Caffeine-diabetes

NEW YORK: Results of a large new U.S. study confirm that sugary drinks are linked to a heightened risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, but shed little light on whether caffeine helps or hinders the process.

Among more than 100,000 men and women followed for 22 years, those who drank sugar-sweetened drinks were as much as 23 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those who didn't, but the risk was about the same whether the drinks contained caffeine or not. And drinkers of both caffeinated coffee and decaf had slightly lowered diabetes risk.

"We found that caffeine doesn't make a difference at all," said the study's lead author Dr. Frank Hu of Harvard University. "Coffee can be beneficial and the caffeine doesn't appear to have a positive or negative effect on diabetes risk," Hu told Reuters Health.

Numerous past studies have linked regular consumption of soft drinks - both sugar- and artificially-sweetened - to an increased risk of diabetes. Research over the past decade has also suggested that caffeine temporarily prevents the body from processing sugar efficiently. Those who live with diabetes deal with this problem all the time.

That at least suggests that caffeine in conjunction with sweetened drinks might raise diabetes risk even further. However, other research has found a protective effect from coffee and tea, suggesting caffeine does the opposite.

Hu and his coauthors wanted to know if people who regularly drink sugary and caffeinated beverages might only be exaggerating their risk of developing a disease that affects nearly 26 million adults and children, or about eight percent of the U.S. population, according to the American Diabetes Association.

They examined the health habits of 75,000 women and 39,000 men involved in long-term health studies that began in the mid-1980s.

Compared to people who didn't consume sugary drinks, the likelihood of developing diabetes over the years for those who did was higher by 13 percent (caffeinated) or 11 percent (decaffeinated) among women, and by 16 percent (caffeinated) or 23 percent (decaffeinated) among men.

Caffeine-free artificially sweetened drinks were also linked to a slight (six percent) increase in risk among women.

However, coffee drinkers showed slightly lower risk compared to non-drinkers. The chances of developing diabetes were eight percent lower among women, whether they drank decaf or regular coffee, and for men, four percent lower with caffeinated coffee and seven percent lower with decaf.

Hu and his team have used this same dataset, which contains the health habits of mostly white health professionals, to suggest that regular coffee drinking in general is tied to lower diabetes risk.

But past studies, like the current one, have also found that the risk falls even lower if adults drink decaffeinated coffee.

"Our understanding of the body's tolerance to caffeine is not complete," said James Lane of Duke University. Lane has done short-term studies that linked caffeine to a disruption of the body's ability to process glucose, or "blood sugar."

This latest study suggests that people who currently drink sugary beverages could substitute unsweetened coffee or tea - though tea was associated with fewer benefits - instead.

Such advice could be important, since the number of Americans who develop diabetes has steadily increased, according to a study released earlier this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diabetes can only be managed, not cured and its side effects range from high blood pressure to debilitating blindness.

"I'm disappointed that they are essentially repeating something they published several years ago. The bit about including sugar sweetened beverages and caffeine's possible interaction with sugar and diabetes does not add something of great value," Lane told Reuters Health.

Others agree more research is necessary to untangle caffeinated coffee's complicated relationship with diabetes risk.

At least one small, randomized two-month-long trial led last year by Rob Martinus van Dam of the National University of Singapore, also a co-author of the current study, found that caffeinated coffee did not seem to affect glucose levels in the blood.

Van Dam told Reuters Health that the next step toward establishing a direct link between caffeinated coffee and reduced diabetes risk would require a much larger study.

"We still don't advise people to start drinking coffee if they do not already," van Dam said.

People who want to lower their risk of developing diabetes could follow advice that has been better substantiated, such as eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly. (Reuters)

READMORE:http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-76686

4D scans show fetuses yawn in the womb

LONDON: Growing into a fully formed human being is a long process, and scientists have found that unborn babies not only hiccup, swallow and stretch in the womb, they yawn too.

Researchers who studied 4D scans of 15 healthy fetuses also said they think yawning is a developmental process which could potentially give doctors a new way to check on a baby's health.

While some scientists have previously suggested that fetuses yawn, others disagree and say it is nothing more than a developing baby opening and stretching its mouth.

But writing in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday, British researchers said their study was able to clearly distinguish yawning from "non-yawn mouth opening" based on how long the mouth was open.

The researchers did this by using 4D video footage to examine all the times when fetuses opened their mouths.

Nadja Reissland of Durham University's department of Psychology, who led the study, said the function and importance of yawning in fetuses is still unknown, but the findings suggest it may be linked to fetal development and could provide a further indication of the health of the unborn baby.

