When the sun is out after a long winter, every one loves it. But not the people of Canary Islands. Tourists there are being warned about the "unusually high risk" of UV rays this week. The Ministry of Health for this holiday destination has urged both, residents and visitors to take extra precautions and preventative measures to limit the impact of sun exposure over their body and skin.

The Ministry observed Aemet, Spain's national weather agency for the forecast which showed higher than normal UV or ultraviolet radiation levels in the region. It is in this backdrop that everyone in the region are requested to be extra careful when they are out in the sun. UV levels are set to reach 7, which is a 'high risk' in La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera and Gran Canaria. Other regions like Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are expected to reach a level 6, which is also classed as 'high risk'.

UV Index Explained

As per the World Health Organization (WHO), a UV index is a measure of the level of UV radiation, which ranges from zero upward. The higher the UVI, the greater potential for damage to skin and eye and the less time it takes for harm to occur, notes WHO.

The range 1 to 2 represents a low risk, 2 to 5 is moderate, 6 to 7 is at high risk, 8 to 10 is at very high and anything over 11 is extremely risky for anyone to stay out.

UV radiation levels fluctuate throughout the day, with the highest values occurring during the four-hour period around solar noon. The reported UV Index (UVI) typically reflects this daily peak. Depending on geographic location and the use of daylight saving time, solar noon falls between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. In some countries, sun protection advisories are issued when UV levels are expected to reach 3 or higher, as exposure at these levels increases the risk of skin damage, making protective measures essential.

What happens to you when you are out in sun for too long?

While sun bathing is good, being out in the sun when the UVI indicates a high or very high risk, may cause you health concerns. It can lead to sunburn, premature skin aging, incresed risk of skin cancer, eye damage and in severe cases, heat related disease.

Sunburn

It is one of the most common skin injury which happens when there is excess exposure to UV radiation from the sun. This happens when the UV radiation directly damages the DNA skin cells. These damaged cells die and shed, this is why people experience peeling after getting a sunburn.

Dehydration

This is also a common occurrence when your body loses too many fluids or electrolytes. It can also interfere with your normal body functions. You may feel dehydrated, especially when you are out in the sun, but not well hydrated. The most common symptoms are dizziness, fatigue and headache on hot days.

Hyponatremia

This is an electrolyte disorder in which your body experiences low sodium in blood. The symptoms could lead to nausea, confusion and even weakness. There are extreme cases when one may have seizures, slip into coma or die.

Heat Exhaustion

This is one of the most common consequence of being out under the hot sun. Dehydration with prolonged heat exposure can lead to heat exhaustion.

Heatstroke

When you are out under the sun and your body's core temperature cross 104°, heatstroke may occur. This is also known as sunstroke. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it causes more than 600 deaths each year in the United States.

The early signs of type 2 diabetes could be related to your gut. They may signal a warning risk long before you take a blood sugar test.

New research suggests that changes in the trillions of bacteria living in the gut may accurately predict future diabetes risk.

An analysis of microbiome data from more than 229,000 adults in the UK and US identified hundreds of bacterial changes linked with type 2 diabetes, including changes that appeared before measurable abnormalities in blood glucose.

The findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan.

What Did Researchers Find?

Researchers from the University of Trento in Italy and collaborators in the UK analysed metagenomic data, which involves examining the DNA of microorganisms living in the gut.

The study included 229,025 people, of whom 3,627 had type 2 diabetes, 14,022 had prediabetes and 211,376 had normal blood glucose levels. The average age was 50, and about 74% of participants were women.

After accounting for factors including age, sex and body mass index, researchers identified 789 bacterial species associated with type 2 diabetes.

Of these, 168 were found at higher levels in people with diabetes, while 621 were present at lower levels.

One example was Enterocloster bolteae, which was more abundant in people with type 2 diabetes. In contrast, Romboutsia timonensis was found at lower levels.

