Islet Cell Transplants: Hope or Hype?

The headline doesn’t look terrific: “A Diabetes Treatment Fails to Live Up to Early Promise.” Today’s New York Times reports on results of the International Trial of the Edmonton Protocol for Islet Transplantation, which were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although 58% of patients followed by the trial attained insulin independence after transplant, within two years 86% of islet cell transplant recipients had returned to regular insulin injections. The good news is that severe hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes were reduced in those who received transplants. The treatment also improved long-term blood sugar control.

Is this progress towards a cure? Or just another dangled carrot for the millions of people living with diabetes? What do you think?

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Looking For Help

From the dLife Forum:

Jeepslayer says: "Hello everyone. I have been diagnosed with type 2 since...1998. I am currently on Lantus and Humalog. I also am being treated for high blood pressure and take cholestorol medicine. I am currently having difficulty with leg and foot swelling. Is anyone out there having those problems?? I know I have neoropathy in these areas, and sometimes it is so severe I miss work."

Have any tips or advice? Stop by the dLife forum and weigh in!

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Wal-Mart Throws Down the Gauntlet

Wal-Mart is garnering some good press for yesterday's announcement of a pilot program to drop the price on nearly 300 generic drugs to $4 per prescription. The program, which starts in select Tampa, FL area stores and will expand statewide early next year, covers a number of diabetes and blood pressure meds, and will be extended to both the insured and uninsured.

If successful, Wal-Mart plans on rolling out the price drop nationwide. Other large retail chains will surely be forced to follow suit; Target quickly announced their pharmacies would match Wal-Mart prices in the Tampa area.

MORE: Kaiser Health Foundation

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Avandia as a Type 2 Prevention Tool?

A drug that can slash the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by over sixty percent? That's the hot story out of Copenhagen, where the European Association for the Study of Diabetes held its annual meeting last week, and it could be the biggest news in diabetes prevention since the DPP trial findings were announced in 2002. But is rosiglitazone maleate (Avandia) the magic bullet for a global health crisis, or an expensive band-aid that gives us yet another reason not to invest in the healthy lifestyle changes that are known to slash type 2 diabetes risk by up to 70 percent?

The DREAM (Diabetes REduction Assessment with ramipril and rosiglitazone Medication) trial followed 5,269 people with pre-diabetes over three years to determine their likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. Those who took Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 62 percent, compared to those who took a placebo. All study subjects were also counseled on healthy eating and exercise.

The DREAM results have been met with skepticism and caution by some in the diabetes community, who cite heart risks, expense, and lack of long-term data on Avandia as factors that may preclude the drug from widespread use as a preventative. And there is also some concern that media attention to the study could send the wrong message - that a pill is a substitute for healthy lifestyle changes. What we do know for certain is that diet and exercise remain the most effective tool we have for type 2 diabetes prevention. And while the Avandia results are impressive, they don't address the underlying problems of how to motivate behavioral and social changes to combat the inactivity and poor nutrition that are fueling the type 2 diabetes crisis.

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Terms of Endearment

From acanthosis nigricans to wound care, diabetes has its own special lexicon. And like any language worth its salt, diabetes has also spawned many slang terms. dLife's Kerri Morrone talks about dotties and bouncing and nabs (oh my!).

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New ADA Food Guidelines

The new American Diabetes Association clinical guidelines for dietary control and prevention of diabetes are out, and the debate is on. What's your take? Talk about it in the dLife Community Forum.

RELATED: Diabetes Food and Nutrition

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