The prevalence and risk factors for diabetes mellitus in healthcare workers at Tygerberg hospital, Cape Town, South Africa: a retrospective study

Objectives: To assess the contribution of traditional and modifiable risk factors to the overall risk and prevalence of type 2diabetes mellitus (T2DM) amongst health workers (HWs) in the public sector.Design: A retrospective analysis was performed on data obtained from 260 participants.Setting and subjects: HWs at Tygerberg Hospital, Western Cape attending the World Diabetes Day (WDD) metabolic screeningand educational event.Outcome measures: The 10-year risk stratification for T2DM was calculated in all HWs attending the WDD event. This was basedon the Finnish ‘Test2prevent’ diabetes risk calculator endorsed by the International Diabetes Federation assessing a set of wellestablishedmetabolic risk factors. Self-reported consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) was added to thequestionnaire but did not add to the risk calculation.Results: The prevalence of known hyperglycaemia in this cohort is concerning (11%, n = 62). An additional 29 health workerswere identified as at high risk to develop T2DM within 10 years. Consumption of SSBs and minimal physical activity wereidentified as modifiable targets for intervention.Conclusions: Education and lifestyle interventions are of paramount importance to ensure the metabolic health of HWs andtheir communities. Policies and guidelines focused on limiting unhealthy/obesogenic work environments are urgently neede

Serum metabolome changes in relation to prothrombotic state induced by combined oral contraceptives with drospirenone and ethinylestradiol

The association between hypercoagulability and use of drospirenone (DRSP) and ethinylestradiol (EE) containing combined oral contraceptives (COCs) is an important clinical concern. We have previously reported that the two formulations of DRSP combined with EE (namely, DRSP/20EE and DRSP/30EE) bring about a prothrombotic state in hemostatic traits of female users. We report here the serum metabolomic changes in the same study cohort in relation to the attendant prothrombotic state induced by COC use, thus offering new insights on the underlying biochemical mechanisms contributing to the altered coagulatory profile with COC use. A total of 78 healthy women participated in this study and were grouped as follows: control group not using oral contraceptives (n = 25), DRSP/20EE group (n = 27), and DRSP/30EE group (n = 26). Untargeted metabolomics revealed changes in amino acid concentrations, particularly a decrease in glycine and an increase in both cysteine and lanthionine in the serum, accompanied by variations in oxidative stress markers in the COC users compared with the controls. Of importance, this study is the first to link specific amino acid variations, serum metabolites, and the oxidative metabolic profile with DRSP/EE use. These molecular changes could be linked to specific biophysical coagulatory alterations observed in the same individuals. These new findings lend evidence on the metabolomic substrates of the prothrombotic state associated with COC use in women and informs future personalized/precision medicine research. Moreover, we underscore the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate venous thrombotic risk associated with COC use.The National Research Foundation (NRF) (South Africa)https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/omics-a-journal-of-integrative-biology/432021-07-01am2021AnatomyPhysiolog

The prevalence and risk factors for diabetes mellitus in healthcare workers at Tygerberg hospital, Cape Town, South Africa : a retrospective study

CITATION: Coetzeea, A., et al. 2019. The prevalence and risk factors for diabetes mellitus in healthcare workers at Tygerberg hospital, Cape Town, South Africa : a retrospective study. Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa, 24(3):77-82, doi:10.1080/16089677.2019.1620009.The original publication is available at http://www.jemdsa.co.za/index.php/JEMDSAObjectives: To assess the contribution of traditional and modifiable risk factors to the overall risk and prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) amongst health workers (HWs) in the public sector. Design: A retrospective analysis was performed on data obtained from 260 participants. Setting and subjects: HWs at Tygerberg Hospital, Western Cape attending the World Diabetes Day (WDD) metabolic screening and educational event. Outcome measures: The 10-year risk stratification for T2DM was calculated in all HWs attending the WDD event. This was based on the Finnish ‘Test2prevent’ diabetes risk calculator endorsed by the International Diabetes Federation assessing a set of wellestablished metabolic risk factors. Self-reported consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) was added to the questionnaire but did not add to the risk calculation. Results: The prevalence of known hyperglycaemia in this cohort is concerning (11%, n = 62). An additional 29 health workers were identified as at high risk to develop T2DM within 10 years. Consumption of SSBs and minimal physical activity were identified as modifiable targets for intervention. Conclusions: Education and lifestyle interventions are of paramount importance to ensure the metabolic health of HWs and their communities. Policies and guidelines focused on limiting unhealthy/obesogenic work environments are urgently needed.http://www.jemdsa.co.za/index.php/JEMDSA/article/view/707Publisher's versio

LIP Woordfeeskoerant 2010

The LIP Woordfeeskoerant is an independent Woordfees festival newspaper produced by the BPhil (Journalism) class of that specific year in the Department of Journalism, Stellenbosch University.The LIP Woordfeeskoerant is an independent Woordfees festival newspaper produced by the BPhil (Journalism) class of that specific year in the Department of Journalism, Stellenbosch University