Diabetes In Control. A free weekly diabetes newsletter for Medical Professionals. News and information for Medical Professionals.
Letter from the Editor
While driving from Palm Harbor to St. Petersburg last week I was looking at the proliferation of digital billboards. It seems like there were more of them on the 35 mile drive than Best Buy had TVs on display.
The cool thing about these is that about every 25 seconds you get a whole new commercial on a giant screen. I have also noticed that the ads were reflective of the destinations of the traffic.
While closer to Palm Harbor, there were multiple ads for plastic surgery, face lifts, butt lifts and breast lifts. The number of cool sculpting places also caught my eye. As I drove further south the ads changed to bariatric surgery with lap band, gastric sleeve and gastric bypass.
Most of the “patients” didn’t look like they needed the surgery, or maybe they were just “after” pictures. As I got to St. Petersburg I saw a couple of the billboards were touting gastric surgery to reverse diabetes.
I asked our LECOM PharmD Candidate Ghazal Blair to check to see if this could be true. Learn what she found out by clicking on her feature “Can Weight Surgery Cause Remission of Type 2 Diabetes?“
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We can make a difference!
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Dave Joffe
Editor-in-chief
News Flash: Alexa Gets HIPAA
Amazon has announced that Alexa is now using six new HIPAA-compliant skills, meaning the software can securely transmit patient information. The new skills allow patients to schedule appointments, find urgent care centers, receive updates from their care providers, access their latest blood sugar reading, and check the status of their prescriptions. It even offer tips on how to better manage diabetes.
TOP STORIES — Diabetes News and Research
Combination treatment can help improve glucose levels in patients with elevated HbA1Cs.
User-friendly devices help increase use by patients.
Gastric bypass surgery is not only for treating obesity.
Fact: Acetaminophen Can Increase Risk of Stroke for Patients Who Have Type 2
Most everyone takes acetaminophen for minor aches and pains. But from a current study, we now know that it may not be that safe to recommend for adults with type 2 diabetes. So, just how safe is acetaminophen for patients with type 2 diabetes? In a current published study in the March 26th Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers discovered that acetaminophen may increase the risk of stroke for older adults with diabetes. Philippe Gerard, MD, Gérontopôle, Centre Hospitalo–Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France, and colleagues used information from the IQUARE study, which relied on two different questionnaires completed online by nursing home staffers. The researchers looked at deaths, myocardial infarctions (MIs), and strokes that took place during the 18-month study period. Of the 5,429 participants in the study, 3,190 were not taking acetaminophen and 2,239 were taking acetaminophen. Participants were about 86 years of age and 74% were women. The researchers reported that acetaminophen did not affect the number of MIs and did not increase in overall deaths. The number of strokes was about the same in both groups — about 5% in the acetaminophen group and 4% among those who did not take acetaminophen. However, in participants who had diabetes, there was a significantly higher risk for stroke among people who took acetaminophen (hazard ratio = 3.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-8.18; P = .0157). The researchers concluded that acetaminophen is a safe first choice in pain management for most older adults but should be considered with a bit more caution for older adults with diabetes.
Reference: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jgs.15861
Quote of the Week!
“Only the mediocre are always at their best.”
…Jean Giraudoux
Diabetes in Control gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following pharmacy doctoral candidates in the preparation of this week’s newsletter:
Dahlia Elimairi, Pharm D student UC Denver Skaggs School of Pharmacy
Ghazal Blair, Pharm.D. Candidate 2019, LECOM School of Pharmacy
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