New study findings published in Stroke - a journal of the American Heart Association (AHA) reveals that drinking more than two alcoholic beverages daily in middle-age may raise your stroke risk more than traditional factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Pavla KadlecovÃ¡, (a statistician at St. Anne\'s University Hospital\'s International Clinical Research Centre in the Czech Republic) and her colleagues analyzed 11,644 same-sex twins from the Swedish Twin Registry. Between 1967 and 1970 - when the participants were under the age of 60 - they completed dietary questionnaires, from which researchers could gather information on their alcohol consumption.

The twins were followed for around 43 years, until 2010. The researchers analyzed their health data over this period, including hospital discharge information and details on causes of death, as well as information on blood pressure, smoking and diabetes, among other health risks.

The study results showed that:

Heavy drinkers had about a 34 percent higher risk of stroke compared to light drinkers.
Mid-life heavy drinkers (in their 50s and 60s) were likely to have a stroke five years earlier in life irrespective of genetic and early-life factors.
Heavy drinkers had increased stroke risk in their mid-life compared to well-known risk factors like high blood pressure and diabetes.
At around age 75, blood pressure and diabetes appeared to take over as one of the main influences on having a stroke.

Normalising Blood Pressure Life saving in Diabetes

Blood pressure-lowering treatment among patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and heart disease events and improved mortality, according to a study in JAMA. Kazem Rahimi, D.M., M.Sc., of the George Institute for Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K., and colleagues conducted a review and meta-analysis of large-scale randomized controlled trials of BP-lowering treatment including patients with diabetes, published between January 1966 and October 2014.

The researchers found that each 10-mm Hg lower systolic BP was associated with a lower risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease events, coronary heart disease events, stroke, albuminuria and retinopathy. The associations between BP-lowering treatments and outcomes were not significantly different, irrespective of drug class, except for stroke and heart failure.

Although proportional associations of BP lowering treatment for most outcomes studied were diminished below a systolic BP level of 140 mm Hg, data indicated that further reduction below 130 mm Hg is associated with a lower risk of stroke, retinopathy, and albuminuria, potentially leading to net benefits for many individuals at high risk for those outcomes. â€œAmong patients with type 2 diabetes, BP lowering was associated with improved mortality and other clinical outcomes. These findings support the use of medications for BP lowering in these patients,â€ the authors write.

Is type 1 diabetes more dangerous in females?

In the current scenario, properly treated subjects with type 1 diabetes should have a normal life expectancy. Given the intricacies of the disease and unavailability of modern devices and gadgets to the majority, outcomes in type 1 diabetes differs. A new study in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology revealed that type 1 diabetes is more deadly to women than men. The study says that women have a 40 percent higher risk of early death than men with type 1 diabetes. Women with the disease also have over two times the risk of dying from heart disease than men who have the same condition.

Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia analysed data from 26 studies involving more than 200,000 men and women with type 1 diabetes. The study also found that women with the condition were at greater risk of strokes and were 44 per cent more likely to die from kidney disease. Lead researcher Professor Rachel Huxley said: \"We already knew that people with type 1 diabetes have shorter life expectancies than the general population, but this study was able to determine for the first time that the risk of mortality is greater in women than men with the disease.

It is speculated that type 1 diabetes is more deadly in women because they have greater difficulties with insulin management and glycaemic control than men - factors that could contribute to their increased risk of heart disease. Despite what may at first appear to be all bad news for women with diabetes mellitus, the researchers found that it is not a factor in increased risk of cancer in either sex. They also cite the study as incentive to change the way doctors treat women and help them manage their disease throughout their lifetime.

Editor\'s note: The Gems Editorial Team is of the opinion that with strict blood glucose monitoring, timely insulin injections and healthy diet and lifestyles, the life expectancy of type 1 diabetes patients is no less than normal individuals.

Heavy drinking in middle-age highly detrimental