̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - European Union Seventh Framework Programme

Red and processed meat consumption associated with higher type 2 diabetes risk

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 22:30:56 +0000

̽��ֱ��findings are published today in ̽��ֱ��Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Global meat production has increased rapidly in recent decades and meat consumption exceeds dietary guidelines in many countries. Earlier research indicated that higher intakes of processed meat and unprocessed red meat are associated with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes, but the results have been variable and not conclusive.

Poultry such as chicken, turkey, or duck is often considered to be an alternative to processed meat or unprocessed red meat, but fewer studies have examined the association between poultry consumption and type 2 diabetes.

To determine the association between consumption of processed meat, unprocessed red meat and poultry and type 2 diabetes, a team led by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge used the global InterConnect project to analyse data from 31 study cohorts in 20 countries. Their extensive analysis took into account factors such as age, gender, health-related behaviours, energy intake and body mass index.

̽��ֱ��researchers found that the habitual consumption of 50 grams of processed meat a day - equivalent to 2 slices of ham - is associated with a 15% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years. ̽��ֱ��consumption of 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day - equivalent to a small steak - was associated with a 10% higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Habitual consumption of 100 grams of poultry a day was associated with an 8% higher risk, but when further analyses were conducted to test the findings under different scenarios the association for poultry consumption became weaker, whereas the associations with type 2 diabetes for each of processed meat and unprocessed meat persisted.

Professor Nita Forouhi of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, and a senior author on the paper, said: “Our research provides the most comprehensive evidence to date of an association between eating processed meat and unprocessed red meat and a higher future risk of type 2 diabetes. It supports recommendations to limit the consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat to reduce type 2 diabetes cases in the population.

“While our findings provide more comprehensive evidence on the association between poultry consumption and type 2 diabetes than was previously available, the link remains uncertain and needs to be investigated further.”

InterConnect uses an approach that allows researchers to analyse individual participant data from diverse studies, rather than being limited to published results. This enabled the authors to include as many as 31 studies in this analysis, 18 of which had not previously published findings on the link between meat consumption and type 2 diabetes. By including this previously unpublished study data the authors considerably expanded the evidence base and reduced the potential for bias from the exclusion of existing research.

Lead author Dr Chunxiao Li, also of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, said: “Previous meta-analysis involved pooling together of already published results from studies on the link between meat consumption and type 2 diabetes, but our analysis examined data from individual participants in each study. This meant that we could harmonise the key data collected across studies, such as the meat intake information and the development of type 2 diabetes.

“Using harmonised data also meant we could more easily account for different factors, such as lifestyle or health behaviours, that may affect the association between meat consumption and diabetes.”

Professor Nick Wareham, Director of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, and a senior author on the paper said: “InterConnect enables us to study the risk factors for obesity and type 2 diabetes across populations in many different countries and continents around the world, helping to include populations that are under-represented in traditional meta-analyses.

“Most research studies on meat and type 2 diabetes have been conducted in USA and Europe, with some in East Asia. This research included additional studies from the Middle East, Latin America and South Asia, and highlighted the need for investment in research in these regions and in Africa.”

InterConnect was initially funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 602068.

Reference
Li, C et al. Meat consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: a federated meta-analysis of 1·97 million adults with 100,000 incident cases from 31 cohorts in 20 countries. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol.; 20 August 2024

Adapted form a press release from the MRC Epidemiology Unit

Meat consumption, particularly consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat, is associated with a higher type 2 diabetes risk, an analysis of data from almost two million participants has found.

Our research supports recommendations to limit the consumption of processed meat and unprocessed red meat to reduce type 2 diabetes cases in the population

Nita Forouhi

Lauri Patterson

Preparing a Monte Cristo Sandwich, with Black Forest Ham

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Cultural heritage after conflict

bjb42 — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Cultural heritage is frequently damaged or destroyed during periods of war and violence. But this is not always an accidental by-product – in some cases, sites of cultural heritage have been deliberately targeted as a means of inflicting pain and societal trauma. A community’s shared sense of belonging is often rooted in its heritage sites and landscapes, giving such places particular social significance. And the impact on society doesn’t stop with the breaking down, destruction, defaming or neglecting of such sites; it continues post-conflict, through the political and psychological impacts of the decisions made during reconstruction.

̽��ֱ��complexities of the relationship between post-conflict scenarios, heritage and identity are increasingly recognised, but with this recognition has come an awareness of how little we actually understand about its nature. What role does cultural heritage play during post-conflict reconstruction? What is the impact of reclaiming and rebuilding on people’s sense of identity? By investigating these relationships, we might learn more about how heritage can be harnessed to both personal and political agendas. On this basis, research in this area can help to guide crucial decisions by policy makers and regional practitioners regarding the reconstruction of cultural heritage.

CRIC

A four-year interdisciplinary project on Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict (CRIC), now midway through its research programme, aims to shed light on these issues.

Dr Marie Louise Stig Sørensen in the Department of Archaeology leads the €1.2 million project, which is funded through the European Union Seventh Framework Programme and brings together researchers in Spain, France, Sweden, Germany, Cyprus, Bosnia and the UK. Her research interests and those of her team in Cambridge – archaeologist Dr Dacia Viejo Rose and social anthropologist Dr Paola Filippucci – lie in examining the link between heritage, identity and social memory. Collectively, the project is drawing on strengths in archaeology, social anthropology, history, human geography, sociology, political sciences and psychology.

