Information about Diabetes : What is Diabetes?

Is sugar free cake mix ok to eat for someone who has type II diabetes

lild0115 — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 22:07:34 +0000

Doctors Important in Battling Diabetes

InformationAboutDiabetes Staff — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:13:50 +0000

A diabetes-themed event held by journal Health Affairs talked about how physicians could help in battling the diabetes epidemic

New trigger discovered for metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes

Janet Otsuki Kuo — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 20:15:47 +0000

People at risk for metabolic syndrome have elevated levels of a receptor triggering destructive inflammation that eventually lead to diabetes and heart disease, according to new research from University of California at Davis.

The researchers at UC Davis Medical Center focused their study on two Toll-like receptors (TLRs), called TLR2 and TLR4. These sensors on cells initiate a fast immune response to infections but also trigger harmful inflammation.

Past research has implicated TLR2 and TLR4 in the development of diabetes and heart disease.

The UC Davis study evaluated 90 people aged 21 to 70 years. Of the group, 49 of them had at least three features of metabolic syndrome – hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol, high triglycerides and obesity. Members of the control group had no more than two of these features.

Results of blood comparisons showed that the metabolic syndrome group had significantly higher levels of cell-surface receptor proteins TLR2 and TLR4 and messenger RNA than the control group.

The metabolic syndrome group also had higher levels of the master switch of inflammation in the nucleus, and a much higher concentration of immune “soldiers” in the blood, like cytokines, that create inflammation.

Researchers found that levels of free fatty acids were twice as high in the blood of people in the metabolic syndrome group. The levels of the product of gram-negative bacteria and endotoxin were three times as high as the control group. Both explain the raised levels of TLR4, in part.

According to UC Davis, patients can suppress TLR activity with weight loss and with diet, exercise and medicines that target TLR2 and TLR4. This might prove effective in treating heart disease, diabetes and other conditions linked to metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardio-metabolic risk factors. It is a high-risk state of obesity that increases the risk of developing diabetes at least five-fold and heart disease by two- to four-fold, according to UC Davis.

One third of American adults have metabolic syndrome, according to UC Davis.

The research was published in the February 22 issue of Diabetes Care.

Source: UC Davis Health System

Insulin production may continue decades after type 1 diabetes onset

Janet Otsuki Kuo — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:12:02 +0000

Insulin production may continue for decades after a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, according to Massachusetts General Hospital. The research study appears in the March issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

The researchers also discovered that some type 1 diabetes patients have beta cell function even years after they believed they had lost pancreas function.

More than 180 patients with type 1 diabetes participated in the study. To test for beta cell function, scientists analyzed blood samples for C-peptide, an indicator of insulin secretion.

Results showed that C-peptide production continued to respond to blood glucose levels.

In addition, production could persist for decades after the onset of type 1 diabetes. For example, among participants living with the disease for 31 to 40 years, about 10 percent still produced C-peptide.

The study confirmed that the longer a person has type 1 diabetes, the lower the C-peptide levels. However, researchers discovered that the decline in C-peptide production is gradual and not sudden as traditionally believed for type 1 diabetes.

Researchers also found that beta cell function remained even at very low C-peptide levels.

“Our results contribute to a growing body of evidence suggesting there might be a longer window for therapeutic intervention in this disease,” said Denise Faustman, MD, PhD, associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study.

Researchers said that patients with low C-peptide levels or advanced disease might consider new therapies to preserve or encourage beta cell function and to prevent complications.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body does not produce insulin. This form of the disease affects just 5 percent of all people living with diabetes. It's usually diagnosed in children and young adults.

Source: Massachusetts General Hospital, American Diabetes Association

Sisters Start "Diabetic Angels" Group

InformationAboutDiabetes Staff — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:02:23 +0000

Sisters work together to educate people about diabetes through their organization Diabetic Angels

Pancreatic hormone linked to severe heart damage in people with diabetes

Janet Otsuki Kuo — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:47:04 +0000

A pancreatic hormone called amylin is linked to severe heart damage in people with diabetes and obesity, according to a study conducted at the University of California at Davis.

Researchers found that diabetic and obese patients with heart failure had accumulated strings of proteins, fibers and plaques made of amylin in their hearts. Amylin is the hormone that produces the sensation of satiety after eating.

