Researchers are looking for patients who have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to take part in a study to investigate the beneficial effects of walking exercise. Volunteers from Swansea and South-West Wales will be asked to take part in a preliminary walking test, before beginning an eight- week supervised walking training programme. They will be re-assessed and the results of responses of several metabolites and hormones will be analysed.The Swansea University team’s research aims to promote drug-free solutions, such as exercise, as a means of controlling blood sugar levels.

Dr Richard Bracken, a lecturer in exercise physiology, who will lead the study, said, “The results will help provide a firm understanding of the positive health responses to walking exercise.”

If you are interested in taking part in the study, contact Dr Bracken on 01792 513 059, or email r.m.bracken@swansea.ac.uk.

A major conference will examine the history of how the nursing profession has improved public health.

Until the mid-1800s, attending to the needs of the sick was often left to those who were, in the words of Florence Nightingale, “Too old, too weak, too drunken, too dirty, too stupid, or too bad to do anything else.”

The Swansea University conference - Nursing, Public Health and Welfare - will be held on Tuesday and has been jointly organised by the Royal College of Nursing and Swansea University’s School of Health Science.

It will discuss research into major themes in the study of the history of nursing, including the impact of district nurses on health in South Wales. Speakers include former Glyncorrwg GP and champion of the Socialist Health Association, Dr Julian Tudor-Hart, nursing historian Professor Christopher Maggs, and the author and professor of healthcare and medical humanities Anne Borsay.

(c) 2007 Western Mail. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: Foot.com
Publication date: 2007-12-04

The number of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes is increasing every year, reaching epidemic proportions in some countries, with the greatest increase in children under age 5. When type 1 diabetes strikes, its lifelong sentence of injections and health complications can be devastating to the patient, or to the family of a young patient. But what about when it hits three children in the same family? And a fourth child shows early warning signs of a likelihood he too may develop the disease? The Gould Family of Nashville, Tennessee is living this nightmare, and yet they are remaining positive and hoping their involvement in research will help save lives and possibly even find a cure for type 1 diabetes.