Category: Living with diabetes

Retinopathy Update

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American Diabetes Association Updates on Diabetic Retinopathy

 

Improvements in assessment and treatment of diabetic retinopathy position statement

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a complication of diabetes that affects vision.

High blood sugar levels can damage the blood vessels starving the retina of vital nutrients and oxygen resulting in blurry vision. Without appropriate treatment this condition may lead to complete vision loss.

The four stages of retinopathy range from mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) to moderate NPDR, to severe NPDR, to the most advanced stage – proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

DR is  a neurovascular complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and its rate of occurrence depends on the level of glycemic control and the duration of diabetes.

Other risk factors associated with DR include hyperglycemia, nephropathy, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Studies have proven that reduction in blood pressure (BP) decreases the progression of retinopathy in people with type 2 diabetes, but strict BP targets (systolic blood pressure of 120 mmHg vs. 140 mmHg) do not provide additional benefits. In another study, retinopathy progression was slowed in patients with dyslipidemia by adding fenofibrate, mainly in NPDR at baseline. In addition, several studies propose that pregnant patients with type 1 diabetes may exacerbate retinopathy with poor glycemic control during conception and may threaten their vision.

Optimization of blood glucose, blood pressure, and serum lipid levels in conjunction with appropriately scheduled dilated eye examinations can decrease the risk of vision loss from DR complications, but a substantial amount of those affected with diabetes develop diabetic macular edema (DME) or proliferative changes that require intervention. Large prospective randomized studies have shown that the use of intensive therapy could possibly prevent or delay DR with the goal of attaining near-normoglycemia. Although, intravitreal injection of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor agents may treat DME and PDR, it may threaten reading vision.

A meta-analysis study, conducted worldwide from 1980–2008 and consisting of 35 studies, predicted the global prevalence of DR to be 35.4% and PDR to be 7.5%. In developed countries, DR is mostly the cause of new cases of blindness among those 20 to 74 year old and eye disorders, such as glaucoma and cataracts, are frequently seen in diabetes patients. However, recent advancements in systemic therapy of diabetes have helped patients to improve their metabolic control. The statement incorporates these medical developments for the use of physicians and patients to aid in diagnosis and treatment of DR. It also provides an opportunity to improve glucose management and avoid or delay potential progression of the retinopathy.

The statement includes that screening recommendations for patients with diabetes depend on the rates of appearance and progression of DR and the associated risk factors. Ophthalmologist or optometrist examinations in patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes should be within 5 years after onset of diabetes and at the time of diabetes diagnosis, respectively. Women planning for pregnancy or who are pregnant with pre-existing diabetes should be examined before pregnancy or in the first trimester. In diabetes patients where no evidence of retinopathy is found, follow-up eye exams can be scheduled every two years. If any retinopathy is identified, then subsequent dilated-pupil retina exams are advised at least yearly, but more frequently if progressive retinopathy is diagnosed.

Fortunately, the cost-effectiveness of screening and traditional laser treatment for DR has been established with no more disputes. It is focused on telemedicine’s impact on the detection and eventual management of DR that appears to be most effective with lower ratio of providers to patients, with prohibitive distance to reach a provider, or when the alternative is no patient screening. The latest advancement in retinopathy treatment, anti-VEGF therapy has been taken into consideration, as they are more cost-effective than laser monotherapy for DME. Also, having retinopathy is not contraindicated with aspirin therapy for cardioprotection because studies suggest that aspirin does not increase the risk for retinal hemorrhage. Nonetheless, future studies are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of anti-VEGF as a first-line treatment option for PDR.

Practice Pearls:

  • Optimize glycemic control, blood pressure, and serum lipids to reduce the risk or slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
  • Follow the screening recommendations for patients with diabetes for eye examination by ophthalmologist or optometrist.
  • The presence of retinopathy is not a contraindication to aspirin therapy for cardioprotection because aspirin does not increase the risk of retinal hemorrhage.

