Diabetes is Linked to Tooth Loss - http://clapway.com/2015/12/08/diabetes-is-linked-to-tooth-loss-123/

Duke University has released a study revealing that there is a link between people with diabetes and a high rate of tooth loss. The African American population is in even more danger, according to the research.

The Diabetes – Tooth Loss Connection Has Now Been Confirmed

The link between tooth loss and diabetes had only been speculated on before, but this study confirms it. Half of the US population suffers from some kind of gum or tooth problem, and the risk of tooth loss is even higher for people living with this metabolic disease. What’s more, African-American people with diabetes are at the most risk for tooth loss.

The Details of the Study

Duke University took samples from 37,000 patients courtesy of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. These samples were taken between 1971 and 2012. After analysis, it was concluded that tooth loss saw a slight decline through the years, but that there is the concern with diabetics and African American diabetics specifically.

Between 1999 and 2000, diabetics were less likely to have 21 or more teeth than non-diabetics by 34%. There have been 1.5 million new cases of diabetes reported since 2010, which shows that diabetes has had a great decline in the past five years. People do not seem to be taking the condition seriously enough, as more and more health effects are becoming associated with it.

Only Half of Diabetics in the US Take Their Medicines

A different study looked at the frequency and loyalty with which they take their medication. The results showed that only half of US citizens with diabetes take their medicine when it is due. What’s more, different dentists have further stated that diabetic patients aren’t likely to visit an orthodontist regularly.

People should be extremely careful with this condition, which affects daily life in a very big way. Patients living with diabetes should look out for signs of tooth loss and get treatment accordingly.

Diabetes is Linked to Tooth Loss

For a long time, type 2 #diabetes was only seen in adults. But the increasingly poor lifestyles of many people, children included, has led to a correlated increase in the prevalence of #type2diabetes, especially considering that #obesity is a huge contributor to insulin resistance. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/17/three-year-old-girl-type-2-diabetes123/

A three-year-old girl was diagnosed in 2013 with type 2 diabetes, after her parents brought her to doctors at the University of Texas complaining of excessive urination and thirst. She has since reversed the condition through treatment.

What Leads to a Childhood Diagnosis?

Upon examining her, doctors at the UT clinic for pediatric endocrinology established that the girl had no family history of diabetes. However, her diet “consisted mainly of fast food, candy, and sugary drinks, and she hardly ever played outdoors.” She was also in the heaviest five percent of children her age, weighing a little over 77 pounds. Her parents were also obese.

This instance may represent the earliest lifetime diagnosis of type 2 diabetes to date. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body develops a resistance to insulin, the hormone produced by your pancreas that metabolizes sugar. Insulin resistance means that the body has trouble converting sugar into energy, and the glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead. If left untreated, diabetes can be life-threatening.

For a long time, type 2 diabetes was only seen in adults. But the increasingly poor lifestyles of many people, children included, has led to a correlated increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, especially considering that obesity is a huge contributor to insulin resistance.

Reversing Childhood Diabetes

Thankfully, this girl’s diagnosis was reversed after six months of treatment. Doctors prescribed her the liquid form of a drug called metformin, which helps reduce glucose production by the liver. Perhaps more importantly, they worked with her parents to swap out sugary drinks for water, fast food for home-cooked healthier meals, and inactivity for walks, swims, and outdoor playtimes. Within half a year, she had lost 25% of her weight, her blood sugar levels had normalized, and she was able to stop the metformin treatments. Today, at age five, she is symptom-free.

Taking Proper Precautions against TYPE 2 Diabetes

Genetics are also a factor in the onset of type 2 diabetes, but a healthy lifestyle can go a long way for most in working to prevent the disease. Early screening and diagnosis is also important for reversing symptoms, especially in children. Warning signs include excessive thirst and urination, blurry vision, irritability, and tingling or numbness in your extremities, among others. If you’re worried about you or your children’s risk of developing the disease, see a doctor!

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Three-Year-Old Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

Is #cannabis and #marijuana linked to the onset of #diabetes? - http://clapway.com/2015/09/14/marijuana-usage-prediabetes123/

A recent study published in the journal Diabetologia has established a link between marijuana usage and prediabetes.

