Tag Archives: diabetes

The Clinic of Cybernetic Medicine Moscow

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20 % discount on all treatments
Clinic of Cybernetic Medicine
T: +7 495 101 5030
Email: For information in English email Sono Wood suno@cybermed.ru
Web: www.cybermed.ru

“We treat the whole person – not just their illnesses” – Alexander Avshalumov, Founder and Director

This clinic specialises in the treatment – investigating the body as a whole – of many illnesses including:

• Diabetes
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Neuroses and depression
• Hepatitis including “C”
• Breast disease and endometriosis
• Erectile disfunction
• Migraine, dizziness and headaches of uncertain origin
• Psoriasis and eczema
• Multiple sclerosis
• Heart disease
• Hypertension
• Arthritis and stiff joint problems
• Spinal disc problems – back pain
• Acute and chronic lung disease
• Kidney disease
• Male and female genital disorders
• Thyroid gland disorders
• Abdominal and duodental ulcers
• Disorders of the pancreas and intestines
• Selected oncology
• Chronic fatigue syndrome such as ME
• Obesity
• Complex symptoms of ill-health without clear diagnostics

In its approach to illness the clinic looks at the whole body and organ function in a series of comprehensive tests. These include “The Gold Standard” which includes 15 different types of diagnositics. Most of them are non-invasive: all are totally safe. The whole process takes only three to five hours – the result: a unique protrait of a person’s state of health, from the micro the macro, from the level of cellular metabolism and each individual body organ, to the working of the body as a coordinated, well-managed entity. The process is unique to this Moscow clinic.

The Gold Standard leads to an individually-designed programme of treatment which treats the body as a whole, restoring proper management and fuction.

The results to date are clear. A wide range of illnesses have ben successfully treated and chronic conditions and symptoms may be quickly and safely alleviated in our out-patients clinic in Moscow.

The Clinic of Cybernetic Medicine uses the latest US and Russian equipment including cardio vision equipment, cellular metabolism diagnostics, radio thermometry and magnetic tornado therapy amongst others.

Eat your way to health with green cuisine

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London In the beautiful, tranquil surroundings of Penrhos Court, a Herefordshire manor farm on the Welsh borders, award-winning author, chef and nutritionist, Daphne Lambert, has run Greencuisine organic food, vitality and health courses for over 15 years.

Greencuisine offers a range of practical nutrition-based cookery courses using locally grown organic foods. Run in small groups and led by qualified practitioners- all who have many years of experience of helping people to achieve optimum health – Greencuisine courses provide hands-on tuition in the kitchen and individual nutritional advice, as well as daily Yoga classes, massage and gentle walks in the local countryside.

Greencuisine cookery courses are designed to revive and rejuvenate while enabling participants to see the joy of food and ways in which our diet directly affects health. Owner and Leading Nutritionist, Daphne Lambert, believes that we are what we eat and that the foods we choose have a significant effect on our health and wellbeing.

Daphne Lambert says: “With over 25% of British adults now obese and cases of type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancer on the increase¹, there is an immediate need to re-evaluate our diets and re-educate ourselves about the ways in which the food we eat affects our health.

“In Britain today, one in three adults dies of heart disease² and a quarter of us die from cancer related deaths caused by unhealthy diet³. As a nation we have lost a significant level of understanding and knowledge about how we think about and prepare food. Our courses are designed to provide practical health advice from qualified practitioners as well as hands-on sessions in the kitchen learning to prepare nutritious organic food that can be easily made at home.”

All Greencuisine cookery courses are residential, fully catered and all diets catered for and foods included. Take-home cookery and health food course notes are provided to enable attendees to integrate what they have learnt into their everyday lifestyle.

Greencuisine Cookery Courses:

Food and Health – £605 five day course

An essential course for everybody who wants to understand more about the food they eat and the impact it has on our health and on the body. Learn how to prepare a wide selection of organic, fresh, seasonal food with expert advice from Daphne Lambert on maximising nutritional value. Discover the importance of whole foods, the benefits of juicing, understand the digestive system and take part in daily Yoga classes. This course is booking now for corporate team building days.

Women’s Health – £350 two day course

A long-established, two day course developed exclusively for women and centred on foods that promote vitality and health. Includes daily yoga classes and time spent in the kitchen learning to create a range of delicious and nutritious dishes such as sushi, almond, date and banana torte, cranberry and banana smoothie and hemp cheese.

Women’s Health – £699 five day course

The 5 day version of the WHC offers a more in depth combination of hands on cooking, diet awareness, nutrition, yoga and massage with Daphne Lambert, Sue Pembrey and Belinda Jobst. Plenty of time is spent in the kitchen creating dishes to help give health and vitality.

Living Nutrition – £1,400 four weekends one in each season

Now in its fifth year, Living Nutrition is an annual course run by Daphne Lambert and Dragana Vilinac exploring the relationship between the food we eat and our health and vitality. Learn practical skills for optimising health through cooking, understand how to make informed decisions about the food you buy and the environmental impact food production can have, develop an insight into Traditional Chinese Medicine and gain an understanding of how your body works and your own individual nutritional needs.

A Feast for the Soul – £550 weekend course

A Feast for the Soul is a journey of self discovery through the preparation and sharing of food. This enlightening and popular course is run by Daphne Lambert and Jonathan Snell both whom use their vast experience to demonstrate how food choices in our diet should not be based purely only on the physical but should embrace philosophical, emotional and spiritual perspectives. Jonathan is an expert in the phsychology of belief and behaviour and the physiology of movement and psycho-physical integration. The course involves lots of time spent in the kitchen and is built around discussions about our beliefs and understandings of food including reference to food stories, tales and legends.

Greencuisine also offers gift tokens that can be used to purchase any Greencuisine course. For further information or to book a place on a course visit www.greencuisine.org or call 01544 230720.

FDA posts heart attack warning on anti-diabetes drug Avandia

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Washington: The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that the manufacturer of Avandia (rosiglitazone), a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, has agreed to add new information to the existing boxed warning in the drug’s labeling about potential increased risk for heart attacks.

People with type 2 diabetes who have underlying heart disease or who are at high risk of heart attack should talk with their health care provider about the revised warning as they evaluate treatment options. FDA advises health care providers to closely monitor patients who take Avandia for cardiovascular risks.

