Mar 21st, 2023 - After major shortages of semaglutide (Ozempic), the 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, and 1 mg doses are back on shelves. The 2 mg dose still has limited availability until the end of March. (Reuters) Prenatal exposure to phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia) under the drug's risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) program was significantly lower compared with other anti-obesity medications, but pregnancy test...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Social media and mainstream media websites are full of stories on the new wonder weight loss drug: Ozempic. Even Hollywood stars are talking about it.

Mar 20th, 2023 - Metformin may help cut the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) in those with type 2 diabetes, researchers reported. In a retrospective cohort study of nearly 21,000 adults with diabetes, those who were taking metformin saw a 24% lower risk for developing OA compared with those taking a sulfonylurea (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.76, 95% CI 0.68-0.85), according to Matthew Baker, MD, MS, of Stanford Uni...

Mar 20th, 2023 - Note that some links may require subscriptions. A Washington Post analysis suggests long COVID symptoms have become less common since the Omicron variant. Military pilots have higher rates of cancer, as do aircraft ground crews, a Pentagon study found. (AP via ABC News) Wyoming has become the first state to ban the use of pills for abortion. (New York Times) Meanwhile, South Carolina Republican...

Mar 16th, 2023 - Obesity experts offered practice pearls on managing obesity with semaglutide and tirzepatide at a recent conference convened by the Endocrine Society.1 Below are highlights on how these anti-obesity medications work, side effects, drug shortages, and barriers to uptake applicable to primary care providers and obesity specialists. 1. Semaglutide and tirzepatide work by suppressing the body’s com...

Although glycemic control is known to reduce complications associated with diabetes, it is an elusive goal for many patients who have the disease. This study aims to identify factors associated with sustained poor glycemic control, some glycemic variability, and wide glycemic variability among diabetes patients over 3 years.

The authors of this study set out to examine the lifetime prevalence rates of health care professionals giving low-fat diet advice to patients with diabetes. It was found that while many participants received low-fat dietary advice, almost one-third did not. Researchers concluded that increasing rates of diabetes are outpacing increases in provision of low-fat dietary advice.

Using Patient Profiles for Sustained Diabetes Management Among People With Type 2 Diabetes

Mar 16th, 2023 - Multiple types of beta cells produce insulin in the pancreas, helping to balance blood sugar levels. Losing a particularly productive type of beta cell may contribute to the development of diabetes, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. In the study, published March 16 in Nature Cell Biology, Dr. James Lo, associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, an...

Mar 16th, 2023 - LOS ANGELES — More than 37 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 90-95% have Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic condition where the body does not produce or effectively use insulin. A lack of insulin leads to raised blood glucose (sugar) levels, which can cause heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage and other severe complications. Keck Medicine of USC has launch...

Mar 15th, 2023 - Very young children with type 1 diabetes saw glycemic benefits when using a hybrid closed-loop system, the randomized PEDAP trial showed. Among 102 children ages 2 to 5 years, the mean percentage of time that the glucose level was within the target range increased by 12.4 percentage points with the closed-loop system -- also known as an artificial pancreas -- versus standard of care by week 13 ...

Mar 15th, 2023 - An artificial pancreas originally developed at the University of Virginia Center for Diabetes Technology improves blood sugar control in children ages 2 to 6 with type 1 diabetes, according to a new study. Details of the clinical study and its findings were just published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Trial participants using the artificial pancreas spent approximately thr...

Mar 14th, 2023 - Lung development in the fetus may be adversely affected by a mother’s gestational diabetes, based on data from in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo studies. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has recently been associated with fetal lung underdevelopment (FLUD) and delayed lung maturation that may lead to immediate respiratory distress in newborns and later chronic lung disease, Pengzheng Chen, PhD,.

Mar 14th, 2023 - The Biden administration proposed the first-ever limit on PFAS in drinking water. If finalized, the nationwide limit on the endocrine-disrupting chemicals PFOA and PFOS would be capped at 4 parts per trillion. (The Hill) Over the past 20 years, prevalence of metabolically healthy obesity significantly increased from 3% to 7%, according to National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. (...

Mar 14th, 2023 - A high blood caffeine level might curb the amount of body fat a person carries and their risk of type 2 diabetes, suggests research published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine. In light of their findings, the potential role of calorie free caffeinated drinks for lowering the risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes is probably now worth exploring, say the researchers. Previously published res...

Mar 13th, 2023 - Maternal hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection prior to pregnancy was significantly associated with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) in offspring, a retrospective cohort study from China showed. Compared with uninfected women, those with HBV infection before pregnancy had a higher risk of CHDs in offspring, with an adjusted relative risk ratio (aRR) of 1.23 (95% CI 1.02-1.49), reported Ying Yang, P...

Mar 12th, 2023 - Eli Lilly & Co.'s announcement that it is slashing prices for its major insulin products could make life easier for some diabetes patients while easing pressure on Big Pharma. It also casts light on the profiteering methods of the drug industry's price mediators -- the pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) -- at a time when Congress has shifted its focus to them. Insulin has come to embody the perve...

Mar 8th, 2023 - Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be at an increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases. The results of this systemic review and meta-analysis were published in JAMA Pediatrics. The investigators from Texas Tech University searched publication databases from inception through July 2022 for studies evaluating risk for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerot...

Mar 7th, 2023 - A wrist-worn sensor was able to catch high cardiac troponin I levels without drawing blood. (European Heart Journal - Digital Health) People reportedly on a ketogenic diet tended to have higher LDL cholesterol and incident heart disease recorded in the U.K. Biobank, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology conference. Investigational oral PCSK9 inhibitor MK-0616 mana...

Mar 7th, 2023 - BOSTON – New research led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of Mass General Brigham (MGB), indicates that socioeconomic and genetic factors likely interact in an additive way to affect people’s risks of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes. The findings, which are published in Diabetes Care, suggest that interventions to improve socioeconomic deprivat...