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Study: Racial gaps in home dialysis persist despite Medicare intervention

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By Shawn M. Carter
Racial gaps in home dialysis treatment still exist among patients with kidney disease, even after Medicare introduced a new payment structure to alleviate critical barriers to care, according to results of a recently published study. Congress approved the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease prospective payment system (PPS) in 2011 to control costs and increase access to home peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis (HHD). But despite modest increases seen in dialysis availability and patient utilization following the reform, “significant racial disparities in home dialysis remain,” Virginia Wang, PhD, faculty at the Duke University School of Medicine and lead research author, wrote in the study. Read the full story in Healio.

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Younger age at diabetes diagnosis linked to higher risk for developing dementia

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By Michael Monostra
Adults who are diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age have an increased risk for developing dementia, but researchers found no association between prediabetes and dementia risk, according to study data published in Diabetologia.

“We believe delaying prediabetes progression may potentially have a broad public health impact,” Michael Fang, PhD, assistant scientist in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Healio. Read more in Healio.

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Cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention reduces diabetes distress for adults

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By Michael Monostra
A cognitive behavioral therapy multidisciplinary intervention was associated with a reduction in HbA1c and improvements in diabetes distress for adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, according to study findings.

In a study published in The Science of Diabetes Self-Management and Care, researchers enrolled 29 adults with diabetes into the Diabetes Tune-Up Group, a multidisciplinary group intervention designed to deliver integrated psychoeducational, cognitive, motivational and emotional interventions in a scalable manner across six sessions. 
Read the full article in Healio.

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Most adults with diabetes report CGM disruptions due to device problems, medical care

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By Michael Monostra
More than 80% of adults with diabetes using continuous glucose monitoring reported at least one instance of needing to stop using their device due to medical care or a device-related problem, according to survey findings.

“CGM disruption is the rule rather than the exception,” Alexis M. McKee, MD, CDCES, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, told Healio. Read the full story in Healio.

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Prior COVID-19 infection increases risk for incident diabetes by 17%

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By Michael Monostra

Adults who previously tested positive for COVID-19 have a higher risk for developing diabetes than those who did not test positive, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

“The study highlights the importance of medical professionals being mindful of the possible long-term consequences of COVID-19,” Naveed Zafar Janjua, MBBS, MSc, DrPH, executive director of data and analytic services at British Columbia Center for Disease Control, Provincial Health Services Authority; and clinical professor in the school of population and public health at University of British Columbia, told Healio. Read more in Healio.

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Senate bill would cap monthly insulin costs at $35 for Americans with commercial insurance

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A bill proposed in the U.S Senate would limit out-of-pocket insulin costs for Americans with diabetes who have commercial health insurance, according to a press release.

On April 20, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act of 2023. Read the full story in Healio.

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Recent diabetes, obesity drug shortages reveal challenges for prescribers

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ByErin T. Welsh, MA
ByMichael Monostra
ByJill Rollet

Recent shortages of the type 2 diabetes therapies semaglutide and tirzepatide, widely reported in the consumer press, appear to be resolving, according to manufacturers and prescribers.

Beginning in the middle of last year in the United States, but extending globally, the shortages caused numerous challenges for prescribers treating people with type 2 diabetes and with obesity. Read more in Healio.

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Plant-based low-carb diet linked to lower mortality risk in type 2 diabetes

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By Michael Monostra
Low-carbohydrate diets centered on macronutrients from whole grains, fruit and vegetables are associated with a lower mortality risk for people with type 2 diabetes, according to study data.

“It is well established that maintaining a higher diet quality is important for human health,” Yang Hu, ScD, research associate in the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Healio. Read the full story in Healio.

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When health plans are detrimental to diabetes care

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By Susan Weiner, MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES
By Donna Ryan, RN, RDN, MPH, CDCES, FADCES

Susan Weiner, MS, RDN, CDCES, FADCES, talks with Donna Ryan, RN, RDN, MPH, CDCES, FADCES, about changes to standard practices of health plans that could improve diabetes care and health of people with diabetes.

Weiner: How is the U.S. doing in terms of health care spending efficacy and equity for diabetes?

Ryan: The U.S. is a global leader in health care expenditures for diabetes, spending approximately $327 billion for direct and indirect costs. According to the American Diabetes Association, people with diabetes have 2.3 times the health care costs of persons without diabetes, with estimated average annual medical costs of approximately $17,000. Read the entire article on Healio.

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Coordinated care can improve prescribing practices of recommended diabetes, CVD therapies

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By Katie Kalvaitis
NEW ORLEANS — Implementing a coordinated care intervention in U.S. cardiology clinics led to a fourfold increase in the prescription of three groups of guideline-recommended therapies in adults with type 2 diabetes and atherosclerotic CVD.

“High-intensity statins, ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, and SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists are all proven to improve outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes and ASCVD,” Neha J. Pagidipati, MD, MPH, associate professor in the division of cardiology at Duke University School of Medicine and member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, said during a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.
Read the full article in Healio.

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