www.asian-voice.com
AsianVoiceNews
HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
AsianVoiceNewsweekly
27
15 - 21 September 2018
Radical NHS plan to tackle Britain's diabetes 'epidemic' PATIENTS TO BE PUT ON LIQUID DIETS OF HEALTH SHAKES AND FAT-FREE SOUPS FOR UP TO FIVE MONTHS TO HELP REVERSE CONDITION THAT AFFECTS MILLIONS Diabetics will be given lowcalorie liquid diets under radical plans to beat the disease. NHS chiefs hope that prescribing fat-free shakes and soups for up to five months will reverse the illness. If the trial succeeds, the treatment will be rolled out nationally. Research funded by Diabetes UK has already found that half of Type 2 diabetics on the diet were in remission within a year. Details of the strategy are likely to be set out in November. It is based on the idea that Type 2 can be conquered if patients lose enough weight. On the diet, they would consume between 810 and 850 calories a day, depending on the flavours of the four shakes and soups they choose. Many would shed the pounds very quickly after previously taking in as many
as 3,000 calories a day. The liquid diet was described as an exciting development by Jonathan Valabhji of NHS England. ‘The trial involved 300 people, of those in the intervention arm a staggering almost 50 per cent their diabetes went into remission,’ said the professor. Their blood glucose levels fell into the non-diabetic range. That excites us. The beauty of the research is that it was implemented in GP surgeries. It wasn’t hugely expensive.’ He said the average weight loss of 2 stone and 5lb was staggering. The number of diabetics has doubled to nearly four million in the past 20 years. Nine in ten have Type 2, which is strongly linked to excess weight. The illness strikes when insulin in the pancreas does not work properly or the
Diabetics will be given low-calorie liquid diets under radical plans to beat the disease
pancreas does not make enough insulin. This causes a rise in glucose levels in the blood which, if untreated, lead to heart disease and strokes, kidney disease, liver failure, blindness and damage to nerve endings in the feet. One in six patients staying in hospital overnight has diabetes and the condition is estimated to cost the NHS £9billion a year.
The British Heart Foundation has warned that the condition will lead to 400,000 cases of heart disease annually by 2035, 30 per cent more than now. Last month the Daily Mail revealed that children as young as nine were being treated with Type 2 diabetes. Professor Valabhji, a consultant diabetologist at St Mary’s Hospital in central
Positivity cuts risk of heart attack Looking on the bright side of life cuts the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, a scientific review has found. Being optimistic has a direct impact on cardiovascular health - reducing stress hormones, pulse rate and blood pressure, experts found. And people with a positive outlook eat better, do more exercise and are less likely to smoke and drink, their study showed. Scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago and Harvard School of Public Health in Boston examined all existing evidence linking psychological well-being to cardiovascular health. The researchers, whose work is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found mental outlook is ‘consistently related’ to
heart disease. They cited one study in which the 25 per cent of people with the highest optimism had a 38 per cent reduced risk of dying of heart disease. Other papers have linked the feeling of having a ‘higher purpose’ in life with lower odds of having a stroke. The researchers said doctors should consider using counselling or relaxation strategies such as yoga or tai chi to improve their
patients’ mental health. The research team found optimistic people less likely to smoke - and if they already smoke they are better at quitting. High levels of psychological well-being are also associated with regular physical activity. Optimistic patients sustained healthier diets by consuming more fruits and vegetables, and less processed meats and sweets, leading patients to maintain a healthier weight.
Other studies have found similar results for cancer, stroke, respiratory disease and infection. Scientists suspect this may be because someone’s general mood alters the levels of harmful and beneficial hormones in their body. Being optimistic, for example, reduces stress and anxiety hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can place a burden on the heart and raise blood pressure. Studies have also found people who are less stressed have lower cholesterol levels, are less prone to inflammation, have a better immune response and higher levels of antioxidants in the blood. Having a strong support network also gives patients confidence and makes them more likely to act on medical advice, the scientists said.
Older adults who do tai chi are much less likely to suffer dangerous falls Older adults who practice tai chi are less likely to fall, a small new study suggests. Researchers said that elderly people who practiced the martial art were more than 50 percent less likely to suffer a fall than those who just performed stretching exercises. Around one in three US adults aged 65 or older report having fallen - and 38 percent of these falls lead to
injuries that can result in ER
To Our Readers
We are publishing these items in good faith, kindly consult your Doctor before you try to implement any advice. We do not hold any responsibility for its efficacy...
visits, hospitalization, or death. The team, led by researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing, says it hopes the findings lead to
more older adults taking up the practice to prevent themselves from experiencing large hospital bills, a loss of independence or premature death. Tai chi is often recommended for older adults because it is a low impact exercise that puts little to no stress on the joints or muscles. There has been some evidence in past research that shows tai chi can help reduce falls.
London, said: ‘Not only are we seeing greater numbers, what we’re also rather frighteningly seeing is younger age of onset. ‘I may have been looking after the grandfather for the last couple of decades who was diagnosed at the age of 65, then the father came onto my book who was diagnosed at the age of 48, now I’ve got the granddaughter diagnosed at 29. ‘I’ve got quite a lot of people who are in their 20s with Type 2 diabetes which we simply didn’t see when I
started practising. You’d write that up in a journal if you saw it back then, now we’re seeing it all the time.’ The successful liquid diet was tested in a study of 298 patients carried out by Newcastle and Glasgow universities. Results published in the Lancet in December showed that 46 per cent per cent were remission from diabetes within a year. NHS England wants its own trial to be rolled out in waves, through GP surgeries, next year.