Autism Risk And Maternal Diabetes With Obesity: What You Need To Know

Autism risk and maternal diabetes with obesity: What you need to know

Our experts provide perspective on new research linking diabetes and obesity during pregnancy with increased risk of autism
In today’s Pediatrics, researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report that they found a three- to four-fold higher rate of autism among children born to women who were both diabetic and obese during pregnancy.
The findings raise many questions and concerns. To provide perspective, we talked with epidemiologist Michael Rosanoff and developmental pediatrician Paul Wang. Dr. Wang is Autism Speaks’ senior vice president for medical research. Mr. Rosanoff is Autism Speaks’ director for public health research.
Q: Too often, this type of finding is taken as implying parents are somehow to blame for their children’s autism. Why would you urge against such an interpretation?
Michael Rosanoff: Autism is a complex condition caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. By environmental, researchers mean a broad range of nongenetic influences including maternal health and conditions in the womb. No one environmental factor causes autism by itself. So when we say an environmental factor increases the risk of autism, we are not saying that it causes autism. In other words, not all moms who are both diabetic and obese will have a child with autism. In fact, the vast majority will not.
Paul Wang: We welcome research that helps us identify some of the factors that increase the risk that autism will develop. But as Michael suggests, the vast majority of children exposed to these risk factors do not develop autism. Except in Continue reading

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Medication Adherence and Improved Outcomes Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Sarah E. Curtis, MPH; Kristina S. Boye, PhD; Maureen J. Lage, PhD; and Luis-Emilio Garcia-Perez, MD, PhD
Adherence to glucose-lowering agents was associated with a significant reduction in use of acute care resources without any increased total medical costs.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Examine the association between adherence to glucose-lowering agents (GLAs) and patient outcomes in an adult type 2 diabetes (T2D) population.
Methods: Truven’s Commercial Claims and Encounters database supplied data from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2014. Patients 18 to 64 years with T2D were included if they received a GLA from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011. Multivariable analyses examined the relationships among 3-year patient outcomes and adherence, defined as proportion of days covered 80% or more. Outcomes included all-cause medical costs, acute care resource utilization, and acute complications.
Results: Although there was no statistically significant difference in total costs when comparing adherent and nonadherent patients ($38,633 vs $38,357; P = .0720), acute care costs ($12,153 vs $8233; P <.0001) and outpatient costs ($16,964 vs $15,457; P <.0001) were significantly lower for adherent patients. Adherence was also associated with a lower probability of hospitalization (22.71% vs 17.65%; P <.0001) and emergency department (ED) visits (45.61% vs 38.47%; P <.0001), fewer hospitalizations (0.40 vs 0.27; P <.0001) and ED visits (1.23 vs 0.83; P <.0001), and a shorter hospital length of stay (2.16 vs 1.25 days; P <.0001). Adherent patients were also less likely to be diagnosed with an ac Continue reading

Foot Care and Exercise With Diabetes

Exercise is at the top of the to-do list for managing diabetes. But while staying active is important, so is paying attention to your feet, as diabetes complications can make your feet more susceptible to injury.
Diabetes requires extra foot care because the condition affects your blood flow and your nerves, explains foot health expert Robert Thompson, a certified pedorthist and executive director of the Institute for Preventive Foot Health in Birmingham, Ala. “Many people understand that diabetes can affect their hearts, but they don’t understand why their feet — the farthest point from the heart — are involved,” he says.
For about 40 percent of people with diabetes, complications will include peripheral diabetic neuropathy, nerve damage that affects the feet. With neuropathy, you might not feel when you develop a sore, blister, or even burn. To complicate matters, diabetes complications also include reduced blood flow, which means your body can’t heal as easily as someone without diabetes. That sets up a dangerous situation in which a tiny cut or irritation can lead to infection and even amputation.
How Exercise Can Affect Foot Care
Exercise that involves being upright and putting pressure on your feet, called weight-bearing exercise, can increase the chance of injury to your feet.
“Walking counts as a weight-bearing activity because you have the weight of the body on the soles of the feet,” explains Sheri Colberg-Ochs, PhD, a professor of exercise science in the human movement studies department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., and the co-autho Continue reading

One more cup of coffee a day could cut your risk of Type 2 diabetes

Researchers from Harvard University found that people who increased their coffee consumption by at least one cup per day over a period of years were 11% less likely to get Type 2 diabetes compared with people whose coffee-drinking habits didn't change.
On the flip side, people who dialed back their coffee habit by at least one cup a day were 17% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.
"Coffee is pretty fascinating," said Shilpa Bhupathiraju, a nutritional epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and the lead author of the paper. "It seems to be associated with a lower risk for many chronic diseases."
The findings in this study are based on statistical analysis of three long-term and large-scale studies that tracked the diet, lifestyle and medical conditions of more than 120,000 medical professionals over the course of 20 years.
Previous work has shown that chemical compounds in coffee, not the caffeine, are likely responsible for the association between coffee drinking and lower risk of Type 2 diabetes.
"We know that phenolic compounds in coffee improves glucose metabolism in animal models," Bhupathiraju said. "Coffee is also a really good source of magnesium, which has been associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes."
If that is the case, drinking more uncaffeinated coffee should be just as effective as drinking more caffeinated coffee in lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes. In this study, the researchers found that changes in decaffeinated coffee consumption had no statistical effect on risk. That may be because not enough participants made a major chan Continue reading

Assessing how controlled is your diabetes: hba1c range

Being diabetic there are a lot more complex things to handle other than your blood sugar. One of the thing that I dreaded most was the complex medical terminologies that were going above my head.
After having communicated with different diabetics around I felt that majority of the people have no idea about diabetes taxonomy and yes, there were people who just want to stay ignorant.
Try to study your disease in depth, it will not only save you from future complications but help you take right step in its proper management. In this blog, I will make an effort to introduce you with such terminologies in as simple way as possible.
One of the terms you may hear during your diagnosis is HBA1C.
So what is this HBA1C range?
Does it indicate anything about my diabetes management?
How to find my HBA1C range?
What number is the best bet to avoid complications in future?
We all try to find answers in this article.
What is hba1c range?
HBA1C refers to glycated hemoglobin.
Haemoglobin is a protein present in Red Blood Cells of our blood and is responsible to carry oxygen to different parts of our body.
When we eat food, the glucose present in it get dissolved in the blood and join hemoglobin. If the amount of glucose present in blood is large, more number of hemoglobin gets glycated and because of that, you will have high HBA1C numbers.
So, HBA1c range gives you the idea of your average blood sugar for a period of 2-3 months. If you are diabetic and want to know how you managed your condition for the past 2-3 months, then you should go for the HBA1C test.
But how it’s possible to get d Continue reading