Annual Healthcare Costs Doubled in Under Nine Years
It has taken less than nine years for healthcare costs to double for the average family of four covered by a preferred provider organization. And there's more bad news: employers are passing more of the costs on to their employees. The 2011 MMI...
Exercise Harder and Improve Your Mood
Mood improves more after vigorous exercise, researchers find. Vigorous exercise offers more of a mood boost than less strenuous exercise, a new study finds. Researchers compared 11 sedentary people who did moderate and high-intensity exercise....
Multiple Pregnancies May Increase Risk of Obesity, Diabetes
Multiple pregnancies may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes and the buildup of plaque in the arteries, suggests new research in mice. Scientists from the University of Cincinnati and colleagues studied mice late in gestation in either their...
Intensive Diabetes Education Programs Lower A1c's
A diabetes education program significantly improved long-term blood-sugar control among patients. The program taught low-income, poorly educated people with diabetes to better manage their disease. Researchers divided 56 participants into two...
Sugar Increases Blood Pressure
A diet high in fructose may lead to higher blood pressure new research shows. While fructose is also the main sugar in fruit, fruit contains vitamins and fiber that in most cases, block the negative effects of this dietary sugar. In the study,...
Diabetes Is Linked to Premature Death from Many Causes in Addition to Vascular Disease
The presence of diabetes mellitus approximately doubles the risk of a wide range of vascular diseases according to the study. Evidence is also emerging that diabetes is associated with nonvascular conditions. Fasting glucose levels of more than 100...
Diabetes Testing Is Down
The percentage of poor, minority, inner-city diabetes patients 40 and older who received recommended testing annually declined from 2002 to 2007, a national healthcare survey found. The percentage of these patients who received annual foot, eye,...
Bedtime Glucose Level Predicts Long-term Control with Mix 50 Monotherapy
A new study has found that bedtime plasma glucose level can serve as a predictor of long-term blood glucose control outcome in patients undergoing insulin lispro mixture-50 (Mix 50) three times daily monotherapy. There was a significant improvement...
What Is the Diabetes Belt?
The Southeastern US has been dubbed the "diabetes belt" with 644 mostly southern counties presenting above average rates of diabetes, according to new research by the CDC. There are more than 18 million diabetes sufferers nationwide, with a state...
Association between High Levels of Physical Activity and Weight Gain
The study population included 3,554 men and women, age 18 to 30 at baseline, whose weights were followed during six follow-up visits over 20 years. Participants reported their activity levels over the previous year at each visit: high, moderate or...
Fact: Outdoor Exercise Healthier than Gym Workouts
Outdoor Exercise Healthier than Gym Workouts: The study found that exercise in natural environments was linked to greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement. Levels of tension, confusion, anger and depression were...
Not Just Deadly, Diabetes Is Costly as Well
The average, annual healthcare cost for people without diabetes is approximately $4,400. But for people with diabetes, the cost is $11,700. And for diabetes patients with complications, the average annual cost rises to $20,700. Add to this the...
Basal vs. Lispro Mix 75/25
Basal vs. Lispro Mix 75/25: This study compared the durability of glycemic control of twice-daily insulin lispro mix 75/25 (LM75/25: 75% insulin lispro protamine suspension/25% lispro) and once-daily insulin glargine, added to oral...
Fact: Worldwide Adult Obesity Prevalence Has Doubled Since 1980
Worldwide Adult Obesity Prevalence Has Doubled Since 1980: Three studies recently published in The Lancet suggest the worldwide prevalence of obesity has doubled since 1980, but that average blood pressure and cholesterol levels have decreased in...
FDA Says "Maybe Later" to Inhaled Insulin
FDA Says "Maybe Later" to Inhaled Insulin: MannKind's whistle-sized inhaled insulin device, Afrezza, was designed to administer mealtime doses of powdered insulin in metered, single-use cartridges but ran into problems with the FDA over a redesign....
Fact: AHA: More Than One-Third of U.S. Could Have Cardiovascular Disease by 2030
AHA: More Than One-Third of U.S. Could Have Cardiovascular Disease by 2030: If current policies and prevention strategies go unchanged, the U. S. is facing "a cardiovascular crisis of alarming proportions," said. Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart...
Fact: Most People Want to Know the Risk of Getting Diabetes
Most People Want to Know the Risk of Getting Diabetes: Researchers from Tufts Medical Center led a study of more than 1,400 people to determine if people would be willing to pay for a new blood test that would indicate the chances of developing a...
Low-Dose Folic Acid Cuts Homocysteine Levels
Low-Dose Folic Acid Cuts Homocysteine Levels: A low dose of folic acid roughly equal to the added intake from food fortification policies in the U.S. and elsewhere lowered homocysteine levels as effectively as doses two to four times higher, a...
Fact: One in 16 women hospitalized for childbirth has diabetes
One in 16 women hospitalized for childbirth has diabetes: More than a quarter million women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2008 had pre-existing diabetes or developed it during their pregnancy. The federal agency also found that in 2008, the...
Most Insulin Users Have Inadequate Control of Glycemia and CVD Risk Factors
Most Insulin Users Have Inadequate Control of Glycemia and CVD Risk Factors: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a well-established comorbidity of Type 2 diabetes (T2D). The relationships between control of CVD risk factors, CVD comorbidity prevalence...
