Diabetes is a disease that affects the way your body uses food. Normally, your body converts sugars, starches and other foods into a form of sugar called glucose. Your body uses glucose for fuel. The cells receive the glucose through the bloodstream. They then use insulin (a hormone made by the pancreas) to absorb the glucose, convert it into energy, and either use it or store it for later use.

Many times we get rushed when working with our diabetes patients and try to squeeze in too much in a 12-minute appointment. This means either things get overlooked or our patients are confused. Based on this, it is important to take advantage of the whole patient care team, especially when …

Female 43 years of age. Type 1 diabetes/insulin resistant, hyperglycemia, increasing insulin to manage glucose, but not covering well. Increasing appetite and gaining weight. GLP-1 (Victoza) added at 1/2 recommended start dose for people who have type 2 diabetes, which is 0.6mg, so patient started at 0.3mg daily. Patient started having hypoglycemic reactions, most often postprandially and nocturnally.

In part 2 of this Exclusive Interview about the new diabetes classification, Dr. Stanley Schwartz explains the necessity of treating beta cell dysfunction even as early as prediabetes, but also needing health organizations to agree on the early use of certain treatments.

In this week's Homerun Slides, strategies and new models of care for each of the team members for the purpose of improving outcomes for older T2 patients.

Beta-cell mass and function: beta-cell mass can be accurately evaluated only through autopsy studies. Complex in vivo tests aiming at measuring maximal secretory capacity combining different stimuli have been proposed as an alternative. However, their ability to discriminate between defects in function and mass, as well as their feasibility, is a matter of debate. As thoroughly reviewed by Robertson, the acute response to an i.v. glucose bolus in normoglycemic subjects and the acute response to an i.v. arginine bolus in hyperglycemic subjects do correlate with beta-cell mass.

In issue 162, published in June 2004, we had an item from the BMJ touting a polypill that could reduce heart attack and strokes in 80% of all people over 55 who had some sort of vascular problem. This pill had 6 drugs, including: a cholesterol-lowering statin; three blood-pressure medications; folic acid; …

In a controlled trial, 600 overweight and obese people with prediabetes were given metformin.

What is the best strategy to target LDL-C levels and improve cardiovascular outcomes?

What are the benefits of dapagliflozin for type 1 when added to an insulin-liraglutide regimen?