Insulin Journal
VOLUME 3, NUMBER 4
Editorial
Each issue of Insulin contains a number of interesting articles written with the practicing health care professional in mind.
This issue is no exception:
- The effect of intensive insulin therapy on weight gain – The Deep South Diabetes Program uses glargine and aspart as the major insulins in a basal-bolus regimen and demonstrates that weight gain can be minimized despite tight metabolic control.
- The use of new safety needles to decrease the risk of needlestick injury – Safety in needle usage is a serious issue, and these needles deal with this problem quite appropriately.
- The use of U-500 insulin in patients with severe insulin resistance – The use of U-500 insulin, long forgotten, has made a resurgence because of the increasing number of patients who are severely insulin resistant, perhaps due to the obesity epidemic. Use of this formulation will make insulin therapy much more convenient for these patients.
In addition to these articles, we are pleased to present a new feature in the journal—a new handout for low-literacy patients. This easy-to-read, educational piece will become a regular feature in the journal. We believe this is a useful addition to our educational materials because the obesity/type 2 diabetes epidemic has befallen this particular group of individuals. These handouts also are suitable for mature (older) Americans, the cognitively impaired, and patients with diabetes for whom English is a second language. We hope you will find these materials valuable in your practice and welcome your feedback.
Peer review is the lifeblood of scientific publishing. To maintain the highest standards for the content of manuscripts published in Insulin, we seek independent reviewers from the faculties of medical schools and schools of pharmacy worldwide. Not only are our reviewers asked to provide in-depth reviews, but they are asked to do so within a short period of time.
Physicians' Corner - The Ever-Expanding Universe
I've just finished reading a wonderful book titled, "A Short History of Nearly Everything." It's an engaging walk through science and theories relating to our universe, from "the very beginning" to the current time.
A Report from the 44th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes
The 44th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) is the most important European forum for diabetes discourse. The EASD encourages and supports research in the field of diabetes and the rapid diffusion of acquired knowledge. Members of the association include scientists, physicians, laboratory workers, nurses, and students from around the globe. Highlighted in this report are several presentations from the meeting that focused on real-life studies and the benefits of insulin therapy.
Use of U-500 Insulin in the Treatment of Severe Insulin Resistance
Glycemic control is essential in the management of diabetes. However, many patients with diabetes are not achieving therapeutic targets, partly because they are receiving insufficient doses of insulin. This article presents an updated algorithm for the administration and dosing of U-500 insulin based on clinical experience with severe forms of insulin resistance. Guidelines are provided for dose escalation of U-500 insulin.
The Deep South Diabetes Program conducted a retrospective study to evaluate weight changes associated with intensive basal-bolus insulin therapy. Results of the effectiveness of the treatment algorithm used in the study were published in the April 2008 issue of Insulin. This paper describes and evaluates further analyses of the results of the study.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that health care professionals endure between 600,000 and 1 million injuries from conventional needles and sharps annually in the United States and that >=1000 of these health care professionals contract serious infections annually from needlesticks and sharps. The NOVAC study compared the risk of needlestick injury with NovoFine Autocover needles and regular needles on insulin pens among nurses who administered insulin to patients.
Insulin Therapy: Questions This Issue
How can I tell my patient with certainty that he has type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM)? Would the addition of an oral diabetes medication be effective in a patient with type 1 DM?
Responses to July 2008 Case Study
This was the case of a 28-year-old woman with a 25-year history of type 1 DM who visited her doctor for preconception counseling.
"Diabetes Tactics" Case Studies
This month's "Diabetes Tactics" case discusses what to do when a patient is on maximal doses of metformin and a sulfonylurea and still has unsatisfactory glycemic control.
If you would like your event included in this list, please contact our Editorial Office.
2008
2008
If you need to lose weight, your goal is to burn more calories than you eat-every day. Here are some simple ways to help you do this.
A 50-year-old man with a 4-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), which had previously been controlled with lifestyle changes and combination glyburide/metformin therapy, now complains of worsening blood glucose values.
