Endocrinology

Patients with end-stage renal disease who live in the Midwest begin dialysis at an earlier stage than patients who live in other regions of the US.

Results from the TEMPO trial presented at Kidney Week 2012 show that treatment with tolvaptan slowed the increase in total kidney volume and the decline in kidney function in patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD).

Increasing numbers of people are on kidney transplant waiting lists. However, the number of potential living donors may shrink as more Americans qualify as pre-diabetic, making them less than ideal donor candidates.

Experts at Kidney Week 2012 discuss several treatment options for hyponatremia, including fluid restriction, loop diuretics, and the use of selective vasopressin V2-receptor antagonists.

A diet rich in highly alkaline fruits and vegetables helps reduce a marker of kidney injury and preserve kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease.

The powerful immunosuppressive drugs used to prevent allograft rejection are associated with severe side effects. A "mixed chimerism" strategy in which patients undergo simultaneous bone marrow and kidney transplant from the same donor may improve transplant survival and reduce the need for these drugs.

Use of peritoneal dialysis in patients with end-stage renal disease is declining due to lack of physician training and awareness, financial disincentives, and other factors. However, with proper patient and provider education, it is possible to grow a successful peritoneal dialysis program.

Study results reported at Kidney Week 2012 reveal that patients with early-stage CKD fare better in the public health system, which also appears to produce fewer racial and ethnic health disparities in care delivered to this population.

Consuming 200 milligrams or more of caffeine per day-roughly equivalent to two cups of coffee-can either increase or decrease a woman's estrogen level, depending on her ethnic background and the source of the caffeine, a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) finds.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Jentadueto, a type 2 diabetes treatment that combines two drugs (linagliptin and metformin) in a single pill.

Consumption of sugar, which helps to drive the obesity crisis and causes millions of deaths worldwide each year, should be controlled like other threats to public health, a team of researchers from the University of California San Francisco argue in the Feb. 2 issue of Nature.

Poor sleep is connected to a significantly increased risk for major cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary artery disease, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine have found.

According to a study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), more than 32 million people in the United States have proteins created by the immune system that target the body's tissues. Known as autoantibodies, these proteins are typically markers for autoimmunity, which can result in conditions such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Bydureon as the first once-weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes after several years of delays due to concerns over the drug's safety.

Exposure to chemicals called phthalates is linked to the development of obesity in young children, researchers from the Children's Environmental Health Center at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York have found.

Regular monthly contact with a nurse increases the quality of life for patients with diabetes or hypertension, a recent study has found.

Paula Deen confirmed on Tuesday that she does in fact have type 2 diabetes, a diagnosis she has kept a secret for three years.

A meta-analysis of several dozen studies has found that lifestyle intervention programs for those at high risk of diabetes resulted in moderate weight loss regardless of whether they were facilitated by high-cost clinically trained professionals or lower-cost lay educators.

A novel treatment method called stem cell educator therapy appears to reverse the effects of type 1 diabetes, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues in China report.

Postmenopausal women who are taking statins appear to have an increased risk of developing diabetes, researchers have found.

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes may have difficulty getting a full night of sleep, which can greatly impact their performance in school and, worse, their blood sugar control, researchers at the University of Arizona have found.

New guidelines from the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) advise all diabetes patients between the ages of 19 and 59 to receive the hepatitis B vaccination and urge those over the age of 60 to consult a physician prior to receiving the vaccine.

Promising initial results from a Phase 3 trial of DiaPep277 have raised hopes that an alternative to insulin may soon be available to treat type 1 diabetes.

Amidst smartphone applications that transform your thumbs into drumsticks and others that make "whoosh" noises as you swing around your phone/digital lightsaber, there are apps that can actually be quite useful in the medical field.

Elevated stress hormones in infancy appear to be linked to allergies in the first two years of life, a new study finds.

According to a recent report from the NHS Information Centre, roughly 24,000 diabetes-related deaths that occur each year can be prevented by better management of the condition on the parts of both patients and doctors.

Over the past few years there has been an increasing amount of mobile technologies that enhance the ability to access public health information and improve the delivery of health services to the public at large, as well as to health care professionals. The ubiquity of cell phones makes SMS text messaging the natural platform to deliver these interventions.

This morning's session Harnessing the Power of Social Media and Mobile Technology to Engage Consumers at the mHealth Summit was a popular one, and with good reason. Social and mobile strategies in health care are becoming increasingly important and, when combined with gaming strategies, create what was described in the opening address as the "trifecta of effectiveness" when it comes to engaging patients.

In a move that has been long anticipated by the diabetes community, the FDA has finally issued a draft guidance designed to aid investigators and manufacturers seeking approval for and developing "artificial pancreas" devices.

According to a nationwide review of data from the in-patient register, 31 of the 33 autoimmune diseases studied were associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism (a blood clot on the lung), including type 1 diabetes.