For Diabetes: BP, Cholesterol Key v. Heart Disease

Jan. 28, 2013 -- People with diabetes who want to lower their risk of heart attack and stroke should focus on controlling their blood pressure and ''bad'' cholesterol, according to a new study of more than 26,000 patients.

Controlling both these risk factors, the researchers found, made patients less likely to be hospitalized for heart attacks or strokes than those who only controlled blood sugar during the six-year follow-up.

"It's not that blood glucose is not important. It's that low-density cholesterol and blood pressure control are more important if cardiovascular disease is what you are trying to prevent," says Gregory A. Nichols, PhD, a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

The study is published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

More than 18 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. 

Those with type 2 diabetes (in which the body doesn't make enough insulin or use it properly) have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

To minimize the risk, research suggests, those with diabetes should control not only blood sugar levels but also their LDL or ''bad" cholesterol and their blood pressure.

However, Nichols says, he is not aware of any study that looked at the contribution of these risk factors to heart attack or stroke risk among people with diabetes.

For the new study, the researchers calculated all patients' average values on systolic blood pressure (the upper number of the reading), cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.

"There were actually eight different possible categories," Nichols says. These ranged from having none of the risk factors under control to having all of them under control.

Guidelines suggest that systolic blood pressure in those with type 2 diabetes should be less than 130.

"LDL ideally is less than 100 [mg/dL] and A1c [a blood sugar measure] is less than 7%," Nichols says.

Next, they looked at whether the patients had a hospital admission with a diagnosis of heart disease or stroke. During the study, 1,943 patients were hospitalized for those reasons.

Those who were in the hospital were on average 65 years old. Those who were not were on average 58.

Nichols looked at the risk factor status of all patients.

View the original article here

Mollie King at the Radio 1 studios

Mollie King wears a cropped bomber with a cardigan and khaki mini skirt at the Radio 1 studios - vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

Continue reading...

View the original article here

Holly Fulton Talks Gritty, Sexy Fashion For LFW

We sat down with Scottish designer Holly Fulton, who has won Fashion Forward sponsorship for 2013 by the British Fashion Council and eBay

Continue reading...

View the original article here

Football Players and Concussions: Prevention, Effects, and More

What's being done to protect football players from concussions and their effects.

When a football player suffers a concussion during a game or in practice, whether they're a pro or a student, it's serious business. And the sport is taking it seriously.

Doctors, coaches, and researchers are focused on the damage concussions can do to football players’ brains as a result of the many tackles they endure.

What should be done when a football player (or any other athlete) has a suspected concussion? Read expert advice on immediate treatment and when the player can return to training and competition. 

Football Concussions: What to Do

© 2011 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

Research shows that athletes who have repeated concussions are more likely to get long-term brain damage, including a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease that mimics dementia.

Former NFL players who have had CTE include the late Junior Seau, Chris Henry, and Dave Duerson.

In a concussion, the brain shakes so forcefully that it hits the inside of the skull. That injures the brain.

Symptoms of a concussion can include:

loss of consciousnessdrowsinessconfusionheadachenausea or vomitingblurred visionloss of memory of events surrounding the injury.

If a concussion leaves someone unconscious for more than a few minutes, the concussion is clearly serious. But sometimes even seemingly mild concussions can do damage.

"A minor hit on the field can take a long time to recover," says Mark Lovell, PhD, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

How many concussions are too many? That may be the wrong question.

"It's not as simple as how many concussions someone's had -- it's total brain trauma" that matters, says Boston University neurosurgery professor Robert Cantu, MD, who is a senior advisor to the NFL's Head, Neck, and Spine Committee.

"Linemen who've had almost no concussions have the majority of cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, because on every play they get their brains rattled, trying to block with their head," Cantu says.

In 2011, the NFL set rules to determine whether an athlete who’s taken a powerful hit and sustained a concussion will be benched or sent back into the game.

The guidelines include checking the player's symptoms, attention, memory, and balance, starting immediately, on the sidelines.

"It incorporates the most important aspects of a focused exam, so that injury is identified, and athletes with concussion and more serious head and spine injury can be removed from play," says Margot Putukian, MD, chair of the return-to-play subcommittee of the NFL's head, neck, and spine committee.

No athlete should be allowed to participate in sports if he or she is still experiencing symptoms from a concussion, according to the American Academy of Neurology. And before they go back to play, they should first see a doctor who's had proper training to make sure they're ready.

That often doesn't happen, though. Many concussions go unreported. Athletes are often eager to get back in the game. They may think they feel fine, or at least good enough.

View the original article here

Mia Wasikowska at the Stoker junket in LA

Mia Wasikowska wears a colour blocked Marc by Marc Jacobs dress at the Stoker junket in LA – vote on celebrity fashion, style and red carpet looks in GLAMOUR.COM’s Dos and Don’ts

Continue reading...

View the original article here

Rita Ora greets fans outside the Manchester Academy

Rita Ora didn’t let a little thing like darkness stop her from busting out the flippy future glasses

Continue reading...

View the original article here

'Coming Out' Can Bring Health Benefits, Study Says

TUESDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Being open about their sexual orientation offers health benefits for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, according to a new study.

"Coming out is no longer a matter of popular debate but a matter of public health," said study lead author Robert-Paul Juster, of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress at the University of Montreal's Louis H. Lafontaine Hospital.

He and his colleagues looked at 87 men and women, about age 25, who had different sexual orientations (gay, lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual) and found that lesbians, gays and bisexuals who were out to others had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and fewer symptoms of anxiety, depression and burnout.

When a person is under chronic stress, cortisol contributes to "wear and tear" on a number of the body's systems. Taken together, this strain is called allostatic load, the study said.

"Our goals were to determine if the mental and physical health of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals differs from heterosexuals and, if so, whether being out of the closet makes a difference. We used measures of psychiatric symptoms, cortisol levels throughout the day, and a battery of over 20 biological markers to assess allostatic load," Juster said in a university news release.

The researchers found that, contrary to their expectations, gay and bisexual men had lower depressive symptoms and allostatic load levels than heterosexual men. And, "lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals who were out to family and friends had lower levels of psychiatric symptoms and lower morning cortisol levels than those who were still in the closet," Juster added.

The findings, published Jan. 29 in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, highlight the positive effect that self-acceptance and being open about their sexual orientation can have on the health and well-being of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, the study authors said.

But that may only be the case in open and tolerant societies.

"Coming out might only be beneficial for health when there are tolerant social policies that facilitate the disclosure process," Juster said. On the other hand, he added, societal intolerance during the disclosure process generates increased distress and contributes to mental and physical health problems.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender health.

View the original article here