Filed under: Type 2, Research

Does your too-demanding boss have you ready to blow? Or are your co-workers, who dump “team” projects on you, driving you crazy? It’s not only annoying, it might be bad for your health.

A British study published in the December issue of diabetes Care, shows that women who experience high levels of job stress and little work-related social support appear to be at an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and other lifestyle choices.

During the study, which lasted nearly 12 years, the research team assessed job-related stressors of 5,895 initially diabetes-free British civil servants.

There was no link between job stressors and diabetes risk in men. In women, 10 percent of all type 2 diabetes cases would have been prevented had the women had more control over their work and less stringent demands placed on them. Social support would have helped the women in the work environment, too.

Most medical professionals agree: People need to find ways to reduce stress in their lives and view it as a health risk factor similar to obesity, low physical activity, and poor diet.

Check out AOL Health for information about prediabetes and ways to prevent diabetes.

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Filed under: Research

Coffee drinkers, get excited.

Your morning joe might be good for your health. In a study released last month, an international team of researchers showed that people can drink coffee and tea to dramatically lower their risk for Type II diabetes.

Adults who drank three to four cups a day had a 25 percent lower risk of developing diabetes than those who drank little or no tea or coffee. The researchers aren’t sure what effect caffeine has on the diabetes, but believe that a combination of magnesium, caffeine, lignans and chlorogenic acids contribute to the beverages’ ability to lower diabetes risk. Coffee has also been shown to be a major source of antioxidants, which prevent damage to cells, in the U.S. diet.

Check out AOL Health to find ways to manage diabetes.

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Filed under: Research

If you’re thinking about skipping your regular visit to your dentist, think again.

A New York University nursing-dental research team has discovered that those who have periodontal (gum) disease are also at high risk for diabetes. The same researchers concluded that dentists should consider offering diabetes screenings in their offices.

Using guidelines established by the American Diabetes Association, the team determined that 93 percent of subjects who had periodontal disease were considered high risk for diabetes and should be screened for the disease.

Dentists won’t hand out diabetes diagnoses; but, researchers are encouraging dentists to screen patients for diabetes by evaluating other risk factors: obesity, belonging to a high-risk ethnic group, having high blood pressure, having a relative with the disease or having given birth to a baby weighing more than nine pounds. Dentists could also use a glucometer – a tool that measures blood glucose – to analyze blood samples.

At the end of the diabetes evaluation, a dentist might recommend that the patient see a doctor for a true diabetes screening.

Visit AOL Health to learn more about diagnosing diabetes.

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Almost 24 million people in the United States have diabetes according to the American Diabetes Association. Think you’re not at risk? Think again.

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease, can be caused by genes, viruses or foods. Type 2 diabetes is more likely to be linked to age, medications, poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Gestational diabetes, which usually occurs around weeks 24-28 of pregnancy, has been linked to the hormones produced by the placenta that hinder the action of the mother’s insulin.

Even if you’re convinced you’re safe, check out these shocking risk factors.

• Breast size: If you’re a size D or larger at age 20, you may be up to five times more likely to develop diabetes than your flat-chested friends.
• Birth month: If you’re a spring baby, you’re more likely to develop type 1 diabetes in the U.S., according to a CDC study.
• Slow-healing cuts: If your cuts stick around longer, it could be a symptom of type 2 diabetes. That’s because your blood vessels are a little thinner than they should be while the vessel walls are a little thicker. That means your blood system can’t carry infection-fighting white blood cells to the site of the cut, which delays healing time.
• Tooth Loss: If you have periodontal disease or tooth loss, your likelihood for diabetes increases 14 to 29 percent.

Your doctor can provide more information about whether you’re at risk for diabetes or you can visit AOL Health to test your risk.

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Filed under: Diet, Lifestyle, Exercise

Diabetes can be unpredictable. Your blood-sugar can drop too low fairly quickly and the long-term consequences of diabetes aren’t pretty. Still, with good self-management, you can minimize your chances of developing complications. To stay healthy and avoid the complications that can arise over time, it is important to follow some basic health guidelines. Like anyone else, you should eat a healthy diet, exercise and visit your doctor regularly. Check out AOL Health for other self-management tips.

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Filed under: Complications

In the holiday season’s hustle and bustle, it’s easy to forget to take care of your health. Low blood sugar isn’t uncommon. Ignoring it, however, can lead to trouble. Make sure that you pay attention to your body and the warning signs that you might have low blood sugar like dizziness when standing.

