Living an unhealthy lifestyle could make you look older because high blood sugar causes the face to age more quickly, new research has found.People whose blood sugar levels are higher than average look older than those with low levels, experts said.

Blood sugar, which can rise as a result of an unhealthy diet or lack of exercise, was already known to cause ill health but the study is believed to be the first to link high levels to appearance.

Researchers found that every additional millimole per litre increase in blood sugar, which in healthy people is usually between five and six mmol/l, adds five months of ageing to their facial features.

They measured the blood sugar of 602 people, while a group of 60 independent assessors studied two photographs of their faces to come up with a “perceived age” score.

Healthy people with low blood sugar typically looked a year younger than those with high readings, and a year-and-a-half younger than diabetics, the study published in the Age journal found.

The ageing could be caused by a build-up of sugar which sticks to collagen – a protein in the skin which keeps it supple – and is difficult for the body to remove.

Alternatively, the glucose could hamper insulin production which is believed to play a central role in ageing, researchers said.

David Gunn, who led the Unilever study, said: “The higher glucose people had, they started looking older. Diabetics looked older again, and they have had the worst exposure to high glucose levels.

“This adds extra evidence that there is another reason to have a healthy lifestyle – because it is going to affect your appearance as well as your health.”

Diana van Heemst, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, who contributed to the paper, said: “The results from this study further underscore how important regulation of blood glucose levels is for wellbeing and health in advanced middle age.

“The associated benefit of looking younger might provide an extra motivation to bring about healthy lifestyle changes in 50-to-70 year olds.”

From:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/High-blood-sugar-speeds-up-ageing

A new drug which destroys blood supply to fatty tissue could help people lose a tenth of their body weight in just one month, a study indicates.Obese rhesus monkeys lost on average 11 per cent of their body weight after four weeks of the experimental treatment.

Body mass index (BMI) and waistline also were reduced, while all three measures were unchanged in untreated control monkeys.

Imaging studies also showed a substantial decrease in body fat among treated animals.

A research team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre carried out the study.

Co-senior author Professor Renata Pasqualini, at the David H. Koch Centre for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers, said: “Development of this compound for human use would provide a non-surgical way to actually reduce accumulated white fat, in contrast to current weight-loss drugs that attempt to control appetite or prevent absorption of dietary fat.”

She said previous attempts to treat obesity have predominantly focused on drugs aimed at suppressing appetite or increasing metabolism, but these efforts have been hampered by their toxic side-effects.

The MD Anderson group designed a new drug, which includes a homing agent that binds to a protein on the surface of fat-supporting blood vessels and a synthetic peptide that triggers cell death.

Their blood supply gone, fat cells are reabsorbed and metabolised.

Co-senior author Professor Wadih Arap, said: “Obesity is a major risk factor for developing cancer, roughly the equivalent of tobacco use, and both are potentially reversible.”

In earlier preclinical research, obese mice lost about 30 per cent of their body weight with the drug, now called Adipotide.

The drug acts on white adipose tissue, the scientific name for the unhealthy type of fat that accumulates under the skin and around the abdomen, and is a disease and mortality predictor.

Prof Pasqualini said: “Most drugs against obesity fail in transition between rodents and primates.  We’re greatly encouraged to see substantial weight loss in a primate model of obesity that closely matches the human condition.”

The primate model also shares other physiological features associated with human obesity, such as metabolic syndrome, characterised by an increased resistance to insulin, which can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Adipotide-treated monkeys showed marked improvements in insulin resistance – using about 50 per cent less insulin after treatment.

Now the research team are preparing for a clinical trial in which obese prostate cancer patients would receive daily injections of Adipotide for 28 consecutive days.

Prof Arap said: “The question is, will their prostate cancer become better if we can reduce their body weight and the associated health risks?”

He said some prostate cancer treatments, such as hormone therapy, cause weight gain.

Greater weight can lead to arthritis, which in turn causes inactivity that leads to more weight gain.

Fat cells also secrete growth hormones that cancer cells thrive on.

