Diabetes

Variations in non-coding sections of the genome might be important contributors to type 2 diabetes risk, according to a new study. DNA sequences that don't encode proteins were once dismissed as "junk DNA," but scientists are increasingly discovering that some regions are important for controlling which genes are switched on. The new study, published in Nature Genetics, is … [Read more...]

Contrary to a common belief, researchers have shown that genetic regions associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes were unlikely to have been beneficial to people at stages through human evolution. Type 2 diabetes is responsible for more than three million deaths each year and this number is increasing steadily. The harmful genetic variants associated with this … [Read more...]

New research shows that low doses of a cancer drug protect against the development of type 1 diabetes in mice. At the same time, the medicine protects the insulin-producing cells from being destroyed. The study is headed by researchers from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, and has just been published in the distinguished scientific … [Read more...]

The incidence of auto-immune diseases like type 1 diabetes and allergies has risen dramatically in developed countries over the past fifty years. The reasons for this trend are not fully understood but a theory known as the 'hygiene hypothesis' links it to a rise in hygiene standards. According to this theory, eliminating bacteria in food and the environment of infants may be … [Read more...]

Research by the University of Exeter Medical School has revealed two new genetic causes of neonatal diabetes. The research, published today in the journal Cell Metabolism, provides further insights on how the insulin-producing beta cells are formed in the pancreas. The team discovered that mutations in two specific genes which are important for development of the pancreas can … [Read more...]

  As people's waistlines increase, so does the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Now scientists have a better understanding of exactly what happens in the body that leads up to type 2 diabetes, and what likely causes some of the complications related to the disease. Specifically, scientists from Denmark have found that in mice, macrophages, a specific type of immune cell, … [Read more...]

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and the University of Murcia, Spain, have shed new light on why people who carry a common genetic mutation may be more at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. By carefully studying healthy subjects, researchers were able to chart the effect of melatonin supplements on blood sugar control. Their results, reported in Metabolism, … [Read more...]

A new research report published in the October 2015 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, suggests that the endoplasmic reticulum plays a more important role in type 2 diabetes and its complications than previously believed. Specifically, when this cell compartment undergoes disruptions (stress) patients experienced poor glycemic control, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance … [Read more...]

  A vaccination against type 1 diabetes will soon be available to young children: the Pre-POINTearly vaccination study will involve children between the ages of six months and two years from across Germany who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. In the preceding Pre-POINT study a positive immune response was triggered in children aged between two and … [Read more...]

Roux-en-Y, the most common type of gastric bypass surgery, can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes along with weight loss. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology examines why, finding that insulin sensitivity of the main glucose (sugar) storage sites in the body improve after gastric bypass surgery. Insulin is … [Read more...]

Up to 80% of individuals living with long-term type 1 diabetes experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal distension, irritable bowel syndrome, and fecal incontinence. A study publishing October 1 in Cell Stem Cell reveals why these symptoms arise and tests an investigational drug in mice that could prevent them from developing. It's unclear why diabetic patients … [Read more...]

Numerous studies have identified obesity and poor diet as risk factors for insulin resistance and diabetes. A new study adds another risk factor to the list: inflammatory lung disease. Published in the American Journal of Physiology -- Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, the study reports that inflammation in the lungs is enough to induce the body-wide … [Read more...]

Emerging evidence ties endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure to two of the biggest public health threats facing society -- diabetes and obesity, according to the executive summary of an upcoming Scientific Statement issued today by the Endocrine Society. The statement's release comes as Society experts are addressing a global meeting, the International Conference on … [Read more...]

A new study on mice and rats at Sahlgrenska Academy shows that a medication used for diabetes and obesity also could be a valuable tool for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence causes morbidity as well as mortality and is major health problem in today's society. The costs for alcohol dependence in Sweden are estimated to be around SEK 45 billion per … [Read more...]

People who have diabetes and experience high rates of complications are more likely to develop dementia as they age than people who have fewer diabetic complications, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. An individual develops diabetes when the pancreas doesn't produce enough of the hormone insulin … [Read more...]

Diabetes, which now affects almost 30 million Americans, can cause serious health complications, including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower-extremity amputations. A lesser-known but equally grave complication is the effect of diabetes on bone health. "Clinical trials have revealed a startling elevation in fracture risk in diabetic patients," says Liyun … [Read more...]

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm shows that a 10-times increased exposure to organic pollutants in early pregnancy is associated with a 4.4 times increased risk of a pregnant woman developing gestational diabetes. The research is by Assistant Professor Leda Chatzi, University of Crete, … [Read more...]

Although metformin was introduced as a treatment for type 2 diabetes nearly 60 years ago and is now the recommended first-line treatment for newly diagnosed patients, researchers still debate precisely how the drug works. Now, a study published online in Diabetes Care by researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Elcelyx Therapeutics, and other leading … [Read more...]

A new study in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) is the first to show that high intensity intermittent exercise training improves heart structure and benefits diabetes control in patients with type 2 diabetes. The study is led by Professor Michael Trenell and Dr Sophie Cassidy from Newcastle University (UK) and was funded by the … [Read more...]

Some treatments for type 2 diabetes make the body more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that lowers blood sugar. But new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests a different strategy: slowing the production of glucose in the liver. Working in mice, the researchers showed they could reduce glucose production in the liver and lower blood … [Read more...]

Taking 3-minute breaks to walk in the middle of a TV marathon or other sedentary activity can improve children's blood sugar compared to continuously sitting, according to a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). A sedentary lifestyle can put children at risk of developing … [Read more...]

Metabolic or bariatric surgery may be more effective than standard medical treatments for the long-term control of type 2 diabetes in obese patients, according to a new study by King's College London and the Universita Cattolica in Rome, Italy. The study, published in the Lancet, is the first to provide data on five-year outcomes of surgery from a randomized clinical trial … [Read more...]

Among patients with diabetes and kidney disease, most receiving an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker, the addition of the medication finerenone compared with placebo resulted in improvement in albuminuria (the presence of excessive protein [chiefly albumin] in the urine), according to a study in the September 1 issue of JAMA. Diabetes … [Read more...]

Diabeties is a leading cause of blindness in American adults. Partially because it is often missed until it is too late. Now, a new treatment is helping save patients’ sight. Sixty-eight year old Charles Cavill was in danger of losing his sight, but now, for the first time in years, he can play golf again. Cavill told Ivanhoe, “When you can’t make good contact with the ball … [Read more...]

Manipulating the neck has been associated with cervical dissection, a type of arterial tear that can lead to stroke. Although a direct cause-and-effect link has not been established between neck manipulation and the risk of stroke, healthcare providers should inform patients of the association before they undergo neck manipulation. Treatments involving neck manipulation may … [Read more...]

Traditional Chinese herbal medicines hold promise for slowing the progression from prediabetes to an official diabetes diagnosis, according to new research accepted for publication in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Prediabetes is diagnosed an individual has developed elevated blood sugar levels, but glucose levels have not … [Read more...]

In experiments with 500,000 genetically engineered zebrafish embryos, Johns Hopkins scientists report they have developed a potentially better and more accurate way to screen for useful drugs, and they have used it to identify 24 drug candidates that increase the number of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The novel fish embryo technique, which the researchers say … [Read more...]

Inflammation -- the body's response to damaging stimuli -- may have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease, according to a study published today in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. The finding is one of the outcomes of research using a powerful new genetic tool that mimics the behaviour of certain anti-inflammatory drugs. The technique allows … [Read more...]