Dr. Tom Elliott, Author at BCDiabetes - Page 3 of 6

Yesterday the US Food and Drug Administration approved two new medications – both are shots & each is a combination of two different classes of medication in one shot: a basal long-acting insulin and a GLP-1 receptor agonist. The Novo Nordisk product combines Tresiba, an insulin not yet available in Canada and Victoza while the Sanofi product […]

BCDiabetes Medical Director, Dr. Tom Elliott, has launched a petition to lobby BC Pharmacare to cover SGLT2 inhibitors. As many as 50,000 British Columbians would likely benefit from SGLT2 inhibitors, but many do not have funds or coverage. This class of drug has been shown to reduce mortality for those at high risk of heart […]

A life saving class of diabetes oral medication, SGLT2 inhibitors, costing less than $3/day, is not covered in British Columbia, but is covered in the rest of Canada.  I asked Dr. Elliott, Medical Director of BCDiabetes.ca for his comments.  Dr. Elliott has already blogged twice on this class of medication (see https://www.bcdiabetes.ca/third-sglt2-inhibitor-in-canada/ & https://www.bcdiabetes.ca/empa-reg-outcome-renal/ Dr. […]

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first closed-loop insulin-pump sensor system for the diabetes market.  The MiniMed 670G hybrid closed looped system, often referred to as an “artificial pancreas,” is intended to adjust insulin levels with little or no input from the user. It works by measuring glucose levels every five minutes and automatically […]

Last week the prestigious British medical journal the Lancet published a report summarized here describing dramatic reductions in low blood sugar without any loss of blood sugar control using the Freestyle Libre.   “The Freestyle Libre is the first of a new class of glucose monitoring devices that use “flash” technology.  These devices measure sugar/glucose in the […]

New study questions Type 2 diabetes treatment “No evidence glucose-lowering drugs help ward off long-term complications, researchers say.” This is a massive statement so we sought our medical director, Dr. Tom Elliott, for insight.   The CBC recently reported on a publication by Dr. Victor Montori, of the Mayo Clinic in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes arguing a […]

Via Reuters, electronic cigarettes may have helped about 18,000 people in England to give up smoking last year and there is no evidence of any serious side effects associated with their use for up to two years, according to studies published on Tuesday. “For cigarette smokers smoking cessation remains the biggest and most powerful positive health […]

BCDiabetes Medical Director, Dr. Tom Elliott, recently met with Shafin Tejani, Angel Investor of the Year at the 2015 Canadian Startup Awards, to discuss a diabetes-related innovation. While the notion of money and investment in healthcare is nothing new, that diabetes is seen as a cause in addition to a market by people such as […]

A recent article shows that superior performance can be achieved by professional cyclists using ketones as preferred fuel rather than traditional carbohydrate or fat. This information comes hard on the heels of exciting new evidence for the benefits of the sglt2 inhibitor class of drugs in Type 2 diabetes. It may well be that they these […]

Have you seen “diabetes” memes? They might show up as candy lasagna or math problems such as “Johnny has 20 candy bars. He eats 12. What does Johnny have?” On one hand, these are a clear indication that the general public is understanding that diet can play a factor in the likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes, […]