Do Byetta and Victoza Help You Lose Weight?

written by Michael O’Leary

Dr. Tina Vilsboll

If like many people, a component of your type 2 diabetes is being overweight, then the new class of drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, may help you lose more weight than older oral drugs for controlling blood sugar.

That’s the conclusion of a new study that analyzed the data from 25 trials involving 6,411 patients conducted over the last seven years.  The first GLP-1 drug to receive FDA approval was Byetta^®, which is injected twice daily into the abdomen, thigh or shoulder an hour before breakfast and dinner. Victoza^® is a long-acting GLP-1 agonist injected once daily. Bydureon^® is a once-a-week injection formula of Byetta. (Published site)

Low-blood sugar episodes linked to higher survival

January 9th, 2012

written by Michael O’Leary

Dr. Elizabeth Seaquist

Adults with type 2 diabetes who maintain intensive blood sugar control experience more low-blood sugar events than similar people with diabetes who maintain their blood sugar in the standard target range, but they also have a slightly lower risk of dying.

That is the result of an analysis of 10,096 people who participated in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study, led by Dr. Elizabeth Seaquist, of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

The results reported by HealthDay News on the DoctorsLounge website were published in the Dec. 16 Diabetes Care.
(Published site)

January 3rd, 2012 

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

written by Michael O’Leary

People with type 2 diabetes who control their blood glucose with metformin are more likely to be deficient in vitamin B12 than those who don’t use metformin.

That’s the finding of a survey of more than 8,000 adults, 6,867 of whom have type 2 diabetes conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey results appear online Dec. 16 in the journalDiabetes Care.

The survey involved U.S. adults 50 years or older, and included 1,621 people without diabetes and 6,867 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants had to have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after age 30 and had not started insulin therapy within a year of being diagnosed. Vitamin B12 deficiency was defined as concentrations of the vitamin in the blood below 148 pmol/L, and borderline deficiency was between 148 and 221 pmol/L. (Published site)