Diabetes UK evidence-based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes.

This article summarizes the Diabetes UK evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes and nutritional management of diabetes. It describes the development of the recommendations and highlights the key changes from previous guidelines. The nutrition guidelines include a series of recommendations for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes, nutritional management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, weight management, management of microvascular and macrovascular disease, hypoglycaemia management, and additional considerations such as nutrition support, end-of-life care, disorders of the pancreas, care of the older person with diabetes, nutrition provided by external agencies and fasting. The evidence-based recommendations were graded using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network methodology and, in a small number of topic areas, where strong evidence was lacking, the recommendations were reached by consensus. The Diabetes UK 2011 guidelines place an emphasis on carbohydrate management and a more flexible approach to weight loss, unlike previous guidelines which were expressed in terms of recommendations for individual nutrient intakes. Additionally, the guidelines for alcohol have been aligned to national recommendations. The full evidence-based nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of diabetes are available from: http://www.diabetes.org.uk/nutrition-guidelines.

An in vitro study into the effect of a limited range of denture cleaners on surface roughness and removal of Candida albicans from conventional heat-cured acrylic resin denture base material.

This study evaluated the abrasiveness of four denture cleaners on the surface of denture base material and assessed their ability to remove Candida albicans. Acrylic resin discs 20 mm diameter and 2 mm thick were identically produced and polished. Four cleaners were evaluated: conventional toothpaste; toothpaste with stain remover; denture cleaning paste and an immersion type cleaner, and water were used as control. These were used at dilutions of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 with water. An electric toothbrush was used, and the discs cleaned to simulate 1 years' cleaning. The surface roughness of the discs were then measured, before and after cleaning, using a stylus profilometer, then inoculated with 1.2 x 10(6)C. albicans cells. The effectiveness of the denture cleaners to remove C. albicans cells was assessed following a single cleaning event. The immersion cleaner was significantly less abrasive than paste cleaners (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between any dilutions for any cleaner used (P > 0.05). Immersion and paste cleaners removed almost all recoverable C. albicans from the discs, as cleaning with water alone was less effective (P < 0.05). An immersion type cleaner was found to be the most suitable cleaner because of its low abrasivity and effective removal of organic debris.