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New source of insulin-producing cells
2009-01-29 01:59:00
Scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells can form after birth or after injury from progenitor cells within the pancreas that were not beta cells, a finding that contradicts a widely-cited earlier study that had concluded this is not possible. The study, published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, identifies the source of the progenitor cells as being pancreatic duct cells........
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Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease linked
2009-01-29 01:59:00
Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and celiac disease appear to share a common genetic origin, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, have confirmed. Their findings, which are reported in this week's edition of the New England Journal (NEJM), identified seven chromosome regions which are shared between the two diseases. The research suggests that type 1 diabetes and celiac disease may be caused by common underlying mechanisms such as autoimmunity-related tissue damage and intolerance to dietary antigens (foreign substances which prompt an immune response)........
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Treating gum disease in diabetics
2009-01-29 01:59:00
A new report shows that treating gum disease in patients who have diabetes with procedures such as cleanings and periodontal scaling is associated with 10 to 12 percent lower medical costs per month. The findings are encouraging but the study was not designed to firmly establish cause and effect, said George Taylor, University of Michigan associate professor of dentistry, who also has an appointment in epidemiology in the U-M School of Public Health. Taylor led the research project to investigate whether routine, non-surgical therapy for gum disease is associated with lower medical care costs for people with diabetes........
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Five Eye Care Tips for Diabetics
2009-01-29 01:59:00
If you have diabetes you should know that you are more susceptible to eye disorders like glaucoma, cataracts, retinopathy and blindness. But there is a lot that you can do to take charge of and prevent such problems. Here are some tips for diabetics that can help fight these eye disorders. Keep your blood sugar levels in control. In order to achieve this you must stay away from sugary snacks and foods that are highly processed and made from white flour. The diet must include a lot of high fiber food, unsalted nuts, fruits and vegetables. Drink lots of water so that toxins and wastes are removed from the system. The right diet keeps blood sugar levels steady without many spikes. .......
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An Old Dawg Can Learn New Tricks!
2009-01-29 01:59:00
In an interview with Diabetes Forecast - the consumer magazine of the American Diabetes Association - Randy Jackson reveals his type 2 diabetes story, the hurdles and the path to therapy. This year, Randy Jackson celebrates 10 years of type 2 diabetes: Jackson, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1999, was shocked when he learned that he had a chronic disease. "They were sneaky symptoms," he says. "Of course, I didn't take into consideration that a history of type 2 diabetes ran in my family, because you always believe that happens to somebody else, not you.".......
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Diabetes treatment becomes more complex
2008-10-28 05:37:00
A progressively more complex and expensive array of therapys for type 2 diabetes is being prescribed to an increasing number of adults, as per a report in the October 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In 2000, more than 11 million Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes, as per background information in the article. "By 2050, the number of Americans with diabetes is expected to soar to 29 million, a prevalence of 7 percent," the authors write. "The annual economic burden of diabetes is estimated at $132 billion and increasing. In 2002, more than one-tenth of U.S. health care expenditures were attributable to diabetes." As costs and prevalence increase, managing diabetes also has become increasingly complex, as physicians prescribe more medications to each patient and combine drugs from different therapeutic classes........
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Battling Diabetes with Beta Cells
2008-10-28 05:37:00
Affecting eight percent of America's population, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, strokes and heart disease. Thanks to Tel Aviv University researchers, a new cure -- based on advances in cell treatment -- may be within reach. Prof. Shimon Efrat from TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine, whose research group is among world leaders in beta cell expansion, has developed a way to cultivate cells derived from insulin-producing beta cells from human tissue in the laboratory. It may be possible to implant these new healthy cells into patients with type 1 diabetes........
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Leptin Can Also Aid Type 1 Diabetics
2008-10-28 05:37:00
Terminally ill rodents with type 1 diabetes have been restored to full health with a single injection of a substance other than insulin by researchers at. UT Southwestern Medical Center. Since the discovery of insulin in 1922, type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes) in humans has been treated by injecting insulin to lower high blood sugar levels and prevent diabetic coma. New findings by UT Southwestern researchers, which appear online and in a future issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that insulin isn't the only agent that is effective. Leptin, a hormone produced by the body's fat cells, also lowers blood glucose levels and maintains them in a normal range for extended periods, they found........
