The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and its educational arm - the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) - in partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), announced a new public health initiative for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus called The Type 2 Talk: Changing the Type 2 Diabetes Conversation™. The program aims to help people with type 2 diabetes actively manage their disease by fostering an open and ongoing dialogue with their healthcare team about their comprehensive clinical care.
"As a practicing endocrinologist, I've observed that people with type 2 diabetes and doctors struggle to have a meaningful dialogue about this condition, making it challenging to create an effective and comprehensive treatment program for each patient," said Jeffrey I. Mechanick, MD, FACP, FACE, FACN, Secretary of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. "We are launching The Type 2 Talk to foster more effective patient-physician conversations around type 2 diabetes care, in an effort to help patients and physicians work together to reach treatment goals."
Almost Half of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Remain Uncontrolled on Their Current Therapy
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that approximately one in every 11 adults in the United States has diagnosed diabetes. Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90 to 95% of all cases of diagnosed diabetes in adults. Despite exercising, eating right and anti-diabetic treatment, nearly half of adults living with type 2 diabetes still do not have their blood sugar levels under control. Time is of the essence in managing type 2 diabetes, as uncontrolled blood sugar can increase the risk of diabetic complications over time such as blindness, kidney disease, nerve damage, heart disease, amputations, and stroke.
A1C Testing To Help Manage Type 2 Diabetes
One important part of managing type 2 diabetes is for patients to receive a glycosylated hemoglobin level (HbA1c) test, or an A1C test, twice a year at minimum, or more frequently when necessary. This is a simple blood test conducted in a physician's office, or a lab, that reflects the approximate three-month average of blood sugar control and is important to determine whether a patient’s current treatment plan is working. AACE recommends that people with type 2 diabetes work with their healthcare team, including their endocrinologists, to reach an A1C value of 6.5 or less.
About The Type 2 Talk™
The Type 2 Talk: Changing the Type 2 Diabetes Conversation™ is an educational program that seeks to improve the dialogue between people with type 2 diabetes and their healthcare team. The program is designed to provide patients and physicians with practical advice and resources to help advance results-focused conversations about type 2 diabetes. TheType2Talk.com brings a new perspective to the patient-physician dialogue by highlighting the unique viewpoints of each party, and fostering a deeper mutual understanding of each other's needs. The Type 2 Talk website provides current insights, polls, and eye-opening facts in an effort to help physicians and patients work together to reach treatment goals.
About the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)
AACE is a professional medical organization with more than 6,000 members in the United States and 91 other countries. AACE members are physicians who specialize in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism.
About the American College of Endocrinology (ACE)
The American College of Endocrinology (ACE) is the educational and scientific arm of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). ACE is the leader in advancing the care and prevention of endocrine and metabolic disorders by: providing professional education and reliable public health information; recognizing excellence in education, research and service; promoting clinical research and defining the future of clinical endocrinology.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca Collaboration
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca entered into a collaboration in January 2007 to enable the companies to research, develop and commercialize select investigational drugs for type 2 diabetes. The Bristol-Myers Squibb/AstraZeneca Diabetes collaboration is dedicated to global patient care, improving patient outcomes and creating a new vision for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines. As a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease medicines, AstraZeneca generated global revenues of $32.8 billion in 2009. In the United States, AstraZeneca is a $14.8 billion healthcare business.