SUNDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetics taking part in the Diabetes Ten City Challenge showed improvement across all key clinical and satisfaction indicators in the early stages of the program, according to a preliminary report released this week by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

The challenge is an employer-based diabetes self-management program that was launched in October 2005. The 31 participating employers in 10 cities work with hundreds of pharmacists to help more than 1,000 people manage their diabetes. The program is supported by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.

Through the challenge, employers establish a voluntary health benefit for workers, dependents and retirees with diabetes, and waive co-payments for diabetes medications and supplies if participants work with a pharmacist "coach" to manage their condition in collaboration with their doctors and diabetes educators.

The preliminary report includes an analysis of data on 914 people who took part in the challenge for at least three months as of Sept. 30, 2007. The report found clinical improvements in all recognized standards for diabetes care, including:

• Decreases in laboratory measures (mean) for hemoglobin A1C (a laboratory test showing average blood sugar control over the previous two to three months), LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure over the initial year of the program.
• Increases in the number of participants with current influenza vaccinations, foot examinations and eye examinations.
• A 21 percent increase in the number of participants achieving the American Diabetes Association goal of A1C level of less than 7.0.
• An increase from 43.8 percent to 57.7 percent of participants achieving National Cholesterol Education Program goals for LDL cholesterol.
• A 15.7 percent increase in the number of participants achieving recognized goals for systolic blood pressure.

"The results to date prove that this collaborative-practice model is effective for managing diabetes and replicable in diverse locations and employers," interim report co-author William M. Ellis, chief executive officer of the APhA Foundation, said in a prepared statement. "In years of experience with this model, we have seen that when you have positive clinical outcomes and increased patient satisfaction in the early states, the economic benefits follow."

The preliminary report appears in the March/April issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. The final report, which will include data on cost savings to employers, will be issued in 2009.

Diabetes, which affects 21 million Americans, costs the United States more than $174 billion a year and is the country's sixth leading cause of death, according to background information in a news release about the preliminary report.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about diabetes control.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A small U.S. study found that obese Hispanic children and adolescents with normal blood sugar levels had elevated markers for blood vessel inflammation that may put them at risk for both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center studied 38 Hispanic youngsters, aged 10 to 18. Of those, 17 were lean and 21 were obese but had normal blood sugar levels, which means they had not yet developed diabetes.

The obese children had significantly higher percentages of body fat than the lean children and were already showing signs of insulin resistance, a pre-diabetes condition.

The study also found that the obese children had higher levels of blood markers for subclinical, or asymptomatic, inflammation of the inner layer of blood vessels.

"They are already exhibiting problems with circulation. There is an inflammatory process going on in the vessels," lead investigator Dr. A. Enrique Caballero, director of Joslin's Latino Diabetes Initiative, said in a prepared statement.

The findings suggest the obese children may be at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease at a young age, said Caballero, who is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The study is published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.

Genetic and lifestyle factors put Hispanic children at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, but they had not previously been studied, Caballero said.

"We have found that overweight Hispanic children and adolescents have elevated markers of endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation closely related to excess body fat and increased insulin resistance," the study authors concluded. "This ... may increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, further emphasizing the need for obesity prevention strategies."

More information

For more on preventing diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association  .