Editor’s Note, DCMS #210

This past weekend I was in Lexington, Kentucky to visit my father and sisters. While I was there, I saw a commercial for a heart institute and they mentioned that heart disease was the number one killer in America today. I would have to agree that many people die of heart attacks and stroke, but think they are missing the cause of all these heart-related deaths, that being diabetes. I asked our resident endocrinologist, Stanley Schwartz, MD, if he had any reflections on this idea and he came back with a slide series that looks at diabetes through a cardiologist’s eyes, and points to the need for aggressive therapy up front. In this week’s Mastery in Minutes video, you can also watch a short excerpt of a recent interview with Dr. Schwartz discussing this approach to treatment and the success he’s had treating his patients.

Our Clinical Text links perfectly with these slides and video interview as our authors look at the way that complications form in diabetes patients, and why the younger the age that our patients get diabetes the more aggressive we have to work to prevent and treat these complications.

With the new iPhone 6 the quality of apps such as Skype and FaceTime has increased, and now it is possible to feel like you are in the same room with your chat buddy. But what about the idea of using Skype or FaceTime to help your patients with the mechanics of diabetes? Our Disaster Averted looks at the use of these internet communicators and how we can make a difference.