Janet Woodcock, MD, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for scientific and medical programmes and acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said: “The FDA has moved expeditiously to review the cardiovascular risks of this drug so that we could inform patients and doctors at the earliest possible time of our findings.

“The FDA remains committed to making sure that doctors and patients have the latest information about the risks and benefits of medicines.”

Avandia is manufactured by Philadelphia-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and was approved in 1999 as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve control of blood sugar levels. Avandia is approved to be used as a single therapy or used in combination with metformin and sulfonylureas, other oral anti-diabetes treatments.

During the past year, FDA has carefully weighed several complex sources of data, some which show conflicting results, related to the risk of chest pain, heart attacks and heart-related deaths, and deaths from any cause in patients treated with Avandia.

At this time, FDA has concluded that there isn’t enough evidence to indicate that the risks of heart attacks or death are different between Avandia and some other oral type 2 diabetes treatments. Therefore, FDA has requested that GSK conduct a new long-term study to evaluate the potential cardiovascular risk of Avandia, compared to an active control agent. GSK has agreed to conduct the study and FDA will ensure it is initiated promptly.

The revision of Avandia’s existing boxed warning – FDA’s strongest form of warning – includes the following statement:

“A meta-analysis of 42 clinical studies (mean duration 6 months; 14,237 total patients), most of which compared Avandia to placebo, showed Avandia to be associated with an increased risk of myocardial ischemic events such as angina or myocardial infarction. Three other studies (mean duration 41 months; 14,067 patients), comparing Avandia to some other approved oral antidiabetic agents or placebo, have not confirmed or excluded this risk. In their entirety, the available data on the risk of myocardial ischemia are inconclusive.”

The previous upgraded warning, added to certain diabetes drugs (in class of drugs related to Avandia) on Aug. 14, 2007, emphasized that these types of drugs may worsen heart failure, a condition in which the heart does not adequately pump blood, in some patients.

GSK is also developing a Medication Guide for patients to provide additional information about the benefits and risks and safe use of Avandia.

So far no oral anti-diabetes drug has been conclusively shown to reduce cardiovascular risk. Consequently, the agency also will be requesting that labeling of all approved oral anti-diabetes drugs contain language describing the lack of data showing this benefit.

Today’s action follows recommendations made at the July 2007 joint meeting of FDA’s Endocrine and Metabolic Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committees. At the meeting, members voted 22-1 to recommend that Avandia stay on the market, pending a review of additional data. The committee also advised that information warning of the potential for increased risk of heart attacks should be added to the drug labeling.

Diabetes link to dementia

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New York: There could be a link between an adult’s diet and their risk of developing dementia, according to a newly published article in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Individuals with diabetes are believed to be particularly susceptible to reduced cognition in old age and an unhealthy diet is known as a significant risk factor for the increasingly common condition. Eating less fattening foods and maintaining a healthy weight can help people avoid diabetes and therefore should mean they are less at risk of losing cognitive capacity in later life, the authors of the recent study suggest.

Diabetes and obesity continue to rise in UK

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London: Rates of obesity and diabetes continue to rise across England, although people are living longer than ever, the UK Government has revealed.

Obesity rates in England were by 2005 the highest among the 15 member states who then formed the European Union. Also life expectancy continues to increase.

A girl can expect to live to 81, more than a year and a half longer than a decade before. But life expectancy in the north of the country is shorter than in the south.

Women in the North East and North West live over two years less than those in the South East and South West, while men live over two and a half years less than their southern contemporaries.

In the decade ending in 2005 covered by the report, the proportion of obese men rose by over 40%, although the figures did start to fall slightly in the final year.

The proportion of obese women however rose by almost 35% and shows no signs of slowing. Among children, it was up by over 50%.

The figures for children are seen as much more precise than those for adults, as they are based on hard data provided by almost every school in the country, while the adult figures are extrapolated from sample surveys.

This latest report comes on the back of a major study into obesity sponsored by the government, which forecast that the majority of us would be obese by 2050.

Obesity is known to contribute to some health conditions, including type 2 diabetes. Overall rates for diabetes increased from 5.8% of the population to 8.4% between 1998 and 2004.

Other conditions on the increase include chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. This latest data shows that among females, rates for these diseases have increased above the average of Western Europe.

Mortality rates from cancer are on the decline, although the outcome still varies according to the specific type of the disease.

And life expectancy is improving for everyone. While a baby girl can now expect to live to 81.2, a baby boy can expect to live to 76.9, nearly 2.5 years longer than ten years previous, according to the 2005 statistics.

UK fat consumption continues to grow

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London: Research released by low-fat spread Flora has revealed that the UKÂ’s saturated fat consumption is a third (33.5%) higher than the average Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) for a typical UK adult*

Fat forecast: Based on the current rates of decline, it will take until the year 2048, another 41 years, for average saturated fat intake to fall to the recommended level in the UK. In the meantime, these fats can raise cholesterol levels, which can increase the risk of developing heart disease – the UK’s biggest killer.

Better in the eighties: The rate at which levels of saturated fat intake are falling has slowed to almost a standstill in the 2000s (-0.7%): our diets are now only improving at just over half the rate at which they did in the 1990s (-1.3%), and only a quarter of the rate of improvement seen in the 1980s (-2.7%).

Fooling ourselves: Although 79 per cent of the population claim to be concerned about staying fit and healthy, the proportion of those concerned about saturated fat has in fact fallen between 2003 and 2006 (from 53 to 46 per cent).

Saturated society: The total annual saturated fat consumption of UK adults stands at a colossal 489,000 tonnes, which is enough fat to fill the Big Ben clock tower 157 times, or 1,220 Boeing 747s. The average UK adult eats 9.86 kilograms of saturated fat a year – thatÂ’s the same amount as in 146 packs of butter!

Fat facts: When asked to identify the best and worst fats, 72 per cent of UK adults were either wildly wrong or simply did not know that it is important to eat good polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, while cutting down on bad saturated and trans fat to help maintain a healthy heart.

