Diabetes News Hound » Research & Cure

Mediterranean Diet Reduces Need for Drugs

Chris Frankie — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:01:58 +0000

New research finds people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are less likely to need drugs for lowering blood sugar if they eat a Mediterranean diet.

Fifty-six percent of diabetics who had developed the disease recently and followed the meal plan for four years were found to not subsequently require antihyperglycemic drugs, compared with 70% of patients on the standard low-fat diet recommended by cardiologists, according to an ABC News summary.

The Mediterranean diet consisted mainly of vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats such as olive oil and poultry and fish instead of red meat. Women were restricted to 1,500 calories per day and men to 1,800, and no more than half of all calories could come from complex carbohydrates while no less than 30% of daily calories came from fat.

The others followed a low-fat regimen endorsed by the American Heart Association, rich in whole grains while restricting fats, sweets and high-fat snacks. The caloric limits were the same as for the Mediterranean diet group, but no more than 30% could come from fat and no more than 10% from saturated fat.

The findings emphasize the impact of lifestyle interventions, often overlooked by doctors too quick to medicate, the authors say.

The study is published this week in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

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Breastfeeding Lowers Type 2 Risk: Study

Chris Frankie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:33:56 +0000

Breastfeeding appears to protect mothers against diabetes.

Research from the University of Pittsburgh finds mothers who did not breastfeed were nearly twice as likely to develop type-2 diabetes than women who had breastfed or never had children. Mothers who did breastfeed all their children were no likelier to become diabetics than women who never gave birth.

The disparities remained after controlling for age, race, physical activity and tobacco and alcohol use.

The study, published in the September American Journal of Medicine, covered 2,233 women aged 40 and 78. Fifty-six percent of mothers reported having breastfed an infant for at least one month, while 27% percent of mothers who did not breastfeed went on to developed type 2 diabetes.

Breastfeeding’s beneficial impact results from its ability to decrease maternal belly fat, said Pitt professor Eleanor Bimla Schwarz in announcing the results.

“Our study provides another good reason to encourage women to breastfeed their infants, at least for the infant’s first month of life,” she said. “Clinicians need to consider women’s pregnancy and lactation history when advising women about their risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”

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Older Diabetics’ Sex Life Less Spicy

Chris Frankie — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:32:04 +0000

Older diabetics are just as sexually active as the general public, but the disease does tend to impair sexual drive and pleasure, new research shows.

The study, focused on nearly 2,000 people aged 57 to 85, finds nearly 70% of men with sexual partners and 62% of partnered women engaged in sex two to three times a month, on par with diabetes-free people.

The diabetic men, however, were more prone to experience erectile dysfunction, lose interest in sex or climax too quickly, while both men and women with diabetes more often failed to achieve climax.

Barriers to sexual activity seem tougher for female diabetics. Women with diabetes were far less likely than the non-diabetics to have sexual partners or to discuss sexual problems with a doctor.

The findings — derived from in-home interviews, self-administered questionnaires and medication audits — reveal diabetics need not diminish sexual activity but many diabetics are struggling with sexual problems, said lead study author Stacy Lindau, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of medicine at the University of Chicago, in a press release announcing the results.

“Patients and doctors need to know that most middle age and older adults with partners are still sexually active despite their diabetes,” Lindau said. “However, many people with diabetes have sexual problems that are not being addressed.”

The study appears in next month’s issue of Diabetes Care.

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Avandia No Riskier Than Actos: Study

Chris Frankie — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:32:38 +0000

Newly published research shows Avandia poses roughly the same heart-attack risk as competing drug Actos, contradicting earlier studies suggesting Avandia was more dangerous.

The new study, published this week in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, may have arrived at a different conclusion in part because its subjects may have been younger and healthier than in previous studies, says study author Debra Wertz in a WebMD interview.

A recent FDA study finding an elevated risk with Avandia focused on diabetics over age 65, with an average age of 74.4, WebMD notes. The Wertz study subject’s average age, by contrast, was 54, and all were privately insured, suggesting that they were likely to be employed and consequently in generally good health.

The findings will likely muddle Avandia’s regulatory status. Last month, an FDA advisory panel recommended adding a second warning to Avandia’s label warning of the cardiac risks while holding off on a similar warning for Actos.

Sales of Avandia have plunged this year, to about $1.1 billion from as high as $3.4 billion in 2006, while Actos sales have soared to $4.6 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Kidney Damage Heightens Mortality Risk

Chris Frankie — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:31:55 +0000

Minor kidney damage in people with type 1 diabetes dramatically increases the chances of premature death, a new study finds.

Diabetics presenting early and asymptomatic kidney damage, as manifested by trace amounts of protein in the urine, were six times likelier to die than the general population, according to the study, summarized at ScienceDaily.com. When the diabetics’ kidneys functioned normally over time, they were died at the same rates as non-diabetic counterparts.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health carried out the study. They will present it at the upcoming annual Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

The study analyzed data from 658 men and women enrolled in a long-term prospective examination of childhood onset type 1 diabetes beginning in 1986. Participants were tested for levels of albumin, a protein flagging early kidney damage when elevated in the urine and that leads to a condition called microalbuminuria.

Over the next 20 years, 152 study participants with microalbuminuria had died — 6.2 times as many as the general population when controlled for age and gender.

The findings should motivate physicians to monitor diabetics’ kidney health even more closely, said lead study author Aaron Secrest.

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Grapefruit Compound Mimics Positive Attributes of Avandia

Chris Frankie — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:30:18 +0000

New research shows an antioxidant found in grapefruit has promise as a treatment for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The study finds naringenin, which is derived from the bitter flavor of grapefruits and other citrus fruits, seems to cause the liver to break down fat and increase insulin sensitivity, dLife.com reports.

The mechanism was similar to that of drugs such as the lipid-lowering Fenofibrate and the diabetes medicine Rosiglitazone, marketed as Avandia. The results were also suggestive of the body’s reaction to long periods of fasting, says senior study author Yaakov Nahmias in the dLife summary.

As a dietary supplement, naringenin could become vital in treatment of type 2 diabetes as well as hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome, dLife reports.

Researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Massachusetts General Hospital carried out the study, which appears this week in the online journal PLoS ONE.

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Court Curtails Stem Cell Research

Chris Frankie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:29:38 +0000

A federal court decision has blocked a White House policy allowing more embryonic stem cell research, a change that research advocates say will postpone long-awaited breakthroughs.

The ruling by chief judge Royce Lamberth of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, granted a temporary injunction rescinding a 2009 executive order by President Obama loosening constraints on the research, saying that the president had violated a ban on federal money being used to destroy embryos.

Obama’s order had let federally funded scientists research 75 stem cell lines created with private money, compared with 21 allowed under President Bush. It is not clear, however, if the injunction means that work financed under the Obama standard had to cease immediately or merely that future grants must apply the old standard.

Health institutes officials tell The New York Times that the Justice Department would interpret the ruling for them; a Justice spokeswoman tells the times that agency lawyers were reviewing the decision.

Research into cures and treatments for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s will have to wait, though the delay may be temporary, said the New York Stem Cell Foundation in a press statement.

“Although we are confident that the court’s decision will not be upheld, the net effect of this decision is to slow the progress of advancing revolutionary new therapies that have the potential to advance cures and successful treatments for a broad range of the diseases and conditions, including diabetes.”

Lisa Hughes of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research called the ruling “a blow to the hopes of millions of patients and their families suffering from fatal and chronic diseases and disorders.”

But she too expressed hope for a judicial remedy. ”We have full confidence that the extensive, deliberative process that shaped federal guidelines now in place will be upheld upon further review,” she said.

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Raised Glucose Fosters Infections

Chris Frankie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:29:17 +0000

Unhealthy glucose levels in diabetics can severely inhibit defenses against bacterial and fungal infections, new research shows.

The study carried out at the UK’s University of Warwick finds that the raised glucose can create a sugar coating that serves to impair the body’s attempts to fight off such infections, according to a summary at dLife.com.

Specialized receptors that recognize molecules associated with bacteria and fungi are in effect blinded when glucose levels surpass healthy levels, the researchers say. The excess glucose also binds in a way that blocks the chemical processes that typically follow to attack such infections.

The findings help to explain why diabetic complications often include heightened risk of viral infections such as influenza and inflammatory conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

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No Need for Meds After Bariatric Surgery: Study

Chris Frankie — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:33:30 +0000

A new study shows diabetics undergoing bariatric surgery typically no longer need to take insulin and other medications controlling blood sugar, Dow Jones Newswires reports.

Nearly three-quarters of obese patients diagnosed with type 2 were off the medicine within six month of the weigh-loss surgery, according to the research carried out at Johns Hopkins University and published in the Archives of Surgery.

In light of the findings, the researchers say, insurers should now cover the $30,000 procedure because it appears to be the only treatment resulting in sustained reversal of obesity as well as type 2 diabetes.

Many patients were able to halt their medications almost immediately after the surgery and before they lost large amounts of weight. Those results help to confirm the theory that stomach hormones altered by surgery become more effective in controlling blood glucose levels than weight loss by itself.

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Green Leafy Vegetables Pack Anti-Diabetes Punch

Chris Frankie — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:33:07 +0000

Green leafy vegetables appear to reduce dramatically the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, more so than vegetables and fruits generally, Reuters reports.

Eating an extra serving daily of foods like spinach, cabbage and broccoli cuts the threat by 14%, according to the study by British researchers and published in the British Medical Journal.

The data do not suggest a hard and fast link; those eating such vegetables may be expected to adhere to a healthier diet generally and be likelier to exercise regularly. But it is clear that these vegetables play a key role and deserve further study, said researcher Patrice Carter of the diabetes research unit at Leicester University in a Reuters interview.

The researchers surveyed six earlier studies examining links between diabetes and fruit and vegetable consumption. Those studies tracked subjects over periods of four to 23 years, monitoring their fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of diabetes.

There was no significant reduction in diabetes risk resulting from a higher consumption of vegetables generally, of fruits or of a combination of the two.

Green leafy vegetables’ benefit likely stem from their antioxidants, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids.

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