According to an NBC News blog, the discovery of a new hormone that makes the cells destroyed by diabetes has enormous potential for treating the disease.
The story says nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In both type 1 and some cases of type 2 diabetes, patients have to inject insulin when they eat to make sure the body metabolizes the food properly and doesn’t get too much or too little sugar.
That’s a tricky process for many diabetes patients, many of whom get it wrong.
As an added complication, some diabetes drugs come with accompanying health risks.
Studies have linked the diabetes drugs Byetta and Januvia to an inflammation of the pancreas called pancreatitis, and to pancreatic cancer. Those studies include an analysis of insurance records published two months ago in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, which concluded that diabetics hospitalized with pancreatitis were twice as likely to be taking Januvia or Byetta than a control group of diabetics without the condition. (more…)
Scientists have developed a new method to make an artificial kidney that functions in rats, intensifying a race among several laboratories to create a replacement organ that may someday be used for humans.
The Wall Street Journal says a dramatic sales drop in Pfizer’s anti-cholesterol medication Lipitor was behind the company’s nine percent revenue decline for the first quarter, which was worse than expected and lowered the company’s full-year outlook.
Drug maker Eli Lilly is increasing its efforts to get a larger share of the diabetes market, Reuters reports.
Pfizer Inc. has posted lower-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter, in part because of rapidly falling sales of the cholesterol drug Lipitor, Reuters reports.
Following an inspection by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a Florida specialty pharmacy called The Compounding Shop is recalling all of its sterile products, ABC News reports.
The good news is that national cholesterol levels have dropped over the last four decades. The bad news is that they still represent a “significant public health problem,” according to the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A story in The Telegraph details the advice that British health regulators are providing for U.K. residents who received a “metal-on-metal” hip implant, in light of recent findings that up to half of the devices fail within six years.
A story in the Washington Post says that several Johnson & Johnson shareholders spoke of their dissatisfaction with the company during their annual meeting recently. Their complaints focused on a long string of product recalls, ethical lapses and excessive executive pay.
The Hindu, an English-language newspaper out of India, describes the case of a 37-year-old man who regained his eyesight after 18 years of blindness.
An article in the Jerusalem Post says the Israeli Health Ministry’s pharmaceutical division is cautioning doctors to be vigilant for cases of pancreatic infections and pancreatic cancer among people taking a class of diabetes drugs that includes Byetta and Januvia.
A study has found a link between U.S. veterans’ exposure to Agent Orange, and deadly forms of prostate cancer, according to a story in U.S. News and World Report.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg has admitted that her agency wasn’t aggressive enough in investigating compounding pharmacies, such as the one responsible for a deadly, nationwide 
Nature World News reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the anti-cholesterol drug Liptruzet.
A report on News Channel 4 out of Oklahoma tells the story of a woman who received a vaginal mesh implant in the belief that it was the most advanced, minimally invasive technique available to cure her urinary incontinence.