A health plan-wide intervention to switch diabetic patients from costly new insulin products to older, more affordable drugs resulted in a marginal increase in hemoglobin A1c (hbA1c) levels but didn’t change the rate of hospital visits for dangerously high or low blood sugar, researchers reported Jan. 29 in JAMA.

The blood sugar drug dapagliflozin was declared noninferior to placebo in the recent DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, and while the medication failed to lower rates of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in subjects, it did reduce rates of CV-related death and hospitalizations for heart failure.

People taking the widely prescribed blood-pressure medication valsartan may have been exposed to a probable human carcinogen for at least four years after a change in the manufacturing process introduced the impurity, according to an update from the FDA’s ongoing investigation into the contaminants that have been found in a series of angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs).

Although the 2013 American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association cholesterol guidelines expanded indications for statin use in heart patients, few primary care providers (PCPs) are prescribing more of the medication, researchers reported Jan. 25 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. 

Certain personality traits—namely hostility, negativity and low optimism—might elevate people’s risk of developing diabetes, according to research published Jan. 21 in the online journal Menopause.

Researchers from Wright State University in Ohio have identified a new culprit behind uncontrolled high blood pressure: zinc.

Having a romantic partner present—or even just calling up their image mentally—can help heart patients keep their blood pressure (BP) in check when dealing with stressful situations, according to research published in Psychophysiology.

Just 21 percent of adults and 17 percent of children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) meet the treatment goals outlined by the American Diabetes Association, according to a study published Jan. 18 in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.