Diabetes drug costs soaring, top $12B last year

news.yahoo.com — Americans with diabetes nearly doubled their spending on drugs for the disease in just six years, with the bill last year climbing to an eye-popping $12.5 billion. Newer, more costly drugs are driving the increase, said researchers, despite a lack of strong evidence for the new drugs' greater benefits and safety. And there are more people being treated for diabetes. The new study follows updated treatment advice for Type 2 diabetes, issued last week. In those recommendations, an expert panel told doctors to use older, cheaper drugs first. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Gestational Diabetes Risk Higher for Asian-White Couples

health.msn.com — Couples made up of one Asian and one white partner may face an increased risk of gestational diabetes and a higher risk of Caesarean delivery, say researchers at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine. In a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers looked at data from white, Asian, and Asian-white couples who delivered at the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services at Packard Children's from 2000 to 2005. During that time, 5,575 white, 3,226 Asian, and 868 Asian-white couples delivered babies at the hospital. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Mexico pushes national campaign to lose weight

news.yahoo.com — Abraham Leon was getting a checkup when he found out he had high blood pressure and was at risk of developing diabetes. On the spot, the 5-foot-6-inch, 240-pound lab researcher joined "Vamos Por Un Million de Kilos" (Let's Lose a Million Kilos), a national campaign to get Mexicans to collectively trim about 2 million pounds. The project is one of several new efforts to fight obesity in Mexico, which is on track to catch up with the United States within a decade as one of the world's fattest countries, according to the Mexican government. Nearly half of Mexico's 110 million people are overweight, and the number of fat children has climbed 8 percent a year over the last decade. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Painkiller May Prevent Diabetes-Related Retinal Damage

health.msn.com — The painkiller pentazocine may help prevent diabetes-related retinal damage that leads to vision loss, according to Medical College of Georgia researchers. "The effects of this drug on retinal health are phenomenal," Dr. Sylvia Smith, a retinal cell biologist and co-director of the Vision Discovery Institute at MCG's School of Medicine, said in a college news release. For the study, she compared the retinas of diabetic mice treated with pentazocine and those that didn't receive the drug and found dramatic differences. The findings suggest that the drug and related compounds that bind with the sigma receptor in the eye may help treat the two leading causes of vision loss -- diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Gastric bypass anatomy leads to diabetes control

news.yahoo.com — The rapid and substantial control of diabetes seen after gastric bypass surgery is due, at least in part, to the intestinal rearrangement involved in the procedure, the results of an animal study suggest. Besides removing a substantial portion of the stomach, gastric bypass also attaches the output of the stomach to the lower intestines. The lower portion of the gut usually produces little glucose, but because of the direct input from the stomach it increases its production, French researchers report in the research journal Cell Metabolism. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Lilly Diabetes Drug Shows a Life-Extending Promise

nytimes.com — Byetta, an injectable drug that lowers blood sugar, may help people with diabetes to live longer, according to the results of a major clinical trial. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

The One Drink Women Should Avoid

healthy.net — Women who want to lower their risk of developing diabetes type II, the ‘lifestyle’ disease, should eat plenty of fruit and green, leafy vegetables – but there’s one drink they must avoid. Researchers have discovered that fruit juices may increase the risk of diabetes, especially among women. Research team leader Dr Lydia A. Bazzano of Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine said that juices have a high sugar load that is easily absorbed by the body. But women who eat three servings a day of fruit had an 18 per cent reduced risk of diabetes, while a single serving a day of leafy green vegetables lowered the chances by nine per cent. However, one drink of fruit juice every day increased the chances of diabetes by 18 per cent. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0

Percentage of Americans with Diabetes Is on the Rise

healthnews.com — The constant bombardment by the media (and our parents) about the benefits of healthy food and exercise seems to be falling on deaf ears, as Americans' incidence of diabetes continues to rise. While not all diabetes can be prevented or controlled through diet or exercise, it certainly could help a good portion of the 3 million Americans who became a diabetic within the last two years, increasing the national total to an estimated 24 million people. According to information just released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this accounts for nearly 8 percent of the American population. read more...

add a comment | category: Diabetes | Views: 0