by Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD Counting calories as part of health care reform—who knew? But apparently it’s there on page 455 of the health-care reform act, according to Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition at NYU, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine. There will now be a national effort at posting calorie counts in chain restaurants. There are many ways to improve the overall health of Americans, but tackling obesity ...

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Bret Michaels is in critical condition from a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Bret Michaels has a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and what that meansI've been watching Celebrity Apprentice recently, and he comes across as a genuine person who, of course, has been raising awareness for Type 1 diabetes. As most people know, he has battled various diabetic complications on the show, and recently underwent an emergency appendectomy. What's his prognosis like? Not good, I'm ...

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Avandia continues to dominate cardiovascular-related news this week. Recently, the AHA and the ACC issued a highly detailed, thoughtful, though perhaps slightly over-diplomatic science advisory on TZDs and CV risk. Taking a completely opposite tack, GSK, in no mood to take prisoners, and apparently about to nominate itself for a Nobel Prize, issued a 30 page White Paper in response to the Senate report published on Saturday. At the core ...

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Originally published in MedPage Today An immediate-release form of the antidiabetic agent metformin has a dead fish odor that may cause patients to stop taking the drug, clinicians warned. Your metformin may smell like dead fish Metformin is known to cause adverse gastrointestinal effects such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, distention, and abdominal pain. Those side effects "often necessitate discontinuing the drug," a group of physicians and pharmacists ...

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by Michael Jaff, MD Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD), a condition commonly correlated with diabetes, also known as a “silent killer,” affects at least one in every three diabetics over the age of 50 and approximately eight million Americans in total over the age of 40. Although PAD is prolific among diabetic and senior populations, current data show that public and physician knowledge of the disease is startlingly low, with only 25 ...

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Originally posted in Insidermedicine The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has held fast during the past decade, according to research published in the January 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. id="play_continuous_flvs" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="385" height="239" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
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By all accounts, Frances Vasquez ought to be a diabetic. Raised on a diet of fried steak, fried pork chops and lots of rice, her father, mother, and two sisters suffered from the disease. At age 47, Frances was overweight and already experiencing high blood sugar. But over the past 11 years, Frances has been able to avoid diabetes, and her sugars are now normal. By participating in a ground-breaking, government-funded ...

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Originally published in Insidermedicine Standard measurements taken in doctors' offices, such as height, weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels can help predict which school-aged children will go on to develop type 2 diabetes, according to research published in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. id="play_continuous_flvs" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="385" height="239" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
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Originally posted in MedPage Today by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor Almost one-third of doctors in an industry-sponsored survey said they didn't spend enough time with their diabetic patients and blamed low reimbursement rates for diabetes care, researchers said. Low pay for diabetes care harms patients In a survey of 200 primary care physicians and 100 endocrinologists, 32% reported an inability to provide comprehensive diabetes care, Alyssa Pozniak, ...

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Originally published in Insidermedicine What is the best insulin regimen for patients with diabetes? The best method for taking insulin among individuals with type 2 diabetes has been identified in research published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. id="play_continuous_flvs" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="385" height="239" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0">
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