Good vs. bad: The South West eats more saturated fat than any other region, with an average daily consumption of 28.3g, 3g more than people living in London who consume the least. The report also found that cheese and chocolate top Britain’s ‘guilty foods’ league with (36%) and (34%) respectively of UK adults saying they definitely eat too much of both. Surprisingly, the fourth biggest contributor to sat fat in the UK diet is butter and this wasn’t even listed.

Ethical living: A quarter of UK adults (25%) have recently been more concerned with making sure they buy organic and fair trade food than checking the nutritional value of food. Additionally, 49% of adults stated that eating more locally grown and fair trade food was a motivation for recent dietary change.

Sugar rush: People are three times more likely to be aware of the levels of sugar in their diet than the levels of saturated fat.

Dr Chris Steele says: “This report goes some way to highlighting the high levels of saturated fat in the diets of the UK population, which needs a prompt response if any reversal of the situation is to be expected. We need to make the necessary dietary changes to bring down the incidences of problems including high cholesterol and heart disease.”

The increasing frequency and complexity of nutritional messages, along with ethical and environmental concerns, appears to have created a ‘fatigue’ with health messages during the 2000s. Although 68 per cent of UK adults believe they should be eating less fatty foods, disappointingly few appear to be making the necessary changes to their diet.

It is important to replace ‘bad’ saturated fat (found in fatty meats, butter, cheese and whole milk) and trans fats (found in processed foods, such as cakes, pastries and also present in butter) with ‘good’ fats, which include monounsaturates and polyunsaturates, (such as Omega 3 and 6) found in vegetable seed oils and spreads, nuts and oily fish. A good way to do this is to make a small change like switching from butter to a healthier alternative like Flora spreads, which can help lower cholesterol and maintain a healthy heart.

The research programme was designed and carried out by the Future Foundation, a think-tank specialising in the analysis of consumer trends. Original survey research was carried out with a nationally representative online sample of 1012 UK adults aged 16+ by Research Now between the 14th and 18th of June 2007. Other sources of data drawn on in the report included The National Diet and Nutrition Survey, the Expenditure and Food survey, Food Standards Agency research, and Future Foundation proprietary ‘Changing Lives’ research data

*GDA reference for an average adult is 20g (based on the female GDA): Source IGD

Depression more harmful to health than diseases

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Geneva: Depression is more harmful to health than lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and obesity, according to a new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The organisation investigated information on 250,000 patients in 60 countries, and discovered that on a scale of zero to 100 – with zero indicating worst health and 100 indicating best – sufferers of depression had an average score of 72.9.

This compared with ‘better’ scores of 80.3 for asthmatics, 79.6 for angina sufferers, 79.3 for arthritis sufferers and 78.9 for those with diabetes.
does more harm to a person’s wellbeing than physical diseases such as asthma, angina and diabetes, a study has found.

In 2000, scientists rated depression as having the fourth greatest public health impact. But by 2020 they predict it will have risen to become the second leading cause of disease burden.

The study, in a report published in the medical magazine, The Lancet, was led by Dr Somnath Chatterji, who said its findings demonstrated the urgent need to improve treatment for depression.

He said: “When people come for treatment for long-term chronic diseases, doctors tend to focus mainly on the physical diseases – they are not looking for depression.

“This study reinforces the importance of recognising and treating depression as part of chronic illness because it’s a much more effective way to improve people’s health than just dealing with chronic physical illness. The treatment of mental illness is a necessity, not a luxury.”

Brain exposure to insulin may damage longevity, say US scientists

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Los Angeles: Keeping a healthy weight may help people live longer by limiting brain exposure to insulin, say US scientists.

A study in mice found that reducing insulin signals inside brain cells increased lifespan.

In a report in the magazine Science, the researchers said a healthy lifestyle and weight reduce insulin levels in humans and may have the same effect.

Experts said, if proven, insulin would be just one of many factors, such as genes, that influence longevity.

Previous research in fruit flies and roundworms has suggested that reducing the activity of the hormone insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels, can increase lifespan.

The latest study looked at the effects of a protein, IRS2, which carries the insulin signal in the brain. Mice who had half the amount of the protein lived 18% longer than normal mice.

Despite being overweight and having high levels of insulin, the mice were more active as they aged, and their glucose metabolism resembled that of younger mice.

The researchers said the engineered mice were living longer because the diseases that kill them, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, were being postponed due to reduced insulin signalling in the brain, even though circulating levels of insulin were high.

They said, in the future, it may be possible to design drugs to reduce IRS2 activity to reproduce the same effect, although they would have to be specific to the brain.

Study leader Dr Morris White, an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, said the simplest way to encourage longevity was to limit insulin levels by exercising and eating a healthy diet.

He said: “Our findings put a mechanism behind what your mother told when you were growing up – eat a good diet and exercise, and it will keep you healthy.

“Diet, exercise and lower weight keep your peripheral tissues sensitive to insulin.

“That reduces the amount and duration of insulin secretion needed to keep your glucose under control when you eat.

“Therefore, the brain is exposed to less insulin.”

This is an interesting study as the work done on mice could suggest that insulin is playing a role in the ageing process

His team is now planning to look at possible links between IRS2 signalling and dementia, which research has shown is associated with obesity and high insulin levels.

Pychnolgenol more powerful than drugs in lowering blood sugar, says new report

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London: A new study to be published in the journal of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice reveals that French maritime pine tree extract known as Pycnogenol® (pic-noj-en-all) delays the uptake of glucose from a meal 190 times more than prescription medications, preventing the typical high glucose peak in the blood stream after a meal.

The study revealed the pine bark is more potent for suppressing carbohydrate absorption in diabetes than synthetic prescription
alpha-glucosidase inhibitors such as Precose®. “Diabetes mellitus type II is a serious disease with rising prevalence,” said Dr. Petra Högger, a lead researcher of this study.

“This study is crucial for those suffering with the disease because it affirms that Pycnogenol® is more effective than prescription medication Precose® and supports the abundance of other research done on Pycnogenol® and diabetes.”

