Type 1 Diabetes: Scientists Step Closer To A Cure

An accidental drug discovery could be the answer to preventing and curing type 1 diabetes, as scientists embark on new trials to find out if a blood pressure drug will work for other illnesses

A drug normally used for blood pressure, heart complaints and migraines could hold the key to curing type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 is the genetic strain of the disease, as opposed to type 2, which is more common (90 per cent of diabetes patients in the UK have type 2).There are around five million diabetes sufferers in the UK, 10 per cent have Type 1 (REX)

Type 2 diabetes is caused by lifestyle factors such as being overweight, and in many cases can be managed or even reversed by lifestyle changes. But because type 1 is caused by the body's failure to make insulin, it needs to be treated medically.

Currently there is no cure or prevention for type 1 diabetes. Instead it's managed with careful monitoring and reactive treatment. But unexpectedly, research into the drug Verapamil, has given scientists hope that a more effective treatment could be in sight.

Insulin is a protein that we need to keep our blood sugar level stable. It works by enabling sugar in the blood stream to enter cells where the body can use it as energy.

When you eat, the food is broken down into sugars, which enter the blood stream, raising our blood sugar level.

When this happens, a signal is sent to the pancreas, telling the cells to make insulin. It does this and releases it into the blood stream, where the insulin unlocks pathways into the cells for the sugar to be absorbed and used. This in turn lowers our blood sugar level.

Diabetics need to regularly test their blood sugar levels and inject insulin if required.

Tests on mice and on human cells have shown that the drug could help reduce the amount of a protein called TXNIP in the body, which has been found to thwart pancreas cells when they try to make essential insulin.

The next step in the research is for the team at The University of Alabama in Birmingham, US, to begin conducting human trials. They've been given a grant of $2.1million over the next three years to investigate.

It's an exciting development because this type of treatment has never been tried before and could be the key to helping the body's own cells to make the insulin it needs, returning it to normal function.

The drug could also potentially be used to treat more extreme cases of Type 2 diabetes, where lifestyle changes have failed.

https://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/type-1-diabetes--scientists-step-closer-to-a-cure-135149095.html

5 Scary Health Conditions Your Dentist Can Spot

[Rex]

“It’s becoming clear that we need to consider integrating oral and general health care,” says Steve Offenbacher, D.D.S., director of the Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The oral cavity is the mirror to the rest of the body, so we can pick up on systemic problems by simple dental examinations.” In other words, the state of your smile may shine a light on the rest of your body — sometimes even before other symptoms show up.

Case in point: Offenbacher once told a middle-aged patient he suspected she was pregnant, based simply on the redness of her gums. “The next week, she came back and said, ‘I went to the doctor, and yes, I am pregnant!’’ he recalls. In that case, Offenbacher was the bearer of good news, but not all of the secrets your mouth may reveal are so positive. Your teeth may also provide clues about these five health-threatening conditions:

Diabetes

Your dentist isn’t just worried about how white your teeth are. In a 2014 study, nearly two-thirds of dentists said they’d refer a patient with periodontitis (inflammation around the gums) for a diabetes evaluation. Why that’s a good thing: “Diabetes is not only a common problem, but it’s also highly under-diagnosed,” says Offenbacher. Read: Lots of people have diabetes and don’t know it, which means adding your dentist to your team of health detectives is a smart idea.

So what’s the dental-diabetes link? High blood sugar may be as damaging to your oral health as the sweet stuff in a can of soda. That’s because the condition can cause dry mouth, which increases plaque build-up, making people with uncontrolled diabetes more prone to dental problems.

“[Periodontal disease in diabetics] is usually severe for their age or for local factors, meaning they have pretty clean mouths, but they still have a periodontal problem,” says Offenbacher.

Two common oral signs of diabetes: multiple abscesses on the gums and bad breath. “It’s kind of a sour fruit smell,” Offenbacher says. “It’s ketones — metabolic products associated with poor glycemic control — in their bloodstream that you can smell.”

