If you’re one of the estimated 57 million people in the U.S. with prediabetes, an expert medical committee has some advice for you. The committee, assembled by the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, has been meeting in Washington, D.C., for the last two days talking about prediabetes.

Don’t blow it off. In prediabetes, blood sugar levels are above normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes yet. But prediabetes isn’t harmless; it makes diabetes (and its many complications) more likely. And it’s a risk for your heart right now. The bottom line: Prediabetes is an immediate risk and a shadow hanging over your future health. So get aggressive about dealing with it now. Don’t wait until it gets worse.
Read more

It’s the first study to make such a connection, said study senior author Dr. Susan Redline, director of the University Hospitals Sleep Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. “In adults, there has been evidence that less than six hours of sleep a night was associated with high blood pressure levels,” said Redline, who is professor of medicine and pediatrics at Case Western Reserve. “No study has been done in adolescents.”

One of every seven teens in the study had either hypertension, which is high blood pressure greater than 120 over 80, or borderline high blood pressure called prehypertension. Teens with less than 85 percent sleep efficiency had nearly three times the odds of high blood pressure, the researchers reported. Read more

That’s the conclusion of two reports to be presented July 9 at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology, in Barcelona, Spain. While semen samples from diabetics look normal under the microscope, a closer examination revealed DNA damage, Dr. Con Mallidis, of Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, said in a news release issued by the conference sponsors.

“Sperm RNA was significantly altered, and many of the changes we observed are in RNA transcripts involved in DNA repair,” he said. “And comparison with a database of men of proven fertility confirmed our findings. Diabetics have a significant decrease in their ability to repair sperm DNA, and once this is damaged, it cannot be restored.” Sperm DNA quality is known to be tied to decreased embryo quality, low embryo implantation rates, higher miscarriage rates and some serious childhood diseases, including cancers.
Read more

A study involving hundreds of women living in the Four Corners region (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona) shows that a diet emphasizing Mexican cheeses, beans, soups, tomato-based sauces, and meat may help lower the risk of breast cancer in both Hispanic and non-Hispanic women. Lower rates of breast cancer among Hispanic women than non-Hispanic white women prompted University of Utah scientist Maureen Murtaugh, PhD, RD, and colleagues to investigate whether their diets played a role in risk reduction, and how other factors influenced outcomes.

The team identified study participants as Hispanic or non-Hispanic white women and grouped them according to whether or not they had reached menopause. The women answered questions about the type and amount of foods they ate. Researchers grouped their findings according to five defined dietary patterns:
Read more