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Social Networks Found Lacking
Social networking Web sites for people with diabetes vary widely in quality and safety, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. The team evaluated 10 such sites and found that only half carried information consistent with clinical practice and the latest science concerning diabetes. Even fewer sites protected the participants' privacy, according to the researchers. In a statement, lead author Dr. Kenneth Mandl said that “privacy in a social network is somewhat of an oxymoron. On the whole, these networks tend to be about exposing your information online.” He and his colleagues recommended that more of the sites employ moderators and that they emphasize transparency, such as revealing ties to pharmaceutical companies. The researchers published their study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Inpatient Insulin Is Issue
The American College of Physicians published new guidelines saying that doctors should not use insulin therapy to strictly control blood glucose in hospitalized patients nor to normalize glucose in intensive care patients. But “insulin therapy should not be abandoned,” according to a joint statement on the guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology and the American Diabetes Association. The two diabetes-linked groups found the college's guidelines “for the most part consistent” with their recommendations on inpatient glucose control. “Both overtreatment and undertreatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients are patient-safety issues,” said Dr. Robert R. Henry, the ADA's president for medicine and science. The college's new guidelines say that if clinicians choose to use insulin therapy in intensive care unit patients, 140 to 200 mg/dL should be the blood glucose target.
Metabolic Drugs Cost Most
Spending on prescriptions to control cholesterol, diabetes, and other metabolic conditions exceeded $52 billion in 2008, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Such metabolic medicines cost U.S. insurers and consumers more than any other class of drug that year and accounted for 22% of spending for prescription medicines. Meanwhile, spending on central nervous system drugs totaled $35 billion. Cardiovascular drugs, including calcium channel blockers and diuretics, cost $29 billion, while antacids, antidiarrheals, and other gastrointestinal medications cost $20 billion – the same total spent on antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other psychotherapeutic drugs, according to the agency.
Group Promotes Savings Card
The American Diabetes Association announced that it will urge uninsured diabetes patients to join a program for discounted drugs and supplies. Supported by large pharmaceutical companies, Together Rx Access offers savings cards to uninsured individuals who have incomes up to $45,000. Pharmacies then give cardholders discounts up to 40% on brand-name prescription products, as well as some savings on generics. In their announcement of the effort, the ADA and the discount program estimated that 90% of uninsured Americans qualify for the savings card.
$750 Million More for Prevention
The Department of Health and Human Services will spend $750 million this year to limit tobacco use, curb chronic disease, increase immunizations, and conduct other disease-prevention activities. The new “investment in prevention” comes on top of $500 million that was disbursed in 2010, according to the HHS. Of the new money, nearly $300 million will go toward reducing tobacco use, improving nutrition and physical activity, and preventing heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Another $182 million will focus on improving preventive care, including education on new prevention benefits in the health reform law. A total of $137 million will help local public health agencies improve their information technology and train staff, and $133 million will be used, in part, to track the effects of the reform law on the health of Americans, according to the HHS.
Social Networks Found Lacking
Social networking Web sites for people with diabetes vary widely in quality and safety, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. The team evaluated 10 such sites and found that only half carried information consistent with clinical practice and the latest science concerning diabetes. Even fewer sites protected the participants' privacy, according to the researchers. In a statement, lead author Dr. Kenneth Mandl said that “privacy in a social network is somewhat of an oxymoron. On the whole, these networks tend to be about exposing your information online.” He and his colleagues recommended that more of the sites employ moderators and that they emphasize transparency, such as revealing ties to pharmaceutical companies. The researchers published their study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Inpatient Insulin Is Issue
The American College of Physicians published new guidelines saying that doctors should not use insulin therapy to strictly control blood glucose in hospitalized patients nor to normalize glucose in intensive care patients. But “insulin therapy should not be abandoned,” according to a joint statement on the guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology and the American Diabetes Association. The two diabetes-linked groups found the college's guidelines “for the most part consistent” with their recommendations on inpatient glucose control. “Both overtreatment and undertreatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients are patient-safety issues,” said Dr. Robert R. Henry, the ADA's president for medicine and science. The college's new guidelines say that if clinicians choose to use insulin therapy in intensive care unit patients, 140 to 200 mg/dL should be the blood glucose target.
