Drug War '07: drug giants Novo Nordisk and Sanofi-Aventis have been sparring recently over their insulin pen designs. Novo alleges Sanofi has stolen its design ideas, basically. Check out Bev's post on this to learn more.

The reason it's such a big deal to them is money. The insulin pen could be super-lucrative for investors. Meanwhile, here's some news that's bound to get big pharma even more excited: a new study reports that insulin pens are cheaper and more effective than insulin shots.

Why so good? Fewer trips to the emergency room and fewer visits to the doctor. Insulin pens boast a pre-measured dosing system, with each dose of insulin contained in a single, disposable cartridge. This eliminates the risk of over- or under-dosing, says senior author of the study, Dr. Rajesh Balkrishnan of Ohio State University in Columbus. The researchers say that study participants who used an insulin pen instead of a regular syringe ended up reducing their annual healthcare costs by nearly $17,000. Wow.

What I'm not clear on here is whether or not they factored in the added expense of upgrading from syringes to insulin pens.

Want to know more? The study has been published in the latest issue of Clinical Therapeutics, but you can click here to read a summary.

A study suggests problems with cholesterol regulation in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas may be responsible for the development of Type 2 diabetes.

A thesis paper written by a graduate student, Dr. Liam Brunham, addressed the fact that a dysfunction in cholesterol regulation is found in beta cells in the pancreas. A thought-provoking connection to this thesis was the fact that beta cells are the cells responsible for producing insulin. A beta cell expert decided to see what would happen if researchers genetically engineered mice without the ABCA1 gene. The ABCA1 gene is the gene responsible for cholesterol regulation in beta cells. Dr. Brunham appears to be the first to identify the role of cholesterol dysfunction resulting in the beta cells inability to properly secrete insulin.

This new research is promising and obviously raises questions in other researcher's minds. One is - what happens when amylin, a hormone produced by the beta cells, builds up to excess amounts? Does this, in fact, impair the beta cells' ability to function properly? Could this be another thesis that trumps Dr. Brunham's hunch for the cause of type 2 diabetes? Some researchers believe that the over-production of amylin and cholesterol may be due to a yet unidentified problem. Of course that is always an option. Science labs across the world could come to a screeching halt if doctor's stopped hypothesizing. As research continues, we will anxiously await the next best thesis paper, courtesy of our promising Graduate Students. Be cool - stay in school!

Beloit, Wisconsin, resident Vonnie Adams threw a big party recently. The occasion? To celebrate living and thriving despite being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes fifty years ago. Adams is now seventy-two years old and decided, hey, after living with the disease for all these years she deserved to celebrate. Hence the party, which she planned herself and which was attended on Saturday by a happy crowd of family and friends numbering about 140. Now this is cute: Adams didn't tell invitees what the occasion was on the invitations, only saying it was a 50th anniversary celebration. Upon turning up at the shindig they discovered it was a chance for Adams to celebrate her having triumphed over the difficulties that diabetes have caused her, and also a chance to acknowledge all the people who have assisted her on her journey. Adams is pictured at right holding a framed photo of one of those special helpers: Ken Gold, her doctor of twenty-five years, who was unable to make it to the event. Gold, she says, not only helped her stay in shape over the years but also became one of her best friends. Amazing - we could all use a doctor like that, huh?

The diagnosis came on Valentine's Day, 1957, Adams recalled in an interview with the Beloit Daily News. At the time she was a senior in college and twenty-two years of age. Symptoms like thirst and fatigue she put down to the flu. By the time she saw a doctor she was very ill - barely conscious, in fact. But it didn't get her down: "I made up my mind right away that my lifestyle would be greatly altered. Things I did, eating, exercise. I knew right at the get-go that I wasn't going to let it control my life. I was going to control the diabetes, the diabetes wasn't going to control me." Now that's what you call an attitude worth envying. Despite now having lost her sight to diabetes-related complications, Adams retains her incredible positive attitude. To read more, visit the Beloit Daily News.

Anybody who has been granted the dubious distinction of multiple blood glucose readings a day will appreciate the lively approach my endocrinologist has applied to diabetes management. As his cartoon-depicted alter ego, Dr. Grady brings you straightforward explanations of the medical issues in the form of comic strips. His approach is the CartoonMD®, which is medical information made very, very simple.

A new class of diabetes agents was created and released on the market for patient care called the incretin mimetics. Greek to you, too? Exactly. Here's what I did -- take yourself a minute or two to pay homage to the comedic genius and frustrated artist that I proudly (and often) call doctor. If nothing more, you'll enjoy the momentary reminiscing of Saturday morning cartoons with an intellectual spin.

I encourage everybody to take a look at the educational entertainment from the good doctor, Dr. Grady. It truly is medical information that goes down easy!

Ian Gibson, a former chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, has apologized if he offended anyone with the comments he made earlier suggesting that the cause in increased childhood diabetes cases diagnosed in his Norfolk constituency could be the result of residents inbreeding.

"I would imagine it is linked to the fact that people in Norfolk are quite inbred, with many not leaving the county," Dr. Gibson, Labour MP for Norwich North, told his local newspaper, the Norwich Evening News. "It is something that needs to be looked at as a priority, especially as many cases are linked to obesity too."

Diabetes experts have come forward to call his suggestion disgraceful, inappropriate and wrong. Genetics do not work that way and to even suggest that diabetes is linked to inbreeding is an insult to people with type 1 diabetes and their families and it's an insult to people in Norfolk. That's an understatement.

I don't think Dr. Gibson can use being drunk as an excuse for his outrageous remarks, and he clearly isn't apologizing for what he said -- only to anyone that might be offended by the comments. That could be six billion people minus one.