American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Endorses National Diabetes Goal
May 07, 2008
May 7, 2008 (AACE Newsroom) - The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) today announced its support for the National Diabetes Goal. The Goal is to help 45% of all Americans at risk for type 2 diabetes know their blood glucose levels and understand what actions to take, by the year 2015.
The National Diabetes Goal was announced in our nation’s capitol, with national leaders in health care, business, government, and education showing their support for the unified goal. The groups hope that this knowledge will help reverse the upward trend in diagnoses of type 2 diabetes.
Survey results released today by Gallup and commissioned by the National Changing Diabetes Project show that, while more than 90% of Americans consider diabetes a serious health issue, and half say they feel personally affected by diabetes, awareness has not yet translated into collective, widespread action.
The National Diabetes Goal has a call to action for every American:
• Find out if you are at risk for type 2 diabetes
• Ask about getting your blood glucose tested during your next doctor’s visit
• Know your blood glucose level and what actions to take
AACE is one of more than 20 organizations who have committed their support to the National Diabetes Goal. Other supporting organizations include: American Academy of Family Physicians, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American Association of Diabetes Educators, American Association of Physician Assistants, American College of Physicians, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, American Diabetes Association, American Medical Group Association, American Optometric Association, Campaign to End Obesity, Center for Health Transformation, Essence Healthcare, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Food Marketing Institute, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, National Association of School Nurses, National Business Coalition on Health, National Minority Quality Forum, National Changing Diabetes Program, Novo Nordisk, and Revolution Health.
An online resource has been setup at www.NationalDiabetesGoal.com that outlines the background and purpose of the goal and provides resources for consumers and stakeholders to respond to the call to action.
Posted by dlife at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
Cutting Caffeine May Help Control Diabetes
January 29, 2008
January 29, 2008 (EurekAlert) - Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes and may undermine efforts to control their disease, say scientists at Duke University Medical Center.
Researchers used new technology that measured participants’ glucose (sugar) levels on a constant basis throughout the day. Dr. James Lane, a psychologist at Duke and the lead author of the study, says it represents the first time researchers have been able to track the impact of caffeine consumption as patients go about their normal, everyday lives.
The findings, appearing in the February issue of Diabetes Care, add more weight to a growing body of research suggesting that eliminating caffeine from the diet might be a good way to manage blood sugar levels.
Lane studied 10 patients with established type 2 diabetes and who drank at least two cups of coffee every day and who were trying to manage their disease through diet, exercise and oral medications, but no extra insulin. Each had a tiny glucose monitor embedded under their abdominal skin that continuously monitored their glucose levels over a 72-hour period.
Participants took capsules containing caffeine equal to about four cups of coffee on one day and then identical capsules that contained a placebo on another day. Everyone had the same nutrition drink for breakfast, but were free to eat whatever they liked for lunch and dinner.
The researchers found that when the participants consumed caffeine, their average daily sugar levels went up 8 per cent. Caffeine also exaggerated the rise in glucose after meals: increasing by 9 percent after breakfast, 15 percent after lunch and 26 per cent after dinner.
“We’re not sure what it is about caffeine that drives glucose levels up, but we have a couple of theories,” says Lane, who is the lead author of the study. “It could be that caffeine interferes with the process that moves glucose from the blood and into muscle and other cells in the body where it is used for fuel. It may also be that caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline – the ‘fight or flight” hormone that we know can also boost sugar levels.”
Either way, he says, the higher sugar levels that result from caffeine are bad news for diabetic patients.
There are no current guidelines suggesting diabetics shouldn’t drink coffee, but Lane says that day may come, if further studies bear out their findings.
“Coffee is such a common drink in our society that we forget that it contains a very powerful drug – caffeine. Our study suggests that one way to lower blood sugar is to simply quit drinking coffee, or any other caffeinated beverages. It may not be easy, but it doesn’t cost a dime, and there are no side effects,” Lane says.
Posted by dlife at 01:56 PM | Comments (14)
Diabetes will be a Bigger Burden than Predicted
March 02, 2007
March 2, 2005 (EurekAlert) - By 2005, prevalence of diabetes in Ontario, Canada, had already exceeded the global rate that was predicted for 2030, according to an Article published in this week's issue of The Lancet. Thus WHO's predicted 39% rise in the global rate of diabetes from 2000 to 2030 might be a gross underestimate.
The number of people with diabetes has increased substantially during the past 20 years, making it one of the most costly and burdensome chronic diseases of our time. WHO predicts that the global diabetes prevalence in adults will reach 6.4% by 2030—a 60% increase since 1995, and a 39% rise from 2000 to 2030.
Lorraine Lipscombe (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada) and colleagues used population-based data from Ontario, Canada, to examine trends in diabetes prevalence, incidence and mortality from 1995 to 2005, to determine whether diabetes prevalence rates rose beyond predicted levels during that period. The authors found a 69% increase in diabetes prevalence between 1995 and 2005. This rise has already exceeded the 60% global increase, and the 65% Canadian increase that was projected to occur in the 35 years from 1995 to 2030. They acknowledge that Ontario might have a higher diabetes rate than other developed countries because of a high rate of immigration from regions, with more susceptible populations, such as south Asia. However, they argue that if similar trends are occurring throughout the developed world, than the size of the emerging diabetes epidemic will be far greater than anticipated.
The authors conclude: "Our data are important to enable policymakers to adequately prepare for the increasing burden of diabetes on health-care resources…[accordingly] effective public-health interventions to manage and prevent obesity are sorely needed. Future research should also focus on identification of high-risk sociodemographic groups for whom specific interventions might be required."
Posted by dlife at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
In India, Diabetes Takes One-Third of Family Income from Poor
February 06, 2007
February 6, 2007 (ADA) - The economic burden of diabetes in developing countries has risen substantially over the past decade, as the prevalence of this potentially fatal and often debilitating disease has also grown worldwide.
In India, which lacks a comprehensive health care system, the direct cost of diabetes has doubled since 1998, as it has in the United States. However, the economic burden upon low-incomes families is much higher in developing countries such as India, where reimbursement for care is low to nonexistent.
In India, poor urban families spend as much as 34 percent of their total income treating diabetes and its complications; the rural poor don’t fare much better, spending up to 27 percent of their income on health-related costs due to diabetes.
Not surprisingly, the economic burden for families grew along with the duration of their diabetes and the number of complications they developed.
To reach lead researcher Dr. Ambady Ramachandran, Ph.D., MD, Director, Diabetes Research Center, M.V. Hospital for Diabetes & WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Education & Training in Diabetes, email: ramachandran@vsnl.com.
Posted by dlife at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)