Weight, BMI and abdominal circumference all continued to drop for three weeks after treatment ended before turning back up during the eighth week of the study.

Treated monkeys’ abdominal fat levels fell by 27 per cent during the study. Fat levels increased slightly in the control group.

Lean monkeys did not lose weight in a separate study to test for potential effects of the drug in non-obese animals, indicating that the drug’s effect may be selective for obese subjects.

Monkeys in the studies remained bright and alert throughout, interacting with caretakers and demonstrating no signs of nausea or food avoidance.

This is potentially an important finding since unpleasant side-effects have limited the use of approved drugs that reduce fat absorption in the intestines.

The principal side effects were noted in the kidneys.

Study first author Dr Kirstin Barnhart, a veterinary clinical pathologist said: “The renal effect was dose-dependent, predictable and reversible.”

The results were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Obesity and chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes cost Britain £20 billion a year in terms of lost productivity, analysis by the polling firm Gallup has found.Overweight and obese workers with no chronic problems take twice as many days off as comparable workers of a healthy weight, found the survey of almost 9,000 people.

Those who were overweight or obese and had three or more chronic health problems took 12 times as many sick days as healthy weight individuals with no health problems, or 18 compared to 1.5.

The survey was conducted by Gallup and Healthways, a firm that runs fitness centres.

It also found obesity alone counts for six lost work days per worker each year – or over £1,200 in lost productivity.

Ben Leedle, president and chief executive of Healthways, said it showed that the level of chronic disease in the UK workforce was at “alarming levels”.

He said: “Employers who recognize the importance of improving well-being at the workplace are most likely to gain a competitive advantage.”

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Obesity-and-chronic-disease-cost-UK-PLC-20bn-a-year

A massive recruitment drive is under way to match up thousands of diabetic patients with diabetes research projects aimed at finding a cure for the disease.The scheme is being likened to a kind of “dating agency” that puts researchers and patients in contact.

Researchers say about 30% of cancer patients may be taking part in clinical trials, but for diabetes that figure is less than 1%.

About 2.8 million people in the UK are known to have diabetes.

But the charity Diabetes UK believes another 800,000 people may not know they already have the disease.

Part of the reason researchers have found it hard to find diabetes patients is that most only see their GP.

But three regions in England have been chosen to pilot a scheme which aims to offer 25,000 patients, with any form of diabetes, the chance to take part in clinical trials or other forms of research.

A recruitment drive is taking place in north east London, the south west and the north west of England.

Prof Martin Gibson, from the Diabetes Research Network at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, says clinical trials are essential in order to find better treatments for diabetes – or even a cure.

“Pretty much everyone I talk to with diabetes is interested in research but they don’t get the opportunity.  It’s not like cancer where people are increasingly offered the chance to take part in research projects.”

“Part of the problem is that people with diabetes are very often out in the community, which is not where the researchers are.  So what we’re trying to create is a dating agency so we can bring the two groups together, because both are very interested in trying to find a cure for diabetes.”

Diabetes UK estimates that about 10% of the total NHS budget across the UK is spent on illnesses related to the disease.

The charity calculates this works out at about £173m a week – or £1m an hour.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: “This is a huge opportunity for people with diabetes to play their part in crucial research that is piecing together the gaps in our knowledge and in our understanding of the condition.

“This exciting campaign will help future generations of people diagnosed with this serious, life-long condition and help us take a step further to a future without diabetes.”

If you would like to be involved in the diabetes research project please click here now.

Researchers say they have discovered why men may be more likely than women to develop type 2 diabetes – they are biologically more susceptible.Men need to gain far less weight than women to develop the condition, study findings suggest.

The Glasgow University team found men developed the disease at a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than women.

They believe distribution of the body fat is important – men tend to store it in their liver and around the waist.

Women, meanwhile, have greater amounts of ‘safe’ subcutaneous fat stored on the thighs and hips, for example.

This means women need to accumulate more fat overall than men to develop the harmful fat deposits linked with diabetes, the researchers explain in the journal Diabetologia.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by too much sugar in the blood which occurs when the body’s ability to regulate sugar levels in several different organs becomes disturbed. The condition is linked to excess fat in some of these organs such as the liver and muscles.

