Defeat Diabetes: February 2005 News Articles

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	Family Stress Linked to Autoimmune Diabetes in Children (Feb. 18, 2005) Psychological strain in families may be involved in triggering diabetes-related autoimmunity in infancy, as well as progression of the condition, according to new study findings. Moreover, the association is independent of any family history of diabetes.
	Enterobacteria-Related Bacteremia Increased for Diabetics (Feb. 18, 2005) Patients with diabetes were 2.9 times as likely to develop enterobacterial bacteremia (infection) as patients without diabetes.
	Knocking Out Two Key Signals In The Liver Can Cause Type 2 Diabetes (Feb. 18, 2005) Using a revolutionary technique to turn off chemical signals inside the cell, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that the different metabolic abnormalities present in type 2 diabetes can be caused by knocking out two key signals in liver cells.
	Direct Correlation of Sexual Function and Exercise (Feb. 18, 2005) A growing body of evidence supports the notion that regular exercise may enhance sexuality through a variety of mechanisms that affect both the mind and body. It can also improve blood glucose control, both sex and exercise.
	McDonald's Settles Trans Fats Lawsuits (Feb. 18, 2005) McDonalds agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle two lawsuits accusing it of misleading consumers about the levels of trans fat in its food. Its 13,000 stores in the United States still use oil containing trans fat to cook chicken, fries and fish.
	Drug From Bat Saliva May Help Treat Stroke (Feb. 15, 2005) An experimental clot-busting drug made from the saliva of a vampire bat can restore blood flow to the brain as long as nine hours after the onset of stroke symptoms, according to new research.
	Diet Drug May Treat Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Feb. 15, 2005) The diet drug Xenical may help treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a major cause of infertility.
	Herb for Diabetes (Feb. 14, 2005) Researchers have found an herb used in traditional Indian medicine to treat diabetes seems to lower blood sugar and insulin levels in a manner similar to prescription drugs.
	Drugs That May Affect Blood Glucose Levels (Feb. 09, 2005) There are medicines that can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) in diabetics and in nondiabetics. These pharmaceuticals will have an even greater effect on the patient with diabetes and should either be avoided or used with vigilance and with a consideration of changing the amount of the diabetes medication used.
	A Spoonful of Vinegar Helps the Sugar Go Down (Feb. 09, 2005) 2 tablespoons of vinegar before a meal even as part of a vinaigrette salad dressing—will dramatically reduce the spike in blood concentrations of insulin and glucose that come after a meal.
	Green Tea Extract Can Increase Endurance by 24 Percent and Speeds Up Fat Breakdown (Feb. 09, 2005) Green tea extract appears to stimulate the use of fatty acids by the muscle, reducing carbohydrate use and allowing for longer exercise times.
	Vitamin E Unlikely to Improve Endothelial or LV Function in Diabetics (Feb. 09, 2005) High doses of vitamin E have no beneficial effects on endothelial or left ventricular function in patients with long-standing type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
	Diabetes Increases Risk of Blood Poisoning (Feb. 09, 2005) Study adds potentially fatal blood infections to the list of health risks from diabetes.
	Fish Oil Supplements May Be Safer Than Eating Fish (Feb. 09, 2005) Consumption of fish oil supplements vs fish meals may confer the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids without the risks of toxins.
	Using Walnuts For Lowering Lipids In Type 2 Diabetes (Feb. 09, 2005) 30 grams of walnuts/day delivering substantial amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acid improved the lipid profile of patients with type 2 diabetes. Increasing HDL and lowering LDL by 10%.
	Plant Protein Helps In Controlling Diabetes and Obesity (Feb. 09, 2005) Scientists find a plant protein that mimics a human hormone linked to weight loss and possibly helpful for the prevention of diabetes.
	Scientists Discover 'Master Switch' that Triggers Insulin Resistance & Type 2 Diabetes (Feb. 09, 2005) Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered why excess weight leads to low-grade inflammation, which hampers the body's ability to use insulin. They found that the "master switch" of this inflammation is activated in the liver by weight gain. And they showed it can be turned off by salicylates, a class of drugs that includes aspirin.