Reference:

Javitt JC, Canner JK, Sommer A. Cost effectiveness of current approaches to the control of retinopathy in type I diabetics. Ophthalmology 1989;96:255–264 42

Pasquel FJ, Hendrick AM, Ryan M, Cason E, Ali MK, Narayan KMV. Cost-effectiveness of different diabetic retinopathy screening modalities. J Diabetes Sci Technol 2015;10:301–307

Solomon SD, Chew E, Duh EJ, Sobrin L, Sun JK, VanderBeek BL, Wykoff CC, and Gardner TW. Diabetic Retinopathy: A Position Statement by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care. Mar 2017; 40(3): 412-418.https://doi.org/10.2337/dc16-2641

 

What should happen to you if you are admitted to hospital with an acute illness?

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hospital

Adapted from BMJ 24 June 17 Managing adults with diabetes in hospital during an acute illness by Tahseen Chowdhury, Hannah Cheston and Anne Claydon.

Around one in five inpatient beds are occupied by someone who has diabetes. As patients, one in ten will have a severe hypo in hospital and in any one week, one in four will have an error made regarding their medication.

Poorly managed hyperglycaemia in patients with an acute illness do worse, stay in hospital longer and can even cause death. Blood sugars can be harder to manage because of the ongoing illness, erratic eating habits, changes to liver and kidney function, and changing medication, particularly starting and stopping steroids and metformin.   But here is no evidence that tight glycaemic control for hospital patients improves outcomes other than during cardiac surgery and liver transplantation.

The consensus is that blood glucose values between 6-10 mmol/L is probably optimal, given the need to prevent hypos, and that a range of 4-12 is acceptable.

The sorts of things that can cause high blood sugars in hospital are: sepsis, steroids, omission of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic medication, an overtreated hypo, stress and anxiety, surgery, a relative lack of insulin and long term poor glucose control.

In type one patients and type twos on insulin they should not stop their insulin even when fasted or when oral intake is poor.  At the very least basal insulin needs to be continued. The DAFNE plan is that blood sugars over 11 should be corrected by 2-6 units of rapid acting insulin and levels checked every 2 hours. Correction doses are advised not to be given at intervals more than every 4 hours to reduce insulin stacking.  Staff are advised to ASK THE PATIENT what they would normally do outside hospital.  

Treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis should be initiated if the blood ketone level is 3mmol/L or above.  In mild or moderate cases subcutaneous insulin may be used, but if severe, intravenous insulin will be needed.

When dealing with type two patients, where there is less risk of ketoacidosis, higher blood sugar levels may be acceptable over the short term. It is important to ask the patient if they are actually getting their correct medication. It is helpful to figure out exactly WHY the patient’s blood glucose is elevated, as this can be the clue to effective treatment, eg an ongoing urine infection.

Most hospitals have a diabetes liaison team and they can be particularly helpful in for instance surgical wards where staff may have less expertise in treating diabetic patients.

Insulin is sometimes required if a type two patient needs blood sugars stabilised promptly.  Doses will need frequent review as the patient becomes more active and eats more as they improve and as their condition returns to their normal state.

BMJ 2017;357:j2551

Sheri Colberg: Joint health is critical to staying active

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Joint Health Is Critical to Staying Active

Diabetes in Control

Without properly functioning joints, our bodies would be unable to bend, flex, or even move. A joint is wherever two bones come together, held in place by tendons that cross the joint and attach muscles to a bone on the other side and ligaments that attach to bones on both sides of the joint to stabilize it. The ends of the bones are covered with cartilage, a white substance formed by specialized cells called chondrocytes. These cells produce large amounts of an extracellular matrix composed of collagen fibers, proteoglycan, elastin fibers, and water. Tendons and ligaments are also made up primarily of collagen.

