Sugar activates the same brain system as drugs such as nicotine and cocaine, meaning consuming it is a behaviour we want to repeat.
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If you’ve ever tried to cut back on sugar, you may have realised how incredibly difficult it is. This leads to the question: can you be addicted to sugar?
Sitting down at work all day may not be so bad for you after all. How did we get it so wrong?
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Diabetes kills more people than breast cancer and AIDS, and Mary Tyler Moore was a fierce advocate for research to combat the disease. Here is why it’s important to know if you are prediabetic.
We experience lots of changes in our body as we age, and our eyes and ears are no exception. Unfortunately this toys with our senses.
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Changes to our eyes and ears occur as a result of disease, genetic factors, “wear and tear” and environmental factors.
The physical health of people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is often overshadowed by their mental health issues.
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Diabetes is on the rise and one of its most common complications is Diabetes-Related Foot Disease (DFRD). DFRD is difficult to treat but simple preventive strategies do exist.
Half of people who started an exercise regime stopped within six months.
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Scurvy is a historical disease caused by severe and chronic deficiency of vitamin C. Its recent reemergence is a poor reflection of the nation’s diet.
Early detection and treatment of diabetes can be life-saving, but prevention by adopting healthier diets and lifestyle is even better.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Being able to buy processed “food-like” products is often seen as a mark of personal and material success. Little attention is paid to having a healthy diet.
Time to get up.
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Gaining a better sense of what genes are involved in regulating circadian clocks could put us on a path to find better treatments and therapies to help people adjust to time shifts.
New research shows a high BMI in mothers before pregnancy may impact the health of their child.
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Overweight women have a higher risk of delivering biologically older babies who are are more susceptible to age-related conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes in later life.
Couple using in-home blood pressure monitor.
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Digital devices can make a real difference in treating chronic diseases. But many who have these conditions are poor, and they often cannot afford the devices.
Ghanaian cancer specialists examine a patient’s scan.
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Tilahun Haregu, African Population and Health Research Center e Peninah Masibo, African Population and Health Research Center
So-called lifestyle diseases such as cancer and heart disease have been rising in Africa, adding to the already huge burden of disease in poor countries. But the research has not kept pace.
The age profile of people living in Africa is changing - they are living longer.
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The burden of communicable disease is declining in Africa and life expectancy is increasing. But non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are wreaking havoc.
Metformin was originally developed from natural compounds found in the plant known as French lilac.
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Metformin has been used to treat diabetes since the late 1950s. It is now on the World Health Organisation’s List of Essential Medicines needed for a basic health care system.
Professor and Programme Director, SA MRC Centre for Health Economics and Decision Science - PRICELESS SA (Priority Cost Effective Lessons in Systems Strengthening South Africa), University of the Witwatersrand