[Rex]

Heart disease

Your teeth may reveal what’s going on with your ticker. A 2007 study review found that people with periodontal disease are significantly more likely to develop heart disease than folks with good oral health. Among people who have both diseases, “if the periodontal disease is treated, the heart disease is greatly improved,” says Marjorie Jeffcoat, D.M.D., a professor and dean emeritus of dental medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The common thread? Inflammation. “When you look in a patient’s mouth and you see chronic inflammation, you know that it’s creating systemic stress,” says Offenbacher. 

Although there are no dental red flags specific to heart disease, “more severe periodontal disease is strongly associated with heart disease risk,” Offenbacher says. Signs include loose, shifting, or missing teeth, and increased probing depths, where the pockets around the teeth have deepened.

Dementia

Can tooth loss indicate memory loss? In recent British research, a lack of teeth was associated with mental decline, while a 2012 study found that older adults with poor dental hygiene were 76 percent more likely to develop dementia. This is a relatively new area of research, which means the link between the two isn’t entirely clear, says Jeffcoat. However, a small 2013 study detectedPorphyromonas gingivalis — a bacteria associated with gum disease — in the brains of people with dementia, suggesting that it may play a role in the inflammation associated with cognitive decline.

You expect your dentist to flag cavities, but did you know your drill-wielding doc might also be able to spot trouble that extends well beyond your pearly whites?

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis won’t cause your teeth to decay — but your dentist may be able to spot bone loss in the surrounding structures, like the jaw, with digital X-rays, says Jeffcoat. Normal, healthy bone should be dense both at the edges and in the interior, and when that’s not the case, “the patient is more likely to have osteoporosis,” she explains.

In fact, in a 2013 study in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, the thickness of postmenopausal women’s jawbones — as measured with a panoramic X-ray — was correlated with the bone density of their spine. This means that dentists could potentially diagnose osteoporosis, which often goes undetected until a fracture occurs, in its early stages, the scientists say.

Acid reflux disease

You may feel heartburn most intensely in your chest, but its effects may be most obvious in your mouth. If you have acid reflux disease, the constant uprising of stomach acid could wear away at the enamel on your teeth, says Jeffcoat. “You’ll usually see it in the lower front teeth,” she says. “You’ll see erosion of the teeth — they get thinner. You can’t miss it.” Another sign you may be suffering from acid reflux disease: You have a persistent sour taste in your mouth, she says. 

In a 2008 study review, researchers found that about a third of adults with dental erosion also had gastrointestinal esophageal reflux disease, or GERD. Keep in mind, this erosion can happen even in the absence of chest pain — that is, you may have reflux without knowing it, until your dentist points out the damage to your choppers. 

https://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/5-scary-health-conditions-your-dentist-can-spot-140548144.html

Do artificial sweeteners raise diabetes risk?

"Artificial sweeteners may promote diabetes, claim scientists," reports The Guardian. But before you go clearing your fridge of diet colas, the research in question – extensive as it was – was mainly in mice.

The researchers' experiments suggest artificial sweeteners, particularly saccharin, change the bacteria that normally live in the gut and help to digest nutrients.

These changes could reduce the body's ability to deal with sugar, leading to glucose intolerance, which can be an early warning sign of type 2 diabetes.

The researchers only directly tested the effect of saccharin in an uncontrolled study on just seven healthy adults over the course of a week. It is far too early to claim with any confidence that artificial sweeteners could be contributing to the diabetes "epidemic".

In the interim, if you are trying to reduce your sugar intake to control your weight or diabetes, you can always try to do so without using artificial sweeteners. For example, drinking tap water is a far cheaper alternative to diet drinks.

What kind of research was this?

This was animal and human research looking at the effect of artificial sweeteners on bacteria in the gut and how this influences glucose metabolism.

Because of differences between species, results in animals may not always reflect what happens in humans, but they allow researchers to develop a better idea of how things might work.

They can then use this knowledge to develop ways to test their theories using information that can be obtained in humans. This study has carried out both the animal and early human tests of their theories. But the human part of this study was relatively limited, as the focus was on the animal research.

The researchers carried out a cross-sectional analysis of artificial sweetener exposure and indicators of metabolic problems and gut bacteria. This approach is not able to determine whether the sweetener could be contributing to the outcomes seen, or vice versa.

