The American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions
The annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) was held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco and attracted approximately 13,000 participants from around the world, including clinicians, academicians, allied health professionals, and others interested in diabetes. The conference highlighted the latest advances in diabetes research and improving patient care, with presentations focused on treatment recommendations and advances toward a cure for diabetes.
In one study, Gillian Booth, M.D., of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto, and colleagues evaluated whether neighborhoods that are more conducive to walking are experiencing a slower rise in obesity and diabetes.
"We found that the most walkable areas had much lower rates of overweight and obesity than the lower four categories of walkability, and these rates actually fell 9 percent by 2010, whereas they went up 13 percent in less walkable areas," said Booth. "We saw the exact same pattern with respect to new cases of diabetes. Rates were much lower in the most walkable areas and fell by 7 percent, whereas rates were higher in areas that were less walkable and rose by 6 percent over the study period. This was after accounting for differences in income and ethnicity across neighborhoods."
Abstract No. 76-OR
In another related study, Booth and colleagues evaluated whether people living in more walkable areas were at lower risk of developing diabetes.
"We used statistical measures that create balance between groups with respect to risk factors so that we could try to get around the issue of self-selection -- the fact that people who prefer to live in one neighborhood over another may be very different from those who choose to live elsewhere," said Booth.
The investigators found that people living in the most walkable neighborhoods had a reduced likelihood of developing diabetes in the next 10 years, regardless of which city or region they lived in. However, this was only among adults under the age of 65. The investigators did not find any benefit among seniors.
"As physicians, we have to be aware of the context in which our patients live their lives. We know that physical activity and healthy eating are key to preventing weight gain and diabetes, but people who live in an unwalkable neighborhood have more challenges in being physically active and may not be able to act on the advice their clinicians give them," said Booth.
Abstract No. 383-OR
Ania Jastreboff, M.D., of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and colleagues asked normal-weight adolescents and adults to drink 75 grams of glucose. The investigators then performed brain scans using functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural response to drinking glucose in the adolescents as compared to the adults. The investigators found that adolescents, as compared to adults, exhibited increased brain response to drinking glucose in regions of the brain implicated in reward motivation and executive function.
"This study is the first step in understanding what is occurring in the developing adolescent brain in response to drinking sugar," said Jastreboff. "We hypothesize that these differences in brain response to glucose ingestion might contribute to adolescents' higher consumption of added sugars. Further studies need to examine how these findings relate to eating behavior."
Abstract No. 158-OR
ADA: Fasting Lowers Cholesterol in Prediabetes Patients
WEDNESDAY, June 18, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A 24-hour, water-only fast once weekly is being investigated as an intervention in patients who have prediabetes and metabolic syndrome, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco.
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ADA: Prediabetes Intervention Cuts Cardiovascular Risk
TUESDAY, June 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment of prediabetes and restoration of normal glucose regulation (NGR) reduces cardiovascular risk, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco.
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ADA: New Instrument Validated for Diabetes Distress
TUESDAY, June 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A new instrument can assess diabetes distress that is linked to clinical outcome in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). In addition, depressive symptoms are associated with mortality risk in T1D. These finding were presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco.
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ADA: 'Bionic Pancreas' Ups Glycemic Control in T1DM
MONDAY, June 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The "bionic pancreas" -- a device that uses a sophisticated computer program working in concert with several diabetes management devices -- successfully managed blood glucose levels in its first real-world trials on adults and children with type 1 diabetes. The findings were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco, and were published online simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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New Hemoglobin A1c Targets Fixed for T1DM
MONDAY, June 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- New hemoglobin A1c targets have been established for patients of all ages with type 1 diabetes, according to a position statement published online June 16 in Diabetes Care. The position statement was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association, held from June 13 to 17 in San Francisco.
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