Prevention

Keep Your Waist Circumference to Less than Half Your Height

According to new research presented at a scientific meeting, waist to height ratio better is a better predictor of CVD and diabetes than BMI....

WHO Warns of Spread of High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Obesity

New health data provided the clearest evidence to date of the spread of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets there change....

New Two-Step Screening Measurement Useful in Predicting Diabetes

The study compared the usefulness of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), or both in predicting type 2 diabetes....

Can Eating Fast increase Risk of Diabetes?

In a preliminary study they found that eating too quickly can…. 

Doubts Over Long Term Effectiveness of Group Education for Diabetes Patients

A new study states that there are no long term benefits from type 2 diabetes group education programs....

Study Looks at Cost of Lowering HbA1c Cutoffs

In the low-cost intervention, the researchers determined that lowering the HbA1c cutoff from 6.0% to 5.9% would cost…. 

Caloric Restriction Linked to Reduced Inflammation Markers

For obese postmenopausal women, weight loss diet with or without exercise cuts inflammatory biomarkers....

Noncompliance Linked to Mortality in Diabetes

Insulin-treated patients with type 2 diabetes who are noncompliant with their medication or clinic appointments face increased all-cause mortality....

UCTV Prime: The Skinny on Obesity (video)

  Is sugar a toxin that's fueling the global obesity epidemic? That's the argument UCSF's Dr. Robert Lustig made ...

The Challenges for the Self-Management of Diabetes

  People with diabetes invest a lot of time and effort managing their condition including not only monitoring the level of sugar in their blood, organizing their medication and following a restrictive diet, but also social challenges ...

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....

Waist Measurements Can Be Linked with Lipids and Blood Pressure

The addition of waist measurements to BMI can help further stratify young individuals who might have abnormal lipid and blood-pressure values.... 

Metformin for Diabetes Prevention Is Safe, Well-Tolerated

Long-term treatment with metformin is safe for preventing or delaying the development of type 2 diabetes....

Peer Mentoring Helps Reduce A1c a Full Point

Talking with diabetic peers who've gotten their blood sugar under control helped other African-American diabetes patients bring down their own levels a full point, more than those who were offered $100 to reduce their A1c 1 point or even $200 to...

Doing So Little Exercise Can Have Such a Big Effect

  By Sheri R. Colberg, PhD For those of us who are ...

Know Your Numbers -- New! (Patient study guide)

There are so many numbers involved in managing diabetes, from your A1C to your cholesterol levels....

Lifestyle Counseling Dramatically Reduces Time to Reach Treatment Goals

Lifestyle counseling, practiced as part of routine care for people with diabetes, helps people more quickly lower blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and keep them under control....

Research Shows Inactivity Leads to Glucose Spikes

Active people saw their blood glucose rates jump after meals when they cut back on exercise for just three days....

Standing Up from Your Desk Every 30 Minutes Can Avoid Diabetes by 30%

Research has revealed that interrupting sitting time with short bouts of light exercise can lower glucose and insulin levels by as much as 30%....

New Nutrition Resource for Your Patients

  MyFoodAdvisor: Recipes for Healthy...

SPECIAL FEATURE: Readers Respond to Dr. Richard Kahn’s Statement: "Diabetes Prevention is a Waste of Resources"

For Dr. Kahn's comments and the Joslin Diabetes Center's response, see our article in last week's newsletter:

Fitness and Fatness Independently Linked with CVD Risk Factors

Maintaining or improving current fitness levels, as well as not packing on the fat pounds, are both independently associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and hypercholesterolemia in healthy...

Doctors Only Advise 1 in 3 People to Exercise

Only one in three people in the US say their doctor advised them to start exercising or continue doing so during an office visit over the course of a year....

Blood Dental Procedures Can Be Used to Screen for Diabetes

Oral blood samples drawn from deep pockets of periodontal inflammation can be used to measure hemoglobin A1c. Having dentists find those patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes and then referring them to their primary care doctor could have...