The researchers also tested the short-term effect of saccharin on people who never consumed the sweetener, but without a control group.

What were the basic results?

The researchers found both lean and obese mice consuming the artificial sweeteners saccharin, sucralose or aspartame in their water over 11 weeks developed glucose intolerance, while those consuming just water, glucose or sucrose did not.

Saccharin had the greatest effect on glucose intolerance, and the researchers focused most of their experiments on this sweetener. It caused glucose intolerance within five weeks when given at a dose equivalent to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maximum acceptable daily intake in humans.

The researchers found the mice consuming the artificial sweeteners did not differ in their liquid and food consumption or their walking and energy expenditure compared with the controls. These factors were therefore considered to not be causing the glucose intolerance.

However, treating mice with antibiotics stopped the artificial sweeteners having this effect. Mice with no gut bacteria developed glucose intolerance when the researchers transplanted gut bacteria taken from mice consuming saccharin or being treated with saccharin in the lab. These results suggest the sweeteners were having some effect on the gut bacteria, which was causing the glucose intolerance.

The researchers also found drinking saccharin changed the types of bacteria in the mice's guts. Drinking water, glucose or sucrose did not have this effect.

The bacteria in the gut are involved in helping to digest nutrients. The specific changes seen in mice consuming saccharin suggest the sweeteners could be increasing the amount of energy that could be harvested from these nutrients.

In their human studies, the researchers found:

• Long-term artificial sweetener consumption in 381 people who were not diabetic was associated with greater waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, levels of glucose in the blood after fasting, and worse glucose tolerance.
• People who consumed artificial sweeteners had a different gut bacteria composition from people who did not consume artificial sweeteners.
• Four out of seven healthy adult volunteers who did not normally consume artificial sweeteners developed worse glucose tolerance after consuming the maximum US FDA-recommended level of saccharin for six days. These four people showed gut bacteria differences compared with the three people who did not show an effect, both before and after consuming the saccharin.
• Transfer of gut bacteria from the volunteers showing a response to bacteria-free mice caused the mice to develop glucose intolerance. This was not seen if they transferred gut bacteria from the non-responding human volunteers to mice.

Conclusion

This fascinating and controversial study in mice and humans suggests artificial sweeteners, particularly saccharin, could lead to glucose intolerance by having an effect on gut bacteria. The fact that both the animal and human experiments seem to support this adds some weight to the findings.

However, the researchers' investigations in humans are currently limited. They assessed the link between long-term artificial sweetener consumption and various indicators of metabolic problems, such as fat around the waist, using a cross-sectional design. This cannot establish which came first and therefore which could be influencing the other. Also, the only confounder in humans that seemed to be considered was body mass index.

The researchers also only directly tested the effect of one artificial sweetener (saccharin) in an uncontrolled study on just seven healthy adults over the course of a week. Saccharin is less commonly used than other artificial sweeteners, and the participants also consumed it at the maximum US FDA-recommended level (equivalent to 120mg a day).

The findings suggest – at least in the short term – saccharin may only affect glucose response in some people, depending on their gut bacteria. Larger studies, which also incorporate a control group, are needed to see whether they support the results and whether other sweeteners have similar effects.

Some earlier human studies have found links between artificial sweeteners and weight gain and increased diabetes risk. However, it has generally been assumed this is because the people who consume more artificial sweeteners because the sweeteners contain no calories already have problems with their weight, which is why they are at more risk, not vice versa (reverse causation).

This study raises the intriguing possibility that artificial sweeteners could also be directly affecting how our bodies respond to sugar. However, this research is only in its early stages, and we cannot say for certain whether artificial sweeteners are contributing to the diabetes epidemic.

In the interim, if you are trying to reduce your sugar intake, you can do so without replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners.

For people trying to lose weight and those with diabetes who are trying to control their blood sugar, it is important to do what works for them as this is more likely to be sustainable in the long term.

For some people, substituting food and drinks containing artificial sweeteners, rather than those containing sugar, may help with these goals.

