The proportion of Americans with diabetes ages 18 to 64 who reported getting flu shots the previous year rose from 40 percent to 50.5 percent between 2000 and 2007.
New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggest that the hormones leptin and insulin work together in specific neurons in the hypothalamus region of the brain to affect both the regulation of blood sugar levels in the body and, surprisingly, female fertility.
Teens and “tweens” with type 1 diabetes have more trouble sticking to their treatment plan – thus raising their risk of eye, kidney and heart disease – if their parents become lax about monitoring the child’s treatment, or if the mother-child relationship is poor.
Patients with type 2 diabetes are generally treated similarly despite the fact that they may have underlying differences that could affect their therapeutic response. Seeking to address this critical health issue, an international multidisciplinary group of experts just issued recommendations for individualized treatment in a consensus statement to be published in the April 2010 issue of the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
People with diabetes who undergo cancer surgery are more likely to die in the month following their operations than those who have cancer but not diabetes, an analysis by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests.
Millions of Americans may have chronic kidney disease (CKD) and not know it, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).
Using leptin alone in place of standard insulin therapy shows promise in abating symptoms of type 1 diabetes, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.
Pediatric researchers analyzing DNA variations in type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease have found a complex interplay of genes. Some genes have opposing effects, raising the risk of one disease while protecting against the other. In other cases, a gene variant may act in the same direction, raising the risk for both diseases.
An experimental oral drug has lowered blood sugar levels and inflammation in mice with Type 2 diabetes, suggesting that the medication could someday be added to the arsenal of drugs used by millions of Americans with this disease, according to new research.
Purchases of cholesterol and diabetes prescription drugs by elderly Medicare beneficiaries reached nearly $19 billion in 2007 – about one-fourth of the approximately $82 billion spent for medications for the elderly.
A new study shows that primary care physicians believe the barriers that put patients with uncontrolled diabetes at risk for cardiovascular disease as being patient-related or system-related. Published online today by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine by researchers at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and colleagues at the University of Hawaii and University of Michigan, the research also reports that the physician participants commonly reported a high level of frustration at being unable to motivate patients with poor control or help patients to overcome the barriers that inhibit healthier lifestyles.
Measurements of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) more accurately identify persons at risk for clinical outcomes than the commonly used measurement of fasting glucose, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
HbA1c levels accurately predict future diabetes, and they better predict stroke, heart disease and all-cause mortality as well. The study appeared in the March 4, 2010, issue of New England Journal of Medicine.
A Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute cardiologist co-authored the joint science advisory issued by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology that calls for close monitoring of patients taking certain blood sugar-lowering drugs.
On March 1, the first eye patients will enter a new $132 million facility that increases the University of Michigan Health System's capacity to provide advanced eye care for an aging population and unites diabetes researchers as they search for a cure for diabetes. The eight-story Brehm Tower at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center Complex makes a striking addition to the skyline. Because of the size of the expansion and to get new research projects up and running, Kellogg expects to add about 100 jobs over the next five to seven years.
Dr. Francesco Rubino, chief of gastrointestinal metabolic surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, is now enrolling overweight and mildly obese patients -- those with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 to 35 -- in a study of gastric bypass surgery aimed at reversing Type 2 diabetes. Because of their non-morbidly obese status, these patients do not qualify for the surgery under current guidelines.
The drug avosentan substantially reduces urinary protein loss in people with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, but the drug causes serious side effects, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that lower doses of avosentan may have a more favorable risk/benefit ratio for patients.
An international group of medical experts has crafted a much-needed classification system for diabetic nephropathy, the leading cause of total kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The effort should improve communication among health professionals, help researchers design better clinical studies, and guide patient care.
A team of Northern Arizona University-led researchers is using nearly $1.3 million in new funding from the National Institutes of Health to continue with the world’s longest-running study on obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Diabetic retinopathy remains the major cause of blindness in adults under 60 in the U.S. The disease affects 5.3 million adults in the U.S. and some 24,000 of them go blind each year. Nearly sixty percent of all diabetes patients are expected to develop diabetic retinopathy within ten years of their diagnosis.
Ethnic and racial minorities bear a disproportionate share of America’s diabetes epidemic but are significantly less likely than whites to receive a commonly used test to monitor control of blood glucose, according to Washington State University researchers.
