Genetic Variant Found Only In African Americans May Lead To Inaccurate Measurements Of HbA1c,

reports that “a genetic variant found only in African Americans...may lead to inaccurate measurements of HbA1c,” researchers concluded after studying data from “82 cohort studies” involving nearly 160,000 participants. The findings were published online in PLoS Medicine. https://login.medscape.com/login/sso/getlogin?urlCache=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tZWRzY2FwZS5jb20vdmlld2FydGljbGUvODg1NjMy&ac=401

T2D May Be Curable If Patients Lose A Certain Amount Of Weight,

reports that research published in the BMJ suggests that “in many cases,” type 2 diabetes (T2D) “is curable.” Patients can reverse the condition “by losing about 33 pounds, say the authors of the new paper, despite popular belief that the diagnosis is always a permanent one.” http://time.com/4940354/reverse-diabetes-weight-loss/

Third MMR Dose Helped Control College Mumps Outbreak But waning immunity from two-dose vaccine a continued problem

https://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/Vaccines/67739?xid=nl_mpt_Weekly_Education_2017-09-13&eun=g5883165d1r

Experts Puzzled By US Male Infertility Crisis.

reports researchers suspect environmental toxins, “specifically, endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in compounds like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates,” can cause reduction in male sperm counts. The production of sperm is “tightly regulated by the body’s hormones, and so any interference with those hormones – say, through exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals – could make itself felt first through damage to sperm quantity or quality.” http://www.newsweek.com/2017/09/22/male-infertility-crisis-experts-663074.html

Menopausal Hormone Therapy Drugs Appear Not To Increase Risk Of Premature Death,

“The largest and longest clinical trials to date of menopausal hormone therapy have found that the drugs do not increase the risk of premature death,” researchers reported. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, study lead author JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH, FACE, “chief of the division of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” and colleagues “reported the results of two randomized trials.” In one trial, “16,608 women took either a placebo or a combination of estrogen and progesterone for an average of 5.6 years.” In the second trial “10,739 women took either a placebo or estrogen alone for an average of 7.2 years. The women were 50 to 79 years old.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/well/live/taking-hormones-for-menopause-doesnt-raise-early-death-risk.html

Research Finds Eating In Sync With Own Body Clock Could Curb Fat Gain.

reports a study found that timing meals by one’s own body clock rather than by the time of day could affect how lean one is. The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-eating-bodyclock/eating-in-synch-with-your-body-clock-may-help-curb-fat-gain-idUSKCN1BM2EN Melatonin onset timing was similar for both lean participants and those with a higher percentage of body fat, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, online September 6. However, those with a higher percentage of body fat - 8.7 percent higher in women and 10.1 percent higher in men - ate most of their calories about an hour closer to the time of melatonin onset than did lean participants. There was no relationship between body composition and when (clock hour) they ate, how many calories they consumed, what kind of food they had, their exercise or activity level or sleep duration.

Researchers Identify Genetic Variants That May Increase Risk For Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease.

reports that that a study published online in Nature Genetics “has provided fresh insight into genetic contributions to type 2 diabetes and heart disease and how the two diseases are linked.” Researchers “identified 16 previously unidentified genetic variants that appear to increase the risk for type 2 diabetes and one new genetic variant that increases the risk for heart disease.” The investigators “also confirmed previously identified risk loci for diabetes and pinpointed seven genetic variants that increase the risk for both type 2 diabetes and heart disease.” https://login.medscape.com/login/sso/getlogin?urlCache=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tZWRzY2FwZS5jb20vdmlld2FydGljbGUvODg1NDc5&ac=401