At this stage, it is far too early to drop artificial sweeteners from the arsenal of sugar alternatives that could be used to fight the diabetes and obesity epidemic.

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/09September/Pages/Do-artificial-sweeteners-raise-diabetes-risk.aspx

10 medical reasons for feeling tired

Any serious illness, especially painful ones, can make you tired. But some quite minor illnesses can also leave you feeling washed out. Here are 10 health conditions that are known to cause fatigue.

Sick or tired?

If you’re getting your eight hours of sleep a night but still feel exhausted, it’s time to see a doctor.

It’s also worth seeking medical advice if you have any of these symptoms:

• confusion
• dizziness
• blurred vision
• unexplained weight loss or gain
• swelling
• constipation
• insomnia
• depression 
• headaches

1. Coeliac disease

Is a type of food intolerance where your body reacts badly when you eat gluten, a substance found in bread, cakes and cereals. There are 250,000 diagnosed cases in the UK, but research suggests that up to 90% of sufferers don’t know they have it. Other symptoms of coeliac disease, apart from tiredness, are diarrhoea, anaemia and weight loss. Your GP can check if you have coeliac disease through a blood test.

Read more about coeliac disease.

2. Anaemia

One of the most common medical reasons for feeling constantly run down is iron deficiency anaemia. It affects around one in 20 men and post-menopausal women, but may be even more common in women who are still having periods.

Typically, you’ll feel you can’t be bothered to do anything, your muscles will feel heavy and you’ll get tired very quickly. Women with heavy periods and pregnant women are especially prone to anaemia.

Read more about iron deficiency anaemia.

3. Chronic fatigue syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome (also called myalgic encephalomyelitis or ME) is a severe and disabling tiredness that goes on for at least six months. There are usually other symptoms, such as a sore throat, muscle or joint pain and headache.

Read more about chronic fatigue syndrome.

4. Sleep apnoea

Sleep apnoea is a condition where your throat narrows or closes during sleep and repeatedly interrupts your breathing. This results in bad snoring and a drop in your blood's oxygen levels. The difficulty in breathing means that you wake up often in the night, and feel exhausted the next day.

It’s most common in overweight, middle-aged men. Drinking alcohol and smoking makes it worse.

Read more about sleep apnoea.

5. Underactive thyroid

An underactive thyroid gland means that you have too little thyroid hormone (thyroxine) in your body. This makes you feel tired. You’re also likely to put on weight and have aching muscles. It’s most common in women, and it happens more often as you get older.

Your GP can diagnose underactive thyroid by taking a simpleblood test.

Read more about underactive thyroid.

6. Diabetes

One of the main symptoms of diabetes, a long-term condition caused by too much sugar in the blood, is feeling very tired. The other key symptoms are feeling very thirsty, going to the toilet a lot, and weight loss. Your GP can diagnose diabetes with a blood test.

Read more about diabetes.

Find your local diabetes support services.

7. Glandular fever

Glandular fever is a common viral infection that causes fatigue along with fever, sore throat and swollen glands. Most cases happen in teenagers and young adults. Usually, glandular fever symptoms clear up within four to six weeks, but the fatigue can linger for several more months.

Read more about glandular fever.

8. Depression

As well as making you feel very sad, depression can also make you feel drained of energy. And it can stop you dropping off to sleep or cause you to wake up early in the morning, which makes you feel more tired during the day.

Read more about depression.

Find your local depression support services and your localdepression self help groups.

9. Restless legs

This is when you get uncomfortable sensations in your legs, which keep you awake at night. You might have an overwhelming urge to keep moving your legs, or a deep ache in your legs, or your legs might jerk spontaneously through the night. Whatever your symptoms, your sleep will be disrupted and of poor quality, so you’ll feel very tired through the day.

Read more about restless legs.

10. Anxiety

Feeling anxious is sometimes perfectly normal. However, some people have constant, uncontrollable feelings of anxiety, which are so strong that they affect their daily life. Doctors call this generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). It affects around around one in 20 people in the UK. As well as feeling worried and irritable, people with GAD often feel tired.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/tiredness-and-fatigue/Pages/medical-causes-of-tiredness.aspx

Exercising with diabetes

Introduction to exercising with diabetes

Despite the seriousness of diabetes, if you are a sufferer, a carefully controlled exercise program can significantly help your condition and improve the overall quality of your life.