What to Make of Marijuana

The potential health consequences and benefits of marijuana have long been the subject of debate, and these questions are becoming more and more relevant as the legalization trend continues in the American political sphere. Medical professionals and recreational users often point to the treatment properties of the drug, which has proved effective in minimizing nausea, improving appetite, and reducing muscle spasms, among other positives.

Others stress the adverse effects of marijuana usage, pointing to studies that link cannabis to increased risk of schizophrenia as well as to long-term reductions in memory function and cognitive functioning in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is associated with mature decision making and executive planning.

Many of the potential adverse effects of marijuana depend on the frequency and form of ingestion. Obviously, smoking weed will harm your lungs and cardiovascular system, because smoking anything is pretty bad for your body. Similarly, studies indicate that the more frequently you use marijuana, the more likely you are to experience memory problems and the like. But there are any number of variables that could also be influencing these connections.

For example, individuals experiencing greater struggles with mental health (including addictive tendencies) are more likely to abuse substances, creating a chicken-or-egg conundrum in the case of linking marijuana to psychosis. Similarly, a huge portion of marijuana users are also regular tobacco smokers, and we are all quite familiar by now with the health consequences of smoking tobacco.

Essentially, no one is quite sure exactly what to make of cannabis in terms of health consequences. Researchers are still hard at work determining what they can about its effects on the human body, both long-term and short-term.

Study by Study: An Examination of Prediabetes and Marijuana

This time, a research team from the University of Minnesota set out to investigate whether or not there is a discernible link specifically between marijuana usage and prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, as the relationship between the drug and the disease has been another question producing conflicting answers. The conclusions were based on data collected in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which began in 1985, monitoring over 3,000 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 on a yearly basis. The study is currently in its thirtieth year of data collection.

After controlling for potentially confounding factors like body mass index, race, gender, and lifestyle choices, the researchers found that participants currently using marijuana experienced a 65% increase in their risk of developing prediabetes, compared to individuals who had never used marijuana. Those who did not currently use marijuana but had used it at least 100 times in their lives showed at least a 40% increased risk.


Prediabetes is essentially a condition in which blood sugar levels are elevated above normal regulations, but not enough to classify the problem as type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes can be damaging, but it does not always lead directly to the onset of type 2 diabetes. The more serious condition can be avoided with proper lifestyle choices.

As always, more work needs to be done to understand this connection. For example, the increased risk for prediabetes could, in part, be due to alterations in eating habits that occur as a result of heavy marijuana usage, rather than to the cannabis compound itself. But still, there is a definitive link between the two, which is a significant starting point.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evZzeuru5rk

Marijuana Usage Found to Link to Prediabetes

How a hot #fat implant might be to to reduce your #weight - http://clapway.com/2015/08/23/hot-fat-implants-to-reduce-weight-422/

HOW HOT FAT MAKES AN APPEARANCE

In recent news, scientists at the University of Berkeley have developed a way to encourage the growth of hot fat (also known as “brown fat”) that aids in reducing weight and low blood sugar in mice subjects. The study is available to read online in the Diabetes journal.

In the University of Berkeley’s press release made available by the university, the hot fat implant was shown to produce the favorable results mentioned in the beginning, involving the use of the fat to help burn the calories. The implications of this study have some promising potential, according to one of the researchers of the study, Kevin Tharp, a student in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology.

FURTHER ILLUMINATION ON THE RESEARCH

Before, what was known about brown fat was that it disappeared as one grew older, but can still be found in certain areas of the body in adults. According to him, the potential uses for the hot fat implant could be applied to a great deal of things such as being used for therapy.

In the mice tested on for the study, not only has the hot fat had a positive impact on the mice’s metabolism and health, but it also helps them produce heat. This is evident in a thermograph when viewing a place with no implant in the mice, and the opposite side of the mice where the hot fat implant does exist. The latter was shown to have a warmer temperature than the former.

HOW THE IMPLANT CAME TO BE

When a body is cold, a flip happens and more food is usually eaten. So to explore the hot fat research more, researchers toyed with the idea of promoting more growth of hot fat without the cold temperatures that would negate the effects of it.

Researchers took on the task of experimenting with stem cells in a soft 3D mesh of hydrogel and other things that would allow the stem cells to grow into fat instead of bone. After the conversion, they placed the new fat into the mice genetically engineered with an enzyme from fireflies that illuminate in order to track better. The now known increase in body temperature was recorded in the initial observations and in the accompanying high-fat diet gained only half as much weight as those without the implants did and had lower blood sugar.