Metabolic Drugs Cost Most
Spending on prescriptions to control cholesterol, diabetes, and other metabolic conditions exceeded $52 billion in 2008, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Such metabolic medicines cost U.S. insurers and consumers more than any other class of drug that year and accounted for 22% of spending for prescription medicines. Meanwhile, spending on central nervous system drugs totaled $35 billion. Cardiovascular drugs, including calcium channel blockers and diuretics, cost $29 billion, while antacids, antidiarrheals, and other gastrointestinal medications cost $20 billion – the same total spent on antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other psychotherapeutic drugs, according to the agency.
Group Promotes Savings Card
The American Diabetes Association announced that it will urge uninsured diabetes patients to join a program for discounted drugs and supplies. Supported by large pharmaceutical companies, Together Rx Access offers savings cards to uninsured individuals who have incomes up to $45,000. Pharmacies then give cardholders discounts up to 40% on brand-name prescription products, as well as some savings on generics. In their announcement of the effort, the ADA and the discount program estimated that 90% of uninsured Americans qualify for the savings card.
$750 Million More for Prevention
The Department of Health and Human Services will spend $750 million this year to limit tobacco use, curb chronic disease, increase immunizations, and conduct other disease-prevention activities. The new “investment in prevention” comes on top of $500 million that was disbursed in 2010, according to the HHS. Of the new money, nearly $300 million will go toward reducing tobacco use, improving nutrition and physical activity, and preventing heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Another $182 million will focus on improving preventive care, including education on new prevention benefits in the health reform law. A total of $137 million will help local public health agencies improve their information technology and train staff, and $133 million will be used, in part, to track the effects of the reform law on the health of Americans, according to the HHS.
Social Networks Found Lacking
Social networking Web sites for people with diabetes vary widely in quality and safety, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. The team evaluated 10 such sites and found that only half carried information consistent with clinical practice and the latest science concerning diabetes. Even fewer sites protected the participants' privacy, according to the researchers. In a statement, lead author Dr. Kenneth Mandl said that “privacy in a social network is somewhat of an oxymoron. On the whole, these networks tend to be about exposing your information online.” He and his colleagues recommended that more of the sites employ moderators and that they emphasize transparency, such as revealing ties to pharmaceutical companies. The researchers published their study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Inpatient Insulin Is Issue
The American College of Physicians published new guidelines saying that doctors should not use insulin therapy to strictly control blood glucose in hospitalized patients nor to normalize glucose in intensive care patients. But “insulin therapy should not be abandoned,” according to a joint statement on the guidelines from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology and the American Diabetes Association. The two diabetes-linked groups found the college's guidelines “for the most part consistent” with their recommendations on inpatient glucose control. “Both overtreatment and undertreatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients are patient-safety issues,” said Dr. Robert R. Henry, the ADA's president for medicine and science. The college's new guidelines say that if clinicians choose to use insulin therapy in intensive care unit patients, 140 to 200 mg/dL should be the blood glucose target.
Metabolic Drugs Cost Most
Spending on prescriptions to control cholesterol, diabetes, and other metabolic conditions exceeded $52 billion in 2008, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Such metabolic medicines cost U.S. insurers and consumers more than any other class of drug that year and accounted for 22% of spending for prescription medicines. Meanwhile, spending on central nervous system drugs totaled $35 billion. Cardiovascular drugs, including calcium channel blockers and diuretics, cost $29 billion, while antacids, antidiarrheals, and other gastrointestinal medications cost $20 billion – the same total spent on antidepressants, antipsychotics, and other psychotherapeutic drugs, according to the agency.
Group Promotes Savings Card
The American Diabetes Association announced that it will urge uninsured diabetes patients to join a program for discounted drugs and supplies. Supported by large pharmaceutical companies, Together Rx Access offers savings cards to uninsured individuals who have incomes up to $45,000. Pharmacies then give cardholders discounts up to 40% on brand-name prescription products, as well as some savings on generics. In their announcement of the effort, the ADA and the discount program estimated that 90% of uninsured Americans qualify for the savings card.
$750 Million More for Prevention
The Department of Health and Human Services will spend $750 million this year to limit tobacco use, curb chronic disease, increase immunizations, and conduct other disease-prevention activities. The new “investment in prevention” comes on top of $500 million that was disbursed in 2010, according to the HHS. Of the new money, nearly $300 million will go toward reducing tobacco use, improving nutrition and physical activity, and preventing heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Another $182 million will focus on improving preventive care, including education on new prevention benefits in the health reform law. A total of $137 million will help local public health agencies improve their information technology and train staff, and $133 million will be used, in part, to track the effects of the reform law on the health of Americans, according to the HHS.