My TCOYD Newsletter

For the remainder of the Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) conferences this year, diaTribe subscribers will receive an exclusive 10 percent discount on the participant registration fee! Please call 858-755-5683 or 800-998-2693 to obtain your discount. The more with whom you signup, the better the discount gets so bring friends! The next conferences will be in Milwaukee on November 17, and then of course there is the monumental San Diego conference on December 8. At the conference in Santa Clara in September, free copies of the Taking Control Of Your Diabetes book were given to each attendee. Now here is the kicker; TCOYD announced that for the remaining 2007 conferences, each participant will receive a copy of the third edition of this veritable bible for diabetes with FAQs written by the inspiring Dr. Edelman.

The TCOYD conference was founded and is currently directed by our very own advisory board member, Dr. Steve Edelman. Dr. Edelman is an incredibly respected thought-leader in diabetes treatment, research, and education who knows first hand what it means to live with type 1 diabetes. Every three months, he releases an excellent publication called My TCOYD Newsletter, with some fascinating stories often involving his own patients. Here, we highlight last quarter's issue of My TCOYD Newsletter.

In the last six months, there has been much ado about the FDA and its involvement with GSK's Avandia, Takeda's Actos, Abbott's Navigator, Amylin's Byetta and Symlin, and Merck's Januvia. In some cases the FDA has been slammed for not being thorough enough while it has also been lambasted for dragging its feet in the regulatory process. Dr. Edelman writes a fair and objective piece discussing the FDA review processes. He describes the Research and Development (R&D) process using a colorful analogy for drug development: "Developing drugs is sort of like the restaurant business; for every ten new attempts, only one is successful." He describes the progression from animal studies to drug testing in humans and submission of hordes of data analysis to the FDA. New Drug Applications (NDAs), he quips, are more of a pain than filing taxes and involve enough paperwork to require the services of a delivery truck. Even after the FDA approves a drug six to twelve months later, the battle is not won. The quality of the manufacturing plant must also meet FDA standards of sanitation and production. The facility may have to be prepared even prior to drug approval - an investment flushed away if the drug is not approved. He concludes with a grateful nod in the direction of pharmaceutical companies in saying, "It is important to understand the complexities of drug development and to have an appreciation of what it takes for a pharmaceutical company to bring an advance to the pharmacy shelves."

One of the highlights from this edition was the frank and often humorous interview with Dr. John Buse, president of the American Diabetes Association as of September 2007. The interview kicks off with a very funny anecdote about Dr. Buse's first ADA conference as a boy (his mother is a researcher). Bored from the adult-talk at the meeting, the 12-year-old wandered off and was found "standing on tip-toe, peering through a paint-stripped patch on the window of a strip club." In talking about his practice, Dr. Buse described his role as searching for complications and thinking creatively to help patients overcome particular issues. "Education immunizes patients from less than excellent medical care," he said. "If patients know what they need, they can find a doctor who can help." Dr. Buse was drawn to diabetes after contact with their plight during medical school and residency. At a time when syringes required boiling and sharpening and diabetic complications ran rampant, Dr. Buse took on the disease as a challenge, following in his parents' footsteps. At the end of the interview, he emphasized the need to extend the capabilities of primary care physicians given the shortage of endocrinologists. We loved his concluding definition of a good primary care physician as someone who can take charge of their patient and concurrently recognize when a specialist needs to be called in. If you see a primary care doctor, you might ask him or her at what stage of your diabetes or in what circumstances he might suggest you see a specialist.

In a brief advice segment called Know Your Numbers, Dr. Edelman stresses the importance of recognizing trends in your blood glucose readings during periods that you and your health care team have recognized as periods of good management. As such, you will be better able to catch blood glucose trends that seem to be straying. This would be a great way to put yourself in the driver's seat and prompt conversations with your health care provider to address your concerns. He adds that it is important to record unusual circumstances that you think accompany any unusual blood glucose results.

TCOYD TV comes on four times every month and reaches 11.5 million viewers per each broadcast, plus online access. With one season under their belts, Dr. Edelman and his team are working to bring you an outstanding second season covering hypoglycemia, pregnancy, skin issues and sleep disorders related to diabetes. Season one covered burnout, practical approaches to exercise, diabetes and the law, and our favorite episode, "Food is not a four letter word." 

Question of the month - Dr. Edelman presents an interesting case study and poses a question. This is a great place to play doctor for a few minutes and see how accurate your medical prognoses really are - in a safe environment. Maybe you could even send Dr. Edelman some interesting suggestions for next issue's question - write to them at [email protected].