With the promising results of the hot fat in mice, researchers are excited to see what the effects would be like on humans. But also how it can change the health concerns surrounding obesity and its related afflictions to something that is not so pressing or not so much a concern.

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For the best on Clapway this week, check out our New in Review segment:

Hot Fat Implants to Reduce Weight?

There is #hope for #America yet. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/27/americans-are-eating-healthier-234/

The diets followed by people who live in the United States have been discussed on many occasions. The fact that the rate of obesity had been increasing was an issue of full awareness. What is new is that Americans’ eating habits began to change, and this time they are not worsening.

The fact that the consumed calorie percentage has dropped might appear unexpected, and, unfortunately, this doesn’t change the obesity rates at this moment. However, the news that Americans are now eating healthier foods and drinking less sugary beverages is extremely promising. Furthermore, this is the first time the calorie consumption has a significant decline in 40 years since the government began tracking the food consumption.

Obesity Rates have Stopped Rising with Healthier Eating

As stated above, obesity is still an enormous problem in the US since over a third of America’s population is obese. However, the proportion has stabilized. It seems that when it comes to adults and children who are already going to school, the rates of obesity are not rising anymore. Furthermore, when talking about younger children the rates have also dropped. Both African Americans and European Americans stopped eating as many calories as they used to. But the change varies from one group to another.

Significant Fall in the Level of Sugary Sodas

The impact sugary sodas have on our bodies is known by everybody. But this didn’t stop people from consuming large quantities of sugary beverages. In accordance with the report, the average American has cut down on soda consumption by 25 percent in the last 25 years.

Americans Still Don’t Eat Healthy Enough

According to the study, it seems that both lower income families, as well as families with high income, have been cutting down on calories lately. While this is fantastic news, doctors say that there is still a lot more to carry out.

The fact that Americans don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables, and still eat junk food instead, remains a problem since unhealthy eating and manner of living can actually be the cause an impressive number of diseases, like diabetes or cancer. However, the fact that the consumption of calories has a much lower rate shows that healthier eating and lifestyle in the US will be improved over the next years.

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Americans Are Eating Healthier

Why you shouldn"t brush off #erectiledysfunction. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/21/men-with-erectile-dysfunction-might-have-diabetes111/

According to the results of a new study, erectile dysfunction can be a predictor of undiagnosed diabetes. Previous studies showed that erectile dysfunction might be an early sign of cardiovascular disease. However, researchers confirmed that there can be a connection between erectile dysfunction and undiagnosed hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, as well as diabetes.

Erectile Dysfunction Hides Serious Problems

Many people feel uncomfortable when talking to their doctor about their sex life. However, men should take the problems they have in the bedroom very serious since those can be signs for another health problem.

The Connection between Impotence and Blood Sugar

The results were the product of gathering information from over 4,500 men from the United States, all above 20 years of age between the years 2001 and 2004. The reason for this study was to find a connection between impotence and blood pressure, cholesterol, as well as blood sugar. The researchers did not find anything to link having trouble achieving or keeping an erection to undiagnosed high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

However, in accordance with the results, 11.5% of the men who had undiagnosed diabetes had confirmed the existence of erectile dysfunction problems. In addition to that, the rate lifted even higher for men between the ages of 40 to 59 years old, since 19% showed unnaturally high blood sugar.

1 in 3 People Might Be Diagnosed with Diabetes

All men–but especially those who are middle-aged–have to be aware that there is a possibility to have diabetes type 2 even without having been diagnosed. This is why researchers suggest that doctors should get–not only screenings–but also the sexual histories of middle-aged men.

Unfortunately, diabetes is a serious disease, and it seems that the rate of patients with confirmed cases of diabetes is growing extremely rapid. The fact that the number of patients with this problem has doubled since 2000 is raising concerns among doctors. They believe that at this rate, 1 in 3 people might be diagnosed with diabetes by 2020.

This is the why men who encounter erectile dysfunction must get tested as soon as possible. This is the only way to catch the disease early.

The report was recently published in The Annals of Family Medicine.

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Men with Erectile Dysfunction Might Have Diabetes

One Step Closer to Curing Genetic Diseases with Stem Cells - http://clapway.com/2015/07/17/one-step-closer-to-curing-genetic-diseases-with-stem-cells325/

Researchers have had an impressive number of attempts in trying to treat
Mitochondrial disease, which is known to be a genetic disorder that affects thousands of children in the U.S, threatening their lives every year.

