Blood Glucose Control

New System Automatically Updates Weekly Insulin Dosage for Better Glycemic Control with Fewer Hypoglycemic Events

Newly published results from a clinical study of the Diabetes Insulin Guidance System (DIGS), demonstrate DIGS' potential to improve blood glucose control for insulin-using patients with type 2 or type 1...

Is Daily Exercise Required to Optimize Diabetes Control?

New study shows what is required to reduce the prevalence of hyperglycemia throughout the subsequent day in type 2 diabetic patients....

ADA/EASD Issue New Hyperglycemia Management Guidelines

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) have issued a joint position statement emphasizing patient-specific treatment of hyperglycemia in persons with type 2 diabetes....

Eating Low Glycemic Index Foods at Breakfast Can Control Blood Sugar throughout the Day

Eating foods at breakfast that have a low glycemic index may help prevent a spike in blood sugar throughout the morning and after the next meal of the day....

Higher HbA1c Levels Provide Better Outcomes in Heart Failure with Diabetes

Patients with advanced heart failure who were also diabetic had better two-year survival if their baseline HbA1c levels were more than 7.3%....

Tight Glycemic Control Slows Preemies' Growth

Tight glycemic control doesn't help hyperglycemic premature babies and instead impairs some aspects of growth....

Using A1c Test is Cost-Effective to Diagnose Prediabetes

Using A1c to catch prediabetes is cost-effective if the threshold for diagnosis is set at 5.7%....

Lifting Weights before Cardio Benefits People with Diabetes

People with diabetes may have better blood sugar control during workouts if they lift weights before doing cardio exercise....

Diabetic Polyneuropathy Not Related to Impaired Glycemia

Impaired glycemia (IG) is not a risk factor for typical or atypical diabetic polyneuropathy, according to the findings of a population-matched prospective study....

Less than Half of New Diabetes Patients Achieve A1C Goals

Those starting with lower A1C levels more likely to achieve A1C goal within five months....

Hypo and Hyperglycemia, Part 1

This week we begin a new Homerun Slides series covering Hypo and Hyperglycemia...

Self-monitoring Shows Significant Benefit for New Type 2's

A new study contradicts previous studies showing no benefit to self-monitoring for new type 2's, at least in the first year....

Bolus Calculation, Flexible Insulin Ups Diabetes Control

A structured course teaching the benefits of automated bolus calculator use and flexible intensive insulin therapy improves metabolic control and satisfaction in patients with type 1 diabetes....

Diabetes Patients Risk for Death Greatly Increases with Kidney Damage

Control of blood sugar and catching early signs of damage may help prevent advanced kidney disease and death....

Psychology in Diabetes Care, 2nd Ed., Part 11

Edited by Frank J. Snoek and T. Chas Skinner Diabetes in Adolescents

Should All Hospital Patients Have Blood Glucose Levels Tested?

The Endocrine Society released new clinical practice guidelines on the management of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients in a non-critical care setting....

Link between Bio-clock, Glucose Metabolism Found

Researchers at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the US found proteins that control the body's biological rhythms, known as cryptochromes also interact with metabolic switches that are targeted by certain anti-inflammatory...

United States of Diabetes Report

  You can use the information in this report to provide evidence for your ...

Editor's Note #65: Diabetes in Adolescents -- Familial Interventions

When we talk about adolescents and diabetes we usually spend a lot of time with the family as well as the patient. Too often the parents give commands rather than provide support so attempting successful management of glucose levels often...

Psychology in Diabetes Care, 2nd Ed., Part 10

Edited by Frank J. Snoek and T. Chas Skinner Diabetes in Adolescents

Diabetes Mellitus 101 for Medical Professionals, PART 2

In this week's set of Homerun Slides,...

Antibodies Hold Keys to Diabetes Breakthrough

A new diabetes study in the US is developing a diabetes treatment that could help tackle the disease, and not just the symptoms....

A Handful of Pistachios Can Decrease Glycemic Response

A couple of handfuls of pistachio nuts eaten with a high-glycemic meal such as pasta can do wonders for postprandial glucose and insulin levels, especially in people with metabolic syndrome....

