Editor’s Note, DCMS #224

Sometimes thinking out of the box really is necessary to find ways to help our patients. Rosalyn Sussman Yalow won a Nobel Prize for developing the radioimmunoassay technique that revolutionized drug molecule discovery. Her interest in unique compounds led her to order some gila monster saliva, and a few years later a young physician in her lab, John Eng, isolated the active ingredient that became known as exenatide. This same kind of out of the box thinking has led Dr. David Platt to develop a new compound known as BTI320, based on his work using polysaccharides to treat cancer. Our tireless publisher Steve Freed recently spent some time with Dr. Platt to see if he could guide us through his discovery phase.

Treating children and teens with diabetes has taken center stage as the number of new cases of type 2 diabetes in those aged 8-20 has exploded, and this week our Clinical Text focuses on the ways to treat these unique patients.

Dr. Schwartz continues to discuss why the heart drug Ranolazine is good for diabetes, and our Diabetes Disaster Averted is about how the trending arrows on a CGM can be more valuable than the numbers themselves.