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Diabetes risk factors develop earlier in women than men

02-19-2007 · EurekAlert!

The 'diabetes clock' may start ticking in women years in advance of a medical diagnosis of the disease, new research has shown.

Keywords: diabetes, risk, factors, develop, earlier, women, men, diabete, factor

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Estrogen is important for bone health in men as well as women
05-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
Although women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, or porous bone, one in 12 men also suffer from the disease, which can lead to debilitating fractures. In women, low estrogen levels after menopause have been considered an important risk factor for this disorder. Now research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that low amounts of active estrogen metabolites also can increase the risk of osteoporosis in men.
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Advance in understanding of blood pressure gene could lead to new treatments
02-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Research by scientists at UCL (University College London) has clearly demonstrated for the first time the structure and function of a gene crucial to the regulation of blood pressure. The discovery could be important in the search for new treatments for illnesses such as heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. In a paper published online today in Nature Medicine, the team, led by Professor Patrick Vallance and Dr James Leiper, UCL Department of Medicine, reveal the role of the human gene dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH), showing that loss of DDAH activity disrupts nitric oxide (NO) production. NO is critical in the regulation of blood pressure, nervous system functions and the immune system. The role of DDAH is to break down modified amino acids (Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and monomethyl arginine (L-NMMA)) that are produced by the body and have been shown to inhibit NO synthase. These molecules accumulate in various disease states including diabetes, renal failure and pulmonary and systemic hypertension, and their concentration in plasma (the fluid component of blood) is strongly predicative of cardiovascular disease and death. In a healthy human body, the majority of ADMA is eliminated through active metabolism by DDAH. Scientists have hypothesised that if DDAH function is impaired, NO production is reduced, and that this could be an important feature of increased cardiovascular risk. To examine this pathway in more detail, the researchers deleted the DDAH gene in mice. These mice went on to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure. They also designed specific inhibitors (small molecules) which bind to the active site of human DDAH. These small molecule inhibitors also induced hypertension in mice, confirming the importance of DDAH in the regulation of blood pressure. Dr Leiper, UCL Medicine, said: “These genetic and chemical approaches to disrupt DDAH showed remarkably consistent results, and provide compelling evidence that loss of DDAH function increases the concentration of ADMA and thereby disrupts vascular NO signalling. “There has been considerable scientific interest in this pathway and the role of ADMA as a novel risk factor, but so far there's been little evidence to support the idea that it's a cause of disease, rather than just a marker. Genes and their pathways are crucial to our understanding of cardiovascular disease and a better understanding of DDAH-1 could lead to important new treatments. “It could help us to establish if genetic variation predisposes certain people to these diseases, or whether environmental factors exert some of their effects through modulation of DDAH activity. “Our research also shows that this pathway could be harnessed therapeutically to limit production of NO in certain situations where too much nitric oxide is a bad thing; for example, hypotension and septic shock. These are some of the biggest problems in intensive care medicine and there is a huge unmet need for drug treatments.” The study, which was carried out at UCL's Rayne Institute, was funded by grants from the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "The unexpected finding in the 1980s that a simple gas, nitric oxide (NO), is made by cells in the blood vessel wall and is a powerful control of blood vessel relaxation led to the award of the Nobel Prize in 1998 to its discoverers. "More recently, there has been increasing evidence that impairment of NO production is likely to be an important factor in the development of heart and circulatory disease, but the mechanisms responsible are not fully understood. "This study suggests for the first time that the loss of the activity of the enzyme DDAH-1 leads to reduced NO production and may cause heart and circulatory disease. These findings are likely to be important in the search for new ways to optimise the health of our blood vessels." ### Notes for Editors 1. For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence. UCL is the fourth-ranked UK university in the 2006 league table of the top 500 world universities produced by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. UCL alumni include Mahatma Gandhi (Laws 1889, Indian political and spiritual leader); Jonathan Dimbleby (Philosophy 1969, writer and television presenter); Junichiro Koizumi (Economics 1969, Prime Minister of Japan); Lord Woolf (Laws 1954, Lord Chief Justice of England & Wales); Alexander Graham Bell (Phonetics 1860s, inventor of the telephone), and members of the band Coldplay.
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Study finds women less likely than men to have their cholesterol controlled
05-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Women are significantly less likely than men to have their LDL cholesterol controlled to recommended levels, according to a new study by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The study, to be published in the May/June edition of Women’s Health Issues, investigated gender differences in cardiovascular disease prevention, treatment and risk factors based on national health care quality data from commercial and Medicare managed care plans.
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Abdominal fat distribution predicts heart disease
12-10-2007 · EurekAlert!
Abdominal obesity is a strong independent risk factor for heart disease, and using the waist-hip ratio rather than waist measurement alone is a better predictor of heart disease risk among men and women, researchers reported in a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Dry Eye Syndrome affects quality of life for nearly 5 million in the US
03-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
As a clinical diagnosis, Dry Eye Syndrome (DES) may not appear to be a major health issue, but in a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers found that DES had a significant impact on quality of life. With an estimated prevalence of 7.8 percent of women and 4.7 percent of men over 50, it affects 4.8 million people in the United States. Although some risk factors have been identified, the cause of DES is still largely unknown.
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Landmark study highlights complex genetic risk factors behind type 2 diabetes
04-26-2007 · EurekAlert!
A UK collaboration of scientists has identified three new genes that predispose individuals to develop type 2 diabetes, bringing scientists a step closer towards understanding what causes this complex disease. The findings bring the total number of genes known to be involved in type 2 diabetes to nine.
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Mind over matter: SH2B1 in the brain regulates obesity
01-18-2007 · EurekAlert!
Obesity is one of the main risk factors for developing type II diabetes. Previous studies have shown that mice lacking a protein known as SH2B1 throughout their body are obese and develop diabetes. However, a new study now shows that replacing SH2B1 only in the brain of these mice rescues them from obesity, indicating that SH2B1 in the brain might be a new target for the development of treatments for obesity and type II diabetes.
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Youth's attitudes about women's roles influenced by many family factors
05-17-2007 · EurekAlert!
By the time they are adults, men and women have distinctive attitudes about the roles women should play in society, but little is known about how these views develop. A Penn State study tracked youth's attitudes for most of the school age and adolescent years and found varying patterns of change according to gender, birth order, parent's influences and other factors.
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HPV infection linked to throat cancers
05-09-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have conclusive evidence that human papillomavirus (HPV) causes some throat cancers in both men and women. Reporting in the May 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that oral HPV infection is the strongest risk factor for the disease, regardless of tobacco and alcohol use, and having multiple oral sex partners tops the list of sex practices that boost risk for the HPV-linked cancer.
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Obesity found to be a risk factor for multiple myeloma
07-19-2007 · EurekAlert!
An obese person is more likely than a lean person to develop multiple myeloma, according to researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health. Their findings indicate that Body Mass Index (BMI) -- a statistical measure that scales weight to height -- provides an indicator for one’s risk of developing multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells that produce antibodies.
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