Babies whose mothers had diabetes during pregnancy may be less able to form early memories than children whose mothers had normal pregnancies, a US researcher said on Friday.
The study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco, suggests that babies deprived of oxygen and iron before birth are not as able to develop early memories.
The need for iron doubles during pregnancy because it is used to make blood cells for the fetus. In pregnant mothers with diabetes, fluctuating glucose levels can result in iron deficiency, which can reduce the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen.
“When oxygen and iron deficiencies occur prenatally, they alter the development of memory,” said Tracy DeBoer of the University of California Davis.
DeBoer studied infants of diabetic mothers at 12 months and again at age 3 1/2. Her study suggested that memory deficits that appeared at one year persisted into early childhood.
She did not specify which type of diabetes the mothers had, but type-1, type-2 and gestational diabetes all affect blood sugar levels.
In the older group, the babies were shown a series of nine objects in three levels of difficulty. In the highest level of difficulty, babies whose mothers had been diabetic during pregnancy on average could recall two fewer objects than those whose mothers had a normal pregnancy.
The finding was consistent with the deficits measured in a simpler test of infants at 12 months, she said.
The notion that babies could recall anything at all in the first two years of life is relatively new.
Researchers have long thought that childhood amnesia - the inability to remember early life - was because babies could not form memories, but researchers at the meeting said new studies suggested infants could recall things as early as four months of age.
Duke University researcher Patricia Bauer told the meeting new studies suggest that infants do form memories by late in the first year that are similar to adults, but “the rate of forgetting is faster than in adults.”
Memories from early childhood that survive this process of forgetting tend to be particularly meaningful, she added.
There’s new hope for those prone to diabetes, but it involves getting off the couch, getting exercise and breathing better.
A Colorado State University researcher has found that it’s not just congenital bad genes that dictate whether someone will get Type II diabetes but the way genes change through a lifetime of use and misuse.
Regular moderate exercise can help restore the aerobic-anaerobic balance in muscles and, therefore, in the genes that carry the codes for those muscles, according to preliminary research by Andre Ptitsyn, researcher in CSU’s veterinary and biological sciences centers.
If follow-up studies confirm the essential role of aerobic balance in diabetes, it will mean that weight control alone won’t be enough to lower the risk of Type II diabetes.
But it also will mean that almost anyone can greatly lower the risk of Type II diabetes with proper exercise.
Ptitsyn was at a diabetes conference in Keystone in 2003 when he heard two speakers talk about a fascinating study.
By the next lunch break, he was downloading their data, finding an area the other two scientists hadn’t been focusing on when they studied the differences in makeup in older men who did and didn’t have diabetes.
“It looks like the major driving force is somewhat linked with the lack of oxygen, or hypoxia,” Ptitsyn said.
In fact, the same genes that differ wildly in people prone or not prone to altitude sickness show fluctuation in those with or without diabetes.
When he charted the 43 men in their 60s, based on their oxygen levels, the result was “a comet’s tail,” with several very healthy people forming the comet’s core, and several others trailing to form the tail. Those with increasingly worse oxygen capacity were farthest down the road toward contracting full-fledged diabetes.
“What we see gives us hope that we can capture the stage of progression” from a blip at the metabolic level to full-scale diabetes, he said.
If so, each person can be monitored for the rate of progression from ideal health, letting each know “how fast you are traveling down the road,” he said.
Of course, the hope is that earlier warning signals will get people to modify their lifestyles.
There is also the chance that medicine can be designed to target the unique genes of the individual person, something that is just a dream now.
“Physical e?ercise is the natural way through the loophole, by keeping the energy balance between aerobic and anaerobic metabolism,” Ptitsyn said.
Sprinters can run the 100-yard dash barely taking a breath, so the main muscle work is anaerobic, creating energy from blood sugar alone.
Marathoners or people who take nice long hikes rely on aerobic energy. For that, oxygen, breathed into the lungs and sent through the capillaries to the muscles, combines with blood sugar to supply energy.
It takes more effort and it takes a nicely working oxygen-to-blood transfer, but it allows a person to keep going for hours without a shutdown of energy.
If people prone to diabetes can build some of the oxygen efficiency of the marathoner, they might radically lower their risks.
The first of a new class of oral antidiabetic drugs is able to lower blood sugar (glucose) in type 2 diabetes as well as Avandia (rosiglitazone) does, but without causing weight gain, according to a report in the journal Diabetes Care.