Also, remember to carry a medical identification card and wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace at all times. Make sure your friends, family members and co-workers know what to do in an emergency.

Severe hypoglycemia, ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar coma are among the most common diabetic emergencies. Check out AOL Health’s guide to diabetic emergencies.

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When Maine Republican Olympia Snowe backed aspects of health care reform early last fall, CBS’s Nancy Cordes cheered the "rebel Republican." Now that Snowe is sounding a tougher, more skeptical tone on the legislation, how will journalists treat the moderate Senator?

Appearing on Thursday’s edition of On the Record, host Greta Van Susteren asked Snowe if health care was dead. She bluntly replied, "I think that this particular legislation. I think its going to be very difficult to reach an agreement even within, I think, the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate to accept this legislation one way or the other."

Snowe scoffed at President Obama’s suggestion, made during the State of the Union address on Tuesday, that he was open to new ideas about health care. She told the Fox News host: "Well, you know, it is interesting that he posed that question, because I had given, you know, a number of ideas in the direction that health care should take, and unfortunately those ideas weren’t incorporated." She added that the legislation had gone in a "radically different direction" since she voted for it in Senate Finance Committee.

Snowe appeared on Friday’s Andrea Mitchell Report to to discuss the same subject with the host. Mitchell wondered where things "went off track" and asked if the White House was "reaching out" to her.

Back in February, CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier favorably compared Snowe to another Maine Senator, Margaret Chase Smith, known for being "the first Senator to stand up to McCarthyism." It will be interesting to see how other journalists and news shows cover Snowe now that she’s less sympathetic to Democratic health care legislation.

A partial transcript of the January 28 On the Record segment, which aired at 10:35pm EST, follows:

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN: Everyone sure wants her vote. Republican Senator Olympia Snowe is known for being moderate. Does she think the Democrats want to work with Republicans? We went to Capitol Hill and Senator Snowe went "On the Record." Senator, nice to see you.

SEN. OLYMPIA SNOWE, R – MAINE: Nice to see you, Greta, thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: And I’m glad you the clothing memo today.

SNOWE: Exactly.

VAN SUSTEREN: What good fortune for me. Anyway, last night, big speech, president’s State of the Union. And he said this, "But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know." One of the criticisms the Democrats have had of Republicans you have no ideas and you are not helping. Republicans say we are cut out of the deal. What is it?

SNOWE: Well, you know, it is interesting that he posed that question, because I had given, you know, a number of ideas in the direction that health care should take, and unfortunately those ideas weren’t incorporated. In fact, it went into a radically different direction since the time I voted for the package in the finance committee. At that point hit considerable concerns, but I thought it deserved continuing the process and seeing what we could do to build the bridges and build the consensus.

VAN SUSTEREN: There seemed to be a couple issues and a couple layers in health care. One is the substance of it, but the second part is whether or not Republicans are included in the discussion or not? I talked to Democrats and they say Republicans are obstructionists. I talk to Republicans and they say they won’t even include us. You have been in a unique position for a little while in December where you seemed to be able to talk to Democrats. Are the Republicans included in this discussion or not?

SNOWE: They haven’t been. They might have been obviously earlier on in the process. There might have been conversations obviously with the White House and in the leadership. Those initial conversations might have taken place whether or not health care would be on the agenda. I don’t know. But I do know there were several Republican who were in the Finance Committee that were working in the group of six with Chairman Baucus, and to his credit he tried to build bipartisanship at that point. Unfortunately, the issue continued to be driven by artificial deadlines. I said from the outset, forget the deadlines. Let’s just discuss how we can build strong support for the right policy in crafting health care. Health care is a complex issue and not to mention costly. We had to get it right, there are so many facets to it. But unfortunately, they were really obsessed by arbitrary timetables that did not fit the complexity of the issue and the scale of it.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why were the Democrats so concerned about the timetables?

SNOWE: It’s all inside the beltway conventional wisdom. You can only do it one year, the first year of the two years because the second year, this year, is obviously an election year. And I pointed out to the Democrats and the President you don’t have to abide by the time table. We’re all in this working on it together. Get it right. I don’t know what possessed them to think that you could accomplish such a major initiative under a very shortened timetable. We were criticized in the Finance Committee during the summer we were taking too long. I said it’s obvious people aren’t familiar with health care. We were doing it the right way. We weren’t concentrating on politics. We were concentrating on policy. And so we would ask question after question to get answers, really trying to examine each facet and each issue. And the more we unraveled, you know, the various layers of health care, we learned how complex it was, and it took more time. Those are the types of questions that should be asked by every member of the United States Senate. That wasn’t happening. So people understood that rightfully. The American people figured it out. It is one thing for them- my constituent said to me, it is one thing for us not to fully understand everything in legislation, but we truly expect our elected officials to do that. And they knew that the Senate was not fully understanding the complexities in and the scope of the legislation.

