Diabetes

Studies of the effect of diet soda on diabetes and obesity have produced mixed results.

A study of a pair of large databases shows a strong link between obesity and heart failure.

The results point to the need for more study on the effects of long-duration blood pressure treatment to prevent cognitive decline, especially in the highest risk patients.

The results from a wide-ranging public health effort in Howard County, Maryland, show a decline in sugary beverage consumption nearly on par with early results from Berkeley, California, which passed the nation's first soda tax.

A new wearable medical device helped patients replace a stress response that is lost for those with type 2 diabetes.

Three of the 4 cities to pass taxes on soda are in Northern California, not far from Berkeley, which passed the nation's first soda tax in 2014.

The findings come as epidemiologists have noted rising rates of liver cancer amid falling rates of cancer generally.

A spokesman for The Obesity Society said that lack of payer coverage for obesity may discourage physicians from recording body mass index and making a formal diagnosis.

Patient-centered medical homes may improve the performance of process measures of care for patients with type 2 diabetes, including glycated hemoglobin tests, cholesterol tests, foot examination, dilated eye examination, flu vaccination, and adherence to oral hypoglycemic agents during 1 year of follow-up.

CMS' decision to pay for the Diabetes Prevention Program marks a shift in payment models from one that originally only paid for the screening and treatment of diabetes to one that now weighs prevention just as seriously in diabetes care, Mike Payne, MBA, MSci, chief healthcare development officer at Omada Health.

This week, the top stories in managed care included the new Physicians' Fee Schedule released by CMS, a focus on a ballot question in California regarding drug spending, and Patient-Centered Oncology Care announced keynote speaker Roy Beveridge, MD.

Prices rising for the same drug across multiple pharmaceutical companies might be the result of collusion, according to a letter sent to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission from Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Representative Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.

The study identifies a potential drug target to treat diabetes.

The Affordable Care Act called for making it easier for practices to pursue models like collaborative care by allowing physicians to bill for it.

The program has been shown to reduce by 58% the likelihood of progressing to type 2 diabetes. Reimbursement details are still being worked out, but CMS clarified that Medicare patients will not be subject to cost-sharing.

The WalletHub scores examine overall obesity rates, health indicators such as diabetes and cholesterol, and habits such as fruit and vegetable consumption.

The annual campaign from the American Diabetes Association raises awareness of the public health crisis that is diabetes and the people living with the disease.

Part of the reluctance to reimburse for telemedicine is that policy makers aren’t aware of the wide range of evidence that currently exists and supports increasing reimbursement for telemedicine, said Kristen McGovern, JD, partner at Sirona Strategies.

The updated position statement comes after a wave of recent research linking long periods of sedentary activity with poor health outcomes.

The connection between soda consumption and rising rates of diabetes and obesity has been well established. The World Health Organization has called for soda taxes and marketing limits, especially for advertising aimed at children.

The findings highlight the need for collaborative care, which has support in the proposed 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

A new study suggests pollution particles could set into motion events like heart attacks and strokes years before they occur.

Ralph McDade, PhD, Myriad RBM's president, explained earlier this year how the precision medicine approach, pioneered in oncology, was finding its way into the cardiovascular arena, and that it could ultimately lead to develop of a risk panel that would make the ELIXA trial simpler and less costly.

While the link between stress and medication adherence is well known, this study attempted to measure how much stress affected adherence.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare and mainstream press.