January 9, 2018 : DCMS #379

DISASTERS AVERTED — Near Miss Case Studies

That Time of Year Again: What’s Right For Me?

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — Candid Video Interviews with Top Practitioners

Ray Kausik Part 2, PCSK9 Effect On HDL Goal Levels

HOMERUN SLIDES — Great Clinical Presentation Highlights

Framework for Understanding DM Part 3

CLINICAL GEMS — The Best from Diabetes Texts

International Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus, 4th Ed., Excerpt #107: Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Part 5

MOST POPULAR ARTICLES OF THE MONTH

#1 A Summary of ADA’s New 2018 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes
#2 Type 1 Cured in Mice
#3 Are You Staying Informed With New Diabetes Treatments?

Almost 100 years ago, researchers figured out that the failure of the beta cells of the pancreas led to diabetes. It was more than 25 years later when we first made the distinction between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In the next 15 years we discovered a medicine that made the beta cells work better.

As research has progressed to the present day, we have added multiple drugs that affect diabetes but are not about replacing insulin. This gave most of us the opinion that there were other organs that we needed to take care of.

This week in part 3 of our homerun slides, Dr. Stanley Schwartz discusses how these medications also affect the beta cells, and how they actually help preserve function.

Dave Joffe

Editor-in-chief

As a CDE who specializes in obesity medicine and diabetes, I hear many patients with either or both diagnoses say they are ready to get a “new start.” It’s not unusual for patients to change the medications, or even stop the medications, we have agreed on for them, and their numbers go up.

In part 2 of this Exclusive Interview, Dr. Ray Kausik talks with Diabetes in Control Publisher Steve Freed during the ADA 2017 convention in San Diego, CA about the impact of PCSK9 inhibitor on cholesterol.

In this week’s Homerun Slides, defining the extent of beta cell loss.

Glucose-lowering agents: Metformin is a biguanide that has been used worldwide for more than 50 years for the treatment of T2DM although its exact mechanism of action remains incompletely understood. It decreases hepatic glucose production and improves insulin sensitivity at the level of the liver, and to a lesser extent, muscle. Metformin has been reported to reduce plasma aminotransferase levels in patients with NAFLD. Early small studies suggested that metformin improved hepatic steatosis, necro-inflammation and/or fibrosis in patients with NASH, but not in more recent and better controlled clinical trials.

Comprehensive recommendations feature notable new recommendations for people with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Ralph DeFronzo and his researchers at UT Health at San Antonio announced that they have cured type 1 diabetes.

Poll finds less than half of health care professionals aware of newest drug up for FDA approval.