New Predictors May Determine Metabolic Risk in Kids on Atypicals

Two new studies from a team of investigators suggest two possible predictors for the development of metabolic syndrome in children prescribed second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs)....

Learning About Diabetes, Inc.

Free Handouts for medical professionals to give to their patients with diabetes.

Monthly Appointments Most Effective for Patients with Diabetes

Diabetes patients who receive regularly scheduled monthly care to learn how to improve their health have a more rapid recovery compared with similar patients who receive only sporadic healthcare visits....

The Three Key Features of High-Quality Primary Care

Americans with access to three key features of high-quality primary care have a lower risk of death....

Superior Diabetes Care Provided in Private Office Practices

Researchers found that residency clinics didn't deliver as much high-quality diabetes care as was found in private-practice physician offices....

Pharmacies Can Help Keep Diabetes Patients on Track

Having pharmacies blow the whistle when patients' diabetes medication adherence sagged was helpful in keeping them on the right track....

Diabetes Prevention Program Can Deliver Modest Weight Loss

The U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program conducted a clinical trial in 2002 showing that modest weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity reduced the incidence of diabetes in high-risk patients by...

Weight Loss Is Not The Answer for Preventing Diabetes

Richard Kahn, PhD, who was the chief scientific and medical officer of the ADA for nearly 25 years stated at a conference that, "Community-based weight-loss programs have not been shown to be effective at reducing the incidence of diabetes, so...

Difficult Patients Benefit from Team Approach

A team-based approach helps improve control of diabetes, coronary heart disease, and depression in the primary care setting by modifying both patient and physician behaviors....

Is Engaging in Intense Exercise for Less Time the Answer?

By Sheri Colberg,...

CDC: Hep B Vaccine Needed for Diabetic Adults

Diabetic adults should be vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV) as soon as possible after the diabetes diagnosis is made....

Early Childhood Factors Can Predict Adult Obesity

Childhood growth patterns, childhood obesity, maternal body mass index (BMI), and father's employment are probable early markers for adult obesity....

Cost of Diabetes Will Be $3.35 Trillion by 2020

The United States of Diabetes: New report shows half the country could have diabetes or prediabetes at a cost of $3.35 trillion by 2020....

Regular Teeth Cleanings Reduce Risk for Heart Attack and Stroke

Oral health may be more connected with cardiovascular health than previously realized....

United States of Diabetes Report

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

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....

Using Statins for Patients with Diabetes without CVD

For primary prevention in patients with diabetes without established cardiovascular disease, statin therapy could reduce the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, but not all-cause mortality....

ADA Warns against New Driving Restrictions for Diabetes Patients

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

Scientists Discover a New Treatment for Type 1 Diabetes

Scientists discover that the beta-cells need heparin sulphate to survive....

Letter from the Editor #605

Next week our patients will all be making their New Year's resolutions and weight loss will be one that many of them make. After a month of eating everything the holidays have to offer they will all be looking for the holy grail of weight...

Letter from the Editor - The Best of 2011

It's that time of year when we look back and see what we have accomplished. We feel very fortunate that we have been able to provide you with the best information to help you help your patients with diabetes. Our team has gone through over 900...

Ninety-two Percent of Obese Kids Have a Vitamin D Deficiency

Overweight kids have lower levels of vitamin D than their slimmer counterparts, regardless of season, sex, or race and ethnicity....

Flight and Fight Can Be Key to Weight Loss

Patients' activity in the sympathetic nervous system that controls the fight or flight response appears to predict how well they will do when trying to lose weight....

Less than a Minute a Day 'Keeps Diabetes Away'

Performing short cycle sprints three times a week could be enough to prevent and possibly treat type 2 diabetes....

Treating Prehypertension Reduces Risk of Stroke by 22 Percent

Patients with prehypertension who take blood pressure-lowering therapy have a highly statistically significant 22% reduced risk for stroke....