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Diabetes transmitted from parents to children
2008-10-28 05:37:00
A new study in the recent issue of the Journal of Lipid Research suggests an unusual form of inheritance may have a role in the rising rate of diabetes, particularly in children and young adults, in the United States. DNA is the primary mechanism of inheritance; kids get half their genes from mom and half from dad. However, researchers are just starting to understand additional kinds of inheritance like metabolic programming, which occurs when an insult during a critical period of development, either in the womb or soon after birth, triggers permanent changes in metabolism........
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Hearing loss is common in people with diabetes
2008-07-15 05:46:00
Hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes in comparison to those who do not have the disease, as per a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). "Hearing loss may be an under-recognized complication of diabetes. As diabetes becomes more common, the disease may become a more significant contributor to hearing loss," said senior author Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), who suggested that people with diabetes should consider having their hearing tested. "Our study found a strong and consistent link between hearing impairment and diabetes using many different outcomes.".......
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A step towards better diabetes treatment
2008-07-15 05:46:00
In today's issue of the prestigious journal Cell Metabolism Uppsala scientists are presenting new findings that shed light on the processes that determine the release of the blood sugar-lowering hormone insulin. The discovery is based on the development of image analysis methods that make possible the detailed study of events immediately inside the plasma membrane of the insulin-secreting cells........
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Dietary Adherence Associated with Better Glucose Control
2008-07-15 05:46:00
A study by scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center has shown that adherence to prescribed dietary recommendations is linked to better glucose control in children with type 1 diabetes. "In recent years, diabetes management has been focused around new medications and technologies," said Lori Laffel, M.D., senior author of the paper, which is reported in the recent issue of Diabetes Care. "In this study, we were encouraged to identify the unique importance of diet on blood sugar control in children and teens with type 1 diabetes"........
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Trans-fatty acids and insulin sensitivity
2008-07-15 05:46:00
Trans-fatty acids have been the topic of a lot of negative health news, but in the July Journal of Lipid research, a dietary study in rats suggests that trans-fats do not increase the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes, which may ease at least one area of concern. Epidemiological studies indicate that chronic consumption of trans-fats may alter muscle insulin sensitivity, as their unusual molecular shapes can reduce muscle's ability to burn energy; in turn, reduced fat oxidation may promote insulin resistance........
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Diabetes linked to male infertility
2008-07-15 05:46:00
This release is available in Spanish. . Barcelona, Spain: Diabetes in men has a direct effect on fertility, a scientist told the 24th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday 9 July). Dr. Con Mallidis from Queen's University, Belfast, UK, said that, despite the prevailing view that it had little effect on male reproductive function, the Belfast group had shown that diabetes caused DNA damage in sperm........
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'Snapshots' of eyes could serve as early warning of diabetes
2008-07-15 05:46:00
A new vision screening device, already shown to give an early warning of eye disease, could give doctors and patients a head start on treating diabetes and its vision complications, a new study shows. The instrument, invented by two researchers at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center, captures images of the eye to detect metabolic stress and tissue damage that occur before the first symptoms of disease are evident........
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Diabetes increases risk of tuberculosis
2008-07-15 05:46:00
Taken together, studies show that diabetes increases risk of tuberculosis People with diabetes mellitus are at increased risk of developing active tuberculosis (TB), as per an analysis published in PLoS Medicine Searching for research over the past four decades containing data on the relationship between diabetes and TB, Christie Jeon and Megan Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health identified 13 studies involving more than 1.7 million participants, including 17,698 cases of TB. Combining the data from cohort studies in particular, the scientists calculated that diabetes increases the risk of active TB by about a factor of three........
More About: Diabetes , Risk , Tuberculosis

Caught "red-handed" for the first time
2008-05-11 18:15:00
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long believed to be responsible for type 1 diabetes. Scientists were able to examine the immune cells from isolated insulin-making structures in the pancreas known as the islets of Langerhans. They caught the immune cells, known as dendritic cells, "red-handed" carrying insulin and fragments of insulin-producing cells known as beta cells. This can be the first step toward starting a misdirected immune system attack that destroys the beta cells, preventing the body from making insulin and causing type 1 diabetes........
