A great many disorders including maturity-onset (type II) diabetes, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia are frequently associated with adult-onset obesity and improve with caloric restriction. It is the premise of this brief review that there are patients with these disorders who are not obese according to standard weight tables or other readily-available criteria; but who would also respond favorably to caloric restriction. It is proposed that such individuals might be characterized by hyperinsulinism and possibly an increase in fat cell size compared to patients of similar age, height, and weight and/or to themselves at an earlier time. The possibility is also discussed that inactivity is a contributing factor in some of these individuals and that for them, the appropriate therapy might be exercise.

ObjectiveTo review systematic reviews and meta-analyses of integrated care programmes in chronically ill patients, with a focus on methodological quality, elements of integration assessed and effects reported.DesignMeta-review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses identified in Medline (1946–March 2012), Embase (1980–March 2012), CINHAL (1981–March 2012) and the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews (issue 1, 2012).Main Outcome MeasuresMethodological quality assessed by the 11-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) checklist; elements of integration assessed using a published list of 10 key principles of integration; effects on patient-centred outcomes, process quality, use of healthcare and costs.ResultsTwenty-seven systematic reviews were identified; conditions included chronic heart failure (CHF; 12 reviews), diabetes mellitus (DM; seven reviews), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; seven reviews) and asthma (five reviews). The median number of AMSTAR checklist items met was five: few reviewers searched for unpublished literature or described the primary studies and interventions in detail. Most reviews covered comprehensive services across the care continuum or standardization of care through inter-professional teams, but organizational culture, governance structure or financial management were rarely assessed. A majority of reviews found beneficial effects of integration, including reduced hospital admissions and re-admissions (in CHF and DM), improved adherence to treatment guidelines (DM, COPD and asthma) or quality of life (DM). Few reviews showed reductions in costs.ConclusionsSystematic reviews of integrated care programmes were of mixed quality, assessed only some components of integration of care, and showed consistent benefits for some outcomes but not others.

This paper describes systematic studies on the absorption kinetics of exogenous insulin from its subcutaneous tissue depot in 52 male nonobese volunteers (age 20-30 yr). Five experimental protocols were used: effect of changing injection site, effect of temperature change and local massage, effect of aprotinin and human serum, effect of mixing regular insulin with long-acting insulin preparations, and effect of temperature change, muscular exercise, and local massage on the absorption of long-acting insulin preparations. The fastest absorption of insulin occurred at the abdominal injection. Absorption after arm injection was faster than after thigh injection. A hot bath and local massage dramatically increased serum insulin levels in the first 90 min after injection; in contrast, a cold bath delayed absorption substantially. Both aprotinin and the subjects' own blood serum mixed with insulin caused a marked acceleration of the insulin absorption process. Absorption kinetics of two neutral regular insulins (Actrapid and Leo Regular) were virtually identical. Mixing Actrapid with Monotard caused higher serum insulin levels than the mixture of Leo Regular with NPH. A time lag of 5 min between the mixing of Actrapid and Monotard and the injection caused a delayed rise of serum insulin levels; in contrast, this delay could not be observed when Leo Regular and NPH were mixed. Volunteers performed bicycle exercise, applied a hot water bottle to the injection site, or rubbed the injection site 2 1/2 h after injection of long-acting insulin. Accelerated absorption of insulin was only observed after local massage of the injection site of Monotard, Leo NPH, and Mixtard. Local heat had no effect. Exercise caused only an increased absorption of insulin after the Mixtard injection but not after Monotard or NPH injection. These findings have clinical significance and should not be without potential benefit in the attempt to improve metabolic control in insulin-treated diabetic patients.

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