In addition to the general health and fitness benefits that everyone enjoys from exercise, structured training will help your diabetes in a number of ways.

Exercising with diabetes can help:

• Help control blood sugar
• Help weight management
• Help avoid further diabetes complications
• Reduce stress
• Improve quality of life with diabetes

So, if you suffer from this disease, follow the realbuzz.com step-by-step guide to exercising with diabetes and improve your quality of life. This guide includes advice on:

• How to kick-start your training program
• Training precautions
• Correct training protocols
• Exercise tips

Safety first before exercise

Before you begin your exercise program there are a couple of basic precautions that you should take. Once they’re completed, you’re ready to improve your fitness.

Get a check-up before exercising

Book a check-up with your doctor to discuss your plans. Your doctor will actively support your actions and will also be able to offer you further advice pertinent to your condition.

Get a professional

Next, to maximize the benefits of your training, it is wise to link up with an exercise professional who is qualified to advise you on training with diabetes. Time spent at this stage will reap continual rewards because focusing on the correct training for you will result in faster and long-term progression.

Now you’ve got the all clear to begin exercising, follow the realbuzz step-by-step guide to preparing for your exercise sessions.

Eating before exercise

Several hours before your session, eat a high carbohydrate, low fat meal that also contains protein. The exact time will depend on your own particular rate of digestion so experiment with different eating times to find out what suits you best. The addition of protein in your meal will help the ‘slow release’ of energy as opposed to energy peaks that will upset your insulin balance.

Additional eating for exercise

Between one hour before you exercise and actually starting, you may benefit from additional carbohydrate — typically up to 15 grams. Similar to your main meal, experiment to find out what is best for you.

Energy drinks for exercise

Throughout your workout, keep a sports energy drink close at hand in case you experience hypoglycaemia. A sports drink will be rapidly absorbed and is easily portable, whether your workout takes place in the gym or outdoors.

Wear identification when exercising

Always wear identification in the form of a wrist band, necklace or similar, detailing your condition, contact details and any instructions.

Think safety when exercising

For safety reasons and as a psychological boost, advise the gym staff and friends and family that you are exercising. This is particularly important at the start of your program when your body is gearing up to the new challenge of exercise.

http://www.realbuzz.com/articles/exercising-with-diabetes/

In For A Sugar Shock?

• 
  

Sugar has been enemy number one in the media lately – but do you know just how much you’re consuming? The white stuff could be lurking in some surprising places, writes Susan Griffin

There’s no point sugar-coating the facts; we’ve got an obesity crisis on our hands. A quarter of all adults and a fifth of children are classified in this way, and it’s taking its toll on our nation’s health – an estimated one third of UK adults also have pre-diabetes.

Sugar is increasingly being blamed as one of the key culprits in this worrying epidemic, but it’s not just the frosty coating on a doughnut, or the number of teaspoons of the white stuff you add to your cups of tea that’s the problem (after all, the occasional treat is allowed!).

No, the biggest problem is hidden sugar, the – sometimes vast – quantities that’s been heaped into seemingly ‘non-treat’ foods and drinks to add flavour and sweetness.

Because despite efforts to label foods more clearly, it’s still not always possible to know (unless you’ve done a lot of homework beforehand) what’s sugar-laden and what’s not.

Thanks to the recent scary news reports, we do now know that a single can of fizzy drink contains seven to nine teaspoonfuls of sugar – but it’s not simply a case of cutting out the obvious suspects like these drinks, or chocolate and cakes from your diet. There’s a whole heap of hidden nasties lurking in our food these days.

“We are a country hooked on sugar, which has been added to our food to improve taste. Most people are wise to the products that contain high sugar levels, however, they may not be aware just how much they are consuming,” says Zoe Frith, in-house nutritionist for Prestige Purchasing.

“The biggest surprise for consumers is the hidden sugars in savoury products which can be unexpectedly high, such as canned goods, ready meals and sauces. We have got used to these sweetness levels in our food and, as such, are in a viscous circle – a sweet-tooth nation which would notice the difference if sugar levels were lowered.”

The Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is recommending that around 5% (down from 10%) of people’s daily energy can come from free sugars (those added to food or contained in fruit juices, honey, syrups and sweetened drinks). That would amount to 25 grams of sugar for women and 35 grams, or seven to eight teaspoonfuls, for men.

If you want to keep to this, it’s crucial you know exactly what sugar really goes into what, so the chairman of Action on Sugar, Professor Graham MacGregor, warns of some of the worst culprits you need to be wary of…

:: So focused are we on opting for the ‘healthy’ option that we don’t take the time to read the label properly. Yeo Valley O% Fat Vanilla Yoghurt contains the equivalent of five teaspoons of sugar and the Muller Crunch Corner Strawberry Shortcake Yoghurt fares even worse with six teaspoons.

:: When time is of the essence, most of us will pop into a coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up but without realising what sugar high we’re setting ourselves up for. The Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino with whipped cream (and skimmed milk) contains the equivalent of 11 teaspoons of sugar, while the Pret A Manger Very Berry Latte (with milk) isn’t far behind with seven teaspoons.

:: You might think water is a much safer option – and you’d be right if you kept it plain and simple, but Glaceau Vitamin Water, Defence was found to have the equivalent of four teaspoons of sugar, that’s the same as a packet of Butterkist Toffee Popcorn or a bowl of Kellogg’s Frosties (with semi-skimmed milk).

:: We might already associate quick and easy ready meals with dubious amounts of salt, but sugar is hiding in there too. For instance, Sharwood’s Sweet And Sour Chicken With Rice contains the equivalent of six teaspoons of sugar (the same as Cadbury’s Hot Drinking Chocolate); Heinz Classic Tomato Soup has four; Ragu Tomato And Basil Pasta Sauce comes in at three and Pot Noodle Curry King Pot two.

http://www.silversurfers.com/health/health-features/sugar-shock/

5 Scary Health Conditions Your Dentist Can Spot

[Rex]

You expect your dentist to flag cavities, but did you know your drill-wielding doc might also be able to spot trouble that extends well beyond your pearly whites?

“It’s becoming clear that we need to consider integrating oral and general health care,” says Steve Offenbacher, D.D.S., director of the Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The oral cavity is the mirror to the rest of the body, so we can pick up on systemic problems by simple dental examinations.” In other words, the state of your smile may shine a light on the rest of your body — sometimes even before other symptoms show up.

Case in point: Offenbacher once told a middle-aged patient he suspected she was pregnant, based simply on the redness of her gums. “The next week, she came back and said, ‘I went to the doctor, and yes, I am pregnant!’’ he recalls. In that case, Offenbacher was the bearer of good news, but not all of the secrets your mouth may reveal are so positive. Your teeth may also provide clues about these five health-threatening conditions:

Diabetes

Your dentist isn’t just worried about how white your teeth are. In a 2014 study, nearly two-thirds of dentists said they’d refer a patient with periodontitis (inflammation around the gums) for a diabetes evaluation. Why that’s a good thing: “Diabetes is not only a common problem, but it’s also highly under-diagnosed,” says Offenbacher. Read: Lots of people have diabetes and don’t know it, which means adding your dentist to your team of health detectives is a smart idea.

So what’s the dental-diabetes link? High blood sugar may be as damaging to your oral health as the sweet stuff in a can of soda. That’s because the condition can cause dry mouth, which increases plaque build-up, making people with uncontrolled diabetes more prone to dental problems.

“[Periodontal disease in diabetics] is usually severe for their age or for local factors, meaning they have pretty clean mouths, but they still have a periodontal problem,” says Offenbacher.

Two common oral signs of diabetes: multiple abscesses on the gums and bad breath. “It’s kind of a sour fruit smell,” Offenbacher says. “It’s ketones — metabolic products associated with poor glycemic control — in their bloodstream that you can smell.”

