Discover the Science of Health
A new study by Aetna’s Innovation Labs and GNS Healthcare uses “big data” analytics to predict patients at risk for metabolic syndrome. Their results show that lowering waist size and blood glucose have the largest health benefits and cause the biggest reduction in medical costs. Regular doctor visits and medication adherence reduces the one-year probability of having metabolic syndrome in nearly 90% of people.
Good news for those who love their daily coffee (or two); a new meta-analysis (study of studies) published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure suggests that moderate coffee consumption reduces the risk of heart failure [1].
Diabetics often need to test blood glucose levels several times a day in order to make appropriate decisions about nutrition and, in the case of type 1 diabetics, insulin administration. Medisana, a German company, has developed hardware and an app that allow diabetics to test — and keep track of — blood glucose on an iPhone or iPad. The hardware, called the GlucoDock, connects to an Apple mobile device. The user puts a very small drop of blood on a test strip, and inserts it into the device. GlucoDock, via the VitaDock software, measures blood sugar and records the measurement for personal data tracking purposes.
Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. Ask anyone with the condition and they will tell you: using a spring-loaded needle to prick their fingers monitor blood glucose (i.e.sugar) levels several times a day is painful procedure.
Researchers from the University of Washington (UW) and Microsoft Research Connections are working together to develop a non-invasive, technological solution that promises to improve both the health and overall quality of life for people with diabetes: a contact lens that, instead of correcting vision, monitors blood glucose levels.
An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.