At the top of Friday’s Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC, the show announcer teased a story on President Obama speaking a meeting of House Republicans in Baltimore: “What will Republicans do with President Obama’s olive branch? He’s reaching out to the GOP yet again, despite a year of push backs and criticisms. Is he being naive or crazy like a fox?”  

Moments later, host Dylan Ratigan made a biblical reference to explain Obama’s supposedly gracious gesture: “We begin today with a biblical story of Noah and the floods….he sent a dove….To look for dry land after a great flood had wiped out the Earth. The dove returned with an olive branch.” Ratigan then observed: “the President tried the same approach. Especially…with the Republicans.”

After playing a clip of the President calling for bipartisanship in the State of the Union speech, Ratigan argued: “So if the President thought that meant Republicans would start jumping onboard his boat? He thought wrong. They’ve taken his olive branch and are now using it to hit back against his agenda.”

Ratigan went to complain that the congressional GOP “Yesterday alone…voted no on two Obama proposals.” For not rubber stamping proposals such as raising the debt ceiling to accommodate out-of-control spending, Ratigan concluded that Republicans: “often vote no for no reason other than voting no.”

Here is a full transcript of the segment:

4:00PM TEASE:

BARACK OBAMA: You know what they say, keep your friends close, but visit the Republican caucus every few months.

ANNOUNCER: In America today, what will Republicans do with President Obama’s olive branch? He’s reaching out to the GOP yet again, despite a year of push backs and criticisms. Is he being naive or crazy like a fox? And what will it do for the gridlock in Washington?

4:00PM SEGMENT:

DYLAN RATIGAN: We begin today with a biblical story of Noah and the floods. Yes, I’m not kidding. How it relates to what is happening in America today. As the Noah story goes, he sent a dove, you see the dove there? To look for dry land after a great flood had wiped out the Earth. The dove returned with an olive branch, like the one I have in my hand, or the lovely one you see depicted on the screen. A sign of reconciliation, a gesture of goodwill, a symbol for a second chance. During the President’s State of the Union speech the other night, the President tried the same approach. Especially, not only with the Congress, but with the Republicans.

BARACK OBAMA: We face big and difficult challenges. And what the American people hope, what they deserve, is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences.

RATIGAN: So if the President thought that meant Republicans would start jumping onboard his boat? He thought wrong. They’ve taken his olive branch and are now using it to hit back against his agenda. Yesterday alone Republicans voted no on two Obama proposals. The Senate passing a bill to extend the federal debt ceiling, because effectively at this point they’ve boxed themselves into a corner and have no choice. All the nos coming from the Republicans. On the bill requiring Congress not to pass any legislation that we can’t pay for, so-called PayGo, that, 40 nos. All from the GOP. And Republican leaders already saying no to using billions in bailout money to create tax credits for small businesses. I am not passing judgment on whether they were right or wrong to vote no. But I am making a point that they often vote no for no reason other than voting no. Today the President met with House Republicans at their conference in their house in Baltimore, and delivered a firm and compelling message. Our future, he says, should not be shaped by what is best for your party’s politics, whether you are a lefty or a righty. Our politics should be shaped by what is the best policy for America.

OBAMA: And I don’t believe that the American people want us to focus on our job security. They want us to focus on their job security. They didn’t send us to Washington to fight each other in some sort of political steel cage match to see who comes out alive.

RATIGAN: Back to Noah and the great flood. The goal was to wipe sin and wickedness off the Earth. Or so God proclaimed with the flood. Well, in 2010, it won’t be God. A similar movement is taking shape in this country. Either politicians will change their ways and start working for the people and show us a process that proves that fact, transparent, back-room deals gone, earmarks disclosed, voice votes see you later, or the American people will go to the polls and wipe all of these politicians out of Washington and replace them with people that will take our country into the 21st century.

The government’s traditionally enforced safety standards on automobiles sold in the United States. But the government didn’t always own a car company. So you’d expect the media to take a hard look when the government’s roles as regulator and competitor converge.

