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Sugar and stress: here comes trouble
Start: 06/03/2018, 18:30
End: 06/03/2018, 19:30
Contact:Wiida Fourie-Basson - 021 808 2684
Location: Die Plataan Kafee, Sasol Kunsmusuem

What is the relationship between sugar intake, stress and the alarming increase in lifestyle diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease?

With this Science Café Stellenbosch at Woordfees, Dave Pepler will talk to four specialists about the alarming increase in life style diseases worldwide, and specifically in South Africa. The speakers include Dr Graham Ellis, a leading endocrinologist at the Helderberg Clinical Research Centre. The centre is affiliated with Synexus, one of the world's largest multinational companies focusing on clinical trials and the effectiveness of new medicines. The other speakers are Prof Resia Pretorius, Prof Anna-Mart Engelbrecht and Dr Theo Nell, all associated with SU's Department of Physiological Sciences.

At the end of the evening audience members will be invited to volunteer for a finger-prick test to determine their blood glucose level and lipid profile. The result of this test will indicate whether an individual is pre-diabetic or not. The finger prick test will be done by a nurse from Synexus and participants will have to fill in a consent form.

Audience members will also be invited to donate blood and in that way become part of the control group for a research project on blood clotting and diabetes. Prof Pretorius needs to obtain as many blood samples as possible from healthy individuals over 40 years, in order to compare it with the blood samples from individual with diagnosed diabetes. Many staff members at Stellenbosch University have donated blood to support this research project!

The necessary ethical clearances have been obtained. Participants will be informed of the process and purpose of the exercise and asked to fill in a consent form.

Science Café Stellenbosch is an initiative of the Faculty of Science at Stellenbosch University to promote the discussion of scientific issues in a language that everyone can understand. Follow us on Facebook or send an e-mail to sciencecafe@sun.ac.za if you want to be notified of events.