New facts support diabetes study

Researchers say they have found further evidence that drinking coffee may dramatically reduce the risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes. The investigation was conducted in Finland, which has the highest per capita coffee consumption in the world.

Researchers pooled data from three surveys involving a total of 6,974 men and 7,655 women aged 35 to 64. They found that the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes decreased with increasing amounts of coffee drunk.

Women who drank three to four cups of coffee a day had a 29-percent lower risk of diabetes than those who drank no coffee. If they drank 10 or more cups the risk plummeted by 79 per cent.

For men, drinking three to four cups of coffee was associated with a 27-percent lower diabetes risk, and 10 cups with a 55-per-cent reduced risk, reports taipeitimes.com

You probably know what your blood pressure is. You've had your cholesterol checked. But do you know what your blood glucose level is? Most people don't. A recent survey by the American Diabetes Association found that while 60 percent knew their blood pressure, only three out of 10 knew their blood sugar level.

"This awareness is considered extremely low," said endocrinologist Dr. Nathaniel G. Clark, national vice president for clinical affairs of the American Diabetes Association. "And African-Americans, who are at an increased risk for diabetes, are least likely to know their blood glucose." Only 23 percent of African-Americans surveyed knew their blood glucose number.

That's too bad - because the same fasting blood sugar test doctors use to diagnose diabetes can also detect levels that, though not high enough to indicate diabetes, are enough of a red flag to show the disease is on the horizon.

A normal fasting blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter). A level over 126 is diabetes. The range in between - 100 to 125 - is called impaired fasting blood glucose.

It's also called pre-diabetes, and it's a warning that you're at risk of developing this devastating chronic illness, one that doubles the risk of heart disease and, experts say, may increase cardiovascular disease fivefold in women.

Between 1 percent and 10 percent of people classified as pre-diabetes will develop full-blown diabetes each year. Within 10 years, almost all will, inform newsday.com

According to icnetwork.co.uk pregnant women with diabetes have an increased risk of complications and birth problems even if their condition is well controlled, according to new research.

The risk of potentially fatal pre-eclampsia was 12 times higher among mothers-to-be with Type 1 diabetes compared to other women, a study in the Netherlands found. Most of the pregnancies (84%) were planned, meaning that glycaemic control was good in early pregnancy and most women were taking folic acid.

But despite this, complications were still significantly higher than the general population.