We now have unprecedented levels of research and development into drugs that can help manage cardiovascular risk, particularly in type 2 diabetes. Professor Naveed Sattar (University of Glasgow, UK) and Professor Darren McGuire (UT Southwestern, USA) get to grips with how this has come about and what new treatments we might look to in the […]
Diabetes in pregnancy can impact both mother and child. Two experts at this year’s Diabetes UK Professional Conference covered the link between gestational diabetes and stillbirth, and how to prepare women with pre-existing diabetes for pregnancy. At around three in 1,000 births, the UK has one of the highest stillbirth prevalence proportions in Europe and […]
Diabetes was identified as a risk factor for poor prognosis of COVID-19 early on in the pandemic. Research is now revealing a more nuanced association between levels of risk and phenotypic characteristics – work that could help identify which people with diabetes are at greater risk of developing severe COVID-19 or dying from the disease. […]
Metformin is used in pregnancy but there are still knowledge gaps. Here’s what we do and don’t know… In 2019, one in six pregnancies was affected by gestational diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation, and type 2 diabetes in pregnancy is also an increasing concern. At the 2021 Diabetes UK Professional Conference, Professor Fidelma […]
Surgical intervention to help manage or even reverse type 2 diabetes has become well established over the last two decades. In the first module in EASD e-Learning’s latest course, ‘Metabolic surgery’, Professor Carel Le Roux examines the underlying mechanisms that make this much talked-about treatment so effective. There are various mechanisms by which metabolic surgery […]
Healthcare providers need tools to help personalise care for people living with diabetes, so they can achieve better outcomes and quality of life. But as attendees at this year’s Precision Medicine Diabetes Conference heard, patients themselves aren’t waiting; they can’t afford to. Each of the three days of this year’s Precision Medicine Diabetes Conference (a […]
Quality screening, early diagnosis and timely referrals are key to preventing amputations in diabetes. Two experts shared their knowledge in an enlightening Primary Care Diabetes Europe webinar Jane Diggle, a specialist diabetes nurse practitioner, set the scene with statistics demonstrating just how important it is to provide good diabetes foot care – one in three […]
Professors Miles Fisher and Mike Riddell – both of whom are keen advocates of exercise for people with type 1 diabetes, and cycling aficionados – gear up and don the lycra for the latest in our series ‘The long and the short of it’. The general benefits of exercise people with type 1 diabetes are […]
It’s not the most glamorous of nutrients but it’s making a big comeback in research into non-infectious diseases, including diabetes. For decades, dietary fibre only got a mention for easing constipation, but its powers extend way beyond that. Dr Denise Robertson, reader in nutritional physiology at the University of Surrey, gave a fascinating presentation at […]
Changes are afoot on the e-Learning platform – all aimed at making it easier for you to let us know what you think about our courses and alert us to any technical problems. Starting this week, regular visitors will notice a new presence on our pages. To the right of the screen, wherever you are […]
With the second COVID-19-era Ramadan now ended, Professor Wasim Hanif presents detailed guidance on supporting people with diabetes to fast safely during a pandemic. At the end of his presentation, Professor Hanif shares several sayings from the prophet Muhammad. One of these reads “ ‘Your soul, indeed, has rights on you!’ (Bukhari) Among its rights […]
Psychosocial factors have profound effects on the way people live with diabetes, but how can we apply findings from behavioural research to diabetes care? Two insightful, eye-opening presentations at the 2021 Diabetes UK Professional Conference pointed the way. Difficult conversations in diabetes care are inevitable but how and when they’re done impacts on their efficacy. […]
Semaglutide shows promise as an obesity treatment yet again, but this time in people with type 2 diabetes Semaglutide hit the headlines earlier this year after the 68-week Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with Obesity (STEP 1) trial found that a subcutaneous 2.4 mg dose once weekly plus lifestyle intervention resulted in a sustained, clinically […]
Do recent studies showing unprecedented success for weight loss-inducing medications spell an end for surgical interventions to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes? Far from it, say Professor Carel Le Roux and Dr Dimitri Pournaras in the latest contribution to our series ‘The long and the short of it’. “It was the best of times. […]
Nearly all ulcers are preventable, which is why foot care and education is such a vital part of looking after diabetes patients – and took centre stage at one of the sessions of this year’s Diabetes UK Professional Conference. There are over 7000 diabetes-related amputations in England each year and 80% are preceded by foot […]
Continuing the EASD e-Learning Insulin@100 series, Professor Eelco de Koning turns to the subject of physiological insulin replacement by transplantation. One of the surprising facts revealed in Professor Eelco de Koning’s presentation is that the first attempt at pancreatic cell transplantation predated even the discovery of insulin. In 1893, a 15-year-old English boy was admitted […]
Fasting-induced stimulation of SIRT1 holds the key to an association between fasting regimens and the prevention of microvascular complications in diabetes, according to a new study in Diabetologia. It is now widely understood that the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as diabetes can be exacerbated by the sort of high energy-dense foods so often consumed […]
This year marks the second Ramadan carried out under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is an event that already comes with additional layers of risk for Muslims with diabetes, as Dr Sarah Ali, consultant in endocrinology, diabetes and general medicine at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust told the South Asian Health […]
