- January 27, 2006
The FDA approved Pfizer's Exubera, the first inhalable form of insulin for diabetics.
"Until today, patients with diabetes who need insulin to manage their disease had only one way to treat their condition," said Dr. Steven Galson, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a press release. "It is our hope that the availability of inhaled insulin will offer patients more options to better control their blood sugars."
[Story at CNN:
FDA approves Exubera, for real this time.
FDA approves the first inhalable form of insulin for diabetics, from Pfizer and Nektar.]
- January 27, 2006
Inhaled insulin ("Exubera") has been approved for use in Europe.
Approval by the FDA is widely expected to be announced soon.
- January 13, 2006
The NY Times is running a series of articles on diabetes:
The Stealth Epidemic;
By the Numbers: One Scourge in 2 Forms;
Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis;
Living at an Epicenter of Diabetes, Defiance and Despair;
Unlocking the Diabetes-Heart-Disease Connection;
In the Treatment of Diabetes, Success Often Does Not Pay;
East Meets West, Adding Pounds and Peril;
Navigator: Diabetes (this is a list of selected diabetes websites).
- January 9, 2006
Margarito Chavez and his wife, Maria, do what they can to manage their diabetes.
They count the carbohydrates in their diet, take walks together and ensure there are plenty of vegetables on their dinner plates.
Chavez has seen a doctor about the disease, but Maria's immigration status makes it harder for her to seek care.
[Story at ContraCostaTimes.com:
Risk of diabetes increases for Latinos.]
- January 7, 2006
Patients taking two widely used diabetes drugs have reported blurry vision and swelling of the legs and feet, the Food and Drug Administration and manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline said.
The company said it has received "very rare" reports of new or worsening diabetic macular edema in diabetic patients who have taken
Avandia or
Avandamet. The swelling of the portion of the retina most important for sight can cause blurry or distorted vision.
[Story at SignOnSanDiego.com:
Patients treated with popular diabetes drug report blurry vision, swollen legs.
The information is described in the December 2005 versions of the
Avandia
and
Avandamet
USPIs.
[PDF files].]
- January 3, 2006
A decade after the Gulf War, veterans deployed to that war are still more likely to suffer from health problems…
Researchers at 16 veterans medical centers found that veterans with the chronic illness cluster also had a higher incidence of the
metabolic syndrome,
a group of health problems that puts people at risk for heart disease, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.
Chronic Multisymptom Illness Complex in Gulf War I Veterans 10 Years Later.
Am. J. Epidemiol. 2006 163: 66-75
[Story at KansasCity.com, from the AP.
Abstract at
Am. J. Epidemiol.;
full text at
Am. J. Epidemiol., requires subscription.]
- January 2, 2006
It's been more than five years since
Kris Freeman received the shocking news during a routine U.S. ski team blood test that he had
type 1 diabetes.
[Story at Chicago Sun-Times:
Diabetes doesn't cloud Nordic skier's dream.]
- January 1, 2006
Regular exercise can reduce the incidence of a deadly combination of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes in middle-aged and older people.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
[Story at PakTribune:
Exercise Cuts Heart, Diabetes Risk Factors.
Abstract not yet on-line
at
AJPM.]
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