Diabetes is a huge global problem, causing serious health issues like blindness and heart attacks. Numbers are soaring, with many untreated. According to the World Health Organization, cases soared from 200 million in 1990 to 830 million in 2022. It causes serious issues like blindness and heart attacks. Many go untreated and the best approach is preventing it by knowing your risk.

Diabetes UK offers a simple online test to help you understand your risk of developing type 2 diabetes over the next ten years. This tool not only gives you an idea of your risk but also provides advice on what steps to take next, from continuing your healthy habits to contacting your doctor for more checks.

Understanding Your Risk: Why It Matters

The charity warns that you can have type 2 diabetes for years without even knowing it. More than 3.2 million people in the UK are currently at risk due to their blood sugar levels. To take the test, you need to be over 18 and not pregnant. The test requires some basic information like your waist size, height, and weight to be accurate. This quick, seven-question survey also considers your age, ethnic background, and family health history.

What Your Risk Category Means

The online test places people into one of four risk groups: low, medium, high, or very high. Here's what those categories mean for your chances of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the next decade:

Very High Risk: You have a 1 in 4 (25%) chance.

High Risk: You have a 1 in 10 (10%) chance.

Medium Risk: You have a 1 in 35 (2.8%) chance.

Low Risk: You have a 1 in 100 (1%) chance.

If you're in the 'very high risk' category, the test will suggest you get a blood test from your GP and ask about support to lower your risk. Diabetes UK can also email your results and advice, including a letter you can show your doctor.

Factors Influencing Your Risk Score

The test considers things you can't control, like your ethnicity, age, and height. However, it also highlights the importance of your waist size and BMI (Body Mass Index) in lowering your risk. For instance:

• A waist size over 110cm automatically adds nine points to your score, putting you in the medium risk category even before other factors are considered.
• A waist size under 90cm adds no points.
• Similarly, a BMI of 35 or higher adds eight points, enough to place you in the medium risk category.
• A BMI below 25 adds no points.

Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is often preventable. Studies have shown that making changes to your lifestyle can actually halve your risk. Effective ways to prevent it include eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and managing your weight if needed.

Experts advise, "It's important to keep checking your risk regularly, especially if anything changes, like if you've put on weight or feel unwell." It's also important to be aware of the symptoms of diabetes, especially if you have a higher risk due to your age, ethnic background, or family history. These symptoms include:

• Urinating more often than usual
• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling unusually tired
• Losing weight without trying
• Genital thrush (a yeast infection)
• Cuts and wounds that heal slowly
• Blurred vision
• Feeling more hungry than usual

A team of researchers at the University of South Australia (UniSA) has developed a weekly injectable drug that could significantly improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. The new treatment, which offers a steady release of key medications over seven days, may eliminate the need for multiple daily pills — a major breakthrough for both patients and caregivers.

Consistent Dosing, Less Burden

The injectable has been designed to maintain consistent levels of levodopa and carbidopa — two medications that form the cornerstone of Parkinson’s treatment. These drugs typically need to be taken multiple times a day to manage symptoms effectively. However, this frequent dosing can be challenging for patients, especially older adults or those who have difficulty swallowing pills.

“This new formulation is about simplifying care,” said Professor Sanjay Garg, lead researcher from UniSA’s Center for Pharmaceutical Innovation. “Our goal was to create a treatment that ensures consistent drug levels in the body, reduces dosing frequency, and makes life easier for patients.”

According to the study, published in the journal Drug Delivery and Translational Research, the weekly injection uses biodegradable polymers to deliver the medications slowly and steadily into the body. The formulation can be injected under the skin or into the muscle using a fine needle — avoiding the need for surgery or implants.

Promising Lab Results

In lab tests, the injection successfully released over 90% of levodopa and 81% of carbidopa within a seven-day period. Importantly, the biodegradable implant degraded by more than 80% during that time and showed no significant toxicity in safety evaluations.

“We're not just improving how the drug is delivered — we're improving patients’ lives,” Professor Garg said. “This could be a game-changer for people with Parkinson’s who struggle with the current complex medication schedules.”

The researchers also noted that this delivery platform could be adapted to treat other chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Plans for clinical trials and commercial development are already underway.

Understanding Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement and coordination. It occurs when nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine — a chemical messenger that controls movement — begin to die.

Common symptoms include:

• Tremors or shaking
• Muscle stiffness
• Slowed movement
• Balance and coordination issues

Difficulty walking or talking in advanced stages

There is currently no cure for Parkinson’s, but medications like levodopa help manage the symptoms by replenishing dopamine levels in the brain. However, the effects of these medications can wear off quickly, requiring frequent dosing throughout the day.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 8.5 million people worldwide are living with Parkinson’s disease — a number that has doubled in the past 25 years. The disease also carries a significant economic burden due to ongoing medical care, medications, and caregiving needs.

A 2020 study published in The Lancet Neurology noted that the global cost of Parkinson’s could reach over $79 billion annually by 2030 if no major advancements in treatment are made.

Menopause brings big changes to a woman's body, however, many do not know how these changes affect their health. A Jan study published in the Circulation Research showed that when a woman goes through menopause could tell us a lot about her future heart health. A study published recently found that women who stopped having periods later in life generally had healthier blood vessels. They were also much less likely to suffer heart attacks and strokes after menopause, compared to those who went through it earlier.

Menopause And Heart Health

The researchers also noted that these women who had later menopause had better fat levels in their blood and fewer signs of "oxidative stress". This might help explain why their hearts seemed healthier.

Most women enter menopause between ages 45 and 55, with the average in the U.S. being 52. However, about 10% of women experience "late-onset" menopause, meaning it starts after age 55.