Awareness among healthcare professionals and the importance of education and discussion with patients were key points in a survey of issues around hypoglycaemia and how to fast safely during Ramadan at the South Asian Health Foundation (SAHF) and Diabetes and Ramadan (DAR) International Alliance Annual Diabetes in Ramadan Conference in March. Fasting from sunrise to […]
In a lively and thought-provoking contribution to our Insulin@100 series, Professor Tina Vilsbøll takes us on a whistlestop tour of insulin’s clinical use – past, present and future. Professor Vilsbøll, who is a Professor at the University of Copenhagen and a consultant at the Steno Diabetes Centre, is known for her work as a researcher […]
Study shows machine-learning-based clustering using finite mixture models can help identify phenogroups of people with type 2 diabetes, distinct clinical characteristics and cardiovascular risk. Individuals with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. In a new study published in Diabetes Care, Segar et al. developed and validated different […]
Primary care is an ideal place to identify hypoglycaemia and help patients to avoid it in the future, according to the latest Primary Care Diabetes Europe (PCDE) webinar If you look at the data and ask enough patients, hypoglycaemia is common in clinical practice, according to Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular […]
Sometimes seen as the price you pay for good glycaemic control, hypoglycaemia can have a profoundly damaging impact on the lives and wellbeing of many people on insulin and other glucose-lowering therapies. Hypoglcyaemia’s negative effects can be felt in almost any part of the body – from cardiac arrhythmias to cognitive impairment. The associated feelings […]
Severe hyperglycaemia shortly after admission to a non-ICU hospital setting in patients with COVID-19 is associated with a 7-fold increase in mortality risk, according to a study published in Diabetes Care. The study by Klonoff et al. also showed that admission glucose was a strong predictor of death among patients directly admitted to the intensive […]
The latest feature in our series celebrating Insulin@100 focuses on the potent but precarious synergy of exercise and insulin. By the standards of any era, Harley Street physician and diabetologist RD Lawrence was remarkable. But he must have seemed particularly so in the 1920s and 30s, when people with diabetes – despite the recent discovery […]
Promising results from the Pre-POInT-early study, which investigated the safety and immune effects of high-dose oral insulin immunotherapy in children before the age of 2, when they are most susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes-associated autoimmunity. Autoimmunity against insulin in childhood type 1 diabetes has a peak incidence between 6 and 24 months of age […]
In lock step with the pandemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes, another, less talked about condition is on the rise: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Between 70 and 80% of people with type 2 diabetes also have NAFLD. And having diabetes also increases the risk of NAFLD’s progression to other, more severe forms of […]
Transplantation conference hears calls for an end to the notion of islet transplantation as experimental therapy, to be dealt with separately from whole pancreas transplantation in national allocation policies. But are we comparing apples and oranges? As islet transplantation is increasingly accepted as an effective treatment, the issues surrounding supply are being grappled with. In […]
Links between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes loomed large at the Paris Hepatology Conference in March, as did the potential use of diabetes treatments to counter the rise of this life-threatening condition. Despite being a liver condition, patients with NAFLD can require the care of a multi-disciplinary team and the importance […]
EASD e-Learning’s latest initiative, ‘The long and the short it’, launches today. The series showcases leading diabetes experts interviewing one another on a particular aspect of diabetes treatment or research. The twist is that you get to choose how long the discussion lasts. “We know that our learners tend to be incredibly busy,” explains EASD […]
Are DCD donors the solution to boosting islet transplantations? One of the main challenges facing islet transplantation is supply of pancreases. At the 11th European Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association Symposium and 40th Artificial Insulin Delivery Systems, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Workshop, Professor Eelco de Koning from Leiden University Medical Centre gave a convincing presentation […]
Results from the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and Diabetes Outcomes (CORONADO) study have identified variables linked to hospital discharge or to death among patients with diabetes hospitalised for COVID-19, establishing indicative prognostic factors for clinicians during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to the study, which was published in Diabetologia in February 2021, protective and deleterious factors mirrored […]
Vaccine strategies across Europe have been called into question after a large-scale analysis revealed that middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes have a disproportionately higher risk of dying from COVID-19. By evaluating published community and hospital data, the study, led by the University of Exeter Medical School in collaboration with Diabetes UK, showed that an […]
That patients should play a central role in managing their condition is now a generally acknowledged truism of diabetes care – at least in theory. What’s less widely spoken of are the many ways in which individual patients’ experiences help to shape a clinician’s vision and understanding of diabetes. In our new series of podcasts […]
The importance of involving patients in their own care and ensuring that their voices are heard was the theme of three presentations within the Patients Inclusion Initiative, a joint EPITA/EDTCO/ETAHP symposium to close the 11th European Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association Symposium and 40th Artificial Insulin Delivery Systems, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Workshop. First up […]
