Diabetes Expert Dr. Bill Quick shares Diabetes management news and commentary at MyDiabetesCentral.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/103118/closing-loop Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:14:29 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick For years, the dream of "closing the loop" -- developing an algorithm that would allow a glucose-sensing device to control an insulin-delivery device -- has been an elusive dream. There have been many clues that it should be possible to figure out a program whereby either high or low blood sugar levels would be interpreted by a computer, which in turn would adjust an insulin pump's rate of delivery of insulin.   Indeed, back in the... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/103118/closing-loop http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/102395/test-diagnosing Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:51:36 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Until recently, the A1C test was not recommended as a means to diagnose diabetes. But that's changed. For years, physicians and patients have been advised to use the hemoglobin A1C test (also called "HbA1c" or more recently, "A1C") as a tool to monitor diabetes control. As is well-known, the A1C test measures the average blood glucose level (BGL) over several months. If your A1C is elevated, then it's safe to assume that your average BGL... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/102395/test-diagnosing http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/101698/drug-labels Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:00:28 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Prescription drugs are required by the FDA (or equivalent organizations in other countries) to have a officially-approved document describing the drug, which is usually called the "label." It's also called the USPI (United States product insert) in the US, and the SmPC or SPC (summary of product characteristics) in Europe. These documents are developed by the manufacturer, and scrutinized and approved by the regulatory agency, frequently after... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/101698/drug-labels http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/101056/paperwork Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:07:33 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick I called my pharmacy's automated system one day earlier this past week to refill my blood glucose strips, and was informed by the system's robovoice that my physician needed to be called to authorize the prescription. No big deal; it's been a year, and my physician is fine with me testing my blood sugar. After all, I'm on an insulin pump. Anyhow, I called the pharmacy that afternoon to verify that they had contacted my physician, and was... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/101056/paperwork http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/100442/gastroparesis Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:50:10 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick A friend asked me about gastroparesis, which can be a very frustrating complication of diabetes. Gastroparesis (gas-tro-par-EE-sis) may be caused by several conditions, but probably the most common is diabetes. When it's caused by diabetes, it's sometimes called gastroparesis diabeticorum. Gastroparesis is caused by nerve damage (neuropathy) affecting the vagus nerve, and causes slow emptying of the stomach. Gastroparesis can cause symptoms... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/100442/gastroparesis http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/99733/quit-smoking Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:14:51 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Are you still smoking? If so, you'll probably continue despite the fact that people with diabetes who smoke are at higher risk of just about every complication of diabetes. Fear of diabetes complications is rarely enough to get a smoker to quit. As one author wrote:   "Nothing, short of death, will force a smoker to end their habit. Sorry, but there is no magic pill. Influencing and changing the way your brain reacts to nicotine can... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/99733/quit-smoking http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/99194/end-road Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:37:14 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick It's the end of the year 2009, and it may be the end of the road in the United States for two drugs that were developed for diabetes. After huge expenditures of time and money, both Galvus (vildagliptin, a DPP-4 inhibitor) and Victoza (liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist) are still awaiting FDA decisions about selling them in the US.   Both drugs completed the required large and costly phase III trials, and their manufacturers... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/99194/end-road http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/98667/weather Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:41:47 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick A major snowstorm just blew through the Northeast United States. Highways were closed, flights were cancelled, trains were delayed or stopped. And in Europe, there's snow in Germany, and travel in the Chunnel between continental Europe and England was suspended. It's still technically autumn, but winter is making an early appearance in the Northern Hemisphere.   Travel is always a bit risky, especially as delays can throw schedules out... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/98667/weather http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/98299/diabetes-medicines Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:57:54 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Earlier this year, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released an interesting report, Biopharmaceutical Companies Developing Record 183 Medicines to Treat Diabetes and Related Conditions. The PhRMA report states that "America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are working on 183 new medicines to treat [diabetes] and related conditions. All of the medicines in this report are either in clinical... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/98299/diabetes-medicines http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/97441/codes Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:16:33 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick As an endocrinologist in private practice, many of the patients that I cared for, both in my office and in the hospital settings, were patients who were also under the care of other physicians. These patients needed specialized care greater than the primary physician was comfortable with providing, hence the request for review of the case and assistance with care. Such a situation, when there is a request from one physician to another physician... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/97441/codes