INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

OAKLAND, Calif. — A woman's risk of developing a type of diabetes typically caused by pregnancy can be identified up to seven years prior to becoming pregnant, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente.

The study, part of Kaiser Permanente's ongoing research to understand, prevent and treat gestational diabetes mellitus, found that routinely assessing blood sugar and body weight measures can provide women with insight on their risk of developing GDM.

WASHINGTON — Consumers will show their love for Dad this year by spending more on Father's Day gifts than in the prior year, according to the National Retail Federation.

According to NRF’s Consumer Intentions and Actions Father’s Day survey, conducted by BIGresearch, U.S. consumers will spend an average of $106.49, up from $94.32 last year and the most in the survey’s eight-year history. What's more, the spending gap between Mother's Day and Father's Day substantially has narrowed.

PARIS — New results from a late-stage clinical trial of a Sanofi drug for Type 2 diabetes indicated that the drug can reduce blood sugar in patients without increasing the risk of causing the blood sugar levels to dip too low, the French drug maker said Tuesday.

BOSTON — Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have discovered the reason why influenza may induce asthma attacks among children.

A team led by senior investigator Dale Umets found that the flu can activate a newly recognized group of immune cells called natural helper cells, which prompts asthma attacks to occur. An infection, the team found, stimulates production of a compound called IL-33, which activates natural helper cells, which in turn secrete asthma-inducing compounds.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then there are plenty of folks beholding Walgreens and its New York palette, Duane Reade. So it should come as no surprise that Walgreens is positioning its heavy hitters against the beauty category, given the number of recent changes Walgreens has made across its beauty facing.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The fact that CVS Caremark convened its first-ever national forum in an effort to battle the $300 billion problem of medication nonadherence is important on several fronts, including the simple fact that retail pharmacy deserves credit for more effectively communicating what adherence is and why it's important.

MADISON, N.J. — A recent Quest Diagnostics "Health Trends Report" released Wednesday raised the possibility that men have a higher risk for allergies than women or that men, as a function of their gender, require different reporting standards when evaluated for allergies with increasingly used blood tests.

Prior research had suggested just the opposite — that women experienced allergies more frequently than men.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Medication nonadherence is sort of similar to substance abuse: It’s a societal issue that stems from multiple causes and as such, probably will never completely disappear; however, it still can be mitigated. And because it stems from multiple causes, effectively combating it also requires multiple strategies.