Diabetes and the Brain (II)

Here’s my first post about the book, which I recently finished – here’s my goodreads review. I added the book to my list of favourite books on goodreads, it’s a great textbook. Below some observations from the first few chapters of the book.

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“Several studies report T1D [type 1 diabetes] incidence numbers of 0.1–36.8/100,000 subjects worldwide (2). Above the age of 15 years ketoacidosis at presentation occurs on average in 10% of the population; in children ketoacidosis at presentation is more frequent (3, 4). Overall, publications report a male predominance (1.8 male/female ratio) and a seasonal pattern with higher incidence in November through March in European countries. Worldwide, the incidence of T1D is higher in more developed countries […] After asthma, T1D is a leading cause of chronic disease in children. […]  twin studies show a low concordant prevalence of T1D of only 30–55%. […] Diabetes mellitus type 1 may be sporadic or associated with other autoimmune diseases […] The latter has been classified as autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II (APS-II). APS-II is a polygenic disorder with a female preponderance which typically occurs between the ages of 20 and 40 years […] In clinical practice, anti-thyroxine peroxidase (TPO) positive hypothyroidism is the most frequent concomitant autoimmune disease in type 1 diabetic patients, therefore all type 1 diabetic patients should annually be screened for the presence of anti-TPO antibodies. Other frequently associated disorders are atrophic gastritis leading to vitamin B12 deficiency (pernicious anemia) and vitiligo. […] The normal human pancreas contains a superfluous amount of β-cells. In T1D, β-cell destruction therefore remains asymptomatic until a critical β-cell reserve is left. This destructive process takes months to years […] Only in a minority of type 1 diabetic patients does the disease begin with diabetic ketoacidosis, the majority presents with a milder course that may be mistaken as type 2 diabetes (7).”

“Insulin is the main regulator of glucose metabolism by stimulating glucose uptake in tissues and glycogen storage in liver and muscle and by inhibiting gluconeogenesis in the liver (11). Moreover, insulin is a growth factor for cells and cell differentiation, and acting as anabolic hormone insulin stimulates lipogenesis and protein synthesis. Glucagon is the counterpart of insulin and is secreted by the α-cells in the pancreatic islets in an inversely proportional quantity to the insulin concentration. Glucagon, being a catabolic hormone, stimulates glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in the liver as well as lipolysis and uptake of amino acids in the liver. Epinephrine and norepinephrine have comparable catabolic effects […] T1D patients lose the glucagon response to hypoglycemia after several years, when all β-cells are destructed […] The risk of hypoglycemia increases with improved glycemic control, autonomic neuropathy, longer duration of diabetes, and the presence of long-term complications (17) […] Long-term complications are prevalent in any population of type 1 diabetic patients with increasing prevalence and severity in relation to disease duration […] The pathogenesis of diabetic complications is multifactorial, complicated, and not yet fully elucidated.”

“Cataract is much more frequent in patients with diabetes and tends to become clinically significant at a younger age. Glaucoma is markedly increased in diabetes too.” (I was unaware of this).

“T1D should be considered as an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis […] An older study shows that the cumulative mortality of coronary heart disease in T1D was 35% by the age 55 (34). In comparison, the Framingham Heart Study showed a cardiovascular mortality of 8% of men and 4% of women without diabetes, respectively. […] Atherosclerosis is basically a systemic disease. Patients with one clinically apparent localization are at risk for other manifestations. […] Musculoskeletal disease in diabetes is best viewed as a systemic disorder with involvement of connective tissue. Potential pathophysiological mechanisms that play a role are glycosylation of collagen, abnormal cross-linking of collagen, and increased collagen hydration […] Dupuytren’s disease […] may be observed in up to 42% of adults with diabetes mellitus, typically in patients with long-standing T1D. Dupuytren’s is characterized by thickening of the palmar fascia due to fibrosis with nodule formation and contracture, leading to flexion contractures of the digits, most commonly affecting the fourth and fifth digits. […] Foot problems in diabetes are common and comprise ulceration, infection, and gangrene […] The lifetime risk of a foot ulcer for diabetic patients is about 15% (42). […] Wound depth is an important determinant of outcome (46, 47). Deep ulcers with cellulitis or abscess formation often involve osteomyelitis. […] Radiologic changes occur late in the course of osteomyelitis and negative radiographs certainly do not exclude it.”

“Education of people with diabetes is a comprehensive task and involves teamwork by a team that comprises at least a nurse educator, a dietician, and a physician. It is, however, essential that individuals with diabetes assume an active role in their care themselves, since appropriate self-care behavior is the cornerstone of the treatment of diabetes.” (for much more on these topics, see Simmons et al.)

“The International Diabetes Federation estimates that more than 245 million people around the world have diabetes (4). This total is expected to rise to 380 million within 20 years. Each year a further 7 million people develop diabetes. Diabetes, mostly type 2 diabetes (T2D), now affects 5.9% of the world’s adult population with almost 80% of the total in developing countries. […] According to […] 2007 prevalence data […] [a]lmost 25% of the population aged 60 years and older had diabetes in 2007. […] It has been projected that one in three Americans born in 2000 will develop diabetes, with the highest estimated lifetime risk among Latinos (males, 45.4% and females, 52.5%) (6). A rise in obesity rates is to blame for much of the increase in T2D (7). Nearly two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese (8). [my bold, US]

“In the natural history of progression to diabetes, β-cells initially increase insulin secretion in response to insulin resistance and, for a period of time, are able to effectively maintain glucose levels below the diabetic range. However, when β-cell function begins to decline, insulin production is inadequate to overcome the insulin resistance, and blood glucose levels rise. […] Insulin resistance, once established, remains relatively stable over time. […] progression of T2D is a result of worsening β-cell function with pre-existing insulin resistance.”

