All About Diabetes

There is an increase in the number of children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Medical experts blame this condition on a culture steeped in junk food and inactivity that has led to more obese kids. Read more… »

In a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, it was indicated that diabetics who would undergo total joint replacement are more at risk for complications after surgery due to their pre-existing health conditions. However, the study otherwise claimed that those complications are less likely to occur when a diabetic patient has glucose levels under control. “We found that controlled glucose levels really do make a aifterence for the patient,” said study co-author Dr. Milford Marchant Jr., an orthopedic surgeon who conducted tne study with colleagues of the adult Reconstruction Section at Duke University Medical Center.

Moreover, the study found out that, more than post-surgical complications, uncontrolled glucose levels in patients are three times more likely to experience a stroke or death after joint replacement surgery and twice as likely to experience post-operative bleeding and infection.

Using data from a national healthcare database on more than one million patients who had total joint replacement surgery from 1988 to 2005, Dr. Marchant and his colleagues found out that surgical complications, such as infection, blood transfusions and longer hospitals stays, are more prevalent in patients with uncontrolled glucose levels than those who had controlled glucose levels and those patients who did not have diabetes.

“It did not matter if the patient had Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes,” he explained. “We found that patients had fewer complications after surgery if their glucose level was controlled before, during and after surgery.” He added that the factors necessary for diabetic patients to be considered ‘under control’ are different for each individual patient; therefore diabetic patients should have good relationships with their medical doctors.

As defined by the American Diabetes Association, disease control is determined based on a series of laboratory blood tests and an assessment of diabetes-related illnesses. Approximately only eight percent of patients undergoing total hip and knee replacement in the United States have diabetes. “It is crucial for patients to have controlled glucose level before, during and after surgery because it reduces the potential of having a complication,” Dr. Marchant noted. “This is the responsibility of both the patient and the surgeon, and it should be a priority.”

Results of a study indicate that there a a statistically significant association between type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) during REM sleep. “Type 2 diabetes is a multifactorial disorder. REM-related OSA and s metabolic effects need to be nvestigated in more depth, and this can provide another unique avenue for intervention and control of type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Kamran Mahmood, one of the principal nvestigators of the study. Read more… »

Trouble sleeping at night? A new study by the New England Research Institutes in collaboration with researchers from Yale School of Medicine found that men who sleep too much or too little are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Read more… »

The diabetes drug, rosiglitazone (Avandia) may increase risk for bone thinning or osteoporosis, which could help explain why diabetics may have an increased risk of fractures. The study found that the drug increased the activity of the cells that degrade bones in mice; according to results published online in Nature Medicine. GlaxoSmithKline, the company that markets the drug, has already acknowledged that a study has found that there is a higher risk of fractures among women who take Avandia. Read more… »

A Japanese study reveals that adult offspring of type 2 diabetics are more aware that they are at increased risk of developing the disease than their parents. According to Dr. Keiko Kazuma and colleagues at the University of Tokyo, genetics and lifestyle could more likely contribute to the development of the disease among persons with type 2 diabetic parents. Read more… »

Fat accumulation in relation to body size influences a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study.

Researchers in Netherlands studied the size of birth, adult body size, and sensitivity to the blood regularing hormone insulin in young adults. They found that a person’s fat mass in adulthood was the only factor significantly related to insulin sensitivity, which is a precursor of diabetes. Read more… »

Lower limb amputations are a common complication in diabetes. Now, researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK have discovered why patients develop a condition which leads to amputation of the lower limbs. They say it is caused by an alteration in the skin tissue before leg ulcer develops. Read more… »

It is a well-known fact that diabetes is a disease whose prevalence is increasing at disturbingly alarming rates worldwide. And while much attention is focused on the incidence of type 2 diabetes, especially with the epidemic of childhood obesity, the incidence of type 1 diabetes which is classically associated with children is increasing as well. Read more… »

The American Diabetes Association has stated that being overweight and sedentary are major factors in the rise of type 2 diabetes cases.  Healthy lifestyle habits are the most effective weapons in the fight against this highly preventable condition.  The latest research confirms that eating the right food, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and managing stress help to maintain normal blood sugar levels. Read more… »