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This is part of a prospective study carried out as a national project to secure standardized public resources for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Korea. We compared various characteristics of long-standing T2DM patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) and macular edema (ME).
From September 2014 to July 2015, T2DM patients with disease duration of at least 15 years were recruited at a single university hospital. Clinical data and samples were collected according to the common data elements and standards of procedure developed by the Korean Diabetes Association Research Council. Each participant was assessed by ophthalmologists for DR and ME.
Among 220 registered patients, 183 completed the ophthalmologic assessment. DR was associated with longer disease duration (odds ratio [OR], 1.071; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.001 to 1.147 for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy [NPDR]) (OR, 1.142; 95% CI, 1.051 to 1.242 for proliferative diabetic retinopathy [PDR]) and the use of long-acting insulin (OR, 4.559; 95% CI, 1.672 to 12.427 for NPDR) (OR, 4.783; 95% CI, 1.581 to 14.474 for PDR), but a lower prevalence of a family history of cancer (OR, 0.310; 95% CI, 0.119 to 0.809 for NPDR) (OR, 0.206; 95% CI, 0.063 to 0.673 for PDR). ME was associated with higher glycosylated hemoglobin levels (OR, 1.380; 95% CI, 1.032 to 1.845) and the use of rapid-acting insulin (OR, 5.211; 95% CI, 1.445 to 18.794).
Various clinical features were associated with DR and ME. Additional epidemiological and biorepository-based studies using this cohort are being conducted to deepen our understanding of diabetic complications in Korea.
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Diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is one of the important complications of diabetes. It is characterized by reduced heart rate variability (HRV).
In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, 75 patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group (
Most of the baseline measures for HRVs were similar between the ALA and placebo groups. Although there were no statistically significant HRV changes in the ALA group compared to the placebo group after 24 weeks of trial, we found a positive tendency in some of the HRV parameters of the ALA group. The standard deviations of normal-to-normal RR intervals in the standing position increased by 1.87 ms in the ALA group but decreased by −3.97 ms in the placebo group (
Although a slight improvement tendency was seen in HRV in the ALA group, there were no statistically significant HRV changes in the ALA group compared to the placebo group after 24 weeks of trial. However, the high oral dose of ALA was well-tolerated.
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Diabetics are likely to receive advice from their physicians concerning lifestyle changes. To understand how much sodium is consumed by diabetics in Korea, we compared the average daily sodium intake between diabetics and non-diabetics after controlling for confounding factors.
We obtained the sodium intake data for 13,957 individuals who participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2008 to 2010, which consisted of a health interview and behavioral and nutritional surveys. The KNHANES uses a stratified, multistage, probability-sampling design, and weighting adjustments were conducted to represent the entire population.
Our analysis revealed that, overall, diabetics tended to have lower sodium intake (4,910.2 mg) than healthy individuals (5,188.2 mg). However, both diabetic and healthy individuals reported higher sodium intake than is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Stratified subgroup analyses revealed that the sodium intake (4,314.2 mg) among newly diagnosed diabetics was higher among women when compared to patients with known diabetes (3,812.5 mg,
The average sodium intake of diabetics in Korea was higher than the WHO recommends. Sodium intake in newly diagnosed diabetics was significantly higher than that in non-diabetics and previously diagnosed diabetics among females. Prospective studies are needed to identify the exact sodium intake.
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Rebaudioside A and erythritol are nonnutritive sweeteners. There have been several studies of their glycemic effects, but the outcomes remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the glycemic effects of rebaudioside A and erythritol as a sweetener in people with glucose intolerance.
This trial evaluated the glycemic effect after 2 weeks of consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol as sweeteners in a pre-diabetic population. The patients were evaluated for fructosamine, fasting plasma glucose, C-peptide, insulin, and 2-hour plasma glucose before and after consumption of sweetener. The primary outcome was a change in fructosamine levels from the baseline to the end of treatment. Secondary outcomes were the changes in levels of fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour plasma glucose.
From the baseline to the end of experiment, the changes in fructosamine levels after consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol, did not differ significantly (244.00±19.57 vs. 241.68±23.39 µmol/L,
Our study suggests that consumption of rebaudioside A and erythritol does not alter the glucose homeostasis in people with glucose intolerance.
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