“Lifestyle modification (i.e., weight loss through diet and increased physical activity) has proven effective in reducing incident T2D in high-risk groups. The Da Qing Study (China) randomly allocated 33 clinics (557 persons with IGT) to 1 of 4 study conditions: control, diet, exercise, or diet plus exercise (23). Compared with the control group, the incidence of diabetes was reduced in the three intervention groups by 31, 46, and 42%, respectively […] The Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study evaluated 522 obese persons with IGT randomly allocated on an individual basis to a control group or a lifestyle intervention group […] During the trial, the incidence of diabetes was reduced by 58% in the lifestyle group compared with the control group. The US Diabetes Prevention Program is the largest trial of primary prevention of diabetes to date and was conducted at 27 clinical centers with 3,234 overweight and obese participants with IGT randomly allocated to 1 of 3 study conditions: control, use of metformin, or intensive lifestyle intervention […] Over 3 years, the incidence of diabetes was reduced by 31% in the metformin group and by 58% in the lifestyle group; the latter value is identical to that observed in the Finnish Study. […] Metformin is recommended as first choice for pharmacologic treatment [of type 2 diabetes] and has good efficacy to lower HbA1c […] However, most patients will eventually require treatment with combinations of oral medications with different mechanisms of action simultaneously in order to attain adequate glycemic control.”

CVD [cardiovascular disease, US] is the cause of 65% of deaths in patients with T2D (31). Epidemiologic studies have shown that the risk of a myocardial infarction (MI) or CVD death in a diabetic individual with no prior history of CVD is comparable to that of an individual who has had a previous MI (32, 33). […] Stroke is the second leading cause of long-term disability in high-income countries and the second leading cause of death worldwide. […] Stroke incidence is highly age-dependent. The median stroke incidence in persons between 15 and 49 years of age is 10 per 100,000 per year, whereas this is 2,000 per 100,000 for persons aged 85 years or older. […] In Western communities, about 80% of strokes are caused by focal cerebral ischemia, secondary to arterial occlusion, 15% by intracerebral hemorrhage, and 5% by subarachnoid hemorrhage (2). […] Patients with ischemic stroke usually present with focal neurological deficit of sudden onset. […] Common deficits include dysphasia, dysarthria, hemianopia, weakness, ataxia, sensory loss, and cognitive disorders such as spatial neglect […] Mild-to-moderate headache is an accompanying symptom in about a quarter of all patients with ischemic stroke […] The risk of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage after thrombolysis is higher with more severe strokes and higher age (21). [worth keeping in mind when in the ‘I-am-angry-and-need-someone-to-blame-for-the-death-of-individual-X-phase’ – if the individual died as a result of the treatment, the prognosis was probably never very good to start with..] […] Thirty-day case fatality rates for ischemic stroke in Western communities generally range between 10 and 17% (2). Stroke outcome strongly depends not only on age and comorbidity, but also on the type and cause of the infarct. Early case fatality can be as low as 2.5% in patients with lacunar infarcts (7) and as high as 78% in patients with space-occupying hemispheric infarction (8).”

“In the previous 20 years, ten thousands of patients with acute ischemic stroke have participated in hundreds of clinical trials of putative neuroprotective therapies. Despite this enormous effort, there is no evidence of benefit of a single neuroprotective agent in humans, whereas over 500 have been effective in animal models […] the failure of neuroprotective agents in the clinic may […] be explained by the fact that most neuroprotectants inhibit only a single step in the broad cascade of events that lead to cell death (9). Currently, there is no rationale for the use of any neuroprotective medication in patients with acute ischemic stroke.”

“Between 5 and 10% of patients with ischemic stroke suffer from epileptic seizures in the first week and about 3% within the first 24 h […] Post-stroke seizures are not associated with a higher mortality […] About 1 out of every 11 patient with an early epileptic seizure develops epilepsy within 10 years after stroke onset (51) […] In the first 12 h after stroke onset, plasma glucose concentrations are elevated in up to 68% of patients, of whom more than half are not known to have diabetes mellitus (53). An initially high blood glucose concentration in patients with acute stroke is a predictor of poor outcome (53, 54). […] Acute stroke is associated with a blood pressure higher than 170/110 mmHg in about two thirds of patients. Blood pressure falls spontaneously in the majority of patients during the first week after stroke. High blood pressure during the acute phase of stroke has been associated with a poor outcome (56). It is unclear how blood pressure should be managed during the acute phase of ischemic stroke. […] routine lowering of the blood pressure is not recommended in the first week after stroke, except for extremely elevated values on repeated measurements […] Urinary incontinence affects up to 60% of stroke patients admitted to hospital, with 25% still having problems on hospital discharge, and around 15% remaining incontinent at 1 year. […] Between 22 and 43% of patients develop fever or subfebrile temperatures during the first days after stroke […] High body temperature in the first days after stroke is associated with poor outcome (42, 67). There is currently no evidence from randomized trials to support the routine lowering of body temperature above 37◦C.”