Editor's Note: AGEs, Errors and Teenagers

Over the past three issues we have focused on advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) -- how they are formed, what they can do, and why these compounds are detrimental to our patients' health. This week in our Homerun Slides, we are...

New Approach to Management of Overeating in Children

The published study describes two new methods for reducing overeating....

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...

Drinking Alcohol Tied to Lower Diabetes Risk by 30 Percent

Middle aged women who consume large amounts of refined carbohydrates might offset their risk of type II diabetes by drinking a moderate amount of alcohol....

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....

Family History Underused in Diabetes Prevention Efforts

Type 2 diabetes prevention programs aimed at high-risk individuals with a family history of the disease may underuse psychological and motivational strategies that emphasize genetic susceptibility....

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Staves Off CV Events in High-risk Patients with Diabetes

New data suggests that low-dose supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids may protect patients with diabetes and a history of myocardial infarction from ventricular arrhythmia-related events....

Calcium Score Predicts CVD Risk in Kidney Disease

In patients with CKD, coronary artery calcification predicted the risk of CVD events, especially in those with no history of it....

Resveratrol Improves Metabolism in Obese Men

Resveratrol, an ingredient found in red wine, may improve the health of obese men....

Commercial Disease Management Programs are Ineffective

Commercial disease management models did not reduce hospital admissions or emergency room visits, or result in cost savings in a study of nearly 250,000 Medicare patients....

FDA Recommends Vytorin for CVD Prevention in Predialysis CKD Patients

An FDA advisory committee has recommended unanimously that the ezetimibe-simvastatin combination pill (Vytorin) be approved for prevention of cardiovascular disease in CKD patients who are not on dialysis....

Banning Soda in Schools Doesn't Work

State bans on sugar-sweetened drinks in middle schools didn't have much impact on kids' overall consumption....

Exercise Impact Lessened Slightly by Metformin in Prediabetes

For men and women with prediabetes, insulin sensitivity increases to a similar extent with exercise training, metformin, or a combination of the two, with metformin impacting slightly on the effect of exercise....

Fiber Use in Teens Lowers Heart and Diabetes Risks

Teenagers who eat a lot of fiber-rich foods, such as vegetables and whole grains, are less likely to have risk factors for diabetes and heart disease....

Free Screenings Can Show One in Four Has Hidden Prediabetes or Diabetes

Free screening by trained volunteers can pick up cases of dysglycemia and other diabetic conditions in the general population....

Newborn Period Crucial Time Window to Prevent Later Diabetes

A new approach to prevent type 2 diabetes may be on the horizon. The use of exendin-4 in newborns may prevent diabetes later in life....

HBA1c Unreliable for Pediatric Screening

Hemoglobin A1c is not a reliable marker of dysglycemia in overweight or obese children and adolescents....

Diabetes Patients Have Double the Risk for Hepatitis B Infection

The CDC held a hearing on a recommendation that patients with diabetes receive immunization with the hepatitis B vaccine....

An "IRA" for Health Dividends

Losing weight in midlife pays huge dividends later in life....

A Neighborhood's Affluence May Be Linked to Residents' Risk of Diabetes

Moving to a better area can reduce patients' risk for diabetes....

Using Muffins to Diagnose Diabetes

The "muffin test" -- an alternative to the oral glucose tolerance test for detecting impaired glucose tolerance....

Even a Low Level of Physical Activity Helps Cut Mortality Risk in Metabolic Syndrome

For individuals with metabolic syndrome, physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular causes....

Diabetes Medication Compliance a Major U.S. Issue

We need to do a better job. Research by the New England Healthcare Institute shows that patients who don't take their medications as prescribed, cost the U.S. health care system an estimated $290 billion in avoidable medical spending each...

Three Questions Show Type 2 Diabetes Risk

A simple, three-item instrument may be enough to accurately identify those individuals who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes in the next five years....

