Diabetes

Soy protein supplements, which contain natural estrogens, do not reduce testosterone levels in men with Type 2 diabetes who already have borderline-low testosterone, according to a new study. "Because soy contains phytoestrogens that are similar to the female hormone estrogen, it was not known whether consumption of soy could reduce testosterone levels in men with Type 2 … [Read more...]

In adults with prediabetes, a new drug that alters microbial populations and their environment in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract improves glucose tolerance -- the body's response to consuming carbohydrates -- after four weeks of treatment and without a change in diet. The not-yet-named therapeutic, NM504, is the first in a new class of therapies known as GI microbiome … [Read more...]

Adults with Type 2 diabetes achieve better blood glucose (sugar) control two years after undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy than do patients who receive standard medical diabetes care without this weight loss surgery, a new study finds. In addition, 76 percent of surgery patients were able to reduce their use of diabetes medications, compared with only 26 percent of … [Read more...]

People with Type 2 diabetes or obesity have changes in the composition of their intestinal micro-organisms -- called the gut microbiota -- that healthy people do not have, researchers from Turkey have found. The study lends support to other recent reports that have found an association between specific bacterial species in the human digestive system and obesity and diabetes, … [Read more...]

A medication called Verapamil is a common treatment for controlling blood pressure, but researchers have stumbled onto another possible use for it: curing type-one diabetes. A first-of-its-kind trial is now underway, and it could be the cure for what is currently the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Joy Myers didn’t always count carbs. And she didn’t always have … [Read more...]

Two surprising risk factors -- diminished lung function and low serum potassium levels -- appear to have nearly the same impact as obesity in explaining why African-Americans are disproportionately prone to developing type 2 diabetes, researchers at Duke Medicine report. The finding, published in the February print edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, … [Read more...]

For decades, researchers have tried to duplicate the function of beta cells, the tiny insulin-producing entities that don't work properly in patients with diabetes. Insulin injections provide painful and often imperfect substitutes. Transplants of normal beta cells carry the risk of rejection or side effects from immunosuppressive therapies. Now, researchers at the … [Read more...]

A spectacular piece of detective work has mapped a special gene variant among Greenlanders which plays a particularly important role in the development of type 2 diabetes. The results have been published in Nature and can be used to improve prevention and treatment options for those genetically at-risk. In collaboration with Greenland researchers from Steno Diabetes Center … [Read more...]

  At a time when obesity, type 2 diabetes, and their complications are a veritable epidemic worldwide, researchers at the University of Montreal and CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) recently demonstrated the potential of retinoic acid (RA), a derivative of Vitamin A, in treating obesity and type 2 diabetes and preventing their cardiovascular complications. The findings … [Read more...]

In recent decades, obesity has become a global problem. The disease goes hand in hand with a dramatic increase in the proportion of body fat. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the Cologne Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-associated Diseases (CECAD) at the University of Cologne have now succeeded in inhibiting a … [Read more...]

"You have Type 2 diabetes." When you deliver this news to patients, many are surprised, even shocked. Research shows some are so busy processing this unwelcome information, they have a difficult time focusing on what you are saying -- and about a fourth of them wonder whether it's even true. And yet you have a short time to ensure they understand just how serious the disease … [Read more...]

Improving the overall quality of one's diet helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, independent of other lifestyle changes, according to a study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions®. The study, by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, found that those who improved their diet quality index scores by 10 percent over four years -- … [Read more...]

Canola is Canada's oil and new research from St. Michael's Hospital suggests it should also be one of the oils of choice for people with Type 2 diabetes. Dr. David Jenkins, head of the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, compared people with Type 2 diabetes who ate either a low glycemic index diet that included bread made with canola oil, or a … [Read more...]

A team of food scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has successfully formulated a recipe for making healthier bread by adding a natural plant pigment, called anthocyanin, extracted from black rice. This new bread option gets digested at a slower rate -- hence improving blood glucose control -- and is high in antioxidants, among other health benefits. This … [Read more...]

