One of the complications from diabetes is blindness known as diabetic macular edema (DME). DME is characterized by swelling of the central portion of the retina (or macula) at the back of the eye. It is one of the most common causes of blindness, which occurs when fluid and protein deposits collect on or under […] Read more

Why diabetic patients are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease has not been understood. Researchers believe they may have identified the diabetes – Alzheimer’s connection. David R. Schubert, PhD, professor Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, reports that blood vessels in the brain of young diabetic mice are damaged by the interaction of elevated […] Read more

A relatively new and effective class of oral antidiabetic agents, thiazolidinediones, have gained in popularity and widely used to treat diabetic patients with insulin resistance. Two of the more popular drugs from this class are prioglitazone and rosiglitazone, which account for 21% of oral diabetes medications prescribed in the United States and 5% of those […] Read more

Extra weight, family history, and lifestyle are all considered contributors to the development of type 2 diabetes. Researchers would like to add one more risk factor–blood vessels. Saverio Stranges, MD, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK, found changes in the blood vessels and sub-clinical systemic inflammation can also help […] Read more

Worldwide one in twenty people have diabetes. Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes accounting for an estimated 85-95% of all diabetes cases. Traditionally, self-monitoring of blood glucose levels for type 1 and type 2 diabetes who use insulin to treat their condition is recommended. What is in question is if type 2 […] Read more

Current research indicates that there may be a link between developing diabetes in middle age and developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. Elina Rönnemaa, MD, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, reports on a study of 2,269 men in Sweden who, at 50, were tested for diabetes. During an average follow up of 32 years, 4½ percent of the participants […] Read more

The European medicines regulator (EMEA) warned in 2007 that a newer diabetes drug, rosigilazone, should not be given to patients with a history of a heart attack, or patients with ischaemic heart, or peripheral arterial, diseases. Rosigiltazone and a similar medication, pioglitazone, belong to a class of drug known as glitazones. Recently, the British Drug […] Read more

Scientist have known that genes associated with type 2 diabetes are involved with other diseases, like heart disease and prostrate cancer. There are about 25,000 genes, but so far the same genomic regions keep coming up in studies of different diseases. Laura Scott, assistant research scientist, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, along with European […] Read more

Approximately 75% of patients with diabetes die from cardiovascular disease. Determining the optimal treatment for diabetes patients with coronary artery disease is the subject of a recent JAMA article. Steven E. Nissen, MD, Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues, compared the effectiveness of two alternative approaches for treating hyperglycemia, an insulin-providing strategy (glimepiride) versus an insulin-sensitizing strategy […] Read more

Health practitioners have been warning patients the ‘lower the better’ for cholesterol and blood pressure in order to reduce the risk of a heart attack. Now there is evidence that patients with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes practitioners should add ‘the sooner, the better’ for prevention of cardiovascular disease. Tina Ken Schramm, MD, […] Read more