Diabetes Health Center

News Related to Diabetes

Lantus Insulin: Link to Cancer Shaky

July 2, 2009 -- Shaky data from European studies suggest that the long-acting insulin product Lantus might slightly increase cancer risk in people with type 2 diabetes. People should not stop taking Lantus because of this finding, says the FDA. A wide range of diabetes organizations -- and the edito
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Insulin Changes Occur Years Before Diabetes

June 9, 2009 -- Evidence of insulin resistance and changes in blood sugar linked to type 2 diabetes can be measured more than a decade before the disease occurs, new research confirms. The findings suggest that diabetes prevention efforts that focus on people with prediabetes may come too late to ma
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Metformin Linked to B12 Deficiency

June 8, 2009 -- The popular diabetes drug metformin may contribute to vitamin B12 deficiency, according to a new study. Researchers found that 40% of type 2 diabetes patients using metformin had vitamin B12 deficiency or were in the low-normal range for the essential vitamin. And 77% of metformin us
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Victoza for Diabetes: Better Than Byetta?

June 8, 2009 -- A new diabetes drug -- to be called Victoza if approved -- works better than Byetta, a head-to-head clinical trial shows. Byetta is the first of the class of type 2 diabetes drugs called GLP-1 analogs. The drug takes advantage of the body's own signaling system to increase insulin ou
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Depression Raises Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

June 8, 2009 -- Treating depression improves insulin resistance in patients at risk for type 2 diabetes, a new study shows. The research strongly suggests that depression is a direct risk factor for type 2 diabetes and that treating depression may protect against the disease. The link between depres
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Avandia Study Spurs New Heart Risk Debate

June 5, 2009 -- A company-sponsored clinical trial shows that the diabetes drug Avandia causes no more heart deaths than standard treatment, but critics say the study is flawed. Avandia, made by GlaxoSmithKline, is an oral drug that makes the body more sensitive to insulin. But concerns that Avandia
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Type 1 Diabetes May Double in Young Kids

May 27, 2009 -- The incidence of type 1 diabetes among very young children will double from 2005 levels in a little over a decade if present trends continue, a new study shows. The prediction is based on type 1 diabetes trends in Europe, but experts say there is every reason to believe that the U.S.
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Drug Cuts Amputation Risk in Diabetes

May 21, 2009 -- Treating type 2 diabetes patients with a cholesterol-lowering drug called fenofibrate cuts the risk of a first diabetes-related limb amputation by 36%, according to a new study published this week in The Lancet. "I would call that a substantial reduction in risk," says James Best, MD
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Costs Are High From Undiagnosed Diabetes

May 8, 2009 -- Millions of Americans who have diabetes don't even know they have the disease, but they run up an estimated $18 billion bill in health care costs annually, a new study shows. Scientists used data from more than 3 million people included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination
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New Diabetes Drug Cycloset Approved

May 7, 2009 -- The FDA has approved a new drug, called Cycloset, to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, in addition to diet and exercise. Cycloset takes a new approach to treating type 2 diabetes. It boosts levels of a chemical called dopamine, which helps nerve cells communi
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