Joint British Societies guideline: lowest cholesterol targets yet

Insulin delivery pen available in new colour
HumaPen Luxura (Eli Lilly) became available in a new champagne colour in January 2006. The device was previously available only in a burgundy colour.

The company says the new colour has been introduced to give people with diabetes a choice of what colour they would like to accompany the insulin cartridges they use. The availability of two colours can also aid the differentiation of insulins if a patient is required to inject two different types of insulin, it says.

Both the burgundy and champagne versions of the pen are available on FP10 prescription.

NICE issues guidance on statin use for prevention of CV events
On Wednesday 25 January 2006 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidance on the use of statins in England and Wales for the primary prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The guidance, which NICE says is set to benefit millions of adults, recommends that statins be used either where there is clinical evidence of an individual having CVD, or where the risk of an individual developing CVD within 10 years is estimated to be 20% or greater.

NICE looked at the five different statins that currently have a licence in the UK and recommended that when the decision has been made to prescribe a statin on the basis of the guidance, therapy should usually be initiated with a drug with a low acquisition cost, taking into account required daily dose and product price.

Tablet dispenser enables better diabetes control
Research published in January shows that a simple pocket-sized tablet dispenser able to hold a day’s worth of tablets encourages people with type 2 diabetes to take their prescribed medicine, reported Diabetes UK.

The Austrian study included more than 2000 participants and showed that, over a 6-month period, use of the tablet dispenser resulted in an absolute HbA_1c reduction of 0.74%. In comparison, those people who were not given the dispenser showed an HbA_1c reduction of 0.53%.

Simon O’Neill, Director of Care and Policy at Diabetes UK said: ‘Research shows that, for many reasons, two-thirds of [people with type 2 diabetes treated with diet, exercise and tablets] are not taking their tablets. Anything that can help people to take their tablets …] is very welcome.’

Joint British Societies guideline: lowest cholesterol targets yet
A new guideline on the prevention of cardiovascular disease from the Joint British Societies (‘JBS2’) recommends significantly lower cholesterol targets than previous guidance – with a total cholesterol target of 4.0mmol/l and an LDL-cholesterol target of 2.0mmol/l for high-risk individuals, or a 25% reduction in total cholesterol and a 30% reduction in LDL-cholesterol (whichever achieves the lowest absolute level).

The guideline was published in a supplement to Heart in late December.  Dr Terry McCormack, Chair of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society comments: ‘These new guidelines are the next important step in tackling the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We now need to strive to meet these new targets of 4.0mmol/l and 2.0mmol/l in all our patients.’

Primary Care Training Centre renews university collaboration
The Primary Care Training Centre (PCTC), which delivers distance learning courses for healthcare professionals working in primary care, reports that it has recently had its formal collaboration agreement with the University of Huddersfield renewed.

The PCTC delivers intermediate-level modules in coronary heart disease prevention, diabetes management, and women’s health for registered health practitioners, and foundation-level modules for healthcare assistants working in general practice.

The intermediate courses are aimed at multi-professional teams that wish to improve their skills, improve patient care and also achieve Quality and Outcomes Framework targets. Further information can be obtained by contacting the Training Centre on 01274 617617 or [email protected].

EU marketing authorisation granted for inhaled insulin
The European Commission recently granted marketing authorisation for the first inhaled insulin (Exubera; Pfizer) for the treatment of diabetes.

Granting of this authorisation within the EU now allows manufacturing of the inhaler and the dry-powder insulin formulation to commence.

The product is not yet available on prescription in the UK or anywhere else in the world. It is anticipated that Exubera will become available in the UK in May 2006. Pfizer says the product will not be suitable for everyone with diabetes. However, for clinically appropriate adults with type 1 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes requiring insulin, inhaled insulin will represent an important advance in the treatment options available. The company states that, for those people with diabetes requiring intermediate- or long-acting insulin, this treatment will still need to continue by injection.