Category Archives: Diabetes

Amazon Web Services and Merck announced a developer competition on Monday to that plans to harness artificial intelligence for diabetics.

Dubbed the Alexa Diabetes Challenge, and powered by Luminary Labs, the contest aims to incent upstarts and individual developers to create apps that harness Amazons Alexa voice-enabled technologies particularly for patients recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Early adopters such as Penn Medicine and Commonwealth Care Alliance are already running proofs-of-concept or pilot programs with Amazon Alexa being the centerpiece of improving patient experience.

Whats more, a new Healthcare IT News andHIMSS Analytics HIT Market Indicator reportfound that half of hospitals intend to adopt some fashion of AI in five years and more than a third plan to do so within two years.

The Amazon and Merck contest enables innovators to use not only Alexa but also Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure.

Five entrants will be chosen in the first round. Those winners will collect $25,000 and 100,000 AWS credits apiece and move into the Virtual Accelerator to access mentors as they work to transform the initial concepts into real solutions, the companies said.

The accelerator work will culminate with the finalists presenting their apps to judges in a pop-up AWS loft in New York City, after which the winner will be awarded $125,000.

At the end of the Virtual Accelerator, finalists will present their solutions in-person to the judges at Demo Day at the AWS Pop-up loft in NYC. Submissions take place atalexadiabeteschallenge.comand close on May 22, 2017.

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Merck, Amazon challenge developers to build Alexa apps for diabetes - MobiHealthNews

ANN ARBOR, Mich. Michigan Medicine has ranked in the 90th percentile of the AMGA Foundations Diabetes: Together 2 Goal campaign for its diabetes performance related to lipid management.

The campaign, launched in March 2016, has a goal to improve care for 1 million people with type 2 diabetes by 2019. AMGA Foundation hopes to achieve this goal by leveraging the coordinated delivery systems of 150 participating AMGA members as well as national partners and collaborators.

Each quarter, nearly two-thirds of medical groups and health systems that participate in the campaign report diabetes prevalence and control rates in their patient populations. AMGA Foundation then recognizes participants who are high performers in different areas of diabetes care, such as A1c control, blood pressure control, lipid management and medical attention to nephropathy, in an effort to continue improving diabetes care across the nation.

Based on self-reported data for Q3 2016, Michigan Medicine ranked in the 90th percentile for its lipid management performance for diabetes patients.

We are pleased to be recognized for excellence in patient care, says Jennifer Wyckoff, M.D., assistant professor of endocrinology at Michigan Medicines Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes. We have taken many steps over the past 15 years to ensure top quality care for patients with diabetes, including quality metric dashboards and panel managers for our primary care clinics, a comprehensive diabetes education program and working with patient advocates.

AMGA congratulates Michigan Medicine for their commitment to care for people with type 2 diabetes, says Jerry Penso, M.D., M.B.A., president of AMGA Foundation and chief medical and quality officer of AMGA. Lipid management is an incredibly vital component of type 2 diabetes management, as heart disease and stroke are the top causes of death and disability among this population.

About Michigan MedicineAt Michigan Medicine, we create the future of healthcare through the discovery of new knowledge for the benefit of patients and society; educate the next generation of physicians, health professionals and scientists; and serve the health needs of our citizens. We pursue excellence every day in our three hospitals, 40 outpatient locations and home care operations that handle more than 2.1 million outpatient visits a year.

About AMGA Foundation AMGA Foundation is AMGAs philanthropic arm that enables medical groups and other organized systems of care to consistently improve health and health care. AMGA Foundation serves as a catalyst, connector and collaborator for translating the evidence of what works best in improving health and health care in everyday practice.Learn more atamga.org/foundation.

About AMGA AMGAis a trade association leading the transformation of health care in America. Representing multispecialty medical groups and integrated systems of care, we advocate, educate, innovate and empower our members to deliver the next level of high performance health. AMGA is the national voice promoting awareness of medical groups recognized excellence in the delivery of coordinated, high-quality, cost-effective care. More than 175,000 physicians practice in our member organizations, delivering care to one in three Americans. Learn more atamga.org.

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Michigan Medicine ranks in 90th percentile for diabetes performance - University of Michigan Health System News (press release)

New research has found that a diet rich in legumes could lower the risk of developing diabetes.

Legumes are already known to have various health benefits thanks to being rich in B vitamins, minerals (including calcium, potassium and magnesium) and fibre. Although they have long been thought to offer protection against type-2 diabetes there has been little research so far to confirm these beliefs.

To examine this association researchers from the Human Nutrition Unit at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) in Spain collaborated with other research groups in the Prevention of Diabetes with Mediterranean Diets (Predimed) study.

Together the team looked at effects of different non-soy legumes lentils, chickpeas, beans and peas on the risk of type-2 diabetes among individuals at high cardiovascular risk.

