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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........
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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.)........
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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........
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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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Cholesterol drug hits diabetes with one-two punch
2007-09-07 05:45:00
Patients with type 2 diabetes may soon be able to control their glucose and their cholesterol levels with a single drug, as per a research studyled by Vivian A. Fonseca, professor of medicine and pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine and chief of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center Diabetes Program........
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Boosting key milk to lower type 2 diabetes risk
2007-09-07 05:45:00
Most Americans fail to get the calcium and vitamin D they need, but this shortfall could be affecting more than their bones. It may, at least in part, be one reason behind the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, suggests new research conducted at Tufts University. Drinking more milk a leading source of calcium and vitamin D in the American diet could help decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 15 percent, as per the new meta-analysis and review reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (1)........
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