Men with diabetes and low testosterone levels at a
greater risk of heart attacks
If you are a man and have diabetes, this news is for you.
A new study has found that low testosterone levels in men with diabetes could
increase their risk of heart disease . The study found that men who have low
testosterone levels and type 2 diabetes are more likely to have atherosclerosis
– a condition where plaque builds up in the arteries – than men who have
diabetes and normal testosterone levels, the findings showed. ‘The results of
our study advance our understanding of the interplay between low testosterone
and cardiovascular disease in patients with diabetes,’ said study co-author
Javier Mauricio Farias from Hospital Universitario Sanatorio Guemes in
Argentina. (Read: 5 foods that
all diabetics should avoid)
Atherosclerosis occurs when fats, cholesterol and other
substances build up in and on the walls of the body’s arteries. This can
restrict blood flow through the body’s blood vessels. The plaques also can
burst and cause blood clots. ‘Our study indicates a strong association between
low testosterone concentration and the severity of atherosclerotic plaques as
well as other key atherosclerotic markers in middle-aged men with Type 2
diabetes,’ Farias added.
The study involved 115
men with Type 2 diabetes. The participants were younger than age 70 and had no
history of cardiovascular disease. The study found men who had low testosterone
and Type 2 diabetes were six times more likely to have increased thickness of
the carotid artery and endothelium dysfunction compared to men with normal
serum testosterone levels. The findings appeared in the Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
18.10.2014
Drinking soft drinks ages you 4
times faster
Love drinking sugar-sweetened, fizzy sodas? Well, you
might just be doing a lot of damage to your health, especially your bones.
According to a new study daily consumption of a 20-ounce sugar-sweetened soda
is associated with 4.6 years of additional biological ageing – effects that are
comparable to that of smoking – a new study has warned. Soda consumption might
promote disease independently from its role in obesity, according to
researchers from the University of California, San Francisco who found that
drinking sugary drinks was associated with cell ageing. The study found that
telomeres – the protective units of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in
cells – were shorter in the white blood cells of survey participants who
reported drinking more soda.
The length of telomeres within white blood cells – where
it can most easily be measured – has previously been associated with human
lifespan. Short telomeres also have been associated with the development of
chronic diseases of ageing, including heart disease, diabetes, and some types
of cancer.
‘Regular consumption of
sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by
straining the body’s metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated
cellular ageing of tissues,’ said Elissa Epel, professor of psychiatry and
senior author of the study. ‘This is the first demonstration that soda is
associated with telomere shortness,’ Epel said. ‘This finding held regardless
of age, race, income and education level. Telomere shortening starts long
before disease onset. Further, although we only studied adults here, it is
possible that soda consumption is associated with telomere shortening in
children, as well,’ Epel said.
Based on the way telomere length shortens on
average with chronological age, the UCSF researchers calculated that daily
consumption of a 20-ounce soda was associated with 4.6 years of additional
biological ageing. This effect on telomere length is comparable to the effect
of smoking, or to the effect of regular exercise in the opposite, anti-ageing
direction, according to UCSF postdoctoral fellow Cindy Leung, from the UCSF
Center for Health and Community, lead author of the study. The authors
cautioned that they only compared telomere length and sugar-sweetened soda
consumption for each participant at a single time point, and that an
association does not demonstrate causation.
The findings were published
in the American
Journal of Public Health.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
18.10.2014
Everyone has the same amount of time in a day.
The difference is what you decide to do with it. …
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