Joints can be damaged, however, making movement more difficult or painful. Joint cartilage can be damaged by acute injuries (i.e., ankle sprain, tendon or ligament tears) or overuse (related to repetition of joint movements and wear-and-tear over time). Damage to the thin cartilage layer covering the ends of the bones is not repaired by the body easily or well, mainly because cartilage lacks its own blood supply.

Aging alone can lead to some loss of this articular cartilage layer in knee, hip, and other joints—leading to osteoarthritis and joint pain—but having diabetes also potentially speeds up damage to joint surfaces. Although everyone gets stiffer joints with aging, diabetes accelerates the usual loss of flexibility by changing the structure of collagen in the joints, tendons, and ligaments. In short, glucose “sticking” to joint surfaces and collagen makes people with diabetes more prone to overuse injuries like tendinitis and frozen shoulder (1; 2). It may also take longer for their joint injuries to heal properly, especially if blood glucose levels are not managed effectively. What’s more, having reduced motion around joints increases the likelihood of injuries, falls, and self-imposed physical inactivity due to fear of falling.

Reduced flexibility limits movement around joints, increases the likelihood of orthopedic injuries, and presents a greater risk of joint-related problems often associated with diabetes, such as diabetic frozen shoulder, tendinitis, trigger finger, and carpal tunnel syndrome. These joint issues can come on with no warning and for no apparent reason, even if an individual exercises regularly and moderately, and they may recur more easily as well (3). It is not always just due to diabetes, though, since older adults without diabetes experience inflamed joints more readily than when they were younger.

So what can you do to keep your joints mobile if you’re aging (as we all are) and have diabetes? Regular stretching to keep full motion around joints can help prevent some of these problems, and also include specific resistance exercises that strengthen the muscles surrounding affected joints. Vary activities to stress joints differently each day. Overuse injuries occur following excessive use the same joints and muscle in a similar way over an extended period of weeks or months, or they can result from doing too much too soon.

Doing moderate aerobic activity that is weight-bearing (like walking) will actually improve arthritis pain in hips and knees (4). People can also try non-weight-bearing activities, such as aquatic activities that allow joints to be moved more fluidly. Swimming and aquatic classes (like water aerobics) in either shallow or deep water are both appropriate and challenging activities to improve joint mobility, overall strength, and aerobic fitness. Walking in a pool (with or without a flotation belt around the waist), recumbent stationary cycling, upper-body exercises, seated aerobic workouts, and resistance activities will give you additional options to try.

Finally, managing blood glucose levels effectively is also important to limit changes to collagen structures related to hyperglycemia. Losing excess weight and keeping body weight lower will decrease the risk for excessive stress on joints that can lead to lower body joint osteoarthritis (5). Simply staying as active as possible is also critical to allowing your joints to age well, but remember to rest inflamed joints properly to give them a chance to heal properly. You may have to try some new activities as you age to work around your joint limitations, but a side benefit is that you may find some of them to be enjoyable!

References:

  1. Abate M, Schiavone C, Pelotti P, Salini V: Limited joint mobility in diabetes and ageing: Recent advances in pathogenesis and therapy. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol 2011;23:997-1003
  2. Ranger TA, Wong AM, Cook JL, Gaida JE: Is there an association between tendinopathy and diabetes mellitus? A systematic review with meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med 2015;
  3. Rozental TD, Zurakowski D, Blazar PE: Trigger finger: Prognostic indicators of recurrence following corticosteroid injection. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2008;90:1665-1672
  4. Rogers LQ, Macera CA, Hootman JM, Ainsworth BE, Blairi SN: The association between joint stress from physical activity and self-reported osteoarthritis: An analysis of the Cooper Clinic data. Osteoarthritis Cartilage 2002;10:617-622
  5. Magrans-Courtney T, Wilborn C, Rasmussen C, Ferreira M, Greenwood L, Campbell B, Kerksick CM, Nassar E, Li R, Iosia M, Cooke M, Dugan K, Willoughby D, Soliah L, Kreider RB: Effects of diet type and supplementation of glucosamine, chondroitin, and msm on body composition, functional status, and markers of health in women with knee osteoarthritis initiating a resistance-based exercise and weight loss program. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2011;8:8

 

In addition to my educational web site, Diabetes Motion (www.diabetesmotion.com), I also recently founded an academy for fitness and other professionals seeking continuing education enabling them to effectively work with people with diabetes and exercise: Diabetes Motion Academy, accessible at www.dmacademy.com. Please visit those sites and my personal one (www.shericolberg.com) for more useful information about being active with diabetes.

