Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference 2010

Eye disease linked with poorer brain function in later life
People with diabetic retinopathy could also have poor memory and diminished brain power, according to a study presented at Diabetes UK which links the eye disease with poor cognitive function.

The Edinburgh Type 2 Diabetes Study looked at 1066 people with type 2 diabetes aged 60–75 years, who completed seven tests looking at memory, logic and concentration. Those with retinopathy had worse average scores on most of the individual tests as well as general cognitive ability compared with those without the condition.

Mrs Jie Ding from the University of Edinburgh said: “These findings mean that either cerebral microvascular disease, as indexed by retinopathy, may lead to cognitive decrements in old age or that poorer cognitive ability makes diabetes management more difficult, and, in turn, promotes the development of cerebral microvascular disease”.

Teenagers with a sweet tooth are at risk of diabetes
Teenagers who have a high sugar intake – irrespective of calorie intake, body weight or activity levels – are placing themselves at increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in later life.

Research from Queen’s University Belfast was announced at the Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference by Dr Steven Hunter, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen’s, and Consultant in Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

The group of volunteers involved in the research were initially studied in adolescence and then followed up 10 years later when the effect of diet on heart and bone health was examined.

Dr Hunter said: “Individuals with higher intakes of sugar had higher blood sugar levels and greater insulin resistance – a feature which contributes to the development of diabetes and heart disease – compared to individuals who had a lower sugar intake.

“In order to examine the association between sugar intake and risk of diabetes further, more robust prospective randomised studies are being carried out in overweight and obese adults” he said.

Gastric band associated with psychological distress
Gastric band surgery may not improve self-esteem and could cause psychological distress, according to research presented at the conference in Liverpool.

The findings also suggest that after undergoing gastric band surgery, people are at risk of relationship problems and being dissatisfied with their body image.

The study, conducted by the University of the West of England and Southmead Hospital, Bristol, followed 25 people, aged 30–58 years, who recorded their experience 12 months after receiving a laparoscopic gastric banding operation.

Despite reporting significant health benefits, such as improved blood glucose and cholesterol levels, participants also said that having a gastric band was as hard as having to diet and that losing the opportunity to eat as a coping strategy left them struggling to cope with distressing life events.

Lead Researcher Dr Andrew Johnson from Southmead Hospital said: “This operation has a strong psychological impact as well as a physical one and we found that regular psychological support is needed to help people cope with the realities of having the device fitted”.

Physicians guilty of poor penmanship
Bad handwriting could be responsible for serious harm in people with diabetes, an audit reveals.<

Results of the audit, announced at the Diabetes UK meeting in Liverpool, have highlighted that inappropriate abbreviations and illegible handwriting led to prescription errors on 17.3% of hospital charts.

In addition, the researchers from the Royal Liverpool University Hospital looking at 75 charts of inpatients with diabetes, found that one in three charts did not have the correct timings for insulin doses.

Dr Nagaraj Malipatil, Lead Researcher, said: “Our audit has demonstrated an unacceptably high percentage of errors. A misunderstanding from an abbreviation for insulin units could have serious if not fatal consequences”.

The team undertook another audit after intensive training of junior doctors. “Members of the team have shown significant reductions in prescription errors”, said Dr Malipatil.