New insulin molecule can self-adjust according to blood sugar level of patient was reported by Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli for MedicalDialogues.in/diabetes-endocrinology, 5 December 2020.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and biotech firm Gubra have developed a new insulin molecule that will make blood sugar regulation both easier and safer for those with type 1 diabetes.With new discovery hopefully everyday life for the more than 46 million people around the world who suffer from type 1 diabetes could become much easier and safer. The new insulin molecule , in the future, will ensure that diabetics receive just the right amount of insulin. The research has appeared in the journal Chemistry – A European Journal (http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/chem.202004878)

Amazon announced on Nov. 17, 2020, that it has, at long last, launched an online pharmacy for prescription medications. The company has been moving in this direction since its 2018 acquisition of PillPack for home delivery of certain medications.  Notably, the pharmacy will not sell Schedule II medications, which includes many common opioids like Oxycontin. 

So can those of us whose lives depend on insulin expect this easy online shopping option to also bring us cost savings, to help offset the current insulin pricing crisis?  Short answer: Not for most insulins available at Amazon Pharmacy.

In fact, most prescription insulins appear to be priced on par with current pharmacies, but depending on the insulin brand the retail prices are even a bit more expensive. And some of Amazon’s pricing information is misleading and confusing.

This is a new online store at Amazon, where you can shop and order in a familiar fashion to shopping for anything else on the site, via computer or mobile device.  The difference is that it’s set up to also process medical prescription and insurance information. Their motto is: “Your medication, made easy.”

Read more:  Amazon Pharmacy Now Selling and Shipping Insulin

CGM may be useful tool for tailoring ‘precision diets’ to improve cardiometabolic health was written by Regina Schaffer for Healio.com/new/endocrinology, 10 December 2020.

Artificial intelligence can be leveraged to tailor a diet to a person’s specific physiology, and continuous glucose monitors could “train” such algorithms to recognize patterns after specific foods are consumed, according to a speaker.

Dietary weight-loss benefits differ among nondiabetic people with insulin resistance vs. insulin-sensitive individuals, and studies demonstrate high interpersonal variability in postprandial glycemic responses to the same meal, Tracey McLaughlin, MD, MS, professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, said during an online presentation at the virtual World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease. 

McLaughlin and researchers from the Stanford Precision Health and Integrated Diagnostics Center, or PHIND, are currently collecting data from volunteers using CGM (Dexcom), sleep and activity trackers (FitBit) and a food logging app (Cronometer), in addition to performing metabolic, genomic and microbiome testing. Using AI, researchers are attempting to construct a “best” diet for each participant based on CGM responses to standardized test meals, detailed food diaries, activities, sleep patterns and omics profiles.

“By the end of the study … either an expert dietitian or a computer algorithm is recommending what foods to eat based on the ‘training’ that goes on during the food logging, and the glucose monitoring can link the various foods, timing of meals and other lifestyle factors to the glucose excursions,” McLaughlin said.  Much like the other studies, McLaughlin and colleagues have observed substantial glucose variability between participants who received the same meals, she said.

Read more:  CGM may be useful tool for tailoring ‘precision diets’

Medicare coverage for massage therapy was reported Mary West for MedicalNewsToday.com, 6 December 2020.

Read more: Medicare coverage for massage therapy

Is the sugar substitute stevia bad for our health? was written by Erika Watts for MedicalNewsToday.com, 10 December 2020.

Scientists have considered stevia a safe sugar alternative for years, but a new study raises the question of whether it can be harmful to gut health.  Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beersheba, Israel, focused on stevia in a study that recently featured in Molecules Journal. Their findings suggest that stevia can have a negative effect on gut health.

The research team studied two forms of stevia: the commercialized herb supplement and purified stevia extract. They looked at how the different forms of stevia affect bacterial communication. The gut has quorum sensing (QS) pathways. These pathways enable bacteria molecules to communicate with each other, which is important in terms of microbial regulation.

The team found that the stevia herb supplement had an “inhibitory effect on bacterial communication.” The purified stevia extract showed “a molecular interaction and possible interruption of [some forms of] bacterial communication.”

Read more:  Is the sugar substitute stevia bad for our health?

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk testing is now available from Enable Biosciences T1D Autobody Testing.

Enable Biosciences Type 1 diabetes autoantibody detection panel (ADAP) has been judged as among the worlds top-performing test technologies for detecting the most important markers of type 1 diabetes in independent studies, including those conducted by the impartial Immunology of Diabetes Society and in extensive collaborative studies at world-leading academic hospitals over the past 4 years

ADAP is the only type 1 diabetes testing technology that has been shown to deliver concordant matching results for both regular blood draws and mailed-in dried blood spots.  Enable Biosciences ADAP testing is validated under both Federal CLIA and California state regulations for clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes

To order:  Type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk testing

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