Behavioral and Educational Interventions Effective for Patients with Poorly Controlled Diabetes

All participants showed glycemic improvement but the structured behavioral group showed greater improvements compared to the other two treatment groups....

Reducing A1c Just 0.5% Leads to a 10% Reduction in CVD Events

Even small changes in A1c and BP could significantly reduce the risk of CVD complications in people with type 2 diabetes....

Frequent Office Visits Improve Outcomes for Patients with Diabetes

Visiting a primary care clinician every two weeks was associated with greater control of blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels among patients with diabetes....

Interactive Mobile App Teaches People How to Manage Diabetes

A new interactive mobile phone app called DiabetesIQ, released this week, challenges people to test their knowledge of diabetes and to compete with one another as they learn about the complexities of the disease....

EASD: Thorough Chewing Raises Hormones Regulating Food Intake

Thorough chewing stimulates the release of 2 intestinal peptides that reduce appetite and food intake in obese individuals, according to the results of a study....

EASD: Elevated Glucose Appears Years before Diabetes Diagnosis

  In patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, elevations in blood levels of glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) can be seen as much as 10 years prior to diagnosis....

Multiple Lifestyle Factors Contribute to Diabetes Risk

Collectively, lifestyle factors, including not smoking, regular physical activity, healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption, and normal body weight, are associated with a substantially decreased risk of developing diabetes, according to...

How Long a Person Is Overweight May Decide their Diabetes Risk

Being obese might up the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, but the true risk factors may lie in how much someone is overweight and how long they've been that way. This is crucial information because we are seeing more obesity in young...

Optimal Range of HbA1c for the Prediction of Future Diabetes

An HbA1c cut-point of 5.7% is a suitable value for predicting future diabetes. It is reasonable to consider an HbA1c range of 5.7-6.4% as a category of increased risk for diabetes, similar to an IFG or IGT....

Start Obesity Screening as Early as Age 2

Screening children as young as 2 years for obesity may be more successful in weight control and preventing metabolic abnormalities than waiting until they are older....

Weight Loss through Cutting Calories Results Less than Expected

Common rules of thumb exaggerate how much weight people will lose from a given dietary calorie reduction, leading to unrealistic expectations and disappointment, researchers said....

Swimming in the Dead Sea Lowers Blood Sugars

Swimming in the salty water could improve the medical condition of diabetes patients, according to new Israeli study....

Pharmacy Coaching Program Improves Diabetes and Hypertension

An innovative pharmacy coaching program from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio has helped a number of patients better manage diabetes and hypertension....

Best Diagnostic Test to Predict Heart Attack Risk

The presence of calcium in coronary arteries is a much better predictor of heart attack and stroke than C-reactive protein among people with normal levels of LDL cholesterol, according to this study....

Moderate Exercise for 15 Minutes Daily Improves Survival 14 Percent

The minimal amount of physical activity to reduce mortality risk is 15 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise, according to the results of a prospective cohort study. Each additional 15 minutes was associated with a further reduction...

Value of Intensive Treatment for Early Diabetes Questioned

When early type 2 diabetes is detected by screening, intensive management doesn't seem to cut the risk of certain complications later on, a Danish study indicates....

Lifestyle Changes Prevents Diabetes in Nonobese with Elevated Fasting Glucose

A lifestyle-modification program aimed at changes in diet and increased activity levels seemed to significantly cut the risk of type 2 diabetes that was primarily "overweight" rather than obese and that had elevated fasting glucose levels...

High Dairy Intake in Teens May Reduce Diabetes Risk by 38 Percent

New research has shown eating plenty of dairy foods as a teenager may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes during adulthood....

Two Steps to Predict Future Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

A 2-step model helps predict future risk for type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a validation study....

Earlier Nephrology Interventions Don't Result in Lower Mortality Rates

Patients approaching end-stage renal disease are increasingly receiving the nephrology consultation they need before initiating kidney dialysis; however, the trend has surprisingly not resulted in an improvement in mortality rates,...

