Improving Type 2 Diabetes Care with Extended-Release Metformin: Real-Life Insights from a Physician Educational Program.

Background: Compared to Immediate-Release (IR) metformin, Extended-Release (ER) metformin reduces side effects and pill burden while improving adherence; however, there is little real-life data on patient satisfaction with this innovative formulation to guide physicians toward a more holistic approach.

Objective: Our goal is to train general practitioners on holistic patient management, with the aim of increasing patient satisfaction and treatment adherence, reducing side effects, and improving quality of life in patients with poor tolerance to metformin-IR.

Materials And Methods: We designed an educational program for physicians called SlowDiab, aimed at establishing a holistic patient approach.

Critical evaluation of the questionnaires assessing adherence to the Mediterranean diet that are based on servings.

Background And Aims: The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, and olive oil, and moderate fish, dairy, and wine intake. A high adherence to MD has been associated with numerous health benefits, including reduced risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. The clinical assessment of MD adherence is complicated by the absence of a univocally accepted tool and by the abundance of questionnaires developed to determine adherence, whose reliability and validity is uncertain.

Effects of polyphenols on cardio-metabolic risk factors and risk of type 2 diabetes. A joint position statement of the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group of the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID), the Italian Association of Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition (ADI) and the Italian Association of Medical Diabetologists (AMD).

Aim: A large body of evidence supports a role of polyphenols in the prevention of chronic diseases, i.e. type 2 diabetes (DMT2), cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer.

Cow's Milk Consumption and Health: A Health Professional's Guide.

The most recent scientific evidence supports the consumption of cow's milk and dairy products as part of a balanced diet. However, these days, the public and practicing physicans are exposed to a stream of inconsistent (and often misleading) information regarding the relationship between cow's milk intake and health in the lay press and in the media. The purpose of this article, in this context, is to facilitate doctor-patient communication on this topic, providing physicians with a series of structured answers to frequently asked patient questions.

Efficacy, safety and acceptability of the new pen needle 34G × 3.5 mm: a crossover randomized non-inferiority trial; AGO 02 study.

Objective: Insulin injection aspects, such as fear of injection and pain, directly affect glycemic control, patient adherence and quality of life. Use of thinner and shorter needles could increase acceptance of injections. The aim of the study is to evaluate the non-inferiority of the new 34G × 3.

Nutraceuticals and functional foods for the control of plasma cholesterol levels. An intersociety position paper.

Current evidence shows that cholesterol management either reduces the likelihood of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or slows down its progression. Hence, it is important that all health professionals make appropriate use of all the available intervention strategies to control risk factors: from dietary improvement and positive lifestyle changes to the use of functional foods, food supplements, and drugs. This review examines the effect of the most frequently occurring cholesterol-lowering substances in functional foods or in supplements across Europe, namely plant sterols and stanols, monacolin K found in red yeast rice, berberine and beta-glucans.

Palm oil and human health. Meeting report of NFI: Nutrition Foundation of Italy symposium.

The use of palm oil by the food industry is increasingly criticized, especially in Italy, for its purported negative effects on human health and environment. This paper summarizes the conclusions of a Symposium on this topic, gathered by the Nutrition Foundation of Italy, among experts representing a number of Italian Medical and Nutritional Scientific Societies. Toxicological and environmental issues were not considered.

Effectiveness of a nurse-managed protocol to prevent hypoglycemia in hospitalized patients with diabetes.

Background: Hypoglycemia due to inadequate carbohydrate intake is a frequent complication of insulin treatment of diabetic in-patients. Objective. To assess the effectiveness of a nurse-managed protocol to prevent hypoglycemia during subcutaneous insulin treatment.

Effectiveness, safety and feasibility of an evidence-based insulin infusion protocol targeting moderate glycaemic control in intensive cardiac care units.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness, safety and feasibility of the revised, simplified nurse-managed version of our insulin infusion protocol, adapted to the new recommended glycaemic target of 140 to 180 mg/dL (Desio Diabetes Diagram i.v. 140-180).

Changes in prescribing patterns and clinical outcomes in elderly diabetic patients in 2000 and 2010: analysis of a large Italian population-based study.

Purpose: To describe prescribing patterns in elderly Italian diabetic patients of the Lombardy Region in 2000 and 2010 using an administrative database. Hospital admissions and mortality were also recorded and compared in the two index years.

Methods: Analyses were performed on the whole cohort of elderly diabetic patients and across age groups.

Hyperglycemia during acute coronary syndrome: a nurse-managed insulin infusion protocol for stricter and safer control.

Background: Diabetic patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) might benefit from tight glycemic control by means of insulin infusion. Nurse-implemented insulin infusion protocols (IIP) are available but none validated in patients with ACS admitted to a coronary care unit (CCU).

Aims: To assess feasibility, effectiveness and safety of a new nurse-managed IIP (Desio Diabetes Diagram, DDD) for intensive glucose control in patients with suspected ACS and known diabetes or blood glucose (BG) >200 mg/dL.

Interactive diary for diabetes: A useful and easy-to-use new telemedicine system to support the decision-making process in type 1 diabetes.

Background: Widespread use of carbohydrate (CHO) counting is limited by its complex educational needs, but a telemedicine system could simplify the patients' training.

Methods: The Diabetes Interactive Diary (DID) was set up on patients' mobile phones and allowed to record the blood glucose values and quantify the total CHO intake during a meal, by choosing the specific food and the amount ingested from a list of pictures. It also suggested the most appropriate insulin bolus in relation to the patient's CHO/insulin ratio.