The study was conducted at the University of Wurzburg Germany. Dr. Högger investigated the interaction of Pycnogenol® with the enzyme alpha-glucosidase, which breaks down carbohydrates in a meal. Results revealed Pycnogenol® is 190 times more potent for inhibition of alpha-glucosidase than the synthetic inhibitor acarbose, a common prescription medication for treatment of type II diabetes (sold in Europe under the name Glucobay® and the United States under the name Precose™). Pycnogenol® was shown to inhibit the intestinal enzymes (alpha-glucosidase) involved in the digestion of complex carbohydrates such as starch and normal table sugar. The alpha-glucosidase breaks down carbohydrates into glucose molecules which are then absorbed into the blood stream. “The high concentration of procyanidins (flavonoids) found in Pycnogenol® is responsible for demonstrating these excellent results,” said Högger.

According to Högger, the large procyanidin molecules were found to be particularly active for inhibiting the activity of alpha-glucosidase, thus demonstrating such notable results. “The carbohydrates enter the blood stream steadily over prolonged periods of time, which makes meals last longer and prolong satiety.”

In two separate studies conducted in 2004, Pycnogenol® was found to significantly lower blood sugar levels in type II diabetes patients. A study published in the March 2004 edition of Diabetes Care revealed that patients who supplemented with Pycnogenol® experienced lower blood sugar after meals and lower fasting blood sugar.

Another study published in the October edition of Life Sciences revealed a significantly further lowered blood glucose level in patients who supplemented with Pycnogenol® while continuing their anti-diabetic medication with acarbose and metformin.

About Pycnogenol® Pycnogenol® is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past 35 years and has more than 220 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient.

Today, Pycnogenol® is available in more than 600 dietary supplements, multi-vitamins and health products worldwide. For more information, visit
www.pycnogenol.com

Doggie diet pill gets approval

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New York: A diet pill for dogs has been given approval by the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration.

This allows qualified US veterinarians to precribe it to pets who have a weight problem. It costs around ÂŁ1 a day to administer.

Manufacturer Pfizer is also waiting for approval from the European Medicines Agency.

The new drug called Slentrol, which is given in liquid form, is said to reduce a dog’s appetite and fat absorption and was shown to reduce weight by 18% and 22% in a clinical trial. But it can have side effects including diarrhoea.And it must not be taken by humans as it can cause liver damage.

Veterinarians estimate that about 40% of dogs in Britain and America are overweight. A survey last year found 81% of British vets considered obesity to be the biggest health threat facing dogs. It is linked with similar problems to humans such as heart disease and obesity.

In the US trials dogs lost about 3% of their weight a month without changing their diets.

Two drinks a day helps reduce blood pressure in men

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Amsterdam: Two alcoholic drinks a day can help men reduce high blood pressure, according to scientists.

As well as the traditional methods of getting healthier body markets such as taking more exercise and cutting amounts of saturated fats and sat, a drink is also recommended following research carried out by Joline Beulens of Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

This latest discovery adds to the mounting evidence that moderate amounts of alcohol are good for health. Wine, for example, contents anti-oxidants, that may have protective qualities and lead to a longer life.

Miss Beulens examined data on 11,711 men with high blood pressure and their incidence of heart attacks, heart disease and stroke between 1986 and 2002. During this period there were 653 heart attacks of which 279 were fatal. Every four years participants filled out a questionnaire including details of how often they drank beer, red wine, white wine and spirits.

The scientists found that the chances of suffering a heart attack were lower among men who consumed one or two drinks a day – one drink was defined as a single glass of wine or a single shot of spirits.

Men, however, are urged not to drink more as this increases blood pressure and heart attack incidence.
However she urged men not to have three drinks a day, as this increases their blood pressure and risk of an attack. ‘Our findings are not a licence to overindulge.’

Diabetes sufferers must ask questions

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London: Over three quarters (78%) of two million people diagnosed with diabetes1 in the UK donÂ’t receive any information on their medicines when they are given a new prescription and 36% donÂ’t know what questions to ask about their treatment options.2

Partly as a result of missing information, nearly two thirds (65%) of people with diabetes are not taking their medications as prescribed, and one in three people donÂ’t understand what their diabetesmedications are for or how to take them because they feel stupid asking

questions.2

Therefore, in order to empower people with diabetes to communicate with their healthcare professional and help improve their understanding of medicines, two new resources have been made available by a partnership of Ask About Medicines, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industryand Diabetes UK.

A booklet, Ask About Your Diabetes Medicines,contains questions that people might want to ask healthcare professionals involved in their treatment throughout their diagnosis and treatment. It also signposts people to further sources of information, including patient-friendly Medicine Guides for Diabetes www.medicines.org.uk.

The new Medicine Guides provide easy-to-understand information about every diabetes medicine to help people use them safely and effectively, and make better informed choices about treatment, with their health professional.

The Medicine Guides have been developed as part of the Medicines Information Project (MIP), which is creating a new comprehensive, structured source of information about medicines alongside information about the condition and all the treatment options. Medicine Guides are linked to information about the condition and the range of treatment options available, provided via NHS Direct Online.

These two resources aim to help people make better informed choices about treatment, with their health professional, and to understand and use their medicines safely and effectively.

Simon O’Neill, Director of Care and Policy at Diabetes UK, commented, “It is vital that people with diabetes are empowered and encouraged to ask questions. 95% of diabetes management is self care, so failing to understand or take medicines could be fatal. Our research suggests that many people don’t know what questions to ask which is why we have developed this simple but powerful tool. Alongside the new medicine guide resource, this should mean that people with diabetes are able to ask
for and receive the right I information about their condition and treatment.”

To obtain a copy of the Ask About Your Diabetes Medicines booklet please visit www.askaboutmedicines.org For more information about Diabetes please call the Diabetes UK Careline on 0845 120 2960 or visit www.diabetes.org.uk

References:
1. Boyle DIR et al. A record linking capture-recapture technique to create a diabetes disease register for epidemiological research, 1998 2. Research Now conducted the Diabetes Information Jigsaw Survey among 505 people with diabetes, June 2006.

Notes to editors:

www.medicines.org.uk or via the NHS
Direct Online website at Ask About Medicines www.askaboutmedicines.orgis the independent campaign to increase people’s involvement in decisions about their use
of medicines.