A low intake of legumes was considered to be 12.73g a day, approximately equivalent to 1.5 servings per week of 60g of raw legumes.

A high intake consisted of 28.75g a day, equivalent to 3.35 servings per week.

The team also assessed what effect replacing other protein- and carbohydrate-rich foods with legumes had on the development of the disease.

A total of 3,349 participants were analysed from the Predimed study, all at high risk of cardiovascular disease but without type-2 diabetes when the study started.

After four years, the results showed that that compared to individuals with a lower consumption of legumes, those with a higher consumption had a 35% lower risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Those who ate more legumes were found to have lower risk of type-2 diabetes.

Lentils in particular were associated with a lower risk of the condition, with participants who had a higher consumption of lentils (nearly 1 serving per week) benefiting from a 33% lower risk compared to those individuals with a lower consumption (less than half a serving per week).

The team also found that replacing half a serving per day of foods rich in protein or carbohydrates, including eggs, bread, rice and baked potato, with half a serving per day of legumes was associated with a lower risk of type-2 diabetes.

The researchers highlight the importance of consuming legumes to prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, although they added that further research is needed in order to confirm their findings.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also declared 2016 as the international year of legumes in an effort to raise peoples awareness of their nutritional benefits.

The results was published in the journal Clinical Nutrition. AFP Relaxnews

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If you're serious about lowering your diabetes risk, you should eat this right now - Star2.com

By Judith Whitehead - Contributing Writer

If you have diabetes Type 1-insulin dependent or Type 2-non-insulin dependent you may be at risk for eye disease.

It is imperative that those with diabetes get a dilated eye exam every year to check for eye health as well as overall health.

The eyes are the only place in the body that circulation can be viewed without doing an invasive procedure. Dilation paralyzes the focusing ability of the eye and therefore freezes the pupil open for a few hours. By doing simple dilation of the pupil, an eye doctor can view the retina and circulation. If the doctor suspects retinal damage or sees findings of diabetic degeneration, a simple angiogram can be done in an office setting to get even more details as to what is happening in the back of the eye.

Uncontrolled diabetes can endanger vision, Judith Whitehead says.

Elevated blood sugars can cause damage to eyesight that is not always reversible. At times, a special laser beam procedure can be done at an ophthalmologists office that can stop the damage and seal blood vessels that are leaking in the retina. It is a fairly quick procedure that leaves the vision blurry for a few hours. If the eye doctor finds damage in the retina, chances are the rest of the body may be at risk for damage as well.

People with diabetics need to take care of their health to maintain good eyesight. If diabetes is not controlled, it can cause havoc with the rest of the body as well. Good circulation is needed for a healthy body.

Maintain good eye health by performing a few simple tasks: See your doctor regularly; get blood work done every three to four months to get an overall picture of the blood sugar control, call a hemoglobin A1C test;be mindful of your diet; get regular exercise; and use your medications as directed.

Take care of your eyes. You only get one set.

Judith Whitehead, of East Amherst, is a certified ophthalmic technician.

email: refresh@buffnews.com

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Those with diabetes have a special need to protect their vision - Buffalo News

CBS Miami

Teen Suffering From Type 1 Diabetes Receives Artificial Pancreas ... CBS Miami A Connecticut teenager is making medical history. She's one of the first in the country to receive a so called artificial pancreas. and more »

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Teen Suffering From Type 1 Diabetes Receives Artificial Pancreas ... - CBS Miami

WASHINGTON Alton Villegas offered an unusual call to action March 29 for an 11-year-old boy: Destroy the ice cream man.

Alton is a member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community where nearly 10 percent of tribal members have Type 2 diabetes, including members of his family.

My mom and my grandma have diabetes, a lot of people in Salt River have diabetes, sadly, said Alton, who has been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I think a lot of people have diabetes because they dont eat healthy and they dont exercise.

Thats what brought Alton to Washington March 29, where he was the youngest of six witnesses urging the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

The program grants $150 million a year to about 300 programs that push diabetes prevention to tribes in 35 states, said Rear Adm. Chris Buchanan, acting director of the Indian Health Service. The program will end after September if it is not reauthorized.

Since the program began in 1997, tribal obesity rates have remained stubbornly high, said Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota. He said Native Americans still have a greater chance of being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes than any other group in America, and that diabetes is their fifth-leading cause of death.

But Hoeven, the committee chairman, also acknowledged at the hearing that the grants have helped lower diabetes and its complications, such as limb amputations, heart disease and kidney failure.

But theres still more work to be done.

The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, like other grantees, uses its grant to educate families on the benefits of exercise and balanced diets, offering free family-oriented exercise classes and programs that promote healthy lifestyles.

After a 6-year-old on the reservation was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes about three years ago, the tribal council began more screening at schools and found 52 percent of students were above the 95th percentile for weight.

