A new long-term study has revealed a troubling health trend in the United States: the number of Americans living with both type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure has doubled over the last two decades, with 1 in 8 adults now affected. Even more concerning is the steep rise in mortality risk associated with this dual diagnosis—suggesting that the combo of these two chronic diseases may be deadlier than previously understood.

Published in the peer-reviewed journal Diabetes Care, the study spans nearly 20 years and highlights how a rapidly increasing population is living with multiple metabolic risk factors—a condition that significantly raises the odds of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and early death.

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Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health mined health information from close to 49,000 American adults who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 through 2018. The National Center for Health Statistics conducted the survey, which captures interviews, laboratory tests, and physical exams to measure the health of the country.

According to the study, only 6% of Americans in 1999 suffered from both type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. By 2018, it had risen to 12%, or about 1 in 8 adults. Those with both conditions were more than twice as likely to die from any cause and three times more likely to die from heart disease than those with neither condition.

"Even having co-existing prediabetes and high blood pressure was linked to up to 19% greater risk of death," said lead researcher Dr. Nour Makarem, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University.

This is important because it indicates that heightened risk begins even before someone officially qualifies by clinical criteria as having diabetes or hypertension.

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Why Type 2 Diabetes And High Blood Pressure Compound Health Risks?

Having either condition on its own—type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure—already raises one's risk for severe complications but when they occur together, their interaction in the cardiovascular system is much more destructive.

Approximately two out of three patients with type 2 diabetes have high blood pressure or are prescribed medication for it. Among individuals with both disease states, about 33% died over a median 9-year follow-up period.

For individuals with only one condition, the mortality rate remained at 20–22%, whereas individuals with neither condition suffered from a mere 6% fatality during the same period of time.

The research identified that in comparison with individuals with:

Hypertension alone, developing both conditions increased the risk for all-cause mortality by 66% as well as cardiovascular death by 54%.

Type 2 diabetes alone, but with both conditions, overall risk of death was 25% higher and greater than two-fold increased cardiovascular mortality.

Why Type 2 Diabetes and High Blood Pressure Pair so Deadly?

Both type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure are "silent killers." Alone, they tend to produce no discernible symptoms until complications—such as stroke, heart failure, or kidney damage—arise. Combined, however, they provide a deadly combination of cardiovascular stress.

Diabetes disables the body's ability to keep blood sugar in balance. High glucose levels destroy blood vessels and organs by repeated damage.

Hypertension makes the heart work harder to circulate blood, which hardens and weakens the arteries.

When both conditions occur together, this speeds up the deterioration of the arteries, kidneys, and heart, making heart attack, stroke, and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis or transplantation more likely.

Early Warning Signs That Are Often Missed

Another significant takeaway of the research is that the danger of death starts even prior to a full-blown diagnosis. Prediabetic and high-blood-pressure persons—even if they are below diagnostic levels—had a 19% greater risk of mortality.

Although type 2 diabetes can quietly develop without apparent symptoms, there are some early warning signs that should never be overlooked—particularly if you're at risk. The sooner you detect diabetes, the less complicated it is to control and prevent long-term complications. Even slight symptoms deserve a chat with your doctor.

• One of the first and most indicative symptoms of high blood sugar is urinating more often, particularly at night. As blood glucose increases, the kidneys work around the clock to flush out the excess glucose. When they're unable to keep pace, glucose leaks into the urine, causing more frequent trips to the bathroom.

• Too much sugar in the urine not only impacts hydration—but also is a breeding ground for bacteria and yeast. This increases the likelihood of infections in the urinary tract and yeast infections, particularly in women. If you find that you have persistent infections that are difficult to clear, you might want to be tested.

• Another visible clue is the appearance of dark, velvety patches of skin, typically found in body folds like the neck, armpits, or groin. These areas may indicate insulin resistance—a common precursor to diabetes.

• If you’re eating regularly but still feel hungry all the time, your cells may not be properly absorbing glucose. As a result, your body stays in a constant state of seeking energy, driving persistent hunger.

• Ironically, even though you are hungrier, you may actually lose weight unexpectedly. Since there's not enough glucose flowing into cells, your body starts to break down muscle and fat for energy.

• This energy shortage also leads to constant fatigue and weakness. You could be tired, even with a good night's rest. Dehydration caused by frequent urination only adds to that pervasive fatigue.

• Another troubling symptom is blurred vision, which can appear and disappear. High blood glucose can harm the tiny blood vessels in the eyes, leading to more severe conditions—blindness, if not treated.

• Most people experience a tingling or numb feeling in their hands or feet. This is caused by nerve damage from years of high blood sugar levels. Refereed to as diabetic neuropathy, this can also result in long-term chronic pain or loss of sensation.

This result highlights the importance of early screening and proactive prevention measures, particularly for individuals in their 30s and 40s who are unaware they're at risk. The research also reignites debate around various forms of diabetes, many of which have different risks:

Type 1 Diabetes: Autoimmune condition in which the pancreas releases no insulin.