Diabetes UK www.diabetes.org.uk is the largest organisation in the UK working for people with diabetes, funding research, campaign and helping people live with the condition. It has over 170,000 members and is working for people with diabetes, their carers, family and friends. The organisation represents the interest of people with diabetes by lobbying the government for better standards of care and the best quality of life. Diabetes UK spends over ÂŁ6 million on research every year to improve the treatment of diabetes and hope that their research will ultimately lead to finding a cure for diabetes. Diabetes UKÂ’s mission is to improve the lives of people with diabetes and to work towards a future without diabetes.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry www.abpi.org.ukis the trade association for some 75 companies in the UK that produce prescription medicines. As part of their role they have encouraged Datapharm to develop medicines information for patients which is available online at www.medicines.org.uk

Type ll diabetes – there is a cure for this lifestyle disease..

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London: A respected and fully licensed private clinic that specialises in treating an array of illnesses by rebalancing the body at a cellular level has successfully cured more than 200 patients suffering from Type 11 diabetes.

Now the clinic is looking for three UK patients that it is offering to treat on a complementary basis in exchange for their story in a case study for the media – this would include interviews and photos. Patients who take part must be willing to have the story of their cure published exclusively in the first instance in ELIXIR, the new glossy magazine on healthy ageing.

The treatment which is bespoke and unique is not experimental and does not involve the use of any unlicensed or unproven drugs. This is not a patient trial or an experiment and it is not a drug therapy.

The clinic, which is outside of the UK, is planning to offer this treatment in Britain.

The treatment which the patients would receive focuses on rebalancing the whole body at a cellular level, including restoring the optimum function of all the vital organs. This allows the body to heal itself. The end result is that patients will usually loose weight, the pancreas starts to produce normal insulin flows and the body eventually reacts normally to insulin. As a side effect the treatment also turns the body clock back by five years.

This treatment is intense and requires the patient to be away from home for three weeks. It is carried out in three phases – detox, repair and renewal. The patient sees a doctor every day, spending three hours daily in the clinic. The rest of the time can be spent as a tourist providing no alcohol is consumed. The patient stays in a nearby hotel.

These advanced diagnostics are to discover what in addition to diabetes is influencing the bodyÂ’s health. This clinic probably has more state of the art diagnostics than any other clinic in the world, including from the US and Europe. The doctors are the best in the country and have the highest medical qualifications and include endrocrinologists.

The tests they will take look at the health of every organ, its functional level, hormones, cardiovascular health and include a detailed analysis of the blood to determine whether the body has infections such as parasites, HIV or hepatitis.

Included are the following
• Ultra sound radio wave scan
• ECG heart scan
• Cellular energy scan of all the body’s vital organs
• Cardio vascular system scan

As a result of the findings the doctors create the bespoke three step programme which is administered via intravenous drip for between three to four hours a day. During this time the patient can read or listen to music on an IPOD for example. An intravenous drip is used because the therapy is more efficient and without side effects such as nausea since it bypasses the stomach.

The treatment starts to work with three days but some patients see an improvement within hours as insulin levels plummet. Patients are required to wear a monitor which tests their blood sugar every three minutes.

The treatment programme has an effect not only on the principle illness but on the metabolism. When the function of an organ is returned to normal the body rids itself of everything it doesnÂ’t need, like plaque and toxins. The body starts to heal itself and the doctor just helps in the process

In the first phrase of treatment patients are detoxed and cleansed and particular attention is given to the ph (acid versus alkaline) composition of their blood. This cleansing of the body is energising and assists the next stage.

In the second phase therapeutic treatments are administered which may include antibiotics and other drugs. The issue of sugar and how the body deals with carbohydrate is also corrected and patients may be able to withdraw from insulin use if the pancreas is sufficiently stimulated.

In the third phase an array of pleasant treatments to stimulate well-being are used including massage. Patients may also be assisted with stress management techniques. This phase may include complementary therapies such as hydro-colonic therapy.

To receive this treatment is a unique opportunity and a privilege and would cost many thousands of pounds.

The clinic does treat Type 1 diabetes but on this occasion is looking for adults who have been diagnosed with Type 11. Patients suffering from cancer and cancer-related illnesses are also not suitable for this case study.

Patients will have to pay their own air fare (within Europe) and all their own expenses outside of the bespoke hospital programme. You must be willing to have your personal story told in the media together with photos.Three patients will be chosen and they will go to treatment as soon as is convenient.

If you would like to be selected for this bespoke treatment please contact us by email at communications@elixir-media.com.

Disclaimer: Elixir News is not endorsing any treatments and therapies offered but is independently reporting the story of what appears to be a remarkable step forward in the treatment of diabetes through painstaking diagnositics and treatments not available anywhere else.

Stem cell hope for diabetes

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New Orleans: Scientists have used stem cells from human bone marrow to repair defective insulin-producing pancreatic cells responsible for diabetes in mice.

The treatment also halted damage to the kidneys caused by the condition.

Researchers from New Orleans’ Tulane University are hopeful it can be adapted to treat diabetes in humans.

Stem cells are immature cells which have the capacity to turn into any kind of tissue in the body.

The US team treated diabetic mice who had high blood sugar and damaged kidneys.

One group of mice were injected with stem cells. After three weeks they were shown to be producing higher levels of mouse insulin than untreated mice and had lower blood sugar levels.

The injections also appeared to halt damaging changes taking place in the glomeruli, the bulb-like structures in the kidneys that filter the blood.

Researcher Dr Darwin Prockop said: “We are not certain whether the kidneys improved because the blood sugar was lower or because the human cells were helping to repair the kidneys.

“But we suspect the human cells were repairing the kidneys in much the same way they were repairing the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.”

Dr Prockop said his team were planning to carry out trials in patients with diabetes.

“The physicians will be selecting patients with diabetes whose kidneys are beginning to fail.

“They will determine whether giving the patients large numbers of their own adult stem cells will lower blood sugar, increase secretion of insulin from the pancreas and improve the function of the kidney.”

Theoretically, pancreatic beta cells produced from a patient’s own bone marrow could be used to treat diabetes, overcoming the requirement for immunosuppression following islet transplantation.

However, a way to prevent transplanted cells from being destroyed by the body is needed as this is why Type 1 diabetes develops in the first place.

