Type 1 Diabetes As Common In Adults As Children, But Many Adults Misdiagnosed

Type 1 diabetes as common in adults as children, but many adults misdiagnosed

Type 1 diabetes is not predominantly a 'disease of childhood' as previously believed, but is similarly prevalent in adults, new research published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology shows.
Research by the University of Exeter Medical School using UK Biobank found that adults are as likely to develop type 1 diabetes as children, with more than 40 per cent of type 1 diabetes cases occurring after the age of 30.
But many of those with type 1 diabetes after the age of 30 are thought to have type 2 diabetes at first, and not initially treated with insulin to control blood sugar levels. Previous published research by the University of Exeter Medical school found that, on average, it took a year for those with type 1 diabetes who had been misdiagnosed with type 2 to be put on insulin (1).
Among the adults with type 1 diabetes to have been misdiagnosed is Theresa May, the Prime Minister, who was initially told by doctors she had type 2 diabetes and given tablets which did not control her blood sugar.
Distinguishing between type 1 or type 2 diabetes matters as it affects the treatment needed. In type 1 diabetes immune cells destroy the body's insulin producing beta cells and people need to be injected insulin to control blood sugar levels. With Type 2 diabetes there is still insulin produced so it can be treated initially with diet and tablet therapy.
Type 1 diabetes has been typically viewed as a disease of childhood and adolescence as it accounts for more than 85 per cent of diabetes in under 20s. (2)
But type 1 cases are harder to recognise and correctly diagnose in adults be Continue reading

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'It puts holes in the retina': Thousands at risk of blindness due to diabetes-linked eye disease

STEPHEN DUFFY WAS out shopping with his mother one Friday in May 2010 when the vision in his left eye became blurry.
“I said to her, ‘Where are you?’ That’s when I noticed it first.”
He went to the doctor, who said that he probably had an eye infection, and gave him antibiotics. But the problem was still there by Monday, so he went back to the doctor.
“He shone a torch in my eye and said that there was blood on the back of my eye and sent me to the Eye and Ear Hospital on Adelaide Road,” he told TheJournal.ie.
He was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that can be caused from diabetes type 1 or 2. The blood vessels behind his eye had burst, and the eye surgeon would have to weld them back together.
By Friday, a week after he first noticed a problem, he was going under laser eye surgery to try and save his sight at the age of 30. He was petrified.
“People absolutely take their eyesight for granted until there’s a problem. It gave me a new appreciation for people who have to deal with it.”
After months of monitoring his condition, Stephen then had to go under surgery again in December as his sight was still deteriorating and he wanted to save what was left of it.
Now he can see at four feet what someone with perfect eyesight can see at 24 feet.
“That’s something that needs to be put more out into the public domain – there are so many problems caused by diabetes – kidneys, heart, and lungs. Sight problems were something that I didn’t know a lot about – but it actually puts holes in the retina.”
According to Fighting Blindness, Continue reading

Drug that lowers blood sugar to combat type 2 diabetes ‘also helps fight obesity and heart disease’

A DRUG used to treat diabetes has been hailed a game changer after experts found it not only slashes blood sugar levels but can also protect against heart and kidney disease.
The drug, taken once a day, lowers blood pressure and combats obesity, one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.
Canagliflozin, sold under trade name Invokana, reduces the overall risk of heart disease by 14 per cent and slashed the risk of hospitalisation for heart failure by 33 per cent.
And researchers from The George Institute for Global Health, found it also had a "significant impact" on the progression of kidney disease.
Professor Bruce Neal described the findings as "exciting", adding they offer real hope to people with type 2 diabetes.
He said: "Coronary heart disease is the biggest killer by far for people with type 2 diabetes.
"Our findings suggest that not only does canagliflozin significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, it also has many other benefits too.
"We found it also reduced blood pressure and led to weight loss.
"Type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly all over the world and we need drugs that not only deal with glucose levels, but that also protect the many millions of people from the very real risks of stroke and heart attack."
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Invokana is known as a SGLT2 inhibitor and is a relatively new drug, that works to block the body's reabsorption of sugar or glucose.
It is already available to patients in the UK, prescribed by doctors to help manage type 2 diabetes.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) stated in 2014 canagliflozin Continue reading

Poor Diet Linked to Heart Disease and Type 2 Diabetes Mortality Rates

"You are what you eat" is a phrase that we have heard for years and years. Although this message may be stale at this point, it does make sense logically. Without nourishment, we could not survive. The types of food we eat and don't eat can play a role in our energy, mood, sleep, and overall well-being. Food is such an essential part of living that, over time, our daily choices can influence health.
In fact, poor diet has already been linked to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, to name a few. But, could how you eat be more directly linked to your mortality? A recent study suggests that there may be a connection.
The study, titled "Association Between Dietary Factors and Mortality From Heart Disease, Stroke, and Type 2 Diabetes in the United States" and published in the American Journal of Medicine, concluded that in 2012, there were 702,308 cardiometabolic deaths in the United States, including those from heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Of those people, almost half of them (45.4 percent) had a suboptimal intake of certain nutrients. Diet seemed to be linked most strongly to mortality in men (48.6 percent), people between the ages of 25-34 (64.2 percent), African Americans (53.1 percent), and Hispanic people (50.0 percent).
Each of the dietary factors were assessed based on two 24-hour food recalls, and all dietary intake was adjusted for total calorie consumption to reduce measurement error.
Self-reported demographics including, age, gender, race, ethnicity, and education were taken into consideration.
What the Study Tells Us
The Continue reading