Interestingly, 587 of the 789 bacterial species were also associated with unmedicated prediabetes, suggesting that some of these microbial changes may occur before diabetes is diagnosed.

Also read: Diabetes Linked To 55% Risk Of Kidney Disease, Heart Failure Or Death Within 10 Years: Study

Link Between Gut & Blood Sugar

The researchers looked at 135,093 people who had normal blood glucose and did not have diabetes or prediabetes. They also had information about how their blood sugar responded after eating.

Normally, blood glucose rises after a meal and then falls. If it remains elevated for longer than expected, it can indicate that the body's muscles are not responding properly to insulin, an early feature of insulin resistance.

Researchers found that people whose blood sugar remained elevated for longer were more likely to have the gut bacterial pattern linked with type 2 diabetes. The microbiome changes became more pronounced as insulin resistance increased.

Therefore, it was observed that the gut microbiome carried clues about metabolic problems even when standard blood glucose levels were still normal.

Also read: Muscle Loss In Middle Age May Signal Dementia Risk, Study Finds

Future Of Diabetes Testing

Currently, diabetes and prediabetes are diagnosed using tests like HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests.

For people who have normal results, doctors generally assess future diabetes risk using factors like age, sex, body mass index and family history. A gut microbiome test is not currently part of routine diabetes screening.

The researchers believe microbiome analysis could eventually provide an additional layer of risk assessment, identifying people who could benefit from earlier lifestyle interventions.

Professor Tim Spector, one of the study's authors, Scientific Co-Founder, ZOE, said, “These latest findings represent a major step forward in understanding how our gut microbiome is linked directly with metabolic disease. Identifying these clear microbial changes before blood sugar levels worsen could lead to earlier intervention with food and lifestyle choices, as well as treatment options, to prevent T2D."

The researchers say that microbiome analysis should not replace existing tests for diabetes or prediabetes. The current findings show associations between particular bacterial patterns and diabetes risk.

The researchers also found that some of the bacteria making up the diabetes-related signature have never been isolated or cultivated in a laboratory and are new in terms of scientific investigation.

Additional research will be needed to assess whether these microbial changes can reliably predict who will develop diabetes and whether changing the microbiome can actually reduce that risk.

A Type 2 diabetes diagnosis increases the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) or heart failure (HF), or dying, by 55% within 10 years, according to analysis of data from more than 1.6 million patients across the US.

Within the first five years of a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis, the study found that the combined risk of developing CKD or heart failure, or dying, was 33% on average. By year 10, that combined risk rises to 55%.

Key Findings

The study shows within five years of a first diabetes diagnosis, the risk of developing CKD first was more than twice that of developing heart failure first (19.0% vs. 8.3%).

However, among people who developed heart failure first, there was a 42% risk of developing CKD within the following five years.

Conversely, among those who developed CKD first, there was a 23% risk of developing heart failure within the following five years.

"Our findings clearly show how the serious complications associated with type 2 diabetes rise sharply over time as the common combination of obesity, abnormal blood fats, high blood pressure and higher blood sugar damages blood vessels and vital organs," said Professor Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, UK.

Why The Findings Matter

Type 2 diabetes is projected to become the world's most prevalent epidemic disease, affecting an estimated 1.3 billion people by 2050.

It frequently occurs alongside obesity, high blood pressure, heart failure, CKD and depression, contributing substantially to the global burden of multi-morbidity.

The researchers say the findings highlight the importance of early, proactive and holistic management of Type 2 diabetes to help reduce the risk of serious complications.

"Our results emphasize the critical importance of detecting and treating type 2 diabetes thoroughly at the earliest opportunity to help reduce the risk of serious complications," Sattar added.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The team included 1,617,508 patients newly diagnosed with diabetes between January 1, 2010, and March 31, 2024, from across the US.

The average age of participants at enrollment was 59, and 51% were female. Among the 13% of patients who had a body mass index (BMI) recorded, the median was 30.9 kg/m².