	Better Diabetes Management When Moms Collaborate, Rather Than Control (Feb. 09, 2005) Maternal uninvolvement was associated with poorer adherence and quality of life.
	Pregnancy Outcomes Worsening for Diabetic Women (Feb. 09, 2005) Women with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for several poor pregnancy outcomes. Moreover, the end result of pregnancy for women with type 2 diabetes has actually deteriorated in the last 10 years.
	Edmonton-Japanese Team Perform 1st Insulin Cell Transplant Using Living Donor (Feb. 09, 2005) Using living donors could allow many more patients to get transplants sooner, and the quality will be much better coming from a living donor than from the donated organ of a dead person.
	New US Philosophy -Treat Diabetes Early And Aggressively (Feb. 09, 2005) At-risk patients, such as the overweight, should start getting screened at 30. If they show poor control of blood sugar, they should go on drugs right away.
	High-Risk Women Not Achieving Optimal Lipid Levels (Feb. 09, 2005) Only about one-third of eligible women are receiving cholesterol-lowering agents. New research indicates that few high-risk women are achieving the optimal lipid levels set forth in recent guidelines by the American Heart Association (AHA).
	Increased Weight Predicts Earlier Onset Of Type 1 Diabetes (Feb. 09, 2005) Waist circumference in the children with Type 1 diabetes was found to be substantially greater than average for the population.
	Walk 2000 More Steps a Day and Never Gain Another Pound (Feb. 09, 2005) 6000 steps a day significantly reduces risk of death, and 8000-10,000 a day promotes weight loss.
	Hunger In Obese Patients Due To Less Postprandial Plasma Ghrelin Suppression (Feb. 09, 2005) Circulating levels of the gastric hormone ghrelin rise before and decrease following a meal. In normal weight subjects postprandial suppression of ghrelin is proportional to calories consumed. Obese individuals have lower fasting ghrelin levels. Obese individuals may eat more because they don’t feel as full as their non-obese peers.
	Weight Loss Strategies Work In People With Pre-Diabetes (Feb. 09, 2005) In nine studies that included a total of 5,168 participants, they found that pre-diabetics using weight-loss interventions could drop between 2 and 3 kilograms, or four to six pounds, in one to two years. Although small, even modest loss can have serious health benefits.
	Using A1c To Predict Diabetes Risk Was More Predictive Than Obesity (Feb. 04, 2005) HbA1c testing helps predict the likelihood that patients will develop diabetes in the future. Obesity was not as strongly predictive of diabetes as HbA1c.
	Low-dose Aspirin Better Then Plavix For Heart Patients With GI Problems (Feb. 03, 2005) Plavix's effectiveness has not been proven in heart patients at greatest risk due to their history of gastrointestinal bleeding, and recent research indicates it actually may impair ulcer healing and markedly increase rates of bleeding.
	New Oral Drug For Type 2 Diabetes (Feb. 03, 2005) "It enhances the action of insulin and improves the control of blood glucose levels." "ISF402 lowers blood glucose and has been shown to be more effective when co-administered with injected insulin."
	Insulin Linked to Higher Death Rate Among Patients with Heart Problems (Feb. 02, 2005) People with advanced heart failure and who also have diabetes that requires insulin treatment have about a fourfold greater mortality rate than heart failure patients who don't take insulin.
	US Launches Diabetes Campaign Aimed at Seniors (Feb. 02, 2005) A government-sponsored diabetes education group launched a new campaign to address what they say is one of the nation's growing health problems: diabetes among the elderly.
	Raising HDL Limits Plaque Progression & Reduces Risk of Cardiac Events (Feb. 02, 2005) For the first time it has been shown that both raising HDL stops plaques in the arteries from getting larger and also prevents heart events. Until this study no previous study has focused on both.
	High Blood Pressure Will Affect Billions Worldwide (Feb. 02, 2005) Researchers predict that by 2025, approximately one in three adults over age 20 - or 1.56 billion people worldwide - will have high blood pressure.
	Endurance Exercise Linked to Heart Health (Feb. 02, 2005) The capacity for endurance exercise is linked to cardiovascular health which is good news for long- distance runners.