ADA Warns against New Driving Restrictions for Diabetes Patients

ADA has warned against blanket driving restrictions, instead recommending individual assessment....

Editor's Note: New Homerun Slides on CVD

Over the past weeks we have shared some great slides on Advanced Glycation End-products, and there's a lot linking these...

Strict Glycemic Control May Not Help Kidney Patients

Both tight glycemic control and poor glycemic control are associated with worse outcomes in diabetes patients with chronic kidney disease....

Glycemic Control Linked to Brain Function and Structure

An accelerated decline in brain function is an important risk that needs to be examined further in relation to glycemic control in older people with long-standing diabetes....

Insulin Combination Treats Low Blood Sugar in Diabetes Patients

A combination of two insulins reduced abnormally low blood sugar in diabetes patients....

Treating Fasting Glucose Reduces Cancer Progression

Researchers report that in a multidisciplinary study of 420 non-diabetic, breast and metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with targeted agents, lower levels of pretreatment fasting glucose were predictive of longer times to...

High Glucose Levels Raise Colon Cancer Risk in Women

Older women who have high levels of serum glucose are at increased risk for colorectal cancer....

In Diabetes with CKD, Moderate Glycemic Control May Be Ideal

In patients with diabetes and CKD, HbA1c targets that fall between 7% and 9% may be associated with decreased risk for adverse outcomes, whereas levels either above or below this range may increase this risk....

Individualized Management Can Improve Glycemic Control

A collaborative patient-centered approach might improve metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes who have a history of poor glycemic control....

Glucose Control May Not Reduce Risk of Heart Failure

For patients with type 2 diabetes, tight glycemic control does not reduce the risk of heart failure....

Diabetes Patients on Dialysis Do Better with Higher HbA1c

Researchers have discovered that the desirable range for HbA1c levels is higher for diabetic patients on dialysis than guidelines recommend for the general diabetic population....

Asthma and Diabetes Don't Mix

Children who suffer from both asthma and diabetes have a tougher time controlling their blood glucose than kids who have diabetes without the respiratory problems....

Diabetes Disaster Averted #60: Helping Patients Decipher Nutrition Labels

I had a patient who came in for instruction on carbohydrate counting in order to dose his insulin based on his carbohydrate intake. I instructed him on the use of food lists and food labels. When the patient returned...

Formula for Converting A1c to eAG

  Converting your patients A1c result to their average blood glucose will give them a better understanding of their diabetes control. Most patients do not have a true understanding of what their A1c result means to their overall ...

Intensive Type 1 Diabetes Therapy Lowers Kidney Failure Risk by 50 Percent

Intensive therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus lowers the long-term risk for impaired glomerular filtration rate (GFR)....

Poor Glucose Control Ups Mortality in Diabetes Patients on Dialysis

Poor glycemic control, whether too high or too low, is associated with decreased survival in diabetic patients on hemodialysis....

Pig Transplant Boosts Diabetes Hopes

A pig's pancreatic islets were transplanted into a diabetic monkey which was then administered a newly developed immune-regulating antibody. As a result, the monkey's blood-sugar level was automatically controlled without any rejection,...

Tight Glycemic Control Won't Cut Diabetes Patients' Heart Failure Risk

Intensive blood glucose control won't reduce the risk of heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes -- and tight control using a thiazolidinedione may actually increase the risk....

Lower Glycemic Goals Reduces Prevalence of Retinopathy in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes

Tighter control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes lowers the prevalence of retinopathy....

Incretins, Part 3 of 7

This week we continue our six part series on Incretins with Homerun Slides...

Pathophysiology in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes: Newer Agents, Part 4

This week we continue with Part 4 of our series of Homerun Slides on...

Editor's Note: Anti-inflammatory Steroids and "Hypoglycemia"

There has been a shortage of methylprednisolone and prednisone dose packs available in pharmacies lately and this week's Disaster Averted deals with what happens when patients get their anti-inflammatory steroids in a bottle instead of...

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Study #13: Gestational Diabetes

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Diabetes Disaster Averted #42: Anti-inflammatory Steroids and "Hypoglycemia"

I recently had a 55 year old gentleman who started experiencing severely low glucose readings and called me on the phone. We went over his food, his activity and his diabetes medications and all seemed correct....

