Posted Sun, 07/17/2011 - 2:47pm by The Diabetes Expert
As the Diabetes Care Center where I am employed moves to a new facility our treatment model remains the same. Comprehensive, team-based, multidisciplinary care. In order to properly care for and educate people with diabetes a team is necessary to be sure "all the bases are covered". We need to move this model into the various Patient-Centered Medical Homes that are being developed across the county as part of a new care delivery model.
Posted Sun, 05/09/2010 - 7:43pm by The Diabetes Expert
I just had an "Ask the Expert" question that was worthy of a blog entry.
The question was a common one. Paraphrasing, the writer asked: "What should a person with diabetes eat and how do I lose weight?"
Posted Mon, 03/22/2010 - 10:24am by The Diabetes Expert
I figure since the far right & the far left (politically speaking) both dislike the bill it may be fine. The biggest issues I face on a day-to-day basis are a lack of or fear of losing insurance in my non-medicare patients and that crazy "doughnut hole" in my medicare patients, which make it nearly impossible to manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. If this new healthcare reform takes care of all of those issues maybe it is a step in the right direction.
Posted Sun, 02/14/2010 - 9:14pm by The Diabetes Expert
In late January 2010 the FDA approved Novo Nordisk’s newest medication, Victoza® (liraglutide), which is the first Glucagon Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Unlike Byetta® (exenatide), the only other medication currently available in the GLP-1 receptor agonist class and a GLP-1 mimetic, Victoza® is 97% homologous with natural GLP-1 and is produced by recombinant DNA technology.
Posted Thu, 01/21/2010 - 7:07pm by The Diabetes Expert
Pre-diabetes is a condition of mild glucose elevations but not high enough to meet the diagnostic criteria of type 2 diabetes. The diagnosis of pre-diabetes is defined as a fasting glucose of 100-125 mg/dl or a 2 hour after a 75 gram glucose load glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test of 140-200 mg/dl. Preventing the progression to diabetes is rather straight forward. It is all about diet, weight loss, and exercise.
Posted Sat, 11/14/2009 - 9:17pm by The Diabetes Expert
I was honored to be featured as the Physician Spotlight in the "East Tennessee Medical News" this month since it is also American Diabetes Month. To read the article click here.
Posted Sat, 11/14/2009 - 9:06pm by The Diabetes Expert
Today is World Diabetes Day and a time to reflect upon the current state of diabetes. Significant strides have been made with improved pharmaceuticals to treat diabetes, a better understanding of the pathophysiology of diabetes, better access to care for people with diabetes, and improved technologies for self-monitoring of blood glucoses. However, with that being said there are still major hurdles that still need to be cleared including:
Posted Thu, 11/12/2009 - 3:53pm by The Diabetes Expert
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) has released their new 2009 Diabetes Treatment Guidelines/Algorithm and I am very excited by the direction they have moved. I am in complete agreement with their stance to limit if not completely avoid the use of sulfonylureas and use more of the newer products that may preserve beta cell function. I also like the treatment guidelines being based on multiple factors including current glucose control/A1c level and whether of not the patient is newly diagnosed.
Posted Sun, 11/08/2009 - 1:02pm by The Diabetes Expert
Byetta® (exenatide) has received a monotherapy indication from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicating it can be used safely and effectively as a single diabetes agent to control blood glucoses. The main stumbling block will still be insurance carrier's willingness to cover Byetta® as monotherapy on their formularies with the safe and effective generic alternative, metformin, still being available for very minimal cost ($4.00-$5.00/month on most plans).
Posted Sun, 09/06/2009 - 8:44pm by The Diabetes Expert
Saxagliptin has recently been approved for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus in adjunct to diet and exercise and is now available in pharmacies. Saxagliptin is marketed by the tradename Onglyza™ and is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and is being comarketed by AstraZeneca.
