Health News

Type 2 diabetes patients who experience sever hypoglycemia, the condition when blood sugar level drops dangerously, are at great risk of developing dementia in later stage of life, the findings of a new study by Kaiser Permanente suggests. This is for the first time researchers have found a link between type 2 diabetes, hypoglycemia and increased risk of dementia.

The study, findings of which appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at data of 16,667 type 2 diabetes patients. The data were collected over a period of 20 years and after analysis of those data the researchers found that older patients with one episode of hypoglycemia were at 26 % increased risk of dementia. And the risk increases with episodes of hypoglycemic. For example, after two episodes the risk increases by 115% and after three or more episodes of hypoglycemic the risk of dementia increases by 160%.

It means that a drop in blood sugar level may result in some very severe consequences. So, balanced blood sugar level is critical for type 2 diabetes patients. Doctors must take care while prescribing measures to control blood sugar levels in diabetics. Now, the researchers, led by Rachel A. Whitmer of Kaiser Permanente, would like to study how hypoglycemic episodes affect the functions of brain.

You know a lot about healthy diets? Think once again. Because most of the healthy diets actually fails to reduce the risk of heart diseases, the findings of a new study suggests. The study, conducted by researchers at McMaster University, also reveals that the Mediterranean diet is the most beneficial for heart.

During the study, the researchers looked at the results of 200 different studies that investigated different diets and their connection with coronary heart disease. All of those studies were done in the US, Europe and Asia between 1950 to 2007. From the data of those studies the researchers wanted to compare different diets and their ability to reduce the risk of heart disease.

The McMaster University researchers found that there are differences in health benefits offered by different food groups or specific diets. Foods like vegetables, nuts and monosaturated fatty acids are very beneficial for the heart. And when it comes to overall healthy diets the Mediterranean diet is the most beneficial. The Mediterranean diet normally includes tomatoes and other vegetables, fruits, almonds, whole grain bread and monosaturated fat products such olive oil.

On the other hand foods with trans-fatty acids or high glycemic index are very harmful for the heart. In this group there are different fried and baked foods and carbohydrate rich foods such as rice and pasta. So, if you want a good heart, you must control the intake of this kind of food.

The findings of the study was published in the latest issue of journal “Archives of Internal Medicine”. The researchers thinks that their review of different food groups or dietary patterns will help health professionals and dieticians in delivering the right message about health diets. They also added that a good cardiovascular health is very important for a healthy life. So, people must take care not to eat those foods that increases the risk of heart disease.

via McMaster University

It is reported that researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine are developing a new technique for cancer diagnosis that not only detect cancer but also tells whether or not a treatment is working. And the best thing is that it requires just a tiny drop of blood or a tiny portion of tissue for cancer detection!

Yes, for cancer detection it requires just a tiny drop of blood or speck of tissue. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine have developed a machine that can test whether cancer-related proteins are present in the tiny samples. So, a minute drop of your blood will be able to confirm whether or not you have cancer!

The technique not only provide details about the cancer but also tells how the cancer proteins reacts to treatments. During the study, that was mainly focused on blood cancers, the technique was also able to detect and differentiate between different lymphoma types.

If we talk about present techniques of cancer diagnosis, the first thing comes to our mind is surgical biopsies. Biopsies takes time and sometimes are painful for the patients. That’s why it is thought that the new technique will facilitate quick and easy diagnosis of cancer.

Though the new technique was used to detect blood cancers, the researchers hope that it will also help in diagnosis and monitoring of other types of cancers. They are now testing it on head and neck tumors.

Diabetes is deadlier than you thought! Failure to control type 2 diabetes have bad effects on the brain functions and it may even lead to memory loss, the findings of a new study suggests. It means if a diabetes patient neglects the disease, in the long run he or she may face many difficulties with decline in memory, attention, vocabulary and planning ability.

How type 2 diabetes may alter the normal brain functions? According to the University of Edinburgh researchers, who conducted the study in UK, hypoglycemia may be one of the reasons. Hypoglycemia is the condition when the blood sugar level drops to a dangerously low level. It affects the sugar supply to the brain and thus a patient may experience fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision and even loss of consciousness.

The study was based on 1,066 type 2 diabetes patients aged between 60 and 75 years. The patients were asked to complete several tests that measured their mental abilities. The researchers found that 113 patients who scored lower in mental ability and vocabulary tests, had already went through several hypoglycemic episodes. So, they thinks that either hypos lead to a poor memory or poor memory makes it more difficult for patients to manager their diabetes.

So, diabetes is really a deadly disease and everyone must take it seriously. The researchers suggested that in order to avoid cognitive decline, diabetes patients must work hard to maintain their blood sugar level. It is not that hard. Follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Also regularly consult you doctor and take the prescribed medications. In this way you will not only maintain the blood sugar level but will also reduce the risk of memory loss!

After many years of research, scientists at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have identified a mutated gene that is responsible for short-rib polydactyly syndrome, a rare and deadly disorder found in newborn babies. With the identification of the gene, scientists will be now able to diagnose the disease even at a very early stage.

Short rib-polydactyly syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by short ribs. It prevents the skeleton growth and thus the stunted ribs prevents the infant’s lungs from growing. Due to this, the infant is unable to breathe on it’s own and dies soon after birth. It is very rare and hardly accounts for 5% of all genetics defects that affects the skeleton.

The UCLA research team identified the culprit gene after looking at an interesting DNA sequence shared by all three infants from a single family. Dr. Deborah Krakow and Dr. Stan Nelson from UCLA used DNA-scanning techniques to identify the mutated gene that caused the death of those three infants. Later Krakow and Nelson also confirmed the presence of the gene in two other families who already lost their infants because of short-rib polydactyly syndrome.

So, for the first time scientists came to know about the genetics of the disease. Now, it will help in early diagnosis of the disease. Dr. Deborah Krakow thinks that families will be now able to test embryos at risk for the disease. The researchers are now trying to find out more suspected genes that contribute to development of short-rib polydactyly syndrome.

via: http://www.ucla.edu/