When my brother was first diagnosed with diabetes as an eleven-year-old, he was given a case for his kit and extra diabetes supplies. The case was actually a cloth lunchbox, but it had an unfortunate resemblance (at least in my bother’s mind) to a woman’s handbag. At this point, he was too young to even carry a wallet, so the idea...

When I first formulated my plan for trying out Amylin Pharmaceutical‘s amylin agonist, Symlin, I figured the hardest supply to acquire would be a pH meter. Now, granted, I haven’t tried for the pH meter yet, so it still may prove difficult– but getting my hands on Symlin itself has certainly been an unexpected hassle. I...

The diabetic information superhighway has been trafficked lately by news of GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, and the recent FDA declaration that the once-promising drug may be more dangerous than previously thought, and may substantially increase the risk of heart problems for patients. Concern about new drugs is hardly novel, but amidst...

So this was weird: I wake up from a dream at about 12:30 AM. My continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which I had inserted and calibrated once before going to bed, showed a blood sugar measurement of 99 mg/dL. Perfect, I think to myself as I stumble out of bed toward the bathroom. I measure my blood sugar on the OneTouch UltraLink I keep...

Where I Left Off In the last installment of my symlin saga, I had found that Symlin, Amlyn Pharmaceutical‘s synthetic amylin, helped slow gastric emptying and reduce post-prandial spikes. I also found that Symlin had to be injected subcutaneously, either with the Symlin Pen or from a second pump, and that allegedly, Symlin and insulin...

The only movie I’ve ever seen in which diabetes plays a prominent role is Christopher Nolan’s 2000 thriller Memento. The protagonist of this film, Leonard, looses his short-term memory, but his diabetic wife thinks he’s faking. To force him to stop “pretending,” she asks him to give her an injection of insulin. He does so. A...

Yesterday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory panel assigned to the Avandia case recommended in a mixed vote that the product remain on the market despite concerns the type 2 diabetes drug poses a significant safety threat to patients: 12 voted that Avandia should be withdrawn; 10 voted that its sales should be restricted...

One of the biggest takeaways for me from the ADA Scientific Sessions was that I needed to learn about the magic drug everyone was talking about, Symlin. So, over the past week, I’ve been doing some reading, and this is what I’ve found: Symlin (also known by the generic name pramlintide acetate) is Amylin Pharmaceutical‘s...

Last month I wrote about the rising impact of health social media. Even suggesting it may be making doctors irrelevant. While health care providers appear slow to realize this-and take advantage of social media–I know one pharmaceutical company that is not. Roche. I just returned from Roche’s second annual social media...

I should have known. I should have known when I launched the Minimed Minilink Continuous Glucose Monitor’s javelin-sized sensor at my abdomen, and it stopped halfway in. I should have known when I tried to push it in that last half-inch, and I let out an involuntary whimper of pain as it refused. I should have known when I felt...