Category: health

Retirees are happier when they are active

kaitiscotland5 Comments

An Australian study has shown that getting a good sleep at night and being active during the day was the most effective way to boost mood in retirees.

105 people took part in the Life After Work study. They were followed for six month before retirement to 12 months afterwards. They carefully logged their activities and their mood was measured.

The time spent on chores, physical activity, quiet time, screen time, self care, sleep, transport and work, all changed over this period of time. The most favourable substitution was replacing work time with physical activity and sleep.  Replacing work with screen time and social activity showed less effect on mood enhancement.

After retirement, depression, anxiety and stress all reduced.

Olds T et al One day you will wake up and won’t have to go to work: The impact of changes in time use on mental health following retirement. PLoS ONE.2018;13(6);e0199605.doi:101371/journal.pone.0199605. PMID:29953472

RCGP: What doctors need to know about types one and two diabetes in young people

kaitiscotland2 Comments

The Royal College of General Practitioners have recently released an educational programme for UK doctors which they have very kindly allowed me to link to our website.

I recorded this over a year ago and I think the college held off production until their type two diabetes low carb course was also released for doctors.

This means that the RCGP joins the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists as supporters of low carbing  for both type one and two diabetes.  Surely the other clinical associations and Royal Colleges will follow in due course?

The screencast includes information on diagnosis, emergency situations, blood sugar and dietary management and contraception.

“I have also separately produced an educational screencast on Diabetes in adults (type 1), children and young people (type 1&2) for the Royal College of General Practitioners in my role as an RCGP Clinical Adviser”

http://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=8368

 

What factors are most predictive of a heart attack?

kaitiscotland4 Comments

Dr Malcolm Kendrick recently discussed a paper in which computers analysed routine clinical data from UK GP practices to identify the factors that most accurately predicted a cardiovascular event over the next ten years.  All the 378,256  people whose records were analysed were initially free of cardiovascular disease and 48 variables were identified.

The top ten things that were most likely to see you in hospital with a heart attack or stroke, in order,  were:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Prescribed oral steroids

Older age

Severe mental illness

South Asian ethnicity

Prescribed immunosuppressants

Socio-economic deprivation

Chronic Kidney Disease

 

The least predictive were LDL, Forced expiratory volume ( a measure of asthma) and AST/ALT ( a measure of liver function).  Total cholesterol was 25th.

Can machine learning improve cardiovascular risk prediction using routine clinical data? http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0174944

Most of the public are blissfully unaware of serious diabetes complications

kaitiscotland2 Comments

A survey by Walnut Unlimited asked 1,000 UK people, what can the effects of having diabetes be?

None of them were aware of the pregnancy related consequences of diabetes.

2% knew about stroke, 4% about kidney damage, and 6% about heart disease.  Similarly low numbers knew that diabetes is related to a shorter life span.  A quarter of those surveyed however did know that amputation and sight loss were complications of diabetes.

Diabetes affects more individuals in the UK than any other serious health condition such as dementia or cancer. 3.7 million people in the UK have diabetes. There are 8,700 diabetes related amputations and 1,600 cases of visual impairment every year.

Diabetic complications can be minimised or avoided by early diagnosis, education and support.

Cooking without limits: Refreshing lemonade

kaitiscotland1 Comment

Ingredients:
3 lemon juices
1 liter water
A bunch of fresh mint leaves
½ tea spoon Stevia or sugar substitute to taste
Directions:
Mix everything together. If you don’t have ice put the jar in the fridge. Enjoy!

My friend Marion says don’t plant mint in your garden. It is so easy to grow it will take over everything.  Plant it in a pot and keep it on your patio. 

Lancet: Aspirin only works if it is the right dose for your weight

kaitiscotland2 Comments

Low dose aspirin 75-100mg daily are only effective in reducing cardiovascular events in those who weigh less than 70kg found researcher Peter Rothwell.  This is the dose range used in the UK and the USA but 80% of all men and 50% of all women weigh more than 70kg.

Higher doses of aspirin are only effective for cardiovascular prevention in those over 70 kg and don’t work in those who weigh less than this. Therefore recommending the higher dose range won’t suit everyone either.

Some people also use aspirin to reduce the chances of other diseases such as colorectal cancer. The effects are thought to be dose related as well.

The take home message is that if you weigh less than 70kg stick to 75-100mg of aspirin a day, but if you weigh 70kg or over you should increase your dosage. For most people in the UK this will mean doubling up on 75mg to 150mg and in the USA where 82.5 mg is standard, upping this to 165mg daily.

Lancet doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31133-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMJ: It doesn’t take much alcohol to damage your brain cells

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Adapted from BMJ 24 February 18 Alcohol link to dementia is “robust” by Jacqui Wise

Chronic heavy drinking should be recognised as a major risk for dementia say French researchers.

