Diabetics have higher risk of death from cancer

The findings shed light on the potential burden of disease that will build in the future as the number of cases of diabetes is predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades.

"These findings highlight even more the need to prevent diabetes and to understand it better," said Emanuele Di Angelantonio of Britain's Cambridge University, who worked on the study as part of an international collaboration.

"They show that diabetes is not only a cardiovascular risk factor, but is linked as well to other conditions."

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), collated and analyzed data from 97 previous studies involving more than 820,000 people worldwide.

It found that being a diabetic hiked the odds of dying from cancer by 25 percent, and also heightened the risk of death from infection, kidney and liver disease.

The risk of death was only higher in people with poorly controlled diabetes, however, as indicated by high blood sugar levels after a fast.

Among the biggest cancer risks for diabetics were liver and pancreatic cancer, colorectal or bowel cancer, and lung cancer.

Diabetes is reaching epidemic levels with an estimated 280 million people, or 6.4 percent of the world's population, suffering from it and numbers predicted to rise further as obesity rates also increase.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says up to a third of U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 they continue to gain weight and shun exercise.

Another study published this week found that millions of people with diabetes are undiagnosed or poorly treated, raising their risk of early death from heart disease and of serious complications like blindness and chronic kidney disease.

The Cambridge-led study found that aside from cancer and vascular diseases such as stroke, diabetes was also associated with deaths from many other causes including renal disease, liver disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mental disorders, pneumonia, other infectious diseases.

"A 50-year-old with diabetes died, on average, six years earlier than a counterpart without diabetes," said Cambridge University's John Danesh, who also worked on the study.

The study did not look at why these death rates were higher among diabetics, so the researchers could not say whether diabetes link was simply a proxy for generally poorer health.

"Preventing diabetes becomes that much easier when we have a complete picture of the debilitating effect it has across the body and we know what steps to take to mitigate the damage," said Stephen Holgate of Britain's Medical Research Council, which part-funded the study.
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Scientists Identify Master Switch For Inflammation

A group of researchers from the Imperial College of London have identified a protein that acts as a “master switch” for inflammation in the body. The protein functions as a regulator in determining whether specific types of white blood cells will heighten or reduce inflammation. The new finding could play a key role in the development of new treatments for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and may even put scientists on the path to a cure for such debilitating illnesses.

Autoimmune diseases are the result of an overactive immune response by the body against substances and tissues commonly present in the body. The body actually attacks its own cells due to the immune system mistaking a part of the body for a foreign agent.

Autoimmune disorders are commonly treated with immunosuppression medication that works to decrease the immune response. While many patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis are treated with a class of drugs known as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, about one-third of them don’t respond to the medication. Therefore scientists are keenly aware of the critical need for the development of more effective treatment options.

During their study, the London researchers found that a protein known as IRF5 functions as a molecular switch that controls whether white blood cells called macrophages will promote or suppress inflammation. Blocking the production of IRF5 in macrophages could be an effective way of treating a broad range of autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus and multiple sclerosis. In addition, boosting IRF5 levels may prove effective in treating people who have compromised or damaged immune systems.

In a statement, lead researcher Irina Udalova from the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at the Imperial College of London explained, “Our results show that IRF5 is the master switch in a key set of immune cells, which determines the profile of genes that get turned on in those cells.” She went on to say, “This is really exciting because it means that if we can design molecules that interfere with IRF5 function, it could give us new anti-inflammatory treatments for a wide variety of conditions.”

According to estimates made by The National Institute of Health, autoimmune diseases affect as many as 23.5 million people in America alone. These extremely painful diseases are the tenth leading cause of death in women under 64 and the number of cases continues to increase with each year.

Although it will be some time before more effective treatments for autoimmune diseases are available, you can take action now to help ease the pain and thwart the damage of these debilitating conditions. Start by choosing to eat a healthy diet that can minimize the inflammation of arthritis. There are many naturally healthy food choices including fruits, nuts, vegetables and fish that may help you improve your quality of life. In addition, you can begin to increase your activity level and work toward a healthy regular exercise routine that safely works for you.
For more info- http://www.healthnews.com/disease-illness/scientists-identify-master-switch-for-inflammation-4675.html