(Press-News.org) Can the humble feijoa help the world tackle type 2 diabetes? University of Auckland scientists are investigating.
With more than 200,000 people in New Zealand living with type 2 diabetes, prevention is key to tackling this important health issue. Could a solution be found growing in New Zealand backyards?
The feijoa study, named FERDINAND, is a six-month weight-loss and maintenance programme, during which adults with raised blood sugar will be given about a gram of whole-fruit feijoa powder (or a placebo) each day.
Principal Investigator and self-described ‘feijoa addict’ Associate Professor Jennifer Miles-Chan is excited about the potential of feijoa powder to reverse pre-diabetes. “In theory, the feijoa powder will boost the benefits of weight loss, leading to improvements in blood sugar levels.”
A short-term study in Iran pointed to the benefits of feijoa for patients with type 2 diabetes. FERDINAND will build on that study as the world’s first long-term clinical trial into the benefits of feijoa with an aim of reversing the risk of diabetes in those with pre-diabetes (people with high blood sugar, but who do not yet have diabetes).
In the first two months of the study, participants will likely lose five to ten percent of their weight through a free meal replacement programme – think soups, shakes and porridge, but also pasta and rice dishes – overseen by a Registered Dietitian. The following four months will focus on maintaining this weight loss.
Participants should be overweight or have obesity, aged between 18 and 70, and at high risk of type 2 diabetes (but not have diabetes) based on a fasting blood glucose test.
“We are really wanting to help those people who are on the borderline of developing diabetes to lower their risk, yet many people may not be aware their blood sugar levels are high,” says Miles-Chan. “So you don't need to already know if you have pre-diabetes. We can test that for you.”
As well as the potential to reverse their diabetes risk and the many benefits of weight loss, participants will discover more about their health. “Participants will get extensive diet and weight loss advice, detailed blood tests, body composition scans and glucose checks. An added benefit is the two months’ worth of free meals,” says Miles-Chan.
Supported by the High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge (Ko Ngā Kai Whai Painga), the study is being conducted by the University's Human Nutrition Unit in collaboration with AgResearch, the Malaghan Institute and Plant and Food Research.
To find out more about participating in the trial, email FERDINAND@auckland.ac.nz
END
Humble feijoa to help prevent type 2 diabetes?
Known to many as the ‘People’s Fruit’, can the humble feijoa help prevent type 2 diabetes?
2023-08-02
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Irregular sleep patterns associated with harmful gut bacteria
2023-08-02
New research has found irregular sleep patterns are associated with harmful bacteria in your gut.
The study, published today in The European Journal of Nutrition, by researchers from King’s College London and ZOE, the personalised nutrition company, is the first to find multiple associations between social jet lag – the shift in your internal body clock when your sleeping patterns change between workdays and free days - and diet quality, diet habits, inflammation and gut microbiome composition in a single cohort.
Previous research has shown that working shifts disrupts the body clock and can increase risk ...
Multicyclic molecular wheels with polymer potential
2023-08-02
Molecules that act as connected wheels can hold long molecular chains together to modify the properties of soft polymers.
Rotaxanes are interlocked molecular structures with a linear ‘axle’ molecule penetrating one or more cyclic ‘wheel’ molecules. Bulky groups at the end of the axle prevent the wheels from coming off. Now, researchers at Hokkaido University have taken the previous achievements of this technology a step further, making macro-rotaxanes that have multicyclic wheels interlocked with several high-molecular-weight axles. They report their innovation in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.
Rotaxanes, initially regarded as ...
AI-supported mammography screening is found to be safe
2023-08-02
Mammography screening supported by artificial intelligence (AI) is a safe alternative to today’s conventional double reading by radiologists and can reduce heavy workloads for doctors. This has now been shown in an interim analysis of a prospective, randomised controlled trial, which addressed the clinical safety of using AI in mammography screening. The trial, led by researchers from Lund University in Sweden, has been published in The Lancet Oncology.
Each year around one million women in Sweden are called to mammography screening. Each screening examination is reviewed by two breast radiologists to ensure a high sensitivity, so called double reading. ...
Decades of research have left knowledge gaps about cells that regulate the immune system: Purdue and NIH
2023-08-02
Decades of research have left knowledge gaps about cells that regulate the immune system: Purdue and NIH
Four decades of research have produced a vast pool of knowledge about regulatory T cells, a subset of our immune cells. Even so, scientists at Purdue University and the National Institutes of Health have identified 14 understudied T-reg proteins that merit increased attention for the molecular roles they play in disease onset.
“Our lab studies the exact molecular mechanism underlying autoimmunity, infection and cancer,” said Majid Kazemian, associate professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture ...
Reducing the risks of nuclear war—the role of health professionals
2023-08-02
About The Editorial: In this editorial, JAMA and JAMA Network journals join journals worldwide to call on health professionals to warn the public about the major danger to health and essential life support systems posed by the threat of nuclear war and urge action to prevent use of nuclear weapons.
