Middle-aged women with Type 1 diabetes have significantly lower levels of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and inhibin B prior to the menopause than their non-diabetic peers, show study results.

The researchers suggest that these markers could signal the premature transition to menopause often seen in women with Type 1 diabetes.

Ethel Codner (San Borja-Arriarán Hospital, Santiago, Chile) and colleagues investigated measures of ovarian function in 66 women with Type 1 diabetes and 58 non-diabetic controls, all aged less than 45 years.

Regression analysis demonstrated that AMH levels begin to decrease at age 33 years in both groups.

Among women older than 33 years, AMH levels were lower in women with Type 1 diabetes than in controls at 4.1 versus 9.5 pmol/l. Furthermore, a higher proportion of women with Type 1 diabetes showed AMH levels in the menopausal range compared with control women, at 16.7% versus 3.4%.

Among all participants, those with Type 1 diabetes exhibited lower inhibin B levels than controls (89.3 vs 113.2 ng/ml). Levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and estradiol were similar in both groups.

“Our study shows that women with Type 1 diabetes have prematurely aging ovaries, as demonstrated by an early decline in the levels of AMH and inhibin B,” Codner et al speculate.

“These findings suggest an earlier decline in the ovarian follicle pool compared with non-diabetic women.”

They conclude: “Future studies should evaluate the precise mechanism that leads to this decline in AMH levels, as well as the relationship between this abnormality and reproductive function in women with Type 1 diabetes.”

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009

Free abstract

Type 2 diabetes we are told is a complex condition … but thankfully the treatment of it is in your hands. The starting point for reversing type 2 is to stop and think before you grab a bite of food to eat. After all food is your body’s fuel and for years you didn’t really think about carbohydrates, protein or fat … it just all went into your mouth and down into your stomach and sort of dispersed itself to wherever it was needed.

That was great when everything was working fine. But now insulin is knocking on cell doors and doors won’t open, insulin is swimming around in your bloodstream along with the glucose, or sugar, that it can’t transport into your cells. Your blood sugar levels are high and maybe all over the place. How do you know this Well, you will find yourself:

• feeling tired, really fatigued for no apparent reason. This is because sugar is remaining in your bloodstream and is not entering your cells where it is needed for energy. Also many essential nutrients are being lost through excessive urination
• with dry itchy skin
• urinating frequently, even during the night. This is because your body is trying to get rid of the excess sugar through your kidneys
• feeling constantly thirsty due to losing so much water through your urine
• with blurred vision or some other change in your eyesight
• experiencing excessive hunger even shortly after eating a meal. This is because your body runs short of insulin at cellular level as it remains in your bloodstream. And blood sugar swings following eating sugary foods and refined carbohydrates triggers more hunger bouts
• having difficulty concentrating and maybe a headache

When your blood sugars are too high there will usually be two or more of the above symptoms. And when you check your blood sugar levels they will show over 180 mg/dl (10 mmol/l) … this is the level the American Diabetes Association advises you to be under one to two hours following a meal.

Type 2 diabetes is controllable … so what is your attitude towards your health Are you going to make variations to your eating plan so you rarely experience any of the above due to high blood sugar levels

A lot of diabetic patients have often been confronted with the question of why they keep losing weight even if they tend to eat more. A good number of these people suffering from diabetes condition in a bid to gain weight have tend to increase the amount of food they eat. They truth remains that even if such diabetic patients eat ten times the number of food they use to eat, they will still lose weight. The below reasons should be an eye opener.

Eat More Lose Weight Reason In Diabetes 1

When there is lack of insulin (the key that opens the cells for glucose to enter), or insulin resistance, there would be physiologic starvation of the cells, even when the cells in the midst of plenty creates continuous feeling for ‘hunger’ even after eating.

Eat More Lose Weight Reason In Diabetes 2

Furthermore, insulin is very important for body building. Insulin helps to store proteins that are necessary for muscle and organ development. It also prevents the action of other body hormones, such as growth hormone, Cortisone, thyroid hormones etc, that aim at using or breaking down proteins.

Eat More Lose Weight Reason In Diabetes 3

Insulin also increases fat storage and stops the actions of the enzyme ‘lipase’ that breakdown fat. By these actions, insulin helps to maintain body weight. However, in an absolute or relative lack of insulin, there is a mass usage of both stored proteins and fat. This accounts for weight loss as seen in diabetics particularly the young diabetics.

With the above medical reasons, it should be clear to any one still harboring the idea of eating more to gain weight in diabetes condition that the solution is far from that. Instead of cracking your brain on that, it will pay you even more to heed the recommendations below.