New once-a-day medication helps control Type 2 diabetes
People with Type 2 diabetes may soon get a very different treatment approach: A drug that helps control blood sugar via the brain - an idea sparked, surprisingly, by the metabolism of migrating birds. The Food and Drug Administration approved Cycloset, maker VeroScience Inc. announced last week. It's a new version of an old drug called bromocriptine, used in higher doses to treat Parkinson's disease and a few other conditions. But unlike its older parent, Cycloset is formulated to require a low, quick-acting dose taken just in the morning - no other time of day. That timing provides a bump of activity in a brain chemical that seems to reset a body clock that in turn helps control metabolism in Type 2 diabetes, said VeroScience's Anthony Cincotta, who led the drug's development.Company studies suggest that one morning dose helped lower the usual post-meal blood sugar rise at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over six months, 35 percent of Cycloset users reached recommended average blood sugar levels, compared with 10 percent of diabetics given a dummy drug, Cincotta said.
Associated Press
Program helps doctors identify substance abusers
If more doctors started asking, would more drug and alcohol abusers 'fess up so they could get help? It's a huge irony of health care: Go to the emergency room and you'll be asked about a tetanus shot, even though "most of us have never seen a case of tetanus," says Dr. Gail D'Onofrio, emergency medicine chief at Yale-New Haven Hospital.Yet, although up to half of ER visits involve illegal drugs or alcohol, typically "we don't ask it. It makes no sense whatsoever," says D'Onofrio, who teaches new doctors to break that chain of silence.
A new program from the National Institute on Drug Abuse aims to help health workers get past the stigma and ensure that more patients are asked for simple clues to addiction at every visit - not just in the ER, but anytime they see a doctor. It's a step-by-step computerized guide that takes patients' answers to various behavior questions, analyzes their risk for a serious substance-use problem and tells doctors what next steps to take.
A patient admits to experimenting with heroin? A few more questions about how often, when and if he felt cravings can guide how big his risk is for continuing drug use and what intervention is needed. Someone else insists she's a social drinker? If she's ever had four or more drinks in a day, she may have a bigger problem.The goal: To get substance abuse treatment for more of the 23 million Americans estimated to need it.
