August 2008 - Five years ago, ophthalmologists started using steroid injections as a new way of treating diabetics with swelling in their eyes. Now, research shows that the traditional treatment for this disorder is still more effective, according to results in the online edition of the journal Ophthalmology.

Despite the recent trend to use corticosteroid injections, the NIH-funded study proves that the most effective treatment to preserve eyesight in diabetic patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) is with laser therapy.

The presence of a protein expressed by the liver which inhibits insulin action may identify individuals more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to a new study led by a researcher from the UCSD School of Medicine, to be published July 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA.)

August 2008 - A blood test currently used as the gold standard for monitoring people already under care for diabetes may have far wider use in identifying millions with undetected diabetes, a team led by a Johns Hopkins physician suggests.

The hemoglobin A1c test (HbA1c), based on a blood sample, is widely used to keep tabs on how well confirmed diabetics keep their blood sugar, or glucose, in check by showing how much glucose red blood cells have been exposed to for the past 120 days, the average lifespan of these cells.

August 2008 - Researchers have used a drug to achieve normal levels of blood sugar in animals genetically engineered to have abnormally high insulin levels. If this approach succeeds in humans, it could become an innovative medicine for children with congenital hyperinsulinism, a rare but potentially devastating genetic disease in which insulin levels become dangerously high.

August 2008 - The drug rituximab causes considerable kidney injury healing in patients with membranous nephropathy, a common form of kidney disease, according to a study appearing in the November 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The results suggest that this condition, previously destined to progress to kidney failure in 30-40 percent of cases, can actually be healed in some patients.

August 2008 - People who lose weight soon after a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes have better control of their blood pressure and blood sugar, and are more likely to maintain that control even if they regain their weight, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in Diabetes Care, the American Diabetes Association journal.

August 2008 - For human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with treatment-related abdominal obesity and growth hormone deficiency, receiving low-dose growth hormone resulted in improvement in fat and blood pressure measurements but worsened glucose levels, according to a study in the August 6 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.

Steven Grinspoon, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing on HIV/AIDS.

August 2008 - A study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) found that overweight Hispanic children are at significant risk for pre-diabetes, a condition marked by higher than normal blood glucose levels that are not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. The persistence of pre-diabetes during growth is associated with progression in risk towards future diabetes, according to the study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Diabetes, and is now available online.

August 2008 - Those who drink in excess of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines (i.e., men who usually drink more than two drinks per day or women who usually drink more than one drink per day) or those who binge drink are at increased risk for the metabolic syndrome, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Introduced this decade, the long-acting insulin medications glargine and detemir have largely replaced the older intermediate-acting insulin NPH in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. However, a review of studies reveals that the newer drugs offer only a slight benefit over NPH in terms of blood glucose control.

The researchers did see a clear benefit of long-acting insulin in the risk for hypoglycemia - dangerously low blood glucose that can result from insulin injections - particularly at night.

The review comprised 23 studies of more than 6,500 people.

August 2008 - People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don't use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study published this month in the journal Obesity.

August 2008 - Some obese individuals do not appear to have an increased risk for heart disease, while some normal-weight individuals experience a cluster of heart risks, according to two reports in the August 11/25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

August 2008 - Individuals with mild cognitive impairment appear more likely to have earlier onset, longer duration and greater severity of diabetes, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

August 2008 - Cholesterol, both good and bad, gets plenty of attention when the subject is reducing the risk of heart disease. Yet triglycerides, a form of fat that circulates in the blood, merit similar attention, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

Some studies suggest that the increase in heart disease risk from elevated triglycerides may rival that of high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol. Another concern is that high triglyceride levels increase the risk of pancreatitis, a painful, life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas.

August 2008 - In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the impact of smoked medical cannabis, or marijuana, on the neuropathic pain associated with HIV, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that reported pain relief was greater with cannabis than with a placebo. The study, sponsored by the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR) based at UC San Diego, will be published on line, August 6 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.