Rudy Bilous MD, FRCP Richard Donnelly MD, PHD, FRCP, FRACP   The most common cause of type 1 diabetes (over 90% of cases) is T cell-mediated autoimmune destruction of the islet beta cells leading to a failure of insulin production. The exact aetiology is complex and still imperfectly understood. However, it …

  In this week’s Homerun Slides, we begin a series which Dr. Stanley Schwartz presented at the 2014 ADA Scientific Sessions, where he outlined some of the problems with the current diabetes classification system. This first section discusses the definition of LADA and shows how diabetes diagnosis characteristics frequently overlap….

Diabetes is a huge and growing problem, and the costs to society are high and escalating. In South and Central America, the number of people with diabetes will increase by 60% by 2035. The Top 5 countries for prevalence are: Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and El Salvador. To …

SUDOSCAN: Early Identification of Peripheral Autonomic Neuropathies  SUDOSCAN+ is a test that provides an accurate evaluation of sweat gland function focusing on small nerve fibers within the peripheral nervous system innervating the sweat glands. SUDOSCAN+ measures the ability of the sweat glands to release chloride ions in response to an …

Diabetes Drug Empagliflozin (Jardiance- SGLT-2) Wins FDA Approval. More news in next week’s issue. GSK’s Tanzeum (GLP-1 agonist) is now available in pharmacies in the U.S.

Women who ate 5 grams daily of green-plant membranes purified from spinach lost more weight and had fewer urges to eat unhealthy foods than did those given a placebo, Swedish researchers reported. Women who consumed green-plant membranes also had higher secretions of the satiety hormone GLP-1. Green-plant membranes slow fat …

Xultophy, a type 2 diabetes candidate, received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee. Xultophy is a once-daily single injection combination of insulin degludec and liraglutide. The CHMP recommended the approval of Xultophy for the treatment of adults suffering from type 2 diabetes in combination with glucose-lowering oral …

An analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says replacing full-calorie foods and drinks with those using lower-calorie sweeteners resulted in modest improvements in BMI. The findings suggest that using lower-calorie sweeteners may boost adherence to weight-management initiatives. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2014 

Low-carbohydrate diets should be the first line of attack for treatment of type 2 diabetes, and should be used in conjunction with insulin in those with type 1 diabetes…. Conducted by a consortium of 26 physicians and nutrition researchers, the study suggests the need for a reappraisal of dietary guidelines due to the …

New review of the pathogenetic and therapeutic implications shows that both diseases share similar complications….