IBC received one of the top corporate team awards from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) after mobilizing a team of nearly 400 walkers who raised $36,000 through donations and its corporate matching gift program for the ADA’s Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes presented by Independence Blue Cross (IBC). This fall, more than 3,500 people gathered to participate in the ADA’s signature fundraising walk that takes place in 160 cities across the country. IBC, along with a number of local corporate teams, helped ADA meet and surpass an aggressive fundraising goal of $415,000. To date, walkers, volunteers, donors, and corporate sponsors alike have raised $550,000, bringing the ADA one step closer to finding a cure for the nearly 24 million Americans living with diabetes — America’s fastest growing disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of diabetes cases nationwide increased by 90 percent over the past decade. In Philadelphia alone, 11 percent of people have the disease, and that’s 3 percent higher than the national average. In 2008, the estimated direct and indirect cost of diagnosed diabetes was $174 billion. Not only do costly complications of diabetes, such as heart disease, amputation, and blindness have a significant impact on the U.S. health system and its rising costs, but some complications can lead to death. In 2007, for example, diabetes killed nearly 300,000 people across the U.S.

“Although chronic diseases like diabetes are among the most common and costly health problems, they are also among the most preventable,” said Joseph A. Frick, president and chief executive officer, IBC. “Our sponsorship of Step Out and the enthusiastic participation of our associates, in addition to our strong focus every day on obesity and diabetes-related prevention, management, and support programs, is a clear demonstration of how we are here for our members every step of the way.”

Prevention is key

Though type 1 diabetes can often be tied to genetics, type 2 is largely attributed to lifestyle choices. Sadly, a trend of unhealthy lifestyles is plaguing children and adults alike. According to the CDC, in the last two decades type 2 diabetes has been reported among U.S. children and adolescents with increasing frequency. Health care providers are finding more and more children with type 2 diabetes — a disease usually diagnosed in adults 40 years or older. (more…)

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A panel of leading European diabetes experts led by Professor Oliver Schnell from the Diabetes Research Institute in Munich has published a “Consensus Statement A European perspective” (1) on the benefits of self-monitoring of blood glucose values (SMBG). It recommends performing SMBG for all types of diabetes treatment approaches in order to achieve proper glucose control and values which are close to normal, without increasing the risk of hypoglycaemia. It emphasizes that optimal frequency and patterns of SMBG always depend on a variety of factors the type of diabetes, chosen therapy options, individually set targets of HbA1c as well as pre- and postprandial blood glucose values. “What is important to us is a homogeneous, structured and detailed approach to SMBG, which takes into account individual requirements”, explains Professor Oliver Schnell. Innovatives blood glucose meters such as CONTOUR® from Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care facilitate an individualized diabetes management, since they offer different levels of personalization and features such as meal markers or post-meal reminders, which support patients especially with postprandial testing.

The expert group evaluated existing scientific information and agreed upon practical recommendations for different groups of diabetes patients with regard to timings, frequencies and target values for SMBG, which go beyond current national and international guidelines. In general, diabetologists recommend an overall target of 6.5 percent for the HbA1c value for most patients. According to the consensus group, this target should be modified based on individual patient needs: For women who are pregnant or are planning to have a baby, a value of less than six percent is recommended. Patients with a high risk of hypoglycaemia or with unawareness of hypoglycaemia should not get over seven or 7.5 percent. Lower levels should be aimed for, but only if they can be achieved safely, since severe hypoglycaemia should be avoided in all patients to reduce the risk of severe complications.

With regard to overall targets for preprandial blood glucose, a value of less than six mmol/L respectively 108 mg/dL is the average. This target may be modified for individual patients like children, “high-risk” patients with known coronary artery disease or severe hypoglycaemia as well as pregnant women. The value for postprandial blood glucose should not exceed 7.8 mmol/L respectively 140 mg/dL. Here, testing is advised to be performed two hours after the meal and stressed as one of the key elements of optimal SMBG.

Also the recommended measuring frequency and timing depends on individual conditions such as the patient’s treatment regimen. Experts differentiate between six patients’ groups. Newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetics, for example, should test their blood glucose values three to five times a week to learn about the effects of lifestyle and medications on their metabolism. Instead, patients undergoing an intensified insulin treatment as well as “high risk” patients should check their values several times a day, especially postprandial or at nighttimes. For those experiencing severe hypoglycaemia even an increased frequency of nocturnal testing is recommended.

As a general rule, the consensus paper states that individual glycaemic targets should always be agreed upon between patient and the healthcare professional. Discussing the current results are advised to take place every three to six months, including pre and postprandial blood glucose values, HbA1c targets as well as lifestyle changes or circumstances complicating the effective control of diabetes, such as pregnancy, severe hypoglycaemic episodes or altered medication orders. “Changes in any of these factors should trigger an immediate adaptation of target values to ensure optimal treatment outcome and avoid late complications”, says Professor Schnell.

About Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care

Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care as part of the Medical Care Division supports customers in 100 countries and stands in a long tradition of leading the way in diabetes care product innovation since the introduction of CLINITEST reagent tablets in 1941. The face of diabetes care was changed in 1969 when the first portable blood glucose meter and test strips were introduced. Certain features of Bayer’s blood glucose monitors such as No Coding technology and no interference from maltose and galactose make diabetes management easier. Today, Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care offers an unparalleled choice in diabetes management systems and comprehensive support including education, tools and resources designed to simplify life with diabetes.

Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care global headquarters is located in Tarrytown, New York, in the United States and operates as part of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer HealthCare group. The Headquarters for the region Europe-MERA is located in Basel as part of Bayer Consumer Care AG, in Basel.

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Bayer Schering Pharma, Consumer Care and Medical Care divisions. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide.

(1) O. Schnell et al., Diabetes, Stoffwechsel und Herz, 2009, 4, 285-289

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here.

Source: Bayer HealthCare

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Women with asthma are more anxious, find it harder to sleep and are more tired during the day than their male counterparts, but nevertheless tend to be better at following their treatment, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in close collaboration with Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

“Men and women with asthma differ biologically, socially, culturally and psychologically, which affects their quality of life,” says Rosita Sundberg, a doctoral student at the Sahlgrenska Academy and allergy coordinator at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. “It’s important that we take account of this when caring for teenagers and young adults with asthma.”

Even as teenagers and young adults, women with asthma feel worse than their male counterparts. In one of the studies covered by the thesis, just over a hundred men and women around the age of 20 with severe or moderate asthma responded to a questionnaire on how their day-to-day lives are affected by the illness. The women felt more strongly that they are limited by their asthma. (more…)

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Asthma symptoms can worsen in children with depressed mothers, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center published online in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

Analyzing data from interviews with 262 mothers of African-American children with asthma – a population disproportionately affected by this inflammatory airway disorder – the Hopkins investigators found that children whose mothers had more depressive symptoms had more frequent asthma symptoms during the six-months of the study. Conversely, children whose mothers reported fewer depressive symptoms had less frequent asthma symptoms.

Researchers tracked ups and downs in maternal depression as related to the frequency of symptoms among children.

“Even though our research was not set up to measure just how much a mom’s depression increased the frequency of her child’s symptoms, a clear pattern emerged in which the latter followed the earlier,” says senior investigator Kristin Riekert, Ph.D., a pediatric psychologist and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Adherence Research Center. (more…)

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Maternal depression can worsen asthma symptoms in their children, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center published online in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

Analyzing data from interviews with 262 mothers of African-American children with asthma a population disproportionately affected by this inflammatory airway disorder the Hopkins investigators found that children whose mothers had more depressive symptoms had more frequent asthma symptoms during the six-months of the study. Conversely, children whose mothers reported fewer depressive symptoms had less frequent asthma symptoms.

Researchers tracked ups and downs in maternal depression as related to the frequency of symptoms among children. (more…)

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Vaccination can lower children’s risk of allergy. Cathleen Muche-Borowski and her coauthors present a clinical practice guideline for allergy prevention in the current issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[39]: 625-31).

Allergic diseases are becoming increasingly common in Western industrialized countries. As there is still no etiologically based treatment of allergic asthma, hay fever, or atopic eczema, the prevention of these diseases is a matter of special importance.

The majority of the 217 studies that the authors analyzed documented a protective effect of fish consumption in the diet of both the mother and the child. Soy-based baby food, in contrast, has no protective effect. In fact, because preparations of this type contain phytoestrogens, the authors even express concern about a potential harmful effect on health. Furthermore, delaying the introduction of solid food in the child’s diet was not shown to have any beneficial effect on the development of allergy in the German cohort studies that the authors reviewed. (more…)

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As flu season got underway this fall, Dr. Catherine Monteleone, an allergist, noticed that her office started to receive an unusually high number of calls from people with egg allergy. They previously had avoided flu vaccines because of their sensitivity to eggs. This year, with all the attention being paid to the novel H1N1 influenza, those patients want to be protected against flu, and they contacted her to find out if they are candidates for inoculation.

“Seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines are produced in chicken embryos eggs so people who have egg allergy generally avoid them,” Monteleone, an associate professor of medicine at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, explained. “But there are ways to get vaccinated.”

Patients first should consult with an allergist about the risks and benefits of vaccination, she recommends. Those with a known history of egg allergy or those who suspect an egg allergy must then undergo a skin test for egg allergy and for the vaccine. “Some people think they have an egg allergy because they experience abdominal upset from eating eggs, but that may not be a true allergy,” she said. “That may be intolerance.” (more…)

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Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) announced that its investigational sublingual Grass (Phleum Pratense) Allergy Immunotherapy Tablet (AIT) has met the primary endpoint in a Phase III study of adult subjects in the U.S. with a history of grass pollen induced rhinoconjunctivitis with or without asthma. The investigational Grass AIT treatment is designed to work by inducing a protective immune response against grass pollen allergy and providing sustained prevention of allergy symptoms, treating both the symptoms and the underlying cause of the disease.

The study was a U.S. multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of the grass sublingual tablet versus placebo in the treatment of grass pollen-induced rhinoconjunctivitis based on the combined (sum of) rhinoconjunctivitis daily symptom score (DSS) and rhinoconjunctivitis daily medication score (DMS) averaged over the entire grass pollen season (GPS). In the study 439 adults were randomized to receive either placebo or grass tablet. The study met its primary endpoint. Additionally, the adverse events experienced by subjects receiving the drug in this study were similar to previous studies in adults and include oral itching, with no new or unexpected findings. (more…)

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