Newer diabetes medications may have additional cardiovascular benefits

May 17, 2013 ? A newer class of medications used to control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics may also improve cardiovascular health, researchers from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reported in a new meta-analysis presented yesterday at the American Society of Hypertension's Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition.

Researchers found that the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, known as GLP-1 mimetics, resulted in a systolic blood pressure (SBP) reduction of -2.22 mmHg, a loss of almost six pounds, and a decrease of HbA1c -- an indicator of blood sugar levels -- of 0.41 percent.

"While our findings must be viewed as preliminary it does provide compelling evidence of potential long-term cardiovascular advantages of GLP-1 analogs," said lead investigator Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, John W. Wolfe Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and director for vascular research at Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center. "Stroke and heart disease are the leading causes of death in people with diabetes, so this is an area that deserves additional study."

For the meta-analysis, the researchers analyzed 33 randomized studies involving 12,469 patients with type 2 diabetes assessing the glycemic control efficacy of both short acting and long acting GLP-1 mimetics. They specifically looked at GLP-1 impact on sitting systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, weight, HbA1c and heart rate after 12-56 weeks of treatment. All studies included a comparator group that used other anti-glycemic medications or placebo.

"The significance of our meta-analysis is that it uses direct evidence from both published and unpublished trials that include blood pressure data and glycemic efficacy of GLP-1 agonists with a non-incretin control group including placebo," noted Rajagopalan. "The results were maintained when the placebo controlled trials alone were examined."

The research team also found that the baseline body weight, HbA1c, SBP, study duration, weight loss, HbA1c reduction or heart rate change did not predict the size of the estimated treatment effect or explain heterogeneity between studies.

GLP-1 is a peptide hormone that stimulates insulin and inhibits glucagon secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. Recent studies suggest that the GLP-1 receptor is widely expressed in the cardiovascular system with a variety of effects including improvements in endothelial function that may lead to lowering of blood pressure. GLP-1 mimetics are available globally for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is a common form of diabetes mellitus that develops especially in adults and most often in obese individuals. It is characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from impaired insulin utilization coupled with the body's inability to compensate with increased insulin production. Diabetes affects an estimated 23.6 million people in the US (90 percent to 95 percent have type 2 diabetes) -- 17.9 million have been diagnosed, but 5.7 million are unaware they have the disease. According to the most recent statistics, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death, and the fifth leading cause of death from disease in 2007. Diabetes costs $116 billion annually in direct medical costs and $58 billion annually in indirect costs (loss of work, disability, loss of life).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/0GOb63kwhd0/130517085058.htm

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Keep fresh herbs fresh longer with the Herb Savor

If you like to use fresh herbs in your cooking but you’re tired of how quickly those expensive packets from the grocery store wilt, you need the Herb Savor from Prepara. ?The Herb Savor has been proven to keep herbs fresh for up to three weeks. ?You just place the herbs in the basket with [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/05/17/keep-fresh-herbs-fresh-longer-with-the-herb-savor/

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Embracing Intimacy: One Lesson about Successful Relationships ...

by Hannaan Joplin,

?You got to take the risk to reap in the full benefit, ?I got something deep, if you would just release and take it in?? ? ?HB Sol the Policy King, ?Release?

As an only child who was never forced to share with or sacrifice for anyone, I can truly say that I have been the definition of selfish person. Oddly, throughout my life, I have always been drawn to organizations, careers and occupations that involved helping others. Both of my parents have worked for community based organization as well as large nonprofits that focused on outreach and exemplified generosity. Eventually, as a teenager and later as an adult, I would become involved with similar organizations and create this fa?ade of being open and generous. Those who didn?t really know me would come to see me as this selfless person. I was able to hide my true nature very well; at least to those that didn?t really know.

However, those that really knew me understood how self-involved I could be, especially family, close friends and relationship mates. In fact, my selfishness has cost me some very meaningful relationships in the past and nearly cost me my present family relationship. My wife would often bring to me those things that I did to make her upset and feel unloved, and I would often promise her that I would change. However, sooner than later, I would go right back to doing the same old stuff.

When she informed me that she was pregnant and that our son would soon come, my selfishness persisted still. And then?he arrived. I saw him face to face in the delivery room it was the most surreal moment I have ever had in my life. Something inside of me shifted that day?FINALLY. I finally, at the depths of my being understood the consequences of my selfish ways and the impact it had and could have on those closest to me. I understood the impact that it had on my wife and my two step children and the impact that it could have on my newborn, my first born.

I?didn?t?have to decide to change; I changed. I no longer perceived that it was me versus everyone else. I began to think family first, then myself. I sacrificed time and energy in ways that I never could before and enjoyed doing it. I felt more joy and closer to my family. I felt closer to and started sharing more with my wife. I shared all of those things that she had to pull teeth in order to get me to share only weeks earlier. It felt RIGHT to be intimate with my wife and family. I feel more vulnerable and yet more fulfilled and happier than I ever have. From this experience, I have learned one lesson about successful relationships that I will share today.

Lesson #1-Relationships REQUIRE intimacy and intimacy and selfishness cannot exist in the same space. When you and your mate disagree, automatically seek to understand the issue from his or her point of view, instead of just your own. When this is done wholeheartedly, the sense of connection to your mate will be palpable.

Thank you to my wife, kids and all of those in my life who have attempted to teach me this lesson time and time again and to my newborn son for finally bringing it home. It has only been four weeks since you arrive, yet you have already changed my heart forever.

Releasing?