This disease is actually represented by a type of cell organelle known as the “powerhouse” of the cell.

The extremely small structures turn fats and carbohydrates into energy. In case a genetic mutation happens, the normal functioning of the mitochondria is interrupted and a variety of problems such as diabetes, muscular dystrophy, deafness, dementia and even heart disease might appear.

There have never been to many options for treating this life-threatening disease. However, as stated before, many researchers are looking for a treatment for it. They may have had a recent breakthrough using stem cells to do so.

A Breakthrough In the Field of Genetics

Until now, this disease had very limited treatment options. Stem cells may be the answer here, since they can transform into any type of cell in the body. But the body has them in a very limited supply, and they are also very hard to artificially reproduce.

The great news is that a recent research might have been successful, becoming an important step towards developing new therapies.

According to the report, published in Nature, researchers have discovered that even people suffering from mitochondrial disease can still produce healthy mitochondrial DNA that can be used to mend the defects.

What’s the Next Step?

This can be considered a breakthrough in the field of genetics, since it implies that the researchers could now be able to generate heart, brain, muscle and even eye cells using mutation-free stem cells.

Now, the next step is to understand how to create this cell in such a manner that they are fully mature and functional.

The Possibility of a Cure Exists

This might sound like a challenge for many of us, but after the recent breakthrough, scientists from the Salk Institute are full of optimism.

The fact that a cure is quite far from being complete is true since stem cells cannot transform into the proper types of tissue, on their own. However, as stated before, this is an important step that must be celebrated with even more research before a transplant method is possible.

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One Step Closer to Curing Genetic Diseases with Stem Cells

Could you having #sittingdisease? Now, just stop for a second and think: how many hours do you spend sitting down? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/14/sitting-disease-increases-chances-of-cancer-in-women-by-10-percent-234/

Leisure sitting is linked to a 10 percent higher risk of cancer in women — even after factors such as total physical activity and body mass are taken into account, a new study found. Researchers for the American Cancer Society studied 146,000 people — of which 69,260 were men and 77,462 were women — between 1992 and 2009. During this timeframe 18,555 men and 12,236 women were diagnosed with cancer.

Are you spending too much time sitting?

Researchers concluded that longer leisure time spent sitting was associated with a higher risk of cancer in women – notably with “multiple myeloma [bone marrow cancer], breast cancer, and ovarian cancers.”

Surprisingly, according to lead author Alpa Patel from American Cancer Society, sitting time was not associated with a considerably higher cancer risk in men. Further research is needed to solve this scientific mystery.

Stand up and walk around

Ultimately, the real problem appears to be not how much physical activity you manage to get, but rather you much time you spend sitting. According to researchers, several factors could explain the positive association between time spent sitting and cancer in women. Studies have revealed that prolonged time spent sitting, independent of physical activity, has important metabolic consequences, which may in turn trigger chronic diseases.

The sitting disease

The sitting disease, or a sedentary lifestyle, is a term used to describe people whom engage in prolonged periods of sitting or overall inactivity. It’s no news that over the past few decades the times we spend sitting has increased due to several factors, ranging from technological advancement to car-driven cultures.

Sitting down all day, however, is not as harmless as one may expect. Now, just stop for a second and think: how many hours do you spend sitting down? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 to 85% of the population worldwide does not engage in enough activity.

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality as it is responsible for 6% of coronary heart disease cases, 7% of type 2 diabetes, 10% of breast cancer in women and 10% of colon cancer cases.

Change your habits

You don’t need to start training for a marathon to change your sedentary habits. Check out the Activity Pyramid Health based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommendations to explore the innumerable ways you can integrate movement into your schedule, whether at home or in the workplace.

Ultimately to reduce the risk of cancer in women and to boost people’s health, experts argued that public health messages and guidelines should be refined to include reducing time spent sitting in addition to promoting physical activity.

Share with us your ‘healthy lifestyle tips’ in the comments section below.

