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Prediabetes Not to Blame for Nerve Damage: Study
Posted 24 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Feb. 24 – A new study finds that people with prediabetes are no more likely to have a type of nerve damage called small fiber polyneuropathy than healthy people, a finding that contradicts two decades of medical reports. The Mayo Clinic researchers said the results from their five-year study of 550 people suggest that doctors should look for causes other than prediabetes in patients with painful small fiber polyneuropathy. Prediabetes, also called borderline diabetes, is higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not high enough to be considered diabetes. "It is highly unlikely that impaired glucose or associated metabolic derangements cause polyneuropathy, at least not to the high frequency previously reported," lead author and neurologist Dr. Peter Dyck said in a Mayo news release. The study was published in the February issue of the journal Diabetes Care. Diabetic ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetic Neuropathy, Diabetic Nerve Damage, Pre-Diabetes
U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program Might Avert 885,000 Cases
Posted 12 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 12 – A national community-based diabetes prevention program in the United States could prevent or delay 885,000 cases of type 2 diabetes over 25 years, a new federal government study says. Overall, the program would save $29.8 billion in medical costs. But, the program itself would require a $24 billion investment. Still, the researchers said, it would only take about 14 years to recoup the money spent on the program. "The take-home message is that implementing screening and community-based lifestyle interventions can improve health and reduce health care costs over the long term. This is an efficient use of health care resources," said Xiaohui Zhuo, a health economist in the division of diabetes translation at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Findings from Zhuo's study are published in the January issue of Health Affairs, a thematic issue of the ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus
Sugar-Sweetened Drinks May Pose Heart Risks to Women, Study Suggests
Posted 13 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, Nov. 13 – Drinking two or more sugar-sweetened beverages a day may boost a woman's risk for developing heart disease and diabetes – even if this habit isn't causing her to pack on extra pounds, a new study says. Sugary sodas and other sweetened beverages are frequent targets in the war on obesity. Many efforts, such as taking these drinks out of vending machines in schools, are aimed at reducing exposure to these beverages and the empty calories they provide. However, the new study suggests that the risks posed by sugar-sweetened sodas and flavored waters may be independent of weight gain. Middle-aged women who drank two or more sugary beverages a day were close to four times as likely to have high levels of dangerous blood fats called triglycerides and impaired blood sugar levels (known as "prediabetes'), when compared with women who drank less than one sugar-sweetened ... Read more
Related support groups: Heart Disease, Pre-Diabetes
More Evidence Links Diabetes, Dementia
Posted 19 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Sept. 19 – People with diabetes are at significantly higher risk of developing all types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, finds a new study that bolsters previous research connecting the two illnesses. The study of more than 1,000 people in Japan found that 27 percent of those with diabetes developed dementia, compared to 20 percent of people with normal blood sugar levels. Further, the study showed that pre-diabetes – higher than normal blood sugar levels – also raised the risk of dementia. "We have clearly demonstrated that diabetes is a significant risk factor for the development of dementia, especially of Alzheimer's disease, in (the) general public," said Dr. Yutaka Kiyohara, a professor in the graduate school of medical science at Kyushu University in Fukuoka. The study, conducted from 1988 to 2003, is published Sept. 20 in Neurology. Noting the global ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Diabetes, Type 2, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Pre-Diabetes
Lifetime 'Dose' of Excess Weight Linked to Diabetes Risk
Posted 12 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Sept. 12 – It's long been known that obesity increases diabetes risk, but a new study finds that the amount of excess weight someone carries – and how long it's carried – can make that risk even higher. That's especially worrisome given the growing number of obese children and teens who will spend more years of their lives obese than prior generations, researchers from the University of Michigan Health System warn in a university news release. "Our study finds that the relationship between weight and type 2 diabetes is similar to the relationship between smoking and the risk of lung cancer," said the study's lead author Dr. Joyce Lee, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. "The amount of excess weight that you carry, and the number of years for which you carry it, dramatically increase your risk of diabetes." This has the ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes
Healthy Living Can Cut Chances of Developing Diabetes
Posted 5 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Sept. 5 – Living a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of diabetes by as much as 80 percent, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health report. It has been clear that diet, exercise, smoking and drinking have an impact on whether one is likely to develop type 2 diabetes, but how each individual factor affects the risk had been unclear. "The lifestyle factors we looked at were physical activity, healthy diet, body weight, alcohol consumption and smoking," said lead researcher Jarad Reis, a researcher from the U.S. Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. "For each one of those, there was a significant reduction in risk for developing diabetes," he said. "Having a normal weight by itself reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 60 to 70 percent." For example, eating a healthy diet reduced the risk by about 15 percent, ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes
Building Muscle May Reduce Diabetes Risk, Study Says
Posted 28 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, July 28 – Increasing your muscle mass can help lower your risk for type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed data from 13,644 adults who took part in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III between 1988 and 1994. They found that for each 10 percent increase in the skeletal muscle index (SMI) – the ratio of muscle mass to total body weight – there was an 11 percent reduction in insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. There was also a 12 percent reduction in pre-diabetes, a condition characterized by higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, said the researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Our findings suggest that beyond focusing on losing weight to improve metabolic health, there may be a role for maintaining fitness and building muscle mass," Dr. Preethi Srikanthan, an assistant professor of medicine in the ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus
Structured Exercise Programs Help Lower Blood Sugar, Study Finds
Posted 3 May 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, May 3 – A structured exercise program helped people with type 2 diabetes lower their blood sugar level more effectively than just receiving advice about getting more physical activity, according to a new review of data. After analyzing the results of 47 randomized clinical trials, the researchers also found that exercising for longer periods of time was better at bringing blood sugar levels down than exercising more intensively. "People with type 2 diabetes should engage in regular exercise training, preferentially supervised exercise training," said the study's senior author, Dr. Beatriz Schaan, a medical school professor at the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil. "If these patients can perform training for more than 150 minutes per week, this would be more beneficial concerning their glucose control. However, if they cannot reach this amount of weekly exercise, ... Read more
Related support groups: Pre-Diabetes
Do Immune System Ills Help Drive Type 2 Diabetes?
