NCDs

By: Nicola Davis More than one in 10 cases of coronary heart disease could be prevented if people reduced their TV viewing to less than an hour a day, research suggests. Coronary heart disease occurs when fatty material builds up inside the coronary arteries causing them to narrow, reducing the heart’s blood supply. Researchers say cutting down on time spent in front of the TV could lower the risk of developing the disease. “Reducing time spent watching TV should be recognised as a key behavioural target for prevention of coronary heart disease, irrespective of genetic susceptibility and traditional risk markers,” said Dr Youngwon Kim, an assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and an author of the research. While the team did not look at what was behind the asso...

MIT engineers are working on a new kind of device that could streamline the process of blood glucose measurement and insulin injection. Before consuming a meal, many people with diabetes need to inject themselves with insulin. This is a time-consuming process that often requires estimating the carbohydrate content of the meal, drawing blood to measure blood glucose levels, and then calculating and delivering the correct insulin dose. Those steps, which typically must be repeated for every meal, make it difficult for many patients with diabetes to stick with their treatment regimen. A team of MIT researchers has now come up with a new approach to streamline the process and help patients maintain healthy glucose levels. “Any intervention that makes it easier for patients to receive ...

A new report highlights the worrying state of global access to insulin for diabetes care and finds that high prices, low availability of human insulin, few producers dominating the insulin market and weak health systems are the main barriers to universal access. Insulin for diabetes treatment is essential for diagnosed individuals to manage their condition, reducing fatality rates, risk of kidney failure, blindness and limb amputation for people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. “The scientists who discovered insulin 100 years ago refused to profit from their discovery and sold the patent for just one dollar,” said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Unfortunately, that gesture of solidarity has been overtaken by a multi-billion-dollar business that ...

Is there an ideal time to go to bed every night if you want to dodge heart disease? Apparently there is, claims a new study that found hitting the sack between 10 and 11 p.m. may be the ideal time to cut the risk for cardiovascular trouble. The finding may be worth heeding, since the researchers also found that going to sleep before 10 p.m. or at midnight or later might raise the risk for heart disease by nearly 25%. The raised risk may be traced to the altering of the body's circadian rhythm — its internal clock, the study authors said. "The circadian system controls daily behavioral and physiological rhythms. Disruption to the circadian rhythm has wide-ranging implications, resulting in poorer cognitive performance and increased risk for various physical and ...

By: Tolullah Oni and Rizka Maulida By 2050, it is projected that almost 70% of the world’s population will be living in cities, up from 55% today. The fastest urban growth is happening in Asia and Africa, which is also where we’re seeing a rapid rise in people suffering from, and dying of, heart disease. The impact of non-communicable diseases on the world population’s health is growing. Non-communicable diseases are those that are not directly transmissible from one person to another. By 2030, scientists predict they will account for 77% of the global burden of disease. Cardiovascular or heart disease is the most common type, responsible for 44% of all deaths related to this category. New research from the University Medical Centre in Mainz, Germ...

Fill up that mug: Having one or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day may reduce your risk of heart failure, new research suggests. There was one caveat, however: Decaffeinated coffee doesn't appear to provide the same protection as caffeine-rich blends. "The association between caffeine and heart failure risk reduction was surprising," admitted study senior author Dr. David Kao. "Coffee and caffeine are often considered by the general population to be 'bad' for the heart because people associate them with palpitations, high blood pressure, etc." However, "the consistent relationship between increasing caffeine consumption and decreasing heart failure risk turns that assumption on its head," said Kao, who is assistant professor of cardiology and medical director at the Colorado Ce...

Noncommunicable diseases now make up 7 of the world’s top 10 causes of death, according to WHO’s 2019 Global Health Estimates. This is an increase from 4 of the 10 leading causes in 2000. The new data cover the period from 2000 to 2019 inclusive. The estimates reveal trends over the last 2 decades in mortality and morbidity caused by diseases and injuries. They clearly highlight the need for an intensified global focus on preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, as well as tackling injuries, in all regions of the world, as set out in the agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. “These new estimates are another reminder that we need to rapidly step up prevention, diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases,” sa...