Diabetes/Obesity

Bariatric Surgery Beneficial in Type 1 Diabetes (CME/CE)
In a review of cases from the Cleveland Clinic, heavy patients with poorly controlled type 1 disease had a significant reduction in both HbA1c (10% to 8.9% P=0.039) and daily insulin requirements (0.74 versus 0.40 U/kg/day, P=0.004), Stacy Brethauer, MD, and colleagues reported online in BMJ. MedPage Today

Specialized cognitive therapy improves blood sugar control in depressed diabetes patients
Although maintaining good blood sugar control is crucial for avoiding complications of diabetes, it has been estimated that only about half of patients are successful in meeting target blood glucose levels. The prevalence of depression among diabetes patients – up to twice as high as in the general population – can interfere with patients' ability to manage their diabetes. Now a group of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators report that a program of cognitive behavioral therapy that addresses both mood and diabetes self-care led to improved blood sugar control and produced faster relief of depression in patients with poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes. Eurekalert!

Is previous hypoglycemia a risk factor for future hypoglycemic episodes?
The automatic “threshold suspend” (TS) feature of an insulin pump helps prevent life-threatening hypoglycemic events when the device's sensor detects blood glucose concentrations below the preset threshold. However, in individuals with type 1 diabetes who have had previous episodes of hypoglycemia the TS feature may be less effective at preventing subsequent events, according to important new results from the ASPIRE study published in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics (DTT), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.  Mary Ann Liebert, Inc

Abdominal fat accumulation prevented by unsaturated fat
New research from Uppsala University shows that saturated fat builds more fat and less muscle than polyunsaturated fat. This is the first study on humans to show that the fat composition of food not only influences cholesterol levels in the blood and the risk of cardiovascular disease but also determines where the fat will be stored in the body.The findings have recently been published in the American journal Diabetes. Uppsala University