Top 5 online endocrine stories from April

Endocrine Today has put together a compilation of the five news stories most viewed from April 2015 to keep you abreast of the current hot topics in endocrinology.

Healio.com/Endocrinology readers were interested in diabetes education access, treatment for type 2 diabetes and registered dietician visits, among other stories.

New legislation would increase access to diabetes education

More people with diabetes would have access to credentialed diabetes educators to assist with daily management of the disease, under a new bill introduced in the U.S. House.

The bill, H.R. 1726, known as The Access to Quality Diabetes Education Act of 2015, would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to recognize credentialed diabetes educators as providers of diabetes education services, including telehealth services, under part B of the Medicare program. Read more.

Dapagliflozin superior to placebo for patients with type 2 diabetes, CVD

In type 2 diabetes patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease, the use of dapagliflozin is superior to placebo in decreasing HbA1c, body weight and systolic blood pressure without negatively affecting cardiovascular safety, according to recent study findings.

In the multicenter, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, William T. Cefalu, MD, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and colleagues evaluated 922 patients with type 2 diabetes, known preexisting CVD and a history of treated hypertension to determine the safety and efficacy of dapagliflozin compared with placebo. Read more.

Increased registered dietician visits linked to improved BMI outcomes in children with obesity

BMI outcomes in children with obesity participating in a comprehensive weight management program were improved with increasing frequency of registered dietician visits, according to recent study findings published in Childhood Obesity.

“This study provides novel information about the relative role of dietary approach and [registered dietician] involvement in success in a [comprehensive weight management] program for overweight and obese youth,” the researchers wrote. “Despite the changes in diets from the Staged Approach to the Healthy Eating Plan and how the dietary approach was introduced to patient families, the mean change in BMI with this new clinical model was not significantly different, when compared to the earlier clinical model.” Read more.

Autonomic imbalance may predict poor metabolic outcomes

Resting heart rate and heart rate variability may serve as predictors for certain metabolic risk outcomes and diabetes, according to research in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Data suggested that both resting heart rate (RHR) and heart rate variability (HRV), two measures of autonomic imbalance, significantly predicted two of the five metabolic risk factors — hyperglycemia and high blood pressure — and diabetes diagnosis within 12 years, and also predicted cardiovascular disease and early mortality for most patients studied. Links between autonomic imbalance and the other three factors — BMI, HDL and triglycerides — were not statistically as strong, according to researchers. Read more.

Sugar-sweetened beverages suppress cortisol, stress responses in brain

The hormone cortisol and stress responses were suppressed with the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to recent study findings published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Diet beverages sweetened with aspartame did not produce the same effects, according to the researchers. Read more.