The UC Davis scientists also found through animal research that the collection of amylin in the heart leads to destruction and failure of the heart muscle.

“Amylin appears to be a stealth killer,” said Florin Despa, assistant professor of pharmacology at UC Davis and senior author of the study that appears in the February 17 issue of the journal Circulation Research.

The study compared normal and failing donated hearts of people undergoing heart-transplant surgery. The normal hearts of lean people had little or no amylin accumulation. Meanwhile, the failing hearts of obese and type 2 diabetes patients had extensive accumulation of amylin in protein strings called oligomers.

In addition, the non-failing hearts of overweight but not obese people also showed a smaller yet nonetheless abnormal buildup of amylin.

Controlling the amount of amylin in the blood could potentially prevent or reduce deaths from heart disease, according to the study.

“Drugs that block amylin from forming into toxic oligomers could significantly reduce the chances of heart failure,” said Despa.

The hormones amylin and insulin circulate together in the blood of healthy people. Amylin regulates gastric fluxes and the feeling of fullness, while the hormone insulin regulates carbohydrate and fat metabolism.

“There is only one amylin protein for every 100 insulin proteins in the blood, so it has been under the radar until recently,” said Despa.

Adults with diabetes have heart disease death rates about two to four times higher than adults without diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.

Sources: University of California at Davis, American Diabetes Association

image by Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator

Foods to Fight Diabetes

InformationAboutDiabetes Staff — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:58:13 +0000

Learn about foods that you can swap out in your daily diet to help prevent diabetes

I am from India, and My Uncle is a Diabitic patient and suffering from intestinal cox disease.. what should be a diet chart and meal plan..

Ehsan Rasheed Siddiqui — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:03:59 +0000

Weight Loss and Control Tips

sophie addison — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:35:10 +0000

Researchers identify new gene variants associated with type 2 diabetes risk

Janet Otsuki Kuo — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:55:31 +0000

The largest genetics study of its kind has identified new gene variants associated with risk for type 2 diabetes, according to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

In all, researchers identified variants in four previously unknown genes associated with type 2 diabetes. They also discovered six new independent genetic signals in known type 2 diabetes genes.

The international study found that gene variants associated with type 2 diabetes risk cross multiple ethnic groups. Most studies until now were based on people of Caucasian ancestry.

Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School analyzed 39 previous studies of multiethnic populations. The study included more than 17,000 people with type 2 diabetes and 70,000 control subjects.

Researchers used a customized gene analysis tool to analyze 50,000 gene variants across 2,100 genes with known associations with cardiovascular and metabolic functions.

“Scientists have identified only about 10 percent of the generic variants contributing to type 2 diabetes, and most previous studies have been based on people of European ancestry,” said senior co-author Brendan J. Keating, PhD, of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Almost 40 gene variants have now been identified to raise or lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. The majority of gene variants remain undiscovered.

This study's genome-wide screening approach in large multi-ethnic samples should be effective in discovering additional diabetes gene variants relevant to multiple ethnic populations, Keating said.

The results of this study may focus attention on biological targets for developing medications to treat type 2 diabetes.

“As we continue to identify more genes associated with type 2 diabetes, we expect that further investigation of their specific biological functions will guide researchers toward new therapies for preventing and treating this disease,” said Keating.

The study appears in the online edition of American Journal of Human Genetics.

Source: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Information about Diabetes : What is Diabetes?

Is sugar free cake mix ok to eat for someone who has type II diabetes

Doctors Important in Battling Diabetes

A diabetes-themed event held by journal Health Affairs talked about how physicians could help in battling the diabetes epidemic

More Videos

New trigger discovered for metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes

Insulin production may continue decades after type 1 diabetes onset

Sisters Start "Diabetic Angels" Group

Sisters work together to educate people about diabetes through their organization Diabetic Angels

More Videos

Pancreatic hormone linked to severe heart damage in people with diabetes

Foods to Fight Diabetes

Learn about foods that you can swap out in your daily diet to help prevent diabetes

More Videos

I am from India, and My Uncle is a Diabitic patient and suffering from intestinal cox disease.. what should be a diet chart and meal plan..

Weight Loss and Control Tips

Researchers identify new gene variants associated with type 2 diabetes risk