Diabetes News
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February 2025
Diabetes News You Can Use is a free news bulletin of the Texas Department of State Health Services. It is compiled by the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program and highlights information and news related to diabetes.
Spotlight
Your Heart and Diabetes
American Heart Month is in February so it’s a perfect time to highlight preventable heart diseases and build lifestyle habits that support cardiovascular wellness. Some quick facts:
- Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the nation.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one person in the United States dies from heart disease every 33 seconds.
- In 2022, one in every five deaths was due to heart disease.
- People with diabetes have twice the risk for heart disease. Over time, high blood sugar can damage the blood vessels and nerves of the heart.
To learn more about diabetes and heart disease and how to improve health by changing lifestyle habits, visit CDC’s Your Heart and Diabetes.
Know Diabetes by Heart
Know Diabetes by Heart, a collaboration between the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association, aims to help people with diabetes to lower heart disease risk by connecting with healthcare professionals, education, and resources. This resource provides educational resources, live events with experts, inspiring stories, recipes, videos, newsletters, and support for type 2 diabetes. For more information, visit Know Diabetes by Heart.
The Standards of Care in Diabetes are updated annually by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) to include current clinical practice recommendations based on an extensive review of clinical diabetes literature with input from the ADA and the medical community. The 2025 Standards of Care in Diabetes are available.
Programs in Texas
City of San Antonio Diabetes Insulin Assistance Program
The Diabetes Insulin Assistance Program helps pay for up to $100 per insulin prescription to cover co-pay or out-of-pocket expenses, including refills. This program is available for eligible residents of San Antonio and Bexar County. For more information, visit the City of San Antonio Diabetes Insulin Assistance Program.
Diabetes News & Resources
Alimentos para Una Vida Sana
The Alimentos para Una Vida Sana booklet is now available in Spanish! This meal-planning booklet for patients who have diabetes or prediabetes provides information on food preparation, healthy eating tips, and appropriate serving sizes. It also includes a food diary. To view all of our Spanish publications, visit Materiales Educativos Sobre la Diabetes and for our English publications, visit Diabetes Educational Materials.
Tome las Riendas de Su Salud
The Tome las Riendas de Su Salud booklet is now available in Spanish. This booklet discusses topics such as medications, low blood sugar, heart and mental health, kidney disease, and foot, eye, and dental care. It also contains charts for daily food logs and medicine records. To view all of our Spanish publications, visit Materiales Educativos Sobre la Diabetes and for our English publications, visit Diabetes Educational Materials.
How to Get a Free Blood Glucometer (Glucose Meter)
This GoodRX article explains what a glucometer is and lists popular manufacturers that offer low-cost or free glucometers and test strips for those who qualify.
FDA Approves First Generic of Once-Daily GLP-1 Injection to Lower Blood Sugar in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
December 2024 – FDA News & Events
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first generic version of a daily injectable Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medicine for people with type 2 diabetes, known as Liraglutide. Liraglutide, generic for Victoza, is similar to the active ingredient (semaglutide) in the weight loss drug Ozempic. The FDA approval provides additional treatment options that may be more affordable due to Liraglutide being a generic medicine. Read the article about this newly-approved injectable medicine.
Diabetes and Mental Health
This resource for diabetes and mental health from the CDC highlights the importance of prioritizing mental health in diabetes management. The resource also lists approaches for stress, anxiety, and diabetes distress. In addition, the resource provides a free, confidential, 24-hour mental health information service in English and Spanish: 1-800-662-4357. To view this resource, visit Diabetes and Mental Health.
Journal Articles
Primordial Drivers of Diabetes Heart Disease: Comprehensive Insights into Insulin Resistance
January 2024 – Diabetes & Metabolism Journal
This article reports on insulin resistance, high blood sugar, and high insulin levels in diabetes heart disease. It also details recent findings in changes and mechanisms in the diabetic heart that stem from insulin resistance. The article covers possible therapies to improve insulin resistance and quicken the development of drugs for cardiovascular protection.
