Diabetes Watch

Prediabetes Unknown to Many

The Centers for Disease Control andPrevention(CDC) reported that too manyadults are unaware of prediabetes and donot take enough action to lower their risk.The findings were based on data of about24,000 adults who took part in the 2006US National Health Interview Survey.

Of the 984 participants who had beentold they had prediabetes, 64.4% weretold they hold borderline diabetes, 38.3%were told they had high blood sugar,33.7% were told they had prediabetesitself, 15.5% were told they had impairedglucose tolerance, and 15.2% were toldthey had impaired fasting glucose. Ofthe patients with prediabetes, 68% triedto lose or control weight, 55% increasedtheir physical activity, and 60% reducedtheir intake of dietary fat or calories. Thefindings also indicated that only 42% tookpart in all 3 risk reduction activities, and24% did not participate in any of the activities.The study was published in MortalityWeekly Report (October 31, 2008).

Save Your Feet

A survey by the American PodiatricMedical Association revealed that medicalcare for diabetes is often not soughtin time to prevent amputations. Theresearch included 600 patients from 3ethnic groups with the disease.

The data indicated that 75% of allsurvey respondents had been diagnosedwith type 2 diabetes; the remaining 25%were considered high risk for developingthe disease. Of the participants, 25% whohad an amputation from diabetes reportedthey should have seen a specialistearlier; and 30% of the amputees saidthat paying closer attention to the warningsigns would have prompted them tovisit their physicians sooner.

Hispanic Americans were the leastlikely group to be tested for diabetes,compared with their black and whitecounterparts. The respondents cited thereason for not getting tested was mainlydue to normal blood sugar levels or nothaving noticeable symptoms.

Eating Fish May HelpFight Kidney Disease

Incorporating fish twice a week into a diet might help patientswith diabetes lower their odds of kidney disease, according toa study published in the November 2008 issue of the AmericanJournal of Kidney Diseases. For the study, the researchers examinedthe records of >22,300 middle-aged and older English menand women who were part of a large European cancer study.

The findings reported that of the 517 patients who haddiabetes, those who on average ate <1 serving of fish eachweek were 4 times more likely to have albumin present in theirurine, compared with patients who ate fish twice a week. Theresearchers noted that clinical trials are needed to prove fishcould fight against kidney disease in patients with diabetes.

Coated Stents Better forDiabetic Heart Patients

A 3-year follow-up of data on nearly 5000 patients with diabetesundergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with stenting toreopen blocked vessels found drug-coated stents to be superior inboth efficacy and safety, compared with bare metal stents.

The study results showed that two thirds of patients weretreated with drug-eluting stents and one third were treatedwith bare metal stents. The researchers said there was a 5%reduction in the need for repeated procedures in the targetvessel and a small, but significant and surprising decrease indeath and subsequent heart attacks. The findings were recentlypresented at the American Heart Association?s annual scientificsession.

Aspirin Does Not Shield Diabetics Against Heart Disease

Patients with diabetes are at greater riskfor cardiovascular events. A new studyshowed that low-dose aspirin did notlower this risk, according to Japanese researchers.

In a randomized trial, 2539 Japanesepatients with type 2 diabetes with no historyof atherosclerotic disease receivedlow-dose aspirin (81 or 100 mg per day)or were part of a nonaspirin controlgroup.

The findings, published in the November12, 2008, issue of the Journal of theAmerican Medical Association, found aborderline significant reduction (32%) inthe odds of coronary, cerebrovascular,and peripheral vascular events amongvolunteers aged 65 or older. Aspirinuse, however, did not reduce the combinedfatal coronary and cerebrovascularoccurrences.

F A S T F A C T: New cases of diagnosed diabetes have increased from 4.8 per 1000 individualsduring 1995-1997 to 9.1 per 1000 in 2005-2007 in 33 states.