They looked at over 31 million French adults discharged from hospital between 2008 and 2013. Over 1.1 million people had been diagnosed as having dementia.  In 57% of those with early onset dementia alcohol use was considered to be the cause.

Drinking more than 6 units of alcohol a day for a man and 4 units for a woman put you in the risk category of “heavy drinking” according to the World Health Organisation. This level will make both men and women more than three times more likely to develop dementia than they otherwise would.

Michael Schwarzinger said, ” The link between dementia and alcohol use is likely a result of alcohol leading to permanent structural and functional brain damage. Alcohol disorders also increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure, which in turn increase the risk of vascular dementia. Heavy drinking is also associated with smoking, depression and low educational attainment which are also risk factors for dementia.”

Clive Ballard from the University of Exeter Medical School said, ” This study is immensely important. This evidence is robust and the public need to know about the relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia.”

My comment: I was really sad to read this report in the BMJ as I do love a nice glass of full bodied red when I’m eating a big lump of fatty spiced meat or a smelly gorgonzola. I was also dismayed to see what they regard as heavy drinking. 175 mls of most wines will be 2 units so two of them a day and you are three times more likely to get dementia, if you are a woman. I dread to think what a two week all inclusive holiday does to your brain. It is  always best to know these things before you get too batty to care. 

Low carb store: Strawberries and cream cake

kaitiscotland1 Comment

This cake serves 8 and has 5.4 g of carb and 176 kcals a slice.

Ingredients

110g ground almonds

40 butter melted

50g inulin powder (or granulated sugar substitute)

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

30mls double cream

100g strawberries

 

Method

Combine the ground almonds, melted butter, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the double cream and inulin. Chop the strawberries and add them to the mixture combining gently by hand. Pour into a buttered cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Pills Instead of Injections?

Emma4 Comments

a picture of a syringe and insulin at The Diabetes DietWhat are your thoughts on taking pills instead of injections? We type 1s and our colleagues in insulin-taking at the type 2 camp have believed for years an insulin tablet isn’t a go-er because of what stomach acids would do to it.

Recent research says an insulin pill might now be in the offing. My husband got excited about it, emailing me a link to the published article. I was more “meh”. The injections I take seem to be the least bothersome bit of diabetes. Working out how to get your blood sugars in line, constant blood sugar tests (restrictive, dependent on how many sticks you’re prescribed a month), tiredness when you don’t get the dosage right—they’re the things that make diabetes tricky to deal with.

Daily injections

As a child, pre-diabetes, a boy on a neighbouring farm was diagnosed some months ahead of me. “Ooh,” the young me said, “I wouldn’t like to inject myself all the time.” Nine-year-olds tend to think that way, condensing diabetes down to the one thing that seems horrific—more than daily injections.

The nine-year-old obviously tempted fate in that some months later I too was in hospital practising shots on an orange. (What did that poor orange ever do to me?) If someone had promised me a pill at the time, young Emma would have leapt on it.

Back to the research. Professor Samir Mitragotri, who co-authored the study from Harvard University, says his team they took a new approach by dispersing insulin in a liquid made of two components. They were a nutrient called choline, and a substance called geranic acid that is found naturally in cardamom.

Hormone stays intact

They experimented on rats and found the pill lowered the animals’ blood sugar levels rapidly. The team say further experiments suggested the liquid in which the insulin was dispersed inside the capsule stops the hormone from being broken down by enzymes in the digestive system after the capsule dissolves. This helps the insulin pass through the mucus layer of the intestines and opens the seal between adjacent cells lining the intestines, so insulin can pass into the blood vessels.

The article says it will be several years before clinical trials can begin as so far, the method has only been tried in a few small animal studies. It isn’t clear either whether someone could use the pill for background (basal) insulin.

I’m still meh. There is a lot of trials currently being conducted, researching multiple ways to help we folks with diabetes. While there are people who do have genuine needle phobias and find injections unpleasant and painful, I’m lucky enough not to be one.

Pill or injection? Not bothered. Closed loop pump system or (whisper it), the hallowed cure. Okay then…

 

Coping with T1D in the Heat

Emma2 Comments
Inforgrpahic about the heat by The Diabetes Diet

A screenshot of the weather in Scotland on The Diabetes DietHeavens above—this isn’t a post I’ve needed to write before but the last few weeks of incredible sunshine and heat in Scotland (Scotland! I’ll say it again, Scotland!) necessitates it.

If you’re a type 1, what special precautions do you need to take when the mercury rises? I prepared this handy infographic to help…

Please note—if you have neuropathy (nerve damage) this can affect your ability to sweat and therefore cool down. Go out early in the morning or later in the afternoon if you can, drink water to stay hydrated and exercise in air-conditioned gyms. Cut down on drinks with caffeine and alcohol, and take care of yourself as best you can.

Inforgrpahic about the heat by The Diabetes Diet