Diabetes

NEW YORK — Rite Aid recently was awarded Advertising Age’s Media Vanguard Award in the category “Best Use of Online Video for Customer Service” for its "Giving Care for Parents" original online video series.

Working with Fox Learning Systems, Rite Aid created a comprehensive library of online videos that offered advice and guidance on specific health issues, including dementia, diabetes, cancer and injuries due to falls, in similar tone and production quality to TV news show health segments, AdAge reported.

NEW YORK — In patients with Type 1 diabetes, the islet cells of the pancreas are destroyed, thus eliminating the organ’s ability to produce insulin.

But researchers at Georgetown University have found a way to recreate them using cells from the testicles, according to published reports.

WebMD reported that the researchers took the testicular tissue, extracted the stem cells and used them to create new islet cells. Injecting them into the pancreases of mice with diabetes. The researchers found that the cells began to secrete insulin.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Pharmacists who intervene with diabetes patients are having a clear and positive impact on clinical outcomes, a new study from Walgreens has found.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A decision by Congress to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program has drawn praise from the American Diabetes Association.

The program was part of the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 and will ensure continuance through 2013 of the Special Diabetes Program for American Indians while providing $150 million per year in funding.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Combining a diabetes drug marketed by Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals controls blood sugar and promotes weight loss more than insulin alone, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — Registered dietitians are the most likely to practice what they preach in eating a balanced diet, taking vitamins or other dietary supplements, exercising regularly and engaging in other wellness behaviors as compared with seven other healthcare professional populations, according to the “Life…supplemented” "Healthcare Professionals Impact Studies" released earlier this week by the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

SAN DIEGO — A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has recommended approval for an investigational diet pill.

Orexigen Therapeutics and Takeda Pharmaceutical announced Tuesday that the FDA Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13-7 that clinical trial data demonstrated that the benefits of the drug Contrave (naltrexone and bupropion) outweighed its risk and supported approval. The committee also voted 11-8 to recommend a study to examine Contrave’s effect on risk for cardiac disease.

CARY, N.C. — Almost half of women in the United States who suffer from diabetes reported that it has a negative impact on their sex lives, according to a new study released Tuesday by MicroMass Communications.

The research, which highlighted the need for improved education and support to help women build confidence in their ability to overcome the challenges of the disease, was conducted with a representative sample of more than 800 women with diabetes.