The U.S. FDA has issued an alert on 19 Marc 09 o remind the public that Insulin Pens and Insulin Cartridges Must Not Be Shared.

Originally, this alert was sent to health care professionals reminding them that single-patient insulin pens and insulin cartridges should not be used to administer medication to multiple patients due to the potential risk of transmitting blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and the hepatitis viruses. However, I felt that this is something all diabetic patients should be aware of, so that if it happend to them, they are also well aware of the risks.

What’s the rationale for this alert?
Well, insulin pens are pen-shaped injector devices that contain a disposable needle and either an insulin reservoir or an insulin cartridge. The devices typically contain enough insulin for a patient to self-administer several doses of insulin before the reservoir or cartridge is empty. All insulin pens are approved only for single-patient use (one device for only one patient).

Apparently, the FDA was aware of incidents at two undisclosed hospitals involving more than 2,000 people in which the cartridge component of the insulin pens were used to administer insulin to multiple patients, although the disposable needles were reportedly changed among patients.

“Insulin pens are designed to be safe for one patient to use one pen multiple times with a new, fresh needle for each injection,” said Amy Egan, M.D., deputy director of safety at the FDA’s Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Insulin pens are not designed, and are not safe, for one pen to be used by more than one patient, even if needles are changed between patients due to the risk of transmitting blood-borne pathogens.”

Patients exposed to shared insulin pens are being contacted by the two hospitals and are being offered testing for hepatitis and HIV. Some of the potentially exposed patients have reportedly tested positive for the hepatitis C virus, although it is not known if the virus was spread as a result of insulin pen sharing.

The FDA is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and professional organizations to address infection control issues related to insulin pens.

For us, as Diabetes patients, please be aware of the risks of sharing insulin catridges. If you see it being done at health care centres, stop the staff immediately and report the incident to the FDA. Also, don’t share the catridges amongst family members. Better safe than sorry!

Technorati Tags: health

Share This

Professor Herbert Herzog, Director of the Neuroscience Research Program at

Australia-based Garvan Institute of Medical Research, together with scientists

from the US and Slovakia, have done obesity research which have shown that

neuropeptide Y (NPY), a molecule the body releases when stressed, can

‘unlock’ Y2 receptors in the body’s fat cells, stimulating the cells to grow in

size and number. By blocking those receptors, it may be possible to prevent

fat growth, or make fat cells die.

“We have known for over a decade that there is a connection between chronic

stress and obesity,” said Professor Herzog. “We also know that NPY plays a

major role in other chronic stress-induced conditions, such as susceptibility

to infection. Now we have identified the exact pathway, or chain of molecular

events, that links chronic stress with obesity.”
“There is not much we can do about the increased levels of NPY caused by

stress, but we can do something about the damage it causes. If we can

interfere before it causes fat to amass, it could have a major impact on

cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer (which all have links with

obesity). When we have a stress reaction, NPY levels rise in our bodies,

causing our heart rate and blood pressure to go up, among other things.

Stress reactions are normal, unavoidable, and generally serve a useful

purpose in life. It’s when stress is chronic that its effects become damaging,”

he said.
Scientists at Georgetown University (Washington DC), part of this

collaborative study, have found a direct connection between stress, a high

calorie diet and unexpectedly high weight gain. Stressed and unstressed

mice were fed normal diets and high calorie (high fat and high sugar, or so

called comfort food) diets. The mice on normal diets did not become obese.

However, stressed mice on high calorie diets gained twice as much fat as

unstressed mice on the same diet. The novel and unexpected finding was

that when stressed and non-stressed animals ate the same high calorie

foods, the stressed animals utilized and stored fat differently.
“Our findings suggest that we may be able to reverse or fidn treatments for

obesity caused by stress and diet, including the worst kind of obesity; the

apple-shaped type, which makes people more susceptible to heart disease

and diabetes,” said Professor Zofia Zukowska, the senior author of paper

published in Nature Medicine. “Using animal models, in which we have either

blocked the Y2 receptor, or selectively removed the gene from the abdominal

fat cells, we have shown that stressed mice on high calorie diets do not

become obese. Even more surprisingly, in addition to having flatter bellies,

adverse metabolic changes linked to stress and diet, which include glucose

intolerance and fatty liver, became markedly reduced. We do not know yet

exactly how that happens, but the effect was remarkable,” said Professor

Zukowska.
Professor Herzog believes that these research findings will have a profound

effect on the way society will deal with the obesity epidemic. “There are

millions of people around the world who have lived with high levels of stress for

so long their bodies think it’s ‘normal’. If these people also eat a high fat and

high sugar diet, which is what many do as a way to reduce their stress, they

will become obese. Until now, the pharmaceutical industry has focused on

appetite suppressants with only moderate success. Our hope is that in the

near future pharmaceutical companies, using the results of our research, will

develop antagonists against the Y2 receptor that will bring about a reduction

in fat cells.” . This could be a good approach in finding a treatment for obesity

and the key to obesity prevention.

Technorati Tags: diet

Share This

The American Obesity Problem is a growing in the United States. Over the last two decades the obesity rate among adults in the United States has more than doubled. It is now regarded as the second leading cause of preventable death in the nation after smoking cigarettes and most health experts believe that the obesity problem will soon surpass cigarette smoking and become the #1 cause of preventable deaths in America.

Researchers believe that among the consequences of obesity is an increased risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, and cancer. The president of the American Obesity Association has said that “Obesity is killing 300 thousand people a year, so that’s an epidemic, it’s a serious problem.” Indeed, as other countries prosper, we see the same phenomenon.

Medical experts have concluded a long time ago that it is caused by a combination of genetics, overeating, and lack of exercise. Just look at the size of the servings at a typical American reataurant! There is also one another theory which is gaining great momentum in the scientific community and it is that certain viruses may be responsible for some cases of obesity. Scientists are also of the opinion that this has been proven in animals and not yet in humans. The virus theory put forth by some scientists is controversial. And has also charged up the debate over whether to classify obesity as a disease and how much tax-payers should be paying to treat it.

The best way to treat the American Obesity problem is through proper education. The inhabitants of the nation must be made aware of what type of food is best for them. Proper nutrition should be a part of school programs and there should only be healthy foods served in schools.

The restaurants should also come up with smaller meal portions which would be healthy for their customers. The people of the nation must also study and know what are carbohydrates and saturated fats related to the bodies so they can opt to choose and select a correct and healthy meal for themselves. Their must be a greater awareness of food not as entertainment but as fuel for the body. Think about it this way, would you put a gallon of mud in your car instead of a gallon of gasoline? No, of course not. So why would you put sugars and fats in your body instead of protein? It makes just as little sense. Our bodies run on the food we put into it. Put good fuel into it, and you’ll run better!

Another huge issue in this country is people not getting enough exercise. This should start in the schools with mandatory Physical Education for all students. We have become more and more sedentary nation. Many of us work all day in offices and then go home and watch TV all night. Where’s the physical activity? This has a direct connect with our metabolic rates and how we metabolise the food we eat.

Obesity is calculated by the Body Mass Index (BMI) which is basically weight divided by height. While BMI is quite accurate for most people it is not accurate for very muscular people as muscle weighs more than fat. An example of this is that Michael Jordan at his peak playing condition would be considered overweight by a BMI calculation although he clearly had very little in the way of fat on his body at this time.

Mandie Zoot is a contributer to the Natural Weight Loss Blog where you can follow the “Token Fat Girl” as she loses weight the all natural way without diet pills or fad diets.

Technorati Tags: diet, exercise, health, weight loss

Share This