Late Menopause and Your Heart Disease Risk

For this study, researchers looked at 21 women who were still having periods and 71 women who had already gone through menopause. The postmenopausal group was then split based on whether their menopause started at a normal age or later.

To check their heart and blood vessel health, the researchers measured how well a main artery in the arm could widen. They also looked at the health of the mitochondria inside blood vessel cells, and checked levels of hormones, fats, and other substances in the blood.

As expected, all women who had gone through menopause had less healthy blood vessels compared to those still having periods. This is normal as estrogen levels drop and blood vessels tend to stiffen with age. Also, as we get older, these "power plants" in our cells can produce more harmful molecules called free radicals, leading to something called oxidative stress, which can cause diseases like heart disease.

However, the surprising finding was that women in the late-onset menopause group seemed to be somewhat protected from this age-related decline in blood vessel health.

Their blood vessel function was only 24% worse than the premenopausal group, while for those with normal-onset menopause, it was 51% worse. This better blood vessel function lasted for at least five years after menopause for the late-onset group. Women in the late-onset group also had better functioning "power plants" (meaning fewer harmful free radicals and less oxidative stress) and healthier fat levels in their blood.

Why Menopause Impacts Heart Health

Even though women with later menopause had relatively better heart health in the study, it's important to remember that all women face a higher risk of heart disease once they go through menopause.

Studies show that this is largely due to estrogen. According to the Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity journal, estrogen is known to protect against heart disease. Once a woman's estrogen levels drop during menopause, she starts to lose that protective effect. As a result, many women will see their blood pressure and cholesterol levels go up, even if their diet and activity levels don't change.

So, it makes sense that women who go through menopause later have better heart health. The longer your body produces estrogen, the more protection your heart gets. Blood vessels work better before menopause, meaning they are more resistant to damage and heart attacks the longer you stay out of menopause.

Protecting Your Heart During and After Menopause

While you usually can't control when you start menopause, you can still take steps to protect and maintain your heart health during and after this transition. This includes following the usual advice for a healthy lifestyle:

• Starting a healthy diet with more fruits and vegetables, and less meat and cheese.
• Monitor your cholesterol levels.
• Staying active is crucial, aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week, including both cardio and strength training
• Getting enough sleep is also vital for heart health; however, this can be tough during menopause due to issues like insomnia and night sweats.

Dementia, as a subject, has been researched and explored for many years. Dementia is an umbrella term used to define mental health conditions that cause memory loss, changes in behavior patterns as well as affecting our ability to think. While there is still no cure for dementia, treatment for it involves dealing with the symptoms as well as early intervention. Psychologists and mental health experts have done many studies and found different lifestyle and health factors that can increase or decrease the chances of dementia.

Research suggests that many lifestyle choices can increase your chances of developing dementia before age 65, a condition often called young-onset or early-onset dementia.

A study published in JAMA Neurology pointed to 15 key risk factors, many of which can be changed or prevented. Others, like having a lower income or inheriting specific genes (APOE4), are much harder or impossible to change.

The study looked at health information from over 350,000 people under 65 in the UK Biobank database. By examining everything from genes to environmental influences, researchers were able to identify factors that raise the risk of early dementia.

Experts say that these risk factors can harm the brain by causing inflammation and creating harmful chemicals. They also mess with how the brain uses sugar for energy, which is key for brain cells to work right. It's believed that dementia, especially Alzheimer's, happens when the brain can't use energy properly.

Key Risk Factors for Early-Onset Dementia

Out of many factors studied, researchers found 15 main ones that greatly increase the risk of early-onset dementia:

1. Less schooling
2. Lower income or social standing
3. Having two copies of a specific gene (called APOE4)
4. Alcohol use disorder
5. Feeling alone (social isolation)
6. Lack of Vitamin D
7. High levels of inflammation in the body
8. Weaker handgrip strength
9. Not drinking alcohol (this was also listed, suggesting other health reasons might be at play here)
10. Hearing loss
11. Diabetes
12. Heart disease
13. Depression
14. Blood pressure drops when standing up (orthostatic hypotension)
15. Stroke

Connection Between the Risk Factors

Researchers note that the same health issues affecting the brains of younger people are also linked to dementia in older people. This might be because we're seeing more young people develop problems like diabetes, which really harm the brain, making early dementia more common. These risk factors are also connected to each other.

For example, someone with alcohol use disorder might also have poor eating habits, vitamin shortages, weak muscles, and depression. They could also have other health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and a higher chance of stroke. These problems can create a cycle: depression might lead to feeling isolated, which could then lead to drinking more as a way to cope, and this can ultimately cause long-term health issues.

Steps to Lower Your Risk for Early-Onset Dementia

Health organizations suggest that almost 40% of all dementias like Alzheimer's could potentially be prevented or delayed by making healthy lifestyle changes and avoiding chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Experts recommend regular physical activity to help prevent dementia. This simply means sitting less and moving your body more. Being active every day offers many benefits for your brain. It helps create new brain cells and connections, grows new blood vessels, and improves your mood. It is also suggested that eating a Mediterranean-style diet and actively doing things that challenge your mind, boost your mood, and connect you with others.

Mind challenges can be learning new things (like a language or a musical instrument), going to classes, or simply always being curious and learning throughout your life.

Mood boosters include practicing stress-reducing activities like mindfulness or yoga. Social connections are also vital for overall mental and physical health. It's important to spend quality time with others, especially now.

Additionally, it's advised to keep your blood sugar well-controlled, even if you don't have diabetes, and get enough good, restful sleep. Our lifestyle choices greatly impact our brain's future. It's important to remember that changes leading to dementia, whether it starts early or later, can begin as much as 30 years before any memory or thinking problems are first noticed.