Diabetic children miss out on hospital checks

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Paediatric endocrinology clinics have a  non-attendance rate of 11.4% in the south west of the UK. The majority of these patients have diabetes.

Children who did not attend were more likely to  come  from families living in areas of high deprivation and to have a child protection alert in their hospital records.

In 60% of the cases, the GP was not informed that the child had not appeared, so they were not in a position to follow the child up themselves. Some of the children were sent other appointments, some were given an open attendance appointment and some were discharged.

About half of the children were eventually seen within a year and a third attended A and E. Almost a quarter went back to see the GP and half of these were re-referred.

My comments: In my own practice I am aware that a minority of parents are very poor at attending diabetic clinics with their children. We are always informed and keep out an eye for opportunistic intervention when the child attends for another matter. Our hospital has a good nurse liaison service and they do their best to keep a dialogue open with the parents and visit at home. Sometimes lack of money for bus fares is given as an issue. Sometimes work commitments or having to make arrangements to look after other children in the family is the reason. For one reason or another, the child’s diabetes management does not have the priority that it is given in other homes, and that doesn’t work out well on the long term.

Reported in BMJ 24th June 2017 by Ingrid Torjesen BMJ 2017;357:j2983

 

Rick: I’m a prick when I am low

kaitiscotland8 Comments

 Tony the Tiger

I have been many things, husband, father, coworker and patient.  I am also a person with type 1 diabetes.  I have lived with type 1 for 42 years and I have to admit I am at least one more thing.   I can be a prick when I am low.  It’s true.  I acknowledge it.   Of course I often prick my finger to test my blood sugar, but I am also a prick.

Low Blood Sugar?

Having a low blood sugar is like being in an automated car wash without a car.  Having a low blood sugar feels like all the stimuli are coming at one thousand miles per hour and yet all you can think about is food.  It causes those around us to suffer sometimes.  I have many low blood sugar stories, some funny, some sad, and a few dangerous.  It is the accumulation of stories that show up after 42 years of taking an artificial hormone that allows me to live.

Low blood sugar is caused by not adequately matching food, exercise, and insulin. An insulin user can go low if they eat too few carbohydrates, exercise more than estimated, their body is assaulted by emotional stress (good or bad experiences), too much insulin is delivered, or a thousand other inputs that get out of balance.  No matter the cause; the result can be extreme sweating (I hate that one), rapid convulsive movement in hands or legs, unconsciousness, blurry vision, confusion, hunger, crying (I hate that one as well) or in some cases no discernible symptoms at all.  My most typical symptom is anger.  I tend to get defensive when I have a low blood sugar and I can turn into a raging lunatic.

But A Prick?

I can turn into a raging maniac based on the stimuli around me.  I have been known to throw things, yell, take off my clothes, laugh wildly, hit, and disobey those trying to help me.  I once opened and ate a box of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes in the store.  When the manager asked why I was doing that I said the most important thing I could think of.  Because they’re GREAT!!!!!!

However, when I get upset is when someone remarks about my care while I am low.  These phrases always start with same words,   If you, you need, you should, if only followed by some prescription for what I did wrong or could do better to manage diabetes.  It angers me to hear these things, as if I wanted this outcome, or the speaker could do better.

