Younger women with type 2 diabetes face higher risk of heart disease

American Heart Association Meeting Report

2013-09-13

(Press-News.org) Type 2 diabetes independently increases the risk of heart disease in premenopausal women, according to a study presented at the American Heart AssociationHigh Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013. Researchers studied 1,256 Argentine premenopausal and menopausal women with and without type 2 diabetes, ages 19 to 84, who underwent ultrasound imaging to measure plaque in their carotid arteries, the major artery running down the neck. Regardless of their age, family history, smoking history, having high blood pressure or menopausal status, plaque buildup was more common among the 293 women with type 2 diabetes compared with the 963 who didn't have diabetes. "To reduce the risk of heart attacks, we recommend screening women with type 2 diabetes at younger ages, even if they don't have other known risk for heart disease," said Nestor Garcia, M.D., Ph.D, investigator from Blossom DMO, Cordoba, Argentina and CONICET, an Argentine government agency in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women in the United States, and is caused by the gradual buildup of plaque in the arteries. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is increasing in the United States, and is a major risk factor for heart disease — the leading cause of death in America. ### Co-authors and author disclosures are listed on the manuscript. Funding for this study was provided by Blossom DMO and CONICET.

For high blood pressure tools and information visit heart.org/hbp. For the latest heart and stroke news, follow us on Twitter @HeartNews. Statements and conclusions of study authors that are presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position. The association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at http://www.heart.org/corporatefunding.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Testing child's urine may help doctors identify risk for high blood pressure

2013-09-13

Measuring sodium in a child's urine may help doctors identify those at risk for having high blood pressure later in life, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013. In a small study, researchers used a new protocol to quickly screen 19 children who were 10-19-year-olds. Researchers found that of the eight who retained sodium seven had high blood pressure. The inability to properly excrete sodium in the body can occur during stress, such as when kids get nervous while in a doctor's office, so ...

High blood pressure reading in kids linked to triple risk for condition as adults

2013-09-13

Children with one or more high blood pressure readings were about three times more likely to develop the condition as adults, in a study presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013. After accounting for age, gender and weight, researchers found a direct link between high blood pressure readings during childhood and high blood pressure in adulthood: The rate of high blood pressure during adulthood was 8.6 percent among those who didn't have high readings as children. The rate rose to 18 percent among those who ...

Childhood obesity may quadruple high blood pressure risk in adulthood

2013-09-13

Obese children quadruple their risk and overweight children double their risk of developing high blood pressure in adulthood, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association High Blood Pressure Research Scientific Sessions 2013. Researchers tracked the growth and blood pressure of 1,117 healthy adolescents from Indianapolis for 27 years, starting in 1986, and found: During childhood, 68 percent of the kids were a normal weight, 16 percent were overweight and 16 percent were obese. As adults, 119 of the participants were diagnosed with high blood pressure. Six ...

Molecular structure reveals how HIV infects cells

2013-09-13

SHANGHAI, CHINA, AND LA JOLLA, CA – In a long-awaited finding, a team of Chinese and US scientists has determined the high-resolution atomic structure of a cell-surface receptor that most strains of HIV use to get into human immune cells. The researchers also showed where maraviroc, an HIV drug, attaches to cells and blocks HIV's entry. "These structural details should help us understand more precisely how HIV infects cells, and how we can do better at blocking that process with next-generation drugs," said Beili Wu, PhD, professor at the Shanghai Institute of Materia ...

Ready for its close-up: 1 of HIV's entrance points

2013-09-13

Scientists have gotten the first close look at one of two co-receptors HIV uses to get its foot in the door of the immune system, a new study reports. Their insights could lead to better HIV drugs. CCR5, a receptor on the surface of human cells, is one of two main entry points the HIV virus uses to initiate its attack on the human immune system; by binding to it, an HIV protein can fuse to the cell membrane beneath, ultimately digging its way inside the cell. The other receptor that HIV uses to perform this feat is CXCR4. Both CCR5 and CXCR4 belong to a family of ...

Local animals' role in human drug-resistant Salmonella may previously have been overstated

2013-09-13

A new study has shown that, contrary to popular belief, local domestic animals are unlikely to be the major source of antibiotic resistant Salmonella in humans. The result comes from a detailed study of DNA from more than 370 Salmonella samples collected over a 22-year period. By studying the genetic variation in the Salmonella bacteria and their drug resistance genes, researchers found that distinguishable bacterial populations exist in human and animal populations living side by side. Antibiotic resistance is considered to be one of the most important dangers to human ...

International structures needed for equitable access to DNA identification after disaster

2013-09-13

PITTSBURGH— The April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory Building in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,130 people were killed, is only the latest in a long line of events that has made plain the plight of the families whose loved ones go missing after conflict and disaster. In a new paper published in "Science," Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh ethics, policy and human rights experts argue that international structures are needed to promote more equal access to forensic identification technologies, ensure their fair and efficient use, ...

Functioning 'mechanical gears' seen in nature for the first time

2013-09-13

The juvenile Issus - a plant-hopping insect found in gardens across Europe - has hind-leg joints with curved cog-like strips of opposing 'teeth' that intermesh, rotating like mechanical gears to synchronise the animal's legs when it launches into a jump. The finding demonstrates that gear mechanisms previously thought to be solely man-made have an evolutionary precedent. Scientists say this is the "first observation of mechanical gearing in a biological structure". Through a combination of anatomical analysis and high-speed video capture of normal Issus movements, scientists ...

Genes linked to being right- or left-handed identified

2013-09-13

A genetic study has identified a biological process that influences whether we are right handed or left handed. Scientists at the Universities of Oxford, St Andrews, Bristol and the Max Plank Institute in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, found correlations between handedness and a network of genes involved in establishing left-right asymmetry in developing embryos. 'The genes are involved in the biological process through which an early embryo moves on from being a round ball of cells and becomes a growing organism with an established left and right side,' explains first ...

Antibiotic reduction can be achieved through low cost information campaigns, find researchers

2013-09-13

A local low-cost information campaign mainly targeted at citizens and involving doctors and pharmacists can significantly decrease total antibiotic prescribing, finds a paper published today on bmj.com. The excessive use of antibiotics is associated with resistance to these drugs and an increasing threat to global health. Antibiotics are also often unnecessarily and inappropriately prescribed. This is an issue that has been frequently addressed by health information campaigns. Campaigns can be moderately effective in restricting the excessive use of antibiotics although ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New software sheds light on cancer’s hidden genetic networks

UT Health San Antonio awarded $3 million in CPRIT grants to bolster cancer research and prevention efforts in South Texas

Manhattan E. Charurat, Ph.D., MHS invested as the Homer and Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Insilico Medicine’s Pharma.AI Q4 Winter Launch Recap: Revolutionizing drug discovery with cutting-edge AI innovations, accelerating the path to pharmaceutical superintelligence