http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Two recent studies in the July issues of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) looked at surgical site infections and hyperglycemia, the technical term for high blood glucose, or high blood sugar. According to the first study "Relationship of Hyperglycemia and Surgical-Site Infection in Orthopaedic Surgery," high blood sugar is a concern during the post-traumatic and post-operative period and it may help to preoperatively identify a population of patients with musculoskeletal injuries who are at significant risk for infectious complications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-high-blood-sugar-obesity-surgical.html Surgery Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:56:21 EST news262454173 Metabolic syndrome, a term used to describe a combination of risk factors that often lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes, seems to be linked to lower blood flow to the brain, according to research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-cardiac-factors-linked-blood-brain.html Cardiology Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:55:50 EST news261824074 Middle-aged women who report having been physically abused as children are about two times more likely than other women their age to have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a larger waistline and poor cholesterol levels, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-middle-aged-women-child-abuse-victims.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:13:32 EST news261227603 A computer-software program more effectively controlled blood-sugar levels among critically ill patients than nurse-directed care did, according to the first large clinical trial of its kind. The results to be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-aids-blood-sugar-critically-ill.html Diabetes Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:07:30 EST news259855637 Researchers have developed a new scoring system that may better identify adolescents with the metabolic syndrome, a group at increased risk of later developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The study, to be presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, describes what the authors call "the first racial/ethnic-specific and sex-specific scoring system for the metabolic syndrome." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-score-diagnosis-metabolic-syndrome-children.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:50:01 EST news259838605 (HealthDay) -- Progress continues to be made on the development of an artificial pancreas, a device that would ease the burden of living with type 1 diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-artificial-pancreas-diabetes-patients.html Diabetes Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:40:01 EST news258549831 (AP) -- Half the nation's overweight teens have unhealthy blood pressure, cholesterol or blood sugar levels that put them at risk for future heart attacks and other cardiac problems, new federal research says. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-cdc-overweight-teens-heart.html Pediatrics Mon, 21 May 2012 03:46:57 EST news256790803 Research carried out at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD), University of Exeter, has concluded that it would be a safe and cost-effective strategy to screen people with type 2 diabetes who have not yet developed diabetic retinopathy, for the disease once every two years instead of annually. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-diabetic-retinopathy-screening.html Diabetes Mon, 07 May 2012 04:16:42 EST news255582960 (HealthDay) -- Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, and treating the disease often requires a personalized, multi-pronged approach, say new expert guidelines on treating high blood sugar levels, issued Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-diabetes-groups-issue-guidelines-blood.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:20:01 EST news254065273 The impaired substrate metabolism of diabetes patients is often expressed in an increase in fatty deposits in the cells of the heart muscle. Until now, the exact cause of this was unknown. Now, Austrian researchers at the MedUni Vienna in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism of MedUni Vienna in cooperation with the MR Centre of Excellence Vienna have shown that high blood sugar in combination with high levels of insulin – not an influx of fats – results in such deposits within a few hours. This could form the basis for even more heart-friendly treatments of diabetes patients, especially in the early stages of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-fatty-deposits-hearts-diabetes-patients.html Diabetes Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:06:23 EST news253785971 New evidence points to a hormone that leaves muscles gobbling up sugar as if they can't get enough. That factor, which can be coaxed out of fat stem cells, could lead to a new treatment to lower blood sugar and improve metabolism, according to a report in the April issue of Cell Metabolism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-hormone-lowering-blood-sugar.html Medical research Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:00:01 EST news252671404 Patients with high blood sugar run an increased risk of dying if they have a heart attack, and diabetics are less likely to survive in-hospital cardiac arrest than non-diabetics, reveals research at the Sahlgrenska Academy, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-high-blood-sugar-lowers-chances.html Cardiology Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:59:04 EST news251960336 (HealthDay) -- A new type of medication for type 2 diabetes helps to lower blood sugar levels when used in concert with insulin and other diabetes drugs, new research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-diabetes-drug-blood-sugar.html Diabetes Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:22:11 EST news251457714 TAK-875, a new treatment for type 2 diabetes, improves glycaemic (blood sugar) control and is equally as effective as the sulphonylurea glimepiride (a common drug treatment) but has a significantly lower risk of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and few side effects, according to the results of a phase 2 randomised trial published Online First in The Lancet. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-drug-glucose-hypoglycemia-diabetes-patients.html Diabetes Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:30:01 EST news249482802 In a reversal of two decades of medical reports, a Mayo Clinic study finds the frequency of nerve damage called diabetic polyneuropathy is similar in prediabetic patients and healthy people. Physicians should seek explanations other than prediabetes for patients who have painful small fiber polyneuropathy, the researchers say. The study was published in the February issue of Diabetes Care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-prediabetes-diabetic-polyneuropathies.html Diabetes Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:24:58 EST news249125066 The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that clinicians add metformin as the initial drug treatment for most patients with type 2 diabetes when lifestyle modifications such as diet, exercise, and weight loss have failed to adequately improve high blood sugar. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-acp-metformin-diabetes-based-ce.html Diabetes Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:00:01 EST news247768644 A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) injures the heart, even in patients without a history of heart disease or diabetes. Researchers found that elevated levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), a marker for chronic hyperglycemia and diabetes, were associated with minute levels of the protein troponin T (cTnT), a blood marker for heart damage. The high-sensitivity test they used detected levels of cTnT tenfold lower than those found in patients diagnosed with a heart attack. The findings, which are published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggest that hyperglycemia may be related to cardiac damage independent of atherosclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-elevated-glucose-undetected-heart.html Cardiology Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:31:14 EST news247404664 Scientists have discovered a missing link between the body's biological clock and sugar metabolism system, a finding that may help avoid the serious side effects of drugs used for treating asthma, allergies and arthritis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-discovery-safer-treatments-asthma-allergies.html Arthritis & Rheumatism Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:39:38 EST news243535124 A new study that takes a complete snapshot of adolescent cardiovascular health in the United States reveals a dismal picture of teens who are likely to die of heart disease at a younger age than adults do today, reports Northwestern Medicine research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-today-teens-die-younger-heart.html Health Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:47:26 EST news240688038 Maintaining good glucose control early in the course of type 1 diabetes could lessen the long-term risk of kidney disease, as measured by a common test of kidney function. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-intensive-diabetes-therapy-diabetics-kidneys.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:14:25 EST news240329657 More children should be screened for high cholesterol before puberty, beyond those with a family history of problems, according to wide-ranging new guidelines expected from government-appointed experts who are trying to prevent heart disease later in life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-advice-kids-cholesterol.html Health Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:16:40 EST news240167792 Findings from a recent University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center study show that multiple episodes of acute kidney injury during hospital stays for patients with diabetes are associated with a risk for developing chronic kidney disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-acute-kidney-injury-hospitalized-diabetic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:19:42 EST news239365174 What was hoped to be a promising new drug to protect the kidneys has failed to benefit diabetes patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results call into question the usefulness of the drug sulodexide. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-kidney-drug-international-trial.html Medications Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:12:49 EST news238954358 In a paper published today in Diabetologia, a team at Joslin Diabetes Center, headed by Mary R. Loeken, PhD, has identified the enzyme AMP kinase (AMPK) as key to the molecular mechanism that significantly increases the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and some heart defects among babies born to women with diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-clue-birth-defects-babies-mothers.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 17 Oct 2011 03:18:48 EST news238040279 Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found high levels of food toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) in infants. Excessive food AGEs, through both maternal blood transmission and baby formula, could together significantly increase children's risk for diseases such as diabetes from a very young age. A second study of AGEs in adults found that cutting back on processed, grilled, and fried foods, which are high in AGEs, may improve insulin resistance in people with diabetes. AGEs -- toxic glucose byproducts previously tied to high blood sugar -- are found in most heated foods and, in great excess, in commercial infant formulas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-inflammatory-food-toxins-high-infants.html Inflammatory disorders Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:16:07 EST news237050159 Researchers at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a powerful molecular pathway that regulates the liver's management of insulin and new glucose production, which could lead to new therapies for diabetes. The findings were published online this week in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-team-key-protein-excess-liver.html Medical research Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:09:46 EST news236430573 Controlling diabetes may someday involve mining stem cells from the lining of the uterus, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study published in the journal Molecular Therapy. The team treated diabetes in mice by converting cells from the uterine lining into insulin-producing cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-scientists-uterine-stem-cells-diabetes.html Medical research Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:26:08 EST news235225549 An estimated 366 million people worldwide now suffer from diabetes and the global epidemic is getting worse, health officials said Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-experts-million-people-diabetes.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:44:26 EST news235140248 Metabolic syndrome comprises a group of medical disorders that increase people's risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and premature death when they occur together. A patient is diagnosed with the syndrome when he or she exhibits three or more of the following characteristics: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat in the waist/abdomen, low good cholesterol, and higher levels of fatty acids (the building blocks of fat). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-metabolic-syndrome-kidney-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:47:28 EST news232944427 In a study, Identification of unrecognized diabetes and pre-diabetes in a dental setting, published in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Dental Research, researchers at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that dental visits represented a chance to intervene in the diabetes epidemic by identifying individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes who are unaware of their condition. The study sought to develop and evaluate an identification protocol for high blood sugar levels in dental patients and was supported by a research grant from Colgate-Palmolive. The authors report no potential financial or other conflicts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-dentists-people-undiagnosed-diabetes.html Dentistry Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:44:38 EST news229880665