The new agent, vildagliptin, also known by the brand name Galvus, is awaiting regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe. The new drug class, dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) inhibitors, improves cell responsiveness to glucose, the authors explain.
Dr. Julio Rosenstock from the Dallas Diabetes and Endocrine Center, and colleagues compared the effectiveness and tolerability of vildagliptin versus rosiglitazone (the generic name for Avandia) in nearly 800 patients with previously untreated type 2 diabetes.
At the beginning of the study, the patients’ average hemoglobin A1c level (HbA1c), a measure of long-term glucose control, was 8.7 percent. (Normal HbA1c levels are less than 7 percent). It decreased by 1.1 percent with vildagliptin treatment, with most of the decrease occurring within the first 12 weeks, the investigators report. Patients treated with rosiglitazone had a 1.3 percent decrease in HbA1c, with maximum reduction occurring at week 16.
Patients who were not obese (body mass index below 30) fared better than heavier patients with vildagliptin, the team found.
Vildagliptin treatment was associated with stable body weight during treatment and a significant decrease in the “bad” cholesterol, including triglycerides, LDL, and non-HDL cholesterol, compared with rosiglitazone treatment, the researchers note. Patients taking rosiglitazone experienced a significant average increase in weight of about 3.5 pounds.
Vidlagliptin and rosiglitazone are both effective in reducing blood glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients who have not received prior anti-diabetic drug treatment, the investigators conclude. Along with being well-tolerated, vildagliptin does not cause weight gain, which is an important consideration in selecting the first drug to treat type 2 diabetes patients.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, February 2007.
When should an annoying health complication become a serious concern? When you suspect you could be at risk developing diabetes. Although the causes of diabetes are unknown, knowing your risk factors could save your life.
At 17-years-old, Paul Cootes, Jr. is a diabetic. “You don’t take life for granted anymore,” said Cootes.
Four years ago, Cootes’s life started to change. “For awhile, I’d come home, fall on the couch, and just fall asleep. My dad had to wake me up,” explained Cootes.
Cootes said a habit revealed an underlying disease, “I bite my finger nails all the time. I had an infection and it wouldn’t heal up.”
Cootes parents knew something was wrong. A series of tests revealed type two diabetes. “The warning signs are more subtle in type two diabetes,” said Janet Stewart, a registered nurse at the Southeast Diabetic Center.
Cootes said you should be tested, “If you’re tired and you’re fatigued for a good reason, but that last more than 2 or 3 days, and you’ve had a good rest.”
Other symptoms of type 2 diabetes may include:
Slow-healing sores or cuts
Itching of the skin (usually around the vaginal or groin area)
Frequent yeast infections
Recent weight gain
Velvety dark skin changes of the neck, armpit and groin, called acanthosis Nigerians
Numbness and tingling of the hands and feet
Decreased vision
Impotency
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes may include:
Increased thirst
Increased hunger (especially after eating)
Dry mouth
Frequent urination
Unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry)
Fatigue (weak, tired feeling)
Blurred vision
Headaches
Loss of consciousness (rare)
1 whole graham cracker, crushed
1 package of sugar-free lemon gelatin
2/3 cup boiling water
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
8 ounces fat-free cream cheese
2 cups low fat whipped topping
1 cup low-sugar cherry pie filling
Spray an 8-inch spring form pan or a 9-inch pie plate lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle bottom with graham cracker crumbs. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; pour into blender. Add cottage cheese and fat-free cream cheese, cover. Blend at medium speed, scraping down sides, until smooth. Pour into a large bowl and gently stir in whipped topping. Pour into pan. Chill until set, about 4 hours. When ready to serve, top cheesecake with cherry pie filling. Makes 8 servings.
Nutritional Information (1 serving):
Calories: 94
Carbohydrates: 12 grams
Protein: 8 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Saturated fat: 1 gram
Cholesterol: 26 mg
Fiber: trace
Sodium: 300 mg
Potassium: 92 grams
Calcium: 43 mg
Exchanges: 1 starch and 1/2 very-lean meat
(from the South Dakota Diabetes Control Program cookbook)
A DEVICE developed at the University of Toledo holds great promise for the painless management of diabetes. Short of a cure, the development of a non-invasive glucose monitoring device could be the best news yet for millions of Americans who are forced to regularly test their blood glucose levels.
6 skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Oil a 9 X 13 inch pan. Combine chicken, flour, paprika, garlic salt, and pepper in a plastic bag. Shake. Place chicken on the oiled pan and bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until browned. Makes 6 servings.
