Letter from the Editor #506

Recently there has been a great deal of attention placed on pharmacogenomics and how drugs will work with patients who have variants of different genes. Now this same gene variant testing may identify which patients are more likely to get diabetes. Recently an international team of researchers analyzed about 2.5 million gene variations from 21 genome-wide searches for differences associated with fasting insulin, insulin resistance and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas in more than 46,000 people without diabetes. This research identified 10 new genetic variants contributing to differences in glucose levels in more than 46,000 non-diabetic individuals of European ancestry. Five of these variants also contribute to risk for Type 2 diabetes.

At the same time researchers in the labs of Joslin Principal Investigator Rohit N. Kulkarni, M.D., Ph.D., and Anil Bhushan, Ph.D., at the University of California at Los Angeles, identified cyclin D2 as being particularly important to the replication of beta cells and this provides direct evidence in mice that cyclin D2 is needed for a successful response to a broad spectrum of insulin resistance, and may lead toward treatments for preventing and curing Type 2 diabetes.

While all this research is great, we actually have bigger concerns with the proper use of the medications we already have. In the February 2010 issue of Diabetes Care, researchers report that 57% of their participants omitted insulin injections. The study “Correlates of Insulin Injection Omission by Peyrot, et. al.” also indicated that 20% do it on a regular basis. To learn more about this and how it affects diabetes care read It’s As Easy As 1-2-3 Injections a Day — Or Is It?

While genomes, genes, testing and compliance may be very important for diabetes care now and in the future, Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM, thinks that activity and food choices are important right now. Check out what she thinks is the number one therapy for most of our patients by reading, Why We Need to Attack the Diabetes Problem with Lifestyle Changes — and Why We Need to Do It Now.

The TCOYD team will be in Augusta, Georgia, at the Augusta Conference and Health Fair, February 6. TCOYD is a not for profit organization dedicated to informing and empowering people with diabetes to become actively involved in their own health care.
For more 2010 upcoming conference details, please click here.

Free CE Programs

We now have 49 Free CE programs on diabetes, accredited for Nurses, Dietitians, Pharmacists, Physicians and Podiatrists: www.diabetesincontrol.com/cme

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Check out this week’s “Test Your Diabetes Knowledge” question.

Dave Joffe, Editor-in-chief