27 February 2010

School Lunch Programs Are Causing Diabetes In Children

America's News Online
The lunches the children eat in school are anything but nutritious and certainly not good-tasting, as most Americans know from their own personal experience. That they cause Diabetes, as Senator Tom Coburn asserted at the Health Summit, cannot be dismissed, least of all because the Senator is a physician.
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Casey Johnson's death was from untreated diabetes, coroner says

CNN
Casey Johnson, heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, died of natural causes related to diabetes, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday.

Johnson, 30, may have been dead as long as two days before her body was found January 4 by a friend who was letting her stay in a guest house, according to the autopsy report made public Thursday.

The socialite had "a long history of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus that was poorly-controlled," the coroner said. She had been hospitalized at least twice because she did not take her insulin, the report said.
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20 February 2010

Diabetes Research Institute

From the Diabetes Research Institute website.
If you or someone you love has diabetes, then you know that diabetes is a devastating disease that causes so much pain and suffering. You know that diabetes robs children of the freedom and innocence of childhood; that it takes lives prematurely; and that patients worry about their future as they try to manage diabetes every minute of every day. The one thing you dream about: a cure for diabetes.

Thankfully, there are many charities and organizations devoted to the care of diabetes patients and the education of the public about diabetes. But there is only one national organization solely devoted to finding a cure for diabetes: the Diabetes Research Institute.

This has been our singular goal since our inception almost four decades ago. We maintain this steadfast commitment by putting the patient front and center of everything we do.
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Jack Postema's snowmobile ride for diabetes to span 3,700 miles

mLive
Postema is one of 72 riders participating in the event, know as MichCanSka, that was created to raise funds for diabetes research.

Riders, who break into three groups traveling one day apart, will attempt to cover 200 miles per day. They’re scheduled to arrive in Tok, Alaska, about 319 miles northeast of Anchorage, by the second week in March.

For Postema, it will be an adventure unlike any other. He says his endurance will be tested as he navigates the rugged Canadian wilderness in sub-zero temperatures.
More about this story.
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FDA Approved Diabetes Drug Despite Hints at Cancer Risk

Business Week
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is defending its decision in late January to approve a new diabetes drug, Victoza (liraglutide), even though animal studies suggest it might increase the risk for a rare thyroid cancer.

Victoza, among a class of medicines called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, is meant to be used along with diet and exercise to control blood sugar by helping the pancreas make more insulin after a person eats.

FDA officials explained the agency's stance on the drug in a Perspective article published online Feb. 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

More to the story HERE.
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Funding boost for type 1 diabetes research

Media-Newswire
A new treatment for type 1 diabetes could be a step closer thanks to a EU grant of €10.9 million.

Two University of Bristol academics are part of a group of 14 leading researchers who have received the award. Professor Polly Bingley and Dr Colin Dayan will collaborate with researchers from eight European countries to develop and trial "natural immunomodulators" to change the immune process that destroys the insulin making cells in this condition.

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile onset diabetes, affects over 100,000 adults and children in the UK and results in a life-long dependence on insulin injections.

Professor Bingley's research group have shown that children who are going to develop type 1 diabetes can be identified many years in advance by testing for particular antibodies in their blood.

Read MORE.
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Type 2 Diabetes Cases To Rise 98 Percent By 2020

eMAx Health
Due to rising obesity rates, a 2020 prediction states type 2 diabetes could raise up to 98 percent. The report "A prediction of Obesity Trends for Adults and their associated diseases: Analysis from the Health Survey for England 1993-2007" published today is an updated report from research released in 2007. Diabetes isn't the only disease that will be on the rise, heart disease and cancer will also increase because of obesity.

Oxford University's Kim McPherson, of the National Heart Forum, produced the updated analysis of 2020 overweight and obesity rates using recent information from Health Survey for England (HSE). McPherson calculated the new data then compared it to previous estimates published in 2004.
More.
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Cholesterol drugs up diabetes risk slightly: study

Reuters
The finding is unlikely to dent the use of best-selling pills like Pfizer Inc's Lipitor and AstraZeneca Plc's Crestor by the majority of patients.

It could, however, prompt a rethink among those with low cardiovascular risk factors who are tempted to take statins to prevent future heart disease.

Statins are among the most successful drugs of all time and have been credited with preventing millions of heart attacks and strokes. They generally have few adverse side effects.

More about this story HERE.
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