Authors: Chris Zielinski, of the University of Winchester, U.K., and World Association of Medical Editors, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this ...
Early-stage cancer diagnoses decreased sharply in the U.S. during first year of COVID-19 pandemic; underserved greatly affected
2023-08-02
ATLANTA, August 1, 2023 – A new study from researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) found monthly adult cancer diagnoses decreased by half in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The largest decrease was for stage I cancers, resulting in a higher proportion of late-stage diagnoses. The study is the most comprehensive research to date about the effects of the first year of the pandemic on cancer diagnoses and stage in the nation. The paper was published today in the ...
Results of large pragmatic trial will help guide treatment of malignant bowel obstruction in patients with advanced cancer
2023-08-02
Findings from the first-ever prospective trial including a randomized pathway comparing surgery to non-surgical treatment of malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) provide important evidence to help inform clinical decision-making in managing this frequent complication in patients with advanced cancer.
Results include data on clinical outcomes and patient quality of life and are being reported in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
The S1316 study, a hybrid design trial that included a randomized component, was led by the SWOG Cancer Research Network, a clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute ...
THE LANCET ONCOLOGY: First randomised trial finds AI-supported mammography screening is safe and almost halved radiologist workload
2023-08-02
Peer-reviewed / Randomised trial / People
Planned interim safety analysis of the first randomised trial investigating the use of AI in a national breast cancer screening programme underscores the potential of AI to make mammography screening more accurate and efficient.
Interim findings from a cohort of over 80,000 women in Sweden reveal AI-supported screening detected 20% more cancers compared with the routine double reading of mammograms by two breast radiologists.
The use of AI did not increase false positives (when a mammogram ...
Royal Ontario Museum researchers identify oldest known species of swimming jellyfish
2023-08-02
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. These findings are announced in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Jellyfish belong to medusozoans, or animals producing medusae, and include today’s box jellies, hydroids, stalked jellyfish and true jellyfish. Medusozoans are part of one of the oldest groups of animals to have existed, called Cnidaria, a group which also includes ...
Earth’s most ancient impact craters are disappearing
2023-08-01
This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/earths-most-ancient-impact-craters-are-disappearing/
AGU press contact:
Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org (UTC-4 hours)
Contact information for the researchers:
Matthew S. Huber, University of the Western Cape, mhuber@uwc.ac.za (UTC+2 hours)
WASHINGTON — Earth’s oldest craters could give scientists critical information about the structure of the early Earth and the composition of bodies in the solar system as well as help to interpret crater records on other ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
A graphene sandwich — deposited or transferred?
New light-powered motor fits inside a strand of hair
Oil rig study reveals vital role of tiny hoverflies
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers boost widespread use of dental varnish across pediatric network
iRECODE: A new computational method that brings clarity to single-cell analysis
New NUS-MOH study: Singapore’s healthcare sector carbon emissions 18% lower than expected, a milestone in the city-state’s net zero journey
QUT scientists create material to turn waste heat into clean power
Major new report sets out how to tackle the ‘profound and lasting impact’ of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health
Cosmic crime scene: White dwarf found devouring Pluto-like icy world
Major report tackles Covid’s cardiovascular crisis head-on
A third of licensed GPs in England not working in NHS general practice
ChatGPT “thought on the fly” when put through Ancient Greek maths puzzle
Engineers uncover why tiny particles form clusters in turbulent air
GLP-1RA drugs dramatically reduce death and cardiovascular risk in psoriasis patients
Psoriasis linked to increased risk of vision-threatening eye disease, study finds
Reprogramming obesity: New drug from Italian biotech aims to treat the underlying causes of obesity
Type 2 diabetes may accelerate development of multiple chronic diseases, particularly in the early stages, UK Biobank study suggests
Resistance training may improve nerve health, slow aging process, study shows
Common and inexpensive medicine halves the risk of recurrence in patients with colorectal cancer
SwRI-built instruments to monitor, provide advanced warning of space weather events
Breakthrough advances sodium-based battery design
New targeted radiation therapy shows near-complete response in rare sarcoma patients
Does physical frailty contribute to dementia?
Soccer headers and brain health: Study finds changes within folds of the brain
Decoding plants’ language of light
UNC Greensboro study finds ticks carrying Lyme disease moving into western NC
New implant restores blood pressure balance after spinal cord injury
New York City's medical specialist advantage may be an illusion, new NYU Tandon research shows
Could a local anesthetic that doesn’t impair motor function be within reach?
1 in 8 Italian cetacean strandings show evidence of fishery interactions, with bottlenose and striped dolphins most commonly affected, according to analysis across four decades of data and more than 5
[Press-News.org] Humble feijoa to help prevent type 2 diabetes?Known to many as the ‘People’s Fruit’, can the humble feijoa help prevent type 2 diabetes?