Why Do Test Strips Cost So Much? (Part 2)
By David Spero
Last week I was busy being blown away by the amazing technology of glucose test strips. But back to reality. Why do these things cost so much? Why do prices vary by 600% or more?
From what I can tell on Consumer Reports, customer reviews, articles like this one in Diabetes Forecast, and comments on diabetes blogs, it seems like most meters and strips have pretty similar quality. So how do you choose?
Meters have a variety of features. Some have backlights, which is nice in the dark. Some speak to you, which helps people with poor vision. Some can store more results in memory. Some hook to your computer or ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 25, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
To Nap or Not?
This study does not definitively prove, of course, that napping leads to Type 2 diabetes or any other health condition; many factors could be responsible for the results. In any observational study such as this one, there is no way to know whether researchers adjusted for all of the existing factors that could both lead someone to nap longer and raise his or her risk of prediabetes or diabetes. Any undetected and undiagnosed metabolic condition, for example, that led to both longer napping and a higher diabetes risk would be missed. When studying napping, however, it is virtually impossible to design a study that eliminate...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 25, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Quinn Phillips Source Type: blogs
It's a Wellness Program: What Harm Could It Do?
By Jan Chait
"One of my partner's patients stopped taking his insulin last week to meet his employer's weight-loss goal. A1C 13.5. He got his incentive money through his employer though."
The quote is a comment posted on a physician-written opinion piece about corporate wellness programs in which the author questions their effectiveness in either cost savings or improved health.
A 13.5% HbA1c, by the way, is an average blood glucose level of 341 mg/dl. That dude must have been whizzing pure sugar!
His employer may have been happy the guy lost weight, but keeping the weight and getting help for his diabulimia — an ea...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 24, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Jan Chait Source Type: blogs
Gestational Diabetes: More Treatment Approaches
By Amy Campbell
If you've been reading about gestational diabetes over the past couple of weeks, you might be thinking that it seems like an awful lot of work to manage it. You're right, it is. Remember that gestational diabetes is diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. If you already have diabetes, then you know the amount of effort it takes to try and control it. One of the positive aspects about gestational diabetes (GDM) is that it pretty much disappears after the baby is born. And of course, nothing tops the reward and joy of a happy, healthy baby!
Last week I wrote about the ways in which GDM is managed. Not surprisi...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 23, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Amy Campbell Source Type: blogs
Healthy Eating Guide for Kidney Disease
By Web Team
Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney disease, which currently affects roughly 31 million people in the United States. Because people with this chronic kidney disease must make changes to their diet to control the condition, the American Association of Kidney Patients has put together a guide to healthy eating that contains nutrition data for over 300 common foods, as well as menu items from 11 fast food restaurants. Information is included for carbohydrate, fat, saturated fat, protein, calories, sodium, potassium, and phosphorous levels.
The 36-page booklet has been reviewed by a renal dietitian and is avai...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 21, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Web Team Source Type: blogs
Evidence of Cinnamon's Benefits for Diabetes
By Diane Fennell
In the past, we've written about the possible health benefits of cinnamon for people with diabetes, and comments from our readers have indicated that many find this spice to be a useful addition to their diabetes management regimen. Now a new meta-analysis (a review of data from several clinical trials) has found further evidence supporting the benefits of cinnamon for people with diabetes.
Various studies have investigated the benefits of cinnamon for those who have diabetes, but these trials have generally been small and have shown conflicting results. Some research, however, has indicated that the sp...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 20, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Diane Fennell Source Type: blogs
So Easy to Forget
By Scott Coulter
I've been anxious lately — anxious, a little down, and frustrated. I won't go into the details of why, because the details are all run-of-the-mill things that don't really deserve the attention in the first place. I'm frustrated over things that a) aren't all that serious, and b) I have no real control over, anyway. I'm frustrated over matters of an easily bruised ego; frustrated when I compare my "rate of success" with my perceived rate of success of others around me. I'm frustrated with the dribs and drabs of life. It's easy to do — we all do it, some of us more than others.
In the back of m...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 19, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Scott Coulter Source Type: blogs
Doctor Payments: Public Information?
By Quinn Phillips
For a long time, health policy experts have debated to what extent differences in Medicare spending — by region or by provider, among other ways of looking at the data — represent fraud or wasteful spending in those regions or practices where Medicare tends to get bigger bills for similar patients. Given that hospitals and large medical practices enjoy strong political power in most states, it is unlikely that Congress will allow any drastic changes in Medicare's payment system to happen anytime soon. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that runs Medica...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 18, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Quinn Phillips Source Type: blogs
Why Do Test Strips Cost So Much?
