Vitamin-D supplements help diabetic women

Women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with insulin resistance showed marked improvement after taking vitamin D supplements, says

a study.

Von Hurst, nutrition lecturer at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany, conducted the study for her doctoral thesis.

Insulin resistance is largely symptom-free and sufferers are unaware of their condition. "Once it has fully developed into type-2 diabetes, it can be treated, but not cured," says Von Hurst.

Von Hurst says that while diet and exercise play a major part in the onset of type-2 diabetes, her findings reinforce the importance of vitamin D from the sun and supplements to prevent type-2 diabetes. She also found evidence of vitamin D increasing bone strength in older women.

Initial screening of 235 New Zealand-based women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka aged 20 and older revealed that 47 percent were insulin deficient and 84 percent were vitamin D deficient.

The 81 recruited for the study were split into two groups for a randomised controlled trial and given a vitamin D supplement or placebo.

As well as an improvement in insulin resistance among those who took vitamin D for six months, Von Hurst says that post-menopausal women in the study also showed a reduced rate of bone breakdown.

Von Hurst undertook the study because South Asian women are known to have a higher predisposition to developing health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Bajaj Auto to launch 'Baby' Pulsar

Definitely Male. That was the tag line that took the biking nation by storm and unleashed a new breed of motorcycles in India from the Bajaj stable. It was a turn around story for Bajaj to switch from scooters to motorcycles and it was an enthusiast's mind that lead the company to target the performance/leisure bike segment rather than the commuter class.

A brand was born and today the Pulsar name is synonymous with speed, sport and riding thrill. The first Pulsar was a 150cc machine that immediately took on the CBZ from Hero Honda. Bajaj pursued this line of thought and over the years the company has introduced a number of variants on the Pulsar brand which include a 180cc model, 200cc model and the recently launched 220cc, which incidentally is the fastest Indian motorcycle present in the country.

Contrary to pushing up the ladder, Bajaj is now looking at a whole new segment yet again! The company will roll out a 'baby' Pulsar on December 9th, and with D-Day not too far away, the biking community is already buzzing with action wondering just what this new bike is.

As far as the bike is concerned, we too are waiting for the wraps to come off, however what we do know is that this new bike is going to sport a sub 150cc engine, yet retain elements of sportiness, style and performance. Downsizing might be a mantra in the market right now, but I wouldn't write off this bike just because its going to come with a smaller engine for it totally depends on the state of tuning that the bike sports which will eventually determine its performance capabilities. One can expect the design and styling to be spot on with the necessary oomph factor that the Pulsar brand offers. The new bike is also a big step towards democratizing the thrill of performance biking and making it easier for someone to step up onto the leisure biking bandwagon.

On a corporate level, Bajaj is looking at crossing the 1 million bike mark post the launch of this new model.

It's almost December and we won't have to wait much longer to figure out what this new bike packs. Stay tuned