Creator of Diabetes Health Magazine, Scott King, has been a type 1 diabetic for over 34 years. Needless to say, he knows diabetes, and he is doing a remarkable job of introducing cutting-edge treatments for diabetics. In the first Diabetes Health TV broadcast, he shared interviews from the recent AADE Conference. A really exciting product he featured is called Neuragen - a topical treatment for diabetes neuropathy.

With diabetes neuropathy, people experience pain due to damage to the peripheral nerves. Neuropathic pain is often characterized by burning sensations or shooting pain, or may occur as numbness or chronic itching. Clinical trials have shown Neuragen to be effective in 70% of patients for the pain associated with diabetes. The ingredients are pretty kosher, too. Neuragen is made of a proprietary blend of essential oils from special species of geranium, lavender, bergamot, eucalyptus, and tea tree.

The Neuragen rep was blunt when he described the effective nature of this all natural product - using more does not make it any more effective! You have to admire his refreshing honesty. But like I said upfront - if Scott King is willing to spend the time getting the scoop on this product - it's probably worth your time using it. For more interviews, checkot the full coverage of the AADE Conference on Diabetes Health TV!

A study reveals the drug duloxetine is useful in treating diabetes-related pain, but it may worsen control of blood sugar levels. Diabetes is the number one cause of damage to the peripheral nerves in the United States. Neuropathy will first appear as burning or stinging in the feet, usually worse at night. The nerves to the feet are affected first because the damage is occurring along the entire length of the axons and the axons to the feet are the longest in the body.

Duloxetine is one of only two drugs approved for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain (DPNP), a common problem in diabetic patients, Cymbalta® or duloxetine is the first drug approved by the FDA for painful diabetic polyneuropathy. The drug was previously approved as an antidepressant. The drug is an SSNRI meaning it is both a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor. By blocking the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine, these neurotransmitters increase in the spinal cord and brain. It is speculated that both increased serotonin levels and norepinephrine levels produce an inhibitory effect on the ascending sensory tracts.

Data was collected from three clinical trials to investigate changes in weight, sugar levels, and cholesterol levels in patients with DPNP treated with duloxetine. Short-term treatment with duloxetine was associated with a modest increase in fasting sugar levels, but not with significant increases in hemoglobin A1c, a measure of long-term sugar control. With longer treatment, however, there was a significant rise in hemoglobin A1c, indicating impaired sugar control. In addition, there were also small changes in cholesterol levels among duloxetine-treated patients, but a small increase in HDL "good" cholesterol was the only statistically significant change. Weight declined with short-term duloxetine treatment, but increased slightly with long-term treatment.