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Gene linked to severe diabetic eye
2008-05-06 04:18:00
Scientists at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah and collaborative institutions have identified a gene called erythropoietin (EPO) that contributes to increased risk of severe diabetic eye and kidney diseases, called retinopathy and nephropathy. The sight-threatening form of diabetic retinopathy, termed proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), is the most common cause of legal blindness in working-aged adults in the United States, accounting for 10% of new onset blindness overall. Diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney disease, called end-stage renal disease (ESRD), in the U.S. and the Western world........
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Protein reverses diabetic retinopathy in mice
2008-03-17 04:27:00
Two major eye diseases and leading causes of blindnessage-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathycan be reversed or even prevented by drugs that activate a protein found in blood vessel cells, scientists at the University of Utah School of Medicine and several other institutions have announced in a new study........
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Intensive blood sugar treatment on trial
2008-02-07 04:30:00
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health has stopped one therapy within a large, ongoing North American clinical trial of diabetes and cardiovascular disease 18 months early due to safety concerns after review of available data, eventhough the study will continue........
More About: Sugar , Treatment , Trial , Intensive

Sleep duration raises the risk for diabetes
2007-12-03 04:01:00
The most common factors believed to contribute to diabetes are a decreased amount of physical activity and access to highly palatable processed foods. However, there is growing evidence that another aspect of our modern lifestyle, short sleep duration, is also contributing toward the diabetes epidemic, as per a research studyreported in the December 1 issue of the journal SLEEP........
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Pathway to increased inflammation in diabetes patients
2007-11-28 03:59:00
Scientists at UC Davis Health System have discovered a novel pathway that results in increased inflammation of blood vessels in patients with type 1 diabetes. Their findings suggest that, with good diabetes control, this inflammation may be reduced, possibly resulting in a reduction of cardiovascular disease as well........
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Pedometers motivate people with diabetes to walk more
2007-11-20 03:22:00
The use of a pedometer and a Web site that tracked physical activity levels proved to be powerful motivators for people with diabetes who participated in a recent walking study conducted by scientists from the University of Michigan Health System and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. The study also suggests that certain types of goal-setting may be more effective than others........
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Older people with diabetes face a heavy burden
2007-11-14 03:47:00
As if diabetes werent enough to handle, a new study shows that 92 percent of older people with the disease have at least one other major chronic medical condition and that nearly half have three or more major diseases besides their diabetes. The sheer number, and the severity, of these other conditions appears to decrease patients ability to manage their diabetes. The type of co-existing condition also matters, as diabetes self-care lags most among patients with conditions that they think arent correlation to their diabetes........
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Diabetic drugs does not impair ability to survive heart attack
2007-11-06 03:20:00
Mayo Clinic scientists helped clarify a growing concern about the link between diabetes mellitus therapys and heart attack with the first large, population-based study showing that a group of common medications does not reduce diabetic patients heart attack survival rates. These results were presented today at the American Heart Associations Scientific Sessions 2007 in Orlando, Fla........
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The new source of islet cells
2007-10-26 13:11:00
The shortage of islet cells limits the development of islet transplantation. One new approach was published in the October 21 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology because of its great significance in enhancing the output of islet cells. This article will undoubtedly bring benefit to diabetic patients........
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Cross-species transplant toward diabetes cure
2007-10-19 13:02:00
With an eye on curing diabetes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection........
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Alzheimer's disease as form of diabetes
2007-09-27 04:35:00
Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimers memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes. Now researchers at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation -- would stop working in Alzheimers disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimers removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for amyloid -derived diffusible ligand.)........
More About: Diabetes , Disease , Form

Kidney Disease May Predict Risk of Pre-Diabetes
2007-09-07 05:45:00
A blood component called cystatin C, used to test for early-stage kidney impairment, also may be a very early marker for those at risk of developing a condition known as pre-diabetes, a study conducted by scientists at the University at Buffalo has shown. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when the amount of glucose in the bloodstream begins to rise and remain above normal, an indication that glucose is not being absorbed properly by cells........
More About: Diabetes , Disease , Risk , Kidney , Seas

Pumpkin: A fairytale end to insulin injections?
2007-09-07 05:45:00
Compounds found in pumpkin could potentially replace or at least drastically reduce the daily insulin injections that so a number of diabetics currently have to endure. Recent research reveals that pumpkin extract promotes regeneration of damaged pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, boosting levels of insulin-producing beta cells and insulin in the blood, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry and Industry, the magazine of the SCI........
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