By David Spero
Have you looked at test strip prices and thought, "These should be made of gold?" Well, they are made of gold, along with other costly chemicals. But some cost 16 cents apiece; others cost $1 to $2. Why this range? What price is right?
Spurred by some comments from DSM reader John C, I decided to research test strips, and they're amazing. In fact, I will need two columns to explore them and the issues involved in their best use.
To understand how test strips work, you would need to know quantum mechanics and electrochemistry (whatever that is), and I don't. Here's the part I could understand:
Modern strips w...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 18, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
Diabetes: Where "Getting High" Has a Different Meaning
By Jan Chait
"You people are really lucky," an endocrinologist friend said to me several years ago: "You know when you're getting sick."
The "you people" he was talking about were those of us who have diabetes. And we know when we're getting sick because our blood glucose goes up.
"I just wake up one morning and feel rotten," he continued. "At least you know when it's coming."
Maybe. Truthfully, however, it's the last thing I think about. Take the last time, for example.
"What did I eat?" I muttered to myself when my BGs rose and stayed up. Well, there was the spaghetti, but I skipped the bread and put a minimal amount of ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 17, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Jan Chait Source Type: blogs
Gestational Diabetes: Once You're Diagnosed
By Amy Campbell
If you're a pregnant woman, probably one of the last things you want to hear is that you have gestational diabetes. Your thoughts might range from, "What did I do to cause this?" to "Will my baby be OK?" First, keep in mind that it's perfectly normal to feel scared and worried. Second, while gestational diabetes (GDM) is indeed serious, remember that, with proper management, you can have a healthy baby.
Once you're diagnosed
If you find out that you have GDM, be prepared to learn a lot about diabetes! You'll likely be referred to a diabetes educator and/or a dietitian. You might also be referred to an endo...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 16, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Amy Campbell Source Type: blogs
Petition the FDA to Sponsor a Patient Meeting on Diabetes
By Web Team
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun holding a series of patient meetings to better understand a variety of conditions, ranging from narcolepsy to fibromyalgia to irritable bowel syndrome. Diabetes, however, is not currently on the list of illnesses to be discussed.
In order change this, the Web site diaTribe has started an online petition where people can voice their support of the FDA sponsoring a patient meeting on diabetes.
According to the petition,
New therapies need to be investigated, tested, and brought to market, and as part of that process, the FDA must understand the daily challe...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 14, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Web Team Source Type: blogs
Metformin and Impaired Thinking
By Diane Fennell
According to new research from Australia, the oral diabetes medicine metformin is linked to impaired brain function, but supplementation with vitamin B12 may reduce some of the cognitive effects. Metformin is the most widely used diabetes drug in the world, with over 61 million prescriptions for the medicine filled in the United States alone in 2012.
To evaluate the effects of the drug on cognitive impairment in people with diabetes, researchers recruited 1,354 people from various locations in Australia. The researchers included people with Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment, as well as tho...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 13, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Diane Fennell Source Type: blogs
Research News
By Scott Coulter
I've always had a tricky relationship with diabetes research. Part of me wants to know the latest research toward a cure — it's interesting to hear the ideas that are being explored; it's obviously something I hope for; and I believe in keeping myself well informed. But then there's the other side of the equation — the fact that I have to live with diabetes on a daily basis, and dreaming about a cure that doesn't exist leaves me right back where I started, managing a chronic disease 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no break. I don't want to put energy toward hoping for something that is mere...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 12, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Scott Coulter Source Type: blogs
Pain, Insomnia, and Diabetes
By David Spero
Studies show that sleep problems contribute to Type 2 diabetes. But diabetes seems to increase pain sensitivity, and pain makes it harder to sleep. What a vicious cycle! What is the pain/sleep/diabetes connection, and what can we do about it?
I've written several times about diabetes and sleep, and also diabetes and pain. But this week I read an article that links all three problems. In the drug information journal MPR (Monthly Prescribing Reference), Debra Hughes, MS, discusses these issues with Victor Rosenfeld, MD, Medical Director of the Sleep Center at the SouthCoast Medical Group, Savannah, Georgia.
...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - September 11, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: David Spero Source Type: blogs
