Health Expert Dr. Bill Quick shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. 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/profiles/c/110/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/110/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/110/index http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/150060/combination-people Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:42:30 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Recently, several more combination diabetes pills have become available, and I think I ought to update my previous essay on "Combination pills for type 2 diabetes" to include the new combo pills. I won't repeat many of the concepts there, so if your physician is discussing possibly prescribing combination diabetes pills with you, please review that article, Combination pills for type 2 diabetes.    Just for clarification, what I am... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/150060/combination-people http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149864/insurance-insulin Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:52:39 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick For several years, I've been on Humalog (insulin lispro) with my insulin pump, after switching from Novolog (insulin aspart) because it was indeed having too long a "tail" for me to accurately calculate my doses. (The "tail" is an extremely long duration of action after the peak occurs.) I'm not the only one: Google "Novolog tail" and you'll find others with the exact same concern, especially with insulin pumps.   I've been with three... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149864/insurance-insulin http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149521/paula-misleading Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:12:36 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick There's been more than enough said about celebrity chef Paula Deen (the proud parent of the glazed donut, hamburger patty, fried egg, and bacon sandwich) and her recent admission that she has had type 2 diabetes for several years --- and that she's being compensated by Novo Nordisk for pitching the diabetes medication she's on, Victoza (liraglutide). But there's not been sufficient attention to the fact that Novo Nordisk is working hard to warp... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149521/paula-misleading http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149340/checklist-patients Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:16:00 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick In 2008, the WHO released a very general safety checklist to help make surgery safer. The WHO checklist has been tried in multiple hospitals, and according to discussion in the New England Journal of Medicine, "The rate of death was 1.5% before the checklist was introduced and declined to 0.8% afterward... Inpatient complications occurred in 11.0% of patients at baseline and in 7.0% after introduction of the checklist." A recent update on the... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149340/checklist-patients http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149096/insulin-therapy Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:43:31 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick A recent article in the Toronto Star, Miracle on Bloor Street, reminded me that insulin therapy's 90th birthday will be arriving this week. Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old teenager who had lost weight to 65 pounds, received his first injection in Toronto, Canada on January 11, 1922. He dramatically improved, and went on to live thirteen more years, dying at age 27 of pneumonia contracted after a motorcycle accident. (I have... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/149096/insulin-therapy http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148786/predictions-2012 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:10:13 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Back in December 2008, I posted some predictions about what might happen in the area of diabetes during 2009.   I just looked back at that essay, and it's somewhat discouraging, but most of my guesses didn't come true -- and to tell the truth, most can (and will!) be repeated word-for-word for 2012. Here are my predictions for what will happen in diabetes for 2012, listed in no particular order of importance:   Avandia... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148786/predictions-2012 http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148547/information-side Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:43:23 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Someone recently asked whether the side effects of Januvia (sitagliptin, a medication for T2DM) include "1) heart attack; 2) stroke; and 3) death. Is this true? I came across an article about Januvia that said that, but I can't find the article again." I couldn't recall any information that Januvia causes a higher-than-anticipated risk of heart attack, stroke, or death in people with diabetes (who are, of course, prone to have these events in... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148547/information-side http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148322/diabetes-drugs Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:18:37 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick Someone recently asked for the names of the currently available FDA approved prescription medications for treating type 2 diabetes.    As of December 2011, there are eleven classes of medications approved by the FDA for lowering blood sugar in type 2 diabetes.  Many of the approved medications have two names: a brand name and a generic name. Most of these classes have multiple drugs that act based on the same mechanism. It's... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/148322/diabetes-drugs http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/147734/parents-diabetes Sun, 04 Dec 2011 17:19:37 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick I recently received the following question by e-mail: I HAVE A 1 QU..MY MOM AND DAD BOTH HAVE A DIABETICS..SOME TIME 140..AND SOME TIME 160...I DONT KNOW WHAT CAN I DO..PLEASE TELL ME ANY SOLUTION 2 CONTROL THEIR DIABETIC.   There's no other information provided, but the question certainly seems sincere, and I think an answer should be sent; so here's my reply:   I understand that both your mother and father have diabetes, but I am... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/147734/parents-diabetes http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/147581/continuous-glucose Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:43:32 -0500 Dr. Bill Quick "Long-term use of continuous glucose monitoring devices is considered experimental and investigational for all other indications." That's what one major insurance company says about CGM -- unless  it's deemed "medically necessary as an adjunct to fingerstick testing of blood glucose in adults age 25 years and older with type 1 diabetes, and for younger persons with type 1 diabetes who have had recurrent episodes of severe... http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/110/147581/continuous-glucose