"Unlike us, fetuses do not yawn contagiously, nor do they yawn because they are sleepy," she said. "Instead, the frequency of yawning in the womb may be linked to the maturing of the brain early in gestation."

The study was carried out on eight female and seven male fetuses from 24 to 36 weeks gestation. The researchers found that yawning declined from 28 weeks and that there was no significant difference in how often boys and girls yawned. (Reuters)

READMORE:http://www.thenews.com.pk/article

New SARS virus

PARIS: A novel strain of the deadly SARS virus that sparked a health scare this year is closely related to a virus found in Asian bats, according to a study published on Tuesday.

Scientists in the Netherlands said they had sequenced the genetic code of a viral sample taken from a 60-year-old man whose death in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in June triggered fears that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was returning in a new guise.

The new strain, called HCoV-EMC/2012, is part of a viral family called coronavirus, but in a specific category called betacoronavirus.

Its closest known cousins are a strain found in lesser bamboo bats (Tylonycteris pachypus) and another found in Japanese house bats, Pipistrellus abramus.

"The virus is most closely related to viruses in bats in Asia, and there are no human viruses closely related to it," said Ron Fouchier of the prestigious Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

"Therefore we speculate that it comes from an animal source," he said, noting that Pipistrellus bats are present in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.

An epidemic of SARS erupted in China in 2002, eventually claiming around 800 deaths in some 30 countries.

Bats were linked with a novel strain of SARS found in 2005. Hong Kong researchers found a natural "reservoir" of it in Chinese horseshoe bats.

Two other men have also fallen sick in the latest SARS episode.

One is a Qatari man who had been in Saudi Arabia and is being treated at a hospital in London.

There is 99.6-99.7 percent similarity between his strain and the virus sequenced in the Netherlands, said Fouchier in a press release.

READMORE:http://www.thenews.com.pk/article

Refugee health

What health risks do refugees face?

In the cramped, basic conditions of a refugee camp, disease gains a strong foothold and can spread quickly throughout the population. Aid agencies particularly fear the spread (or epidemics) of:

• Cholera
• Measles
• Meningitis
• Tuberculosis
• Polio

They may also struggle to keep warm and fed in temporary shelters, and may face hypothermia and even starvation.
Refugees are also likely to have been psychologically traumatised by what they have seen. They may have seen their loved ones killed or harmed, they will have had to leave all their possessions and they face a very uncertain future.
Population movement, poor sanitation, water contamination and the interruption of public health programmes are the main reasons for the spread of disease after natural and humanitarian disasters.
Often displaced populations are forced to gather in confined spaces, further enabling the spread of epidemics, such as cholera, malaria and dengue fever.
Another problem is the number of injured people who need to be treated. However, according to the World Health Organisation, the presence of dead bodies isn't a major factor in the spread of communicable diseases in these situations.
The impact can be huge, from high mortality or death rates in refugee camps to many long term health issues in refugee populations who may then live for years dislocated and in poverty.

Cholera

The spread of cholera is one of the main dangers following a humanitarian disaster - whether natural or enforced. Cholera is an acute infection of the gut which causes pronounced diarrhoea and vomiting. This can lead to severe dehydration and, in some extreme cases, death. However, many people who are infected by the bacteria don’t become ill and 90 per cent of those who do are only mildly or moderately ill.
Cholera is spread by contaminated water and food. The infection is most deadly when it arrives unexpectedly because there are often no facilities for treatment or because people cannot get treatment in time. Cholera can be effectively treated with oral rehydration salts and antibiotics. Containing a cholera outbreak involves ensuring there are proper sanitation methods for disposing of sewage, an adequate clean drinking water supply and good food hygiene.
New oral cholera vaccines have come into use in recent years improving the protection against this disease. However they don’t provide complete protection against all strains of cholera, and its important to continue to follow strict hygiene measures.

What help is available to refugees?

The World Health Organisation's Emergency and Humanitarian Action division was set up in 1993, and works with United Nations agencies and national health ministries to co-ordinate and implement help in humanitarian disasters. The WHO policy is to work within the emergency measures set out in the country affected. Its first task in an emergency is to conduct a rapid health assessment in the affected areas within 48 hours of a disaster.
It’s then likely to set up:

• An early epidemic warning system
• Measures to control communicable diseases
• A programme for repairing key hospitals and primary care agencies affected
• Water and sanitation measures
• Programmes for ensuring necessary medical supplies are available

Establishing such measures may mean an appeal to international donors for supplies and help.
READMORE;http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health