Plastic bottles blamed for heart disease and diabetes

Plastic bottles blamed for heart disease and diabetes

For your information,
Stem cells breakthrough in treatment of diabetes
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/world/12804-stem-cell-breakthrough-in-treatment-of-diabetes-

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/45401

What is stem cells?
http://www.health-2-wealth.com

Now available in Malaysia. Just launched in Oct 2008.

Type 2 research...

Meds as good as surgery for diabetics with heart disease
7 June`09 - Prompt bypass surgery holds no advantage over intensive drug therapy in many patients with type 2 diabetes when it comes to dying from strokes or heart attacks, new research suggests.

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Results from a study that explored the best treatment for patients with both type 2 diabetes and stable coronary heart disease were reported Sunday at the American Diabetes Association’s 69th scientific conference in New Orleans. The study, a multicenter trial led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, took place at 49 medical centers in six countries over five years. “It’s the first time any randomized clinical trial has shown a reduction in non-fatal heart attack rates in stable patients with diabetes and heart disease," says cardiologist Robert Frye, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a study chairman.

The study evaluated two surgery approaches as well as a drug-focused approach in 2,368 people with type 2 diabetes and stable coronary artery disease to help determine the best way to reduce deaths and cardiovascular events (heart attacks and stroke). Intensive medical, or drug-based, treatment combined with either prompt bypass surgery or angioplasty (balloons through the arteries) was compared with intensive medical treatment alone.

Survival rates were 88% overall, says Montefiore Medical Center investigator Joel Zonszein. “A 12% mortality rate at five years in this population is wonderful. It shows they do very well when treated well with medication." Cardiovascular-related mortality rates for diabetics are typically in the range of about 22% to 28%, he says. Among participants pre-identified for coronary bypass surgery, the group who received prompt surgery had significantly fewer heart attacks or strokes vs. those who received medical therapy only, Frye says.

“The study reinforces that for people with diabetes and mild heart disease, medical therapy works, and works very well," Zonzsein says, Adherence to a medication plan is key to heart health, says Richard Kahn, chief scientific and medical officer of the ADA. “Faithfully taking meds and keeping blood glucose under control works and is certainly less expensive, less intrusive and less painful than surgical intervention."

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Diabetes linked to dementia risk...
:confused:
Diabetes and literacy key to beat dementia, says study
5 August 2010 - Preventing diabetes and depression as well as boosting education could have a dramatic impact on cutting cases of dementia, a study suggests.

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Boosting levels of education and upping fruit and vegetable consumption would also have a big effect, the British Medical Journal said. It comes as another study showed dementia patients are missing out on vital early treatments because GPs are being slow to diagnose them. It is estimated that one million people in the UK will have dementia by 2025.

Several risk factors for the disease have been identified, including obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. But British and French researchers wanted to assess what public health interventions could have the biggest impact on reducing the burden of dementia in the population. They took a group of 1,400 elderly people and tested them for signs of dementia after two, four and seven years.

Alongside this they recorded height, weight, education level, monthly income, mobility, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use and asked participants to do a reading test as a measure of intelligence. Eliminating depression and diabetes and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption were estimated to lead to an overall 21% reduction in new cases of dementia

Increasing education would also lead to an estimated 18% reduction in new cases of dementia across the general population over the next seven years, they reported. By contrast, removing a gene linked with the disease would only cut new cases by 7%.

Literacy [url:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10881685[/url]

See also:

Thousands of dementia victims 'die through late diagnosis'
6th August 2010 - Slower diagnosis: Elderly people who were screened for dementia lived longer than those who were eventually seen by a GP

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Thousands with dementia are dying before their time because of late diagnosis by GPs, according to a study.Patients eventually diagnosed with dementia by their doctors die four years earlier than those actively screened for the illness in research studies. In the first research of its kind, scientists from the Medical Research Council analysed health records of 135,000 patients aged 60 and over for life expectancy after dementia recorded by their GPs.

Experts found those aged 60 to 69 had an average life expectancy of 6.7 years once diagnosed. But previously MRC scientists found people in a comparable age range who were actively screened for dementia as part of a research study have a life expectancy of 10.7 years. The research also revealed death rates are more than three times higher in sufferers in the first year after GP diagnosis than in those without the condition. This suggests many are finally diagnosed at a time of crisis or when the disease has already taken a strong hold.

And the study also found GPs were not recording the exact type of dementia, which could affect how it is treated. Although NHS restrictions mean Alzheimer’s patients are not allowed drugs in the early stages of the disease, experts hope new treatments will become available in the future that can halt the disease. Professor Chris Kennard, chair of the MRC neuroscience and mental health board, said: 'It’s clear that too little too late is being done to diagnose dementia.

'Without earlier diagnosis people may miss out on the opportunity to have early interventions, as new treatments come along. 'It’s estimated that 80million people worldwide will be affected by dementia by 2040 so it’s crucial GPs are given the support and training they need to get to grips with identifying dementia accurately and as early as possible.' At present, some 750,000 in the UK have a form of dementia, with more than half of these suffering from Alzheimer’s.

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