Almost three-quarters (72%) of participants were living with dyslipidemia, or high levels of cholesterol and other fats in the blood, while more than two-thirds (68%) had high blood pressure.

How Are Diabetes, Kidney Disease And Heart Failure Linked?

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that diabetes, CKD and heart disease are interconnected.

High blood sugar can gradually damage the kidneys, reducing their ability to filter blood and potentially leading to CKD. When kidney function declines, it can also put additional stress on the heart.

Common Risk Factors

Risk factors that can overlap across diabetes, CKD and heart disease include:

• High blood sugar
• High blood pressure
• Family history
• Obesity
• Unhealthy diet
• Physical inactivity

Tips To Prevent

The CDC recommends lifestyle measures that can help reduce the risk of these conditions and their complications:

• Get active
• Choose healthy foods and drinks
• Quit smoking

A widely used supplement for joint health has been linked to a faster Alzheimer's progression, raising questions about whether glucosamine could turn mild cognitive impairment into dementia.

The study, published in Nature Metabolism, combined an analysis of health records of experiments involving human brain tissue and genetically modified mice. It showed that the supplement affected the brain in people already showing early signs of cognitive decline.

The findings, however, do not prove that glucosamine increases the progression of Alzheimer’s disease faster in humans.

What Is Glucosamine?

Glucosamine is a sugar-related compound widely sold as an over-the-counter supplement for joint discomfort and joint health. It is also found naturally in cartilage. It is used by older adults, the same age group in which cognitive impairment and dementia become more common.

Researchers at the University of Florida analysed health records collected between 2012 and 2024 to investigate whether glucosamine use was linked with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

"In the United States, there are about 7 million people living with Alzheimer's and millions more with related dementias such as Lewy body or frontotemporal dementia," said senior author Ramon Sun, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research and associate director for innovation of UF's McKnight Brain Institute. "A lot of these people actively take an over-the-counter supplement that could be making their disease progression worse."

Also read: Muscle Loss In Middle Age May Signal Dementia Risk, Study Finds

What Were The Study's Findings?

About 8% of patients in both groups were using glucosamine supplement. This included 2,750 people with mild cognitive impairment and 1,896 people who already had Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia.

After accounting for age, sex and demographic factors, researchers found that people with mild cognitive impairment who used glucosamine had a 25% higher likelihood of progressing to dementia compared with those without documented use.

Among people who already had Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, glucosamine use was also associated with a 25% higher risk of death during the study period. However, these were findings were based on collective health records, not a controlled clinical trial.

“The electronic health record data are very provocative,” said Matt Gentry, Ph.D., a study co-author. “While it's an association and not proof of causality, it does raise an important clinical question that now deserves much more attention.”

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Glucosamine's Effects On Brain

The researchers identified a possible biological explanation involving a process called glycosylation. In simple terms, glycosylation involves attaching sugar structures to proteins. This is a normal process that helps proteins fold correctly, move around cells and perform their functions.

But the researchers found evidence that this process becomes excessively active in Alzheimer's disease. Their analysis suggested that glucosamine may intensify this abnormal “sugar-tagging” process in the brain.

The researchers tested the idea in genetically modified mice. Glucosamine increased the attachment of sugar molecules to proteins inside brain cells. The subjected mice's ability to recognise familiar animals also worsened.

When researchers used a chemical treatment to suppress the sugar-attachment process, the mice showed improved memory performance.

This does not prove the same mechanism occurs in humans, but it gave researchers a possible biological explanation for the association seen in the health records.

The researchers also examined brain tissue from people who had Alzheimer's disease. They found significantly more sugar attachment to proteins in Alzheimer's brain tissue compared to tissue from people without the disease. Taken together, the health-record analysis, mouse experiments and human brain-tissue findings point toward a connection between altered metabolism and Alzheimer's progression.

Despite the observation, a controlled clinical trial is needed to determine whether glucosamine itself accelerates Alzheimer's progression and whether certain patients are vulnerable.