EXPERT ADVICE FROM AN OUTSTANDING ENDOCRINOLOGIST

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Dr. Howard Baum is a close friend of mine and an outstanding endocrinologist who is on the faculty of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.   During a recent visit I was able to ‘pick his brain’ on three topics of importance and interest to many patients who see me.  Check out his podcasts on: Hypothyroidism Diabetes Osteoporosis …

FRESH FRUITS PREVENT DIABETES DESPITE CONTAINING NATURAL SUGARS

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Certain Whole Fruits Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk By Amy Orciari Herman (www.jwatch.org website) Adults who frequently consume certain whole fruits, including apples, grapes, and blueberries, have a significantly lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who eat little fruit, according to a BMJ study. Three cohorts of U.S. healthcare professionals, comprising nearly 190,000 adults without …

FOUR FACTORS AFFECT VASCULAR DISEASE STRONGLY

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Peripheral Vascular Disease, also called PAD (peripheral arterial disease), is characterized primarily by issues with bloodflow to the legs, leading to claudication (pain with walking distances that ameliorates with resting), but there are other aspects of this condition which include carotid artery disease and aortic aneurysm. To determine who is at risk we generally look …

BARIATRIC SURGERY WORKS TO PREVENT DIABETES—NO SURPRISE

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Type 2 diabetes is due to a relative lack of insulin effect, which is often connected to an individuals weight. We all know that being overweight is a risk for developing diabetes and that losing weight, therefore, should prevent the development of diabetes. In a large study from Sweden, recently published in the New England …

ACTOS GOES GENERIC…..WITH COMMENTS ON SIDE- EFFECTS NOTED

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ACTOS (Pioglitizone) is a medication for Type 2 Diabetes that works by making your own insulin work more effectively in muscle, fat, and liver tissues.   It is a very effective and tolerable medication, but there are some controversies. It has been available for over a decade and is now going generic.  Since this medication is …

CHECK YOUR SUGAR IF YOU ARE ON A STATIN

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Recent reports have confirmed that statin medications, like Zocor and Lipitor, do increased a person’s risk for developing diabetes over their lifetime.  This is an important issue and any negatives from the medication need to be weighed against their positives. For cholesterol medications, in most instances, the benefits ‘do’ outweigh the negatives.  A recent study …

HOW GOOD CAN A MEDICATION GET? DIABETIC MEDICINE LOWERS WEIGHT AND REDUCES RISK OF CANCER

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Metformin (Glucophage) is a medication used in treating diabetes for the past 50 years. It has a great track record of safety and is very inexpensive. It has always been recognized as a ‘first line’ therapy, as it reduces the body’s insulin levels and helps in losing weight. If that weren’t enough, recent studies have …

ONCE WEEKLY INJECTION FOR DIABETES HOLDS INTEREST

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Exenatide is an injectible medications used for Type 2 Diabetes that has been available for a few years in the form called Byetta. Injectible, but not insulin, it is a medication that improves blood sugar by increasing the body’s own insulin production and blocking the secretion of the counter-hormone glucagon. Effective and proven in twice …