WEDNESDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs designed to control type 2 diabetes should be subjected to more thorough safety reviews to ensure they don't raise the risk of heart problems, U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers said Wednesday.

The panel of outside experts voted 14-to-2, at the end of a two-day meeting, to recommend that all makers of these drugs conduct long-term cardiovascular trials, even if the drugs show no signs of heart problems in initial trials.

THURSDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with type 2 diabetes are apt to have memory problems after eating a meal loaded with fat, but a new study has found the damage can be undone if they take antioxidant vitamins along with the unhealthy food.

However, the researchers emphasize, it is better to eat healthy foods and not rely on vitamins to undo the cognitive harm.

Not too long ago, a friend of mine told me that she might have diabetes. She was clearly surprised and taken aback at the potential diagnosis and was sucking in air. So was I, quite frankly, when she told me what was going on.

Coincidentally, less than a week later, my physician told me that my fasting blood sugar level from my latest round of blood work was too high. I started sucking in air all over again. In addition, my thyroid levels were off again.

Not too long ago, a friend of mine told me that she might have diabetes. She was clearly surprised and taken aback at the potential diagnosis and was sucking in air. So was I, quite frankly, when she told me what was going on.

Coincidentally, less than a week later, my physician told me that my fasting blood sugar level from my latest round of blood work was too high. I started sucking in air all over again. In addition, my thyroid levels were off again.

People who grow up in low-income households are more likely to develop diabetes than those who grow up in better-off homes, according to a study of adults, ages 17 to 94, in Alameda County, Calif. from 1965 through 1999.

Of the 5,913 participants, 307 developed type 2 diabetes. Of those who developed the disease, almost 65 percent lived in poor households during childhood, United Press International reported.

The findings appear in the American Journal of Public Health.

TUESDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Almost 24 million Americans had diabetes in 2007, an increase of more than 3 million over two years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

In addition, another 57 million Americans had pre-diabetes, which puts people at increased risk for diabetes.

There was some good news. Over two years, the proportion of people with diabetes who don't know they have the disease decreased from 30 percent to 25 percent.

Turmeric May Help Reduce Type 2 Diabetes Risk

The curry spice turmeric may help reverse obesity-related inflammation and reduce type 2 diabetes risk, according to Columbia University Medical Center researchers.

In obese mice, turmeric significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and the liver and reduced the rodents' susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. The researchers believe curcumin -- an ingredient in turmeric -- may be responsible, United Press International reported.

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- The relationship between diabetes and depression apparently cuts both ways: Not only are people with treated type 2 diabetes at a heightened risk for developing depression, individuals with depression are also at risk for developing diabetes.

The research revelation suggests that both doctors and patients need to be more aware of the dual risks.

Study Ties Herpes Virus to Emerging Form of Diabetes
French researchers say antibodies linked to disease found in Sub-Saharan Africans

TUESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- A link appears to exist between a herpes virus and an atypical form of type 2 diabetes in persons from sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study.

MONDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- Women with type 2 diabetes and heart disease often receive less of the medical treatment they need than men, making their ability to control both diseases more difficult, a new study reports.

The research findings, expected to be presented at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco, probably explains why death from heart disease is being lowered in male diabetics but not among females.