Category Archives: Drugs for Diabetes

Dr. Richard Bernstein Not a Fan of Insulin Pumps

Posted on July 17, 2013 | 5 comments

Click for details at DiabetesHealth. Dr. Bernstein is a type 1 diabetic and one of the first users of a home blood glucose monitor. He’s most famous for recommending very-low-carb eating for folks with diabetes, in his book Diabetes Solution. An excerpt from DiabetesHealth:

I spent a month in a major insulin pump center and saw several things. Many of the female patients seemed to have wings on their sides where the pump tubing was inserted and they got lipohypertrophy [overgrown fat tissue] from localized injections, but that was the least of it. None of them actually had remotely normal blood sugars.

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Posted in Drugs for Diabetes

Tagged diabetes, Dr. Richard Bernstein, insulin pumps

It’s Time For New Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines

Posted on June 15, 2013 | Comments Off

…from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. I haven’t digested them yet, but didn’t want you to have to wait for that. Keep in mind they’re written for healthcare providers, so they may be difficult to understand.

Overweight and obesity are addressed without mention of specific diet recommendations.

You’ll find a nice table summarizing diabetes drugs and their effects on weight and various organ systems. It even includes the brand new SGLT2 inhibitor.

A New York Times opinion piece by a doctor injects a note of caution. Were the guidelines unduly influenced by Big Pharma?

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Posted in Drugs for Diabetes

Tagged American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, diabetes treatment guidelines

Will Your Diabetes Drug Cause Bladder Cancer?

Posted on July 9, 2012 | Comments Off

MedPage Today reports that thiazolidinediones (aka glitazones) are linked to development of bladder cancer. Pioglitazone is the most commonly used thiazolidinedione in the U.S. From the article:

The increased risk of bladder cancer associated with glitazones—which reached a relative increase of 72% in patients who started on the agents more than 5 years earlier—”appears to be a class effect,” the research team, led by Ronac Mamtani, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, concluded.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. has 74,000 new cases of bladder cancer yearly, with 15,000 annual deaths from bladder cancer.

If you take a thiazolidinedione, talk to your doctor about bladder cancer risk at your next visit.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Posted in Drugs for Diabetes

Tagged bladder cancer, glitazones, pioglitazone, thiazolidinediones

New Hyperglycemia Management Guidelines from the ADA

Posted on June 10, 2012 | 4 comments

97 mg/dl. Yippee!

I’ll get to the following article as time allows. Perhaps you’ll get to it before me. It’s written for healthcare professionals. It’s in a June, 2012, issue of Diabetes Care. (Didn’t they publish management principles just six months ago?) What does it say about diet, if anything?

Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes: A Patient-Centered Approach: Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

-Steve

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Tagged ADA, American Diabetes Association, hyperglycemia management guidelines

FDA Approves Exenatide for Once Weekly Injection

Posted on April 28, 2012 | Comments Off

Once-weekly injection of exenatide, sold in the U.S. as Bydureon, has been approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It’s the first-ever once-weekly drug for type 2 diabetes. Bydureon’s main competitors are Byetta (exenatide injected twice daily) and Victoza (liraglutide). Byetta and Bydureon are made by the same company, Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Bydureon is a slow-release formulation of exenatide.

Victoza is the one that celebrity chef Paula Deen endorsed about a month ago, around the same time she revealed she’s had type 2 diabetes for three years. Victoza’s injected once daily.

The New York Times has a January 27, 2012, article on Bydureon, focusing on business and investing. The new drug is expected to retail for $4,200 (USD) a year.

Click for complete prescribing information.

Click for a press release approved by Amylin.

David Mendosa is excited about Bydureon.

These drugs are in a class called GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic the effect of glucagonlike peptide-1, a hormone that increases insulin secretion by the pancreas when blood sugar levels are high. They are prescribed as adjuncts to diet and exercise in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Steve Parker, M.D.