Facts

West Virginia Is the Most Heavily Medicated American State: According to Forbes, West Virgina has the highest prescription drug use of any U.S. state. Citizens of the Mountain State filled 18.4 prescriptions per person last year, compared with a national per-capita rate of 11.6 prescriptions. The other states that made …

Medicare to Cover Smoking Cessation: Good news for seniors who want to quit smoking: Medicare will now cover tobacco cessation counseling. Previously, Medicare only covered smoking cessation counseling if a recipient had already been diagnosed with a tobacco-related disease or showed symptoms of such a disease. All Medicare beneficiaries already …

Roche Diabetes Care Highlights Infusion-site Management with Awareness Week: One of the many challenges for people with Type 1 diabetes is management of the infusion site, the place where a needle or plastic tube is inserted under the skin for administering insulin. Management of the infusion site involves choosing, cleaning …

Cashew Extract May Combat Diabetes: New research reveals that an extract of cashew seeds may help fight diabetes. In a series of test-tube experiments, scientists found that cashew seed extract helped muscle cells to absorb blood sugar. According to the study’s authors, this finding suggests that cashew seed extract could …

Alcohol Consumption and Retinopathy — Visual Acuity: The association between alcohol consumption and diabetic retinopathy and deterioration of visual acuity in individuals with Type 2 diabetes was studied. In a cohort analysis of 1,239 participants with Type 2 diabetes aged 55-81 years enrolled in the AdRem study, a sub-study of …

FDA Approves a 3-in-1 Combination Hypertension Drug: The drug Tribenzor is approved as a once-daily treatment for hypertension which combines olmesartan medoxomil, amlodipine, and hydrochlorothiazide in a single tablet. Tribenzor is approved for patients who are not adequately controlled on any two of the following antihypertensive drug classes: angiotensin receptor …

(CGMS) Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Dogs: A researcher is using a continuous glucose-monitoring device — commonly used in humans with diabetes — to help treat dogs and other animals. “Our research has found that continuous glucose monitoring devices can be used in dogs, cats, cows and horses,” said University of …

New Potential Indicator of Pre-Diabetes/Type 2 Diabetes: An investigation led by Sean H. Adams at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Center in Davis, CA, underscores the potential of natural compounds in the body, known as "fatty acylcarnitines," to serve as diabetes biomarkers. The scientists determined this after searching for telltale …

Healthy Weight, Rather Than Fitness, Most Important for Preventing High Blood Pressure: Individuals who have a healthy body weight are more likely than those who are physically fit to have lower blood pressure, according to the results of a new study. In a comparison of fitness vs fatness, body mass …

Improved Blood Sugar Control Linked to Cashew Seed Extract: Adding cashew seed extract to one’s diet may help lower diabetes risk, according to published findings. This is because compounds in cashew seeds have been found to improve the body’s response to insulin. The results of the trial showed that only …