Diabetes News for May 12, 2002

Whole Grains May Help Prevent Type 2
Stroke Risk May Be Cut With Folic Acid
Drink Tea To Survive Heart Attack?
Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy
Obesity Growing In Children
Obesity And Disability Risk

Whole Grains May Help Prevent Type 2

The study took place at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, and included eleven adults with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 27. People with a BMI of 25 are considered overweight, and people with a BMI of 30 and over are considered obese. For six weeks, the participants ate a diet in which 55% of their total calories came from whole-grain carbohydrates or processed carbohydrates.

After the six-week study period, the participants ate their normal diet for six to nine weeks. Then the participants switched back to the whole-grain diet for an additional six weeks. The results of the study showed that the participants' insulin levels were 10% lower, and their blood glucose levels were slightly reduced, when they were eating the whole-grain diet. These results, which are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (volume 75, pages 848-855, April 2002), were true regardless of body weight.

The researchers encourage people to follow the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recommendation to consume six to eleven servings of carbohydrates daily. These should include food that is rich in whole grains, such as brown rice, oats, corn, and barley.

Stroke Risk May Be Cut With Folic Acid

There are many lifestyle factors that can affect a person's stroke risk, not the least of which is diet. New research indicates that increasing the daily intake of folate may decrease the risk for stroke.

The research is based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which has collected information on the diets and health of almost 10,000 American adults over 20 years. Study results have shown that people who consumed at least 300 micrograms of the B vitamin folate had a 20% lower risk of stroke than those who consumed less than 136 micrograms a day. This held true regardless of factors that increase the risk of stroke, including diabetes, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, and smoking. Results of the study are found in the journal Stroke (volume 33, pages 1183-1189, May 3, 2002).

Folate has been found to reduce blood levels of homocysteine, which is an amino acid that has been connected to a higher risk of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and stroke. More research is needed to determine if the Food and Drug Administration should increase the daily recommendations of folate. Good sources of folate include citrus fruits, tomatoes, leafy vegetables, beans, and grain products, including folate-enriched flour.

For more information, visit the website of the American Heart Association.

Drink Tea To Survive Heart Attack?

In a recent study of nearly two thousand people who had had a heart attack, researchers found that those who drank the most tea were the most likely to survive the heart attack.

The research was conducted at Harvard Medical School, and 1,900 people who had had a heart attack were studied to determine the differences between people who survived and those who did not. The doctors found that those who drank about 19 cups of tea per week prior to their heart attack were 44% less likely to die than those who did not drink tea. Those who drank fewer than 14 cups per week had a 28% lower mortality rate.

The study authors, who published their findings in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation (volume 105, pages 153-158, May 7, 2002), believe that this link may be due to the high amount of flavonoids in tea. Flavonoids are antioxidants that are found in foods derived from plants.

More research is needed to determine whether there really is a link between drinking tea and increasing heart attack survival or is the relationship due to other items in the diet.

Healthy Weight Gain During Pregnancy

A new study by researchers in Scandinavia has confirmed the health benefits of gaining the federally-recommended amount of weight during pregnancy.

The study took place at the Landspitali-University Hospital at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, and involved 615 pregnant women who had a normal body weight before their pregnancy. Currently, the guidelines set by the Institute of Medicine specify that women should gain between 25 and 35 pounds during pregnancy. The average amount of weight gained by the women in the study was 37 pounds.

The researchers found that the women who gained more than the recommended amount of weight had an increase in pregnancy problems. Women who gained between 39 and 45 pounds had triple the risk of pregnancy problems like gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and difficulties during delivery. On the contrary, women who gain less than the suggested amount of weight are at risk for having babies with low birth weight, which can lead to health problems for the baby. Women who gained between 27 and 34 pounds had the fewest problems during their pregnancy.

This report has been published in the recent issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology (volume 99, pages 799-806, May 2002). The authors conclude that women who have normal pre-pregnancy weight should follow guidelines for recommended weight gain, and should not gain more than 39 pounds.

Obesity Growing In Children

The prevalence of obesity among children is on the rise, and is accompanied by a host of health problems that appear to be worsening.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a statement that increased rates of childhood obesity have tripled hospital costs over the past twenty years. The CDC studied hospital discharge records, and compared the obesity-related hospitalizations of 6- to 17-year-olds between the years 1979 and 1981 with those between the years 1997 and 1999.

The researchers found that the number of diagnoses of diabetes almost doubled, accounting for 1.43% of child hospitalizations in the 1970s and 2.36% in the 1990s. In addition, diagnoses of obesity tripled, and reached 1% of hospitalizations. Other conditions related to obesity were also on the rise, including sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, and asthma.

Experts have placed the blame of increased childhood obesity on too much television and computer games, and lack of exercise.

Obesity And Disability Risk

People who are obese have an increased risk of health problems like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. However, a new study focuses on how obesity can cause disabilities that create difficulties in completing daily tasks.

The study can be found in the American Public Health Association's journal, called the American Journal of Public Health (volume 92, pages 834-840, May 2002). It was conducted by researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, who used data from two long-term national health surveys that tracked the body mass index of 7,000 adults for twenty years.

The researchers found that people who were obese had double the risk of having a lower-body disability later in life, and an increased risk of having an upper-body disability. The risk remained, though at a lesser degree, even if the person was able to lose weight during the study. This was true even when taking into account other causes of disability, such as having a stroke or a heart attack.

Researchers were unclear as to whether an increase in body weight caused physical disabilities because of stress placed on skeletal muscles, changes in metabolism in the body's connective tissue, or other as-yet-undetermined reasons.