Ever heard of MedCo Health Solutions? It's not a household name like the big pharmaceutical companies Novo, Glaxo etc. However, MedCo, which happens to be in the prescription benefit management business, is a large and powerful company. Now it's about to become even larger: the company is poised to pay $1.5 billion for PolyMedica Corporation, the nation's biggest supplier of diabetes-related products.

According to a Forbes report on the deal, PolyMedica has nearly one million patients using its products. Its product line includes Liberty Healthcare brand, blood glucose test kits and meters, lancet kits, insulin and the like. The Forbes article says the move is basically a smart one on the part of MedCo: it can cash in on the growing demand(14.5 % growth, annually!) for diabetes supplies. MedCo's chief exec, David Snow, told Forbes he anticipates the purchase could make his company (indirectly) the supplier of diabetes treatment products to half of all insured Americans with diabetes.

Factoid: ads for PolyMedica star "Cocoon" and "Seinfeld" actor Wilford Brimley.

A Medco Health Solutions report found that spending on diabetes drugs could rise 70% by 2009, and was second only to cholesterol medications in 2006. Yet, myths about this condition abound. Life@work tells you what causes diabetes, and offers tips to help reduce the complications of the disease.

The following risk factors increase your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes: age, obesity, physical inactivity, and a high fat diet. Rarer causes of diabetes (including type 1 diabetes), include: certain medicines, as well as any illness that damages the pancreas and affects its ability to produce insulin. Eating sweets does not cause diabetes. However, it may cause obesity and this is associated with people developing Type 2 diabetes. Stress does not cause diabetes, although it may be a trigger for the body turning on itself as in the case of Type 1 diabetes. It does, however, make the symptoms worse for those who already have diabetes.

Diabetics can reduce heart disease by consuming ½ c. soy nuts. Half a cup of soy nuts (dry-roasted soybeans) every day, may work as well as anti-hypertension medication to lower blood pressure, a new study conducted on women at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston found. A technique used in yoga to reduce stress and lower blood pressure is the Bhramari or Humming Bee. To perform this pose: Sit comfortably, eyes shut. Inhale and exhale deeply a few times. Inhale. While exhaling, hum gently, making an "mmm" sound. Lips must remain shut. You can also insert index fingers into each ear to feel the sound vibrating at your facial sinuses. This is one round. Do up to nine rounds. This exercise is used to create a meditative mind-set, for healing or controlling various ailments, from diabetes to digestive disorders. Pause for a moment today and enjoy some soy nuts and a humming bee pose.

Last time I checked -drugs weren't cool, but according to a recent study, within the last 3 years, the number of teens using type 2 diabetes drugs has soared.

Medco, the largest US drug benefits manager, found the number of children taking medicine for type 2 diabetes more than doubled between 2001 and 2005. An analysis of prescription data found a 146% increase over four years in young people aged 10-19 taking type 2 diabetes drugs, and 115 % increase in all children in the survey. Children on diabetes medicines also faced other serious problems. About 17% of the boys and 13% of the girls were on drugs for high blood pressure; 5% of both were taking cholesterol-reducing drugs; and nearly 20% were taking narcotic pain relievers, drugs for respiratory conditions and antidepressants. Medco reviewed over 500,000 children each year. Of those aged 10-19, about 1.47 per 1,000 were taking type 2 diabetes drugs with a clear rising trend.

I'm so glad I'm not a teenager any more. These days it's not about abstaining from drugs. It's about the type of drugs you use. Just because your doctor is the one prescribing it doesn't mean you have to succumb to the peer pressure of drug use. I found an appropriate Chinese proverb for this blog: it is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.