Inputs and Outputs

Taking insulin is not strictly an input/output arrangement. The human body is much more complicated than the sum of its inputs.  I know this because sometimes I eat the same food, do the same exercise and take the same insulin and I get widely varying results.  It seems unfair that if I am sitting at home I can go low because my body metabolized its inputs differently.  Sometimes stuff happens.

Yes, we can control some parts of the equation.  I can put in less insulin, I can eat more or less carbohydrates and I can stay home while the family goes on a walk or swim, but that is like sitting on a four legged stool with two legs cut off. Most of the time I get it right.  I can usually keep the stool balanced but often, I make a mistake and my blood sugar goes too high or low.

What I have learned after 42 years of managing diabetes 24/7/365 is that no one can do it perfectly.  We miss and sometimes those misses are big. When that happens, I may need some help.  And if I ask for that help, know I do not mean to be a prick, but if I am also know my apology is sincere. After all I hate pricks those on my finger or the one that comes out when I am low.

BBC – Hidden disabilities: Pain beneath the surface

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help-686323_960_720Hidden disabilities: Pain beneath the surface

Imagine having to inject yourself thousands of times over the course of your lifetime, but never talking about it to anyone.

Many people live with hidden disabilities – conditions which don’t have physical signs but are painful, exhausting and isolating. Sympathy and understanding from others can often be in short supply.

Georgia Macqueen Black has Type 1 Diabetes.

She was diagnosed at the age of 11.

Type 1 Diabetes cannot be seen until I take out my insulin pen and inject myself, but the mechanical parts – blood tests and injections – are only the surface layers of what I have to manage.

Someone may see me inject, but there’s an isolating exhaustion I take with me afterwards. There will always be another injection and it can generate a disconnection between myself and other people.

Every day I gather the willpower to be a “good” diabetic, but when I follow the rules and still have high blood sugar I feel alone. It makes me feel foggy with a limited ability to concentrate. And the side-effects of too much or too little sugar in your blood can lead to you turning in on yourself.

The biggest challenge is accepting the monotony of managing diabetes. There are days when I’m tired of having a weaker immune system – a lesser known side-effect of diabetes – or when I find lumps under my skin from injections, but then I have to put those feelings to one side and carry on.

Some people might not think diabetes deserves the label “disability”, but if unmanaged it affects my ability to carry out tasks and I have to think how exercise, stress or dehydration will impact my blood sugar levels.

I often worry about how life will be when I’m older. This feeling of uncertainty hangs over me from time to time, and can make me feel lonely and a bit lost.

But I know there’s a silent solidarity out there. Someone with an impairment could be having a day where everything has become derailed and they feel ill, but I bet you they won’t show it. It’s that resilience that I really connect to.

Top tips on hidden disabilities

 

  • There’s so much mental labour involved so if I seem distracted it’s probably because of that
  • Believe me when I ask for help. Just because I don’t look like I need assistance, doesn’t mean I’m OK
  • Respect priority seats and wheelchair spaces on public transport
  • Listen to access requirements with an open mind – often small changes make a huge difference
  • Ask for what you need – in asking for help you don’t have to pretend to be someone else

 

Produced by Beth Rose

BBC Disabilties 5.7.17

How does blood sugar control compare between pump users and insulin injecting adults?

kaitiscotland8 Comments

insulin pump

If adults get the same level of education about blood sugar management there is only a tiny improvement in blood sugar control with a pump compared to a basal bolus injection regime.

The REPOSE trial was based in the UK with 315 participants across eight sites. Using small groups the patients were taught the DAFNE course, Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating. After the course the patients were randomised to either multiple daily injections which is standard UK management, or insulin pump use.

The organisers wanted to see how many people managed to get their hba1c below 7.5% after two years and what effects the regimes had on quality of life and hypoglycaemia.

Out of the original 315 patients, 260 finished the courses and entered the trial. There were small improvements in both groups for hba1c. The pump group got a 0.85% improvement in hba1c and the injectors got 0.42% improvement. This was not considered to be good enough to recommend pump provision, which is more expensive than pen injectors, to adults as a routine measure.

