All week long we’ve heard politicians, lobbyists and radio personalities weigh in with their opinions on a national health care system. It seems like the public option idea is what is driving the most discussions and debate. It also seems to me that maybe they should ask the people who …

Novartis receives FDA approval for Valturna®, a single-pill combination of valsartan and aliskiren, to treat high blood pressure. Valturna combines in a single pill valsartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker, with aliskiren, the only approved direct renin inhibitor. Valturna is the first therapy to target two points within the renin angiotensin …

  By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM     Arm and Shoulder Injuries The most common problems affecting the arms and shoulders are carpal tunnel syndrome (wrist), tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), rotator cuff tendinitis in the shoulder, and frozen shoulder (i.e., adhesive capsulitis). Most, but not all, involve tendinitis, which occurs …

Getting Started with Insulin (pdf) This handout includes practical tips your patients can use to successfully begin insulin therapy. Print this out and go over it with your patients who are new to insulin. Getting Started with Insulin (pdf)

Thirty percent of US public have hypertension, much of which is due to excessive sodium intake. One of the first studies to estimate the economic benefits of lowering sodium consumption among the US public has found that $18 billion in healthcare costs for hypertension could be saved every year if …

Weight Loss is Good for the Kidneys: Losing weight may preserve kidney function in obese people with kidney disease, according to a study. The findings indicate that taking off the pounds could be an important step kidney disease patients can take to protect their health. Weight loss can improve a …

More Money Spent on Diabetes Meds than on Any Other Condition: The Diabetes UK Center claimed that the increase was being pushed up by younger people developing Type 2 diabetes and being prescribed insulin to manage their condition. A spokeswoman for the center stated that, “Type 2 is increasing in …

B12 Deficiency in Diabetes: Although metformin use and advanced age are associated with vitamin B12 deficiency and often present in Type 2 diabetic patients, the prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency in the diabetic population is unknown. So in a cross sectional study of 203 outpatient Type 2’s they looked at B12 …

The Faustman Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, run by Denise L. Faustman, MD, PhD, is moving rapidly through the clinical trial challenge to test and possibly establish a vaccine using a generic drug, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to reverse Type 1 diabetes. 

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) today announced a partnership that will expand counseling options for patients while offering community pharmacies a path to be compensated by Medicare and other insurers for diabetes management.