Diabetes Risks in the News
A protein in milk may help with blood glucose control
If you’re an athlete or use the gym a lot, you might have heard of whey protein, which is found in milk. It’s normally used to boost muscle growth, but a new study shows that it might also be helpful for controlling blood glucose levels. In the study, 15 people who were already using diabetes medicines (like metformin) were given whey protein supplements. The researchers checked their blood a few times. They found that the study subjects’ blood glucose was lowered by almost one third, and their insulin was much more effective, too. Whey supplements could be a good way to help with blood glucose control, as long as it’s part of a healthy lifestyle.
Obesity link is strong between siblings
You might have heard that there is a connection between obesity in children and in their parents. However, a new study shows that brothers or sisters could have a much stronger link in terms of obesity risk. Families in the US were tested for obesity levels and it was found that younger children were much more likely to be obese if they had at least one older brother or sister who was also obese. More research is needed to confirm this.
Older people might be treated too aggressively in hospitals
If you’re an older person with diabetes and have been in a hospital recently, it’s possible that you were given too much insulin. A recent study showed that people over 75 who were admitted to hospital were often given too much insulin as part of their treatment, which caused their blood glucose to become dangerously low. This can lead to serious health problems, including comas. This is possibly because the focus is on reducing blood glucose without enough attention on the side effects insulin can have on elderly people.
Obese children might have larger fat cells, which are linked to diabetes
Many healthcare providers think that childhood obesity raises the risk of diabetes in later life, but they are not always sure why this is. A new study has found that children who are overweight sometimes have bigger fat cells than those who are at a normal weight. This causes inflammation around the fat cells, which is also a common sign of diabetes. The researchers believe that these changes in the size of fat cells from a young age might show how obese children develop diabetes in later life, but more research is needed.
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Interrupted sleep may be as bad as not having enough sleep
In a recent study, people were tested for their ability to concentrate and remember details after a night of sleep. It was found that, on days when they were interrupted 4 times while sleeping, the people performed badly on these tests and were more moody than after a night of peaceful sleep. When they had bad quality sleep, people performed and felt as badly as people who had only 4 hours sleep, which is half the recommend number of hours for one night.
Exercise during pregnancy might result in smaller babies
Pregnant women are often told to rest as much as they can in the last 3 months of pregnancy, but now more healthcare providers recommend they do at least some light exercise. A new study has shown that exercise has an effect on newborn babies. Pregnant women that met the recommended amount of physical activity were more likely to have children that had a lower than average amount of body fat. It’s not clear what effect this has on their general, but some scientists have said that it might have some negative side effects they don’t know about yet.
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Insulin resistance might cause diabetes, even at a healthy weight
Most healthcare providers agree that being overweight can increase your chances of getting diabetes, but it’s not the only thing to think about if you want to lower this risk. A recent study showed that not being able to use insulin properly (called insulin resistance) is also a big part of diabetes risk. People who have these problems with insulin are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, no matter how much they weighed.
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Anti-depressants connected to diabetes risk in children
Many women get depressed during pregnancy, and some take anti-depressant medicines as a way of treating this. Doctors already know that using anti-depressants can be risky for pregnant women, as this can sometimes cause health problems. A recent study made this even clearer, as the results showed that anti-depressants raised the risk of diabetes and obesity in the children. Depression puts the life of both the baby and the mother at risk, however, so researchers say that these medicines should still be used in serious cases. They also do not recommend that women using them should stop without talking to their healthcare provider first.
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Diabetes could raise your risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) 
You may know that just having diabetes puts you at higher risk for other diseases, which makes a healthy lifestyle very important. One of the possible problems that a person with diabetes can have is urinary tract infection. A recent study showed that people with type 2 diabetes, especially those who had just been diagnosed, were at higher risk of these infections than others, by as much as 54%. The risk was even higher among young people. Researchers aren’t sure exactly why this is, but they think that high blood glucose is a factor.
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UK guidelines suggest new surgery options to fight obesity
If you have type 2 diabetes and are at risk of becoming seriously ill, weight-loss (bariatric) surgery might be a good option for you. New guidelines given to the National Health Service in the UK show that this is an option many more healthcare providers are thinking about in order to help with the rise in diabetes and obesity. Normally, this kind of surgery is only recommended when a patient is already obese and healthy meal plans have failed. However, this could change to include people that less overweight as well, if they are at a high risk of illness.
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