Drug smugglers have a new cargo: cheap prescription meds from Mexico

PBS: February 18, 2014

MARFA, Texas — In borderland Texas, a widespread lack of health insurance is linked to poverty and high rates of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

Cheaper prescription drugs to treat these conditions are available across the border in Mexico. But physicians and law enforcement are tracking a relatively new trend — the smuggling of medicine in bulk from Mexico to U.S. patients who no longer feel safe shopping for them in Mexico.

Mexican Pharmacist Jorge Sandoval says people who buy his medicines these days often buy for people they don’t even know.

“There’s a trade in legal prescription medication,” he said in Spanish from his shop in Chihuahua, Mexico, about an hour south of the border. “The trade is generated by people (in both countries) who want to buy medicine at a lower price. People are bringing in ice chests to fill with medicines that they sell to friends and relatives.” Read More

The association of depression and anxiety with glycemic control among Mexican Americans with diabetes living near the U.S.-Mexico border

BMC Public Health: February 18, 2014

Background

The prevalence of diabetes is alarmingly high among Mexican American adults residing near the U.S.-Mexico border. Depression is also common among Mexican Americans with diabetes, and may have a negative influence on diabetes management. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the associations of depression and anxiety with the behavioral management of diabetes and glycemic control among Mexican American adults living near the border.

Methods

The characteristics of Mexican Americans with diabetes living in Brownsville, TX (N = 492) were compared by depression/anxiety status. Linear regression models were conducted to evaluate the associations of depression and anxiety with BMI, waist circumference, physical activity, fasting glucose, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Read more

The Mela Study: exploring barriers to diabetes research in black and minority ethnic groups

Cambridge: February 11, 2014

Background Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups are particularly susceptible to diabetes and its vascular complications in the United Kingdom and most western societies. To understand potential predisposition and tailor treatments accordingly, there is a real need to engage these groups in diabetes research. Despite this, BME participation in research studies continues to remain low in most countries and this may be a contributory factor to reduced health outcomes and poorer quality of life in these groups. This study explores the barriers BME groups may have towards participation in diabetes research in one area of East London, and includes local recommendations on how to improve this for the future.

Methods A questionnaire designed from previously reported exploratory work and piloted in several BME localities was distributed at the East London Bangladeshi Mela and similar cultural and religious events in London, UK. People were asked opportunistically to complete the survey themselves if they understood English, or discuss their responses with an advocate. The purpose of the questionnaire was to understand current local awareness with regards to diabetes, identify specific BME barriers and attitudes towards diabetes research by ethnicity, gender and age, and gain insight into how these barriers may be addressed. Read more

Genome-wide trans-ancestry meta-analysis provides insight into the genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes susceptibility

NATURE GENETICS:  February 9, 2014

To further understanding of the genetic basis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptibility, we aggregated published meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 26,488 cases and 83,964 controls of European, east Asian, south Asian and Mexican and Mexican American ancestry. We observed a significant excess in the directional consistency of T2D risk alleles across ancestry groups, even at SNPs demonstrating only weak evidence of association. By following up the strongest signals of association from the trans-ethnic meta-analysis in an additional 21,491 cases and 55,647 controls of European ancestry, we identified seven new T2D susceptibility loci. Furthermore, we observed considerable improvements in the fine-mapping resolution of common variant association signals at several T2D susceptibility loci. Read more

Non-Traditional Risk Factors are Important Contributors to the Racial Disparity in Diabetes Risk: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Journal of General Internal Medicine: February 2014

BACKGROUND

Traditional risk factors, particularly obesity, do not completely explain the excess risk of diabetes among African Americans compared to whites.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to quantify the impact of recently identified, non-traditional risk factors on the racial disparity in diabetes risk.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS

We analyzed data from 2,322 African-American and 8,840 white participants without diabetes at baseline from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Read more

“Es como uno bomba de tiempo [It’s like a time bomb]”: A Qualitative Analysis of Perceptions of Diabetes Among First-Degree Relatives of Latino Patients With Diabetes

Diabetes Spectrum: February 2014

Background. The South Bronx, a largely Latino community, has become an epicenter of the diabetes epidemic in New York City. In this community, nondiabetic first-degree relatives of people with diabetes are prime targets for intervention. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the knowledge of diabetes and attitudes toward health behavior modification of Latino adults who are first-degree relatives of people with diabetes. Read more

Glycemic Variability in Patients With Early Type 2 Diabetes: The Impact of Improvement in β-Cell Function

Diabetes Care: February 18, 2014

OBJECTIVE Increased glycemic variability has been reported to be associated with the risk of hypoglycemia and possibly diabetes complications and is believed to be due to β-cell dysfunction. However, it is not known whether improvement in β-cell function can reduce glycemic variability. Because short-term intensive insulin therapy (IIT) can improve β-cell function in early type 2 diabetes (T2DM), our objective was to determine whether the β-cell functional recovery induced by this therapy is associated with decreased glycemic variability.