The pump group started with hba1s averaging around 9.5% and ended up around 8.7%. The injectors started with an average of 9.0% and ended up around 8.5%.  In addition there was no particular difference in hypoglycaemia or psychosocial outcomes.

My comment: It is a pity that DAFNE is considered the gold standard educational tool for type one diabetics when the outcomes are so underwhelming. The main problems are that although carb counting is included, carbohydrate restriction is not.  Insulin coverage of protein is not done and the seven unit rule is ignored. These are the main reasons that the outcomes are so poor. Structured education in person is expensive and time consuming for health care professionals. Why not grasp the nettle and actually teach people what they need to know to get normal blood sugars and not hba1cs of 8.5-8.7 which are certain to lead to diabetic complications?

Based on BMJ article BMJ 2017;356:j1285

Sheri Colberg: Things that can unbalance your blood sugars

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girl with a cold

Physical Activity Is Only One Part of the Equation

 

By Sheri Colberg, Ph.D.

 

Although a single bout of exercise usually improves insulin action for 2 to 72 hours afterward, the effect also depends on how much you eat before, during, and after working out, how you manage your diabetes medications (particularly insulin), your prior control over your blood glucose levels, how much sleep you get, whether you’re stressed out or not, etc. As you can imagine, it’s not easy to manage and predict all of the possible effects of these various things.

Sometimes it feels like stress can override any or all benefits you were supposed to receive from being active. Getting upset, angry, anxious, frustrated, sad, or depressed can basically erase your improvements in insulin action, although on the flip side, working out can also lower many of those negative feelings if you exercise after they occur. Not only is exercise an acute mood enhancer, but it also allows you to get tired enough that you don’t have as much energy to devote to sustaining your negative emotions.

Having a nasty cold last week also reminded me that simply being sick—even moderately so—can really wreak havoc on blood glucose levels. For me, exercising doing anything other than moderate walking is hard when I’m sick, and you really shouldn’t exercise much or intensely when you’re sick anyway or you can make your illness worse.

Exercise acutely lowers the concentration of illness-fighting immune cells in the bloodstream, and simply overtraining can increase your risk of getting colds and the flu. If you normally use exercise to manage your blood glucose levels more effectively and you’re deprived of doing that while sick, you can often find yourself dealing with not just one thing (illness) that can raise your blood glucose, but two at the same time (lack of exercise being the second). On top of that, you may not be sleeping as well as normal because of being sick, and lack of sleep raises insulin resistance as well. Nothing like a simple cold to throw your whole diabetes regimen out of whack!

It’s also so incredibly easy to override the effects of your last workout with food. You may not want to focus on how much/long you have to exercise to expend enough calories to equal what you eat on a daily basis (it’s a whole lot!), but suffice it to say that most people overestimate the impact of their exercise and underestimate the calorie content of the foods. Most people have to walk at least a mile to burn off close to 100 calories. A modest handful of nuts has closer to 200 calories, and get a burger at a fast-food restaurant and you’ll probably take in over 1,000 calories. Just keep in mind that food can easily have an even greater impact on your blood glucose levels unless you’re one of those avid exercisers that exceeds the daily recommended amounts (30 minutes of moderate activity) by exercising hours a day.

If you already exercise regularly, sometimes you fail to get the same glucose lowering effect as someone who is just starting out with training. With training, your body becomes adapted to the activity, which can make fat use higher and blood glucose use lower during the same activity. So, what used to really feel like it revved up your insulin action afterwards may not do much for you anymore, and when you don’t do your usual activities, you pay the price of having to deal with rising blood glucose levels unless you up your medications or cut back your food (or both).

It may sound like I’m trying to talk you out of exercising regularly to help with diabetes management, but really nothing could be farther from the truth. I’m simply warning you that life can throw many different monkey wrenches into your usual responses, so go easy on yourself when you don’t get it right every time. Lose the guilt, and just manage your blood glucose levels the best you can on any given day and stay active for your overall health.