Red wine may act to control diabetes

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New York: The longevity ingredient, resveratrol, which is found in red wine and grapes can offset some of the symptoms of overeating.

According to researchers at the National Institute on Ageing at Harvard Medical School resveratrol lowers blood sugar (glucose) and assists both liver and heart function.

Previous studies have already shown that resveratrol slows down the ageing process in various non-mammals.

In this new study published in the journal Nature , the scientists wanted to see what the effects of resveratrol might be on mammals.

They had lab rats which were fed 60% calories coming from fat. The rats were obese, had insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases. The rats were split into two test groups. One group continued to eat 60% of calories from fat, while the other group had the same diet, but with resveratrol added to it.

The rats receiving resveratrol had lower glucose levels, their hearts became healthier, as did their liver tissue. The scientists also noticed that the rats that consumed resveratrol were more nimble on their feet, compared to the other group.

Even though the resveratrol-fed mice did not lose any weight, their health became as good as that of a mouse on a normal diet. Although the non-resveratrol fed mice continued to have a short lifespan, the resveratrol-fed mice lived as long as mice on a normal diet. It is thought that resveratrol activates SIRT1, a gene associated with longevity.

If this outcome was repeated in humans resveratrol could help prevent obese people from developing Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, cancer and some other illnesses, say the researchers.

Red wine the elixir of youth?

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Boston: A substance in wine could prove to be an elixir of youth that holds back many of the effects of ageing, new research suggests.

Obese mice on high-calorie diets lived longer and had healthier hearts and livers when given the compound, resveratrol.

The molecule reversed gene activity patterns associated with diabetes, heart disease, and other obesity-related conditions.

Dr David Sinclair, one of the US researchers from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, said: “The ‘healthspan’ benefits we saw in the obese mice treated with resveratrol, such as increased insulin sensitivity, decreased glucose levels, healthier heart and liver tissues, are positive clinical indicators and may mean we can stave off in humans age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, but only time and more research will tell.”

Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant produced by certain plants as a defence against the effects of injury and fungal infection.

It is commonly found in grape skins, peanuts and mulberries, and is especially plentiful in red wine.

Drinking red wine has been suggested as one explanation for the French Paradox – the fact that heart disease death rates are lower in France than in other industrialised countries with similar risk factors.

In 2003, researchers found that yeast treated with resveratrol lived 60 per cent longer than normal. Later experiments showed that the compound also extends the lifespans of worms and flies by almost 30 per cent, and fish by nearly 60 per cent.

The new findings, published in the journal Nature, are the first to show increased survival in mammals.

“Mice are much closer evolutionarily to humans than any previous model organism treated by this molecule, which offers hope that similar impacts might be seen in humans without negative side-effects,” said Dr Sinclair.

The scientists found that at 60 weeks of age, overfed mice given resveratrol began to survive three to four months longer than those not receiving the compound.

This trend continued, and at 114 weeks, which represents old age in mice, more than half the animals not treated with resveratrol died.

In contrast, at least two thirds of those in the resveratrol group continued to survive.

Overweight treated mice were generally healthier than overweight mice that were not treated.

Untreated mice had higher blood plasma levels of insulin, glucose and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), all markers that in humans predict the onset of diabetes.

At 18 months of age, the livers of high calorie, untreated mice were twice the size and weight of those given resveratrol. The treated mice had livers similar to those of animals on standard diets, and their livers were more normal at the cellular level.

Tests also showed that mice fed resveratrol were physically more co-ordinated and had better motor skills.

Dr Richard Hodes, director of the US National Institute on Ageing (NIA), which took part in the research, said: “There is currently intense interest in identifying interventions that can be applied to improve health and survival, especially as our society ages.

“Today’s basic science findings are a notable step in this effort.”

Dr Sinclair is a co-founder of Sirtris, a company which has developed a formulation of resveratrol now being used in an early clinical trial involving diabetes patients.

Nutrients from common tree combat diabetes

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London: Nutrients in the bark of a common tree which grows in France may help combat the serious affects of diabetes.

A study published in the September edition of Angiology shows that Pycnogenol® (pronounced pic-noj-en-all), an antioxidant plant extract from the bark of the French maritime pine tree, significantly reduced diabetic microangiopathy (DM) in patients after supplementing with Pycnogenol®.

Dr Gianni Belcaro, lead researcher of a recent study into the the properties of the tree said: “Diabetic microangiopathy is not a rare phenomenon and essentially affectsevery diabetic person. The condition may result in vision loss in diabetic retinopathy, kidney problems and ischemic tissue necrosis causing leg ulcers which may lead to amputation.”

He continued: “With DM, the walls of very small blood vessels become so weak, bleeding and protein leaks occur, which ultimately slows down blood flow, resulting in blood clots and swelling of the limbs (edema).”

The study sampled 60 diabetic patients suffering from DM being treated with insulin for at least three years at the Chieti-Pescara University in Italy.

In addition to their insulin treatment, patients received 150 mg of Pycnogenol® orally daily for one month. The control group, 50 percent of the sample, received a placebo. Measurements of blood flow were measured by laser Doppler.

Measurements were taken when patients were lying down and standing up. The capillary adaptation to increased pressure from lying down to standing is generally impaired, due to vessel failure and increase of pressure in capillaries for individuals who suffer from DM. Results showed that when patients were lying down,

Pycnogenol® treatment improved capillary blood flow by 34 percent, compared to 4.7 percent in the placebo group. When patient’s blood flow was measured in a standing position, Pycnogenol® treatment improved capillary blood flow by 68
percent, compared to 8 percent in the placebo group. Capillary leakage was recorded by measuring ankle swelling, which develops ten minutes after passing from lying down to standing up. After Pycnogenol® treatment, swelling was 17 percent lower, compared to 2.6 percent in the placebo group.

“The rapid improvement of microvessel complication with Pycnogenol® in
just four weeks is clinically remarkable,” said Dr. Belcaro, who has been a large part of previous Pycnogenol® and diabetes related studies.