Analysis and Patient Satisfaction Assessment of Insulin Pump Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Analysis and Patient Satisfaction Assessment of Insulin Pump Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Patients: Insulin pump therapy provided better glycemic control and reduced the total amount of insulin utilized. Patients who utilized continuous subcutaneous...
Kids Will Eat Low-Sugar Cereals
Kids Will Eat Low-Sugar Cereals: Despite the heavy marketing of sugary breakfast cereals to children, kids seem willing to eat low-sugar cereals -- particularly if they can add fresh fruit or a small amount of table sugar. In a randomized study...
Congress Passes Doctor Payment Fix
Congress Passes Doctor Payment Fix: The House has passed a $15 billion bill keeping Medicare physician payment rates steady through 2011 and blocking the 25% cut in the Medicare pay rate scheduled for Jan. 1 with the Senate passing the same...
New Mechanism Discovered for Controlling Blood Sugar Level
New Mechanism Discovered for Controlling Blood Sugar Level: According to Professor Andrew Tobin (University of Leicester, UK), in order to maintain the correct levels of sugar, a protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, present on the cells that...
Mobile Phone-Based Telemonitoring Improves Blood Pressure Control
Mobile Phone-Based Telemonitoring Improves Blood Pressure Control: An automated mobile phone-based telemonitoring system that actively engages patients in their care significantly improved blood pressure control among diabetes patients with...
Physical Activity Blocks Colds
Physical Activity Blocks Colds: Being fit -- or at least a perception of being fit -- appears to be associated with a reduction in upper respiratory tract infections, researchers found. During a 12-week period, individuals who said they exercised...
Sixty Percent of Cardiovascular Patients are Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic
Sixty Percent of Cardiovascular Patients are Diabetic or Pre-Diabetic: The impact of growing obesity levels is pushing Type 2 diabetes into an epidemic. This is a serious problem for healthcare providers due to the cost of treatment, but also for...
Type 2's Fail in Their Oral Care
Type 2's Fail in Their Oral Care: Diabetes study reveals despite higher risks most people with diabetes don't change their oral care routines. As a result of unstable blood glucose levels, diabetes increases a person's risk of developing serious...
Increased Selenium Intake Associated with Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Increased Selenium Intake Associated with Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Growing evidence raises concern about possible associations of high selenium exposure with diabetes in selenium-replete populations such as the US. These findings raise additional...
Almonds Improve Glycemic and Lipid Profiles in Type 2's
Almonds Improve Glycemic and Lipid Profiles in Type 2's: Almond consumption is associated with ameliorations in obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia. The hypothesis of this 12-week randomized crossover clinical trial was that...
US Salt Intake Little Changed in 50 Years and Still Too High
US Salt Intake Little Changed in 50 Years and Still Too High: A new review of 24-hour urinary sodium excretion as measured in a variety of US studies carried out in the past half century has found little change in salt consumption. "The mean...
Fact: Obesity, Diabetes Rates at 10-Year High
Obesity, Diabetes Rates at 10-Year High: America's health card received a poor grade last week after the 2009 National Health Interview Survey revealed U.S. obesity and diabetes rates are at a 10-year all-time high. The results, released by the...
Coffee, Alcohol Affect Diabetes – 12 Year Study
Coffee, Alcohol Affect Diabetes – 12 Year Study: In a very large cohort of African-American women in the US, (late onset diabetes) was studied for 12 years. Tea and decaffeinated coffee showed no relation with diabetes, but the regular...
Insulin Use is Dropping While Diabetes Rates are Rising
Insulin Use is Dropping While Diabetes Rates are Rising: More people with diabetes are taking pills to treat their disease, while the percentage using insulin has dropped, according to a new government survey. The proportion of Americans with...
Too much sitting as bad as too little exercise
Too much sitting as bad as too little exercise: Sitting all day may significantly boost the risk of lifestyle-related disease even if one adds a regular dose of moderate or vigorous exercise. The study shows that each daily one-hour increase in...
Immune System Genes Contribute to Type 1 Diabetes
Immune System Genes Contribute to Type 1 Diabetes: A new study found a link between immune system genes and the risk of Type 1 diabetes. Using a genome-wide association study, the researchers found that a certain group of genes that react in...
West Virginia Is the Most Heavily Medicated American State
West Virginia Is the Most Heavily Medicated American State: According to Forbes, West Virgina has the highest prescription drug use of any U.S. state. Citizens of the Mountain State filled 18.4 prescriptions per person last year, compared with a...
Light and Moderate Physical Activity Reduce the Risk of Early Death by 19%
Light and Moderate Physical Activity Reduce the Risk of Early Death by 19%: A new study by researchers has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduce the risk of early death....
Larger Waist Associated with Greater Risk of Death
Larger Waist Associated with Greater Risk of Death: A new study found that those with a larger waist size are more likely are at greater risk of dying from any cause over a nine-year period. Eric J. Jacobs, Ph.D., and colleagues at the American...
Medicare to Cover Smoking Cessation
Medicare to Cover Smoking Cessation: Good news for seniors who want to quit smoking: Medicare will now cover tobacco cessation counseling. Previously, Medicare only covered smoking cessation counseling if a recipient had already been diagnosed with...
