Financial Incentives Work to Motivate Significant Weight Loss
Steven L. Driver, MD, MPH and colleagues conducted a two-by-two factorial study, randomly assigning 100 healthy adult employees or dependents to one of four weight loss...
BPA Again Tied to Diabetes Risk
A new study suggests that people with higher urinary levels of the controversial chemical have a higher risk of diabetes. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a so-called endocrine disruptor, which means it may affect normal hormone activity in the body. This...
Transforming Alpha Cells Into Beta Cells: a Novel, Complementary Approach for Treating Type 2 Diabetes in the Future
A team of American scientists has successfully reprogrammed insulin-producing cells in an effort to discover a new way to fight diabetes. They treated human islet cells with a chemical that inhibits a protein that puts methyl chemical groups...
Competitive Bidding for DTS Will Hurt Seniors
Countless seniors rely on diabetic testing supplies (DTS) from their pharmacists in order to live with and manage their disease. Unfortunately, an expansion of Medicare's Competitive Bidding Program could disrupt that relationship and make it...
Diabetes Amputation Risk Increases in Poor White Men
After analyzing data from 1.8 million diabetes patients, researchers found that being male, living in poorer areas, and being white were each linked with a higher risk of...
Decaf Impairs Glucose Metabolism
Decaf Impairs Glucose Metabolism: Some types of decaffeinated coffee may acutely impair glucose metabolism but less than caffeine. The results showed that, within the first hour of the OGTT, glucose and insulin were higher for decaffeinated coffee...
Brown Adipose Tissue Holds Weight Loss Potential
Researchers from Sweden have demonstrated that brown cells as well as "brite" cells exist in the neck region in adult humans. The "classical" brown fat tissue, common in newborns but previously not thought to be present in...
U.S. Failing to Meet Guidelines
Most American adults aren't meeting the federal physical activity recommendations for both aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening activity, according to new government statistics. About 79% of adults don't meet the physical activity guidelines...
Rate of Physician Participation in ACOs Triples
The number of physicians participating in accountable care organizations (ACOs) has increased drastically since 2012, according to the 2013 Physician Compensation Report. Last year, just 8% of the nation's physicians were either in an ACO or...
Preventing Overeating at Buffets
Using smaller plates and circling the buffet table before selecting foods are two strategies that can help dieters avoid overeating. Research showed that when faced with a variety of food at one sitting people tend to eat more. The temptation of a...
Group-based Financial Incentives Produce More Weight Loss
Researchers compared two incentive scenarios: in the first one, employees got $100 for each month they met the goal of dropping at least one pound per week; while in the second, $500 was set aside each month for a group of five co-workers and group...
Promote Patient Health through Video Games
Recent studies used electronic media including an internet program, computer game and a video game, to examine behavior changes such as an increase in fruit or vegetable consumption, increase in physical activity, and improved disease states. An...
Hypoglycemia Increases CV Events and Death
A new study revealed that hypoglycemia was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, all-cause hospital admissions and death in type 2 diabetes patients, whether it was severe or mild. The findings suggest that such patients may...
Texting Is Better than Office Visits
Patients expect their medical professionals to use more technology such as text and emails. According to a report, patients expect technology to aid communication with providers for faster and more cost-effective...
Diabetes Heightens Risk of Dementia, Memory Loss in Mexican-American Community
A recent study shows Mexican-Americans being treated for diabetes are two times more likely to develop dementia and memory loss than their peers without diabetes. While the trend was more pronounced among Mexican-Americans who were receiving...
Pharmacists Can Play a Major Role in Diabetes Care
Researchers reviewed 17 assessments of interventions by pharmacists acting as part of a team or alone. They found that pharmacists, with their accessibility and medication expertise, can make a positive...
Weight Gain Early in Life Led to CVD
Gaining weight at an early age could be a risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease later in life, according to a study. "From the results we've concluded that the longer an individual is overweight,...
Five Reasons Why Type 1 Diabetes is on the Rise
Five Reasons Why Type 1 Diabetes is on the Rise: A 2009 study in The Lancet found that new cases of Type 1 diabetes in kids could double in the next 10 years. Possible reasons for this dramatic rise include: (1)Too big too fast. The "accelerator...
Public Reporting Motivates Physicians to Improve Quality
The study from 2004 to 2009 included 582 affiliated clinics that required physician groups to annually report quality outcomes, which are posted by group name on the website of the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality. Overall, practices...
Fighting Obesity a Major Investment for Next 50 Years
Investment firm Merrill Lynch reports that more than 50 companies could benefit. Drug producers, the food sector, diet and related products, and the sport apparel and equipment sectors will benefit the most. A CDC-funded study said that about...
