Posts Tagged ‘diabetes’

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£48 Smartphone device for Diabetes management

Monday, March 12th, 2012

A diabetes monitoring device has just been launched which allows patients to monitor their condition on-the-go using a smartphone.

The “iBGStar” device attaches to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch, and allows sufferers to check their blood sugar levels at any time.

The device is accompanied with a “Diabetes Manager” software application which makes it possible to store, track and analyse medical data to reveal trends. Information from the app can also be printed or emailed to healthcare professionals.

With 2.9 million diabetes sufferers in the UK, accurate monitoring of blood glucose is essential to the management of the condition. Patients with Type-1 diabetes, an Auto-Immune disease that can lead to dangerous rises in blood sugar levels, can experience serious health complications including damage to the heart, kidneys, nerves and eyes.

Like traditional blood glucose monitors (BGMs), iBGStar analyses tiny drops of blood obtained by pricking the skin. Using the device, patients also have the ability to chart trends and variations in other factors such as carbohydrate intake, insulin injections and exercise.

Sarah Johnson, from the Type-1 diabetes research charity JDRF, said that blood glucose control is vital to reducing the long-term effects of diabetes, but it can be difficult and demanding to achieve. She asserts that these advancements in technology will prove highly effective as the majority of patients carry a phone at all times, so use of the device will not require any significant changes in behaviour.

Dr Andrew Hockey, Medical Director for Diabetes at the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, which produces the iBGStar, said the device was a “huge step forward”.

“It harnesses the power of the latest technology to empower people with diabetes to manage their condition on a day-to-day basis,” Hockey added.

The device costs £48 and is currently being rolled out at Boots stores across the UK.

Original Source Huffington Post

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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24,000 “avoidable” Diabetes deaths per year

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

An audit has revealed an “incredibly alarming” estimate of 24,000 annual deaths from Diabetes due to failures in healthcare, meaning that many are unable to manage their condition properly and die “avoidably early”.

The figure is though to stem from a large scale failure in the promotion of health checks, medication and drive to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Lack of management of the condition increases the risk of dangerously high or low blood sugar, heart failure or kidney problems.

Whilst the audit states that 75% of the 24,000 deaths are among the over-65s, younger patients are the most at risk. Two young people aged 15-34 in England are believed to die every week as a result.

Dr Bob Young, a consultant diabetologist who led the audit, said the grim statistics gave the first reliable measure of the huge impact of diabetes on early death. He asserted that many of these early deaths were preventable. Without significant action being taken to improve services for Diabetic patient, Young states that the death toll may increase, as the condition is typically long-term and the number of sufferers is on the rise.

Paul Burstow, the Care Services Minister, called the figure “unacceptable”, stating that he hopes the NHS will now take the steps towards improve care for Diabetes sufferers. He believes that an expansion of Telehealth, which lets patients use technology to monitor their vital signs from home, would help diabetics manage their condition better. Greater integration of health and social care services and a reduction in required hospital visits from patients is also thought to have a potential positive effect.

Barbara Young, the Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said the figures were “there is no reason why people with diabetes cannot live long and healthy lives if they receive the right care and support to manage their conditions.”

While self-management was important, half of those with type 2 diabetes and more than two-thirds of those with type 1 did not get the care they needed, she said.

Original Source The Guardian

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Stem Cell Cure for Diabetes

Monday, October 10th, 2011

A study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine has uncovered a treatment for Diabetes which utilises the patients’ neural stem cells to overcome the shortage of insulin-producing cells without the need for gene transfer.

Research from the AIST Institute in Tsukuba has revealed how harvesting stem cells could help to overcome a lack of beta cell transplants from a donor. It is believed that the condition is an ideal target for stem cell treatment as it is caused by the lack of a single type of cell known as a “beta cell” in the pancreas which produces insulin, regulating glucose levels.

Diabetes is caused by a lack of insulin production by the pancreas, and is currently thought to affect more than 200 million individuals worldwide. There is currently no cure, leaving patients to rely on external supplies of insulin or treatments to alter levels of blood glucose.

The research, led by Dr Tomoko Kuwabara, focused on developing methods for defining human stem cell differentiation, the process through which cells can be adapted into specialized roles for use in cell replacement treatments.

The study experimented on Diabetic rats, who following transplantation of stem cells started to not only express several key characteristics of pancreatic beta cells, but insulin production was notably increased and blood glucose levels were reduced. The removal of the transplant increased levels of blood glucose, revealing that transplanting neural stem cells into the pancreas could be an effective treatment for diabetes.

