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New Disetronic Pumps Offer Power Of Choice
A comparison of pump features is impressive. The currently available H-Tron comes as two pumps per customer, the Dahedi is smaller than any other pump currently available in the US, and the new D-Tron will be thinner, tapered and slightly larger than the H-Tron with value added features. Some D-Tron features are a patented pressure sensor capable of detecting leaks and occlusions, a standard IR port that allows data to be easily downloaded or uploaded between pump and PC, and vibration and audio notifications. See our indepth discussion of Today's Pumps, and a full comparison of Pump Models available, see
Type 2 Diabetes Is SeriousType 2 diabetes was often referred to as "borderline diabetes," "mild diabetes" or "a touch of diabetes" in the past. These out-of-date terms stand for an-out-of date idea--that Type 2 diabetes is not a serious disease. Some time spent in a endocrinologist's waiting room will show anyone that people who have had Type 2 diabetes for awhile do not consider it a trivial disease. Unfortunately, the Public Citizen watch group, in a press release dated March 7, describes Type 2 as a less severe disease than Type 1 because patients don't require insulin. They go on to warn the public about taking diabetes drugs called glitazones. Richard A Dickey, MD, FACP, FACE, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) responds to Public Citizen's comments by saying that their attitude about Type 2 "could do irreparable harm to our efforts to successfully treat patients with diabetes and prevent serious complications of the disease." He further disagrees with their position by saying that "many Type 2 patients also in fact, require insulin for control. The Public Citizen release stating otherwise is patently wrong and is unfair to patients who can benefit from these drugs or who are already benefiting from one of the glitazones, including troglitazone (Rezulin), rosiglitazone (Avandia), and pioglitazone (Actos).`` Dickey states that physicians have a duty to disclose possible side effects to their patients. A prescribing physician is aware of any side effects because they are included in the FDA-approved package insert. The benefits of using a drug must always be weighed against the risk of even remote side effects and discussed with the participant so that using a drug is decided together. "The strong statements made by Public Citizen appear to have been inappropriately alarmist,'' Dr. Dickey observed. AACE encourages patients with diabetes to ask their physician about any side effects and any reason why they should discontinue the use of glitazones. The risk of taking the glitazones is not the same for each of these drugs. Rezulin appears to have a higher risk to benefit ratio than the other glitazone. It has caused liver damage and 61 deaths to date in among the well over 1,000,000 people who have received a prescription. AACE is dedicated to the best care of patients with endocrine problems, which includes diabetes. For further information on diabetes and other endocrine disorders, PATIENTS FIRST, or AACE guidelines, visit the AACE web site.
Natural Sweetener Stimulates Insulin ProductionA natural sweetener used for centuries by Indians in Paraguay and Brazil to treat diabetes has now been shown to stimulate insulin production in mice. How it does this is not understood. The sweetener, stevioside or stevia, and one of its components, steviol, were found to enhance insulin secretion from incubated mouse islet cells when glucose levels were raised. The amount of insulin produced was dependent on the amount of glucose. To see if stevioside and steviol also affected beta cells, INS-1 cells were examined. These two sweeteners also enhanced insulin production from these beta cells. The conclusion tentatively drawn from this research reported in the journal Metabolism is that stevioside and steviol may have potential for use as a diabetes drug to lower high blood sugars in people with Type 2 diabetes.
Danger: Herbal Diabetes ProductsThe FDA and the California Department of Health Services are warning people with diabetes to avoid at least five Chinese herbal diabetes products. Claiming to have only Chinese herbal ingredients, the products were actually found to contain various amounts of glyburide, a prescription medication also known as Micronase or Diabeta, or more ominously phenformin, which was removed by the FDA from the U.S. market in the 1960's after it was linked to several deaths from lactic acidosis. Both drugs lower the blood sugar in people with diabetes. Users of these products may be exposed to dangerously high levels of these prescription drugs, especially if they are already using them as prescription medications. The FDA began investigating the ingredients in these products after a person with diabetes suffered a low blood sugar from consuming one of them. Consumers are advised to return the herbal products to the place of purchase for refund, or to dispose of them. In addition, if users are experiencing low blood sugar symptoms like fatigue, excessive hunger, profuse sweating or numbness of the extremities, they should seek medical advice immediately. California officials and the FDA are working to stop the flow of the products into the US and to prohibit the sale of them. The products are sold by phone, mail order, or over the Internet. The dangerous products are sold as Diabetes Hypoglucose Capsules, Pearl Hypoglycemic Capsules, Tongyi Tang Diabetes Angel Pearl Hypoglycemic Capsules, Tongyi Tang Diabetes Angel Hypoglycemic Capsules, and Zhen Qi Capsules.
Computer Program Improves Diabetes CareManaging For Tomorrow, a low-cost, computer-assisted diabetes program, improves diabetes control, according to results of a study just completed. The Regence BlueShield of Idaho study followed 2,295 participants from 6,464 targeted members. Participants were typical of the diabetes population in the United States and include members with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. They ranged in age from 4 to 98, but the average age was 60. The program, developed by ProMedex Inc. and managed for Regence BlueShield of Idaho, improves diabetes care via the Internet and other means. It uses motivation, feedback and case management and starts with a comprehensive survey of the participant by telephone or over the Internet. Then it measures people's current HbA1c values with a home sampling kit. It provides them the results, and educates them about desired values and how to reach them. The health care providers are informed of their patients' results and reminded of the American Diabetes Association Standards of Care that sets a target of 7% or less for the HbA1c. The data collected by Regence BlueShield of Idaho shows an increase in the percentage of participants who had this test done in the past year from fewer than 40% to 64%. Similarly participants who knew what their HbA1c value increased from 28% to 47%. Most importantly, HbA1c readings dropped from an average of 8.2% to 7.5%, showing that the Managing for Tomorrow program improves the care of a typical diabetes population. The program is available to approximately 220,000 people with diabetes in the United States through Regence BlueShield of Idaho and is also available to other managed care insurers.
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