Posted 17 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com
SUNDAY, April 17 – New research suggests that the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes may be linked to an immune system reaction gone awry. "The main point of this study is trying to shift the emphasis in thinking of type 2 diabetes as a purely metabolic disease, and instead emphasize the role of the immune system in type 2," said study co-author Dr. Daniel Winer, an endocrine pathologist at Toronto General Hospital in Canada. When the research began, Winer was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University in California. The researchers have identified immune system antibodies in people who are obese and insulin-resistant that aren't present in people who are obese without insulin resistance. They also tested a drug that modifies the immune system in mice fed a fatty diet, and found that the medication could help maintain normal blood sugar levels. The findings were ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes
Actos Cut Risk of Prediabetes Becoming Diabetes in Study
Posted 24 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, March 23 – Researchers report that taking the diabetes drug Actos helped people who had prediabetes avoid getting type 2 diabetes. "Pioglitazone [Actos] was extremely effective in preventing diabetes," said study author Dr. Ralph DeFronzo, deputy director of the Texas Diabetes Institute and chief of the diabetes division at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The actual reduction in risk was 72 percent. "The reason that people go from prediabetes to diabetes is that the insulin-producing beta cells fail. By the time someone is diagnosed with prediabetes, they may have lost 70 percent to 80 percent of beta cell function. Pioglitazone improves how the body responds to insulin and protects the beta cells from failing," he explained. The study, which was funded by the drug's manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, is published in the March 24 issue of the ... Read more
Related support groups: Actos, Pre-Diabetes, Pioglitazone
105 Million in U.S. Have Diabetes or Prediabetes, CDC Says
Posted 26 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26 – Diabetes now affects nearly 26 million Americans of all ages and 79 million people have what doctors call "prediabetes," according to 2011 estimates released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prediabetes, which the CDC says affects 35 percent of adults, is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes greatly boosts a person's odds for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The vast majority of cases of diabetes are type 2, which develops when the body's cells gradually lose sensitivity to insulin. According to experts, there's one very big reason for type 2 diabetes' continuing rise among Americans – weight gain. "The percentage of U.S. adults who are overweight or obese has also risen dramatically, and there is no doubt that rising rates of obesity ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Diabetes, Type 1, Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes Mellitus
The More You Walk, the Lower Your Diabetes Risk: Study
Posted 14 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 13 – The more you walk, the lower your risk of diabetes, say Australian researchers. The scientists tracked 592 middle-aged adults who participated in a study to map diabetes levels across Australia between 2000 and 2005. Participants underwent a health examination at the start of the study and provided details about their eating and lifestyle habits. The volunteers were also given a pedometer and instructed how to use it. Follow-up with the participants five years later showed that a higher daily step count was associated with a lower body-mass index (BMI), lower waist-to-hip ratio and better insulin sensitivity, even after adjusting for factors such as diet, smoking and alcohol intake. These associations were independent of calorie intake and appeared to be largely due to a change in weight, said the researchers at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in ... Read more
Related support groups: Pre-Diabetes
Community-Based Diabetes Prevention Program Promising: Study
Posted 29 Jun 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, June 29 – A community-based diabetes prevention program helps people lose weight and lower blood sugar as effectively as individual counseling from health professionals, finds a new study. Participants in the Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes study were divided into two groups. Those in the lifestyle intervention program received six months of weekly group behavioral weight loss sessions run by lay community health workers, followed by monthly follow-up meetings, where they were encouraged to improve their eating habits and exercise up to 180 minutes per week. Participants in the usual care group received two visits with a dietitian and a quarterly newsletter with tips for lifestyle changes. After 12 months, those in the lifestyle intervention group lost an average of 7.3 percent of body weight and reduced their blood glucose levels by an average of more than 4 ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes
Brown Rice Bests White for Diabetes Prevention
Posted 14 Jun 2010 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, June 14 – Substituting brown rice or another whole grain for white rice can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, new research suggests. Five or more servings of white rice a week increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 percent, according to the study, which is published in the June 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. But replacing white rice with brown rice could reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 16 percent, the study found. "This is an important message for public health. White rice is potentially harmful for the risk of type 2 diabetes," said the study's lead author, Dr. Qi Sun, an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Over the last decade, rice consumption in the U.S. has really increased a lot, but more than 70 percent of the rice consumed is white rice," said Sun, who ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Pre-Diabetes
Drug Combo Staves Off Type 2 Diabetes
Posted 2 Jun 2010 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, June 2 – In people with pre-diabetes, a low-dose combination of two diabetes drugs – metformin and Avandia (rosiglitazone) – appeared to reduce the progression to type 2 diabetes, new research shows. The study found that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was reduced by two-thirds in those taking the drug combo compared to those on placebo. "Diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, and it's unlikely that there will ever be one magic bullet that treats or prevents diabetes," explained study author Dr. Bernard Zinman, director of the Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Toronto. "So, more like treatments for HIV/AIDS or cancer that use a drug cocktail, we attempted to look at two drugs that have been known to have beneficial effects in diabetes." "We were pleasantly surprised to find that using half of the maximum dose was ... Read more
Related support groups: Metformin, Glucophage, Janumet, Pre-Diabetes, Avandia, Glucophage XR, ActoPlus Met, Avandamet, Glumetza, Metformin/Pioglitazone, Riomet, Glipizide/Metformin, Glucovance, Fortamet, ActosPlus Met