Diabetes may be one of the nation’s leading causes of death, but knowing the facts can help you understand and avert the onset of the most common form of diabetes, type 2. Education is power to fight the deadly consequences of diabetes, and Dr. Schwartz identifies what you need to know.
Together with colleagues in Barcelona, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have generated a complete map of the areas of the genome that control which genes are “turned on” or “off.” The discovery, made in pancreatic islet cells, opens new avenues for understanding the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes and other common illnesses.
While diabetes and hypertension ranked high for both groups, patients were more likely than doctors to prioritize symptoms such as pain and depression.
In patients with type 2 diabetes, silent cerebral infarction (SCI)—small areas of brain damage caused by injury to small blood vessels—signals an increased risk of progressive kidney disease and kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN).
A new treatment that could one day benefit burns victims, diabetes sufferers and the elderly – by fast tracking the healing of chronic wounds – has taken another step toward commercialization.
Clinical and basic science researchers from around the world will convene in Hong Kong from January 28 to 30 for the First International Congress on Abdominal Obesity: “Bridging the Gap between Cardiology and Diabetology.” The congress, sponsored by the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk (ICCR) (www.cardiometabolic-risk.org), is the first-ever specialized forum for sharing new insights and evidence about abdominal obesity and its clinical and public health implications.
In people who put on a lot of weight, or whose bodies start developing the inability to use insulin effectively that leads toward type 2 diabetes, the pancreas typically ramps up its supply of insulin-generating “beta” cells. Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and their colleagues now have identified a cell-cycle protein that is essential for beta-cell replication to respond successfully to insulin resistance. The finding may point toward eventual therapies for preventing or treating type 2 diabetes.
The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) makes cameo appearances throughout the body, but its leading role is as the opening act in the stress response, jump-starting the process along the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that CRF also plays a part in the pancreas, where it increases insulin secretion and promotes the division of the insulin-producing beta cells.
Patients who ordered their medications by mail were more likely to take them as prescribed by their physicians than patients who obtained medications from a local pharmacy.
A new evidence review suggests that using a pump to deliver insulin continuously — instead of taking three or more daily injections — might result in better control of blood sugar for people with type 1 diabetes.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) adversely affects glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago.
The cardiovascular risk that is associated with proteinuria, or high levels of protein in the urine, a common test used by doctors as an indicator of increased risk for progressive kidney disease, heart attack and stroke, has race-dependent effects, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Medicare recipients with diabetes who have a gap in their Part D prescription drug benefits have higher out-of-pocket drug costs and are less likely to stick to their medications than those who have supplemental drug benefits.
A multi-disciplinary team of Penn researchers, including diabetes, weight loss and bariatric surgery experts, are conducting a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to determine if bariatric surgery, either gastric bypass or adjustable gastric banding surgery, is more effective than lifestyle modification to reduce weight and ultimately treat Type 2 diabetes.
Bariatric surgery is a procedure designed to help patients lose weight, but what may be even more important is that it can also help resolve diabetes for patients with this disease.
Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but new research from Johns Hopkins suggests that quitting the habit may actually raise diabetes risk in the short term.
In an annual supplement to the journal Diabetes Care, published Dec. 29 by the American Diabetes Association, the A1C test is given a prominent role in the 2010 guidelines for diabetes screening, diagnosis and prevention.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine say a recent discovery suggests that inherited genetic variations exist between whites and blacks living in the U.S., leading to less efficient metabolism of glucose and predisposition to diabetes in blacks.
Researchers led by specialists at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute have found that injecting a corticosteroid, triamcinolone, directly into the eye may slow the progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that frequently leads to blindness.
South Dakota State University researchers used the Native American spiritual concept of the Medicine Wheel to help bring positive changes for American Indian diabetics.
New findings from the Monell Center and Kyushu University report that endocannabinoids act directly on tongue taste receptors to specifically enhance sweet taste. The findings may open doors to the development of new therapeutic compounds to combat obesity and diabetes.
Nine weeks of education about the glycemic index in foods is enough to encourage adults with type 2 diabetes to adopt better dietary habits that result in improvements to their health, recent research suggests.