Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based interventions on physiological and psychological complications in adults with diabetes: A systematic review.

This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based interventions in reducing diabetes-related physiological and psychological symptoms in adults with types 1 and 2 diabetes. Five databases were systematically searched. A total of 11 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Mindfulness-based intervention effectiveness for physiological outcomes (glycaemic control and blood pressure) was mixed. Mindfulness-based interventions appear to have psychological benefits reducing depression, anxiety and distress symptoms across several studies. Studies' short-term follow-up periods may not allow sufficient time to observe physiological changes or illustrate Mindfulness-based interventions' potential long-term efficacy. More long-term studies that include a consistent, standardised set of outcome measures are required.

Does the muscle protein synthetic response to exercise and amino acid-based nutrition diminish with advancing age? A systematic review.

The precise role of age-related muscle anabolic resistance in the progression of sarcopenia and functional decline in older individuals is unclear. The present aim was to assess whether the muscle protein synthesis (MPS) response to acute exercise (endurance or resistance) and/or amino acid-based nutrition is attenuated in older compared with young individuals. A systematic review was conducted on studies that directly examined the influence of age on the MPS response to exercise and/or amino acid-based nutrition. Each study arm was synthesized and reported as providing sufficient or insufficient "evidence of age-related muscle anabolic resistance". Subsequently, three models were established to compare age-related differences in the MPS response to 1) exercise alone, 2) amino acid-based nutrition alone, or 3) the combination of exercise and amino acid-based nutrition. Following exercise alone, 8 of the 17 study arms provided sufficient evidence of age-related muscle anabolic resistance, while in response to amino acid-based nutrition alone, 8 of the 21 study arms provided sufficient evidence of age-related muscle anabolic resistance. When exercise and amino acid-based nutrition were combined, only 2 of the 10 study arms provided sufficient evidence of age-related muscle anabolic resistance. Our results highlight that optimization of exercise and amino acid-based nutrition is sufficient to induce a comparable MPS response between young and older individuals. However, the exercise volume completed and/or the amino acid/protein dose and leucine content must exceed a certain threshold to stimulate equivalent MPS rates in young and older adults, below which age-related muscle anabolic resistance may become apparent.

Food or medicine? The food-medicine interface in households in Sylhet.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Bangladesh has a rich traditional plant-medicine use, drawing on Ayurveda and Unami medicine. How these practices translate into people׳s homes and lives vary. Furthermore, the overlap between food and medicine is blurred and context-specific. This paper explores the food-medicine interface as experienced by Bengali women in their homes, in the context of transnational and generational changes. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim is to explore the overlap of food and medicines in homes of Bengali women in Sylhet. The objectives are to explore the influences on medicinal plant practice and to scrutinise how catagories of food and medicine are decided. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The paper draws on in-depth ethnographic research conducted in Sylhet, North-east Bangladesh as part of a wider project looking at food and medicine use among Bengali women in both the UK and Bangladesh. Methods included participant observation, unstructured interviews and semi-structured interviews with a total of thirty women. RESULTS: The study indicates that the use of plants as food and medicine is common among Bengali women in Sylhet. What is consumed as a food and/or a medicine varies between individuals, generations and families. The use and perceptions of food-medicines is also dependent on multiple factors such as age, education and availability of both plants and biomedicine. Where a plant may fall on the food-medicine spectrum depends on a range of factors including its purpose, consistency and taste. CONCLUSIONS: Previous academic research has concentrated on the nutritional and pharmacological properties of culturally constructed food-medicines (Etkin and Ross, 1982; Owen and Johns, 2002, Pieroni and Quave, 2006). However, our findings indicate a contextualisation of the food-plant spectrum based on both local beliefs and wider structural factors, and thus not necessarily characteristics intrinsic to the products׳ pharmacological or nutritional properties. The implications of this research are of both academic relevance and practical importance to informing health services.

Food, home and health: the meanings of food amongst Bengali Women in London.

BACKGROUND: This paper explores the nature of food and plants and their meanings in a British Bengali urban context. It focuses on the nature of plants and food in terms of their role in home making, transnational connections, generational change and concepts of health. METHODS: An ethnographic approach to the research was taken, specific methods included participant observation, focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. Thirty women of Bengali origin were mostly composed of "mother" and "daughter" pairs. The mothers were over 45 years old and had migrated from Bangladesh as adults and their grown-up daughters grew up in the UK. RESULTS: Food and plants play an important role in the construction of home "here" (London) while continuing to connect people to home "there" (Sylhet). This role, however, changes and is re-defined across generations. Looking at perceptions of "healthy" and "unhealthy" food, particularly in the context of Bengali food, multiple views of what constitutes "healthy" food exist. However, there appeared to be little two-way dialogue about this concept between the research participants and health professionals. This seems to be based on "cultural" and power differences that need to be addressed for a meaningful dialogue to occur. CONCLUSION: In summary, this paper argues that while food is critical to the familial spaces of home (both locally and globally), it is defined by a complex interplay of actors and wider meanings as illustrated by concepts of health and what constitutes Bengali food. Therefore, we call for greater dialogue between health professionals and those they interact with, to allow for an enhanced appreciation of the dynamic nature of food and plants and the diverse perceptions of the role that they play in promoting health.

Sharing a vision of hope for diabetes care and prevention among American Indian and Alaska Native communities: the National Diabetes Prevention Center.

The National Diabetes Prevention Center (NDPC) is an emerging model for public health practice and partnership. It is rooted in a "promising practices" framework, one that looks at what works for community diabetes prevention, care, and treatment practices. Working with national and local partners to explore new approaches to diabetes prevention invites us to move beyond traditional models of community public health partnerships. Traditional community partnership models emphasized the technical assistance in research, surveillance, and program development that can be provided by partners from outside the community. While not diminishing the importance of these activities, the NDPC seeks to provide an environment for meaningful language and discourse that adequately honors the innovative and culturally rich approaches to diabetes prevention already being developed within many American Indian and Alaska Native communities, which have some of the highest rates of diabetes in the world. The NDPC strives to provide common ground for the emergent discussions around the power and practice of solid evaluation frameworks, new information technologies, capacity-building philosophies, health systems, and collaborative approaches.