Diabetes

ATLANTA The Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review for a diabetic macular edema treatment.

PRINCETON, N.J. Novo Nordisk has launched a mobile dosing app for healthcare professionals that prescribe the drug maker's insulin products.

NovoDose, which is available for download on iTunes, allows physicians to select the type of insulin they want to research and review suggested guidelines for dosing, titration and even blood glucose goals for their patients. The app also provides important safety information on the products, and only those who self-identify as healthcare professionals can download the app.

PITTSBURGH Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that mothers who did not breast-feed their children have higher rates of Type 2 diabetes later in life compared with those who breast-fed.

NEW YORK Those with Type 2 diabetes may be at greater risk of developing the brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggested.

According to a Japanese study, which appeared in the Aug. 25 online issue of the journal Neurology, those individuals with the highest levels of insulin resistance had nearly six times the odds of developing plaque deposits between the nerves in the brain, after adjusting for other risk factors, compared with those with the lowest levels of fasting insulin.

WASHINGTON Nearly 1-in-5 hospitalizations in 2008 were related to diabetes, according to a recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

That means a total of more than 7.7 million hospital stays and $83 million in hospital costs, of which Medicare covered 60%, the report found. On average, diabetes patients paid $10,937 for hospitalization, while those without the disease paid $8,746.

TORONTO It seems that women that make less money than their counterparts are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, Canadian researchers found in a new study.