Following are excerpts from articles describing ongoing research studies currently being conducted in the United States. Click on the article title to be taken to the full articles.
You may also want to visit the National Institute of Health's Consumer database of Clincial Trials.
Life Expectancy Gains Threatened by Obesity
Obesity has become such a pervasive health threat that it could reverse the steady rise in U.S. life expectancy.
Diabetes Type 1
Individuals who have a relative with type 1 diabetes have a 10-to 20-fold greater chance of developing diabetes compared with the general population. This study follows non-diabetic relatives of people with type 1 diabetes.
Diabetes Type 2
This study involves three thousand volunteers from 25 clinical centers around the country. It compares two strategies to prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes in those with impaired glucose tolerance.
Obesity in Children
The connection between adult obesity and diabetes is well documented. With this study, researchers looked at children in Muscatine, lowa, a midwest town of about 24,000 people, to determine the degree to which excess body weight during childhood predicts adult obesity. The study followed 2,631 school children, aged 9-18 years, and then re-examined them in adulthood years later.
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You can't say we weren't warned. First there were the alarming statistics about the amount of television children watch every day, the amount of calories they consume, and the amount of exercise they don't get. Then there were the reports of increasing obesity in those same children. And earlier this year, the kicker: Type 2 diabetes, which normally affects adults over the age of 45 years, is drastically on the rise among America's children.
Women's Health
Beginning in 1992 and continuing through the year 2007, this clinical research study attempts to define strategies for the prevention and control of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in post menopausal women. 163,000 women between the ages of 50 to 79, including some with diabetes, are participating in trials including low-fat dietary modification, hormone replacement therapy, and calcium/vitamin D supplementation.
Cardiovascular Risk Treatment Strategies and Weight Loss Interventions in Diabetes Patients
Two new studies are underway. The first attempts to test the effects of three medical treatments for reducing cardiovascular disease, morbidity, and mortality in people with type 2 diabetes. The second study will test the effects of weight loss interventions in obese people with type 2 diabetes.
Regular Fasting May Improve Health As Much As Cutting Calories
A study on rats and mice completed in April, 2003 will soon be followed up by a study on humans.
That's Why Its Called Junk Food
Ever wonder why its so hard to stay away from chocolate? New research shows fats and sweets may be addictive.
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