Type 2 diabetes now “common” in under 40s

There has been a sharp rise in cases of type 2 diabetes in people under 40 over the past 20 years say researchers. The disease can now be considered “common” in this age group in the UK, according to a lead researcher writes .

Research by Cardiff University shows that in 1991 there were some 150 cases of the condition per 100,000 people aged under 40, which has risen by around 270% in 20 years to reach 500 cases per 100,000 people, the BBC reports.

It seems the average age at which people develop the disease is also falling: the percentage of people under 40 with the disease has risen from 5 to 12 percent.

Professor Craig Currie, of Cardiff University’s School of Medicine and leader of the research said the rise will “undoubtedly place an increasing burden on healthcare resources and result in poorer quality of life”.

He added that factors such as changes to diet, obesity and family history are factors in the rise in cases among younger adults.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), type 2 diabetes comprises 90 percent of the total diabetes cases around the world. It is largely the result of being overweight and not doing enough exercise.

It’s not just the UK which is affected, globally the number of diabetes 2 cases rose from 30 million in 1985 to 285 million in 2010. Changes to lifestyle, growing obesity rates and poor diets are thought to be to blame among those with a genetic predisposition to the illness.

Reproduced by kind permission of expathealth.org

What You Need Not to Do in Order to Relax on Vacation

As many people plan winter getaways, they’re dreaming of leaving the hectic day-to-day existence behind and doing some serious chilling out. A break from their frenetic lives is just what the doctor ordered. And yet, the reality is that they’ll go away and will do very little relaxing, staying just connected enough to their life “back home” that the potential recuperative power of the vacation will be lost writes John Miller of the healthtravelblog.com

Has this ever happened to you? Of course it has. We all do it. Sometimes we just flat out fail to ramp down our desire to accomplish stuff.

As always, we’re here to help. Here are some ideas that you need to leave behind in order to replenish your mind, body and soul when you’re on vacation:

  • (Do not) Maintain contact with the office. Staying up to speed with your entire workload is going to be very difficult; to do it well will require you to put in pretty much a full workday. So what’s the point of doing that? Either your colleagues will handle it, or it can wait. And don’t freak out about the email backlog that’s building. It’ll be fine. So leave the office behind.
  • (Do not) Stay indoors. If you’re like most people, you spend a lot of time indoors – in the office, at home in front of the TV, etc., tethered to electronic devices. Vacation is a chance to break away and soak up some vitamin D from the sun.
  • (Do not) Over-plan so that you squeeze in more must-see stuff. This is a big problem for a lot of folks – over-planning and cramming too much into each day. Obviously, if you’re headed to Rome for the first time there’s a lot to see, and you need to check off some of those boxes. But you’re not going to see it all, so don’t make yourself frantic. Don’t be afraid to spend the entire week without a schedule. Really. Just try it.
  • (Do not) Go with family. A family vacation is nice; an extended family vacation can be even better. Or it can be psychological warfare. It depends on your family. But even the most united of families can get on each other’s nerves over the course of a week or two. If the goal is to truly relax, think about keeping your traveling party a little more intimate.
  • (Do not) Stay home instead. Fewer vacations mean that the holidays you do take have a lot of pressure to be perfect, which in turn makes it far less likely that they’ll be perfect. Putting that kind of pressure on your vacation creates stress. So use those vacation days. It’ll make you perform better at work – happier and more productive.

Reproduced with kind permission of the healthytravelblog.com

European Union to take action over Spanish hospitals’ rejection of the EU Health Card (EHIC)

The European Commission is understood to be taking legal action against the Spanish Government over refusal of some Spanish hospitals to accept the European Health Insurance Card which provides all EU citizens to free healthcare in public hospitals across member States.

It is understood that some Spanish hospitals have been rejecting the card and have advised tourists that they must settle their medical bills personally or via their travel insurance, adding that the EHIC was not valid for treatment in Spain.