Category: Diabetes

MKSAP: 60-year-old man with a variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 60-year-old man variable 2-hour postprandial blood glucose is evaluated during a routine follow-up examination. He has type 2 diabetes mell…

How to foster and encourage genuine, curious learning in a medical student

I just had a conversation with a physician and faculty member at my school. He started the conversation like this: “It’s alright if you disagree with me, and I can disagree with you too. Good academic discourse should allow people to disagree with each…

The day when the white coat can be worn with no hesitation at all

It was my first day of orientation at medical school. In a hallway stood a coat rack overflowing with white garments. I set down my accumulated papers, reached for a hanger and — for the first time ever — shrugged first one arm and then the other into …

How technology removes the pain point from diabetes management

There is a wealth of information about your health circulating in your blood. For people with diabetes, accessing that information can be a matter of life or death. For nearly 30 years, the prevailing technology for checking the blood sugars of someone…

MKSAP: 64-year-old man seen after an intraoperative liver biopsy

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 64-year-old man is evaluated in follow-up after recent abnormal findings on intraoperative liver biopsy. Two days ago he underwent right co…

Explain hemoglobin A1c in 2 minutes

It was a slow day in the emergency department. I was sitting across the bedside from my patient who came in for a left forearm infection checkup. She was a 73-year-old female with a history of diabetes. She was elegant and soft-spoken. Prior to examini…

As Billions In Tax Dollars Flow To Private Medicaid Plans, Who’s Minding The Store?

Insurance companies profit from government contracts but are subject to little oversight of how they spend the money or care for patients. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has only exacerbated the problem.

Feds Settle Huge Whistleblower Suit Over Medicare Advantage Fraud

A DaVita subsidiary will pay $270 million over allegations that it cheated the federal government for years.

MKSAP: 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 25-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus is evaluated for recent-onset glycemic fluctuations without symptomatic hypoglycemia. She was diagnosed with diabetes 7 years ago. Her HbA1c levels since diagnosis have ranged from 6.4% to 7.3%, with the most recent value […]

Insulin’s High Cost Leads To Deadly Rationing

Alec Raeshawn Smith was 23 when diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and 26 when he died. He couldn’t afford $1,300 per month for his insulin and other diabetes supplies. So he tried to stretch the doses.