Managing diabetes care with Friedreich's ataxia
George Wilmot, MD, PhD, discusses if there are differences in diabetic care for people with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) compared to diabetic patients without FA.
About George Wilmot, MD, PhD
George Wilmot, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist affiliated with several hospitals, including Emory University Hospital. He also serves as an associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurology and adjunct associate professor at the school’s Department of Pediatrics. He is an ataxia clinical researcher and he started the Cooperative Ataxia Registry.
Transcript
Well, diabetes in FA, number one, needs to be screened for and picked up on, and it definitely is an increased risk. And so at least, you know, yearly monitoring with even hemoglobin A1Cs or fasting blood sugars or even a glucose tolerance test, which just isn’t done very much anymore, but those things can be looked at.
And it’s going to be pretty much the standard diabetes management as I understand it. I don’t manage the patient’s diabetes or prediabetes, but would rely on primary care to do that.
But I am not aware of any special kinds of care or avoiding some medicines or using others compared to somebody who has diabetes due to other reasons.
David Lynch, MD, PhD, is the director of the Friedreich’s Ataxia Program at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.