Confocal : a view within

"The six-year project 'Confocal: a view within' has been realised as a huge digital print installation on the four-storey coloured window of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute ... " Published to accompany the installation at the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, 24 November 2008-31 March 2009

Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention: a framework for the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory (NT) has a unique population with cardiac service being provided across a large proportion of the country. Current access to cardiac rehabilitation in the NT is predominantly based in the urban centres of Darwin (and Palmerston) and Alice Springs. Patients living in rural and remote regions and Indigenous patients are currently largely underserviced [4]. In order to address this, a strong framework for cardiac rehabilitation has been developed and now must be implemented and evaluated

Diabetes foot disease: the Cinderella of Australian diabetes management?

Diabetes is one of the greatest public health challenges to face Australia. It is already Australia’s leading cause of kidney failure, blindness (in those under 60 years) and lower limb amputation, and causes significant cardiovascular disease. Australia’s diabetes amputation rate is one of the worst in the developed world, and appears to have significantly increased in the last decade, whereas some other diabetes complication rates appear to have decreased. This paper aims to compare the national burden of disease for the four major diabetes-related complications and the availability of government funding to combat these complications, in order to determine where diabetes foot disease ranks in Australia. Our review of relevant national literature indicates foot disease ranks second overall in burden of disease and last in evidenced-based government funding to combat these diabetes complications. This suggests public funding to address foot disease in Australia is disproportionately low when compared to funding dedicated to other diabetes complications. There is ample evidence that appropriate government funding of evidence-based care improves all diabetes complication outcomes and reduces overall costs. Numerous diverse Australian peak bodies have now recommended similar diabetes foot evidence-based strategies that have reduced diabetes amputation rates and associated costs in other developed nations. It would seem intuitive that “it’s time” to fund these evidence-based strategies for diabetes foot disease in Australia as well

Supplementary Material for: Rationale, Design, and Baseline Characteristics of ARTS-DN: A Randomized Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of Finerenone in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and a Clinical Diagnosis of Diabetic Nephropathy

Background/Aims: Finerenone decreases albuminuria in patients having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and mild-to-moderate (stage 2-3) chronic kidney disease. The MinerAlocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Tolerability Study-Diabetic Nephropathy (ARTS-DN; NCT01874431) is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2b study. ARTS-DN investigated whether the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist finerenone reduces albuminuria without causing major alterations in serum potassium levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN who were receiving a renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) inhibitor. Methods: Patients were randomized to oral finerenone 1.25-20 mg or placebo once daily. The primary objectives were to assess the ratio of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio at day 90 to that at baseline in patients receiving finerenone, and to compare it with that in the placebo group. Additional exploratory analyses included evaluating changes from baseline in serum potassium levels, efficacy and safety biomarkers, and health-related quality of life. Results: Of 1,501 patients screened, 821 (the sample population) received at least one dose of finerenone/placebo. Baseline characteristics included: male, 77.8%; white, 84.2%; very high albuminuria (formerly macroalbuminuria), 38.4%; high albuminuria (formerly microalbuminuria), 60.3%; median (range) estimated glomerular filtration rate, 66.3 (24.5-130.7) ml/min/1.73 m2; and systolic blood pressure (mean ± standard deviation), 138.1 ± 14.4 mm Hg. There was a history of cardiovascular disease in 39.6%, diabetic neuropathy in 20.0%, and diabetic retinopathy in 19.9% of patients. Conclusion: ARTS-DN is the first phase 2b trial of finerenone in combination with a RAS inhibitor in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a clinical diagnosis of DN