News

DIABETES CUTS LIFESPAN, BUT EXERCISE INCREASES IT

ATLANTA (GA) – People with Type 2 diabetes get heart disease about eight years earlier than people with different risk factors, and also lose about eight years from their expected life span, according to the findings that come from analyzing data of the Framin gham Heart Study, that wealth of data from more than 5,000 men and women studied every two years since 1951. The good news, according to health officials at the Georgia Department of Resources (DHR), is that these effects can be lessened or even prevented in some cases.

“People who are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by losing five to seven percent of their body weight through increased physical activity and a reduction in fat and calorie intake,” said Stuart Brown , M.D. , director for DHR’s Division of Public Health. “The data from the Framingham Study revealed a significant effect of diabetes, which is that people with diabetes live approximately eight years less than people without it. Diabetes is provoking early heart disease in these people.”

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is necessary for allowing the body to use sugar. Sugar, or glucose, is the basic fuel for the cells in the body, and insulin takes the sugar from the blood into the cells. When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, it can cause serious health problems.

"Because diabetes is a serious disease that can decrease one’s life span, it is important to educate Georgians that moderate lifestyle changes can lead to significant health improvements,” said Brown . “Becoming more physically active and eating a healthy diet can help to manage and prevent diabetes as well as cardiovascular disease,” said Brown .

For every two people who know they have diabetes, there is a third person who doesn’t know that he or she has it. According to the American Diabetes Association, before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have "pre-diabetes." Pre-diabetes is a condition where blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

Public Health leaders want to raise awareness of the symptoms of diabetes so that we can identify those Georgians who are undiagnosed. Anyone experiencing one or more of these symptoms should see a doctor and get tested immediately.

Symptoms of diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death in Georgia, include frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, increased fatigue, blurry vision, slow healing of wounds, frequent infections, irritability, tingling and numbness in hands and feet, and unusual weight loss or gain. The American Diabetes Association offers a free diabetes risk test, available at http://www.diabetes.org/risk-test.jsp.

The Live Healthy Georgia campaign, launched in March 2005 by DHR and Governor Sonny Perdue, is designed to raise awareness about the risk factors associated with developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and help people reduce their risk factors for those diseases. The campaign supports five key strategies: Be Active, Eat Healthy, Be Smoke free, Get Checked and Be Positive.

To learn more about the Live Healthy Georgia campaign, visit www.livehealthygeorgia.org.

Lilly Introduces World's First Digital Insulin Pen With Memory

February 22, 2007

HumaPen(R) MEMOIR(TM) is Sleek, High-Tech Device for Delivery of Insulin at Mealtimes Lilly also to launch HumaPen(R) LUXURA(TM) HD, with Smaller-Increment Insulin Delivery, in April Includes B-roll Coordinates

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb 22, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Eli Lilly and Company today announced the launch of the first insulin pen with memory, HumaPen® MEMOIR™, to help simplify the daily management of diabetes.

MEMOIR is designed to meet the needs of people with diabetes who take several shots of mealtime insulin each day. It presents sophisticated technology and features in a consumer-friendly "push-to-know" digital display that allows patients to record and review their last 16 insulin doses, including the priming doses.

Many insulin users need multiple shots per day, so the ability to record doses and the time of the dose may help simplify the daily management of diabetes. This is especially important for both patients and physicians when developing a diabetes treatment plan that utilizes accurate recording of mealtime doses. MEMOIR is now available by prescription in pharmacies nationwide for use with Humalog® (insulin lispro injection [rDNA origin]), the most-prescribed mealtime insulin in the United States .

Lilly also announced today that it will launch an insulin pen that delivers Humalog in smaller increments, HumaPen® LUXURA™ HD, in April 2007. LUXURA HD is a reusable pen that can deliver from 1-to-30 units of Humalog in half-unit increments, beginning after the first unit. This type of pen may be attractive to people with diabetes that do not need large amounts of insulin, or parents of some children with diabetes. LUXURA HD will require a prescription.

Insulin pens were developed on the premise that delivery devices that are more acceptable to patients could improve patient compliance and make a positive contribution to long-term diabetes control. (1) Unlike traditional insulin pens or vial and syringe, MEMOIR doesn't resemble a medical instrument. MEMOIR, which is reusable, is sleek and designed to resemble a writing pen, enabling the potential for more discreet injections in public compared to using a vial and syringe.

In a clinical study of experienced pen users, 81 percent of patients preferred MEMOIR over the pen they were using before joining the study. MEMOIR was considered easier and more convenient to use than the pre-study pen and rated higher for certain pen features and most tasks related to dosing.1 MEMOIR was developed in partnership with Battelle Medical Device Solutions, a leader in device innovation based in Columbus , Ohio .

http://www.humalog.com/patient/humapen_memoir.jsp?fromChecklist=flash_memoir_product

New Article:

Improving Hyperglycemia Management in the Intensive Care Unit

Preliminary Report of a Nurse-Driven Quality Improvement Project Using a Redesigned Insulin Infusion Algorithm

Diabetes Educator, May/June 2006

From the Atlanta Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Osburne, Ms Harmon, Ms Keddo, Dr Pounds, Ms Lowey); Mayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale (Dr Cook); Mountain View Hospital, Clayton, Georgia (Mr Stockton); Saint Joseph's Hospital of Atlanta, Georgia (Ms Baird); Georgia Hospital Association, Marietta (Ms Reid, Ms McGowan); and Atlanta Diabetes Associates, Atlanta, Georgia (Dr Davidson), for the Georgia Hospital Association Diabetes Special Interest Group.

Correspondence to Robert C. Osburne, MD, Atlanta Medical Center, Internal Medicine & Endocrinology, Graduate Medical Education, Box 423, 303 Parkway NE, Atlanta, GA 30312 (robert.osburne@tenethealth.com ).

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of a nurse-driven effort to improve hyperglycemia management in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Methods

The setting was the ICU of a large urban hospital. The program was composed of 3 components: nurses as leaders, a clinical pathway to identify patients in need of hyperglycemia therapy, and implementation of a redesigned insulin infusion algorithm (the Columnar Insulin Dosing Chart). Time to reach a target glucose range of 80 to 110 mg/dL (4.4-6.1 mmol/L) was evaluated.

Results

One hundred sixteen ICU nurses were trained in the project. The Columnar Insulin Dosing Chart was applied to 20 patients. The average time required to reach the target blood glucose range was 12.8 hours. Below-target blood glucose levels were 6.9% of all blood glucose levels recorded, but only 0.9% were below 60 mg/dL (3.3 mmol/L). There was no sustained hypoglycemia, and no persistent clinical findings attributable to hypoglycemia were noted. Barriers to implementing the project included an increased nursing workload, the need for more finger-stick blood glucose monitors, and the needto acquire new finger-lancing devices that allowed for shallower skin puncture and increased patient comfort.

Conclusions

Tighter glycemic control goals can be attained in a busy ICU by a nurse-led team using a pathway for identifying and treating hyperglycemia, clear decision support tools, and adequate nurse education. The novel chart-based insulin infusion algorithm chosen as the standard for this pilot was an effective tool for reducing the blood glucose to target range with no clinically significant hypoglycemia.