Total Health Solution

Diabetes may lead to a greater risk for Alzheimer’s, dementia and memory loss  For people with Type 2 diabetes, there is an additional incentive for keeping the disease under management. Research shows a possible link between diabetes and cognitive decline, including increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. The scientific reason behind the link between diabetes and brain health is complex. Some scientists believe people with diabetes may also have insulin resistance or insulin deficiency that could damage brain cells enough to cause memory loss. Studies are underway to understand why 80 percent of people with Alzheimer’s disease also have some form of diabetes or disturbed glucose metabolism. However, so far, longitudinal research has not produced a consensus view regarding the link between blood glucose levels and cognitive impairment. Meanwhile, in South Florida, medical professionals are working with diabetic patients to minimize the risk of cognitive...

New diabetes research takes a page from the past with a drug from the 1950s Prior to Daniel Dyner having open-heart surgery four years ago, he appeared to be in great health. He had just moved to Key Biscayne from Venezuela, where he spent his time sailing around the world on solo trips to places like Trinidad, the Mediterranean and the coast of Africa. He swam nearly a mile every day and kept a strict diet. The 69-year-old Dyner was on the first lap of his daily swim in May 2013 when he “suddenly felt funny. He immediately went to see Dr. Gervasio Lamas, his cardiologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. “I remember this so distinctly,” said Dyner, now 73. “The guy said ‘stop’ and he ran over with two doctors. They said I had 24 hours to live.”  The next morning, Dyner underwent open-heart surgery. After that, his sugar levels went “completely crazy.” Now, Dyner is part of Lamas’ clinical trial at Mount Sinai, where Type 2 diabetics with a history of cardia...

Don’t wait until you have diabetes to make lifestyle changes Many patients who come into my office have no idea they are prediabetic. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is elevated, but not high enough to be classified as diabetic. There are 86 million people in the U.S. with prediabetes, but nine out of 10 don’t know they have it. This is alarming because 15-30 percent of people with prediabetes will develop Type 2 diabetes within five years without intervention. So what can you do? First, pay attention to the symptoms of diabetes, which include frequent urination, excessive hunger, increased thirst, weight loss, and blurred vision. Make an appointment with your primary care doctor right away if you have these symptoms. There are a number of risk factors that make patients more prone to becoming diabetic. Being overweight, sedentary, family history, having poor eating habits and smoking are factors that prompt me to test for diabetes. This is a simple blood test that can be d...

 HEALTH Why diabetes is different for women Diabetes is now near epidemic in India, with women among nearly half of those affected Anuja*, 28, says that she has been on a “waiting list” for some years now as far as marriage is concerned. “Because I am a diabetic, only men with some serious life-threatening medical condition or diabetic men apply. Knowing my medical status, all the ‘healthy’ prospective grooms and their families factor in family life, pregnancy, ability to perform household chores, and the cost of treatment,” she says. Six years after she first registered herself on a matrimonial website and lost all hope of finding a ‘normal groom’, she has now registered herself with a matrimonial service that focusses on bringing together people with diabetes. Systemic discrimination Anuja’s point is seconded by doctors too who notice a pattern of discrimination against diabetic women not only in terms of access to quality treatment but also in diagnosis, treatment and ...

Diabetes: Immune system can regulate insulin     Inflammation processes are responsible for the failure of insulin production in diabetes patients. The patients' own immune systems can contribute to treatment of this disease: researchers at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have found a feedback mechanism that could help maintain insulin production in overweight sufferers, as they report in the journal Immunity. In their study, the Basel-based researchers focused specifically on recently discovered ILC2 immune cells in the pancreas, where, under diabetic conditions, the protein IL33 is activated, among others. This protein stimulates the ILC2 cells, which trigger the release of insulin in overweight individuals using retinoic acid and could therefore be used to inhibit the failure of insulin production. The research conducted by scientists at the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at University Hospital Basel and the University of Ba...

