Resources

Very small proportion of U.S. adults engage in risk reduction behaviors like proper diet and exercise for type 2 diabetes.

Use of metformin may decrease chances of developing gastric cancer in patients with T2D.

Guest Post by David Kliff, Editor, Diabetic Investor

The so-called “high” cost of insulin continues to get lots of attention. But as I’ve noted before, little perspective has been given to this debate and far too many facts are missing. Yes, I know facts are pesky things, but they are facts nonetheless. Allow me for a moment to provide some examples.

Would you treat a new patient with a family history of heart disease, diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and an A1c of 8% with the double therapy of a GLP-1 plus an SGLT-2 inhibitor? Follow the link to share your response.

Mrs. Hunter is 36-year-old African-American who comes to your office for her annual wellness exam. She has excessive weight (BMI 27 kg/m2), but is otherwise healthy. She jokes that she, “just can’t seem to lose that extra baby weight” after giving birth 3 years ago. However, her daughter recently started preschool so she has been able to go to her new gym several times per week. In fact, one of the added bonuses of her membership is that she has been participating in their free, weekly nutrition and exercise support groups. In addition to her routine labs, you order an A1C, which comes back elevated at 7.1%. You and Mrs. Hunter set a goal for A1C<6.5%. She returns 3 months later for a follow-up visit and her office labs show an A1C 6.8%. You congratulate her on her progress and ask her to return in another 3–4 months. When she does, she is above her goal with an A1C 8.1%. She explains that she has gone back to full-time work and just doesn’t have the time to get to the gym anymore. At this time, what would your next step be and what would her individualized glycemic targets be?

A. Encourage lifestyle modifications and start metformin with a target A1C less than 6.5%
B. Encourage lifestyle modifications and start metformin with a target A1C less than 7.5%
C. Encourage lifestyle modifications and start a 2-drug combination target A1C target less than 7%
D. Encourage lifestyle modifications and do not initiate drug therapy at this time

Follow the link for the answer.

A man, lean and muscular, with type 1 for over 25 years, has been pumping for 15 years and wearing a sensor for the past five years. Glucose levels have been very erratic. We checked his sites and were concerned that the erratic glucose levels were mostly related to lack of subcutaneous fat and scar tissue, so he was actually getting insulin into his muscle, scar tissue, or subcutaneous tissue at various times. Also, the patient wears an OmniPod and thought it could only be in one particular direction.

In part 1 of this 2-part Homerun Slides series, screening and monitoring prediabetes.

The role of beta-cell death and regeneration: The loss of beta-cells in T2DM has been mainly attributed to increased beta-cell death due to apoptosis and other forms of cell death, possibly driven by adverse environmental conditions and probably mediated by several intracellular mechanisms. Apoptosis is a type of programmed cell death morphologically characterized by cell rounding up, bleb formation and chromatin condensation. As a matter of fact, in autoptic pancreatic samples apoptosis has been shown to be significantly increased in both obese and lean type 2 diabetic cases as compared to BMI-matched, nondiabetic controls.

Low carbs equals lower blood sugars and control, with less hypoglycemia, but how low do our patients need to go?

Pooled analysis from two randomized trials shows significant differences in effects on two groups.