Diabetes Watch Blog

February 3, 2010, 2:24 PM CT

Aim at cure: type 1 diabetes

A hormone responsible for the body's stress response is also associated with the growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, as per JDRF- funded scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. The findings are the latest advances to underscore the potential for regeneration as a key component of a possible cure for type 1 diabetes.

The research, which was reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Wylie Vale, Ph.D., Professor and Head of the Clayton Laboratories for Peptide Biology and Mark O. Huising, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the Clayton Foundation Laboratories. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation was a funder of the study.

As per Patricia Kilian, Ph.D., Program Director for Regeneration at JDRF, the study showed that the stress hormone could increase the rate at which insulin-producing cells in the pancreas expand in animal models. These findings reinforce the potential of regeneration as a cure for diabetes and provide insights for discovering new approaches to treat people with diabetes by restoring or regenerating their ability to produce insulin.



Regeneration Research

Among the fastest-growing scientific areas JDRF supports is research aimed at regenerating insulin producing cells in people who have diabetes (as opposed to transplanting cells from organ donors or other sources). This involves triggering the body to grow its own new insulin producing cells, either by copying existing ones some are commonly still active, even in people who have had diabetes for decades or causing the pancreas to create new ones......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

February 2, 2010, 9:18 AM CT

Diabetes patients rank health concerns

About one-third of doctors and their patients with diabetes do not see eye to eye on the most important health conditions to manage, as per a survey by the University of Michigan Medical School.

While both groups frequently ranked diabetes and high blood pressure among their top concerns, 38 percent of doctors were more likely to rank high blood pressure as the most important, while only 18 percent of diabetics said it was the most important. Patients were also more likely to prioritize symptoms such as pain and depression.

The findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine and may shed light on why some patients manage their diabetes so poorly.

"If a patient and their doctor do not agree on which of these issues should be prioritized, it will be difficult for them to come up with an effective therapy plan together," says main author Donna M. Zulman, M.D., a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan Medical School and researcher at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Ann Arbor.

When a diabetic patient visits the doctor, the doctor is often concerned about the patient's risk of long-term complications from high blood sugar or uncontrolled sugar such as heart disease or kidney disease. The patient, however, might have more pressing issues, such as back pain or depression......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 28, 2010, 7:42 AM CT

Diabetes complications in depressed patients

Depression raises risks of advanced and severe complications from diabetes, as per a prospective study of Group Health primary-care patients in western Washington. These complications include kidney failure or blindness, the result of small vessel damage, as well as major vessel problems leading to heart attack or stroke.

The findings were published this week in Diabetes Care, a scientific journal of the American Diabetes Association. The study was conducted by researchers from the Group Health Research Institute, Seattle; the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and School of Public Health, and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. The main author is Dr. Elizabeth Lin of the Group Health Research Institute.

Among their research volunteers with type 2 diabetes followed over 5 years, major depression was linked to a 36 percent higher risk of developing advanced micro-vascular complications, such as end-stage kidney disease or blindness, and a 25 percent higher risk of developing advanced macrovascular complications, such as stroke or myocardial infarction (heart attack from a blood clot), compared with diabetes patients without depression. The clinically significant risks remained even after the scientists adjusted for diabetes severity and self-care activities......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 18, 2010, 8:11 AM CT

From biological basics to diabetes discovery

In two major studies published in Nature Genetics today, scientists use biological understanding to dissect the genetics of diabetes. An international team comprising scientists from more than 100 institutions analysed vast suites of genetic data from more than 100,000 people of European descent to uncover the associations.

In the first study, the team identified ten novel genetic markers for biological traits underlying type 2 diabetes. In a companion paper the same consortium identified three new variants that are linked to raised levels of glucose seen in a common test for type 2 diabetes. The results help to unravel the complex biological story of type 2 diabetes: as well as revealing five new associations that influence directly the risk of diabetes, this research will drive studies to understand the biology of disease and to search for therapys to alleviate the burden caused by the disease.

