Diabetes Facts
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Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. The cause of diabetes continues to be a mystery, although both genetics and environmental factors such as obesity and lack of exercise appear to play roles.
Approximately 17 million people in the United States, or 6.2% of the population, have diabetes. While an estimated 11.1 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 5.9 million people (or one-third) are unaware that they have the disease.
Mediterranean Diet Goes Online
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The Mediterranean Diet has always been popular. It’s a diet that is styled after the eating habits of the Southern Mediterranean region. Weight loss super-site eDiets have just created an entire Mediterranean plan and added it to their extensive selection of diets.
Some of the benefits of a Mediterranean-type diet—rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes and olive oil and light on red meat—may stem from the diet’s effect on inflammation, new research suggests.
In a study from Greece, markers of inflammation and blood clotting that are related to heart disease were lowest in people who adhered most closely to the traditional Mediterranean diet.
Oppression of women may be killing men
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The tradition of male dominance over women in many societies may be one of the reasons men have a higher death rate, according to UK researchers.
In an analysis of statistics from 51 countries, they concluded that patriarchy—the systematic dominance by men over women—may explain nearly half of the discrepancy between female and male death rates. The greater that the oppression of women was in a given country, the researchers report, the higher was the male death rate at any given age.
Vitamin’s effect on cancer varies by smoker status
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High intake of beta-carotene seems to decrease the risk of tobacco-related cancers among people who’ve never smoked, but to increase the risk among current or past smokers, new research suggests. Although the findings are based on a study of women, the researchers believe that similar results would be obtained in men.
“Based on the findings from our study and others, I would advise against beta-carotene supplements for current or past smokers,” senior author Dr. Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, from INSERM in Villejuif, France, told Reuters Health. “For beta-carotene-rich foods, the message is less clear, since they often contain other vitamins that may counteract the interaction of beta-carotene with smoking.”
Beer and spirits boost colon tumor risk
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Beer and spirits drinkers face a higher risk of colorectal tumors, but wine drinkers may have a lower risk, according to a report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
“Alcohol is pernicious with regard to colorectal” tumors, Dr. Joseph C. Anderson from Stony Brook University, New York told Reuters Health. “Lifestyle plays a role as genetics does in the development” of these tumors.
Obesity alone not linked to fatal heart attacks
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Being overweight or obese, in the absence of high blood pressure, does not clearly increase the risk of death from heart attack or stroke, French researchers report in the journal Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
“The role of obesity and overweight as independent risk factors for (heart attack and stroke) is still debated,” Dr. Athanase Benetos and colleagues from the Centre d’Investigations Preventives et Cliniques in Paris write.
Patients who choose depression treatment do better
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Allowing depressed patients to select their own treatment—drug therapy, counseling or a combination of both—may improve outcomes, researchers in Seattle report.
The findings are based on a study of 335 adult with a clinical diagnosis of depression. The subjects were surveyed regarding their preferred therapy and this was compared with the actual treatment received.
Birth weight linked to high blood pressure risk
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Men born at below-average weight are slightly more likely to have high blood pressure as young adults, a relationship that does not appear to be related to genetics or socioeconomic factors, the results of a large study from Sweden shows.
The findings support the theory that poor growth in the womb may cause disorders of the metabolism, such as high blood pressure (hypertension) or diabetes, known as the “fetal programming hypothesis,” Dr. Niklas Bergvall of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm and colleagues report in the September issue of Epidemiology.
Vitamin’s effect on cancer varies by smoker status
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Helping to Fight the Hidden Risks
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Those of us suffering with high blood pressure rarely have any symptoms.
For many, the first they know about it is when they have a heart attack or a stroke.
The Very High Carb Diet
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Researchers say that people are confused about nutrition for weight loss. Of course we are confused - you cannot help shaking your head in bewilderment when you see the enormous variety of advice out there.
The Bread for Life Diet was released in the US this month, and can only be described as a “very” high carb diet. The press release reports that ???It??™s the diet other publishers didn??™t want to touch because it is so anti-Atkins and South Beach.”
India’s encephalitis toll 850, worst may be over
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India’s deadliest encephalitis outbreak in almost three decades, which has killed 850 people in a northern state, has started to wane with fewer deaths being reported, a health official said on Tuesday.
“We can now safely assume that the worst is over,” said Uttar Pradesh health services chief O.P. Singh.
Anti-malarial drugs sent to save children in Niger
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that it was sending 100,000 anti-malarial drugs to Niger to save malnourished children from the deadly mosquito-borne infection now in its peak season.
“For Niger’s children, malaria represents just as big a threat as hunger at present,” said Fatoumata Nafo-Traore, director of WHO’s Roll Back Malaria Department.
Tenuate plus diet causes 17-25 lbs weight loss after six months
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Tenuate (diethylpropion) given every day causes greater weight loss than diet alone, but giving it intermittently every other month is not according to paper on diet drugs by Dr. Lisa L. Ioannides-Demos from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Study #1 weight loss after six months: 17.2 lbs vs 4.2 lbs
Obesity is twice as common in constipated children
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Obesity is twice as common in constipated children 4- to 17-years-old according to a new study from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut.
Prevalence of obesity in constipated versus normal boys: 25% vs 14%; girls: 19% vs 10%