Nutritional Information (1 serving):
Calories: 188
Carbohydrates: 8 grams
Protein: 28 grams
Fat: 4 gram
Saturated fat: 1 gram
Cholesterol: 73 mg
Fiber: 1 gram
Sodium: 153 mg
Potassium: 238 mg
Calcium: 15 mg
Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 4 very lean meat
(from the South Dakota Diabetes Control Program cookbook)
1 pound fresh or frozen red snapper
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoons black pepper
Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels. Cut fish into 4 servings. Brush lime juice on top of fish. In a small bowl combine paprika, salt, ginger and black pepper; rub onto fish. Arrange fish in a baking pan. Bake uncovered in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Makes 4 servings.
Nutritional Information (1 serving):
Calories: 112
Carbohydrates: 1 gram
Protein: 22 grams
Fat: 2 grams
Saturated fat: 1 gram
Cholesterol: 40 mg
Fiber: trace
Sodium: 183 mg
Potassium: 460 mg
Calcium: 36 mg
Exchanges: 3 very lean meat
(from the South Dakota Diabetes Control Program cookbook)
Most patients didn’t manage their symptoms before attack, study found.
Diabetes risk factors are still not well-controlled in patients, even though the disease increases their stroke risk, a new study finds.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, analyzed data on nearly 50,000 stroke patients with diabetes.
They found that these patients had high rates of obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol disorders, and poor control of blood sugar at the time of the stroke.
The data came from the American Stroke Association’s Get With the Guidelines - Stroke program. The findings are expected to be presented Wednesday at the American Stroke Association’s annual meeting, in San Francisco.
Patients with undiagnosed diabetes when their stroke occurred had poorer control of their diabetes risk factors than patients who’d been diagnosed with diabetes prior to their stroke, the researchers said.
Stroke patients with undiagnosed diabetes may be at greater risk of recurrent stroke and cardiovascular complications, the study authors warned.
“There are good evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing and treating risk factors for diabetes, but those guidelines have thus far not translated into better risk factor management,” Dr. Lee Schwamm, MGH’s vice chairman of neurology and director of acute stroke services, said in a prepared statement.
“These results show that more emphasis is needed on early diagnosis of diabetes and management of risk factors in people who have diabetes,” Schwamm said.
A team from the University of Western Sydney’s Centre for Complementary Medicine Research (CompleMED) is working with the Cardiac Health Institute to find out if the medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, can reduce high blood sugar, often a precursor to diabetes - as well as treat other health problems.
The clinical trial is the first of its kind to rigorously test the mushroom - known in Asia as the ‘King of herbs’, because of its huge range of medicinal properties - and needs 170 Sydneysiders to take part.
UWS PhD researcher Nerida Klupp hopes the findings contribute to western medicine’s knowledge of this Chinese herb, and provide much-needed clinical evidence of a possible new treatment for people with metabolic syndrome.
“Many people in Australia have high blood sugar, which is often classified as diabetes or pre-diabetes. Many also have other medical problems such as high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol,” she says.
“Scientists and doctors now know these conditions are linked, and a person with at least three of these health problems is diagnosed with a condition called metabolic syndrome - also called ‘Syndrome X’.”
“Affluent countries with lazy lifestyles and bad diets are at particular risk, with 44 per cent of Americans aged over 50 years of age diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. While we don’t really know how prevalent the condition is here in Australia, we suspect similar trends to those in the United States,” Ms Klupp says.
“Currently there is no single pharmaceutical treatment for metabolic syndrome, which is why we are conducting the first randomised clinical trial to test if this medicinal mushroom can offer western medicine an effective, long-term treatment to help lower blood sugar as well as control other problems associated with the condition,” he says.
Nerida Klupp says the mushroom has been revered in Asia for over 2000 years.
“Ganoderma lucidum, which is also known as Reishi, has long been used to fight a wide range of diseases, and was thought to be the ‘elixir of immortality’ - enhancing vitality and helping to delay ageing,” she says.
Thankfully, there has been increased cultivation of the herb over the last thirty years, and preliminary animal and human pilot studies have proved promising, suggesting it can have a positive effect on blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels and blood fats.
Traditionally, Ganoderma lucidum has been considered to be even more potent when taken in combination with another medicinal mushroom called Cordyceps sinensis.
“Cordyceps is also thought to have significant health properties, so we want to find out if Ganoderma is effective on its own, or whether it works better in combination with the second mushroom,” says Ms Klupp.