Case by case

Five case studies provide the backbone of CRIC. Each focuses on physical cultural heritage – from landscapes to monuments, churches to bridges – damaged during civil war, ethnic violence and World War. Geographically, the studies cover Spain, Bosnia, France, Cyprus and Germany, and give insight into the recovery of rural landscapes as well as urban centres or whole towns. ̽��ֱ��project covers historical scenarios that range from recent conflicts in Bosnia and Cyprus, to the planting of forest over the First World War battlefield of Verdun in France, with its muted metaphors of covering and healing.

In Bosnia and Cyprus, case studies highlight the importance of comparing processes of destruction and reconstruction. Although both are ethnic conflicts, the fate of cultural heritage within the two areas differs substantially. In Bosnia, heritage is being re-shaped, as exhibitions and monuments are given new interpretations. Different agencies have sponsored the rebuilding of religious buildings and, in the process, have altered the traditional cultural landscape. Denominations of churches have changed, new minarets have been added to mosques – all representing departures from local architectural and cultural history. In Cyprus, on the other hand, differences in the intensity of development on either side of the divided city of Nicosia have resulted in substantial variation in the preservation of traditional buildings. In the north of the city, little has changed; yet in the south, old buildings have either been replaced by modern development or have seen changes in use.

̽��ֱ��case studies also illustrate different types of urban reconstruction projects, with Dresden in Germany exemplifying the faithful, apparently accurate, reconstruction of selected parts of the city centre, bombed during the Second World War, within an otherwise much-modernised city. In Spain, reconstruction of the Basque town of Gernika, bombed in the Spanish Civil War, exemplifies Franco’s architectural vision of the ‘New’ Spain. This vision was based on an idealised version of historic Spain and brought together several architectural forms and elements to be used throughout the country in its reconstruction.

In all, the CRIC project looks back over almost a century of European history. Each study has been designed to track the sequences of historical events that led to the destruction of cultural heritage, to investigate what effect this has had on communities and their sense of identity, and to identify how different perceptions of the event emerge and are affected by the form of the reconstruction. This makes it possible to trace specific examples of reconstruction as they unfold, pinpointing similarities and differences among them.

Memorials and meaning

When efforts are made to reconstruct cultural heritage, a new fabric of meaning and memory can be woven into the result. ̽��ֱ��findings of the research project are helping to identify what factors are important for understanding the impact of reconstruction, including how they can change the way that events are perceived, or can even become yet another means of conflict.

One thread of the research has therefore been the recording and analysis of anniversary events, both archival and current. This has demonstrated how the staging of memorials can manipulate the manner in which past events are remembered and what they are used for. A reconstruction of the sequence of commemoration events that have happened on 13th February, the anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Dresden, include those under the communist regime and following the recent appearance of neo-fascist groups. This reconstruction has shown how, even from very early on, the memorial events involved both those who mourned and those who used the anniversary for political ends.

In Gernika, the 26th April anniversary of the 1937 bombing first became a public event after the death of Franco. ̽��ֱ��project has traced the acceleration in the anniversary’s international status, and the tensions and competition for control between local groups and regional government, as well as between the church and secular groups. Even recently established anniversary events, such as those at the Srebrenica memorial site in Bosnia and Herzegovina, appear far from uncomplicated, as some groups see the anniversary as a provocation or a reminder, whereas others see it as an opportunity to mourn and simultaneously express rights.

Anniversary events are only part of the equation. CRIC research shows that contributing to the complex mix are also such factors as the role of national and international communities involved in reconstruction, and how memories are transmitted from one generation to the next. Symbols too play an important role, both at the mundane level of mass culture and as part of public rituals. This is seen for example in Gernika, where the traditional symbol of the oak tree represents the historic civil liberties bestowed on the region since the Medieval period. ̽��ֱ��current tree – propagated through generations – still stands on the same spot, but the symbol also appears today in many other contexts such as advertisements.

Societal impact

̽��ֱ��CRIC research programme provides a much-needed understanding of the main characteristics of post-conflict reconstruction processes and their implications for society. Not only does this help us to understand how we behave socially and culturally, but it is also highly relevant to policy makers and organisations invol

ved with reconstruction efforts. Too often, despite the best intentions, reconstruction efforts have been found to prolong conflicts and tensions simply because their impacts are not properly understood.

For more information, please contact the author Dr Marie Louise Stig Sørensen (mlss@cam.ac.uk) at the Department of Archaeology, or Ben Davenport, CRIC Administrator (bkd20@cam.ac.uk) or visit www.cric.arch.cam.ac.uk/). Images collected as part of the CRIC project are stored at DSpace (www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/), the institutional repository of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

A collaborative study led by Cambridge is examining the impact on society of the destruction and reconstruction of cultural heritage.

̽��ֱ��CRIC research programme provides a much-needed understanding of the main characteristics of post-conflict reconstruction processes and their implications for society.

Kim-Michael Sørensen

Case de Juntas, Gernika

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