Editor's Note: The Value of Glucagon Kits; Retinopathy Homerun Slides; and Fear of Insulin

Many times our patients get a Glucagon Kit when they start on insulin and since most patients are taught to only use the injection if they are unconscious, they never use it. However, in this week's Diabetes Disaster Averted, the use of part...

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Study #12: Psychological Issues and Quality of Life

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath Mrs. MJ was referred to a diabetes centre by her GP....

To Stretch or Not to Stretch with Diabetes?

By Sheri Colberg,...

Worst Cocktails for Blood Sugar - Handout

  Do you know how your favorite libation ranks? Which are the...

Letter from the Editor: ADA Preview

Airfares are at an astronomical level this year, hotels in San Diego cost more to stay in than the national debt of most major countries, and we know that many of you can't get away for 4 or 5 days anyway to attend...

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Study #9: Mrs. MS

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Study #8: Mr. TE

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Study #5: Mrs. AV

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Studies, Part 3

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Studies, Part 2

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath

Diabetes Disaster Averted #31: Injection Site Technique

I saw an obese long-term person with Type 2 diabetes who was experiencing widely fluctuating BGs and had had two hospitalizations within the previous six months, one for a BG of 28mg dl and one for an infested hair follicle (BG 413 mg/dl in...

Editor's Note: New Text Case Study, the Right Syringe, and More

A few weeks ago an endocrinologist that I work with let me look at an article he had cut from a medical journal: the gist of the article was how the use of instant references on handheld devices and tablet computers was hurting the clinical...

Managing Clinical Problems in Diabetes, Case Studies, Part 1

Edited by Trisha Dunning AM, RN, MEd, PhD, CDE, FRCNA and Glenn Ward MBBS, BSc, DPhil (Oxon), FRACP, FRCPath Th

How to Best Manage and Prevent Exercise Low Blood Sugars

  By Sheri Colberg, PhD

What is Your Quality of Life Number?

What is a 6% A1c? What does it mean? How does it...

Editor's Note:

This week Steve finishes up his Homerun Slides on the Cost-Effectiveness of Treatment Strategies for Comorbid Diabetes and Dyslipidemia, by showing how Shared Medical Appointments can actually improve care. SMA's definitely are the...

Cost-Effectiveness Strategies, Part 3

The ACE/AACE road map for the achievement of...

Letter from the Editor: New Partnership with ISMP and Glucocard Vital Meter

For almost 11 years Steve and I have been sending you this newsletter, trying each week to make an impact on diabetes care with the hope that the information we are communicating is beneficial to you. During this time we have leveraged our...

Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit

New Toolkit for Community Health Workers to Educate People...

Letter from the Editor: Not Getting Caught Up in the Numbers and an Investigation into rhGH

Our first item, Predicting Diabetes: Using the Fasting Glucose, A1c, or OGTT, this week looks at the best way to diagnose diabetes...

Tool for your Practice: QuickChek™ Record Book

QuickChek™ Record Book Blood glucose...

Handheld Applications for Diabetes Management

by Janine Manning, PharmD Candidate LECOM School of Pharmacy   New technological advances over the past decade have led to extraordinary changes for those living with diabetes. Technology has allowed us to go from...

Tool for Your Practice: A1c to mg/dL Conversion Chart

A1c to mg/dL Conversion Chart New more accurate formula used to convert A1c to average blood glucose. Provide this chart to your patients so they can convert their A1c results to an average blood glucose.

A Life of Control: Stories of Living with Diabetes

by Alan L. Graber, Anne W. Brown, Kathleen Wolff 

Are Exercise-Induced Low Blood Sugars Making You Fat?

Tool for your Practice: QuickCheck™ pdf

QuickCheck™ (pdf) - Nipro Diagnostics Blood glucose monitoring only has...

Diabetes Microvascular Complications, Part 2

The exact mechanism of extracellular matrix accumulation and...

A Year of Diabetes Research 2010

Prevention, therapy and complications are the keystones for diabetes research. It would be impossible to cover all of the developments in just one feature. So here is a brief summary of some of the best for 2010.

