(HealthDay News) -- In a group of Medicare beneficiaries who have diabetes, being depressed was associated with a higher death rate, according to a new study.

Publishing in the October issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Washington tracked 10,704 Medicare beneficiaries (average age of 75.6 years) who had diabetes and were enrolled in a disease management program in Florida. The participants' depression status was assessed by physician diagnosis, patient reports of antidepressant use, and answers to a brief screening test.

160 adverse events happened in 2007 from switching sources of thyroid hormone, during an Endocrine Society and American Thyroid Association reported study. The FDA method of determining that different brands of thyroid hormone are equal is seriously flawed.

Thyroid hormone therapy requires fine tuning with TSH as an endpoint. If you get switched,the other thyroid pill may be different enough to cause you harm.

Recent studies have shown that patients with high levels of insulin seen in obesity, diabetes, and in thin patients with insulin resistance have a larger thyroid gland by volume studies by ultrasound, and have a significant increased number of nodules.Thyroid vol.18(4),461-164 2008.

Obese and non-obese patients with insulin resistance had increased thyroid volumes, compared to obese, and normal patients without elevated insulin levels.

(HealthDay News) -- Couples made up of one Asian and one white partner may face an increased risk of gestational diabetes and a higher risk of Caesarean delivery, say researchers at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Oberg shares some helpful informational internet sites on type 2 diabetes.

(HealthDay News) -- In people with type 2 diabetes, regular aerobic exercise and weightlifting may reduce levels of fat in the liver by as much as 40 percent, according to Johns Hopkins researchers.

High liver fat levels are common in type 2 diabetes patients and contribute to heart disease risk.

THURSDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- One of a new class of diabetes drugs has done well in a trial conducted to help bring it to market, researchers report.

The drug, liraglutide, is a laboratory-made version of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a hormone produced by the body. Several members of the GLP-1 family are in clinical trials, and one already has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

(HealthDay News) -- Nasally administered insulin won't protect children at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes from getting the illness, Finnish researchers say.

The study included 264 children with an increased genetic risk for type 1 diabetes who tested positive for two or more diabetes-associated autoantibodies in consecutive blood samples taken 3 month to 6 months apart.

The team gave nasally-administered insulin to 137 children for a median of 1.8 years, while 127 children received a placebo.

By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A new study can help doctors decide when to treat people who have an underactive thyroid gland that does not cause symptoms strong enough to arouse worry, researchers report.

As many as 27 million Americans have some type of thyroid disease, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; about half of these people are undiagnosed.

(HealthDay News) -- A new study can help doctors decide when to treat people who have an underactive thyroid gland that does not cause symptoms strong enough to arouse worry, researchers report.

As many as 27 million Americans have some type of thyroid disease, according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; about half of these people are undiagnosed.