Diabetes-related nutrition knowledge and dietary intake among adults with type 2 diabetes

In this issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, Breen et al. present a well-written and comprehensive study examining nutrition knowledge among a sample of persons with type 2 diabetes using a validated instrument, food label use and weight satisfaction. The authors explore the relationship between this knowledge and nutrient intake. Although the need of including education on dietary and other lifestyle-related determinants of type 2 diabetes is currently evident and recommended in major guidelines, there is startling scarcity in the literature on this subject

Zero-energy peak of the density of states and localization properties of a one-dimensional Frenkel exciton: Off-diagonal disorder

We study a one-dimensional Frenkel Hamiltonian with off-diagonal disorder, focusing our attention on the physical nature of the zero-energy peak of the density of states. The character of excitonic states (localized or delocalized) is also examined in the vicinity of this peak. It is shown that the state being responsible for the peak is localized. A detailed comparison of the nearest-neighbor approach with the long-range dipole-dipole coupling is performed.Comment: 15 pages with 7 figures (REVTeX). To appear in Physical Review

FRAGILITY FRACTURES IN OLDER PERSONS WITH ALTERED THYROID FUNCTION

Gli ormoni tiroidei sono peptidi che svolgono molteplici e complesse funzioni nell\u2019organismo umano. Lo sche-letro \ue8 uno dei tessuti bersaglio degli ormoni tiroidei, ed una loro carenza o un loro eccesso ha importanti conseguenze sul tessuto osseo soprattutto nel periodo dello sviluppo e durante l\u2019invecchiamento. I disturbi a carico della tiroide si osservano con maggior frequenza nei soggetti in et\ue0 avanzata rispetto ai giovani. La tire-otossicosi \ue8 una causa nota di osteoporosi secondaria. L\u2019ipertiroidismo conclamato e l\u2019ipertiroidismo iatrogeno dovuto ad un eccesso nel dosaggio della terapia sostitutiva con ormoni tiroidei sono possibili cause di fratture ossee da fragilit\ue0. L\u2019ipertiroidismo subclinico da cause endogene o esogene si associa ad una riduzione della densit\ue0 minerale ossea (BMD), soprattutto a livello dell\u2019osso corticale nelle donne in et\ue0 avanzata. Il rischio di sviluppo di fratture da fragilit\ue0 sembra essere strettamente correlato al grado di soppressione dell\u2019ormone stimolante la tiroide (TSH) e alla presenza di altri fattori di rischio, inclusa l\u2019et\ue0 avanzata. Nelle persone anziane, l\u2019ipertiroidismo conclamato e l\u2019ipertiroidismo subclinico endogeno dovrebbero essere trattati al fine di ridurre il rischio di sviluppo di fratture da fragilit\ue0 e di fibrillazione atriale, e la mortalit\ue0 associata a tali patologie. Il rischio di fratture da fragilit\ue0 nei soggetti in et\ue0 avanzata, specialmente nelle donne nel periodo post-menopausale, che devono assumere dosaggi soppressivi di levotiroxina per il trattamento di un carcinoma della tiroide, pu\uf2 essere ridotto adottando una terapia a base di levotiroxina con la minima dose efficace e/o, se indicato, ag-giungendo una terapia con farmaci antiriassorbitivi o che favoriscano la formazione ossea. La terapia sostitu-tiva con levotiroxina nell\u2019ipotiroidismo conclamato dovrebbe essere regolarmente monitorata e aggiustata per evitare la soppressione dei livelli di TSH e il conseguente aumento del rischio di fratture da fragilit\ue0.Thyroid hormones are pleiotropic peptides with complex action on the human economy. The skeleton is a target tissue for thyroid hormone\u2019s action, which is illustrated by the consequences of thyroid hormone excess and deficiency during development and during aging. Thyroid disorders are more frequently observed in older than in younger persons. Thyrotoxicosis is an established cause of secondary osteoporosis. Overt hyper-thyroidism and iatrogenic hyperthyroidism due to over-replacement of thyroid hormone may result in fragility fractures. Endogenous or exogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism is associated with reduced bone density, especially in cortical bone in older women. Fragility fracture risk seems to be closely related to the degree of thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression and to other risk factors, including older age. Overt hyperthyroidism and endogenous subclinical hyperthyroidism in older persons should be treated to reduce the risk for fragility fractures, atrial fibrillation and related mortality risk. The risk for fragility fractures in older people, especially in postmenopausal women, taking suppressive doses of levothyroxine for thyroid cancer can be diminished by treatment with the minimal effective suppressive dose and in some cases, by adding an antiresorptive or bone forming therapy where indicated. Replacement therapy for overt hypothyroidism should be regularly adjusted to avoid TSH suppression and consequent increased risk of fragility fractures

