Clinical trials
The value of blood-glucose monitoring
May/13/09 09:17 Filed in: Medical devices | Healthcare Policy | Medical products | Evidence based medicine
One of the paradigms of managing patients with Type II diabetes includes regular home testing of blood glucose levels using one of the widely available blood glucose monitors. The American Diabetes Association, one of the leading organizations that advocate for and provide information about diabetes, recommends home glucose monitoring for patients who have diabetes and are:
These are probably good recommendations, based on good evidence. Controlling blood glucose in those patients with Type 2 diabetes has strong positive benefits for reducing risks of chronic and acute diseases, such as peripheral artery disease, hypertension, diabetic dyslipidemia, heart attack and stroke.
Recently, a clinical trial published in the British Medical Journal analyzed the medical usefulness of home blood glucose monitoring in patients with Type II diabetes. The trial was well designed enrolling 184 individuals with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. The patients were randomized into two groups: one that utilized a monitor and one that did not. The patients were observed for one year. Read More...
- taking insulin or diabetes pills
- on intensive insulin therapy
- pregnant
- having a hard time controlling your blood glucose levels
- having severe low blood glucose levels or ketones from high blood glucose levels
- having low blood glucose levels without the usual warning signs
These are probably good recommendations, based on good evidence. Controlling blood glucose in those patients with Type 2 diabetes has strong positive benefits for reducing risks of chronic and acute diseases, such as peripheral artery disease, hypertension, diabetic dyslipidemia, heart attack and stroke.
Recently, a clinical trial published in the British Medical Journal analyzed the medical usefulness of home blood glucose monitoring in patients with Type II diabetes. The trial was well designed enrolling 184 individuals with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. The patients were randomized into two groups: one that utilized a monitor and one that did not. The patients were observed for one year. Read More...
Scientific medicine and Big Pharma
Apr/08/09 08:42 Filed in: Medical devices | Pharmaceuticals | Pseudoscience | Healthcare Policy | Evidence based medicine | Medical products
I keep reading across the blogosphere that Big Pharma (for the sake of this discussion, defined as all medical products companies, including ones that don’t manufacture or market pharmaceuticals) somehow blocks either positive or negative results to further their profits. The accusations come from a wide variety of sources, some of the more vocal being the anti-science proponents, such as the anti-vaccination movement. Utilizing an ad hominem argument of personalizing the issues and then attacking the motives or character of others, usually those who dispute the claims made by pseudoscience. Read More...