Background
Excessive oxidative stress is considered one of the mechanisms of a decrease in contractile force without concomitant reduction in oxygen cost in failing myocardium. We hypothesized that the antioxidant vitamin C may help reverse hyporesponsiveness to β-adrenergic stimulation and improve myocardial efficiency in patients with heart failure (HF) after myocardial infarction (MI).
Summary
Man, with other primates, lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C through an inactivating mutation of the gene encoding gulonolactone oxidase (GULO) millions of years ago. Though the consequences of this prehistoric loss must have been favorable (and thus selected for) at the population level, the inability to produce vitamin C may have serious health implications for modern humans,
Objective. A one-year follow-up was performed of a 21-year-old man with a 16-year history of diabetes mellitus type I, who had been using ointment containing 10% mercuric ammonium chloride (hydrargyrum amidochloratum; HgNH2Cl) for eczema for approximately 3 weeks. Tiredness, fasciculations on the extremities and poor control of diabetes appeared after the end of the ointment results.
The purpose of this investigation was to estimate the total hair mercury of diseased people(not including patients of mercury poisoning such as Minamata disease).Hair samples were collected from 133 diseased volunteers in Tokyo and the surrounding areas from Oct. 1992 to June 1993. The total mercury concentrations in the hair of ordinary diseased people( atopic dermatitis,
Chronic exposure to arsenic—usually via drinking water contaminated with inorganic arsenic—has been associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in countries around the world. New research shows that arsenic exposure may be an environmental risk [EHP 117:1059–1064; Ettinger et al.].
Arsenic may promote type 2 diabetes by increasing insulin resistance (inability to utilize insulin at the cellular level) and impairing insulin production.
Background
Exposure to arsenic concentrations in drinking water in excess of 300 μg/L is associated with diseases of the circulatory and respiratory system, several types of cancer, and diabetes; however, little is known about the health consequences of exposure to low-to-moderate levels of arsenic (10–100 μg/L).
Methods
A standardized mortality ratio (SMR) analysis was conducted in a contiguous six county study area of southeastern Michigan to investigate the relationship between moderate arsenic levels and twenty-three selected disease outcomes.
Abstract
Recent epidemiological studies suggest a positive association between exposure to the environmental pollutant cadmium (Cd) and the incidence and severity of diabetes. In this review, we examine the literature suggesting a relationship between Cd exposure, elevated blood glucose levels, and the development of diabetes. In addition we review human and animal studies indicating that Cd potentiates or exacerbates diabetic nephropathy.
Objectives
Indigenous people of the Torres Strait (Australia) have greater potential for cadmium exposure and renal damage than other Australians due to high cadmium in some traditional seafood and a high prevalence of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and obesity. This study explored associations between albuminuria and an index of cadmium exposure (urinary cadmium excretion) in the presence and absence of Type 2 diabetes.
Abstract
Cadmium is a toxic metal occurring in the environment naturally and as a pollutant emanating from industrial and agricultural sources. Food is the main source of cadmium intake in the non-smoking population. The bioavailability, retention and toxicity are affected by several factors including nutritional status such as low iron status. Cadmium is efficiently retained in the kidney (half-time 10–30 years) and the concentration is proportional to that in urine (U-Cd).