A study published last May in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), which described morphological and molecular changes in the lungs of people who died from COVID-19, is now cited as a turning point in our understanding of why people with type 2 and type 1 diabetes are more vulnerable to severe infection. In […]
This week the EASD e-Learning platform is launching a new section on its site. Called ‘Horizons’, the section aims to be a more user-friendly central place where our learners can get diabetes news, updates about EASD and the diabetes research world generally and, of course, access our own initiatives – such as ‘Around the diabetes world’, […]
Listening to our learners is at the forefront of ensuring the EASD e-Learning programme is up to date, evidence based and meets the needs of our learners. It is also important that you know your feedback is taken seriously. As we launch some new features on the platform – several of these have been designed […]
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on islet and pancreas transplantation, with many centres suspending their programmes and major reductions in organ retrievals. On day one of the 11th European Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association Symposium and 40th Artificial Insulin Delivery Systems, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Workshop, delegates heard how this community is rising to […]
With world-wide prevalence of diabetes forecast to hit 700 million in the next 25 years, the need for effective insulin initiation and intensification has never been more pressing. Yet despite remarkable therapeutic advances since insulin’s discovery in 1921, particularly over the last 20 years, the last two decades have seen achievement of glycaemic targets decline […]
This year’s Robert Turner clinical research training course will be taking place on-line, according to an announcement from the EASD’s postgraduate education committee. The course, named in honour of the late Professor Robert Turner, principal investigator of the ground-breaking United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), offers young researchers the opportunity to be trained by an […]
Should type 2 diabetes medications with proven cardiovascular benefits be used to prevent atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in type 1 diabetes? This was the topic of debate on the final day of the 18th World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC). In the ‘Yes’ camp, Dr Richard Pratley, Adjunct Professor of Medicine at […]
As the obesity pandemic accelerates, the search for a safe, affordable, practicable, minimally invasive solution has become ever more urgent. The need to tackle this crisis has been further highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with higher rates of severe disease and death among people with obesity. A promising development came last week with the results […]
The association between severe COVID-19 and obesity is well established, but how exactly does obesity fit into the COVID-19 picture? This pressing question was taken up at December’s 18th World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC) by Tracey L McLaughlin, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. Obesity is a […]
At 11 years old, Elizabeth Evans-Hughes weighed just 45 lb. Elizabeth had type 1 diabetes – which, for a child at the start of the 1920s, was pretty much a death sentence. Remarkably, however, she lived on to the age of 73. What saved Elizabeth was the discovery of insulin in 1921. In the following […]
As hospital beds fill with COVID-19 patients, elective surgery is being delayed for millions of people across the world and doctors in every area of medicine are having to make tough decisions about who gets treatment and who must wait. Even once the pandemic begins to recede, waiting times will continue to lengthen as pent-up […]
Professor Naveed Sattar’s Camillo Golgi lecture had delegates at the EASD’s recent Virtual Annual Meeting gripped by its exploration of cardiovascular risk in diabetes. An interactive, abridged version of this talk is now available here on the EASD e-Learning site. With its stirring call to arms to counter the devastating impact of type 2 diabetes […]
In case you didn’t have time to catch the prize lectures at this year’s 56th EASD Annual Meeting, here’s your chance. EASD e-Learning has produced a series of interactive, abridged versions of some of the most fascinating of this year’s lectures, starting with the 55th Minkowski lecture: ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ Professor Gian […]
‘Two pandemics in collision: COVID-19 and diabetes’ was the title of a presentation by Paul Zimmet, Professor of Diabetes at Monash University in a joint session between The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and the 18th World Congress on Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease (WCIRDC) in December. Professor Zimmet began by making the important point […]
NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) is increasingly in the spotlight due to its high prevalence and growing incidence in people across the world. As obesity and diabetes pandemics gather pace, cases of NAFLD are only going one way, so the research world is throwing its weight behind the hunt for better diagnostic tools and effective […]
Diabetes’ spiraling global prevalence comes with hefty price tag – estimated at US$161 billion according to the 2019 IDF Diabetes Atlas. The ‘Diabetes care is expensive’ session at this year’s EASD Annual Meeting took a closer look at the economic burden of diabetes, beginning with a study that shed new light on the problem’s source. […]
One of the most powerful sessions at this year’s EASD Annual Meeting concerned COVID-19. First up was Professor Juliana Chan, whose Hong Kong registry has proved such a vital resource for understanding the relationship between COVID-19 and diabetes. Here was a masterful survey of the available evidence in this sadly burgeoning field. Professor Chan began […]
Personalised treatment for people with diabetes is a long-cherished goal of diabetes care. A session on unusual forms of diabetes at the EASD’s Annual Meeting was a timely reminder of just why understanding the differences between people with diabetes is so important.
