Twelve new genes linked with type 2 diabetes have been found in a study into the differences in people's DNA and their risk of having the condition.

A consortium including Edinburgh University scientists have identified "important clues to the biological basis of type 2 diabetes".

It is hoped the findings will lead to better ways of treating the condition.

The genes tend to be involved in working cells producing insulin, which controls levels of glucose in blood.

The 12 new genes brings the total number linked with type 2 diabetes to 38.

The study was led by researchers at Oxford University and forms part of the Wellcome Trust case control consortium.

The group of researchers, from across the UK, Europe, USA and Canada, compared the DNA of more than 8,000 people with type 2 diabetes with almost 40,000 people without the condition.

They then checked the genetic variations they found in another group including over 34,000 people with diabetes and almost 60,000 controls.

Dr Jim Wilson, of Edinburgh University, said: "One very interesting finding is that the diabetes susceptibility genes also contain variants that increase the risk of unrelated diseases, including skin and prostate cancer, coronary heart disease and high cholesterol.

"This implies that different regulation of these genes can lead to many different diseases."

Professor Mark McCarthy of Oxford University, said: "Gradually we are piecing together clues about why some people get diabetes and others don't, with the potential for developing better treatments and preventing onset of diabetes in the future.

"The challenge will be to turn these genetic findings into better ways of treating and preventing the condition."

Starting Saturday, master batsman Sachin Tendulkar will promote a no-drugs campaign for the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). The campaign, mostly targeted at those in the 18-30 age group, will feature the star cricketer advising people to "Think health, not drugs".

NCB zonal director Yashodhan Wanage said, "Tendulkar is a youth icon; he epitomises health and fitness, which is the theme of our campaign. He has agreed to be part of the campaign and accordingly, his posters with anti-drug messages will be put up across the city."

The campaign follows a United Nations resolution that directed anti-drug enforcement agencies across the globe to observe and promote June 26 as the International Day Against Drug Abuse.

Wanage said many cases had shown youngsters were easy targets for psychotropic substances. "The reasons have been different; peer pressure, lifestyle, or bad influence, the cases are on the rise. It is very important to curb the menace of drug addiction at a very young age."

The bureau is the apex coordinating agency, which also functions as an enforcement agency through its field units located across the country. The zonal units collect and analyse data related to seizures of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, study trends, modus operandi, collect and disseminate intelligence and work in close cooperation with the Customs, police and other law enforcement agencies.

Wanage said, "We specifically chose Tendulkar as he is the person whom the world looks up as a role model. We hope youngsters inculcate his qualities of hard work, and commitment in keeping away from drugs and psychotropic substances and lead a happy and peaceful life."

Tendulkar has been off late been associated with various public awareness campaigns like the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Save Water campaign. He was also made honorary group captain of the Indian Air Force.

Top 10 factors which cause stroke were identified and brought to light by a group of researchers by an international medical team. It was confirmed that over 90% of stroke attacks had links to these top 10 factors. Changing ones lifestyle they say can help prevent stroke from occurring. Stroke occurs when the blood flow going to the brain is obstructed or blocked. If diagnosed and treated within 4- 6 hours this disease can be prove less fatal. But when not treated in time it can cause death or permanent immobility of the limps.

This disease is seen hugely in Asian and African countries. The western countries are also fast catching up and the cause is blamed on obesity, smoking and life style changes.

It is said that smokers risk towards stroke is doubled when compared to non-smokers. someone with high BP has 2.6 times more chances of getting stroke than normal people. The study was conducted on 3,000 stroke patients from around 22 countries. This is definitely a break through research as it exposes the uniformity in the patients health and life style conditions which were identified as factors behind stroke.

The research team from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University situated in Hamilton, was head by Salim Yusuf. They took into consideration 2 types of strokes namely, hemorrhagic stroke( caused by rupture in blood vessels) and ischemic stroke(blood clots in brain). Dr. Yusuf says that the cause for stroke largely resemble the causes for heart attack.

some of the countries covered for this research are Argentina, Canada, China, Australia, Brazil,India, Iran, Malaysia, Germany etc.

Pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila said the company has received permission from the drug controller for phase I clinical trial of its anti-diabetic molecule.

Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the clinical trial of molecule Zyogi, a novel Glucagon Like Peptide-1 (GLP -1) agonist, the Ahmedabad-based company said in a statement.

GLP-I agonists are used to treat people with type II diabetes who have not been able to control their blood sugar levels with oral medicines. It is an injectible which acts like the natural hormones in the body that lowers blood sugar.

However, the company said, Zyogi would represent a next generation GLP-1 agents as it could be taken orally. The drug demonstrated beneficial effects in preclinical models on glucose reduction, HbA1c reduction and showed an added benefit of weight loss, it added.

Zydus Cadila Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj R Patel said, 'This novel molecule would address unmet medical needs in treating diabetes and holds promising potential in the anti-diabetic and anti-obesity market'.

The number of diabetics in the world, estimated at 246 million, is expected to increase to 380 million by 2025.

Currently, 41 million, accounting 16.6 per cent of the global diabetic population, live in India and this number is expected to touch 70 million or 18.4 per cent of global diabetic patients, by 2025.

The global anti-diabetic market was estimated at 24 billion dollars in 2008.

The Zydus Research Centre has over 20 discovery programmes on with several candidates in the pre-clinical development stage focused on metabolic, cardiovascular, pain and inflammation therapeutic areas.

UNI

A widely used class of blood pressure drugs may slightly increase the risk of cancer, US researchers said, and they are calling on regulators to take a closer look.

They said an analysis of available data on drugs in the class known as angiotensin-receptor blockers showed patients were 1.2 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with a new cancer over four years than others who did not take the drugs.

Most patients in the trials (86 per cent) took German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim's telmisartan, sold as Micardis.

"The increased risk of new cancer occurrence is modest but significant," Dr Ilke Sipahi and colleagues from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in the journal Lancet Oncology.

There were not enough data in the studies to say if individual drugs in the class raise the risk or if it is a so-called class effect shared by all such drugs.

Even so, Dr Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a commentary the findings were "disturbing and provocative, raising crucial drug safety questions for practitioners and the regulatory community."

He said regulators need to look more closely at the risk of cancer with ARB use and that doctors should be more cautious about prescribing ARBs, and especially Micardis.

Privately held Boehringer Ingelheim defended the safety of its drug, saying in a statement its own "internal safety data analysis of primary data contradicts the conclusions" of an increased cancer risk.

Sipahi and colleagues did a so-called meta-analysis, pooling all publicly available data from randomised trials of ARBs published before November 2009.

Other drugs in the class include Merck & Co's Cozaar, sold generically as losartan; Diovan or valsartan made by Swiss drug firm Novartis; irbesartan, jointly marketed by Sanofi-Aventi and Bristol-Myers Squibb as Avapro; Daiichi Sankyo's Benicar or olmesartan; and Solvay Pharmaceuticals' Teveten or eprosartan.

Overall, they found that patients taking the drugs had 7.2 per cent risk of having a new cancer diagnosis, compared with 6 per cent risk for patients in the control groups.

When they looked at cancer types, only lung cancer stood out, with 0.9 per cent of patients taking blood pressure drugs developing a new lung cancer compared with 0.7 per cent of patients in the control arm.

The drugs did not appear to increase the risk of death from cancer, but the team said cancers can develop slowly and cancer deaths might not show up in the relatively short studies.

Just three out of seven FDA-approved drugs - telmisartan, losartan, and candesartan - were studied, and it is not clear what affect other drugs in the class might have on cancers.

Nevertheless, they said given how widely the drugs are used, the risk is worth further study.

Other experts stressed that patients need to keep taking their blood pressure medications.

"At the moment there isn't enough evidence to draw any firm conclusions about how blood pressure drugs might affect cancer risk and this will need further investigation," Martin Ledwick, head information nurse at Cancer Research UK, said in a statement.