When a screening showed that Alton was at risk for Type 2 diabetes, his family learned that he qualified for the Youth Wellness Camp in Prescott. Grant money from the federal program lets the tribe send at-risk youth to the camp.

I wanted to be healthier, so I went to camp, Alton said. I wanted to be able to help my mom and my grandma be healthier.

The healthy eating and daily exercise at camp helped Alton lose almost 16 pounds. His mother, Felicia Jimerson, said Altons new outlook on eating healthy and exercising is rubbing off on her three other kids.

Alton said that he tries to help his family and friends make healthier decisions, but they do not always listen.

I tell them all the time but not a lot of people care, cause that means they have to give up Hot Cheetos, said Alton, who has seen his friends buy at least four bags of the snack a day from the ice cream man.

We must destroy the ice cream man! Alton told the committee, to laughter.

Rachel Seepie, another member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community credits some of her success against her Type 2 diabetes to educational programs funded by the grant program.

After initially managing her condition with medication, she decided to turn instead to exercise and eating well. That has helped her lose weight, lower her blood sugar, decrease her average heart rate and complete two Iron Man triathlons, Seepie said.

Now, she is a senior fitness specialist with the Diabetes Service Program and teaches group exercise classes on the reservation.

My vision is that the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and our members will learn how to become healthier, and they will have long full lives without Type 2 diabetes, Seepie told the committee.

Jimerson said after the hearing that can only happen if the grant program is reauthorized.

I think if they can continue that funding, its definitely going to make a change, she said. If that funding goes away, were in huge trouble.

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Arizona youth joins tribal officials to push for diabetes program funds - Navajo-Hopi Observer

This artist's rendition of high-tech contact lenses illustrates how transparent biosensors lenses could one day help people track their health. Jack Forkey/Oregon State University

Contact lenses packed with transparent sensors might one day help

These sugar-sensing lenses would give people a way to check their blood sugar levels without drawing blood, according to the scientists.

Typically, people with diabetes monitor their blood sugar by making a tiny prick in their fingertip to draw blood, and then using a small device to measure blood sugar levels.

Related:

But the proposed contact lenses could continuously monitor a person's

Devices that continuously monitor blood sugar levels are available, but they often require the insertion of electrodes under the skin, which can be painful, lead to skin irritation or infections, and must get replaced every several days. Contact lenses that could continuously and noninvasively monitor blood sugar levels could eliminate many of these problems, Herman said. And because

To make the blood-sugar-monitoring contact lens, the researchers used technology that was originally developed for electronic products. Specifically, the researchers tinkered with a material called indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), whose electronic properties have recently helped boost the image quality in smartphone, tablet and flat-panel displays while also saving power and improving touch-screen sensitivity.

"If you buy an iPhone or an Apple computer or a flat-screen TV nowadays, they use IGZO," Herman told Live Science. He presented his findings on April 4 at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.

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In the study, the researchers made contact lenses that included transparent sheets of transistors made with IGZO. To test if

The researchers found that the sensors could detect even very low concentrations of glucose, such as the levels typically found in tears.

In theory, more than 2,500 of these sensors could be embedded within a 1-square-millimeter patch of a contact lens, Herman said. And by using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the data collected by the lenses could be wirelessly transmitted to

But measuring blood sugar levels isn't the only potential use for

For example, sensors could be developed to measure a chemical called uric acid, which is found in higher levels in people with kidney disease or

"You could also look for molecules related to HIV or cancer," Herman said. "We want to see if there are good ways to catch cancer at very early stages, before it's a fatal disease."

Herman cautioned that the lenses are still in the very early stages of development. It could be a year or more before a prototype biosensing contact lens is ready for animal testing, he said. And tests in humans are even further off, he said.

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These Smart Contacts Could Transform Diabetes Care - NBCNews.com

New York Times

Tackling Weight Loss and Diabetes With Video Chats New York Times About a year and a half ago, Robin Collier and her husband, Wayne, were like millions of other Americans: overweight and living with Type 2 diabetes. Despite multiple diets, the couple could not seem to lose much weight. Then Ms. Collier's doctor told ...

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Tackling Weight Loss and Diabetes With Video Chats - New York Times

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L to R: Jane Pelkki, Registered Dietitian and Brenda Jacobs, DNP, APRN and CEO, both with Daughters of Charity Services of Arkansas, show some teaching tools used in diabetes classes.

Free diabetes classes are being offered at Holmes Chapel Presbyterian Church beginning on Tuesday, April 11 from 11 am until 1 pm.

These classes are offered to anyone who wants to learn more about healthy eating, blood sugar control, diabetes medicines and preventing diabetes complications.

Classes will be lead by Jane Pelkki, a local registered dietitian and Tia Reid, a local registered nurse. Classes are sponsored by Daughters of Charity Services of Arkansas.