But unless you saw the Jan. 28 broadcast of CNBC’s "Power Lunch," you might not realize that this is exactly what has happened. In an interview with CNBC "Power Lunch" co-host Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., was asked about the Toyota recall, which involves 2.3 million vehicles since a Toyota manufacturing facility had recently located in Alabama.

"We’ve got a fabulous Toyota engine plant in Alabama," Sessions replied. "They’ve been doing very well. It seems that they’ve recognized they’re going to fix this problem and it’s going to take some effort."

However, as Caruso-Cabrera pointed out, it was the Obama administration’s Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood who determined that Toyota had to recall these vehicles over reports of sticky acceleration pedals.

"Ray LaHood is on the record saying that he told them they had to do this," Caruso-Cabrera said. "They had to stop selling. Are you looking into whether or not that was absolutely necessary? Are you convinced this was necessary?"

Sessions expressed his concern over that possibility and noted the amount of money the federal government had recently pumped into GMAC, the auto financing arm of General Motors.

"Well, you know – we were in until late last night and I hadn’t heard that," Sessions said. "I worry about those kind of things. I worry about Ford working hard and having to compete against the federal government. With an unlimited – they just gave $3 billion more to GMAC. The President’s got to be careful here. He can not be playing politics and union politics or regional politics with the economy of this country."

Since Toyota (NYSE:TM) announced the recall, the shares of the auto manufacturer have dropped more than 15 percent in the last seven trading sessions, down $2.10 on Jan. 28 after a $7.01 slide the day before.

On the first evening newscasts after President Obama’s State of the Union address, NBC’s Savannah Guthrie won hands down if there were an award for stenography to White House power. Guthrie loaded up with five Obama soundbites and one from Nancy Pelosi, leaving Republicans at the end with with one soundbite from House Minority Leader John Boehner.

On ABC, Jake Tapper offered two Obama bites and four of Republicans: two applauding Obama’s bipartisan tilt (Eric Cantor, Lindsey Graham) and two expressing skepticism (John Boehner, Jon Kyl).

CBS had two reports with a total four Democrat soundbites (three Obama, one Richard Durbin) and five Republican soundbites (two from Mike Pence, two from Cantor, one from Boehner).

Guthrie’s 6-to-1 tilt stood out. It was made slightly worse when John Yang’s subsequent report offered a seventh presidential soundbite, followed by two from a very encouraged small businessman.

The transcript itself shows that Guthrie selected soundbites that let Obama sound bold notes against gridlock and set him up to decry "petty politics," as if he’s never engaged in any:

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: The president is following what’s become presidential tradition, taking his State of the Union message on the road. His trip to Tampa today, to promote high-speed rail projects, the first of three trips in the next week, the president looking to reconnect with the people. The president in Tampa today:

BARACK OBAMA: Good to be back in the Sunshine State.

GUTHRIE: Getting out of Washington to campaign against Washington

OBAMA: I don’t want gridlock on issue after issue after issue when there’s so many urgent problems to solve.

Speaker NANCY PELOSI: The president of the United States.

GUTHRIE: Continuing where he left off Wednesday night.

OBAMA: Despite our hardships, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit.

GUTHRIE: The president’s 70-minute State of the Union address laid out jobs as his job one, pushing a package of small business tax breaks and chiding Republicans for sitting on their hands.

OBAMA: I thought I’d get some applause on that one.

GUTHRIE: The president spent less time on his signature issue, health care reform, but made an impassioned plea to fellow Democrats to get it done.

OBAMA: I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber.

GUTHRIE: Today some Democrats criticized the president for not laying out a specific legislative strategy to get health care passed, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it will happen one way or the other.

PELOSI: If the fence is too high, we’ll pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in, but we’re going to get health care reform passed.

GUTHRIE: Down in the polls and battered by a year-long health care effort that has yet to deliver, the president vented against petty politics.

OBAMA: What frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.

GUTHRIE: Today Republicans were skeptical.

Rep. JOHN BOEHNER (House Minority Leader): We’re going to look for a common ground, but we’re not going to roll over on our principles. We’re not going to vote for things that we believe will hurt our country.

GUTHRIE: Well, tomorrow the president, the administration, hoping to get some good economic news. The GDP numbers will be out, and they are hoping here for some good economic growth.

NBC Nightly News was the only one of the three network evening news shows not to single out the whisper of Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito suggesting the president’s attack on the recent court decision on campaign speech was "simply not true." Both ABC’s Terry Moran and CBS’s Jan Crawford Greenburg noted Obama’s remarks were quite rare for a State of the Union speech, and neither explicitly criticized Justice Alito.