Diagnosis and Management of Type 2 Diabetes, 10th Edition, Ch 13-Pt 4

Assessment of the Treatment Regimen, Part 4

Letter from the Editor:

This week we have an article about the use of glycated albumin for monitoring fluctuating and poorly controlled Type 2 diabetic patients. The authors...

Diagnosis and Management of Type 2 Diabetes, 10th Edition, Ch 13-Pt 3

Assessment of the Treatment Regimen, Part 3

Insulin Resistance, Part 2: Inflammation Markers

Plasminogen is an acute phase protein and precursor to plasmin, which...

Tool for Your Practice: Challenges and Opportunities to Control Diabetes

Challenges and Opportunities to Control Diabetes This new report,...

Editor's Note: Balancing Weight Loss and Glucose Control

Weight loss and glucose control-- the Holy Grail of diabetes care. We see it over and over again. Obesity often leads to diabetes and then the battle begins: get the weight down, keep the A1c down, be more aggressive managing both and reduce the...

Diagnosis and Management of Type 2 Diabetes, 10th Edition, Ch 11-Pt 2

Pramlintide Therapy

Glycemic Disorders Part 2

Blood glucose levels can be evaluated using one of several measures: random...

Homeostatic Model Assessment

Each and...

Diabetes Disaster Averted #4: Patient Query Helps to Catch Dosing Error

I was working as a diabetes nurse in a hospital when a patient I was seeing asked me to find out why she experienced two recent hypoglycemic episodes. She came into the hospital...

Diabetes Therapy in the Elderly

Letter from the Editor: Getting A1c Strips, Jumpstarting Your Metabolism

This week there is a lot of focus on glucose monitoring. We have a new study showing the value of vigilant monitoring to successfully manage glycemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes, and Pamela Kushner, MD, has the results of a study...

Screening for Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes

Patients who...

Diabetes Disaster Averted #2: Insulin Pump Mystery

"One of our pump-using patients reported a sudden increase in blood glucose lasting several days. No ketones were present, but the blood glucose was chronically elevated (300 mg/dl plus). Changing infusion sets didn't fix it. Rotating to a...

Managing Type 2 Diabetes: Balancing HbA1c and Body Weight

Annie A. Mavian, DO; Stephan Miller, PhD; and Robert R. Henry, MD Abstract: Most patients with type 2 diabetes present with comorbid overweight or obesity. Reaching and maintaining acceptable glycemic control is more difficult in...

How to Obtain Appropriate Type 2 Diabetes Control in the First 180 Days of Treatment Initiation

Louis Kuritzky, MD; Benjamin J. Epstein, PharmD, BCPS; and Frank Lavernia, MD Abstract: Good control of diabetes provides meaningful microvascular risk reduction; yet, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus commonly languish at...

Hyperglycemic Emergencies

Lana Kravarusic Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate, University of Florida 

Intermittent High-Intensity Exercise: Higher Now, Lower Later?

  By

Bayer's DIDGET(TM) Blood Glucose Meter

Reviewed by Dave Joffe, CDE, FACA. Editor-in-Chief  

Bayer's CONTOUR® USB Blood Glucose Monitoring System

Reviewed by Dave Joffe, CDE, FACA, Editor-in-Chief and Alexander Brown, PharmD Candidate Florida, A & M...

Essential Oils for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes

Ivory A. Gordon, Pharm.D....

Testosterone Gel Improves Diabetes in Men with Low Levels

News from the British Endocrine Society meeting  MANCHESTER, England -- Topical testosterone replacement reduced insulin resistance and glycated hemoglobin in men who were deficient in the hormone and at ...

How to Easily Reap the Health Benefits of Physical Activity

By

It's as Easy as 1-2-3 Injections a Day -- Or Is It?

  Dave Joffe, BSPharm, ...

The Weight Loss Plan for Beating Diabetes

The 5-Step Program That Removes Metabolic Roadblocks, Sheds Pounds Safely, and Reverses Prediabetes and Diabetes

Five Things Every Person with Diabetes Should Know About Exercise

   by

Effective Dietary Practices of Active People with Diabetes: Part 2 (Supplementing with Carbohydrates)

Effective Dietary Practices of Active People with Diabetes: Part 2 (Supplementing with...

