At the 75th anniversary annual American Diabetes Association convention at Boston, Massachussets USA, five research papers were presented from Jothydev's Diabetes Research Centre, Trivandrum.

One among them was a study in association with Yale University, USA presented by Dr. Rebecca Vitale. The study conducted at Jothydev's Diabetes Research Centre, Trivandrum compared two levels of care in diabetes; a very comprehensive one involving prolonged and periodic education, motivation, blood sugar monitoring and telemedicine and the other a minimal care providing the basic care for diabetes.

Measurement of outcomes illustrated a statistically significant difference in blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure in those subjects undergoing a comprehensive management which involves tele monitoring and periodic education and motivation. It is well known that maintenance of acceptable targets in diabetes will bring down the cost of treating diabetes by more than 4 folds in the long run by preventing the end organ damages in the heart, kidney, eye etc.

In another study, 2127 patients were de identified based on the presence of high blood sugars following lunch and dinner, which on evaluation was attributed to the intake of polished rice. This meal when replaced with brown rice resulted in 37% drop in blood sugars i.e from an average of 234 mg/dl at baseline down to 147mg/dl at 3 months.

Since1980s, brown rice has been gradually replaced with polished rice being more palatable and having better shelf life. However, polished rice is rich in carbohydrate and high in glycemic index which not only increases the risk of diabetes but also causes sudden increase in blood sugars. The study recommends not only replacement of existing polished rice with brown rice but also to reduce the frequency of intake of rice as a main meal.

In another study the researchers reported the cost effectiveness of using periodic 7 day continuous glucose monitoring routinely in type 2 diabetes patients, twice or thrice an year.

American Diabetes Association convention is the largest academic conference of physicians and scientists involved in the care of diabetes. Dr.Jothydev Kesavadev, Dr. Rebecca Vitale(Yale University, USA), Dr. Arun Shankar, Gopika Krishnan, Sunitha Jothydev, Geethu Sanal, Annie Simon etc. were involved in the study carried out at JDC.