Letter From The Editor

Have you ever had your patients tell you that they only eat small servings and they are never hungry? I find it interesting that obese patients will suddenly swear that they are eating less just because we tell them to. They had to have had that message over and over …

The research is unclear on whether diabetes increases the risk of bad infections or bad infections cause worsening glucose levels. I think that both are true but, regardless of your opinion, the important things are to treat aggressively and try to prevent them from occurring in the first place. This …

It is amazing how things have changed in the way we work with diabetes patients. In the office this week I was seeing some patients for individual counseling, and as we were talking about food choices I kept hearing one comment over and over: “This is not what they taught …

"Heloderma suspectum" is the buzz phrase this week. It turns out that he is a cousin of Martin, the green lizard of Geico fame, and was the first reptile to make using incretins in diabetes therapy possible. This class has changed the ideas we previously had about diabetes management and …

It is time to get out your wallets and take out the big bills that you have hiding in the back. Why do you need to do this? Because the cost of poor diabetes care is growing larger every day. For years we have known that patients with diabetes cost more …

About a year ago one of my pharmacist colleagues called me and was complaining about his blood glucose levels. At the age of 37 he had developed diabetes and was placed on metformin. His glucose improved and he went on a wellness program. After three months he had not lost …

It has been two years since the first SGLT-2 inhibitor, canaglifozin, was approved by the FDA. Since that approval, two more drugs in this class have been approved and the acceptance and use by medical professionals has widened. The mechanism of this class is unique as it works directly on …

The most frequently asked questions in our diabetes classes have to do with drinking sodas. This usually occurs when we are talking about carbohydrate counting. The comments made usually revolves around artificial sweeteners and cancer or that using artificial sweeteners makes you crave more sugar. The first one seems to be …

Last week in our main newsletter we shared our latest one-page handout for helping diabetes patient with food recommendations. Many of you commented on the numbers we chose and how we proposed to get there. This week our Clinical Text looks at how controlling the macronutrient, carbohydrates, can improve glucose …

Thirty grams of protein seems to be the magic number for breakfast as seen in this week’s Item #1, when we are talking about improving glucose levels and weight. This study goes along with others that point to to the need for high protein breakfasts for all our patients. Four …