Less than one-tenth of Americans eat enough vegetables, study says An overwhelming majority of Americans are skimping on their vegetables, according to a studyconducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).The US dietary guidelines recommend eating one and a half to two cups of vegetables per day. A dismal 9 percent of Americans are even claiming to meet that mark. That means at least 290 million residents are completely missing the mark. They aren't doing much better with fruit either, with only 12 percent of Americans eating one and a half to two servings per day. Come on, America. All it takes is some blueberry pancakes and a banana! Even a delicious, fruity baked good would count. But even that's asking too much. This isn't the first time this concern has been raised. Professor of nutrition and food studies Marion Nestle told the Guardianthat this study simply confirms "years of data" and is nothing new. "This report highl...

U.S. man with rare disease is first to undergo gene editing in the body 23     OAKLAND, Calif. — Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change a person's DNA to cure a disease. The experiment was done Monday in California on 44-year-old Brian Madeux. Through an IV, he received billions of copies of a corrective gene and a genetic tool to cut his DNA in a precise spot. "It's kind of humbling" to be the first to test this," said Madeux, who has a metabolic disease called Hunter syndrome. "I'm willing to take that risk. Hopefully it will help me and other people." Signs of whether it's working may come in a month; tests will show for sure in three months. If it's successful, it could give a major boost to the fledgling field of gene therapy. Scientists have edited people's genes before, altering cells in the lab that are then returned to patients. There also ...

Blood pressure of 130 is the new ‘high,’ according to first update of guidelines in 14 years By  Lenny Bernstein  and  Ariana Eunjung Cha   November 13 at 4:00 PM   Play Video   0:59 High blood pressure? Here's what you need to know The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and nine other groups redefined high blood pressure on Nov. 13.  (Melissa Macaya/The Washington Post) Leading heart health experts tightened the guidelines for high blood pressure Monday, a change that will sharply increase the number of U.S. adults considered hypertensive in the hope that they, and their doctors, will address the deadly condition sooner. The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and nine other groups redefined high blood pressure as a reading of 130 over 80, down from 140 over 90. The change, the first in 14 years, means that 46 percent of U.S. adults, many of ...

LI doctor leads study of Type 1 diabetes’ effects on the brain Dr. Alan M. Jacobson of NYU Winthrop, with $4.2M grant, is coordinating a research team to look for key predictors of cognitive impairments. Dr. Alan M. Jacobson, chief research officer at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. Photo Credit: Barry Sloan By Delthia Ricks   delthia.ricks@newsday.com Updated November 11, 2017 8:13 PM SEE COMMENTS   SHARE  For nearly a century, scientists have asked how diabetes affects the aging brain. Now a Long Island medical investigator — with the help of a $4.2 million grant — is beginning the hunt for answers. Dr. Alan M. Jacobson, chief research officer at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, has been awarded the money by the National Institutes of Health. He is to lead a consortium of medical centers throughout the United States and Canada with the aim of understanding how Type 1 diabetes affects the most complex organ in the known...

Does diabetes make a heart attack feel different  People with diabetes may not always feel classic symptoms like acute chest pain when they have a heart attack, according to a small study that offers a potential explanation for why these episodes are more deadly for diabetics. Researchers examined data from detailed interviews with 39 adults in the UK who had been diagnosed with diabetes and had also experienced a heart attack. Most of the participants reported feeling some chest pain, but they often said it didn’t feel like they expected or that they didn’t think it was really a heart attack. “Long term diabetes damages your heart in many ways (increased blocking of the heart’s blood vessels), but it also damages your nerves,” said study co-author Dr. Melvyn Jones of University College London. “So a bit like a diabetic might not feel the stubbing of their toe, they also feel less pain from damaged heart muscle when the blood supply gets cut off, so they don’t get the class...

Diabetes: Synthetic beta cells could lead to skin patch treatment Researchers design synthetic beta cells that could help people to manage their diabetes. A team of scientists has created synthetic pancreatic beta cells that automatically release insulin when they sense high blood sugar. In the journal Nature Chemical Biology, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh describe how they developed and tested the synthetic cells. Senior author Zhen Gu, a professor in biomedical engineering at both universities, and team hope that one day, the cells could be used in a noninvasive skin patch to treat diabetes. They found that just one injection of the synthetic beta cells kept blood sugar in diabetic mice at normal levels for 5 days. Diabetes is a disease that develops when the body has problems with using or producing insulin, a hormone that helps cells to take in and convert blood sugar, or glucose, into energy....