Type 2 Diabetes: A metabolic disorder in which the body fails to utilize insulin. Frequently associated with obesity, a diet lacking in nutritious foods, and physical inactivity.

Prediabetes: A silent diabetes precursor with no warning signs.

Gestational Diabetes: Appears during pregnancy and increases risk of type 2 diabetes in the future.

Of these, type 2 diabetes is the most common and can be directly associated with lifestyle modifications that are often possible.

This highlights the pressing need for public health approaches to prevent and manage these diseases and to halt these negative trends," Dr. Makarem stressed.

At present, approximately two-thirds of adults with diabetes have blood pressure above 130/80 mm Hg or are taking antihypertensive therapy.

Since most symptoms are mild or undetectable, screening is necessary on a regular basis. The American Diabetes Association suggests that all adults over the age of 45 should be screened for diabetes. If you are younger but have risk factors that include obesity, being inactive, having a poor diet, or a family history of diabetes, you need to be tested too.

Screening is typically a straightforward blood test. If normal, the ADA recommends repeat testing at three-year intervals to track changes.

As an ageing population, inactive lifestyles and obesity on the rise, the co-epidemic of diabetes and high blood pressure is set to expand unless there are systemic changes.

Vision impairment is an issue that many people don’t understand. Most people view vision loss as absolute, either you can see or you cannot. However, there are other conditions where a person has slightly less vision and also severe visual impairment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2.2 billion people in the world have near or distance impairment and according to their statistics, 1 billion of these cases could have been addressed. Taking a step towards this same cause, a new technology has been created, which could help people who have slowly lost their sight to read again.

A new study has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, announcing a huge step forward for people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). This is a common disease that causes people to lose their central vision over time. The groundbreaking result of the study was that dozens of patients who took part in the study were able to get some of their sight back. This was achieved by using a brand-new system that combines an eye implant with special smart glasses.

This technology was powerful enough to help these patients return to doing simple, everyday things they could no longer do, like reading books or solving crossword puzzles. The people who participated in this trial were all 60 years or older, had AMD in both eyes, and had very poor vision in the eye being studied.

How Can You Help Someone With Progressive Vision Loss?

To understand why this is a big deal, you need to know that AMD causes the cells in the center of the retina (the light-sensitive part at the back of the eye) to die. Once they die, vision loss is considered permanent. This new study doesn't cure AMD, but it focuses on replacing the job of those dead cells to bring some vision back. The system has two main parts:

The Implant

This is a tiny device, only about 2x2 millimeters in size, which is smaller than a small pea. It’s made of little photovoltaic solar panels. It is carefully surgically placed underneath the patient's retina.

The Smart Glasses

The patient wears these special glasses, which have a camera. The glasses capture a close-up, zoomed-in image of the world and send this image to the implant using near-infrared light.

Once the implant receives the light signal, it creates small electrical pulses. These pulses travel to the optic nerve, completely taking over the job of the dead retinal cells and allowing the brain to finally see the world again.

How Does This Technology Work?

The clinical trial started with 38 patients who got the implant. After one full year, 32 patients were still involved in the study. The results at the one-year mark were extremely encouraging:

26 out of the 32 participants, which is an 80 percent success rate, could see better than they did when they started the trial.

It’s important to note that the vision they regained isn't perfect; patients can only see a blurry image and everything is in black and white. However, outside experts have praised the achievement, with some calling the work "amazing," because it provides hope where there was previously none.

The technology was developed by a company called Science Corporation, which works on brain-computer interfaces. The CEO and founder of Science Corporation is Max Hodak, who also helped start the well-known neurotechnology company Neuralink with Elon Musk back in 2016.

Science Corporation took over this vision project in 2024. They acquired the retinal implant technology from a French company named Pixium Vision. Pixium Vision had spent ten years trying to develop the technology but eventually ran out of money. This kind of "rescue" is actually not unique in the medical world; a similar situation happened with another company, Second Sight Medical, whose abandoned vision technology was also saved by a different startup to keep its clinical trials going.

A landmark study titled “COVID-19 Vaccine Linked to Longer Survival in Cancer Patients” has revealed that people with advanced lung or skin cancer who received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy lived significantly longer than those who did not. Conducted by researchers from the University of Florida (UF) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the findings were presented at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Berlin and mark a major step in exploring how mRNA technology could strengthen cancer treatment.

A Milestone in mRNA Research

This study represents the culmination of more than a decade of UF research on mRNA-based cancer therapies. Lead investigator Dr Elias Sayour, a pediatric oncologist at UF Health, called the findings “extraordinary,” noting that the vaccine’s immune-boosting effect could help design a universal, off-the-shelf cancer vaccine capable of enhancing immunotherapy responses.

mRNA, or messenger RNA, is a molecule that carries genetic instructions to make proteins. It forms the basis of COVID vaccines developed during the pandemic, and scientists now believe this same mechanism could be harnessed to amplify the body’s cancer-fighting abilities.

