PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
Sugar is processed at a refinery. A new study establishes what appears to be a direct link between sugar and diabetes. Experts previously believed that sugar contributed to diabetes by contributing to obesity, but
PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images
Sugar is processed at a refinery. A new study establishes what appears to be a direct link between sugar and diabetes. Experts previously believed that sugar contributed to diabetes by contributing to obesity, but this study shows a more direct connection.
In today's health news:
In what one study author described as "quite a surprise," researchers from Stanford have established a direct link between high sugar levels in a population's food and higher diabetes rates. A study appearing in PLOS ONE says while obesity is a primary driving force in diabetes prevalence, sugar also seems to play an important role: For every 150 calories of sugar available per person per day, researchers found the diabetes rate rose 1 percent.
Another study found that as the amount of time a person spends sitting increases, so does their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. HealthDay says according to researchers, telling people to avoid sitting, rather than imploring them to be physically active, could actually be a more effective route to helping them avoid the disease.
A new study highlights a desire of low-income patients to communicate electronically with their doctors regarding their health that's hampered by a lack of infrastructure and access.
Around seven in 10 low-income patients say they're interested in communicating electronically with their health providers – but only 19 percent actually do.
The disparity is highlighted in a recent study appearing in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
"A significant majority of safety net patients currently use email, text messaging, and the internet, and they expressed an interest in using these tools for electronic communication with their medical providers," wrote the authors. "This interest is currently unmet within safety net clinics that do not offer a patient portal or secure messaging."
Nina Vaccaro, the executive director of the Southside Coalition of Community Health Clinics, says that tide is changing. She pointed to the eight member clinics in 