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)

Should People With Type 2 Diabetes Get Hepatitis B Vaccine?

December 30, 2011 

written by Michael O’Leary

Adults 23 to 59 with type 2 diabetes are about twice as likely to develop hepatitis B, compared to people without diabetes.

Citing that result from an accumulation of data monitored by the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the agency issued a recommendation that all unvaccinated adults under 60 with diabetes should get vaccinated for hepatitis B.

As reported by MedPage Today the CDC published its findings and recommendation in the Dec. 23, issue ofMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Link to published site)

Thirty Minutes of Exercise Per Week May Help Type 2 Diabetes

December 20, 2011 

Jonathan Little

written by Michael O’Leary

Can’t do 150 minutes of exercise per week? Maybe 30 minutes of intense training each week can help control your type 2 diabetes.

If you have type 2 diabetes and find it hard to fit in the 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week recommended by the American Diabetes Association, there may be a way to get as much benefit from 30 minutes a week, a small new study suggests.

Led by Jonathan Little, of the Departments of Kinesiology and of Pediatrics and Medicine at McMaster University, Ontario, the researchers found that six high-intensity training sessions totaling only 30 minutes per week for two weeks rapidly reduced high blood sugar and increased the capacity of skeletal muscles to use oxygen. (Link to published site)

Dapagliflozin maintains HbA1c control as companies seek to bolster case for approval

December 19, 2011

written by Michael O’Leary

Dr. Krzysztof Strojek

Adding dapagliflozin to glimepiride (Amaryl®) maintained reductions of blood sugar levels over nearly six months, in an extension of a study that had already shown that the combination of type-2 diabetes drugs was better than either drug alone.

The Polish study, extended to add data to the case for FDA approval of dapagliflozin by AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb, was presented at the Diabetes Federation World Diabetes Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates this past week. (Link to published site)

Omega-3 margarine may reduce second heart attack risk for type 2 diabetes

December 16, 2011 

written by Michael O’Leary

If you have diabetes, the margarine you use may reduce your risk of a heart attack, a Dutch study shows.

A group of men diagnosed with diabetes who added margarine with Omega-3 fatty acids to their diets after having heart attacks experienced an 84 percent reduction in abnormal heart rhythms after their heart attacks compared to similar patients who did not add the fortified margarine to their diets. (Link to published site)