Effective Dietary Practices of Active People with Diabetes: Part 1 (Importance of Carbohydrates)

By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D.,FACSM As a physically...

Glucose Targets Are the Least of Your Worries

Last week at The American College of Physicians Internal Medicine 2009 Conference everyone in hospital medicine seemed excited about inpatient glucose control. The NICE-SUGAR study drove interest and in a session on Friday morning Dr. Gregory A....

Using the A1c Test to Diagnosis Diabetes

We do a fasting and it looks good, we do a 2 hour glucose test and it is fine but then the A1c comes back at 7%: does the patient have diabetes or not? Randie R. Little, Associate Professor University of Missouri, Director Diabetes Diagnostic...

Insulin Use and Exercise, Part 1: Faster and Intermediate-Acting Insulins

When you don’t have diabetes and you start any activity, your body increases the release of glucose-raising hormones to prevent falls in your blood glucose levels. At the same time, your pancreas releases less insulin during exercise. But...

Abbott Finds the Answer and it’s the Cat’s Meow

Timing is everything. This week, dLife talks about pets and diabetes and David Kliff, Publisher of Diabetic Investor, has found out that a major meter company is going to take over the market. Click here to read Abbott Finds the Answer and...

Preventing Hypoglycemia During and After Exercise

Last time Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM, gave us tips on how to deal with Exercise-Induced Hypoglycemia, this week she takes it a step further by teaching us how to Prevent Hypoglycemia During and After Exercise.

Dealing with Exercise-Induced Hypoglycemia

Too often our patients who are very active start to decrease their participation in sports and other physical endeavors. Frequently, this is because they are experiencing hypoglycemia and have no idea how to prevent this from happening. Sheri...

Seniors in 'Gap' cut back Medicines

Pharmacists are always telling me that patients don’t fill prescriptions when they hit the doughnut hole in Medicare Part D coverage. This week Yuting Zhang, Assistant Professor Of Health Economics at Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health,...

New Test For Diagnosis of Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes

The ADA and other organizations will be announcing the guidelines on how to use the A1c test to diagnose diabetes. The test that has been used by most doctors is the fasting blood glucose test. The problem with the fasting blood glucose is that...

Exercise and Hypoglycemia: Their Effect on Hormonal Responses

Often our patients with diabetes have unexplained hypoglycemia and there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why. Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM has the latest research on what happens to cause this. Read Exercise and Hypoglycemia: Their Effect on...

The Glucose – CVD Connection: The Search For The Missing Link

There is a new study out trying to show the link between intensive glycemic control and reductions, if any, in cardiovascular endpoints. The VA Diabetes Trial of 1,800 patients, showed like other, larger trials recently published, that there was no...

How Training Affects the Fuels Your Body Uses and Insulin Action

Last week I was on the phone with Rick Philbin, from Animas. Rick is a type one patient who is also active in DESA. A few years ago we crowned Rick the world’s most fit diabetes sales rep. When you check out his insulin use it is almost...

Timing of Exercise and Your Insulin Levels

Timing of Exercise and Your Insulin Levels By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM, is a must read for everyone. Not only does this feature apply to insulin dependent patients, but the information is for all patients whether they have diabetes or not.

Tai Chi for Diabetes

Dr. Paul Lam, is a practicing physician and Tai Chi master. He has written a new book “Tai Chi for Diabetes” and our current intern Irene Lelekis, Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate University of Florida College of Pharmacy, has experienced...

Diabetic Athlete’s Handbook: Your guide to peak performance

Sheri Colberg Ph.D. has written a new book based on her experiences as an athlete and diabetes patient. The Diabetic...

Why Your Body Always Uses Carbohydrate during Exercise

We seem to spend so much time with our overweight Type 2 patients that we forget about the patients that seem to be doing everything right. They eat right, they exercise and they still have problems. Dr. Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM works with these...

“Because The Light’s Better Here!”

Why Focusing On Intensive Glucose Control With Drugs Alone Is Counterproductive

Diabetes and Pregnancy: Twice as important

Pregnancy is a wondrous and exciting time. It’s a time of change, both physically and emotionally. With the proper attention and prenatal medical care, most women with diabetes can enjoy their pregnancies and welcome a healthy baby into their lives.