Diabetes

Whether it’s the high cost of insulin or the question of when to start combination therapy, the new issue of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management, a publication of The American Journal of Managed Care, covers up-to-the-minute topics in this special issue on therapeutics. Editor-in-chief Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, leads off this issue featuring voices of providers, pharmaceutical leaders, payers, and patients.

The new guideline comes as FDA weighs an advisory panel recommendation for CGM dosing, which many see as a first step toward Medicare coverage.

A series of papers in The Lancet highlights how city planning and urban design can prevent chronic diseases and create healthier and more sustainable cities.

Fitbits and other trackers are everywhere, but the study by JAMA finds that they may not help users with sustained weight loss, which has long eluded researchers.

While Omada Health’s Prevent program is designed for individuals with prediabetes, it can be adapted to patients who already have diabetes, because the program is built on behavior change and modification, explained Mike Payne, MBA, MSci, former chief healthcare development officer at Omada Health.

While declining smoking rates have caused cardiovascular disease to decline overall, some risk factors are rising, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.

The study in BMJ found that people with the FTO gene were just as likely to lose weight through interventions, such as diet, exercise, or therapy.

This study conducted a cost-benefit analysis of appointment-based medication synchronization for improving adherence in patients on chronic medications for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes.

For some patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, skipping metformin monotherapy and going straight to fixed-dose combinations with a DPP-4 inhibitor or an SGLT2 inhibitor makes sense, evidence shows.

Given the growing prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and its contribution to cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular outcomes trials should aim to be more representative of the average patient with T2D.

While obesity is a known risk factor in gestational diabetes, women who were obese and also were depressed when they became pregnant were at greater risk of gestational diabetes than those who did not have depression.

Evidence has been accumulating that links irregular sleep with chronic disease, but today is the first time the American Heart Association has issued a statement on the topic.

Officials say the company will file with FDA some time in the third quarter of 2016 to begin the approval process for the novel delivery system that brings a continuous, microscopic dose of exenatide to patients with type 2 diabetes.

Results for Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide were reported today at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. A filing for FDA approval is expected before the end of the year.

The report showed a strong connection between states with high rates of inactivity and those with the highest rates of obesity.

The current issue of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management explores studies and patient access issues surrounding this closely watched inhaled insulin.

Gaining access to Afrezza can mean battling with an insurer to cover it. Sometimes the first hurdle is getting a doctor to write a prescription, according to those who've been through the process.

Professor R. Keith Campbell, MBA, BPharm, CDE, now retired from Washington State University College of Pharmacy, highlights the clinical advantages of Afrezza based on the evidence as well as his personal perspective.

The suit doesn't address whether soda taxes have any effect on obesity or public health, but instead hinges on finer points of Pennsylvania tax law and its constitution.

Pfizer and Merck plan to file new drug applications with FDA for the SGLT2 inhibitor by the end of the year. One combination would pair ertugliflozin with Januvia, the blockbuster DPP-4 inhibitor.

The authors said this is the first study to examine antihypertension nonadherence down to the county level. Recommendations include greater use of combination therapy to reduce pill counts for patients with multiple chronic conditions, and synchronizing pharmacy visits to avoid multiple trips.

While the report found that the obesity rate among service members had gone up steadily since 2001, it was still only a fraction of the rate among the US population overall.

The trial showed use of the flash glucose monitoring system dramatically reduced the number of finger sticks while significantly reducing hypoglycemia, including at night.

What we're reading, September 12, 2016: Hillary Clinton's health is being called into question as her campaign confirms she has pneumonia; responders who helped during the 9/11 terrorist attacks may be sick and not know it; and Sanofi and Google team up for a diabetes venture.

Scott Breidbart, MD, MBA, chief clinical officer of EmblemHealth, explained that paying patients for adherence could be efficient when the payment initiatives are targeted towards members who have not shown to be adherent; however, he added that there are several limitations in paying for adherence, including the sustainability of the system and whether it will incentivize patients who are adherent to stop taking their medications.