Month: September 2013

A new scoring system may help predict who will have a reversal of diabetes after weight-loss surgery. The system was based on results for nearly 700 obese diabetics who had weight-loss surgery. Within 5 years, 63% had full or partial remission of diabetes. People in both groups were able to stop taking diabetes medicines. Full remission meant that blood sugar returned to normal. Those with partial remission had lower blood sugar, but it was still above normal. Researchers found that 4 factors helped to predict who would have at least partial remission. It was much less likely to occur in people who took insulin before surgery. Other factors included age, hemoglobin A1c level (a long-term measurement of blood sugar) and what other diabetes drugs a person took before surgery. Researchers assigned points to each factor.

“Low T,” or testosterone, may not cause all of the symptoms of so-called male menopause, a new study suggests. In fact, low levels of the female hormone estrogen may play a role as well, the study finds. And there was no clear cutoff for “low” testosterone. The study included 400 healthy young and middle-aged men. They were given a drug to suppress natural production of both testosterone and estrogen. Then they were given either testosterone gel (in different doses) or a placebo (fake) gel to apply for 16 weeks. In men, some testosterone is converted to an estrogen called estradiol. Half of the men also were given a medicine that blocked this from happening. After 16 weeks, the loss of either hormone was linked with reduced sexual function. Men with lower levels of testosterone had more loss of muscle mass and strength. Low estradiol was linked with increases in body fat.