11th edition – Friday, August 15, 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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£2.2 million spent every day on diabetes drugs in primary care

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Ninjabetic – The missing part of my diabetes care

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Pre-diabetes label ‘unhelpful and unnecessary’

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Diabetes app workshop to take place online

DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL?

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Email your diabetes stories to editor Oliver Jelley.

Join the expanding diabetes community on Twitter and follow us for the latest diabetes news updates at @DiabetesTimes.

You never forget – Dr Partha Kar’s latest blog post

It's an emotive topic...the topic of colour...prejudice based on the colour of your skin and I recall listening to the experiences of my parents in the UK back in the 70s...people refusing to sit next to them on buses, bosses in the NHS being open that Indians shouldn't be in "high positions"...and then I look back at my journey and it's a darned difficult topic to discuss or talk about. Reports such as "snowy white peaks of the NHS" are a reality check, a discomforting feature for many...an uncomfortable truth which grates with many, but a reality nonetheless.

And I will tell you why it's difficult for me to discuss this. On one hand, here I am, rabble rouser-in chief, made my reputation for good or worse in the world of diabetes, stepping down from a five-year tenure as Clinical Director when most people begin...would I have been able to do this if there was a severe colour bias? On the other hand, is it not because I have some friends I work with, who have been comfortable with me being the lead albeit the youngest of us all, a group for whom colour has meant little?

To read more, click here.

Promising response in DKA audit

More than 50 hospitals have submitted data in a “hugely encouraging” response to the first National Audit of DKA Management.

The study is assessing how diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is managed in the UK. Diabetes hospital teams are being invited to take part to gain an insight into care of the life-threatening condition.

It is being organised and led by Dr Ketan Dhatariya, a consultant in diabetes, endocrinology and general medicine at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and is being officially supported by The Diabetes Times.

To read more, click here.

£2.2 million spent every day on diabetes drugs in primary care

Prescriptions to manage diabetes in primary care cost the NHS £2.2 million on average every, new figures show.

This week's Prescribing for Diabetes report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) shows the Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) for managing diabetes was £803.1 million in 2013-14. This is a 5.1 per cent increase from £764.1 million in 2012-13 (£2.1 million per day on average) and a 56.3 per cent increase on £513.9 million in 2005-06 (£1.4 million per day on average).

Almost 10 per cent (9.5 per cent) of the total primary care drugs bill was spent on managing diabetes and this shows a continuous annual rise from 6.6 per cent in 2005-06.

To read more, click here.

Ninjabetic – The missing part of my diabetes care

When people ask me: “What’s so great about the Diabetes Online Community ?” I sometimes find the question difficult to answer. Not because I struggle to think of the positive elements that the DOC brings to people and families with diabetes, but because it’s one of those things that you need to try for yourself to really understand just how wonderful it is.

I suppose it’s like starting a new job or school. At first you don’t know who everyone is; there are some names that you’ve heard before, but you haven’t put a face to them, you’re not sure of where you need to go or where the doors in your new environment lead to and you tend to sit at the back of the room watching and listening so you can observe others and see how things are done…

To read more, click here.

Pre-diabetes label ‘unhelpful and unnecessary’

Pre-diabetes is an “artificial category with virtually zero clinical relevance” as well as huge financial and social costs, according to researchers.

The analysis, published in the BMJ, considered whether a diagnosis of pre-diabetes carried any health benefits such as improved diabetes prevention. The authors from the University College London (UCL) and the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, showed that treatments to reduce blood sugar only delayed the onset of Type 2 diabetes by a few years, and found no evidence of long-term health benefits.

To read more, click here.

Diabetes app workshop to take place online

A series of teleconferences aimed at encouraging people with innovative ideas for a diabetes app or website to turn their vision into reality will be staged next month.

They have replaced a workshop and will take place on September 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 between 1pm and 2pm.

To read more, click here.

DIABETES DIGEST

Microchip test to diagnose Type 1 diabetes

Researchers funded by JDRF have designed a cheap, microchip-based test that can diagnose Type 1 diabetes in the quickest time yet.

The test detects the presence of islet autoantibodies in a drop of blood. These proteins indicate that the immune system is primed to attack the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas – and are present in Type 1 but not Type 2.

Because of this, the test could be used after a diagnosis of diabetes, to distinguish whether a person has Type 1 or Type 2, potentially saving them from being misdiagnosed and receiving the wrong treatment.

To read more, click here.

People with diabetes urged to take part in survey

The chief executive of a diabetes charity is urging people with the condition to share their views and experiences in a new food-themed survey.

Martin Hirst, Chief Executive of the InDependent Diabetes Trust, says the organisation will use the results to help inform future campaigning work.

The short questionnaire, titled Living with Diabetes Survey 2014, covers food and diet as well as other key aspects and comes on the back of the trust’s recently launched and successful book Diabetes – Food, Meds and More.

For more information, click here.

Botham's new foundation committed to diabetes

Sir Ian Botham and his family have spoken of their commitment to improving the lives of youngsters with diabetes after backing Type 1 charity JDRF.

The cricket legend has picked JDRF as one of five organisations to receive support from his new Beefy’s Charity Foundation.

The former England all-rounder’s daughter Becky Botham-Armstrong has Type 1 diabetes and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for JDRF in June.

To read more, click here.

Cyclists brave conditions for Diabetes UK

More than 150 Diabetes UK cyclists battled the rain and wind to complete the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 on Sunday.

In total, 158 cyclists took part in the event for Diabetes UK and raised around £100,000 for the charity.

To read more. click here.