Diabetes Atlas 2021
Confirming diabetes to be one of the “global health emergencies” whose prevalence is on the rise, a new research pinpoints at prolonged hours of sitting as one of the causes that needs urgent attention.
Diabetes
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Incidence of diabetes studied
The incidence rate has been arrived at by studying about 500 people over an eight-year period Incidence reflects the rate at which healthy people in the population acquire the disease The overall incidence of diabetes has been 20.2 per 1,000 person years of follow-up While the total number of diabetics in the country, which is known as prevalence, is estimated to be 35-40 million, the number of people who become diabetic every year was not known. Not anymore. The "first incidence study on diabetes and pre-diabetes in India' has been published in the March 2008 online edition of the Journal of Association of Physicians of India (JAPI). Unlike the prevalence study undertaken by many researchers, studying the incidence
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Managing diseases using stem cells
The strategy to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is to implant near the blood system the insulin producing beta cells derived from cord blood stem cells The implant for diabetes treatment is seen as a short term therapy It will take another 15 years to find a treatment for Parkinson's No to cancer treatment: "We don't promote stem cells for cancer treatment. Stem cells can't cure cancer,' said Colin McGuckin, Professor of Regenerative Medicine, Newcastle Centre for Cord Blood, U.K.
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The battle of the bulge
ELLIOT JOSLIN, a pioneering American researcher, argued vociferously until his death in 1962 that controlling the level of glucose in a person's bloodstream was the key to managing type 2 diabetes (the variant of the disease that appears later in life). Since the defining symptom of all types of diabetes is that the body cannot do this properly by itself, that made intuitive sense. It also seemed to make practical sense. His approach, which involved a combination of insulin treatment (insulin is the hormone most involved in regulating blood-sugar levels), exercise and a diet low in carbohydrates, showed promising results in the patients he treated at his clinic in Boston. Several big studies since Joslin's death appeared to vindicate him. One, published in 1993 in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirmed that carefully managing glucose levels delays the onset of complications. Another, the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study, published in 1998, looked at levels of a substance called glycated haemoglobin A1C (a reliable indicator of blood-glucose levels). Healthy people usually have A1C levels of 4-6%. Any level above 9.5% is considered extremely dangerous. The study found that those whose A1C levels were reduced by treatment to around 7% suffered fewer heart attacks and strokes than those whose levels were held at around 8%. Despite this evidence, the glucose-control hypothesis has always had its sceptics. The core of their doubt is that what is being treated is a symptom
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National plan on non communicable diseases
the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently launched a national programme on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases
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Expert team against diabetes
a global alliance of experts against diabetics was launched at a two-day workshop convened by the Pacific Northwest Research Institute in the us. Scientists and researchers from more than 20
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Eggplant controls type 2 diabetes
diabetics tired of diets heavy on bitter gourd can now find solace in the eggplant or brinjal (Solanum melongena). The vegetable is said to be extremely effective in controlling type 2 diabetes.
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US food authorities pander to drug companies
Never before in human history has food chemistry been so precarious for the health of billions. This stems from multinational
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Coping with the BIG 5
Lifestyle diseases are snuffing out lives and taking away productive years. The future looks menacing as India modernizes at blinding speed.
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Bytes
Fertile herbs A cocktail of herbal drugs can cure male infertility caused by diabetes, claims a research team from West Bengal. The team from Vidyasagar University has found that the cocktail
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Bytes
disabling protein: Antibiotics can now treat pneumonic plague. The protein that causes the rapid spread of the ailment, has been identified. Disabling the protein, called plasminogen activator, can