[Rex]

Heart disease

Your teeth may reveal what’s going on with your ticker. A 2007 study review found that people with periodontal disease are significantly more likely to develop heart disease than folks with good oral health. Among people who have both diseases, “if the periodontal disease is treated, the heart disease is greatly improved,” says Marjorie Jeffcoat, D.M.D., a professor and dean emeritus of dental medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The common thread? Inflammation. “When you look in a patient’s mouth and you see chronic inflammation, you know that it’s creating systemic stress,” says Offenbacher. 

Although there are no dental red flags specific to heart disease, “more severe periodontal disease is strongly associated with heart disease risk,” Offenbacher says. Signs include loose, shifting, or missing teeth, and increased probing depths, where the pockets around the teeth have deepened.

Dementia

Can tooth loss indicate memory loss? In recent British research, a lack of teeth was associated with mental decline, while a 2012 study found that older adults with poor dental hygiene were 76 percent more likely to develop dementia. This is a relatively new area of research, which means the link between the two isn’t entirely clear, says Jeffcoat. However, a small 2013 study detectedPorphyromonas gingivalis — a bacteria associated with gum disease — in the brains of people with dementia, suggesting that it may play a role in the inflammation associated with cognitive decline.

Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis won’t cause your teeth to decay — but your dentist may be able to spot bone loss in the surrounding structures, like the jaw, with digital X-rays, says Jeffcoat. Normal, healthy bone should be dense both at the edges and in the interior, and when that’s not the case, “the patient is more likely to have osteoporosis,” she explains.

In fact, in a 2013 study in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, the thickness of postmenopausal women’s jawbones — as measured with a panoramic X-ray — was correlated with the bone density of their spine. This means that dentists could potentially diagnose osteoporosis, which often goes undetected until a fracture occurs, in its early stages, the scientists say.

Acid reflux disease

You may feel heartburn most intensely in your chest, but its effects may be most obvious in your mouth. If you have acid reflux disease, the constant uprising of stomach acid could wear away at the enamel on your teeth, says Jeffcoat. “You’ll usually see it in the lower front teeth,” she says. “You’ll see erosion of the teeth — they get thinner. You can’t miss it.” Another sign you may be suffering from acid reflux disease: You have a persistent sour taste in your mouth, she says. 

In a 2008 study review, researchers found that about a third of adults with dental erosion also had gastrointestinal esophageal reflux disease, or GERD. Keep in mind, this erosion can happen even in the absence of chest pain — that is, you may have reflux without knowing it, until your dentist points out the damage to your choppers. 

https://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/5-scary-health-conditions-your-dentist-can-spot-140548144.html

Type 1 Diabetes: Scientists Step Closer To A Cure

An accidental drug discovery could be the answer to preventing and curing type 1 diabetes, as scientists embark on new trials to find out if a blood pressure drug will work for other illnesses

A drug normally used for blood pressure, heart complaints and migraines could hold the key to curing type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 is the genetic strain of the disease, as opposed to type 2, which is more common (90 per cent of diabetes patients in the UK have type 2).There are around five million diabetes sufferers in the UK, 10 per cent have Type 1 (REX)

Type 2 diabetes is caused by lifestyle factors such as being overweight, and in many cases can be managed or even reversed by lifestyle changes. But because type 1 is caused by the body's failure to make insulin, it needs to be treated medically.

Currently there is no cure or prevention for type 1 diabetes. Instead it's managed with careful monitoring and reactive treatment. But unexpectedly, research into the drug Verapamil, has given scientists hope that a more effective treatment could be in sight.

Insulin is a protein that we need to keep our blood sugar level stable. It works by enabling sugar in the blood stream to enter cells where the body can use it as energy.

When you eat, the food is broken down into sugars, which enter the blood stream, raising our blood sugar level.

When this happens, a signal is sent to the pancreas, telling the cells to make insulin. It does this and releases it into the blood stream, where the insulin unlocks pathways into the cells for the sugar to be absorbed and used. This in turn lowers our blood sugar level.

Diabetics need to regularly test their blood sugar levels and inject insulin if required.

Tests on mice and on human cells have shown that the drug could help reduce the amount of a protein called TXNIP in the body, which has been found to thwart pancreas cells when they try to make essential insulin.