Professor Naveed Sattar, of the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences, who led the research, said: “Previous research has indicated that middle-aged men are at a higher risk of developing diabetes than women and one possible explanation is that men have to gain less weight than women to develop the condition.

“In other words, men appear to be at higher risk for diabetes.”

For the study, the researchers analysed data from 51,920 men and 43,137 women in Scotland with diabetes, taking into consideration body weight and obesity using the BMI measurement based on height and weight.

The results showed women developed diabetes at a heavier BMI than men – the mean BMI at diabetes diagnosis in men was 31.83 but 33.69 in women.

The researchers say this helps explain why men have higher rates of diabetes in many parts of the world.

Dr Victoria King, Head of Research at Diabetes UK, said: “It is worrying that men develop type 2 diabetes at a higher rate than their female counterparts. Research like this will help us understand reasons why and provide greater insight into what we can do to improve prevention of type 2 diabetes.

“Diabetes UK is calling on both men and women to reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes by losing any excess weight, eating a healthy, balanced diet and by taking regular physical activity.”

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15147999

Childhood obesity appears to begin in a mother’s womb, a new study has concluded using state of the art technology to monitor fat levels in unborn babies.Researchers found some babies have similar build up of fat around their abdomen that adults aged in their 50s have.

The study of babies at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, west London, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to investigate links between childhood obesity and their mothers.

It reportedly found evidence that being overweight or obese in pregnancy could result in potentially harmful changes to a baby’s fat levels while still in the womb.

The study, led by Prof Neena Modi, one of Britain’s best experts on high-risk health problems in newborns found nearly a third of children had more fat than expected.

Of the 105 babies – 54 boys and 51 girls – a total of 31 babies had more adpose, or fat, tissue around their abdomen than normal.

Experts said the study was the first direct link that proved the weight of a mother-to-be was passed on to her child and showed that overweight mothers gave birth to fat babies.

“I was very surprised to be able to detect such a clear continuum of effect of maternal BMI (body mass index) on the baby,” said Prof Modi, head of neonatal medicine at Imperial College London.

“This is a very important finding indeed, opening the door to a new understanding of how a mother’s metabolism affects her baby.”

Newborn babies usually have about 700g of adipose tissue, but for each unit increase in maternal BMI, this increased by approximately 7g with a huge build-up in fat in the babies’ livers.

Meanwhile in adults, adipose tissue is found mainly under the skin, but also in deposits between the muscles, around the intestines and around the heart.

Prof Modi, who is also a consultant neonatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, told the Daily Mail that all women should be aware of the effects of being obese and what this means for their child.

“This shows how sensitive the baby is to the environment experienced within the womb and how lifelong effects may be initiated before birth,” she said.

Body mass index is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres.

The World Health Organisation classes a BMI between 18.5 and 25 as normal weight, between 25 and 30 as overweight and over 30 as obese.

In adults, high amounts of fat around the stomach and in the liver impair their control of blood sugar, leading to diabetes. Problems associated with obesity are set to cost the NHS up to £6.3 billion a year by 2015.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Overweight-mothers-give-birth-to-fat-babies-study-finds

Denmark has imposed the world’s first “fat tax” in a drive to slim its population and cut heart disease.The move may increase pressure for a similar tax in the UK, which suffers from the highest levels of obesity in Europe.

Starting from this Saturday, Danes will pay an extra 30p on each pack of butter, 8p on a pack of crisps, and an extra 13p on a pound of mince, as a result of the tax.

The tax is expected to raise about £140 million, and cut consumption of saturated fat by close to 10pc, and butter consumption by 15pc.

“It’s the first ever fat-tax,” said Mike Rayner, Director of Oxford University’s Health Promotion Research Group, who has long campaigned for taxes on unhealthy foods.

“It’s very interesting. We haven’t had any practical examples before. Now we will be able to see the effects for real.” The tax will be levied at 2.5 per Kg of saturated fat and will be levied at the point of sale from wholesalers to retailers.

