In women, proliferative retinopathy was associated with a 2.9-fold increased risk of death from all causes. In women, this type of retinopathy was also associated with a 3-fold increased risk of cardiovascular death and a nearly 5-fold increased risk of coronary heart disease death ... In men, proliferative retinopathy was significantly associated with death, increasing the risks of all-cause, cardiovascular, and coronary heart disease mortality by 3.05-, 3.32-, and 2.54-fold, respectively.

Eye disease in diabetics tied to risk of dying

The number of new cases of kidney failure jumped 114 per cent, from just under 1,100 in the first year to more than 2,100 cases in 2004, says the Canadian Institute for Health Information, adding that the incidence of Type 2 diabetes jumped during the same period.

More diabetics ending up with kidney failure: report

The study, released yesterday by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, shows that almost one-third of those who have diabetes are unaware of it, as are many of those with prediabetes, or abnormally high blood sugar. That means they are not working to control the ailment and fend off devastating consequences like heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and amputation.

The study has also revealed that more than 50% of New Yorkers with ancestors from the Indian subcontinent have diabetes or prediabetes and that Asian-Americans have surprisingly high rates of the disease.

One in Eight Adults in the City Has Diabetes, a Study Finds

Morrato's team found that just 39 percent of adults with diabetes were physically active, compared to 58 percent of those without diabetes ... Among those who did not have the disease but had risk factors for it, the researchers found that the more the risk factors, the less likely the people were to be active.

'Couch Potato' Lifestyle Helps Drive Diabetes

Diabetic mice became healthy virtually overnight after researchers injected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas.

This is exciting news, not only for diabetes but for the future treatment of other diseases.

They also conclude that there are far more similarities than previously thought between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and that nerves likely play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and Crohn's disease.

Diabetes breakthrough

I was struck by one investment analyst's comments about diabetes and all of the new drugs that are being developed to treat it:

Deutsche Bank research analyst Barbara Ryan, in a recent note, called diabetes "hot, hot, hot" with a market size capable of supporting "multiple new blockbuster opportunities."

You don't have diabetes. You have a "blockbuster opportunity"!

FDA approves Merck's diabetes pill

Researchers gave sixth graders at several schools a $50 gift card to Wal Mart in exchange for allowing researchers to draw their blood and track them for two and a half years.

One group of students will be exposed to the kinds of food and gym classes available in most U.S. middle schools, and a second group will get healthier cafeteria food, more rigorous gym classes and advice on healthy behaviors.

Study Seeks Lower Student Diabetes Risk

Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes is the form of the disease most often associated with children, but in recent years, type 2 cases have been found in children. Type 2 is usually diagnosed in older adults and is associated with a combination of genetic predisposition and obesity.

Diabetes is now diagnosed in 1 in 523 young people

In one lab study, the team said it found that cinnamon contains polyphenols, or antioxidants, that boost proteins that are important in activating insulin, transporting glucose and responding to inflammation, Web site WebMD reported.

Full post: Cinnamon and Diabetes

Related:
Health Benefits of Cinnamon

"This should draw attention to the use of pioglitazone, and it should get serious consideration, but it's a first, so it needs validation," said Dr. Robert H. Eckel, president of the American Heart Association. "One study should not make a paradigm for management."

Diabetes Drug Pulls Double Duty

The good news is that nearly half of those who receive an islet cell transplant are insulin-free at one year after transplant; the bad news is that by the end of the second year that number drops to about one in seven. Still, researchers expect that with improvements in the technical aspects of the procedure, and better anti-rejection drugs, those numbers will improve.

Islet Cell Transplants Not Cure for Type 1 Diabetes Yet

Indeed, a recent drug trial showed those taking Avandia had a slight increase in heart failure rates as well as weight gain. Putting people who don't even have diabetes at risk for these things is silly. It's just like putting postmenopausal women on Fosamax to prevent osteoporosis even though their bone density scores are fine.

Not enough sick people in the world? Drug companies will invent them!

From the viewpoint of pharmaceutical companies nothing looks better than a pill that healthy people take every day for the rest of their lives. Anti-cholesterol statins, with U.S. sales exceeding $15 billion a year, serve as the shining example. It is hardly surprising that GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Avandia, along with two other drug companies, paid for the DREAM trial and actively publicized the results.

Diabetes pill works — but is it worth the cost?

In the study, men with diabetes were found to have more liver, kidney, and pancreatic cancers than men without the disease. And women with diabetes had more stomach and liver cancers than women who didn't have diabetes.

Diabetes May Raise Cancer Risk

"We've known for some time that skimping on sleep can impair glucose tolerance even for healthy people," writes lead author Kristen Knutson, a University of Chicago researcher. "Now we have evidence connecting chronic partial sleep deprivation and reduced blood-sugar control in patients with diabetes."

Lack of Sleep Affects Health of Diabetics