People who have recently completed these classes had questions like these: Can I eat spaghetti or noodles? What should my blood sugar be after I eat? My doctor says that I need to go on insulin. What did I do wrong? Everyone got their questions answered and went home understanding more about caring for diabetes.

A free healthy meal will be served at each class and door prizes will be given away. A different topic will be discussed each time the class meets and participants are encouraged to come to as many classes as possible. The class schedule is Tuesday, 4/11 Diabetes myths and facts; Tuesday, 4/18 Healthy eating with diabetes; Tuesday, 5/2 Blood sugar control; Tuesday, 5/9 Medicines and preventing complications.

For more information, call Daughters of Charity Services of Arkansas at 870-382-4878, extension 3830.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 10th, 2017 at 12:37 am and is filed under Announcements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Free Diabetes Classes at Holmes Chapel, Start Tuesday - Monticello Live

Nearly four times as many Americans may die of diabetes as indicated on death certificates, a rate that would bump the disease up from the seventh-leading cause of death to No. 3, according to estimates in a recent study.

Researchers and advocates say that more precise figures are important as they strengthen the argument that more should be done to prevent and treat diabetes, which affects the way sugar is metabolized in the body.

"We argue diabetes is responsible for 12 percent of deaths in the U.S., rather than 3.3 percent that death certificates indicate," lead study author Andrew Stokes of the Boston University School of Public Health said in an interview.

About 29 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are two forms of the disease: Type 1, in which the pancreas makes insufficient insulin, and the more common Type 2, in which the body has difficulty producing and using insulin.

Using findings from two large national surveys, the study looked mainly at A1C levels (average blood sugar over two to three months) and patient-reported diabetes. In the latest study, researchers compared death rates of diabetics who had participated in these surveys to information on their death certificates.

The authors also found that diabetics had a 90 percent higher mortality rate over a five-year period than nondiabetics. This held true when controlling for age, smoking, race and other factors.

"These findings point to an urgent need for strategies to prevent diabetes in the general population. For those already affected, they highlight the importance of timely diagnosis and aggressive management to prevent complications, such as coronary heart disease, stroke and lower-extremity amputations," Stokes said.

"We hope a fuller understanding of the burden of disease associated with diabetes will influence public authorities in their messaging, funding and policy decisions, such as taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages and use of subsidies to make healthy foods more accessible," he said.

When they embarked on the study, the investigators were curious about two findings from earlier research. The first was a higher obesity rate and shorter life expectancy among Americans than Europeans. (The researchers already knew that obesity and diabetes were related.) The second revelation was a rise in deaths by any cause among middle-aged white Americans.

"We tried to piece together causes of mortality in the U.S., looking closer at diabetes, which we knew was underreported," Stokes said.

Mortality rates attributed to diabetes are imprecise largely because death results from both immediate and underlying causes, and not every one of them gets recorded. For example, cardiovascular disease might be recorded as the cause of a person's death even though that disease may have been caused by diabetes.

Further challenging the task of identifying cause of death is that diabetics have a long history of problems before serious complications occur.

"When diabetes started 10 to 30 or more years before a patient died, the disease may not be in the forefront of the attending physician at time of death," explains Catherine Cowie, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. And there are no clear guidelines about which conditions should be cited as cause of death.

Detailed electronic medical records may help pinpoint the primary cause. "But still, it's hard [to get the full picture] in this day and age when health care for diabetics is divided between different practitioners," she said.

She advises patients to report their diabetes to all their health providers, whether they are having complications at the time or not.

"We've been trying to promote healthy lifestyle to prevent diabetes and complications for a long time. This includes paying attention to 'the ABCs,' which are to bring down A1C, blood pressure and cholesterol. But I think this [study] is new evidence that it's important to focus on these things. It's more data to show what diabetes can lead to," Cowie says.

In 2016, diabetes accounted for about $1.04 billion in National Institutes of Health funding, compared with about $5.65 billion spent on cancer research. Having a better gauge on the mortality figures could have an effect on research dollars, said Matt Petersen, managing director of medical information for the American Diabetes Association.

But the true death rate means only so much.

"What's most important is why it is and what we can do about it. The goal of research is prevention and, if possible, cure. Short of uncovering a cure, key is figuring out how do we best treat it and reduce complications," Petersen said.

For Type 2 diabetes, new drugs that work in combination and in different ways to address differing patient cases have rolled out in just the past two years. Healthy lifestyle choices can also affect outcomes.

"So I think the public should hear [that] yes, diabetes can be deadly, but that we have the ability to reduce the chance for this disease," Petersen says. "And for those who have diabetes, we can treat it well and reduce the risk for debilitating and deadly complications."

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Diabetes fatalities may be far more common than we thought - Omaha World-Herald