BMWK ? like the author, have you ever had a moment that caused you to re-think how your actions were impacting your family and that caused you to do things differently? ?Please share.

About the author

Content and articles from the staff and guest contributors of BlackandMarriedWithKids.com

Source: http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2013/05/embracing-intimacy-one-lesson-about-successful-relationships/

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Deal of the Day: Case-Mate Tough Case for Samsung Galaxy S4

The May 16 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Case-Mate Tough Case for Samsung Galaxy S4. Built to withstand sudden drops and accidental falls, the Tough Case is the epitome of protection. A snug, form fitting silicone provides shock resistance, while the polycarbonate hard shell protects against impacts. Color options include black or purple.

The Case-Mate Tough Case is available for just $20.00, 33% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping!

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/enwdno-Mmws/story01.htm

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Malaria parasite drives mosquitoes to human scent

In lab tests, insects carrying disease home in on sweat-soaked stockings

By Puneet Kollipara

Web edition: May 15, 2013

The notoriously crafty parasite that causes malaria may have yet another trick up its sleeve scientists have learned: It makes mosquitoes that carry it more attracted to human body odor, a new study suggests. Compared with noninfected mosquitoes, those carrying Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the parasites that carry malaria,visited a fabric covered with a person?s sweat far more frequently, researchers report May 15 in PLOS ONE.

Hundreds of millions of people have malaria, and more than 500,000 die of it each year. Plasmodium?s ability to manipulate its hosts could help explain its ability to infect so many people. Researchers have found that infected mosquitoes take longer blood meals than noninfected ones, increasing the odds that the parasite will be passed on.

Since mosquitoes find their prey using odor, scientists have wondered whether the parasite affects its host?s sense of smell. A 2007 study found that a species of Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria in rodents can alter mosquitoes? olfactory proteins.

To study how the parasite affects mosquitoes? attraction to people, a team led by Renate Smallegange, then of Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands, collected foot sweat from a volunteer who wore nylon stockings for 20 hours. Then her team put the odor-laced fabric in a cage with two groups of Anopheles gambiae, mosquitoes that transmit the malaria parasite to people. One group was infected with Plasmodium falciparum; the other wasn?t.

Infected mosquitoes landed on the fabric three times as frequently as did noninfected mosquitoes, the researchers found.

?It's a very interesting, although somewhat preliminary, result,? says Michael Riehle, an entomologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He notes that the experiment used only 176 mosquitoes and just one person?s sweat.

The researchers don?t know how the parasite manipulates mosquitoes? sense of smell. It?s also unclear which component of human odor is the most attractive to the mosquitoes. That information could help researchers develop traps to catch infected mosquitoes, the researchers say.

?We're at the tip of the iceberg, really, of understanding all the strategies the parasite is using in the mosquitoes,? says parasitologist Hilary Hurd of Keele University in England, who collaborates with some of the study?s authors. ?That's remarkable, given that this is a single-celled organism we're talking about.?

---

Suggested Reading

S. Milius. Malaria mosquito dosed with disease-fighting bacteria. Science News Online, May 9, 2013. [Go to]

N. Seppa. Experimental malaria drug may be a hot prospect. Science News. Vol. 183, April 20, 2013, p. 13. [Go to]

S. Milius. Mosquitoes Remade. Science News. Vol.182, July 14, 2012, p. 22. [Go to]

D. Strain. Lab-engineered organism fights malaria. Science News Online, February 25, 2011. [Go to]

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350438/title/Malaria_parasite_drives_mosquitoes_to_human_scent

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The New Google Maps: Flat, Clean, and Built Just for You

Although not much has changed with Google Maps mobile services, the desktop app just got redesigned from the ground up in what is, essentially, the biggest overhaul since Maps' initial launch almost eight years ago. More specifically, though, Google wants to give you your very own map "built for you."

Gone is the navigation sidebar, leaving you with wall-to-wall maps and nothing else. Your Maps desktop client now looks more like its mobile counterpart than anything else. But with all of Google's mapping services wrapped into one, it's packing way more juice.

Taking into account your friends, preferences, and favorite places, Google uses its immersive imagery for a, supposedly, fully customized experience. Click on one of your landmarks?for instance, a restaurant?and you can take a look inside right within the map client:

In addition to integrating your personal preferences, the new Maps platform brings in both Street View and Google Earth into one massive, comprehensive system. A massive system that, hopefully, should actually make finding what you're looking for a far more pleasant experience.

Quickness and convenience at hand are number one here. All your results are labeled directly on the map, so you can scan for information without having to dart back and forth from map to sidebar. You can even use filters to tailor what you're seeing (such as location, landmarks, and friend's suggestions, among other qualifiers), meaning you can finally get rid of all the noise.

But once you do find what you're looking for, as soon as you click anywhere on the map, and related information?most common travel routes, adress, Zagat information, recommendations based on general popularity as well as what your friends like, etc.?pops right up on a friendly little display, again, all within the vector map interface.

The best part, though, is that your map gets to know and better serve you the more you use it. As soon as you rate certain restaurants positively, they'll be more readily apparent on your screen next time. Your own personal landmarks will begin to appear as if by magic, and a yellow glow will signify places Google Maps thinks you might enjoy.

The first set of invites should be going out tomorrow morning, and you can request your own here.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-new-google-maps-506845039

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Mini Must-Have: Tabitha and Loretta Broderick?s Pretty Beads

Sarah Jessica Parker steps out with her little girls on May 6 in N.Y.C. and we have all the details on what they're wearing.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/2B1P8SJmifU/

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