Content about Diabetes management

SAN DIEGO — Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Alkermes announced that their Type 2 diabetes treatment now is available by prescription in U.S. pharmacies.

Bydureon (exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension) received approval from the Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 27 as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with Type 2 diabetes.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Lower-limb amputation is a very real risk for many of the 25.8 million Americans living with diabetes. Though this study may be encouraging, the job of reducing the incidence of diabetes — and in particular, educating people about the need to watch their diets, take their medications and take care of their bodies — remains far from complete, as other recent stories in the media have revealed.

WASHINGTON — A joint program of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a new chairman.

John Buse of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine was appointed chair of the National Diabetes Education Program for a two-year term on Jan. 1. Buse succeeds Martha Funnell, who is a researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, as well as co-director of the Behavioral, Clinical, and Health Systems Intervention Research Core at the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center.

DUBAI — A study conducted by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca found that adding an investigational compound to an existing Type 2 diabetes treatment may help reduce blood-glucose levels among patients.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — In an effort to help advance the development of devices that automatically monitor blood glucose and provide proper insulin doses in people with Type 1 diabetes, the Food and Drug Administration has issued draft guidance to help investigators and manufacturers as they develop and seek approval for these products.

BRONX, N.Y. — A new study conducted by researchers at Yeshiva University's Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that high blood-sugar levels may be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Researchers examined the fasting blood sugar and insulin levels of nearly 5,000 postmenopausal women — all of whom were enrolled in the National Institutes of Health's landmark Women's Health Initiative study — several times over a 12-year period.

NEW YORK — A test commonly used to identify patients with diabetes or those at risk of developing the condition may not produce accurate results among children, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Diabetes Care, tested 254 overweight children using both fasting and nonfasting methods. Researchers found that the recommended test, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), missed more cases of prediabetes or diabetes, compared with other tests.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Women, more often than men, reported that diabetes had a greater negative impact on their emotional outlook as well as their compliance with diet and exercise recommendations, according to a study released Thursday by Rite Aid and WebMD. The survey also found that women were more open than men to receiving tools to help them manage their diabetes.

PRINCETON, N.J. — Novo Nordisk has donated $50,000 to an organization that raises awareness about diabetes and connects people living with it, the Danish drug maker said.

The company said the donation, to the Diabetes Hands Foundation, was meant to recognize the Drive the Switch program, which it said had motivated more than 10,000 people to pledge to talk to loved ones and their doctors about insulin options.

OSAKA, Japan — Takeda Pharmaceuticals has started a late-stage clinical trial program for a drug to treat Type 2 diabetes, the drug maker said.

While medication nonadherence is a perennial problem that costs the healthcare system $290 billion per year, one of the least explored facets of it is primary nonadherence, when patients receive new prescriptions on paper or electronically and never drop them off or pick them up. But some researchers hope to change that.


ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Type 1 diabetics who watch the most television have poorer blood-sugar control on average, according to a study published online Sept. 16 by the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care.

In the cross-sectional study, self-report questionnaires were used to assess media consumption habits, physical activity and socioeconomic status in 296 children, adolescents and young adults with Type 1 diabetes.