extreme increase in activity and talking (mania); other unusual changes in behavior or mood.
Do not take CONTRAVE if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure; have or have had seizures; use other medicines that contain bupropion such as WELLBUTRIN, APLENZIN or ZYBAN; have or have had an eating disorder; are dependent on opioid pain medicines or use medicines to help stop taking opioids such as methadone or buprenorphine, or are in opiate withdrawal; drink a Continue reading

Fresh fruit may prevent diabetes and related complications

Most of us know that eating fresh fruit and vegetables is good for our health. However, people diagnosed with diabetes may avoid fruit due to its high sugar content. New research investigates the health benefits of fresh fruit consumption among people with diabetes.
Diabetes affects more than 420 million people worldwide and more than 29 million people in the United States alone.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetes caused more than 1.5 million deaths in 2012. In the U.S., diabetes is a leading cause of death, accounting for almost 80,000 yearly deaths, according to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Fresh fruit and vegetables are healthful for most of us, but people with diabetes may abstain from eating fresh fruit because of its high sugar content.
This is why a team of researchers - led by Huaidong Du of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom - decided to investigate the health effects of consuming fresh fruit in patients both with and without diabetes.
The authors were also motivated by the fact that, to their knowledge, no studies have so far investigated the long-term effects of fresh fruit consumption on the rate of diabetes or on the risk of diabetes-induced cardiovascular events.
The research was published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Fruit consumption lowered risk of complications in people with diabetes
The researchers examined the effects of fruit consumption on almost 500,000 people enrolled in the China Kadoorie Biobank national study. Participants were aged between 30 and 79 and live Continue reading