The largest barrier to successful implementation of the treatment aside from any controversy surrounding stem cells is the shortage of donated pancreatic beta cells. Dr Kuwabara commented that a safe and easy way of using stem cells for obtaining new beta cells has been long awaited. The hippocampus and olfactory bulb at the front of the brain provide an easily accessible tissue source for cells that could be transplanted directly into the pancreas. Normally neuronal cells do not produce high levels of insulin, pancreatic cells do.

Dr Kuwabara has stated that his future intention is to transfer the treatment to human subjects, with the view to it potentially becoming widely used within healthcare.

Diabetes accounts for an estimated £9-10 billion of health service spending, with 15-20% of total Inpatient beds being occupied by diabetics. With an estimated 850,000 people unknowingly suffering from the condition and another 7 million who are at very high risk of developing diabetes, this figure is set to become an even bigger burden on the NHS.

Original Source Times of India

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Type 2 Diabetes can be reversed

Monday, June 27th, 2011
A study by researchers at Newcastle University has found that administering an eight-week diet of a maximum 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 Diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease.

The Diabetologia study indicated that the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped to return insulin production to normal levels. Out of 11 test subjects, seven who underwent the trial were free of Diabetes within three months. The study involved people diagnosed with diabetes within the last four years, but researchers say this may lead to the potential for people with longer-standing Diabetes to have similar success following the treatment.

Due to the small scale of the study group and the three month testing period, more research will be required before it can be confirmed whether this reversal is permanent, say experts.

Professor Roy Taylor, director of Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre at Newcastle University and lead study author, said he was not suggesting that people should follow the diet. He asserted that it was only used to test the hypothesis that substantial weight loss could affect Diabetes.

As Type 2 diabetes affects 2.5 million people in the UK and the condition overall accounts for an estimated £9-10 billion of health service spending, any intervention that can reverse Diabetes will undoubtedly reduce the burden on the NHS and all the component services that are involved in treatment of the condition.

Dr Ee Lin Lim, also from Newcastle University’s research team, said that although dietary factors were already known to have an impact on Type 2 Diabetes, the research showed that the disease did not have impact individuals on a lifetime basis. She said that the greatest challenge will be getting patients to adjust to the lifestyle change of weight loss, but that it may prove to be the most effective treatment.

Commenting on the fact that not all participants managed to stay free of diabetes, Dr Lim said that it was entirely dependant on individual susceptibility to Diabetes. ‘We need to find out why some people are more susceptible than others, then target these obese people. We can’t know the reasons for that in this study,” she said.

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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NHS struggles with size of diabetes burden

Monday, June 20th, 2011
The Guardian has reported that recent cuts to the NHS are being blamed for a lack of specialist care as cases of diabetes soar to a level that the service is unable to cope with.

The article reports that concerns are rising over the fact that diabetes care is thought to be affected by the financial pressures on the NHS. Furthermore, this is compounded by the growing numbers of patients suffering from the condition, which in 2009-10 grew by 150,648 to hit a new UK record high of 2,784,911 – 4.26% of the population. Type 2 diabetes which is heavily linked to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles is the one causing the major increase in figures.

Diabetes UK discovered in a recent survey that the number of unfilled Diabetic Specialist Nurse (DSN) posts in England has doubled to 218 as a direct result of NHS cost-saving measures. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing, argues that Trusts must continue to invest in specialist services, such as DSN positions, so that patients are not put at risk of needless complication.

It was also reported that a number of Primary Care Trusts are refusing to prescribe the medication “Gliptins” which are used to treat Type 2 diabetes due to their expense. Diabetes UK Chief Executive Barbara Young warns that this could affect patients’ health and ultimately cost the NHS more money due to the added complications of fully-developed diabetes, such as kidney failure, incurring even more expense.

The huge cost of diabetes to the NHS with its sharp upward trajectory means it now has the status as one of the long-term conditions that could overwhelm the service in the not too distant future.

The condition accounts for an estimated £9 -10 Billion of health service spending, with 15%-20% of total In-Patient beds being occupied by diabetics. With an estimated 850,000 people unknowingly suffering from the condition and another 7 million who are at very high risk of developing diabetes, this figure is set to become an even bigger burden on the NHS.

The Department of Health has acknowledged that there are areas of diabetes care where more should be done, as outlines in the NHS national operating framework for 2011-12. This specifically demands a wider availability of insulin pumps and structured patient education to support people newly diagnosed with diabetes and at appropriate points in their life as their condition progresses.

Young wants the government to additionally undertake a nationwide advertising campaign to raise the condition’s profile, and to devise a diabetes national plan which has the same urgency as the plans for cancer. “We need a plan with clear outcomes and real, concerted action by a whole load of players, including government, and led by government,” she says.

Original Source The Guardian

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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