Are You Being Mislead by Diabetes News?
“Prediabetes” could be a misleading term
When you have high blood glucose levels but not diabetes, this is sometimes called prediabetes. You might have heard the term from your healthcare provider. Researchers from the US and UK now say that it’s not a helpful label, and could lead people to take medicine they don’t need. Normally, people with prediabetes don’t have other symptoms, and there is only a 10-20% risk of actually getting diabetes within 10 years of diagnosis. However, some charities say that it’s still a useful label to encourage people with prediabetes to live healthier lives.
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Some kinds of birth control might raise diabetes risk
It can sometimes be hard for women to know what kind of birth control is best for them, so it’s important to find out what side effects each type can have. A new study shows that certain kinds of birth control could increase your chances of getting diabetes while pregnant. Types of birth control that use hormones, like pills or injections, were the most common for women who got gestational diabetes. But the researchers say that they’re not sure the birth control method caused gestational diabetes. Getting pregnant at an older age or having a history of obesity has a much bigger effect on risk.
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Keeping fit is a good way to lower the risks of an inactive lifestyle
It might seem like common sense that spending too much time sitting is not healthy. But it might not be as bad as you think, as long as you stay fit. In a new study from the American Cancer Society, over 1,300 men were asked how much time they spent sitting when watching TV or driving, for example. It was found that those who spent a lot of time sitting were still healthy if they stayed fit in other ways. The researchers said that there was still some risk of high cholesterol levels in these men, but that body fat and blood glucose stayed at healthy levels.
To lose weight, have more fun!
Lots of people struggle with weight loss and find that popular meal or exercise plans don’t work for them. This is so common that some healthcare providers want to change advice to focus on healthy living, instead of weight loss. This is based on the idea that, most of the time, dieting for weight loss actually results in weight gain. And, the focus on losing weight is hard on people who struggle to do it. This can have a serious effect on the overall health of these people. Some health professionals show that meal plans and physical activity are better when based on what you enjoy, rather than on a health goal.
Some diabetes medicines could lower dementia risk
If you take medicine for diabetes, you probably know a lot about the side effects that you expect from certain kinds. Not all of these effects are bad, however, as a new study from Germany shows. A team of German scientists looked at the records of about 146,000 people over age 60, who had no signs of dementia. It was found that, though some of these people got dementia later, those who took a diabetes medicine called pioglitazone had a much lower risk of it. Scientists say that this could be because the pills have a good effect on brain health.
Doing exercise you enjoy could help you diet better
Exercise is great for you, but some kinds can be better than others, especially when they also help you with your diet. Researchers at Cornell University studied how people ate after they had finished different kinds of exercise. It was found that those who treated the test as scheduled exercise ate more food afterwards then those who treated it as a relaxing walk for pleasure. Researchers say that people who do lots of scheduled exercise reward themselves with more food once they’re finished, and that doing something you enjoy instead could be healthier in the long term.
Time spent outdoors may lead to healthier, fitter children
It’s already well known that physical activity is important if you want to stay healthy, especially for children and teenagers. A new study shows that the amount of time a child spends outdoors has a big effect on how healthy they’re likely to be. A study of schoolchildren tested how much time they spent outside after school, and found that those who spent more time were 2.8 times more likely to be fit and healthy than those who spent almost no time outside. Researchers say that encouraging children to take part in outdoor activities after school could be important for their health.
New chip may be cheaper and more effective test for type 1 diabetes
Knowing whether or not you have diabetes early, or how much at risk you are, can be very important in getting good treatment and avoiding serious health problems. It’s a big step forward, then, whenever a better way of testing for diabetes is created. Stanford University just announced a new invention: a small electronic chip than can test for type 1 diabetes and warn when someone is at risk of getting the disease. This method, scientists say, is cheaper and faster than any other test available now, which means is could be valuable for slowing the recent rise in type 1 diabetes.
A possible new treatment for type 2 diabetes
You might have heard about an exciting new medicine for type 2 diabetes, called FGF1, which could be great for treating the disease. Though some sources are saying it could be a cure, this is not true, but it might be more effective than medicines are now. It works by injecting a special protein every two days that allows the body keep your blood glucose levels healthy on its own, by helping it to use insulin better. It’s only been tested on mice so far, however, and it could be a while before human testing starts.
New education program could help people control their diabetes
If you have diabetes, you should already know how important it is to understand the disease and different ways of coping with it. Because of this, a new education program was tested at the University of Calgary, in Canada, to see if a short information session helped people control their diabetes better. Over 800 people who went to the session after having diabetes for less than 6 months had overall healthier A1C levels than those who didn’t go. More tests are needed, but if it works then this could be a cheap and effective way of helping people to live healthier lives with diabetes.