Triple Threat: How Diabetes Results in Worsened Bacterial Infections
March 2024 – Infection and Immunity
This article focuses on the “triple threat” linked to worsened bacterial infections in persons with unmanaged diabetes caused by bacterial metabolism, immune suppression, and antibiotic treatment failure. It also discusses the emergence of new strains of multi-drug resistant bacterial germs caused by high sugar levels, immune suppression in diabetes, and diabetes-related complications.
October 2024 – Nutrients
This article examines medicinal plant-based diets in diabetes prevention and management, weight management, and reduction of diabetes complication risks. This review also highlights the affordability, accessibility, and safety of medicinal plant-based diets and examines how 100 plant foods improve health outcomes in persons with diabetes.
Diabetes Education Opportunities & Events
Webinars
Ask The Experts: Know Diabetes by Heart
February 11, 2025 at 1-2 p.m. CST
This live webinar from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) will show how caring for your heart and diabetes is a two-way street. There are opportunities to ask questions and get answers from diabetes experts. Register for the webinar in English or Spanish.
Diabetes & Your Heart
In this 2.5-minute video presented by the CDC, Dr. Ann Albright details the connection between diabetes and heart disease. The video also outlines healthy habits and vigilance for lowering heart disease risk in persons with prediabetes or diabetes. Take a moment to view this video.
Why We Need to Keep Consumers in the Kitchen: Optimizing Healthy Habits Post COVID
This recorded webinar from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) HHSC Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program provides science-based information on consumers’ current eating trends. The webinar empowers health professionals with strategies to help the public sustain healthy eating habits with tasty meal options for overall health. View the webinar.
Events
Texas Diabetes Council
April 18, 2025
The mission of the Texas Diabetes Council (TDC) is to effectively reduce the health and economic burdens of diabetes in Texas. The TDC meets four times a year in public Council meetings. The next Council meeting is on April 18, 2025. For more information, visit the TDC webpage.
2025 Virtual Diabetes Management Conference for School Healthcare Providers
February 8, 2025
The Texas Children’s Hospital is hosting a full-day, virtual conference designed to fulfill continuing professional development needs for school nurses, dietitians, social workers, and other health care providers. The conference focuses on professionals who manage students with type 1 or type 2 diabetes in the school setting. For more information, visit the conference webpage.
Breakthrough T1D Caregiver Coffee
February 6, 2025
The Southern Texas Chapter of Breakthrough T1D (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation/JDRF) is hosting a Caregiver Coffee event in Austin. For more information, view the Caregiver Coffee flyer.
DECA Program Leadership Conference
February 17-18, 2025
The Diabetes Education & Camping Association (DECA) is hosting the DECA Program Leadership Conference in Dallas, with Zoom options available for some sessions. This conference is designed for program and administrative leadership, staff, and volunteers who run and work at diabetes camps. The conference allows participants to connect, cultivate, and nourish fresh ideas and best practices in a supportive environment. For more information, visit the conference webpage.
FAQ
Q. How can people with insulin resistance, prediabetes, or diabetes potentially avoid or delay heart disease?
A. Managing risk factors, such as blood sugar, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, high triglycerides, weight, and smoking is recommended. Take steps to be your own health care advocate, such as speaking with your doctor about whole-body health, increasing physical activity, and eating nutritious foods. To learn more, visit the American Heart Association’s resources on cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Feedback
For any questions or feedback regarding our newsletter, or ideas for future newsletter topics, please email the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program at diabetes@dshs.texas.gov.
Past Issues
(All past issues are PDF documents.)
Feb 2024 May 2024 | August 2024
Feb 2022 | May 2022 | August 2022 | November 2022
Feb 2021 | August 2021 | Nov 2021 |
Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | March 2020 | April 2020 | May 2020 | June 2020
July 2020 | Aug 2020 | Sept 2020 | Oct 2020 | Nov 2020
The articles and hyperlinks to external websites appearing in Diabetes News You Can Use are intended to be informational and do not represent an endorsement by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Other websites may not be accessible to people with disabilities. For more information about any of the items listed, please contact the sponsoring organization directly.