"Swamp Gas" Protects Blood Vessels from Complications of Diabetes

Hydrogen Sulfide,a foul-smelling gas with an odor resembling that of rotten eggs and sometimes called "swamp gas," is generally associated with decaying vegetation, sewers and noxious industrial emissions. As strange as...

More Muscle Mass Knocks Out Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes

Having more muscle mass can protect against insulin resistance and prediabetes, no matter overall body size, researchers said....

New Technology Helps Patients Manage Diabetes

An interactive computer software program appears to be effective in helping patients manage their Type 2 diabetes using their mobile phones, according to a new study....

Sweetened Drinks Boost Heart Disease Risk

Beverages sweetened with fructose or high-fructose corn syrup can worsen cardiovascular risk factors, even in the young and healthy, researchers have found....

Don't Let Your Scale Weight Get You Down

  By Sheri Colberg, PhD   Most of the f...

How to Use a Mini Dose of Glucagon (pdf)

When your child with diabetes is sick and cannot keep food down, his or her blood glucose can drop quickly....

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...

Young Adults Want a Medical Home, National Survey Finds

by Daniel Schultz, PharmD Candidate UF College of Pharmacy   In spite of perceptions that they consider themselves young and invincible, a recent poll by the American Academy of Family...

One Reason Patients Don't Follow Doctors' Orders: The Emotional Barriers to Weight Loss

  by Tricia Greaves, President,...

Diabetes Info from the CDC on Diabetes and Pre-diabetes

Data sources, methods and references for estimates of diabetes and pre-diabetes to use for...

Letter from the Editor: New Reports, Starbuck's Trenta and the Need for More Clinicians

New reports over the past couple of weeks tell a lot about our health. First it was 1 in 3 Americans have either prediabetes or diabetes and then we got news that over 50% of us are either obese or overweight. Last ...

Tool for your Practice: National Diabetes Alert Day

Tuesday March 22nd is National Diabetes Alert Day Assisting...

Letter from the Editor: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you from all of us here at Diabetes In Control. This is the time of year that most of our patients get back to taking care of themselves. They have put away the decorations and wrapping paper, finished off...

Insulin Resistance, Part 3: Metabolic Markers

Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived protein that plays an important...

Tool for Your Practice: It's Not Too Late To Prevent Diabetes

It's Not Too Late To Prevent Diabetes

Letter from the Editor: U-500 Errors and 50 Ways to Prevent Diabetes

Next time the song lyrics, "Just slip out the back, Jack, Make a new plan, Stan, You don't need to be coy, Roy, Just get yourself free," from the Paul Simon song "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" pop up in your head, why not substitute, "Snack on a...

Engaging Patients with Technology for Sustained Behavior Change

Neal Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H.  Today, more than at any other time in our history, the general population of the U.S. is addicted to sugar, salt, fat, and inactivity. While these addictions are dangerous for the general public, ...

Essential Oils for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes

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

Get Your Kids Moving, Too

Oprah's Outpouring: A Bittersweet Commentary on Responses to Her Diabetes Show

Theresa Garnero, APRN, BC-ADM, MSN,...

Preventing Medication Errors

Institute for Safe Medication Practices

Why We Need to Attack the Diabetes Problem with Lifestyle Changes -- and Why We Need to Do It Now

By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM

Get Involved with the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan in 2010

By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D. How many of your...

HIV-infected patients are at an increased risk for developing Diabetes

More and more patients with HIV are controlling their disease well. When viral loads are under control, patients often are seen by clinicians for other problems. Diabetes seems to be one of those problems that get a lot of attention. My current...

Risks for Drug Induced Pancreatitis

With all the press lately about the incretin mimetics and pancreatitis our current intern, Jennifer Webb, PharmD Candidate, FAMU has taken a look at the facts, and compared the chances of pancreatitis among classes of drugs and how the risk of...