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/110/76402/insulin-cancer Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:11:50 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick I recently received an e-mail from an organization to which I belong, with the worrisome title "'Possible link' between taking insulin glargine and developing cancer." It went on to explain that the current issue of Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), features four studies that point to a "possible link" between taking insulin -- especially insulin glargine (Lantus) -- and developing cancer... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/76402/insulin-cancer http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/75583/year-pump Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:57:51 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick I was thinking about how long it's been since I started using my insulin pump, and looked it up: it's now over a year; I started pumping on June 16, 2008, and have been using the device continuously since then.   Thinking back over this year, several thoughts pop up: 1) Would I ever go back to syringes and vials? I really can't imagine doing so. Sure, the pump is more expensive, and more work, but it allows fine-tuning of insulin... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/75583/year-pump http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/74663/diabetic-neuropathy Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:23:57 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick Diabetic nerve damage to the feet, sometimes called diabetic neuropathy, or more correctly, diabetic distal symmetric sensory polyneuropathy, frequently causes people with diabetes to lose sensation in their feet, which is usually describe as "numbness." Sadly, there's really not much available to help this loss of sensation.   However, diabetic neuropathy occasionally creates a severe burning pain in the feet, or other very unpleasant... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/74663/diabetic-neuropathy http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/74190/unexpected-lab Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:10:17 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick As I do every time I'm at a big diabetes meeting, I head for the exhibit hall to see what's new - and to get my A1C checked. This past weekend, I was at the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans, and the exhibit hall had not one, not two, but three different vendors offering free A1C testing. The vendors were using lab devices which are designed for physician office and/or patient home use, so they're not the huge ugly machines... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/74190/unexpected-lab http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/72726/sotomayor-diabetes Fri, 29 May 2009 12:36:09 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick   As most of you are probably aware by now, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has had diabetes since childhood. Ms. Sotomayor was born June 25, 1954, and was diagnosed at age 8 -- that would add up to around 47 years of living with diabetes.   Some pundits have been raising questions about whether her diabetes might be a negative influence on her suitability as a Supreme -- and there's a comment from a JDRF representative... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/72726/sotomayor-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/72211/classes-diabetes Mon, 25 May 2009 11:27:36 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick Way back in 1995, doctors in the US and patients with diabetes had a new option to treat type 2 diabetes: a drug of a different kind from those already available: up until then, the only available drugs for T2DM in the US were the insulins, and a class of drugs called the sulfonylureas. The new drug was in a class called biguanides, and was called metformin; it was initially available only as the brand-name version Glucophage. It's now... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/72211/classes-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/71292/salivary-diabetes Sun, 17 May 2009 15:33:02 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick An intriguing abstract was presented at the recent AACE meeting, titled Salivary biomarkers of type 2 diabetes: proteomic profiles for non-invasive diagnostics. The authors identified another way to look for cases of diabetes besides blood glucose testing. (For those of you who want to read it, it's abstract 239 in a huge PDF file, at the AACE website.)   The authors studied saliva from 40 people, 10 with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), 20 with... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/71292/salivary-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/70525/radar Mon, 11 May 2009 12:22:00 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick There's a new drug for type 2 diabetes, just approved by the FDA. Actually, it's an old drug, that has been approved for many years for other medical conditions, and which just got approval for treating diabetes.   I sort of stumbled across the news of its approval after a colleague sent out an e-mail (which indicated that he too was unaware of it until recently). With all the hullabaloo about several recent FDA reviews of diabetes... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/70525/radar http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/69954/research-headlines Wed, 06 May 2009 14:49:00 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick A recent news story had a scary title, "Diabetes drug link to pancreatitis." I had an immediate but erroneous reaction to the headline: "it's just another story about Byetta" (Byetta has been suspected to be linked to cases of pancreatitis - see my previous discussions about Byetta and pancreatitis).I also found a press release about the study, and the press release has an even scarier title: "Popular diabetes treatment could trigger... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/69954/research-headlines http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/69327/tattoos-diabetes Fri, 01 May 2009 10:46:51 -0400 Dr. Bill Quick An upcoming case report to be presented at the AACE Annual Meeting will present the case for medical tattoos. As AACE's press release states, "One of the most obvious benefits of medical tattooing is for identification purposes in an emergency situation, especially for patients with diabetes, when a patient may be incapacitated-particularly in the case of hypoglycemic coma. However, it also poses some health concerns."   Indeed. As one... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/69327/tattoos-diabetes