In July, a study was published supporting diabetic foot ulcer treatment with Pycnogenol®. Results revealed almost 75 percent decrease is ulcer size in patients who supplemented with both oral and local Pycnogenol®. Previous research supports Pycnogenol® treatment to be highly effective for prevention of diabetic retinopathy and to be effective in lowering glucose levels and increasing the health of blood vessels in patients with type II diabetes. Previous research may be found at www.pycnogenol.com

Pycnogenol® is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the Maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits. The extract has been widely studied for the past 35 years and has more than 220 published studies and review articles ensuring safety and efficacy as an ingredient.

UK diabetes figures soar

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London: The number of people suffering from diabetes continues to rise, according to new figures from Britain’s National Health Service. And the epidemic of obesity is to blame say officials.

The numbers suffering from the disease in England has increased by 124,000 in a year to 1.89 million. The total figure is estimated at 2.1 million – compared with just 1.4 million a decade ago. The statistics are based on figures from doctors.

More than a fifth of men and women, and one in 15 schoolchildren, are now classed as obese.

Doctors have long warned this represents a health crisis because being overweight is a major trigger for Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the condition.

The World Health Organisation recently estimated that by 2015 diabetes could be killing 41,000 Britons a year – a 25 per cent rise on the current total of around 33,000.

Experts said the latest rise in cases proves that action must be taken to improve our lifestyles.

Diabetes occurs when the body loses the ability to process blood sugar, leading to dangerously high levels which can damage organs.

Type 1 develops at a young age, while Type 2 typically occurs in later life. However, high obesity levels mean Type 2 is increasingly developing at younger ages and now makes up an estimated 75 per cent of cases. They represent an increase in prevalence of diabetes from 3.3 to 3.6 per cent of the population.

The Black Country and North-East London had the highest rates of diabetes at 4.1 per cent of their populations. The lowest rate was in the Thames Valley, at 2.9 per cent.

Beta blockers raise diabetes risk, says new study

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London: The range of drugs known as beta blockers which doctors may use to to treat high blood pressure increase the risk of diabetes, according to new research.

Diabetes increases the risk high risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease. Patients on beta blockers are face a 50 per cent higher risk than with the latest drugs.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the UK government body that approves drugs for public use said that doctors should use the newer ace inhibitors and calcium channel blockers should be the first choice treatment for the millions of Britons being treated for high blood pressure.

The results of a new clinical trial show beta blockers may hasten and, in some cases, induce diabetes.

Although many patients are being switched to newer drugs by their doctors when they go for a scheduled check-up, beta-blockers remain in wide use.

They are still considered the best treatment for conditions such as angina, and
doctors have warned patients not to stop taking them without medical advice as
sudden withdrawal may trigger a heart attack.

The trial which was reported at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona which exposed the diabetes risk was led by Professor Neil Poulter,
co-director of the International Centre for Circulatory Health at Imperial
College London.

He said that the chance of a patient with raised blood pressure developing diabetes can be cut by newer treatments, irrespective of the patient’s initial level of risk. Many cases of diabetes could be prevented if doctors avoid prescribing the older treatments to hypertensive patients unless they specifically require them.

Despite the warning experts point out that for the remaining beta-blocker patients, the benefits of the drugs in lowering blood pressure still massively outweigh the diabetes risk, so they should not suddenly stop taking them.

The study looked at 14,000 patients in the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, half of
whom were taking the old combination of the betablocker Atenolol and a diuretic.
The others were prescribed a calcium channel blocker called amlodipine and the
ace-inhibitor perindopril, and in this group 34 per cent fewer patients
developed diabetes over three years.

The study suggests the aceinhibitor protects against the condition, while the
other drug is neutral. But the beta-blocker and diuretic combination actually
encourages diabetes.

THE BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO BETAS
BETA-BLOCKERS were introduced in the 1960s and were a mainstay of treatment
until the 1990s, when side effects such as reduced energy levels meant many
patients were switched to newer drugs.

Clinical trials over the last three years have suggested they are less effective
than newer versions. But they remain useful against angina and some other
conditions. Patients with these who also have high blood pressure may still get
them.

They work by blocking the action of a chemical called noradrenaline, which helps
prepare the body for emergencies.
Noradrenaline speeds up the heart, making it pump more forcibly and pushing up
blood pressure as a result. The drugs block the binding of the chemical on
receptors on the heart, slowing down its action.

New ace-inhibitor drugs work by blocking a process which narrows blood vessels
and so increases pressure. Calcium channel blockers also avoid narrowing of the
arteries by stopping muscle cells contracting.

Gut bug clue to life-threatening diseases

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London: Altering the makeup of bugs in the gut could be a way of tackling insulin resistance and related problems such as non alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to new research published this week.

The study also has implications for the treatment of associated conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

The research shows that the type of microbes found in the guts of mice with a certain genetic makeup causes them to be pre-disposed to insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). On a high fat diet, these microbes transform the nutrient choline, found in food and essential for metabolising fat, into methylamines.

Scientists believe that these methylamines, which can only be produced by the microbes in the gut, lead to insulin resistance. In addition, because choline is needed to transport fat out of the liver, altering choline metabolism leads to fat accumulating in the liver and NAFLD.

The researchers are hopeful that their results in mice mean that they could intervene to change the makeup of gut microbes in people, to prevent their microbes from changing choline into methylamine. This would greatly reduce a person’s chances of becoming insulin resistant, developing NAFLD or suffering from associated problems.

The research is published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers from Imperial College London and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford.

Professor Jeremy Nicholson, senior author of the paper from Imperial College London, said: “It has been known for some time that a person’s genetic makeup can make them pre-disposed to insulin resistance and associated conditions. Finding out how this pre-disposition is linked to microbes in the gut offers us the prospect of tackling major health problems in people by intervening to change the makeup of these microbes. This is much more feasible than altering a person’s genetic makeup.”

The researchers measured the plasma and urine of two genetic strains of mice using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and computer modelling. One strain had a genetic predisposition to insulin resistance and NAFLD whilst the other strain did not.

The authors conclude their study provides more evidence that complex metabolic diseases are the product of the human and bacterial genomes as well as diet and lifestyle.

