According to a new Associated Press (AP) feature, federal regulators have experienced a dramatic surge in reports of Avandia-related side effects. In fact, they say they are receiving triple the number of reports just in the last month. This trend began when news broke that the drug, which has been a big money maker for GlaxoSmithKline, may increase the risk of heart trouble.

The data supporting the claim was gathered by the AP from the US Food and Drug Administration. Whoever wrote this article makes a point of noting that the figures were obtained with the backing of the Freedom of Information Act, although the report does not say the FDA resisted handing the information out. The key finding: in the thirty-five days before the Avandia story broke in the media, only five heart attacks were reported as side effects involving rosiglitazone. Rosiglitazone is the active ingredient in Avandia and its little cousin Avandamet, which combines that drug with metformin. Yet in the thirty-five days following the revelation, that number soared to ninety. The AP also says reports of heart-related hospitalizations increased dramatically.

The AP says that several experts consulted for the article agree that doctors are probably attributing patients' heart problems to the drug, whereas before they likely would not have made the connection. The report also touches on the problem that's at the heart of the Avandia story: the dire need for reform of the FDA. Right now, there is no organized governmental oversight of drug safety once a drug is on the market and all reporting of side effects is voluntary. No one is driving the bus, basically. Click here to read more.

Don't know about the Avandia scandal? Want to read more on the background to this story? Click here for just one of a gazillion news stories published recently on Avandia and the FDA.

Pomegranate juice was shown to reduce the risk of arthrosclerosis in diabetics who participated in a study conducted over three months. The pomegranate juice also appeared to slow the absorption of unhealthy LDL cholesterol by immune cells.

People with diabetes have increased risk for atherosclerosis, contributing to coronary heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and other circulation problems. The results of this study suggest that the antioxidants found in pomegranate juice may be beneficial in reducing these heart-related risks associated with diabetes. The sugars in pomegranate juice are attached to unique antioxidants, which actually make these sugars protective against atherosclerosis. Researchers examined the effects of drinking a concentrated pomegranate juice that is the equivalent to about a 6-ounce glass of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice for three months in 10 healthy adults and 10 adults with type 2 diabetes (who were not dependent on insulin therapy). Drinking pomegranate juice did not affect overall cholesterol levels, but researchers found it reduced the uptake of LDL (bad) cholesterol by immune cells, which is a major contributing factor to atherosclerosis.

Albeit a little tart, the reputation of the pomegranate falls heavily on the sweet side. One pomegranate delivers 40% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement. Food manufacturers' favor using pomegranate extracts instead of the juice because it contains no sugar, calories, or additives. Factor in the folic acid, the free-radical destroying antioxidants, and the overall health benefits of the Chinese apple and ask your arteries if it's worth a 6 ounce glass. I'm guessing the answer is yes.

Turns out our old friend insulin, the drug of first-resort for millions of diabetics, could be used in another capacity. So reports news channel ABC7 Chicago. Heart attacks occur when blood flow to the heart is restricted or cut off, causing permanent damage to the heart muscle, or part of it. You may survive a heart attack, but the damaged tissue attracts the formation of scar tissue. Moreover, the heart itself is weakened because the pumping action is less effective than before the attack took place.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo in New York have been looking into the possibility of using insulin to help heart attack victims. They say insulin may protect the heart by reducing permanent damage to the heart tissues. How, you say? Well, insulin relaxes the blood vessels, causing them to dilate and improve blood flow, thereby reducing strain on the heart. A study conducted by the Buffalo team showed that insulin given to heart attack patients reduced heart damage by fifty percent! Because insulin lowers blood sugar, patients on insulin also had to take glucose to keep their blood sugar levels up. The researchers say, hey, why not use insulin for heart attack patients? Why waste time trying to devise fancy new drugs when plain old (and inexpensive) insulin can do the trick? Stay tuned.

We often hear that the US needs a new approach to treating diabetes if the so-called diabetes epidemic is to be brought under control. Specifically, many advocate reorienting medical care to focus on prevention, not just treatment. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is currently running a story that highlights one physician's plan for how this might work.

Dr. Swarna Varma (pictured) believes better preventive care would save the US $18 billion annually. Her solution? Pay doctors for time spent training their patients the art of diabetes self-management. The current system, she argues, rewards doctors solely for treating those who fail to keep strict control of their condition. "We get reimbursed for heart attacks, vision problems, strokes, prosthetics, ulcers and dialysis," says Dr. Varma. "Do we get reimbursed to get their ABCs under control? No."

Dr. Varma believes her own practice illustrates how well such a system would work. She says that patients in her practice are three times more likely than the national average to have their diabetes under control. She spends lots of time counseling patients on what they need to do for effective self-management to work, and makes regular follow-up phone calls. She also advocates a team approach, involving the doctor and other staff, as well as the patient's family. "I'm hoping that someday health companies and employers will reimburse us for doing the right thing," says Dr. Varma. "I want to make this doable."

Another day, another depressing health-related news story. Thanks, Forbes, for today's Scary Statistic! With the ominous headline, "Diabetes Brings Earlier Heart Disease, Death," Forbes reports that a new study shows Type 2 diabetics are likely to suffer fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular "events" (my favorite health euphemism!) around fifteen years sooner than non-diabetics. Oh, yikes. That is a scary statistic.

The information comes courtesy of researchers at the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Canada. The results of the study have been published in the latest issue of The Lancet (July 2006). The study found that you can roughly pinpoint the ages at which people cross over into the "moderate risk" and "high risk" categories for heart problems. For diabetics, this crossover point came about fifteen years earlier than for others.

For Type 2 men "moderate risk" was reached at just under thirty-nine years of age, as opposed to age fifty-five for non-diabetic men. "High risk" was reached at around forty-nine years, instead of sixty-two for non-diabetic men. For Type 2 women, "moderate risk" was reached at around forty-six years, as opposed to sixty-two for non-diabetics, while "high risk" for women began at at fifty-six, instead of sixty-nine for non-diabetics.

Worst of all, the researchers report that Type 2 diabetics who were at moderate or high risk for heart disease died an average of eighteen years earlier than non-diabetics.

The solution? Experts say physicians need to take the lead in pushing their Type 2 diabetic patients to get active and lose weight.