Are the eyes the windows to detecting metabolic issues?

Everyone needs to have a yearly eye exam, just to make sure that the health of their eyes is being taken care of, but comprehensive eye exams could be way more important than you think. A new study has found that our yearly eye exams can do much more than tell us if our sight is okay, it can also let us know if we have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and even diabetes.

The study was conducted by the Columbus Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to advances in medical care for the Western Georgia-Eastern Alabama area, and Vision Service Plan, the nation's largest provider of eye care coverage. The study found that a whopping 98 percent of patients who had corneal arcus also had metabolic issues. Corneal arcus is a grayish-white ring occurring in the periphery of the cornea due to a lipid infiltration of the corneal stroma.

The study involved 2,000 patients and found that patients with corneal arcus had high rates of metabolic disease. Sixty-four percent of patients with corneal arcus had high blood pressure, 66 percent had a high body mass index, and 21 percent had high cholesterol. In addition, almost 90 percent had high blood sugar – a number so high it cannot be overlooked.

In light of this study, more research will be done to determine the link between corneal arcus and metabolic conditions, especially corneal arcus and high blood sugar. The study suggests that comprehensive eye exams could be used for metabolic condition screenings.





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Pancreatitis More Prevalent in Diabetics

Having type 2 diabetes is known to increase the risk for many different health issues, but a recent study has linked type 2 diabetes with a couple new health risks: acute pancreatitis and biliary disease. Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas that is known for having a high mortality rate despite treatment, and biliary disease is a disease of the bile ducts and liver that is caused by abnormalities in bile composition, biliary function, or biliary anatomy.

The study was prompted by an associated link between the diabetes drug exenatide (Byetta) and acute pancreatitis. The study was funded by Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals, both producers of the drug.

The study showed that type 2 diabetes patients have a two-fold greater risk of biliary disease, and almost a three-fold higher risk for acute pancreatitis, as compared to those without diabetes. The study was comprised of over 337,000 patients with type 2 diabetes and almost the same number of people without the disease. The patients came from a nationwide database of managed care claims.

While some think the diabetic drug by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly might be to blame for diabetic pancreatitis, the study shows that it might not be the drug at all, but the link may simply lie in the patients being diabetic to begin with.

In recent years acute pancreatitis has become more prevalent and common place, which makes perfect sense, since the occurrence of diabetes is growing in leaps and bounds in the Unites States. For reasons unknown, diabetics of a young age (18 years old to 30 years old) have the greatest risk for developing both bilary disease and pancreatitis.





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American Indians and Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a huge problem for all Americans; adults and children are affected by the disease in alarming numbers that are skyrocketing with each passing year. Many people think the disease is genetic, oftentimes stating such things as, “My mother and father have it, and so I will get it too”. This type of thinking seems to be even more prominent in American Indians living on reservations; they top the national charts in childhood diabetes. Unfortunately, many American Indians do not understand that Type 2 diabetes is most often caused by obesity, lack of exercise, and poor eating habits.

The following article is an in-depth look at diabetes among American Indians. The article speaks with a psychologist from the San Diego American Indian Health Center and focuses on challenges to the diabetes epidemic this is affecting American Indian children, such as poverty and relying on highly processed foods supplied by the federal government.

The article calls for more education for American Indians living on reservations and offers hope by discussing changes that are being made at the Round Valle Indian Reservation in CA, such as gardening, cooking in classrooms, and removing soda machines.

Diabetes among American Indians targeted








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