Letter From The Editor

Last November our intern Andre McMahon put together a good article on How the Liver Affects Insulin and Vice Versa: Part 1 Carbohydrate Metabolism with his insights into carbohydrate metabolism. This week he has Part 2, How Obesity and Lipid Metabolism play into how the Liver Affects Insulin and Vice Versa. …

One of the most often mentioned and least understood acronyms in diabetes is HOMA. We see this four letter abbreviation used in almost every diabetes study and evaluation but exactly what is HOMA or Homeostatic Model Assessment? This week one of our graduated interns Melanie Aganon, PharmD, delivers a practical explanation in …

Last week I asked all of you to contact your legislator about Senate Bill S1468 the Medicare Diabetes Self-Management Training Act of 2011 and the corresponding House of Representatives Bill HR2787. Not being one to ask you do do something that I wouldn’t I contacted my representatives about signing on …

We constantly talk to our diabetes patients about complications due to microvascular damage caused by elevated glucose levels. Nerve damage in the extremities and reduced kidney function are two we often speak about. However, only in recent years have we begun to understand the magnitude and implications of the association between …

This week we are sharing a plea from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) for medical professionals and diabetes patients to urge members of Congress to pass the National Diabetes Clinical Care Commission Act. This act calls for the the creation of a commission to identify gaps in care. (See …

It seems that every couple of weeks we are sharing new guidelines for treating problems related to diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and the like. Often times we get a chart and a paragraph, and are left on our own to figure things out. When it comes to sick-day care for diabetes …

Now that the sequestration has started, time alone will tell how much impact it will have on healthcare providers. We do know that according to CMS, Medicare incentive payments for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs) will suffer a 2% cut beginning April 1. This is in addition to …

Have you ever heard of the "lag effect" (and I don’t mean when you fall behind in a bike race)? This week our excerpt from Joslin’s Diabetes Deskbook looks at how best to manage glucose when our patients are working on improving their fitness. Our Homerun Slides provide easy-to-understand information on …

It seems like every day there is a new study that conflicts with the results released only a couple of days before. Over the past 3 months we have had 5 articles discussing whether diet drinks increase caloric intake, appetite and diabetes risk. The last article just a week ago looked …

This week we have an article on the gaps in knowledge and information that prescribers have when it comes to diabetes care. In addition to these gaps there is also a lot of information on the differences that prescribers have in relation to their fellow professionals. I think there is …