The potentially deadly paradox of diabetes management

Diabetes affects nearly 1 in 10 adults in the U.S., of these millions, more than 90% have Type 2 diabetes. Controlling blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin levels ― or HbA1c, which is sometimes referred to as A1C ― is key to diabetes management and necessary to prevent its immediate and long-term complications. However, new Mayo Clinic research shows that diabetes management may be dangerously misaligned.

Carrots plus sticks: Study looks at what works to reduce low-value care

The old story of a farmer trying to get a stubborn mule to pull a wagon by dangling a carrot in front of its nose, or hitting its rump with a stick, may not seem to have much to do with the practice of medicine. But a new study suggests that when it comes to making the best use of health care dollars, it will take a combination of carrots and sticks to move things forward.

Neighborhood Features and One’s Genetic Makeup Interact to Affect Cognitive Function

Few studies have examined how the neighborhood’s physical environment relates to cognition in older adults. Researchers categorized 4,716 individuals by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype – a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to determine if there are cognitive benefits of living in neighborhoods with greater access to social, walking and retail destinations. Results showed that the positive influence of neighborhood environments on cognition are strongest among those who are at the lowest risk for AD, specifically APOE ε2 carriers.

AGS: Trump Administration’s 2021 budget ‘deeply troubling’ for older americans

Experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) raised grave concerns with President Trump’s 2021 budget proposal, which remains “deeply troubling for older Americans, families, and health professionals.” In comments shared below, the AGS warned that the proposal would eliminate training…

Weed-derived compounds in Serbian groundwater could contribute to endemic kidney disease

People living in Balkan farming villages along the Danube River have long suffered from a unique type of kidney disease known as Balkan endemic nephropathy. Recently, scientists linked the disorder to compounds from a local weed that could be taken…

One drug, many diseases

It seems too good to be true: a single drug that could treat humanity’s worst afflictions, including atherosclerosis, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and arthritis. All of these diseases have one thing in common — they involve an inflammatory protein called NLRP3.…

Isabelle Guyon, Bernhard Schölkopf and Vladimir Vapnik win the BBVA Frontiers Award in ICT

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information and Communications Technology has gone in this 12th edition to Isabelle Guyon, Bernhard Schölkopf and Vladimir Vapnik, for their “fundamental contributions to machine learning”

sphingotec’s biomarker penKid® shows best representation of true glomerular filtration rate and has utility in patients with severe burns two studies show

Hennigsdorf/Berlin, Germany, February 19, 2019 – Diagnostics company SphingoTec GmbH (“sphingotec”, Hennigsdorf Germany) today announced the publication of two studies demonstrating that its kidney function biomarker Proenkephalin (penKid®) is the most accurate surrogate for assessing true glomerular filtration rate (true…