Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease: How to Reduce the Risk?

This is consequently having a large impact on the health of the nation.

Research at the University of Leicester reports the outcome of combining the results from a number of individual randomized trials, which have compared two or more of the available interventions for people at risk of developing diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease.

This will allow scientists to identify the best way to reverse the diagnosis and therefore lower the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

In addition, the combination of results from a number of individual observational studies is being updated in order to quantify the increase in risk of developing diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease in individuals with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) compared to those without.

Milena Castro, a PhD student working on this project, explained: “Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors leading to an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus and/or cardiovascular disease.

“Although there are different definitions of MetS, the diagnosis is generally confirmed if a person has three of the following five risk factors: (i) insulin resistance, (ii) raised blood pressure, (iii) raised triglycerides, (iv) high cholesterol and (v) increased waist circumference.

“The results from this work have important public health implications given the increasing number of people with MetS.”

The research is being presented to the public at the University of Leicester on Thursday 26th June. The Festival of Postgraduate Research introduces employers and the public to the next generation of innovators and cutting-edge researchers, and gives postgraduate researchers the opportunity to explain the real world implications of their research to a wide ranging audience.

Milena Castro is a first year PhD student in the Department of Health Sciences, having previously gained a BSc in Statistics from Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), Costa Rica, and a MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from Universidad de La Frontera, Chile, by distance-learning whilst working as a researcher in the Statistics Department at UCR. Her research is concerned with the role that Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) plays in the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and how identification of individuals with MetS together with appropriate treatment may help to reduce future ill-health. Milena is jointly funded by Sanofi-Aventis and UCR. By completing her PhD, Milena hopes that her findings will improve the quality of life of individuals worldwide, and would like to establish herself as a researcher in this field in the future.

Milena’s supervisors are Professors Keith Abrams & Kamlesh Khunti, Department of Health Sciences, and Professor Melanie Davies, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester.

More information about the Festival of Postgraduate Research is available at: www.le.ac.uk/gradschool/festival

Media Contact

Ather Mirza alfa

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors