Diabetes

High doses of the antidepressants citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Cipralex, Lexapro) do not appear to carry greater risk of sudden cardiac death than comparable doses of other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, according to a new study.

The initiative comes as consumers move away from soda toward healthier beverages. Pepsi, in particular, has seen declining sales, and voters in several US cities will decide on soda taxes on November 8, 2016.

Researchers say more work is needed to create calculators that predict fracture risk in individual patients with diabetes.

A patient may be aware of the complications that could arise from a lack of adherence with a chronic disease like diabetes, but education is not enough to change a patient’s lifestyle, explained Scott Breidbart, MD, MBA, chief clinical officer of EmblemHealth.

This week, the top stories in managed care included HHS releasing the final rule for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, a commentary on the downside of drug coupons, and the World Health Organization called on countries to enact a soda tax.

Rates of liver cancer have steadily climbed alongside rising rates of obesity and diabetes, leading researchers to investigate links among the conditions.

Gaining too much weight during pregnancy can bring serious health consequences.

The authors aimed to examine whether participation in Medicare managed care, compared with fee-for-service, has any effects on racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes care and healthcare expenditures among older adults.

The pay-for-performance deal comes as Januvia faces increased competition from newer drug classes, especially SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists.

A study from Tufts University School of Medicine found that at age 10, obesity rates among children on the autism spectrum are not that much higher than children outside the spectrum, but rates diverge sharply as children get older.

The study found that in diabetic mice, a common sweetener appears to travel straight to the liver, where it causes fat to accumulate.

The findings are consistent with earlier work that show how soda companies spend heavily to promote their brands and thwart efforts to regulate or tax their products to address diabetes or obesity.

Despite concerns, the use of telehealth visits does not have a significant impact on the overall budget, explained Kristen McGovern, JD, partner at Sirona Strategies. In fact, a recent study found that using telehealth services decreased costs over the long term.

Health is improving around the world, but 7 out of 10 deaths are now due to noncommunicable diseases, like stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and drug use disorders, according to a special issue of The Lancet.

This week, the top managed care stories included conference coverage from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 2016 Nexus, Bill Clinton courted controversy when discussing the Affordable Care Act, and research finds fear of a job loss can increase the risk of diabetes.

A short online test evaluates respondents’ health status to determine their risk of having prediabetes. However, some doctors worry that too many people will fall into the high-risk category, contributing to an overuse of resources.

It is well known that the current A1C test could be more accurate. A group of researchers at Harvard believes they have found a way to personalize the test.

While the researchers found a "modest risk" of diabetes associated with job insecurity, they said it pointed to the need for policies that promoted job stability and better wages.

Despite a name derived from the Greek terms for "self-eating," autophagy is not harmful; rather, it is essential for insulin secretion.

The Jackson Heart Study continues to yield insights about the nature of cardiovascular disease in minority populations.

According to the CDC, the majority of deaths from the flu occur in people over age 65.

The uptick in BMI among professional baseball players coincides with the steroid era, although there were also advances in nutrition and training that could explain weight gain.

The Abbott system allows physicians to gather up to 14 days' worth of glucose data without the patient having to interact with any device, or even calibrate it.

The company's announcement notably does not use the term "artificial pancreas," although the technology is a considerably more significant advance from the 530G threshold suspend device of 2013. When the description "artificial pancreas" was attached to that product, the term was met with howls of protest from the type 1 diabetes community.

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.