Results of a new German study indicate that passive smoking can increase the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes.The survey was carried out by the German Diabetes Centre and the Helmholtz Centre and looked at 1,351 people. Until now scientific studies had only shown a link between active smoking and diabetes.

Between 1999 and 2001, researchers carried out sugar tests on the participants. This OGTT test is regarded as the gold standard of diabetes diagnosis.None of the participants, who were aged between 55 and 74, had fallen ill with diabetes at the time of the test. Seven years later the researchers carried out the same sugar test.
The smokers among the 887 re-tested participants backed up the already recognized link between using cigarettes and diabetes. But non-smokers were also at risk.

Passive smokers who at the time of the first test were exposed to cigarette smoke at home or in the office were twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes as those who had no exposure to smoke.

Children who love junk food and eat at least three burgers in a week are inviting asthma, says a latest research.The study which was conducted on 50,000 children across 20 countries revealed that the risk of asthma, because of improper diet, is highest of all in better-off countries, express.co.uk reports.The findings showed that youngsters who enjoy a healthy diet rich in fruit, fish and vegetables have the lowest risk to get affected by the disease.

When compared between rich and poor countries, it was found that a diet high in fish protected children against wheeze in well-off countries, while a diet rich in cooked vegetables guarded youngsters in poor countries.

Elaine Vickers, of Asthma UK has advised children to "eat a healthy, balanced diet and get plenty of exercise".

Mothers who smoke not only damage their children during pregnancy but can also negatively affect their development in the breast-feeding phase.Nicotine and other dangerous substances contained in tobacco enter breast milk and then the child's system, according to a new report from the German Cancer Research Centre.

The report says that the babies of mothers who smoke absorb about seven micrograms of nicotine per kilogram of body weight a day. That is the equivalent absorption rate of an adult who smokes one cigarette a day with a nicotine content level of 0.7 milligrams.

Nicotine can also get into the breast milk of non-smoking mothers if they live with a smoker.
It has been observed that if a mother smokes heavily during breast-feeding, her baby may appear restless, may vomit, can suffer from colic and weigh too little, according to the report.

It may also affect the child's sleep pattern.Smoking can also negatively affect the level of breast milk produced by the mother and lead to poor breast-feeding habits.

Postmenopausal and pregnant women, transplant recipients, patients with bulimia (an eating disorder) and individuals on dialysis face the highest risk of developing the calcium-alkali syndrome.

The incidence of the calcium-alkali or the milk-alkali syndrome is growing in large parts, because of widespread use of over-the-counter calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Study authors Stanley Goldfarb and Ami Patel from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (UPSM) recommend changing milk-alkali syndrome's name to calcium-alkali syndrome because it is now associated with a large calcium intake, not just milk.

The syndrome arose in the early 1900s when patients ingested abundant amounts of milk and (alkaline) antacids to control their ulcers.This practice increased individual risk of developing dangerously high levels of calcium in the blood, which could cause high blood pressure and even kidney failure.

The obvious preventive strategy against the calcium-alkali syndrome is to limit the intake of calcium to no more than 1.2 to 1.5 grams per day, the study co-authors said.