New trial results announced at the EASD’s recent Annual Meeting, provide fresh evidence in support of joint ADA/EASD guidelines on type 2 diabetes management – specifically, the emphasis on use of SGLT-2 inhibitors in patients at high risk of cardiovascular and kidney complications. Patients with diabetes who have heart failure and reduced ejection fraction are […]
Intermittent fasting is the diet industry’s hot new kid on the block, dominating headlines and bestseller lists. But for all the books and column inches, evidence of its benefits from clinical trials - particularly human trials – is in relatively short supply. Which made the presentations at the ‘Fasting and diabetes’ session at the EASD’s Annual Meeting especially welcome.
Primary care was prominent at this year’s EASD Annual Meeting, testament to the “vital, pivotal role played by primary care in diabetes around the world” – as described by Professor Andrew Boulton, chair of the ‘Diabetes in primary care’ session.
Digital health has been much talked about as one of the great hopes of better diabetes management, and with so many new technologies now established in the market – continuous or flash glucose monitoring (CGM or FGM) in particular, as well as remote data-gathering platforms – the supply side of that expectation seems to be […]
Non-alcohol related fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is big news these days; already, a quarter of adults in the USA are estimated to have the condition, and prevalence looks set to rise globally in step with the obesity pandemic.
Virtual conference. EASD blog – Day 1 (22 September) For obvious reasons, this year’s Annual Meeting was a virtual affair. Which meant that instead of the usual crush of researchers and healthcare professionals, the EASD plaza was populated by surprisingly slender avatars and everyone got a front-row seat at the lectures – albeit via their […]
Madrid EASD blog – Day 3 (22nd February 2020) The last day of the ATTD conference in Madrid ended, for me, with three very different sessions − from liver disease and hypoglycaemia to metabolic surgery and stem cells. The increasing burden of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is one being felt […]
Madrid EASD blog – Day 2 (21st February 2020) On the second day of the ATTD conference and, indeed, scattered throughout the programme, were several sessions on the use of SGLT-2 inhibitors in type 1 diabetes. This new class of drug has and is continuing to prove very beneficial in the management of type 2 […]
Madrid EASD blog – Day 1 (20th February 2020) This year’s Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) conference was held in Madrid in Spain. Over the course of three days, although a much smaller conference than, for example, the congresses of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of […]
The last day of this year’s American Diabetes Association (ADA) conference in San Francisco is only a half day – but it is quite a half day! The results from three clinical trials are reporting. Normally on the last day of any conference, attendance has shrunk dramatically. But not today and I enter into a […]
The penultimate day of the ADA conference starts with the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award Lecture given, this year by Professor Sadaf Farooqi from the University of Cambridge. Entitled “Obesity and the Biology of Weight Regulation”, Professor Farooqi’s research focusses on severe obesity and people with this have the highest burden of complications. Deaths from diabetes […]
My third day in San Francisco starts with a session on “The Resilient Beta Cell in Type 2 Diabetes”. Emerging research is indicating that not all beta cells are equal and that some have very different levels of activity. Professor Jim Johnston from the University of British Columbia in Canada explains that individual beta bells […]
This year’s organising committee has opted to pepper the 2019 programme with debates and, like yesterday’s debate between Professor David Matthews and Professor Thomas Pieber on the link between hypoglycaemia and cardiovascular events (click here to read the report from Day 1 of the conference), today presents three very different debates. The first of these […]
This year’s American Diabetes Association 79th Scientific Sessions are being held in San Francisco on the Californian coast. Thousands of delegates from around the world are gathering here for more than 180 sessions and over 2,000 original research presentations. Obviously, I cannot go to all of them – at any one time there are up […]