The team are working to understand the normal metabolism of glucose as well as diseases of glucose metabolism, such as diabetes. They seek to uncover new genetic variants that are risk factors for the development of diabetes, as well as identifying genes that influence variation in the healthy range. Diabetes occurs when our bodies fail to produce sufficient insulin or when our cells fail to recognise and react to the insulin produced, resulting in abnormally high blood glucose or sugar levels......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 14, 2010, 5:27 PM CT

Sleep apnea and diabetes

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) adversely affects glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes, as per a research studyconducted by scientists at the University of Chicago.

The study "demonstrates for the first time that there is a clear, graded, inverse relationship between OSA severity and glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes," wrote main author, Renee S. Aronsohn, M.D., instructor of medicine at the University of Chicago.

The study also confirmed other reports that undiagnosed OSA is very common among patients with type 2 diabetes, indicating that it is largely unrecognized additional medical risk factor in these patients.

The findings have been published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Dr. Aronsohn and his colleagues consecutively recruited patients with type 2 diabetes from outpatient clinics to participate in the study. The participants were interviewed to assess their diabetes history, medical history and medications, and level of physical activity. Height and weight measurements were also taken, and each participant's sleep/wake cycles were monitored for five days using wrist actigraphy and self-reported sleep logs. Finally, participants underwent an overnight polysomnography test for OSA , and glucose control was assessed by obtaining a blood sample for hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) measurement, the main clinical marker of glycemic control in diabetes......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 6, 2010, 4:27 PM CT

High blood pressure drugs in diabetic eye disease

Researchers in Massachusetts are reporting new evidence that certain hypertension drugs appears to be useful in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of vision loss in people with diabetes. The study, the largest to date on proteins in the retina, could lead to new ways to prevent or treat the sight-threatening disease, they say. The findings are in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research, a monthly publication.

Edward Feener and his colleagues point out that diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes, which affects millions of people worldwide. It involves damage to blood vessels in the retina, the light sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. Prior studies suggested that drugs used to treat high blood pressure, including ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), may help prevent the condition.

The researchers analyzed proteins from the retinas laboratory mice with normal blood pressure and diabetes and compared them to those of non-diabetic mice. They identified 65 abnormal proteins in the diabetic mice out of more than 1,700 proteins in the study. Treatment with the ARB medication, candesartan, prevented the abnormal changes in more than 70 percent of the proteins......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

December 30, 2009, 8:05 AM CT

Pharmacists Improve Care of Diabetics While Cutting Costs

The role of pharmacists hasn't received much attention in the debate on the cost of health care. But national and regional studies show that when pharmacists directly participate in patient care, they significantly reduce therapy costs and improve outcomes.

A study on diabetic patients by the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences identified cost savings with improvements in a key indicator of glucose control in diabetes patients, the hemoglobin A1C measurement. The A1C provides a three-month average of the amount of excess glucose in the blood. Higher A1Cs indicate that a patient is at higher risk for developing long-term complications linked to diabetes, such as kidney disease or vision problems.

Published last spring in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, the UB study of 50 patients with Type 2 diabetes demonstrated that in just six months clinical pharmacists, in collaboration with primary care providers, were able to significantly reduce patients' A1C levels.

In the UB study, patients' A1C levels were reduced by an average of 1.1 percent, from an average of 8.5 percent to 7.4 percent, one year after being enrolled in the program, while also improving the overall metabolic profile.

"Our results show that enhancing the patient's access to care through collaborative physician-pharmacist relationships can yield lower blood glucose levels, improve the overall metabolic profile and reduce costs to the payer," says Erin Slazak, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and board certified pharmacotherapy specialist......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

December 18, 2009, 6:58 PM CT

Rapid-acting insulin analogues

Due to a lack of suitable studies, it remains unclear whether children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes benefit more or less from long-term therapy with rapid-acting insulin analogues than with short-acting human insulin. Certainly, there is no proof of additional benefit from the available results from clinical trials of maximum one year duration. This applies both in the comparison with human insulin and in the comparison between analogues only. This is the conclusion of the final report of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) published on 16 November 2009.

