(Mirror Daily, United States) – Recent research suggests that being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in middle age could herald pancreatic cancer.

The new study is in line with past research that has shown that diabetes can double the risk of this type of extremely deadly cancer.

Researchers at the University of Southern California have found that developing the metabolic disease after the age of 50 can be a telltale sign that you already have pancreatic cancer.

The analysis revealed that 53% of diabetes patients with pancreatic cancer have learned that they have diabetes less than three years before they were diagnosed with cancer.

It is also possible that the cancer can lead to diabetes.

Researchers couldn’t explain the link between the late onset of type 2 diabetes and the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Late-Onset Diabetes Tied to Pancreatic Cancer

According to a CDC report published last year, more than 100 million people in the U.S. live with prediabetes or diabetes. Prediabetes can morph into a full-fledged diagnosis within five years if left untreated.

In 2015, 30.3 million people in the U.S. had type 2 diabetes. In the U.S.A., diabetes is currently the seventh top killer. In 2016, 53,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a disease with very low survival rates if it is spotted too late.

Nearly 50% of pancreatic cancer cases are people aged 75 or older. The disease is very uncommon in younger people. Unfortunately, around 80% of pancreatic cancer cases are diagnosed too late.

The latest study shows that middle-aged and older diabetics have a twofold risk of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer later on than young diabetes patients. Also, pancreatic cancer patients are three times more likely to have late-onset diabetes as well than other cancer patients.

The study appeared this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – A major drinking study that was funded by Big Alcohol had to be shut down by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its questionable findings.

The controversy comes in the midst of reports that some NIH officials asked funding from the industry to complete the study.

NIH Director Francis Collins recently told the press that the agency has strong policies when it comes to its employees’ conduct. NIH employees are reportedly barred from receiving gifts and rig grant competitions.

We take very seriously any violations of these standards,

Collins said.

The agency launched a probe into the study’s findings following a disturbing report by the New York Times showing that some NIH officials lobbied the industry to give funds for the study. In return, those officials promised to reach the conclusion that moderate drinking is healthy.

The Study to Be Shut Down Soon

On Friday, the agency published an internal report, which revealed that those officials infringed the agency’s policies and stifled fair competition for research funding. NIH promised to “take appropriate personnel actions”. It refused, though, to comment on the personnel matters.

The report revealed that the officials courted Big Alcohol in a way that appeared to convince the industry to shell the necessary cash for the randomized clinical trial. The trial tried to find whether one serving of alcohol per day would prevent the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

NIH researchers noted that past studies have found that moderate drinking could lead to unexpected health benefits. The agency will shut down the study “within the next few months,” as the group is working on an “orderly closeout.”

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, moderate drinkers should consume up to three drinks per day if they are women and up to four drinks per day if they are men.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – According to a new report, religious people can live up to four years longer than atheists do. Study authors found that there are plenty of benefits to being religiously affiliated.

In their study, researchers analyzed 1,000 obituaries. They interviewed families on the deceased people’s religious belief. The analysis revealed that churchgoers live longer than people who do not believe in God.

Study authors believe that religious people tend to live longer because they are engaged in more face-to-face social activities. Social interactions have been often linked to better health and longevity. Nevertheless, researchers acknowledged that the many benefits of being religious cannot be explained only by looking at those people’s social activities.

There’s still a lot of the benefit of religious affiliation that this can’t explain,

lead author Laura Wallace said.

Co-author Dr. Baldwin Way of the Ohio State University agrees that the link between having faith and longevity cannot be fully explained.

The Study

The initial research revealed that religious people tend to live up to 9.45 years longer than atheists. After the study was adjusted for other factors that might influence the outcomes, like sex and marital status, the figure dropped to 6.48 years. That research involved over 500 obituaries of people who died in Des Moines, Iowa, between January and February 2012.

A separate research focusing on 1,096 obituaries in 42 municipalities revealed that people who had a religious affiliation lived 3.82 years longer than their peers with no religious affiliation. The study was adjusted for sex and marital status.

Scientists also found that social activities like volunteering or active involvement in a charity only accounted for one year of longer life. So, the rest of the longevity boost offered by being religious is likely linked to a less promiscuous life, no alcohol abuse, or addictions.

Also, religious people destress through prayer and practicing gratitude, which can lead to a longer life, too.
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(Mirror Daily, United States) – Two new studies have found that a groundbreaking DNA-editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 could boost cancer risk in patients that use the tech to get rid of hereditary diseases.

Researchers explained that the CRISPR tool can become cancer-causing when it is used to replace unhealthy genes with healthier ones.

Two separate studies, one funded by Novartis and another one conducted by Sweden-based Karolinska Institutets, show that, during a CRISPR-Cas9 edit, the tweaked cells no longer have a cancer-suppressing protein dubbed p53, which can boost cancer risk.

P53 protects cells from cancer and lowers gene-editing methods’ success rate. The protein is essential in keeping cancer at bay, but when researchers use CRISPR-Cas9 to get rid of some inherited conditions, p53 can make cells self-destruct.

Karolinska Institutet researchers raised concerns about the safety of such gene-editing tools as the methods seem to prevent p53 from working properly.

“If transplanted into a patient, as in gene therapy for inherited diseases, such cells could give rise to cancer,

lead researcher Emma Haapaniemi of the Karolinska Institutet warned.

The DNA Editing Tool Has Many Risks

A dysfunctional p53 can dramatically increase cancer risk. The protein’s mutations are behind 43% of colon cancers, 50% of ovarian cancers, and multiple cases of stomach, liver, lung, pancreatic, and breast cancers.

Bernhard Schmierer of the Karolinska Institutet praised the CRISPR-Cas9 tool for its “staggering therapeutic potential.” But he added that the method does have its risks just like drugs have side-effects.

Researchers plan to further study the mechanism that prompts a p53 mutation when gene-editing is applied.

CRISPR-Cas9 can correct genetic mutations that can lead to diseases. The tool can do this by either gene replacement or gene disruption. When the gene is disrupted, p53 seems to not be affected.
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