Posts Tagged ‘insulin dependent’

Eating Too Quickly Doubles the Risk of Insulin Resistance

November 8, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes and Diet, Diabetes and Weight Management, Diabetes Control 
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Yet another reason to listen to your mother and slow down and chew your food properly – eating too quickly has been associated with a doubled risk of developing impaired glucose tolerance, or pre-diabetes. As the name suggests, pre-diabetes is the forerunner to developing type 2 diabetes. Most diabetics have type 2 diabetes – a form of diabetes where your body no longer responds properly to insulin (called insulin resistance). Type 2 diabetes used to be described as non insulin dependent diabetes.

Insulin is the hormone that moves sugar (glucose) from the blood to the body’s cells to provide them with energy. If your cells do not use insulin properly, the pancreas produces more insulin that normal to cope with the body’s demands. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up, and excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by high levels of glucose in the blood.

A recent Japanese study followed over 170 healthy individuals for three years, monitoring their eating habits. Snacking, eating late at night, skipping meals and eating out were not associated with developing pre-diabetes. The one and only eating habit associated with the development of insulin resistance was eating too quickly. Read the full article

$100,000 Reward Offered for Glucose-Sensitive Insulin

October 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News 
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The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) announced a $100,000 Challenge for the development of a new glucose-sensitive insulin medication that will be used in the treatment of patients with diabetes. The JDRF is a global organization that promotes awareness of Type 1 diabetes in addition to sponsoring research into new treatments for diabetes and educating diabetics about how to properly manage the disease.

The JDRF is utilizing the InnoCentive.com platform to issue the challenge. InnoCentive is a service that connects businesses and organizations seeking solutions to problems in a wide variety of fields with scientists and research teams who develop solutions custom-tailored for the “challenge.”

The best solution is awarded a cash prize, usually between $10,000 and $100,000. The JDRF’s challenge will award $100,000 to any research group that develops a diabetes medication that improves blood sugar management, lessens the need for frequent blood sugar testing, and reduces the risk of diabetic complications. Read the full article

Edible Film a Possible Insulin Delivery Platform

September 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery, Living with Diabetes, Oral Diabetes Medication 
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In another promising development in the world of diabetes medication, the specialty pharmaceutical company MonoSol Rx is testing its unique PharmFilm as a possible oral insulin delivery platform. PharmFilm is a quick-dissolving film that can be impregnated with medication and placed under the tongue or against the inside of the cheek. The medication is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream through the mouth’s mucosal membranes.

The FDA has already approved two applications of the edible film – Zuplenz to treat nausea and vomiting, and Suboxone to treat opiod dependence. MonoSol Rx is now testing two new applications for PharmFilm, one dispenses a drug to treat ADHD, and the other delivers insulin for diabetics.

Read the full article

Overcoming Injection Anxiety

September 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections 
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Have you or someone close to you been newly diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic? Are you anxious about giving yourself or your dependent insulin injections? Many diabetics say that giving themselves an insulin injection is the hardest part of the condition.

Or perhaps you’re an experienced diabetic who hasn’t kept up to date on the latest insulin delivery methods like spring loaded syringes, insulin pens and insulin jet injectors. Skipping doses of diabetes medication can lead to poor blood sugar control and diabetes complications. WebMD feature writer Stephanie Watson offers some practical advice in an article titled Overcoming Objections to Injections.

Diabetic Emergency: Treating Hypoglycemia with Glucagon

September 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes in Children, Diabetes Medication 
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glucagon kit

Photo Credit: Intropin

Like insulin, glucagon is a hormone made in the pancreas. But the two hormones have opposite effects – insulin lowers blood sugar, while glucagon raises it. This means glucagon can be used to treat an episode of severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in diabetics.

Severe hypoglycemia is rare in most insulin dependent diabetics, but can cause a loss of consciousness and should be considered a medical emergency. Type 1 diabetics are advised to have a glucagon kit on or near them at all times, as are the parents and caregivers of children with diabetes.

About.com diabetes coach Gary Gilles has written a valuable guide to treating severe low blood sugar with glucagon, describing when and how glucagon should be used. Glucagon is administered as an injection, but unlike an insulin injection, it should be injected deep into the muscle.

To read Gilles’ article on About.com, >Click Here.<

Successful Pilot Study for Implanted Continuous Glucose Monitor

September 13, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Monitoring and Supplies, Diabetes Research and News, Glucose Monitoring 
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Sensors for Medicine and Science Inc (SMSI) is developing a new approach to glucose monitoring that promises to be a long-awaited improvement over present methods, which typically require several finger prick blood tests a day. This inconvenient and uncomfortable method of collecting blood samples results in many diabetics not testing their blood sugar as often as they should.

The new glucose monitoring method involves a small sensor that is implanted under the skin. The sensor automatically monitors glucose levels every few minutes, and transmits the information wirelessly to a small wrist-watch-like external reader. The sensor will also warn the wearer of an impending episode of low or high blood sugar.

The sensor would be of obvious benefit to insulin dependent diabetics whose diabetes is not well controlled or whose blood sugar levels swing unpredictably. It would also be ideal for children with diabetes.

Sensors for Medicine and Science will be presenting the results of a successful pilot study of the glucose monitor at the next meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. “Based on the promising results obtained,” says CEO Tim Goodnow, PhD, “We plan to initiate more clinical trials in the very near future.”

The company also hopes to collaborate on artificial pancreas research, with many questions to be answered.

Does Using Long Acting Insulin Increase Cancer Risk?

September 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Injections, Long Acting Insulin 
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long acting insulin

Lantus Long Acting Insulin Glargine

According to the FDA, five recent studies of a possible link between insulin glargine (marketed as Lantus long acting insulin) and the growth of cancerous cells have failed to shed more light on the subject. Calling the studies “inconclusive”, the FDA said it was continuing to work with the long acting insulin manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventus, to determine whether there is an increased risk of cancer for users of insulin glargine.

The concerns arose because Lantus’ ability to act as a long acting insulin arises from its prolonged interaction with the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR). IGF-IR overactivity has been linked to many types of cancer. That begs the question – could long acting insulin glargine be associated with cancer because of its continual interfacing with IGF-IR?

While the debate about the possible cancer risk associated with long acting insulin continues, the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and two similar European governing bodies are reassuring insulin dependent diabetics that there is no need to change their insulin glargine treatment.

To read more about the controversial long-acting Lantus insulin clinical studies on diabeticlive.com, >CLICK HERE.<

Flying Can Cause Changes in Insulin Pump Performance

August 30, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Insulin Delivery, Insulin Pumps 
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Photo credit: Axwel

Diabeticlive.com is warning insulin dependent diabetes planning to take a plane that changes in cabin air pressure while flying may alter the functioning of insulin pumps. The research arose out of an incident involving a young diabetic traveler using an insulin pump whose blood sugar levels dropped unexpectedly one hour into a flight.

After uncovering reports of similar incidents involving insulin pumps delivering incorrect insulin doses while being used on planes, a team of researchers from John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Australia decided to perform some tests.

They placed ten insulin pumps on a commercial flight. When they analyzed them later, they found the pumps delivered 1 to 1.4 extra units of insulin after take-off, and that a small amount of insulin was drawn back into the pumps when descending for a landing.

To read the entire story on diabeticlive.com, including the researchers’ suggestions for diabetics with insulin pumps who plan to travel by plane, >CLICK HERE.<

Security Flaws in Insulin Pump Technology

August 19, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Pumps 
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Photo: Matthieu Riegler

A security researcher who is diabetic has identified flaws that could allow an attacker to remotely control insulin pumps and alter the readouts of blood-sugar monitors. As a result, diabetics could get too much or too little insulin, a hormone they need for proper metabolism.

Jay Radcliffe, an insulin dependent diabetic who experimented on his own equipment, shared his findings with The Associated Press before releasing them Thursday at the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas.

The full article is published on the News Tribune.

Mealtime Insulin Injections May be Replaced by an Insulin Inhaler

August 12, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Medication, Diabetes Research and News, Insulin Delivery 
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There’s good news for insulin dependent diabetics who rely on fast-acting mealtime insulin injections to keep their blood sugar under control. MannKind Corporation has the go-ahead to continue clinical testing of its investigational inhaled insulin, AFREZZA. The drug maker and the FDA met to confirm the protocols for two new studies, one in type 1 diabetics, and one in type 2 diabetics.

AFREZZA is an ultra-rapid acting inhaled insulin which uses patented technology to deliver powdered insulin from a thumb-sized device into the lungs. The lungs are an effective option for delivering diabetes medication, largely because of their huge surface area (about the size of a tennis court). Read the full article

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