Improvement in Outcomes of Clinical Islet Transplantation: 1999–2010

Secondhand smoke is linked to Type 2 diabetes and obesity

Medicalxpress.com: June 25, 2012 in Addiction

Adults who are exposed to secondhand smoke have higher rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes than do nonsmokers without environmental exposure to tobacco smoke, a new study shows. The results will be presented at The Endocrine Society’s 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

“More effort needs to be made to reduce exposure of individuals to second hand smoke,” said study co-author Theodore C. Friedman, MD, PhD, chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Charles R. Drew University, Los Angeles.

Studies have shown an association between cigarette smoking and an increased rate of Type 2 diabetes despite the fact that most smokers are leaner than nonsmokers and obesity is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Although some studies have suggested a relationship between Type 2 diabetes and passive, or secondhand, smoking, Friedman said these studies have not verified exposure to secondhand smoke through serum (blood) levels of cotinine. Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine, and serum cotinine measures a person’s exposure to tobacco smoke. Read more

Sulfonylureas Up Mortality Risk in Diabetes

By Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: June 24, 2012.

HOUSTON — Diabetic patients treated with three commonly prescribed sulfonylurea drugs had a 50% higher mortality risk compared with patients treated with metformin, data from a large retrospective cohort study suggested.

The relative risk ranged from 59% with glyburide to 68% with glimepiride. In the subgroup of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), glipizide and glyburide had significant associations with mortality versus metformin but not glimepiride.

“Metformin, when not contraindicated, should be the first-line agent prescribed to control blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes,” Kevin Pantalone, DO, of Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, said at a press briefing during ENDO 2012. Read More

Preventing or Better Managing Diabetes May Prevent Cognitive Decline

ScienceDaily (June 21, 2012)

Preventing diabetes or delaying its onset has been thought to stave off cognitive decline — a connection strongly supported by the results of a 9-year study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Earlier studies have looked at cognitive decline in people who already had diabetes. The new study is the first to demonstrate that the greater risk of cognitive decline is also present among people who develop diabetes later in life. It is also the first study to link the risk of cognitive decline to the severity of diabetes.

The result is the latest finding to emerge from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study, which enrolled 3,069 adults over 70 at two community clinics in Memphis, TN and Pittsburgh, PA beginning in 1997. All the patients provided periodic blood samples and took regular cognitive tests over time. Read more

Increased Risk of Diabetes Mellitus and Likelihood of Receiving Diabetes Mellitus Treatment in Patients With Psoriasis

Archderm.jamanetwork.com: June 2012.

Objective  To assess the risk of incident diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients with psoriasis and to evaluate DM treatment patterns among patients with psoriasis and incident DM.

Design  Population-based cohort study.

Setting  United Kingdom–based electronic medical records.

Patients  We matched 108 132 patients with psoriasis aged 18 to 90 years with 430 716 unexposed patients based on practice and time of visit. For our nested study, only patients who developed incident DM during our study time were included.

Main Outcome Measures  Incident DM and adjusted risk of pharmacotherapy among those with incident DM.

Results  The fully adjusted hazard ratios (95% CIs) for incident DM were 1.14 (95% CI, 1.10-1.18), 1.11 (95% CI, 1.07-1.15), and 1.46 (95% CI, 1.30-1.65) in the overall, mild, and severe psoriasis groups, respectively. Among those with incident DM and severe psoriasis, the adjusted risk for receiving DM pharmacotherapy was 1.55 (95% CI, 1.15-2.10). Read more

Rural Hispanic Populations at Risk in Developing Diabetes: Sociocultural and Familial Challenges in Promoting a Healthy Diet

Tandfonline.com: June 20, 2012.

Type II diabetes affects Hispanic populations disproportionately and is the fifth leading cause of death for Hispanic people in the United States (Smith & Barnett, 2005). Risk of diabetes is of great concern throughout the United States and is clearly of epidemic proportions for regions such as the Southwest and Texas where the primary minority populations are Mexican American. We conducted four focus groups with a total of 49 Hispanic participants (23 adults and 26 adolescents) from rural West Texas communities to gain insights about participants’ eating habits, knowledge of diabetes, and potential barriers to preventive care. From the data, we identified a three-tiered predisposition or vulnerability to diabetes—heredity; preferences for unhealthy, culturally based food; and temptations from U.S. mainstream fast food culture. These vulnerabilities added to the sociocultural concerns that participants identified—importance of parental and familial modeling; challenges to healthy eating based on a culturally based diet and mainstream fast food culture; and a lack of support from the larger sociocultural networks such as teachers, community leaders, and the media. From these data, we have a better understanding of familial and sociocultural factors that need to be addressed in the development of preventive public awareness and educational plans. Read More

Effectiveness of a Culturally Tailored Diabetes Self-Management Program for Chinese Americans

The Diabetes Educator: June 20, 2012.

The purpose of the study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of a diabetes self-management and education program for Chinese Americans in a support group format. The rationale for the study was to create culturally appropriate diabetes education and management programs in response to the growing diabetes prevalence among Chinese Americans. The investigators hypothesized that participants will have improved diabetes knowledge and practices, hemoglobin A1C, and social support. The study objectives were at least: 50% will have significant improvements in diabetes knowledge and practice activities, 30% of participants will have significant improvements in A1C, and 50% will report a gain in emotional support. Read more