Posts Tagged ‘diabetes research’

Inadequate sleep affects children with type 1 diabetes

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Lack of sleep caused by type 1 diabetes may worsen a child’s condition, reports HealthDay.

In a study published in the most recent issue of SLEEP, it was found that diabetic patients between the ages of 10 and 16 get an average of 5 percent less sleep than their peers. This lead to impaired ability to control blood sugar and also negatively affected the children’s performance in school, according to the source.

“Clinicians and school-based professionals need to be aware that reports of daytime sleepiness, disrupted sleep, or poor sleep habits may affect patients’ daytime functioning, including the possibility of interfering with their diabetes self-care, quality of life, and school performance,” the authors of the study reported.

The students who got approximately 20 minutes less sleep than those without diabetes experienced symptoms of hyperglycemia, emotional and behavioral problems, worsened grades and a decreased ability to keep up with their insulin shots.

The study performed at the University of Arizona in Tucson analyzed the data of 50 patients, reportedly keeping watch on their glucose control with monitors and hemoglobin A1C values.

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Study finds link between breast cancer and diabetes, obesity

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

Women with diabetes may be at a higher risk for breast cancer, as well as those who become obese as senior citizens, according to HealthDay.

While past studies have shown evidence of a connection between the two diseases, the link has not been sufficiently clear and further research was reportedly warranted.

Swedish researcher Dr. Hakan Olsson, of Lund University’s oncology department, analyzed the health information of more than 2,700 women over the course of a decade prior to developing breast cancer. He compared this data with the records of more than 20,000 healthy patients.

According to the news provider, obese women over the age of 60 were at a 55 percent higher risk of breast cancer. Additionally, the risk increased by 37 percent within four years of a diabetes diagnosis.

“Olsson also found a link between abnormally low levels of blood lipids or fats, mostly cholesterol, and a 25 percent higher risk of breast cancer. Women with higher cholesterol had a lower risk, he found,” reported the source.

Because the results of the study are so complicated, Olsson emphasized that further research must be done in order to clarify his findings. Part of the complex findings included both increased and decreased risk of breast cancer with various diabetes treatments.

The Swedish researcher presented his research last week at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

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552 million to have diabetes by 2030

Saturday, November 19th, 2011

According to new research by the International Diabetes Federation, more than 10 percent of adults will be diagnosed with diabetes in the next two decades.

The report states that 552 million people will have diabetes by the year 2030, up from the current 346 million, which amounts to every one of 10 people. The current rate is one in 13, according to The Associated Press. These statistics take into account the estimated number of sufferers who are undiagnosed as well.

The IDF expects the rate of diabetes to skyrocket in Africa and developing countries, where more than 80 percent of deaths are caused by diabetes, according to the World Health Organization.

“It’s worrying because these people will have an illness which is serious, debilitating, and shortens their lives,” Gojka Roglic, head of the diabetes unit at the WHO, told the news provider. “But it doesn’t have to happen if we take the right interventions.”

While many cases of diabetes develop because of obesity, the forecasted rise in the disease is attributed to aging.

“Most cases of diabetes are Type 2, the kind that mainly hits people in middle age, and is linked to weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle.”

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Kidney disease risk cut in half for Type 1 diabetes sufferers

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Those who suffer from Type 1 diabetes have another important reason to make sure they keep their blood sugar levels in check — a new study has found that patients using insulin “aggressively” can decrease their risk of kidney failure by 50 percent, reports Bloomberg.

After monitoring 1,375 patients for a span of nearly two decades in the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial, researchers have discovered that those who normalize their blood sugar level with three or more insulin injections per day reportedly experienced better kidney function and cut their risk for disease in half.

“Tight control early in the course of the disease has long-lasting benefits on all major diabetes complications,” Ian de Boer, an assistant professor of medicine at Seattle’s University of Washington who led the study, told the news provider. “The benefits were from early intensive therapy and they only manifested more than a decade after the treatment began.”

Type 1 diabetes is the most severe form of the condition, which impairs the body’s ability to convert blood sugar to energy via insulin. According to the American Diabetes Association, less than 10 percent of patients with diabetes suffer from Type 1. This form attacks the pancreas, where the body’s insulin is produced.

The study was released this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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