How the Study Was Conducted

Researchers analyzed medical records of over 1,000 patients with stage III and IV non-small-cell lung cancer or metastatic melanoma treated at MD Anderson between 2019 and 2023. Of these, 180 lung-cancer patients and 43 melanoma patients received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine within 100 days of starting immunotherapy. Their outcomes were compared with 704 and 167 unvaccinated patients, respectively.

The results were striking. Vaccinated lung-cancer patients showed a median survival of 37.3 months, nearly double the 20.6 months observed in unvaccinated counterparts. Among melanoma patients, survival rose from 26.7 months to about 30–40 months, with several patients still alive at data cut-off — suggesting an even greater long-term benefit.

Importantly, the effect was specific to mRNA COVID vaccines; flu and pneumonia shots did not produce similar outcomes.

The Science Behind the Boost

Earlier this year, Dr Sayour’s lab discovered that to trigger a strong immune attack, targeting a single tumor protein wasn’t necessary. Instead, stimulating the immune system as if fighting a viral infection worked better. When this nonspecific mRNA vaccine was combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors — drugs that “release the brakes” on immune cells — mice showed powerful antitumor responses.

Building on this, the team theorized that the COVID mRNA vaccine might act like an immune flare, mobilizing immune cells from tumor zones to lymph nodes where cancer defense is stronger. This mechanism, Sayour explained, could make previously unresponsive cancers respond to treatment.

Implications and Next Steps

Although this is an observational study and cannot yet prove causality, experts are optimistic. UF’s Dr Duane Mitchell emphasized that while more trials are needed, such a large survival benefit “is the type of treatment effect we rarely see.”

A large-scale clinical trial through the UF-led OneFlorida+ Research Network is now planned to verify these findings across hospitals in several U.S. states.

If confirmed, the discovery could reshape how cancer is treated — turning vaccines from preventive tools into active partners in therapy. For patients battling advanced cancers, this could mean something profoundly valuable: more time and renewed hope.

Every year on October 20, World Osteoporosis Day is marked, to put the spotlight on osteoporosis. The day marks a year-long campaign, which is dedicated to raising global awareness of bone health, and the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases.

Osteoporosis is a serious condition where bones lose its density and strength, and it thus makes them fragile and more likely to break. It is often called the 'silent disease', and most people don't even realize that they have it until a fracture happens.

The most common fracture in this condition is in hip, spine, wrist, or shoulder. These fractures can result in long hospital stays, and lead to loss of independence, and reduced quality of life.

World Osteoporosis Day 2025 Theme

This year's theme is 'It's Unacceptable'.

This puts the spotlight on the persistent and preventable crisis in osteoporosis care.

This condition affects over 500 million people worldwide, and most remain severely underdiagnosed and undertreated. Up to 80% of patients with osteoporotic fractures do not receive any follow-up diagnosis or treatment.

This theme furthermore makes an effort for everyone to make noise for the silent disease.

The disease is more common among women, as 1 in 3 women, as compared to 1 in 5 men aged 50+ are prone to osteoporotic fracture in their remaining lifetime. These fractures could lead to chronic pain and disability, loss of independence, increased risk of further fractures, and even premature deaths.

Thus the theme 'It's Unacceptable', highlights that it is simply unacceptable that patients continue to receive inadequate care, and people are still not aware of the condition.

Origin Of World Osteoporosis Day

The World Osteoporosis Day was first launched in 1996 by the United Kingdom's National Osteoporosis Society, with support from the European Commission. The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), then took over the global coordination in 1997, turning it into a worldwide awareness campaign that takes place annually on October 20. The World Health Organization (WHO) also co-sponsored the event in 1998 and 1999, helping to raise its international profile.

Significance of World Osteoporosis Day 2025

Why is it important to observe a day on this, internationally? The reason is, this condition is very common, is among the most frequent health events, yet not much talked about. The IOF notes that in women osteoporotic fractures are more common than breast cancer. Women who are over the age of 45 account for more days in hospital than many other diseases, if they are osteoporotic. This comparison is done with other chronic diseases, including diabetes, myocardial infarction, and even breast cancer, notes IOF.

For men, in many countries, osteoporotic fractures account for more hospital bed days than those due to prostrate cancer.

IOF notes that osteoporosis is not prioritized in healthcare policy, and that it continues to be underdiagnosed and undertreated, globally. Only 1 in 3 vertebral fractures come to clinical attention, and most spinal fractures are often diagnosed as simple 'back pain'. This is why there remains a high treatment gap. In Europe, 72% of women who are at a high risk of osteoporotic fractures do not receive treatment.

This is why awareness about this condition becomes more so important, especially when framing public policies, education campaigns, and preventative care, especially making people understand the importance of calcium and vitamin D.