Less than 10pc of Danes are clinically obese, putting them slightly below the European average.

But researchers at Denmark’s Institute for Food and Economic estimate that close to 4pc of the country’s premature deaths are a result of excess consumption of saturated fats.

For Britain, where more than 20pc of the population is obese, the number will be considerably higher.

A 2007 study by Mr Rayner’s group concluded that a combination of taxes on healthy foods and tax breaks on fruit and vegetables could save 3,200 lives a year in the UK.

Health Minister Andrew Lansley has up until now resisted calls for taxes on unhealthy foods, but Mr Rayner said they were the only credible way to combat Britain’s obesity problem.

“I think we’re going to have them in Britain whether Mr Lansley wants them or not, because the obesity crisis in the UK is such that we need to take more action.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Denmark-taxes-fatty-products

The weight loss debate has moved as researchers at the University of Edinburgh have identified a number of genes in fat tissue that may lead people to retain weight unnecessarily in the body. They hope the discovery could eventually lead to the development of medicines targeting obesity.

Scientists compared fat tissue from mice that had been selectively bred for many generations to be increasingly fat or thin, and as a result had acquired weight-related genes.

The researchers then pinpointed genes that prevented the breakdown of fat, which were more prevalent in the fat tissue of the overweight mice compared to the fat tissue of the lean mice.

Mice were then bred from one overweight parent and one lean parent.

The offspring that turned out to be overweight were found to have the same active genes as the fatter parent mouse, suggesting that hereditary factors play a role in fat storage and can increase the likelihood of putting on weight.

Dr Nik Morton, a Wellcome Trust research career development fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science, said: “While genes controlling appetite are known to be important in determining our fatness, our study shows that genes switched on in the fat tissue itself can play a role in determining why some people tend to hang onto their fat more easily than others.”

“While this supports the idea that genetic factors are linked to obesity, exercise and diet are still important for healthy lifestyles and can prevent most people from becoming obese.”

“If we can identify the genes and proteins that are controlling how fat we get, we may be able to target them with medicines to try and target the obese or the consequences of obesity.”

The research also found that the thin mice offspring had an added protection against weight-gain.

When both sets of mice were given fatty foods, the thin offspring appeared able to break down fatty tissue more easily than the heavier mice, suggesting they had inherited elusive “lean genes”.

The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal PLoS One.

From: http://www.independent.co.uk/gene-linked-to-fat-storage-capacity

With fast food outlets piling on the calories a new initiative was launched this week for food retailers to label the amount of calories that they are selling.The government wants us all to think more carefully about what we eat, to stem rising obesity rates.

It is asking fast food and other restaurant chains to put calorie and other nutrition information on menus.

McDonald’s is on board and has installing calorie content displays for every item of food and drink that it sells in all of its 1,200 restaurants. Starbucks has also signed up to the government’s responsibility deal.

Dietitian Helen Bond says the figures might come as a surprise to some: “People don’t necessarily realise what they are consuming. Without clear calorie labelling, it is easy to see how someone might consume – without any guilt – an entire day’s calories in just one sitting.”

Calories are a measure of energy, so the number of calories tells you how much energy is in the food. Although most people say calories the actual measure is kilocalories, shortened to kcals
Men = 2,500 kcal
Women = 2,000 kcal
Children aged 5-10 = 1,800 kcal

The trick to keeping within the daily limits, she says, is knowing what choices to make.

The average adult male should consume no more than 2,500 calories a day, and women no more than 2,000 calories a day, according to guidelines.

So, if you go to Starbucks for a coffee and pick an Americano, which contains 17 calories, you will still have lots of your daily calorie allowance left for meals.

But pick a Starbucks’ Signature Grande Hot Chocolate loaded with whipped cream and 556 calories and you’ll wipe out up to a quarter of your allowance.

If you are feeling peckish at the same time and decide to buy a Fairtrade chocolate chunk shortbread to go with your hot chocolate, you’ll hit half of your quota for the day as a woman. Even a skinny muffin will add 344 calories to the total.

Yet a fruit salad from Starbucks will only set you back 95 calories.

