Hidden landmines are dangerous, but amputations as a result of diabetes complications are more common, accounting for 70% of all lower limb amputations.
Handicap International, a French charitable organisation that works with people left crippled and handicapped by landmines, has decided to add to its agenda the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) campaign to reduce the incidence and improve the treatment of diabetes in developing countries.
The WDF, World Health Organization and Handicap International, among others, fund a vascular surgical unit in Bangalore, led by Dr Kalkunte Suresh. Footcare clinics are set up in local villages to screen people for neuropathy and other foot complications. Early treatment of these complications is important as it could prevent 85% of amputations.
Dr Suresh and his team are working on educating well-respected local people (such as a bus driver, or popular postman) so they can pass on their knowledge to fellow villagers. These people are being taught about the signs and symptoms of early diabetes, the need for footcare, and the importance of wearing shoes inside and outside the house.
The Times, 8 December 2008
Type 2 diabetes affects cognitive function
A study by researchers at the University of Alberta, Canada, has found that mental abilities may be impaired in adults with type 2 diabetes.
Semantic speed and higher functions such as planning, organising and paying attention to details were noticeably worse in participants with type 2 diabetes than in those without. The results of the study suggest that mental deterioration begins early in the progression of the condition and remains stable thereafter. Mental deterioration was found to be no worse in older people with type 2 diabetes than in younger people.
Professor Roger Dixon, the co-author of the study, suggested that people with serious cases of type 2 diabetes should be screened for a slowing of cognitive function, so that they can receive the most appropriate medication and advice on diet or mental training. He was quoted by The Times as saying: “There could be some ways to compensate for these declines, at least early and with proper management.”
As diabetes is a risk factor for neuro-degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, further study is required to discover whether the mental deterioration associated with type 2 diabetes highlighted by the current data, could be linked with more serious cognitive degeneration later on in life.
A total of 465 adults participated in the study, 41 with type 2 diabetes and 424 without, aged between 53 and 90 years.
The Times, 5 January 2009
New centres for islet transplantation are established
Six centres in the UK are receiving funding from the Department of Health to provide islet transplantation for those with severe hypoglycaemia.
From April, two laboratories (in London and Oxford) will receive donor pancreases and prepare islet cells for transplantation.
The transplant centres will be based in Oxford, Newcastle, Bristol, Manchester and two sites in London.
Twelve people have undergone treatment with islet cells in the UK, and some no longer require insulin therapy. Everyone who receives this treatment will, however, need to take immunosupressant medication for the rest of their life and may require more transplants in future.
Professor Stephanie Amiel (King’s College London) was quoted by the BBC as saying: “Allowing King’s and the other centres to continue to offer this life-changing treatment will have enormous benefit for those patients who are suitable for islet transplantation in its present form.”
“It will also allow the UK to develop the technique to be suitable for more people with type 1 diabetes and may, in time, lead to a ‘cure’.”
BBC News, 2 November 2008
Teaching an old dog new tricks
A dog has been trained to warn its owner if he has high or low blood glucose levels. Cherry Kearton, who has diabetes, and his wife Angela were training a guide dog for the blind when the dog became lame and could not continue training. Angela realised that the dog, Zeta, could instead be trained to detect signs of high or low blood glucose levels.
Angela trained Zeta by leaving traces of her husband’s sweat, which was either high or low in blood glucose, on a ball of handkerchiefs.
BBC News, 15 January 2009
Giving obesity the boot
Overweight children in Wales will attend free obesity “boot camps” as part of a new government scheme. The 10-week course will target about 2000 Welsh children aged 7–13 years over the next 3 years. Advice on healthy eating, physical activity and shopping on a budget will be given to families after they enrol in the programme.
The Welsh Assembly Government said that the £1.4 million scheme will focus on weight management, in order to tackle childhood obesity, as about one in five 13-year-olds in Wales is currently obese or overweight.
The Independent, 20 January 2009
Attempts to achieve remission, or at least a substantial improvement in glycaemic control, should be the initial focus at type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
9 May 2024