The spike in blood sugar levels that can come after a meal is controlled by the brain's neuronal mitochondria, which are considered the "powerhouse of cells," Yale School of Medicine researchers found in a new study. Published in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Cell, the findings could provide a better understanding of how type 2 diabetes develops. Blood glucose levels … [Read more...]

People with diabetes often have high blood pressure and an increased cardiovascular risk. They are therefore often recommended more intensive blood pressure lowering treatment that non-diabetics. However, for patients with systolic blood pressure levels under 140, antihypertensive drugs may increase the risk of dying from cardiovascular causes. This according to a study at Umeå … [Read more...]

For prediabetics, many interventions focus on lifestyle changes and weight loss, but new research on periodic fasting has identified a biological process in the body that converts bad cholesterol in fat cells to energy, thus combating diabetes risk factors. Researchers at the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, noticed that after 10 … [Read more...]

An insulin-regulating hormone that, until now, only had been postulated to exist has been identified by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The hormone, called limostatin after the Greek goddess of starvation, Limos, tamps down circulating insulin levels during recovery from fasting or starvation. In this way, it ensures that precious nutrients remain … [Read more...]

Researchers are getting closer to learning how to turn white fat cells into brown fat cells, in a process called "beiging," to bring down blood sugar levels and fight diabetes. The team, led by Joseph Baur, PhD, an assistant professor of Physiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania published their findings this month in the journal … [Read more...]

How much slow-wave sleep a teenage boy gets may predict whether he is at risk for insulin resistance and other health issues, according to Jordan Gaines, a Penn State neuroscience researcher. Boys who experience a greater decline in slow-wave sleep as adolescents have a significantly higher chance of developing insulin resistance than those who more closely maintained their … [Read more...]

Long-term use of liraglutide, a substance that helps to lower blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, can have a deteriorating effect on insulin-producing beta cells, leading to an increase in blood sugar levels. This according to a study on mice implanted with human insulin-producing cells conducted by a team of scientists from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and … [Read more...]

Researchers have new insight into the complex interchange that can raise blood levels of unhealthy lipids, or fat, in type 1 diabetes, and early evidence that a drug under study to block cancer cell growth can restore healthier levels. Too much glucose and fat circulating in the blood -- and consequently damaging the vascular system and major organs -- help make … [Read more...]

A new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health poll was released today on the views of Latinos in America about their health and health care, communities, financial situation, and discrimination in their lives. The poll found that Latinos see diabetes as the biggest health problem for their own families. Nearly one in five (19%) Latinos said … [Read more...]

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have, for the first time, described the sequence of early cellular responses to a high-fat diet, one that can result in obesity-induced insulin resistance and diabetes. The findings, published in the June 5 issue of Cell, also suggest potential molecular targets for preventing or reversing the … [Read more...]

Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., the first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University; Marc A. Pfeffer, M.D., Dzau professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School; John W. Newcomer, M.D., executive vice dean of FAU's College of Medicine and interim vice president for … [Read more...]

At least 10 percent of people who have a heart attack may have undiagnosed diabetes, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2014. Researchers studied data on 2,854 heart attack patients who did not have a known diagnosis of diabetes in 24 U.S. hospitals to understand the prevalence and … [Read more...]

Eating high levels of flavonoids including anthocyanins and other compounds (found in berries, tea, and chocolate) could offer protection from type 2 diabetes -- according to research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and King's College London. Findings published today in the Journal of Nutrition reveal that high intakes of these dietary compounds are associated with … [Read more...]

New research published today shows that depression and impulse control disorders (eating disorders in particular) are independently associated with diabetes diagnosis, after adjustment for presence of other mental disorders. The research, published in Diabetologia (the journal of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes), supports the focus on depression as an … [Read more...]

In a study published in Molecular Metabolism, a SLU researcher has found that adropin, a hormone that regulates whether the body burns fat or sugar during feeding and fasting cycles, can improve insulin action in obese, diabetic mice, suggesting that it may work as a therapy for type 2 diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, 29.1 million Americans have … [Read more...]