Lack Of Sleep Tied To Higher Risk Of Diabetes In Kids

Lack of sleep tied to higher risk of diabetes in kids

Reuters Health - Children who don’t get enough sleep may be more likely to develop diabetes than kids who typically get enough shuteye, a UK study suggests.
That’s because each additional hour of sleep children get at night is associated with a lower body weight, more lean muscle mass and less accumulation of sugars in the blood, researchers report in Pediatrics. Obesity and elevated blood sugar are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, which happens when the body can’t properly use or make enough of the hormone insulin to convert blood sugar into energy.
“These findings suggest increasing sleep duration could offer a simple, cost-effective approach to reducing levels of body fat and type 2 diabetes risk early in life,” senior study author Christopher Owen of St. George’s, University of London, said by email.
Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes because it was so rare in children. But today, it’s a common childhood health problem, in large part because millions of kids worldwide are overweight or obese, don’t get enough exercise, and eat too many sugary and fatty foods.
For the current study, researchers examined survey data on sleep habits and lab results from tests of risk factors for diabetes in 4,525 UK children age 9 or 10.
On average, the kids slept 10.5 hours on school nights, although sleep duration ranged from 8 to 12 hours.
Children who got less sleep in the study were more likely to have a risk factor for diabetes known as insulin resistance, when the body doesn’t respond normally to the hormone.
Kids who slept less were also more Continue reading

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Bacteria may cause Type 2 diabetes

Findings suggest anti-bacterial therapy or vaccines may be able to prevent or treat Type 2 diabetes
Bacteria and viruses have an obvious role in causing infectious diseases, but microbes have also been identified as the surprising cause of other illnesses, including cervical cancer (Human papilloma virus) and stomach ulcers (H. pylori bacteria).
A new study by University of Iowa microbiologists now suggests that bacteria may even be a cause of one of the most prevalent diseases of our time: Type 2 diabetes.
The research team led by Patrick Schlievert, professor and department executive officer of microbiology at the UI Carver College of Medicine, found that prolonged exposure to a toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria causes rabbits to develop the hallmark symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and systemic inflammation.
“We basically reproduced Type 2 diabetes in rabbits simply through chronic exposure to the staph superantigen,” Schlievert says.
The UI findings suggest that therapies aimed at eliminating staph bacteria or neutralizing the superantigens might have potential for preventing or treating Type 2 diabetes.
Obesity is a known risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes, but obesity also alters a person’s microbiome—the ecosystem of bacteria that colonize our bodies and affect our health.
“What we are finding is that as people gain weight, they are increasingly likely to be colonized by staph bacteria—to have large numbers of these bacteria living on the surface of their skin,” Schlievert say Continue reading

Exercising With Diabetes: How Much Is Enough?

Exercise is an effective way to improve the body's ability to use insulin and help control blood sugar levels—important goals for people with diabetes. But how much exercise does it take to achieve these benefits?
Starting a Program
Anyone who has diabetes should get the OK for a new exercise program from his or her diabetes care team. Topics to discuss include what activity level is appropriate and what (if any) special precautions to take, based on the type of diabetes, medications, current fitness state, complications, glucose levels and other factors.
Exercise Frequency & Timing
Researchers have discovered that when a muscle is exercised, it draws glucose out of the bloodstream for fuel, helping control levels of sugar in the blood. This effect continues not just during exercise, but for 24 to 72 hours afterward. For this reason, experts recommend people with diabetes exercise at least five days per week, if not every day. This ensures that the muscles draw sugar from the bloodstream continuously.
While science hasn't produced a definitive answer to how much time is enough for people with diabetes to exercise, here are some useful observations:
Many studies of diabetes and exercise have looked at the benefits of walking (or, in some cases, biking or jogging) for about 30 minutes per session. This amount has been found to be quite effective at helping to control blood sugar.
A group of Italian researchers followed a large number of people with diabetes for two years. The results of their study, published in Diabetes Care, found that people who got 38 minutes of exercis Continue reading

Statin-induced diabetes: incidence, mechanisms, and implications

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Emergence of new diabetes in RCTs
A clinically relevant concern with statin therapy is a significantly increased risk of new-onset diabetes in patients on statin therapy. The JUPITER trial reported a 25% increase with rosuvastatin 20 mg, over a median follow-up of 1.9 years, compared to those on placebo 9. Since then, several meta-analyses have confirmed a smaller but significant increase with various statins ( Table 1). The analysis by Sattar et al. in 91,140 subjects showed a 9% overall risk in 13 RCTs over a mean period of 4.0 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.09; 95% CI 1.02–1.17) 10. In a subsequent meta-analysis of five intensive-dose statin trials, Preiss et al. reported a significant increase in diabetes incidence with more intensive- vs. moderate-dose statin (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.04–1.22) in 32,752 subjects over a mean follow-up of 4.9 years 11. In general, there was no relationship between % LDL-C reduction and incident diabetes. Further analysis of baseline characteristics of the various trials reported a strong relationship between features of metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes (age, body mass index [BMI], hypertension, fasting glucose, and triglycerides) at baseline and subsequent development of diabetes 12– 14.
Of note, the risk–benefit ratio for CVD still clearly favored statin therapy in various studies, including JUPITER, in primary prevention 13, several secondary prevention studies 12, 14, and a meta-analysis of secondary prevention studies by Preiss et al. 11. Thus, regardless of whether or not diabetes was diagnosed during statin therapy, the CVD out Continue reading

3-Day Diabetes Meal Plan: 1,200 Calories

Eating with diabetes doesn't need to be restrictive or complicated.
Healthy eating is the cornerstone of managing diabetes, yet it can be a challenge figuring out what to eat to balance your blood sugar. Here we've created a delicious 3-day meal plan that makes it easier to follow a diabetes diet. In this plan you'll find a mix of nutritious foods including fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, like whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein sources, healthy fats and dairy.
This plan limits the amount of foods with refined carbohydrates (think white bread, white rice and sugar), added sugars and saturated fats, which can negatively impact your health if you eat too much. The carbohydrates are balanced throughout the day with each meal containing 2-3 carb servings (30-45 grams of carbohydrates) and each snack containing around 1 carb serving (15 grams of carbohydrates). The calorie and carbohydrate totals are listed next to each meal and snack so you can swap foods with similar nutrition in and out as you like. Eating with diabetes doesn't need to be restrictive or complicated. Incorporating a variety of foods, as we do in this meal plan, is a healthy and sustainable approach to managing diabetes.
Not sure if this is the right plan for you? Calculate your calorie level and find the diet meal plan that will work best for you.
Day 1
Meal Prep Tip: Cook or set aside an extra 1/2 cup of black beans tonight at dinner to have for lunch on Day 2. Be sure to rinse canned beans to get rid of excess salt.
Breakfast (298 calories, 32 grams carbohydrates)
• 1 cup nonfat pl Continue reading