Exubera hmm… not good

This article was sent to me by my fellow blogger, Ben who suggested that this might be an interesting article for readers. Seems so:

Pfizer Inc and said on Wednesday clinical trials of the inhaled insulin Exubera found increased cases of lung cancer, leading Nektar to stop seeking a marketing partner for the troubled product and abandon it.

I had hopes for Exubera. Did you?

 

Glucose Sensing RFID Microchip

Technology keeps moving ahead making life easier for diabetecs. I can’t remember the original source for this snippet but I found it among other bits and pieces in my WordPress draft. I had noticed a while back that a company called Digital Angel announced that the USPTO has granted them a patent for a “syringe-implantable glucose-sensing RFID microchip.”

Checking blood glucose levels regularly is critical to properly managing diabetes. The conventional method – a finger prick – is invasive, painful and often inaccurate. The implantable bio-sensor chip has a passive transponder, glucose sensor and integrated circuitry that allow anyone implanted with the microchip to painlessly scan it to determine their level of glucose concentration. The RFID microchip quickly and accurately transmits the glucose data back to a wireless scanner that displays the glucose level. The RFID microchip is powered by the scanner signal, avoiding the need for a battery in the microchip.

If anyone has more info about this, please feel free to post, thanks.

Medco Snaps up Polymedica

It looks Polymedica of Liberty Medical Supply fame has been acquired by Medco Health Solutions, a giant pharmacy benefit manager co. The press release starts as follows:

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MHS), and PolyMedica Corporation (NASDAQ:PLMD) today announced a definitive agreement under which Medco will acquire PolyMedica in an all-cash transaction valued at $53 per share, or $1.5 billion. The combination of America ’s leading advanced pharmacy practice with the leading source for diabetes services and supplies creates the nation’s premier provider of comprehensive diabetes care and treatment.

I’m sure the health blogosphere will be alive with buzz about this. Any thoughts from my fellow WordPressians?

Diabetes Talk Fest

Hi all, this is going on right now…

 Tuesday, December 12 – 9pm est in the DIABETEStalkfest chat room www.diabetestalkfest.com/chat.html we will be having a guest chat with Dr. Aaron Kowalski.

Dr. Aaron Kowalski is a Director of Strategic Research Projects at the JDRF and leads the research efforts of the JDRF Artificial Pancreas Projects, a multi-million dollar initiative aimed at acceleration of progress towards a closed-loop automated insulin-delivery system and diabetes technologies that will improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes.http://diabetestalkfest.com/forum/index.php

NPR : Study Cites Risks of Weight Gain for Mothers

NPR : Study Cites Risks of Weight Gain for Mothers

A new study shows that even just a seven-pound weight gain for a woman between her first and second pregnancies can compromise the health of the mother and her second child. The study finds that women who breast feed not only lose weight, but reduce the risk of diabetes.

SugarStats Interview

TechAddress has an interview with SugarStats‘ Marston Alfred. SugarStats is an online application that makes it easy to  manage, monitor and share your blood sugar glucose levels online for better control of diabetes from anywhere.