Similarly, go to McDonald’s and buy a large cappuccino and a grilled chicken and bacon salad for your lunch and the calorie count will be 285. But opt for a Big Mac with large fries and a milkshake and you’ll have consumed 1,450 calories.

Comparison of Recommended daily intake and fast food items:

Starbucks Grande Caffe Americano = 17 kcal;
Starbucks Grande Latte (with whole milk) = 223 kcal;
Starbucks Signature Grande Hot Chocolate (with whole milk and topped with whipped cream) = 556 kcal;
Starbucks fruit salad = 95 kcal;
Starbucks skinny peach and raspberry muffin = 344 kcal;
Starbucks chocolate chunk shortbread fairtrade = 508 kcal;

McDonald’s Large Cappuccino = 120 kcal;
McDonalds Large Coca-cola = 210 kcal;
McDonald’s Large chocolate milkshake = 500 kcal;
McDonald’s Grilled Chicken and Bacon salad = 165 kcal;
McDonald’s large french fries = 460 kcal;
McDonald’s Big Mac = 490 kcal

Ms Bond says: “You can see how things can quickly top up. If someone was to eat 500 extra calories a day above the recommended amount every day for a week, they would put on about a pound of weight.”

If this pattern continues for weeks or months on end, it is easy to see how someone starting at a healthy weight could become overweight or obese.

But it’s not just the number calories that we should be concerned about, it’s also how much salt, fat and sugar is in the food that is important.

“It’s true that calories are calories regardless of where they come from, but you are more likely to pile on the weight if you eat energy dense food – stuff that’s high in fat,” she explains.

If you eat a gram of carbohydrate, this equates to four calories. But a gram of fat equals nine calories.

“So if you eat 100g (3.5oz) of chips, that would be about 190 calories, which is twice as much as 100g of boiled potatoes.”

Ms Bond says it is possible to still enjoy fast food and stay healthy. One way is to make sure you keep track of what you have consumed and compensate if you need to by having a lean salad in the evening instead of a calorie-rich meal.

“Having calories displayed in restaurants and on food packaging will make a difference to those who want it to. It empowers people to make choices and take control of their own health. And it might make some people reconsider what they are eating.”

Adapted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14786547

The National Health Service could face a “diabetes time bomb” according to an audit of patients in England and Wales.
The report says 800,000 Type 1 and Type 2 patients have elevated blood sugar levels which could lead to kidney failure, limb amputation and stroke.

It warned that many of the patients were young or middle aged and could require “substantial hospital care in a matter of years”.

Diabetes UK said the findings highlighted the need for urgent action.

All forms of diabetes result in raised blood sugar levels. If this is not controlled then it can cause serious damage.

The NHS Information Centre report confirmed that the number of cases of diabetes, especially Type 2, is increasing – particularly in deprived communities.

When it came to controlling blood sugar levels, around a third of more than 2 million patients had raised levels that placed them at risk of developing complications.

This was a greater problem for the under 55s.

Nearly 300,000 people were at “high risk” and 144,000 were at “dangerously high risk” in that age category.

The report also found nearly half of patients were not getting the appropriate checks.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends patients with diabetes receive nine checks annually including: blood sugar levels, whether they are smoking, and an assessment of damage to the eyes or feet due to diabetes.

The study showed that only 53% of patients with Type 2 diabetes and 32% with Type 1 received all nine tests.

Dr Rowan Hillson, National Clinical Director for Diabetes, said: “I am very concerned that the National Diabetes Audit shows that we still have a long way to go in delivering basic standards of diabetes care for everyone.

“In particular, young and middle-aged people with diabetes are not getting the regular checks they need to manage their condition and improve outcomes.

“These checks are vital to reduce serious but avoidable complications. All health care professionals should follow NICE’s clear recommendations. There is no excuse for not doing the basics well.”

Barbara Young, Chief Executive at Diabetes UK, said: “This highlights the need for urgent action to ensure that people with diabetes start to receive all the basic care processes otherwise there will be more amputations, more people going blind, and more cases of kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.”

From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13928359