Some US Doctors Ready to Join ACOs
A survey by LocumTenens.com showed 60% of US physicians expressed willingness to join an Accountable Care Organization, with pay-for-performance cited as the preferred payment model. The survey involved 1,416 physicians from a variety of...
Americans Living at High-Altitude Four to Five Times Less Likely to be Obese
The reason for the difference is unclear but may be related to elevation's effect on appetite hormones, growth and metabolism. A drop in the risk of a person being obese was tied to every 200 m (about 660 ft) increase in elevation....
Diet Soda Intake Does Not Increase Appetite
People who drank diet soda did not appear to consume more sugary and fatty foods than did those who chose water. Diet soda drinkers ate fewer desserts at six months compared with their habits before the study started, while those who drank water...
Alcohol Changes Brain Responses to Glucose and Insulin
Rats given large alcohol doses to simulate a 3-day bender developed abnormal brain responses to glucose and insulin resistance, which lasted for days after the alcohol wore off. Inflammation in the hypothalamus...
Type 1 Diabetes Rates Rise 29%
According to a study in Diabetes Care, the rate of type 1 diabetes in Philadelphia children grew...
U.S. Kids Fail Physical Activity Goals
U.S. researchers looked at 1,218 6- to 11-year-olds included in the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that only 38.3% met both daily physical-activity and screen-time...
US Ponders Populationwide Salt-reduction Policies
US Ponders Populationwide Salt-reduction Policies: In most developed countries, more than 75% of the salt consumed comes from processed foods. The WHO advises that adults consume no more than 5g per day. The average consumption of salt in most...
Sixty-two Percent Increase in Risk of Fractures with Poor Glucose Control for Type 2’s
Individuals with type 2 diabetes have increased fracture risk despite higher bone meal density. The study had 4,135 participants including 420 participants with type 2 diabetes grouped according to their blood...
High-dose Statins Don't Increase Diabetes Risk in Low-risk Patients
A meta-analysis found high-dose statin treatment may increase the risk of new onset diabetes in people with two or more risk factors for diabetes. However, those who were at low risk of diabetes did not show an...
More Physicians Likely to Leave Medicare in 2013
Many frustrated physicians are likely to abandon Medicare this year over its unpredictable funding despite the decision to delay for one year a cut in Medicare payments for doctors, according to medical associations and physicians. "The...
Only 44% of Physicians Feel Capable of Helping Obese Patients Lose Weight
In a recent study, the majority of physicians also said that nutritionists and dietitians are better suited for the job. Lead author Sara Bleich added, "In order to begin improving obesity care, medical education should focus on enhancing...
Nurses Remain Nation's Most Trusted Professionals
Medical professionals are among the most trusted people in the U.S. a new Gallup survey shows with 85% of survey respondents ranking nurses highest for honesty and ethics, followed by pharmacists (75%) and physicians (70%). The sampling of 1015...
"Chocolate Makes You Fat" Warnings Don't Work on Women
Messages that eating chocolate can make you fat may actually drive some women to eat more, research shows. The joint study with the University of Strathclyde in Scotland found low restraint eaters (those not on a diet) showed a strong impulse to...
Potential Anti-diabetic Benefits from Asparagus
Researchers from Karachi University in Pakistan found that regular consumption of asparagus can keep blood sugar levels in check and increase insulin production in the body. Results from the study with rats showed that low levels of the asparagus...
New Insulin Analog Shows Promise
The novel basal insulin analog LY2605541 may show advantages over insulin glargine in diabetes patients, according to researchers. Dr. Melvin J. Prince, Eli Lilly and Company, stated, "These Phase II results in basal insulin-treated patients...
Customers Want Nutritional Disclosure at Restaurants
Many chains, including Starbucks, Panera and McDonald's, have already begun posting nutritional information on their menus, well ahead of the Affordable Care Act's mandate to do so. Technomic conducted a survey of restaurant consumer attitudes and...
Record Number of Diabetes Cases Worldwide
As many as 371 million people worldwide are living with diabetes and the disease is expected to affect 552 million by 2030, according to the International Diabetes Federation. The group estimates that 187 million people are unaware that they have...
Blindness from Diabetes Increases
According to recent studies funded by the National Eye Institute, diagnoses of diabetic retinopathy increased by 3.7 million new cases over the last decade. Approximately 7.7 million Americans are now affected by diabetic retinopathy and this is...
Brain Scans Suggest Not Skipping Breakfast
People who skip breakfast may end up eating more and making less healthy food choices throughout the day, according to a new study. Eating breakfast, on the other hand, helps people avoid overeating and cravings for high-calorie foods. The study...
Type 2 Risk Tied to Short Sleep in Teens
Researchers found that less sleep for US teenagers meant a higher chance of insulin resistance. They suggest that increasing the amount of sleep teenagers get could protect them against diabetes. Karen Matthews, of the Department of Psychiatry at...