The next step in the research is for the team at The University of Alabama in Birmingham, US, to begin conducting human trials. They've been given a grant of $2.1million over the next three years to investigate.

It's an exciting development because this type of treatment has never been tried before and could be the key to helping the body's own cells to make the insulin it needs, returning it to normal function.

The drug could also potentially be used to treat more extreme cases of Type 2 diabetes, where lifestyle changes have failed.

https://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/type-1-diabetes--scientists-step-closer-to-a-cure-135149095.html

Diabetes Management: A Healthy Food Guide

According to the International Diabetes Federation estimates, there were about 65 million people with diabetes in India in 2013. Diabetes is the health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal. Blood sugar is also known as blood glucose; it is a crucial source of energy for the body. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body utilize the glucose. If insufficient insulin is produced by the body or it does not respond to insulin, glucose accumulates in the blood resulting in diabetes. The body naturally produces blood sugar from the food we eat and stores in the body. Diabetes can be successfully managed by the combination of a well-planned diet and medication. Use websites that provide free nutrition databases and food labels to look up the nutrition information of food. A healthy balanced diet is essential for diabetes management. The food you eat affects your blood sugar, body weight, and heart health. The three major food groups that contribute calories are carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Among the food groups, carbohydrates have the maximum effect on blood sugar levels. After meals, the increase in your blood sugar level is determined by the amount of carbohydrate in the food. Nutrition data helps you identify the foods that contain carbohydrates and control portion sizes. Examples of foods rich in carbohydrates are rice, bread, roti, naan, cereals, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables (potatoes), dried beans, lentils, milk, yogurt, fruits, juices, sodas, and desserts. Protein is an essential part of your diet but it does contribute calories. Excessive consumption can result in weight gain and increased fat intake. Lean meats, low-fat or non-fat dairy, and plant-based proteins are good choices. Foods that have a high fat content are also high in calories; which can lead to weight gain. Minimizing saturated and trans fats can reduce the risk of heart disease and support improved weight control. Reliable online nutrition databases also provide the fat content of foods.

Weight loss can also help lower blood sugar levels. Regular exercise and controlling calories can help with weight loss. Utilize free calorie counters to plan your meals. Convenient calorie counting apps on mobile phones help you stay on track when you eat out. Work with a dietitian to create personalized meal plans that fit with your insulin or medication dosage and schedule. A dietitian who understands ethnic diets can work with you to set up effective meal plans.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Diabetes-Management:-A-Healthy-Food-Guide&id=8691579

Secrets of a PT: The secret ingredient for fat loss

Fibre is quite possibly one of the most underrated and important foods that will help you reach your health and fat loss goals. It’s not only important for helping to reduce the risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer, but it also helps your body to burn fat by controlling your blood sugar levels, reducing the release of the hunger hormone ghrelin, and helping curb sugar cravings.

Compared to our Paleolithic ancestors who would consume close to 60g a day, the modern western diet provides on average only 5-15g. No wonder constipation is a frequent problem for an estimated 90% of the world’s population.

One of the main reasons the modern Western diet lacks fibre is processed food. Food-processing methods not only remove much of the fibre, but strips food of many of its essential vitamins and minerals to give it a longer shelf life.

Now - enough of the bad news!

5 EASY WAYS TO BOOST YOUR FIBRE INTAKE

1. Eat a wide variety of whole, fresh, seasonal organic foods as much as possible such as fresh fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds. Berries, avocados and leafy green vegetables are packed with fibre

2. Eliminate processed food from your diet.

3. Eat more fibrous carbohydrates such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, peppers and mushrooms

4. Eat more raw food. Half of your vegetable and fruit intake should be raw.

5. Use a good quality supplement such as Ultimate Clean from Bodyism, ground flaxseed, ground linseed or chia seeds. Rotate between them to ensure you don’t develop an intolerance.

Apply these tips today to help your body detoxify, fight sugar cravings and stay (ahem) regular.

http://www.womenshealthmag.co.uk/weight-loss/healthy-eating/1061/secrets-of-a-pt-the-secret-ingredient-for-fat-loss/