American journal of preventive medicine
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Prediabetes is prevalent and significantly increases lifetime risk of progression to type 2 diabetes. This review summarizes the evidence surrounding metformin use for type 2 diabetes prevention. ⋯ Two decades of evidence support metformin use for diabetes prevention among higher-risk patients. However, metformin is not widely used in real-world practice, and enhancing the translation of this evidence to real-world practice has important implications for patients, providers, and payers.
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The prevalence of diabetes has increased substantially over the past three decades. This study sought to estimate recent trends in the prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults. ⋯ From 1999 to 2016, the prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults increased at a substantial rate. This growth occurred differentially across subgroups, particularly impacting Mexican-American adults, and was driven in large part by population aging and increasing obesity rates.
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This paper reports on the findings and recommendations specific to older adults from the "Tech Summit: Innovative Tools for Assessing Diet and Physical Activity for Health Promotion" forum organized by the North American branch of the International Life Sciences Institute. The summit aimed to investigate current and emerging challenges related to improving energy balance behavior assessment and intervention via technology. ⋯ Although older adults are often perceived as lacking interest in and ability to adopt technologies, recent studies show they are comfortable adopting technology and user uptake is high with proper training and guided facilitation. Finally, the conclusions suggest recommendations for future research, including the need for larger trials with clinical outcomes and more research using end-user design that includes older adults as technology partners who are part of the design process.
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Technological advancements in the past decades have improved dietary intake and physical activity measurements. This report reviews current developments in dietary intake and physical activity assessment in youth. Dietary intake assessment has relied predominantly on self-report or image-based methods to measure key aspects of dietary intake (e.g., food types, portion size, eating occasion), which are prone to notable methodologic (e.g., recall bias) and logistic (e.g., participant and researcher burden) challenges. Although there have been improvements in automatic eating detection, artificial intelligence, and sensor-based technologies, participant input is often needed to verify food categories and portions. Current physical activity assessment methods, including self-report, direct observation, and wearable devices, provide researchers with reliable estimations for energy expenditure and bodily movement. Recent developments in algorithms that incorporate signals from multiple sensors and technology-augmented self-reporting methods have shown preliminary efficacy in measuring specific types of activity patterns and relevant contextual information. However, challenges in detecting resistance (e.g., in resistance training, weight lifting), prolonged physical activity monitoring, and algorithm (non)equivalence remain to be addressed. In summary, although dietary intake assessment methods have yet to achieve the same validity and reliability as physical activity measurement, recent developments in wearable technologies in both arenas have the potential to improve current assessment methods. ⋯ This article is part of a theme issue entitled Innovative Tools for Assessing Diet and Physical Activity for Health Promotion, which is sponsored by the North American branch of the International Life Sciences Institute.
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are promoted as a less risky alternative to conventional cigarettes and have grown in popularity. Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that they could increase the risk of myocardial infarction. ⋯ Daily e-cigarette use, adjusted for smoking conventional cigarettes as well as other risk factors, is associated with increased risk of myocardial infarction.