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"Sitting Disease" Increases Chances of Cancer in Women by 10 Percent

Type 2 Diabetes Can Affect People"s Brains and Daily Activities - http://clapway.com/2015/07/09/type-2-diabetes-can-affect-peoples-brain-and-daily-activities769/

The fact that diabetes can produce damage to a number of organs is well known. The disease can affect the eyes, kidneys, as well as the heart. However, until this moment, there was no evidence that blood sugar can also affect the brain for patients who have type 2 diabetes.

type 2 diabetics may have cognitive impairment

This means that people suffering from type 2 diabetes might experience drops in cognitive functions. Memory decline, and also poor decision-making skills as they age, are two of the problems people with diabetes can have.

In the study published on the 8th of July in the journal Neurology, and funded by the U.S. National Institute on Ageing, the American Diabetes Association, the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center and the U.S. National Center for Research Resources were evaluated forty people, with the average age of 66. Nineteen of them had type 2 diabetes, while the rest didn’t have a blood sugar disease.

All volunteers were tested at the beginning of the study, as well as after two years. They were given MRI scans to check the blood in their brains, and they completed memory and thinking tests. Also, their blood sugar levels and inflammation were investigated.

researchers say inflammation levels of brain worsened blood flow regulation

According to the researchers, the inflammation levels of the brain made the blood flow regulation worse. The higher the inflammation levels, the worse the blood flow regulation becomes. That was a problem, even for people who had good control of their diabetes.

The dilatation of the blood vessels was the reason why more blood could flow through the brain, and adequate amounts of blood are crucial for people to perform normal thinking, or to be able to do their daily activities.

Researchers will continue studying ways for the brain functions to be improved, through the health of blood vessels. At this moment, the investigation is focusing on a method that involves inhaling insulin through the nose. They are also working on blood pressure medicine that would improve the brain vessel activity.

new study currently being planned

In addition, as stated by the research team, a new study involving a larger group of people is needed and planned, since a better understanding of how type 2 diabetes may affect blood flow to the brain is necessary.

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Type 2 Diabetes Can Affect People"s Brains and Daily Activities

How a Smart Insulin Patch Could Change the Game for Diabetics - http://clapway.com/2015/07/03/how-a-smart-insulin-patch-could-change-the-game-for-diabetics987/

If I could wear a smart patch on my chest that would transfer to my lungs the medication they needed to function while having asthma, I would jump at the chance. It’s so inconvenient having to constantly carry an inhaler with me, taking a puff of it in the morning followed by a puff at night. I am forced to worry about taking the wrong inhaler, or too much of it when I still can’t breathe, while also having to deal with a racing heart and the shakes. Always worrying about those things tends to take away from the enjoyment of everyday life. If I leave the house without my medication, I am forced to go back for it. It would be wonderful if I didn’t have to worry anymore. I imagine that people with diabetes feel similar to the way I do. They must take insulin shots and often check their blood and glucose levels. Luckily for them, a new smart insulin patch might enhance their quality of life.

Innovative Smart Insulin Patch for Diabetics

The number of people currently with diabetes worldwide is somewhere around 370 million, a number that is only expected to rise in the coming years. To an outsider, this disease might seem somewhat manageable. However, the truth is that a diabetic walks a thin line between the right amounts of insulin versus too much (which can have dire side effects.) This patch could simplify the way a diabetic deals with their disease.

How the Smart Insulin Patch Works

Researchers from the University of North Carolina have created a thin patch, no larger than a penny, covered in more than 100 tiny little needles that are packed with insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes. This painless patch is made up of biocompatible materials, meaning the material is a synthetic or natural substance that can be used to replace or work in tandem with living tissue. The system is said to have the ability to be personalized according to the wearer’s weight and insulin sensitivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the study, which showed promising results in a Type 1 diabetes mouse model. Blood glucose levels in the mice treated with the patch stabilized in 30 minutes and remained that way for a number of hours.

The creators of this smart insulin patch wanted to mimic the body’s own insulin system, and it appears they have succeeded. This new breakthrough in technology could open several doors in the medical industry. It could potentially be a breakthrough in medication for various ailments. I’m very excited to see where this new technology takes us!

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How a Smart Insulin Patch Could Change the Game for Diabetics

Diabetics Avoid Daily Injections With New Implantable Pancreas - http://clapway.com/2015/07/02/diabetics-avoid-daily-injections-with-new-implantable-pancreas765/

Are You a Type 1 diabetic? New Implantable Pancreas may help

A study has recently arisen in the ACS journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research that suggests that living with Type 1 diabetes may become more tolerable, with the development of a new implantable pancreas that can regularly measure blood sugar and glucose levels, then automatically release insulin as necessary. For all living with Type 1 diabetes, this new advancement in medicine is a game changer.

