Proliferative Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes Is Associated With Cerebral Microbleeds, Which Is Part of Generalized Microangiopathy

CONCLUSIONS: In PDR+ patients, cerebral microbleed prevalence was higher and seems part of generalized microangiopathy that may affect the skin and the brain.

via Proliferative Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes Is Associated With Cerebral Microbleeds, Which Is Part of Generalized Microangiopathy.

Dietary Determinants of Hepatic Steatosis and Visceral Adiposity in Overweight and Obese Youth at Risk of type 2 Diabetes

Conclusion: Hepatic steatosis is associated with a greater intake of fat and fried foods, whereas visceral obesity is associated with increased consumption of sugar and reduced consumption of fiber in overweight and obese adolescents at risk of type 2 diabetes. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00755547.

via Dietary determinants of hepatic steatosis and visceral adiposity in overweight and obese youth at risk of type 2 diabetes.

Higher BMI May Be Better for Older Adults

The association between all-cause mortality and BMI created a U-shaped curve with a broad base (P-nonlinearity <0.001). The “nadir of the curve for BMI and mortality was between 24.0 and 30.9, with the lowest risk being between 27.0 and 27.9 (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.88-0.92),” wrote Caryl A. Nowson, PhD, of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, and her co-authors, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

They said that mortality risk did not increase with excess weight in this population until BMI was ≥33 (HR 1.08 for BMI of 33.0-33.9, 95% CI 1.00-1.15).

Risk of mortality was highest at a BMI lower than 23, the authors said. Using a BMI of 23.0 to 23.9 as the reference, there was a 12% greater risk of mortality for those with a BMI in the range of 21.0-21.9 (HR 1.12, 95% CI 1.10-1.13) and a 19% greater risk for those with a BMI in the range of 20.0-20.9 (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.17-1.22), the authors said.

via Higher BMI May Be Better for Older Adults.

BMI and all-cause mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis.

Flavonoid-rich Fruit and Vegetables Improve Microvascular Reactivity and Inflammatory Status

Results: In men, the HF F&V diet increased endothelium-dependent microvascular reactivity P = 0.017 with +2 portions/d at 6 wk and reduced C-reactive protein P = 0.001, E-selectin P = 0.0005, and vascular cell adhesion molecule P = 0.0468 with +4 portions/d at 12 wk. HF F&Vs increased plasma NO P = 0.0243 with +4 portions/d at 12 wk in the group as a whole. An increase in F&Vs, regardless of flavonoid content in the groups as a whole, mitigated increases in vascular stiffness measured by PWA P = 0.0065 and reductions in NO P = 0.0299 in the control group.

via Flavonoid-rich fruit and vegetables improve microvascular reactivity and inflammatory status in men at risk of cardiovascular disease—FLAVURS: a randomized controlled trial.

Mom was right.

Killing Pain: Script by Script

Primary care doctors wrote about 53 million benzodiazepine prescriptions in 2013, roughly four times the number written by psychiatrists, a group that penned 13 million benzo scripts.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants were close behind with 11 million prescriptions for the drugs, according to data obtained by MedPage Today and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In 2013, non-doctors wrote 30 million opioid prescriptions, compared with 92 million written by primary care doctors that year, according to data provided by IMS Health, a drug market research firm.

In 2010, the most recent year for which data were available, 30% of the 16,651 people who died of an opioid overdose also had taken a benzodiazepine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

via Killing Pain: Script by Script.

Killing Pain: Benzo ‘Boost’ Can Be Deadly.

Killing Pain: Xanax Tops Charts.