Jo’s Cafe

Jimmy Moore at Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb blog reports the ADA is finally getting it about low-carb eating for diabetics.

According to my friend and fellow low-carb blogger Laura Dolson from the About Low-Carb Diets web site, there are “potential changes in ADA recommendations” to be announced in January 2008. It seems they are FINALLY listened to those of us who advocate carbohydrate restriction and are are going to abandon their high-carb recommendations. So much for people like Hope Warshaw dictating what diabetes policy looks like in the United States and it’s about time.

I’ve been eating low-carb since being diagnosed. Everywhere I went, including the ADA message boards, that’s what I heard.

Two U.S. healthcare providers drop Glaxo’s Avandia

LONDON (Reuters) - Two U.S. pharmacy benefit managers said on Thursday they had dropped GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s diabetes drug Avandia from their national formularies due to safety concerns.

The moves by Prime Therapeutics and HealthTrans mark the latest example of U.S. healthcare providers deciding to limit access to the drug, following an earlier decision by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to severely restrict use.

Such actions, particularly if followed by others, may further undermine sales of the once-popular medicine, which have been hit hard recently by a report linking it to heart attacks.

From engadget: GlucoBoy blood-sugar testing game finally ships

Targeted at kids with juvenile diabetes, the device rewards timely testing and target blood sugar levels by doling out points that can be used to unlock 2 full length games and 3 additional mini-arcade games, and kids can share point totals and high scores on a related website called GRIP. GlucoBoy is now available in Australia, but the company hopes to have wider availability soon.

Ahhh, socialized medicine at its worst! 50,000 People Denied Insulin Pumps In The UK

Diabetes UK is calling for more access to insulin pumps for people with diabetes.

The call comes as research published today shows they are more effective in improving blood glucose control and reducing hypoglycaemic episodes than traditional insulin injections.

Just over two per cent (6,000) of people with Type 1 diabetes in the UK are using pumps compared to 15 to 20 per cent in the USA and Germany. Diabetes UK estimates that a further 50,000 people are eligible for insulin pumps but are being denied access.

Diabetes UK wants primary care organisations to end this postcode lottery and for the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to review their restrictive guidance.