MAGNESIUM AND TYPE 2 DIABETES: AN UPDATE

The link between magnesium (Mg) deficiency and type 2 diabetes mellitus is well known. Type 2 diabetes is frequently associated with both extracellular and intracellular Mg deficits. A chronic latent Mg deficit or an overt clinical hypomagnesaemia is common in subjects with type 2 diabetes, especially in those with poorly controlled glycemic profiles. Insulin and glucose are important regulators of Mg metabolism. Intracellular Mg plays a key role in regulating insulin action, insulin-mediated-glucose-uptake and vascular tone. Reduced intracellular Mg concentrations result in a defective tyrosine-kinase activity, postreceptorial impairment in insulin action and worsening of insulin resistance in diabetic patients. A low Mg intake and an increased Mg urinary loss appear the most important mechanisms that may favor Mg depletion in patients with type 2 diabetes. Low dietary Mg intake has been related to the development of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Benefits of Mg supplementation on metabolic profile in diabetic subjects have been found in most, but not all clinical studies and larger prospective studies are needed to support the potential role of dietary Mg supplementation as a possible public health strategy in diabetes risk. The objective of this review is to revise current evidences on the mechanisms of Mg deficiency in diabetes mellitus type 2 and on the possible role of Mg supplementation in the prevention and management of the disease

Dietary Approaches and Supplements in the Prevention of Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer's Disease

Age-associated cognitive decline and dementia are conditions in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, and behavior, with profound effects on the ability to perform everyday activities and well-being. Even if dementia mainly affects older persons, it is not a normal part of aging. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60-75% of dementia cases. The number of persons affected will increase in the next decades in parallel with aging of the world population. Hence, unless some approach is found to reduce age-related deterioration of cognitive functions, health care costs will continue to rise exponentially. There is a wealth of epidemiological evidence supporting a relationship between diet and Alzheimer's disease, and suggesting that the risk of cognitive decline may be reduced by dietary interventions. It has been proposed that adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle that improves cardiovascular function may help delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease due to its potential association with vascular disease. Several nutrients, dietary components, supplements and dietary patterns have been reported in relation to their association with cognition and with the development of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. The possible effect of diet on the prevention of dementia is of tremendous scientific and general interest, because hitherto there is no definitive evidence of any effective pharmacological treatment for dementia. The aim of this review is to evaluate the evidence for the effects of some dietary components, supplements, and dietary patterns as neuroprotective, with potential to delay cognitive decline and the onset of dementia

A Clustering Algorithm for Correlation Quickest Hub Discovery Mixing Time Evolution and Random Matrix Theory

We present a geometric version of Quickest Change Detection (QCD) and Quickest Hub Discovery (QHD) tests in correlation structures that allows us to include and combine new information with distance metrics. The topic falls within the scope of sequential, nonparametric, high-dimensional QCD and QHD, from which state-of-the-art settings developed global and local summary statistics from asymptotic Random Matrix Theory (RMT) to detect changes in random matrix law. These settings work only for uncorrelated pre-change variables. With our geometric version of the tests via clustering, we can test the hypothesis that we can improve state-of-the-art settings for QHD, by combining QCD and QHD simultaneously, as well as including information about pre-change time-evolution in correlations. We can work with correlated pre-change variables and test if the time-evolution of correlation improves performance. We prove test consistency and design test hypothesis based on clustering performance. We apply this solution to financial time series correlations. Future developments on this topic are highly relevant in finance for Risk Management, Portfolio Management, and Market Shocks Forecasting which can save billions of dollars for the global economy. We introduce the Diversification Measure Distribution (DMD) for modeling the time-evolution of correlations as a function of individual variables which consists of a Dirichlet-Multinomial distribution from a distance matrix of rolling correlations with a threshold. Finally, we are able to verify all these hypotheses