The Institute believes that studies of longer duration are urgently needed because insulin performs a variety of functions especially during stages of human growth and development and it is not clear what effect insulin analogues have.

Important data on children and adolescents were not available for the first evaluation.

The current investigation is a follow-up project to a benefit evaluation of rapid-acting insulin analogues in type 1 diabetes, commissioned by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) and completed in March 2007. In that evaluation, IQWiG could only draw conclusions for adults concerning the advantages and disadvantages of the drug class, as data on children and adolescents were missing from completed but as yet unpublished studies. One of the sponsors of these trials, Novo Nordisk, had refused to provide relevant information. Only after public pressure did Novo Nordisk change its position and agree to supply the data requested......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

December 17, 2009, 8:15 AM CT

Biomarkers For Diabetic Kidney Failure

Pooled DNA technique identifies variances that could indicate susceptibility to end-stage renal disease.

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Dec. 16, 2009 -- Scientists using a DNA analysis tool developed by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and UCLA have identified genetic markers that could help treat chronic kidney disease among diabetics.

Study results, reported in the December edition of Diabetic Medicine, show it is possible to identify biomarkers linked to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) from the pooled DNA of more than 1,000 diabetics. Specifically, TGen scientists identified genes that could potentially contribute to ESRD among those with Type 1 Diabetes.

ESRD almost always follows chronic kidney failure and eventhough treatable with dialysis or transplantation, mortality rates remain high. While diabetic kidney disease is one of the most common complications of diabetes, it is currently not possible to determine who is at risk for ESRD.

"Identification of specific DNA variants may enhance our understanding of genetic risk factors for renal disease and may provide diagnostic value in determining which patients are at greatest risk of developing ESRD," said Dr. Johanna DiStefano, Director of TGen's Diabetes, Cardiovascular & Metabolic Diseases Division and the paper's senior author......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

December 16, 2009, 11:28 PM CT

Discount Pharmacy: Can They Really Save You Money?

Here is a question that can fetch you several ontrasting replies; while some may respond cheerily, an equally striking number may respond rather grimly. The reason being that experiences vary and so do the lessons that we learn. If someone has been able to strike an exciting deal at a discount pharmacy, chances are he'll seek the services again. So, the question here is: are discount pharmacies really beneficial? Do they actually help save money? The answer is influenced by how and where you search for a discount pharmacy. To start with, you must find a reputable and licensed online drug store that is also of a kind that you feel comfortable recommending to your family or friends.

Discount Pharmacy: How They Can Be of Benefit

A good discount pharmacy offers a whole range of products, starting from common medications to skin care, baby care and other products. A discount pharmacy is able to offer attractive deals to customers through bulk buying and by offering generic drugs. That is, when a customer buys drugs in bulk or several products at a time, he is offered a discount. This may also be the case when the drug store expects repeat sales from a customer. Buying generic drugs is another way to get discounts. Generic drugs contain the same active ingredient as a branded drug, but are less expensive because they are not branded. However, these generic drugs are manufactured and marketed by reputed firms, which validate their trustworthiness and quality guarantee. ........ Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

December 15, 2009, 8:02 AM CT

Motorized Wheelchair

A motorized wheelchair comes in several variations depending upon a user's requirements. This makes it difficult to select a perfect motor powered wheelchair. It is ideal to consult a physical therapy professional and identify which chair is best suited to promote your mobility without stressing yourself.

Rear Wheel Motorized Wheelchairs

The rear wheel drive motorized wheelchairs are widely used. Their chairs offer good speed and stability but these are not very maneuverable. The turning radius of these wheelchairs is poor. It causes difficulties for users while maneuvering the uphill slopes. An important highlight of a rear wheel drive motorized wheelchair is that it prevents a user from falling backwards while climbing ramps or hills.

