High insulin levels enhance breast cancer risk

Elevated insulin levels in the blood seem to raise the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women, according to a new study.

Increased breast cancer risk for post-menopausal women has previously been linked to obesity and diabetes. Both conditions involve insulin resistance, which causes increases in circulating levels of insulin.

Since insulin is known to promote cell division and enhance breast tumour growth in animal models, Einstein College of Medicine scientists reasoned that relatively high insulin levels may contribute to breast cancer risk in women.

"Up to now, only a few studies have directly investigated whether insulin levels are associated with breast cancer risk, and those studies have yielded conflicting results," says Geoffrey Geoffrey Kabat, senior epidemiologist at Einstein and the study's co-author.

"Those other studies were based on just a single baseline measurement of insulin, while our study involved analysing repeated measurements of insulin taken over several years - which provides a more accurate picture of the possible association between insulin levels and breast cancer risk."

Kabat and colleagues analysed data on 5,450 women enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, a large multi-centre study investigating the influence of a number of factors on women's health.

Most of the women had participated in the clinical trial part of the study and provided fasting blood samples at its start (baseline) and then at years one, three and six.

The remaining women, who were enrolled in a separate "observational" component of the study, provided fasting blood samples at baseline and at year three of the study. Among all these women, 190 cases of breast cancer were identified over eight years of follow-up.

The analysis revealed a strong association between elevated insulin levels and increased risk for breast cancer, said an Einstein release. These findings were published in online in the International Journal of Cancer. –The Times of India

Vitamin C helps stop diabetes damage

Good morning friends. Diabetes patient should not worry this time. Researchers found the Vitamin C helps stop diabetes damage.

Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center researchers have found a link between taking vitamin C with insulin and stopping blood vessel damage caused by type 1 diabetes.

While neither therapy produced desired results when used alone, the combination of insulin to control blood sugar together with the use of Vitamin C, stopped blood vessel damage caused by the disease in patients with poor glucose control, said researchers. – The Times of India

The findings appear this week in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

"We had tested this theory on research models, but this is the first time anyone has shown the therapy's effectiveness in people," said Michael Ihnat, Ph.D., principal investigator and a pharmacologist at the OU College of Medicine Department of Cell Biology. Ihnat said they are now studying the therapy in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

The goal of the work being done by Ihnat and British scientists from the University of Warwick led by Dr. Antonio Ceriello is to find a way to stop the damage to blood vessels that is caused by diabetes. The damage, known as endothelial dysfunction, is associated with most forms of cardiovascular disease such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, peripheral artery disease, diabetes and chronic renal failure.

By reducing or stopping the damage, patients with diabetes could avoid some of the painful and fatal consequences of the disease that include heart disease, reduced circulation and amputation, kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness.

Insulin and many other drugs have long been used to control blood sugar, but Ihnat - in an earlier project with scientists in Italy and Hungary - found that cells have a "memory" that causes damage to continue even when blood sugar is controlled. By adding antioxidants like Vitamin C, Ihnat found that cell "memory" disappeared and cell function and oxidation stress were normalized.

"We have speculated that this happens with endothelial dysfunction, but we did not know until now if it was effective in humans. We finally were able to test it and proved it to be true," Ihnat said.

"For patients with diabetes, this means simply getting their glucose under control is not enough. An antioxidant-based therapy combined with glucose control will give patients more of an advantage and lessen the chance of complications with diabetes," the expert added. While researchers do suggest diabetic patients eat foods and take multivitamins rich in antioxidants like Vitamin C, they warn that additional study is needed.

Fungus can slash heart attack, obesity

Good morning friend. We all know teenage very seldom or some how i may say wer not reading newspapers. They are using computers to surf and to search anything. They are crazy about computers. That's why I'd like to share with all of you what I have read in The Times of India.

A vegetarian superfood, which is made from fungus, can cut the risk of having a heart attack and help people stay slim.

What's more, the miracle item can also slash the risk of suffering from diabetes, says the study published in the British Nutrition Foundation's journal.

According to experts, a diet rich in mycoprotein can lower cholesterol and could help reduce high levels of blood glucose and insulin. It may also prolong a feeling of fullness after a meal, potentially helping people to slim.

Mycoprotein is a meat-free form of high quality protein which is made by adding oxygen, nitrogen, glucose and minerals to a natural fungus called Fusarium venenatum.

It is found in meat free products like mince, sausages, escalopes, deli food and ready meals.

To reach the conclusion, the researchers reviewed data relating to the benefits of mycoprotein, a key ingredient in meat substitutes like Quorn.

The review discovered reported cholesterol reductions of up to 14 per cent among people eating 190 grammes of mycoprotein a day for three weeks. A single serving of meat substitute mince contains 80 grammes of mycoprotein, the study found.

Also a reduction in cholesterol of around 10 per cent among people with elevated cholesterol levels eating 120 to 140 grammes of mycoprotein a day was reported. As for the expanation, the researchers said that mycoprotein might be useful in the management of obesity and type 2 diabetes because it slows the transport of food sugars from the stomach to the bloodstream. This has the effect of lessening the peaks and troughs often seen in blood glucose and insulin levels after meals.

"Mycoprotein is a really healthy food and the bonus is all these benefits on top. If it fills you up and helps to reduce the impact of blood sugar and reduce cholesterol, it sounds like it is a bit of a superfood," the Daily Express quoted nutritionist Angela Dowden, as saying.

Why type 1 diabetics avoid exercise

A new study has revealed that majority of diabetics avoid physical activity because they worry about exercise-induced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and severe consequences including loss of consciousness.

Despite the well-known benefits of exercise, this new study builds on previous investigations that found more than 60 percent of adult diabetics aren't physically active.

"Our findings confirmed our clinical suspicion," say Dr. Remi Rabasa-Lhoret, co-author of the study, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's Faculty of Medicine and an endocrinologist at the Centre hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM).

"Exercise has been proven to improve health and one would assume diabetics would remain active. Yet our findings indicate that type 1 diabetics, much like the general public, are not completely comfortable with exercise," Rabasa-Lhoret added.

In the study, one hundred adults, 50 women and 50 men, with type 1 diabetes answered questionnaires to assess their barriers to physical activity.

The biggest fear was hypoglycaemia and other barriers included interference with work schedule, loss of control over diabetes and low levels of fitness.

When questioned further, only 52 of the participants demonstrated appropriate knowledge of how insulin is metabolized and processed.

Those individuals who best understood how insulin works in their body were shown to be less fearful of physical activity.

Such knowledge is essential in order to adapt insulin and/or food intake to prevent hypoglycaemia induced by exercise.

Anne-Sophie Brazeau, lead author and doctoral student at the Universite de Montreal, said: "Our study was launched to find ways to make diabetics healthier and suggests there is a major gap in information and support required by these patients."

"Programs aimed an increasing physical activity among type 1 adult diabetics need to incorporate specific actions to prevent hypoglycemia," Brazeau added.

Dr. Hortensia Mircescu, co-author of the study, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's Faculty of Medicine and a CHUM endocrinologist, said: "We also found that individuals with the greatest fear of physical activity had the poorest control of their diabetes. Education is particularly relevant for this group."

The study is published in the November.