'Big-breasted girls prone to diabetes'

Here's a good one, just goes to show big boobs aren't always good!

"TORONTO: Girls with big breasts have a 68% higher chance of developing diabetes by middle age than their small-breasted counterparts, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The decade-long study to find link between big breasts and diabetes development among nurses in the US shows that those with bigger breasts at 20 are at 68% higher risk of developing the disease in later years.

Joel Ray, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and a clinician-scientist at the local St Michael's Hospital, said this was “the broad conclusion" of his research team on the basis on the study that was published on Tuesday.

"Our findings are based on data from the Nurses Health Study II project in 14 American states."

Article Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Big-breasted_girls_prone_to_diabetes/articleshow/2744946.cms

For similar articles and findings, check out the 'Diabetes Directory' under 'My Favorite Links'.

Good reminders for all

A reminder for diabetics around the world this week from Dr Pratihba Datta, director of public health for Redbridge PCT: "With obesity on the increase most people should make an effort to eat more fruit and vegetables, cut back on alcohol consumption and be more physically active. But I can't over emphasise the importance of people with diabetes watching their diet."

Diabetics also need to take very good care of their feet. For more news and information for diabetics, check out the "Health Directory" under My Favourite Links.

Carrot cake study on sugar in type 2 diabetes

Here is an interesting article I found regarding sugar intake. Aren't all diabetes sufferers told to limit their sugar intake, that's what I thought. But how about this study conducted recently - read it for yourself and speak to your healthcare professional if you want to know how it relates to you.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/tsb-ccs010808.php
Patients with type 2 diabetes are often advised to cut out sucrose (table sugar) all together. However, in recent years this traditional advice has been questioned by some researchers who suggest that moderate amounts of sugar can be safely consumed as part of the diet of patients with diabetes. Now a new study has been published that is consistent with this revised approach. It showed that patients who increased their daily sugar intake (in the form of carrot cake) but maintained a stable body weight, showed no adverse changes in their blood glucose.

The study was conducted by the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at London�s Hammersmith Hospital. Three slices of carrot cake were added to the daily diets of nine, overweight type 2 diabetes patients over 24 days (bringing their daily total to 88g or 18 teaspoons of sugar).

Sleep disruptions may up diabetes risk

Try to get plenty of uninterrupted sleep if you want to lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes - that is my message of the week. Read this article below to find out more. Or check the Health Directory link at the side of the page to find more articles relating to news and information on medical issues.

Source: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/health/story/234785.html

"When Shakespeare called sleep the "chief nourisher of life's feast," he may have been well ahead of his time, medically at least. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center report that disrupting sleep damages the body's ability to regulate blood sugar levels, potentially raising the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

More than 18 million Americans have diabetes and the most common form is type 2, in which the body either becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't produce enough of it to regulate sugar in the bloodstream.

In a small experiment, researchers led by Dr. Esra Tasali, an assistant professor of medicine, found that disrupting the deepest sleep periods of volunteers rapidly resulted in reduction in their ability to regulate blood-sugar levels."

UCD develops pathway to help diabetes

For all those Type 1 diabetes sufferers out there, I found some interesting information regarding research and findings on controlling the risk of cardiovascular disease in type 1 patients. Check out this article for more details.

Article source: http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_7737992

"Researchers at UC Davis Health System have discovered a novel pathway that results in increased inflammation of blood vessels in patients with type 1 diabetes. Their findings suggest that, with good diabetes control, this inflammation may be reduced, possibly resulting in a reduction of cardiovascular disease as well.

In a study now available both in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism as well on the National Institutes of Health's PubMed, the researchers provide the first-ever demonstration of increased expression and signaling in type 1 diabetics of two key receptors within the body's innate immune system. Called TLR2 and TLR4, they are part of a family of pattern recognition receptors known as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), so-called because of their similarities to the well-defined Tollgene found in much-studied fruit flies."

For other articles like these, check out the Health Directory in 'My favourite links'

What can you do to raise awareness about diabetes?

I read this week about a young girl named Jordan Hickey, she is only 8 years old but as a sufferer of diabetes she is running with her classmates to help others understand about diabetes and raise money for research. Good on you Jordan! As Jordan has been quoted as saying "It's not contagious. They can touch me and they won't get it" Thats right, many people are so ignorant of this condition. Let's all do our part and help educate others about diabetes.

The students at Jordan's school were hoping to raise over $5000 for research and education purposes. What can you do?

Transporters may help delay diabetes-related retinal damage

Here is an update on some help to prevent blindness in diabetics - the leading cause of blindness in working age persons. Very interesting!

Article source: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=33061

Two transporters that deliver alternative energy sources to the eye may help delay retinal damage that can occur in diabetes, researchers say.

The transporters, SMCT1 and SMCT2, can circumvent the eye's protective blood-retinal barrier, delivering energy sources lactate and ketone bodies to a healthy eye, says Dr. Pamela Martin, biochemist at the Medical College of Georgia.

In diabetes, characterized by plenty of glucose but the inability of cells to use it, the retina may turn to those alternate sources for survival.

"Glucose is your primary energy source," says Dr. Martin. "But in diabetes, the retina undergoes a lot of stress, there is oxidative damage and a lot of other things going on. These transporters, we believe, may be instrumental in bringing in additional substrates which the cells can use for energy to try and prevent death."

Diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults, results in death of retinal neurons, at least in part because glucose availability is compromised for this high-energy-consuming tissue, says Dr.