Both twice-daily and once-weekly formulations of exenatide provided improvements in treatment satisfaction and quality of life when added to diet and exercise and/or other oral antidiabetes agents, report researchers in the journal Diabetic Medicine.

The effects of the glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 receptor agonist exenatide on glycemic and clinical parameters including blood glucose control, decreased appetite, and weight suggest it may have potential treatment satisfaction and quality-of-life benefits.

“Treatment satisfaction deserves attention because it may influence treatment adherence and consequent clinical outcomes. Quality of life is a critical outcome in its own right,” note Jennie Best (Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc, San Diego, California, USA) and co-workers.

To assess these potential benefits, the authors used data from a randomized, multicenter, open-label study, in which 295 Type 2 diabetes patients managed with diet and exercise and/or oral antidiabetic agents received a long-acting release formulation of once-weekly exenatide (2 mg) or twice-daily exenatide (10 µg) for 30 weeks. Patients receiving exenatide twice daily were then switched to exenatide once weekly until week 52.

The patients completed a Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire and a Weight-related Quality of Life questionnaire at baseline and at weeks 30 and 52.

In both exenatide arms, treatment satisfaction and weight-related quality of life improved significantly from baseline to week 30, with no significant difference between treatment arms in total treatment satisfaction or quality of life, but a greater improvement in perceived hyperglycemia frequency and willingness to continue current treatment in the exenatide once-weekly arm.

Patients who switched from twice-daily to once-weekly exenatide at week 30 reported significantly improved total treatment satisfaction, treatment convenience, treatment flexibility, and satisfaction with continuing treatment at week 52.

“The fact that improvements in treatment satisfaction and quality of life were maintained over 52 weeks suggests that these effects are durable, and the fact that participants continued to prefer exenatide to their pre-study treatment regimen suggests that patients may be willing to continue to manage their Type 2 diabetes with exenatide treatment,” write Best et al.

They suggest that one reason for the greater acceptance of once-weekly exenatide may be the greater improvement in glucose control. The reduction in perceived frequency of hyperglycemia was the benefit for which exenatide once-weekly had the largest advantage over exenatide twice-daily.

“Our results indicate it is possible for patients treated with diet/exercise and/or oral agents to initiate exenatide therapy with potential benefits in both clinical efficacy and patient-reported outcomes directly related to treatment adherence,” conclude the authors.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009

Free abstract

So you have just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. What does that mean? Type 1 Diabetes is often known as “Juvenile Onset Diabetes Mellitus” or “Early Onset Diabetes”. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. While Type 1 is often thought of as a childhood form, it is possible for adults to fall ill with this disease. Unlike Type 2 Diabetes, Type 1 Diabetes can not be controlled with diet. Diabetic education helps us to understand that Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Because of increased protein antibodies in the pancreas, it is unable to produce the needed insulin to break down glucose in the blood stream.

Once you have taken the blood sugar testing and diabetes is confirmed, you can expect the diabetic healthcare provider to give you informational pamphlets on both diabetes insulin therapy and preventing additional health concerns. In many cases they will also provide you with additional resources to increase your diabetic education. Understanding the disease will be vital for controlling it and limiting the problems you may encounter.

Part of your education will most likely include a personalized meeting with a nutritionist who will help you learn how to avoid foods that will have a negative impact on your sugar levels. Eating a diet that is high in protein but low in sugar, sweeteners, and carbohydrates will help your body use the insulin properly. However, with Type 1 Diabetes insulin is standard treatment.

Another important aspect of diabetes education is being aware of your sugar levels. This means that you will need to do home blood sugar testing. This is normally done by checking glucose levels both before and after meals and once before retiring to bed. This is done by using a lancing device, or small cutting tool to prick the finger and then to apply it to a glucose meter. Blood glucose levels should be near 70 to 120 mg/dl before meals and anywhere below 140 mg/dl two hours after each meal. Keeping blood sugar levels steady is the goal of every diabetic. Fluctuations can lead to other serious health complications.

Insulin shots help diabetics to regulate their blood sugar levels. You may be a candidate for an insulin pump. The pump has a small butterfly needle inserted under the skin. It helps to monitor insulin levels and supply a more regular dosage of the drug. There is a new product that has a sensor placed under the skin of the belly or arm of a diabetic person. It sends a signal automatically to a small electronic device, like a pager, and will give glucose levels. It also has a feature that allows the user to see the trends of his/her insulin levels. This is helpful in diabetic education because if you can identify trends, it may help you to identify the foods that affect your glucose levels.

While receiving a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes may seem overwhelming at first, know that you are not alone. If you have questions, do not hesitate to talk to your diabetic healthcare professional. They will guide you in understanding your disease while teaching you how to manage, endure, and overcome the struggles associated with Type 1 Diabetes.

With so many people being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, it is no wonder that more and more people are starting to wonder what they can do to prevent it from happening to them. Even though it used to be thought that there was nothing that could be done, this is simply no longer the case. In fact, there is a lot that can be done in order to help reduce a person’s risk of developing diabetes. Since diabetes prevention is such an important thing it is vital that people are able to find as much information on it as possible.

One clue should come from the diabetic supplies that are sold. The most common problem in people with diabetes is their blood sugar level. Because of this there are a lot of diabetic supplies that are sold to help monitor the blood sugar levels. The key is to make sure that the blood sugar levels do not go completely out of control. Someone with too low or too high of blood sugar levels could be in serious medical danger. Watching your intake of sugary foods and drinks is a great way to make sure that you are paying attention to diabetes prevention.

It is also important to make sure that you maintain a healthy weight. Diabetes prevention is done a lot easier if people maintain healthy weights. This does not mean that you have to be a stick figure or be able to bench-press a hundred pounds. What it does mean, however, is that your BMI, body mass index, falls within the normal levels. As long as you are out of the obese category you are one step closer to never needing diabetic supplies.

In order to make sure that you are staying in great shape you may want to consider joining a gym. A gym membership may give you the motivation you need in order to keep yourself healthy and to avoid diabetes. If you cannot afford a gym membership then grab a friend that can go for walks with you a few times a week. The experience will be physically and mentally positive.

You will also want to make sure that you are getting enough sleep at night. Many people tend to forget about the usefulness of sleep. Sleep is not just needed so that you do not yawn throughout the day. It is needed for your body to rest and to be able to properly fight off a lot of possible medical issues.

There is also a lot of research out there stating that drinking a little green tea and coffee may in fact help to reduce a person’s chance of getting Type 2 Diabetes. If you are not a coffee drinker this may be something that you will want to discuss with your doctor before you begin to drink too much of it. Part of working on diabetes prevention is working with your doctor. Make sure that you are sharing all of the steps that you are doing to avoid ever having to make use of diabetic supplies and your doctor might be able to advise you on some additional things that you can do.