-ends-

For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Press Officer
Communications Division
Imperial College London
Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6702
E-mail: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

1. “Metabolic profiling reveals a contribution of gut microbiota to fatty liver phenotype in insulin-resistant mice” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 15 2006

Marc-Emmanuel Dumas(1)*, Richard H Barton(1), Ayo Toye(3), Olivier Cloarec(1), Christine Blancher(3), Alice Rothwell(3), Jane Fearnside(3), Roger Tatoud(2), Veronique Blanc(2), John C Lindon(1), Elaine Holmes(1), Mark I McCarthy(3), James Scott(2), Dominique Gaugier(3), Jeremy K Nicholson(1)(2)*

(1) Department of Biological Chemistry, Imperial College London
(2) Genetics and Genomics Research Institute, Imperial College London
(3) Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford
* Corresponding authors

2. About non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)
NAFLD is a fatty inflammation of the liver related to insulin resistance that in its most extreme form can cause cirrhosis. There is currently no standard treatment for the disease and patients are usually encouraged to try weight loss or insulin sensitisers to reduce its effects. It is estimated to affect between 10-27% of the world’s population.

3.About Imperial College London
Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial College London is a world leading science-based university whose reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students (11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that enhance the quality of life and the environment – underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture. Website: www.imperial.ac.uk

4.Imperial College London, in conjunction with Queen Mary and Westfield College London, Cambridge University and Oxford University was awarded a ÂŁ5.4 million collaborative program grant funded by the Wellcome Trust www.wellcome.ac.uk Functional Genomics Development Initiative in 2002. The programme designated a Biological Atlas of Insulin Resistance www.bair.org.uk has been implemented by international investigators with expertise in insulin signalling, rodent genetics, human genetics, emergent ‘-omics’ sciences (metabonomics, proteomics, transcriptomics), bioinformatics, and structural biology.

Light device more accurate in diabetes diagnosis

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A new device called the Scout is being used by doctors to more accurately detect early signs of diabetes. It uses light to detect the early signs of diabetes in 60 seconds by spotting chemical markers in the skin.

It has been shown to be more accurate than the existing technique, which involves the patient fasting for 12 hours and having blood taken to test glucose levels. The samples are sent to a lab and results can take several days.

The new test is able to detect 20 per cent more patients with type two diabetes — the kind mostly linked with obesity — than the fasting test, which often has to be repeated. Diabetes is a condition where the pancreas has stopped producing the hormone insulin or its output has dropped sharply. Unless it is diagnosed early, it can cause irreversible damage to the kidneys, eyes, nerves, heart and arteries.

New research shows second-hand smoke raises diabetes risk

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Birmingham: Breathing other people’s cigarette smoke raises the risk of developing glucose intolerance, the precursor to diabetes, a new study published on the British Medical Journal online www.bmj.com reveals.

The US research also shows that overall, white Americans are more susceptible to this effect than African-Americans.

Researchers examined 4572 men and women in four US cities, dividing them into four categories of smoking status: ranging from those who smoked, to those who had neither smoked nor breathed in other peopleÂ’s smoke. The study focussed only on those who were white or African-American.

The authors then tracked how many participants developed glucose intolerance – where the body can no longer produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar – over 15 years of follow-up.

The study found that smokers had the highest risk, with 22% of them getting the disease over the study period. Non-smokers who had no exposure to second-hand smoke had the lowest risk, with less than 12% developing the condition.

But 17% of those who had never smoked themselves but were subject to second-hand smoke also developed glucose intolerance – higher than the 14% risk rate in the group who had previously smoked and given up.

Those breathing second-hand smoke are exposed to many toxins, say the authors. And the chemical reactions which produce second-hand smoke mean that some of those toxins may be at even higher concentrations than the levels breathed in directly by smokers. If one of these toxins particularly affects the pancreas – the organ which produces insulin – this may explain the findings, they suggest.

Until now, it had not been known that those breathing second-hand smoke faced an increased risk of diabetes, say the researchers. More studies are now needed, they conclude.

Click here to view full paper:http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/april/hout264671.pdf

Obesity causing adult diabetes in children

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London: Children in the UK as young as nine years are suffering from adult type diabetes, according to new figures from doctors.

Type 2 diabetes, which normally affects middle-aged adults, across the country, and is blamed on the huge increase in obesity. has been diagnosed in 100 children in the past year.

The figures released to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health could mean that some young children will look forward to ill health throughout their lives, including increased risk of heart disease, stroke, eye and kidney problems.

As well as diabetes, a further 60,000 youngsters are thought to be suffering from weight-related metabolic syndrome – a combination of conditionsincluding high blood pressure and raised cholesterol – which is thought to precede Type 2 diabetes.

Dr Julian Shield, the Bristol University paediatrician responsible for the research, said the figures were “shocking.”

A daily drink cuts diabetes risk

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Utrecht: Women over-50s who enjoy a daily alcoholic drink are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to scientists at the Utrecht University Medical Centre in Holland.

On the other hand drinking more than moderately loses the benefit. The scientists studied more than 16,000 women aged between 49 and 70 who did not have diabetes. After six years they found that 760 women had developed type 2 diabetes.

After examining alcohol consumption, they discovered that women who took five to 30g of alcohol each week were much less likely to develop the disease.

Levels of diabetes in developed countries is increasing as a result of increased obesity. Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to process sugar, leading to high levels which damages organs. Type 1 diabetes develops at a young age and type 2 in older people who are usually overweight.

Diabetes cases spiral to more than 2m in UK

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London: UK doctors have warned that if people don’t control their weight by taking more exercise and eating less, there will be an explosion in the number of cases of diabetes.

Already the number of Britons suffering from the disease is more than two million. It is estimated to reach three million by 2010 unless people take control of their lifestyles. As well as adults many children are also being diagnosed with adult type 2 diabetes which usually requires insulin injections.

The cost of treating diabetes and associated illness costs the UK’s Health Service ÂŁ10million a day, or ÂŁ3.5billion a year – around 5 per cent of the NHS budget.

Simon O’Neill, director of care and policy at Diabetes UK, said it was a very worrying situation particularly because diabetes can lead to other serious conditions such as heart disease, strokes, kidney disease, amputations and blindness.

Obesity is blamed for growing numbers of people being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. It is estimated that 65 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women in the UK are overweight or obese, which is a leading cause of type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes occurs when the body gradually loses the ability to process blood sugar, leading to high levels which can damage body organs.