Diabetes complications linked to higher risk of dementia

Image: US Dept. of Justice

DIABETES DIGEST – July 14, 2015 – People who have diabetes and experience high rates of complications are more likely to develop dementia as they age than people who have fewer diabetic complications, according to a new study published ahead of print in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

The 12-year-long population-based study analyzed records from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database dating back to 1999 to identify 431,178 people who were older than 50 and newly diagnosed with diabetes. The researchers reviewed the records to determine how many people in the cohort were admitted to a hospital or had at least three outpatient medical visits for dementia after they were diagnosed with diabetes.

Study shows how “good fat” communicates with the brain

Sensory and sympathetic nerves connected to
brown fat through the nervous system. Sensory
nerves (red/orange) send information from fat
to the brain and sympathetic nerves (green/orange)
send the signal for fat to be activated or break down.

DIABETES DIGEST – Mar. 27, 2015 – Just as there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, body fat comes in two types, bad fat is white and forms the body’s store of energy. Good fat is brown and fuels the body’s “furnace” that generates body heat. It is abundant in animals that hibernate.

A new study in this month’s The Journal of Neuroscience, shows how brown fat in mice and hamsters communicates with the brain through sensory nerves to help regulate fat stores, and tells the brain how much is burned. This could lead to development of drugs to stimulate the activation of brown fat and increase the body’s metabolism rate.

When is the best time to exercise?

DIABETES DIGEST – Feb. 18, 2015 – People with type 2 diabetes are often told to exercise to help control their blood sugar. Few people ask, “what is the best time of day to exercise?” 

To find out, researchers led by Jill Kanaley, professor at the University of Missouri Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology tested whether exercising before or after dinner makes a difference. Their findings were published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. 

Lowering blood pressure in type 2 diabetes lowers mortality risk

Blausen.com staff via Wikipedia

DIABETES DIGEST – Feb. 12, 2015 – If you have type 2 diabetes, lowering your blood pressure may lower your risk of heart disease and dying from cardiovascular disease, according to an analysis of 40 clinical trials dating back to 1966.

The study looked at data from more than 100,000 people who participated in large randomized clinical trials that included an analysis of blood pressure-lowering treatments and vascular disease in type 2 diabetes. The new analysis appeared in the Feb. 10 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Night-shift work may boost risk of type 2 diabetes among black women

Night shifts may boost
type 2 diabetes risk.
– Copyright: Jason Stitt

DIABETES DIGEST – Jan. 29, 2015 – Black women who work nights may have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to their counterparts who have never worked nights, a new study shows.

The study by researchers at Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University involved 28,041 women participating in the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS)