Insulin costs, diabetes and testosterone
An Ideas and Opinions piece explained some of the factors behind insulin prices, and a meta-analysis looked at testosterone levels in men with diabetes.
Insulin costs and the effect of diabetes on testosterone were the focus of recent articles in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Recent changes in the prices of insulins were explained in an Idea and Opinions article published on Sept. 5. The expert authors focused particularly on the role of pharmacy benefit managers in price determination, and they proposed methods to alter their incentives.
A meta-analysis of nine studies looked at the factors that modulate circulating testosterone in men, potentially affecting interpretation of testosterone measurements. It found that average testosterone levels were lower among men with diabetes (by −1.43 nmol/L on average). The authors recommended that interpretation of individual testosterone measurements should account for diabetes status (as well as age, obesity, and cancer).