What does this new implantable pancreas mean?

You know those dreaded necessary evils of pricking yourself with a needle to measure blood sugar every so often? Well with this new pancreas, the need to do so will be gone with the regular measurements and self-dosing. So, the chance to say goodbye to those daily pricks may be coming up soon.

Type 1 diabetes is mostly seen and diagnosed in children and young adults under the age of 20, otherwise known as juvenile diabetes. The statistics for this type show only 5% have it, but those young people’s lives depend on managing diabetes correctly. This development may help with that.

How does this new implantable pancreas work?

This pancreas was designed in mind with taking out the effort and pain of pricking and dosing yourself. Thus, the researches in charge of the study developed an algorithm to measure blood sugar levels, and then based on them calculate your insulin dosage. Said dosage is then delivered without using the needle, and only when it is needed. Computer testing of the new implantable pancreas showed that, using the algorithm in coincidence with the peaking and falling of sugar levels in response to meal times and sleeping at night, the pancreas delivered the insulin and kept the blood sugar at a sufficient level almost eighty percent of the time.

A test on animals will soon be underway to see its efficiency put in practice and tested with a living organism. The study was made possible through funding by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. This new method will also be faster than current methods, and the researchers working on this project will most likely try to achieve that ideal blood sugar level as close to one hundred percent of the time as possible.

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Diabetics Avoid Daily Injections With New Implantable Pancreas

What"s the real culprit? - http://clapway.com/2015/07/01/sugary-drinks-kill-almost-as-much-as-war-in-syria-every-year-study-234/

Sodas and other sugary drinks may cause up to 184,000 deaths a year worldwide, according to a study published Monday in the journal Circulation. This is almost as much as the deaths caused by the Syrian Civil War, which the United Nations put out as being approximately 220,000, although the real figure is probably much higher.

The newly-published report analysed the global risks of death attributed to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, linked to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

Deadly sugary drinks

“Many countries in the world have a significant number of deaths occurring from a single dietary factor, sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the study and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University in Boston. “It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet.”

Researchers estimated that sugary drinks consumption might be responsible for approximately, 133,000 deaths from diabetes. About 45,000 people died from cardiovascular disease and 6,450 deaths from cancer linked to sweet beverages.

According to Mozaffarian, there are no health benefits from sugary drinks. Rather, “the potential impact of reducing consumption is saving tens of thousands of deaths each year,” he said.

Low- or middle-income countries are the worst affected

Data shows that the impact of such beverages varies greatly depending on geographical regions and cultural habits. The two extremes are Japan, where the estimated percentage of deaths was less than 1 percent of citizens over 65 years old, in contrast with Mexico where 30 percent of adults younger than 45 reportedly died because of health conditions caused by sugary drinks.

Mexico ranked first with an estimated 405 deaths per million adults attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages and the U.S. ranked second with an estimated 125 deaths per million adults.

Overall, about 76 percent of the estimated sugary drinks-related deaths occurred in low- or middle-income countries.

Negative economic and social impact

In the long-run, younger adults are the ones risking the most, according to the research. This is particularly worrying as they form a large sector of the workforce in many countries. The negative impact that sugar-sweetened beverages has on younger adults’ health, will in turn generate serious repercussions on the economic potential of this age group.

“If these young people continue to consume high levels as they age, the effects of high consumption will be compounded by the effects of aging, leading to even higher death and disability rates from heart disease and diabetes than we are seeing now,” said Gitanjali Singh, lead author of the study and a research assistant professor at the Friedman School.

In his movie Food Inc., Director Robert Kenner points out that the food industry blames serious health conditions on a crisis of “personal responsibility”. But sugar is now available 24/7 in tremendous quantities, resulting in people eating “hundreds of pounds of the stuff a year”. Needless to say that this type of diet, high in fructose corn syrup and refined carbohydrates, gradually escalates in a wearing down of the system by which our body metabolizes sugar.

Researchers looked at 62 dietary surveys including 611,971 individuals conducted between 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, along with data on national availability of sugar in 187 countries and other information. Fruit juices were not included in this study, which analyzed the negative impact of sugary drinks.

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Sugary Drinks Kill Almost as Much as War in Syria Every Year: Study