Category: News & Media

On February 1, 2019, the prestigious medical journal the Lancet published a meta-analysis examining potential benefits the statin and class of medication. The article confirmed and extended the powerful evidence for benefit for the use of statins in people with a previous history of heart disease, stroke and for those with diabetes.  It showed that […]

Yesterday Health Canada issued a warning around HCTZ (hydrochlorothiazide), a commonly used diuretic blood pressure lowering medication: The warning was issued because of new evidence suggesting a 4-fold increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer in individuals who have taken HCTZ for 3+ years. Non-melanoma skin cancer is made up of  basal-cell skin cancer (BCC) & […]

I began specialist diabetes practice in 1992 – with it began my lifetime mission to optimize care and improve outcomes for every British Columbian living with diabetes.  As my staff grew I realized that everything depended on teamwork – thus in 2005 was born BCDiabetes.   BCDiabetes, with its dedicated staff of 14, is now […]

2018-Oct-10 saw Health Canada approve the Medtronic 670G insulin pump, the first of its kind in Canada to support closed-loop functionality for basal insulin.  This innovation, the first step towards an artificial pancreas, is welcome news for every individual with diabetes who is an intensive insulin user (either a pumper or taking multiple daily shots). […]

Kudos to the BC NDP government for extending insulin pump coverage to every British Columbian living with diabetes requiring intensive insulin therapy (effectively all those with Type 1 diabetes and those with Type 2 diabetes taking two different kinds of insulin).  On Tuesday the Minister of Health, Adrian Dix (who has Type 1 diabetes himself […]

BCDiabetes Medical Director, Dr. Tom Elliott, will be on CKNW radio! Dr. Tom Elliott will speak on John Daly’s radio show Back on the Beat on Saturday, June 9, 11am about the new “Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy”. BCDiabetes is one of the few sites in Canada that will be conducting the trial and we […]

BCDiabetes Medical Director Dr. Tom Elliott speaks with John Daly’s CKNW radio show Back on the Beat on Saturday, March 17, 11am about SGLT2 inhibitors and the current state of diabetes care for British Columbians. Learn more about our work: SGLT2 inhibitors coverage: How BC is a third-world country when it comes to covering life-saving medication for […]

On Oct 12 BCDiabetes blogged on the CRA Disability Tax Credit as it applied to Type 1 diabetes and how the CRA had moved the goalposts: see Type 1 Diabetes sucks but dont ask the CRA for sympathy. Good news – the CRA has reversed its policy: so it is back to the old rules […]

A Scottish study published today in the prestigious medical journal the Lancet showed that weight loss averaging 10 kg achieved with a total diet replacement using a 853 kcal/day packaged powder formula for 3–5 months resulted in “remission” of Type 2 diabetes in almost 50% of participants at 12 months.  Patients considered in remission had […]

No one will argue with the statement that having Type 1 diabetes sucks.  If you do a perfect job testing your sugars, adjusting your insulin and following a diet and exercise plan you will be spending a great deal of time, energy and money.   Until recently the Canada Revenue Agency was sympathetic & offered […]