Can Fertility Treatments Influence Later Breast Cancer Risk?

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Health Tip: Is Your Pregnancy Higher Risk?

HealthDay – Fri, Jun 29, 2012 (HealthDay News) -- If you're pregnant, a series of physical and demographic factors may dictate that your pregnancy is "high-risk" and requires special care.

The Womenshealth.gov website offers these examples of factors that can make a pregnancy high-risk:

Being young or being older than age 35.Being underweight or overweight.Having had complications during a prior pregnancy.Having had at least one chronic health problem before pregnancy, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, HIV or an autoimmune disorder.Expecting twins or triplets, etc.

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Diabetes: Tighter control of blood sugar prevents nerve condition, but at what risk?

ScienceDaily (June 13, 2012) — Aggressive control of blood sugar levels in diabetes can help to prevent a painful condition affecting patients' nerves, according to a new systematic review in The Cochrane Library. However, the review suggests that optimal target levels need to be established to prevent serious complications.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiabetesNeuropathyPersonalized MedicineHormone DisordersDiet and Weight LossBirth ControlReferenceBlood sugarDiabetic dietHyperglycemiaDiabetes mellitus type 2

People with diabetes control their blood sugar levels through insulin injections, diet and drugs, to compensate for their bodies producing too little insulin (type 1 diabetes) or becoming resistant to insulin (type 2 diabetes). Up to half of people with diabetes develop a disabling condition called diabetic neuropathy, which affects nerves in the feet and legs, making them feel tingly, numb, painful or weak. It is possible to prevent neuropathy by strict control of blood sugar levels through a number of ways including different insulin regimens and diet modification, but evidence for the effects of this approach, known as enhanced glucose control, has not been systematically reviewed until now.

The results analysed in the review are drawn from six studies investigating the risk of neuropathy in people who received enhanced glucose control treatments including extra insulin injections, antidiabetic drugs, and diet changes. The review looked at evidence in type 1 and type 2 diabetes separately. In two studies involving 1,228 people with type 1 diabetes significantly fewer people developed neuropathy each year with enhanced glucose control treatment compared with routine care. In four studies involving 6,669 people with type 2 diabetes the reduction in new cases of neuropathy was small and not statistically significant.

"Overall, this evidence suggests that a more aggressive approach to controlling sugar levels can be effective in delaying the onset of neuropathy in diabetes," said lead author of the review, Brian Callaghan, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. "The results also highlight the differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The less dramatic effect of enhanced glucose control in type 2 diabetes may indicate that other factors, besides high glucose levels, may be important in causing nerve damage in these patients."

However, the risk of adverse effects associated with the treatment, including hypoglycaemia, was higher with enhanced glucose control. The researchers say further research is needed to optimise target levels for safe treatments that will both prevent neuropathy and minimise serious side effects.

"Although these results show clear benefits for preventing neuropathy in people with diabetes, they should be weighed against potential adverse effects," said Callaghan. "Future studies must establish target levels for glucose control that will balance benefits and side effects."

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Could Eating Fast Increase Diabetes Risk?

HealthDay – 4 hrs ago TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Eating too quickly may raise your risk of diabetes, a small, preliminary study suggests.

Researchers from Lithuania compared 234 people with type 2 diabetes and 468 people without the disease and found that those who gobble down their food were 2.5 times more likely to have diabetes than those who take their time while eating.

Study participants with diabetes also were more likely to have a higher body-mass index (a measurement of body fat based on height and weight), and to have much lower levels of education than those without diabetes, the researchers said.

The findings were set for presentation this week at the joint International Congress of Endocrinology and European Congress of Endocrinology in Florence, Italy.

"The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing globally and becoming a world pandemic," study leader Lina Radzeviciene, of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, said in a European Society of Endocrinology news release. "It appears to involve interaction between susceptible genetic backgrounds and environmental factors. It's important to identify modifiable risk factors that may help people reduce their chances of developing the disease."

Although the study found an association between eating fast and incidence of diabetes, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about diabetes risk factors.

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