That Health Rules

Here’s an interesting article: published in the American Journal of Medicine this July.  I bet after reading this article…you will have to review your old blood tests and determine if you are at risk to develop diabetes in the near future.

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This study included:

46,578 members of Kaiser Permanente Northwest who had fasting plasma glucose levels less than 100 mg/dL between January 1, 1997, and December 31, 2000, and who did not previously have diabetes or impaired fasting glucose.

• Subjects developed diabetes at a rate of less than 1% per year during a mean follow-up of 81.0 months.
• Each milligram per deciliter of fasting plasma glucose increased diabetes risk by 6% (hazard ratio [HR] 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.07, P < .0001) after controlling for other risk factors.
• Compared with those with fasting plasma glucose levels less than 85 mg/dL, subjects with glucose levels of 95 to 99 mg/dL were 2.33 times more likely to develop diabetes (HR 2.33; 95% CI, 1.95-2.79; P < .0001).
• Subjects in the 90 to 94 mg/dL group were 49% more likely to progress to diabetes (HR 1.49; 95% CI, 1.23-1.79; P <.0001).
• All other risk factors except sex were significantly associated with a diabetes diagnosis.

Conclusions

The strong independent association between the level of normal fasting plasma glucose and the incidence of diabetes after controlling for other risk factors suggests that diabetes risk increases as fasting plasma glucose levels increase, even within the currently accepted normal range.

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This study although with limitations sends a strong signal that everytime one gets an executive panel test.. a thorough evaluation has to be made from the numbers that will give us SIGNALS of future disease risk.  There is no room for saying that the results are borderline or of no significance because waiting fo the sugar to be abnormal before one recommends action is tantamount to negligience!

Targeting out patients early means preventing onset of the the disease resulting in lesser chances of developing chronic complications which can be disabling and costly!

Lifestyle changes will continue to be the mainstay for these patients with sugars within the normal range but are at the highest risk to develop diabetes in the next few years!  A little sacrifice can do a long way in preventing illness and promoting health!

Get hold of your last years blood tests…look at the numbers…is your blood suagr 97 mg/dl?  Then be aware that you are at risk to develop diabetes in the near future… and therefore DO SOMETHING!!!! Lose weight, take care of what you eat and MOVE!

I have long suspected a relationship. 

It seems more prevalent the older the patient gets but seems to be more common among my diabetic nowadays.  And my suspicion is right based on a new article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, July issue:

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Background: Diabetes might affect the vasculature and neural system of the inner ear, leading to hearing impairment.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative data. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999 to 2004.

Results: 5140 noninstitutionalized adults age 20 to 69 years who had audiometric testing.

• Hearing impairment was more prevalent among adults with diabetes. Age-adjusted prevalence of low- or mid-frequency hearing impairment of mild or greater severity in the worse ear was 21.3% (95% CI, 15.0% to 27.5%) among 399 adults with diabetes compared with 9.4% (CI, 8.2% to 10.5%) among 4741 adults without diabetes.
• Similarly, age-adjusted prevalence of high-frequency hearing impairment of mild or greater severity in the worse ear was 54.1% (CI, 45.9% to 62.3%) among those with diabetes compared with 32.0% (CI, 30.5% to 33.5%) among those without diabetes.

Conclusion: Hearing impairment is common in adults with diabetes, and diabetes seems to be an independent risk factor for the condition.

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The more likely explanation to this complication is still diabetes related microcirculation abnormality which is seen in other organs affected by this condition. Whether tight control of blood glucose can help prevent the onset and progression of this condition remains to be seen. 

Still the same, good control has been shown to help prevent circulatory problems of the affected organs in the body such as the eyes and the kidneys….and therefore there should be no reason why the same wont hold true to the cochlea.

This study therefore helps us realize that patients with diabetes should probably start screening for hearing impariment so as to avoid exposure to unnecessary factors that can help aggravate the condition like noise pollution, loud music and some drugs that have been shown to cause hearing loss.

Hearing Loss: Another Reason To Aim For Good Control!