Center Wheel Motorized Wheelchairs

The center wheel drive motorized wheelchairs are highly maneuverable. They allow maximum flexibility to even novice users. It is possible to navigate indoors easily due to its tight turning radius. The users will benefit by having optimum balance as this type of wheelchair features caster wheels on the front and at the back. Exercise caution while driving up or down hilly areas as the chair can tip in one direction. ........ Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

November 2, 2009, 11:32 PM CT

Lifestyle Changes for diabetes

Sustaining modest weight loss for 10 years, or taking an anti-diabetic drug over that time, can prevent or lower the occurence rate of type 2 diabetes in people at high risk for developing the disease, as per the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS), a long-term follow-up to a landmark 2001 diabetes prevention study.

Jill Crandall, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, was a principal investigator in the follow-up study, which appears online in the current edition of the British medical journal The Lancet.

The original study-the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)-was a large, randomized trial involving 3,234 people at high risk for developing diabetes. At the start of the study, all were overweight or obese adults with elevated blood glucose levels. Scientists disclosed the findings from DPP in 2001-a year earlier than scheduled-because results were so clear. After three years, intensive changes in lifestyle (modest weight loss coupled with increased physical activity) reduced the rate for developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent compared with placebo. The oral diabetes drug metformin (850 milligrams twice daily) reduced the rate of developing diabetes by 31 percent compared with placebo......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

October 14, 2009, 10:11 PM CT

Find Affordable Health Insurance and Get the Coverage You Need without spending Much

Healthcare expenses are on the ascending trend and millions of people find healthcare costs very unaffordable. Even though medical-coverage is a little on the costlier side, it can be far more expensive to go without it.

God forbid, if you were to meet with an accident or fall critically ill, the medical bills could be truly overwhelming, possibly out of your reach. Therefore it is very essential for you to find affordable health insurance.

If you are lucky to work for a big company which offers a good medical-benefits package, then you might not have to worry too much. Conversely, a number of people working for small companies or the self employed do not avail any such assistance. Finding a reasonable health plan can be very demanding for such people.

An excellent way to find the coverage for your needs and that too add for an affordable cost is by conducting a thorough comparison study. By comparing the coverage plans and costs of various insurance firms, you'll be able to find the policy which goes well with your needs for the prices which you can survive with.

Comparing coverage plans needn't just happen over the telephones where you end up spending hours on the phone to get the information. You can compare the plans and the prices of various insurance companies just by surfing the net. There are plenty of companies which offer insurance plans online......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

October 13, 2009, 8:20 AM CT

Healthy neighborhoods may result in lower diabetes risk

Individuals living in neighborhoods conducive to physical activity and providing access to healthy foods may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a five-year period, as per a report in the October 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"The worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus is largely driven by the combined rise in obesity, intake of energy-dense or nutrient-poor foods and physical inactivity," the authors write as background information in the article. Interventions to reduce risk on the individual levelincluding surgery, medicine and behavior changehave had mixed results. Large-scale behavior change appears to be necessary to reverse the diabetes epidemic, but such a change is difficult to achieve and appears to be unsustainable if the surrounding environment is not supportive.

Amy H. Auchincloss, Ph.D., M.P.H., of Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, and his colleagues studied 2,285 adults age 45 to 84 who were initially examined between 2000 and 2002. Study participants were from three of the sites in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) for which neighborhood level data were obtained: Baltimore; Forsyth County, N.C.; and New York City/Bronx. Blood glucose levels were obtained from study participants at baseline and at three follow-up examinations, during which other individual characteristics also were assessed (including diet, body mass index [BMI] and physical activity levels)......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

April 30, 2009, 9:41 PM CT

Sitagliptin could trigger pancreatitis

A drug widely used to treat Type 2 diabetes may have unintended effects on the pancreas that could lead to a form of low-grade pancreatitis in some patients and a greater risk of pancreas cancer in long-term users, UCLA scientists have found.

As per a research findings reported in the online edition of the journal Diabetes, scientists from the Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center at UCLA observed that sitagliptin, sold in pill form as Januvia, caused abnormalities in the pancreas that are recognized as risk factors for pancreatitis and, with time, pancreas cancer in humans. Januvia is marketed by Merck & Co. Inc. Sitagliptin is a member of a new class of drugs that enhance the actions of the gut hormone known as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which has been shown to be effective in lowering blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes. The study is available at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/db09-0058v1.

"Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease people often take the same drugs for a number of years, so any adverse effect that could over time increase the risk for pancreas cancer would be a concern," said Dr. Peter Butler, director of the Hillblom Center and the study's lead investigator. "A concern here is that the unwanted effects of this drug on the pancreas would likely not be detected in humans unless the pancreas was removed and examined." ......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

April 7, 2009, 5:23 AM CT

Reducing sugar and increasing fiber intake

Reducing sugar intake by the equivalent of one can of soda per day and increasing fiber intake by the amount equivalent to one half cup of beans per day appears to improve risk factors linked to type 2 diabetes in Latino adolescents, as per a report in the recent issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Almost 40 percent of Mexican American adolescents age 12 to 19 were overweight or at risk for overweight from 2003 to 2006, as per background information in the article. "Latino children are more insulin resistant and thus more likely to develop obesity-related chronic diseases than their white counterparts," the authors write. "To date, only a few studies have examined the effects of a high-fiber, low-sugar diet on metabolic health in overweight youth, and to our knowledge, none have tested the effects of this type of intervention in a mixed-sex group of Latino youth".

Emily Ventura, M.P.H., of Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles and his colleagues conducted a 16-week study to examine if reductions in added sugar intake or increases in fiber intake would affect risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes in 54 overweight Latino adolescents (average age 15.5). Participants were split into three groups: control, nutrition (receiving one nutrition class per week) or nutrition plus strength training (receiving one nutrition class per week along with strength training twice a week)......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

March 24, 2009, 6:19 AM CT

Those diabetics high-fiber diets

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center report that patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes (type 2) excreted less calcium through their urine when they consumed 50 grams of fiber a day than when they ate 24 grams a day. Excreting less calcium indicates that they absorbed less of the mineral.

"We already know that fiber helps improve your cholesterol and glucose control and improves your bowel regularity. Our new findings suggest that dietary fiber reduces the body's capacity to absorb calcium," said Dr. Abhia number ofu Garg, professor of internal medicine and an investigator in the Center for Human Nutrition at UT Southwestern. He is senior author of a study appearing online in Diabetes Care. "Because more calcium equals better bone health, we recommend that people on high-fiber diets talk to their doctor about increasing their dietary calcium as well, in order to get the most benefit from both".

Dr. Garg said it's important to speak with a doctor or a registered dietitian before increasing your calcium intake because excessive levels may cause kidney stones.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends a daily intake of 24 grams of dietary fiber, but the average American consumes about 14 to 15 grams of fiber a day.

Sometimes called "roughage," dietary fiber is the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system, absorbing water and easing defecation. Calcium is a nutrient found in food that is absorbed by the body and then excreted in urine, feces or sweat. It is the most abundant mineral in the human body......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 28, 2009, 6:59 PM CT

An Old Dawg Can Learn New Tricks!

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."

But soon after his diagnosis, Jackson took charge. He turned his diet around from the "Southern-fried" foods he was accustomed to, began to exercise regularly, and after much careful consideration, had gastric bypass surgery. As a result of these changes, Jackson has set out to talk to people about changes in lifestyle that can prevent diabetes and its complications.

Also in the recent issue of Diabetes Forecast:

Update on glucose control and heart health: Last year many major studies were published to look at the connections between cardiovascular health and controlling cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes. Some of the initial results have been confusing, but Diabetes Forecast offers a few key points to help you and your heart......... Posted by: Josly2006      Read more         Source

January 20, 2009, 7:43 PM CT

Five Eye Care Tips for Diabetics

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.

1. 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.
2. Control High Blood Pressure. Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are risk factors for high blood pressure. The best way to control high blood pressure is to exercise regularly. Even though you don’t have the time to sweat it out at the gym, it would be very beneficial to walk the dog or take the stairs instead of the elevator or do some active gardening etc. A heart-friendly diet with less salt goes a long way in controlling blood pressure.
3. Say Bye to Smoking. It has been observed that smoking triples the retinopathy progression in diabetics. When you realize that your eyes are in danger because of smoking, isn’t it time you took an effort to quit that killer habit?
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