In addition to my educational web site, Diabetes Motion (www.diabetesmotion.com), I also recently founded an academy for fitness and other professionals seeking continuing education enabling them to effectively work with people with diabetes and exercise: Diabetes Motion Academy, accessible at www.dmacademy.com. Please visit those sites and my personal one (www.shericolberg.com) for more useful information about being active with diabetes.

What’s new in the prevention of the microvascular complications of diabetes?

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Apart from blood sugar control what’s new in the prevention of the microvascular complications of diabetes?

 eye-eyelashes-face-woman-63320

Retinopathy

At diagnosis, 10.5% of type two diabetics already have retinopathy. New research has shown that severe proliferative diabetic neuropathy can be predicted by measuring the size of retinal blood vessels, but this is still being developed in research centres. It could become a part of the usual screening process in the future.

Lowering blood pressure in those who are hypertensive by at least 10 points, can reduce the onset of retinopathy but does not affect the rate at which it develops into proliferative retinopathy. What does seem to work is the use of oral Fenofibrate.

Laser photocoagulation reduces the rate of progression of proliferative retinopathy and the onset of severe visual loss. Direct injection of drugs that inhibit Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor such as pegaptanib, ranibizumab, and bevacizumab also help but they are less freely available, due to cost.

dialysis

Nephropathy

NICE recommend spot urinary albumin to the creatinine ratio and glomerular filtration rate on diagnosis and then yearly. If the rate is raised on 2 out of 3 samples within six months then nephropathy is confirmed and the severity graded.

Blood pressure targets are 140/90 for those without nephropathy and 130/80 for those that have it. Some people may benefit from lower blood pressure targets of 120 systolic such as Asian, Hispanic and African American populations.

Both ACE inhibitors and Sartans (ARB) reduce nephropathy and ACE inhibitors also improve all- cause mortality.  These drugs are the first choice for most diabetics when prescribing anti-hypertensives.

Early referral to a nephrologist showed an improvement in interventions and mortality rates. There was also a small improvement in kidney function when the new drug Dapagliflozin was used.

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Neuropathy

There are other causes of neuropathy that may need to be considered before diabetic neuropathy is diagnosed. These are: alcohol, chemotherapy, vitamin B12 deficiency, hypothyroidism, renal disease, paraneoplastic syndromes due to eg multiple myeloma and bronchogenic carcinoma, HIV infection, chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy, inherited neuropathies and vasculitis.

A new Japanese drug Epalrestat improved diabetic neuropathy but did not improve autonomic neuropathy.

There was insufficient evidence to show that exercise, pulse infrared light therapy, education about foot ulceration and complex interventions such as combining patient education, podiatry care, foot ulceration assessment, motivational coaching to provide self- care, worked or not.

 

BMJ 4th February 2017 Willy Marcos Valencia and Hermez Florez from Miami Florida.

 BMJ 2017;356:i6505

Teenagers with diabetes need extra support

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divorce

 

Young adults between the ages of 14 and 22 were studied to see how their blood sugars changed from the paediatric diabetic clinic to the adult clinic. In all 126 young people took part. The average hba1c was 9.4% (80mmol/l) before transfer to the adult clinic and decreased by 0.3%  for each of the two years after transfer.

Those with divorced parents had hba1s 1.2% higher (14 mmol/l). Those with mental health conditions or intellectual and social impairment also had higher blood sugar levels.

A third of the patients were admitted to hospital for acute diabetes care.  Hospital admission was more common if there was a low outpatient attendance rate, a high baseline Hba1c level, intellectual and social impairment, mental health conditions or divorced parents.  Researchers concluded that these groups of families needed more support.

Reported in the Independent Diabetes Trust Newsletter March 2017 from an original article in Diabetic Medicine, January 2017).