Broken Blood Vessels Are The Real Problem In Lifestyle Diseases
Most people think cardiovascular disease is all about heart problems and diabetes, is all about sugar problems and the pancreas. But the heart is a victim of the “real” problem. And the sugar is compounding the “real” problem. So what is the “real” problem ? Blood vessels are the “real” problem. The blood vessels have become damaged and this leads to blocks and breaks which can have some nasty consequences. Heart attacks Strokes Blindness Amputation Blood vessel troubles begin with too little FAS A little fancy molecular biology, allowed scientists at Washington University, to create a very special kind of mouse, the FAS less mice (FASTie). What makes these mice so special, is they are unable to produce the enzyme, fatty acid synthase (FAS) in their blood vessels. The mice can produce the enzyme in the rest of their bodies, so everywhere else things are “normal”. It turns out, the FASTie mice develop broken blood vessels. The reason for this is because without the FAS enzyme, they are unable to produce a type of “molecular glue”, which holds another enzyme, nitric oxide synthase (NOS), onto the cells lining the blood vessels. The process that is defective is called palmitoylation. The absence of the fused NOS becomes problematic, because the cells are not being supplied with sufficient nitric oxide, the chemical produced by the enzyme. Nitric oxide is a very important messenger so the blood vessels can’t function properly. They become leaky when damaged and the repair process is flawed. So who cares ? Insulin instigates FAS shortages People suffering from diabetes, both type 1 (too little insulin) and type 2 (too much insulin), typically have very low levels of this enzyme in their blood vessels. So in diabetics, NOS is not able to bond to the Continue reading >>
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The Effects Of Diabetes On Your Body
When you hear the word “diabetes,” your first thought is likely about high blood sugar. Blood sugar is an often-underestimated component of your health. When it’s out of whack over a long period of time, it could develop into diabetes. Diabetes affects your body’s ability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that allows your body to turn glucose (sugar) into energy. Here’s what symptoms may occur to your body when diabetes takes effect. Diabetes can be effectively managed when caught early. However, when left untreated, it can lead to potential complications that include heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and nerve damage. Normally after you eat or drink, your body will break down sugars from your food and use them for energy in your cells. To accomplish this, your pancreas needs to produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin is what facilitates the process of pulling sugar from the blood and putting it in the cells for use, or energy. If you have diabetes, your pancreas either produces too little insulin or none at all. The insulin can’t be used effectively. This allows blood glucose levels to rise while the rest of your cells are deprived of much-needed energy. This can lead to a wide variety of problems affecting nearly every major body system. The effects of diabetes on your body also depends on the type you have. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2. Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is an immune system disorder. Your own immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, destroying your body’s ability to make insulin. With type 1 diabetes, you must take insulin to live. Most people are diagnosed as a child or young adult. Type 2 is related to insulin resistance. It used to occur i Continue reading >>
Endothelial Dysfunction And Diabetes: Effects On Angiogenesis, Vascular Remodeling, And Wound Healing
Go to: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by inappropriate hyperglycemia due to lack of or resistance to insulin. Patients with DM are frequently afflicted with ischemic vascular disease or wound healing defect. It is well known that type 2 DM causes amplification of the atherosclerotic process, endothelial cell dysfunction, glycosylation of extracellular matrix proteins, and vascular denervation. These complications ultimately lead to impairment of neovascularization and diabetic wound healing. Therapeutic angiogenesis remains an attractive treatment modality for chronic ischemic disorders including PAD and/or diabetic wound healing. Many experimental studies have identified better approaches for diabetic cardiovascular complications, however, successful clinical translation has been limited possibly due to the narrow therapeutic targets of these agents or the lack of rigorous evaluation of pathology and therapeutic mechanisms in experimental models of disease. This paper discusses the current body of evidence identifying endothelial dysfunction and impaired angiogenesis during diabetes. Go to: 1. Introduction Endothelial cell dysfunction (ECD) is a broad term which implies dysregulation of endothelial cell functions, including impairment of the barrier functions of endothelial cells, vasodilation, disturbances in proliferative capacities, migratory as well as tube formation properties, angiogenic properties, attenuation of synthetic function, and deterrence of white blood cells from adhesion and diapedesis [1]. Several factors contribute to ECD including smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, obesity, hyperglycemia, advance glycation end products (AGEs), and genetic factors [1, 2]. Diabetes is a chronic metab Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Your Brain
By Terri D'Arrigo WebMD Feature Your brain is a finely tuned organ. But it’s sensitive to the amount of sugar, or glucose, it receives as fuel. Whether you have type 1 or type 2, both the high blood glucose of uncontrolled diabetes and the low blood glucose that sometimes comes with diabetes treatment can affect your brain. The Dangers of High Blood Glucose Some of diabetes’ effects on the brain aren’t obvious right away, especially when they are related to high blood sugar. “With diabetes, you have an increased risk of damage to blood vessels over time, including damage to the small blood vessels in the brain. This damage affects the brain’s white matter,” says Joseph C. Masdeu, MD, PhD, of the Houston Methodist Neurological Institute. White matter is the part of the brain where nerves talk to one another. When the nerves in the brain are damaged, you can have changes in thinking called vascular cognitive impairment or vascular dementia. Vascular cognitive impairment can happen with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but there are some differences in risk, says Joel Zonszein, MD, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “The longer you have diabetes [in general], the more of a chance there is of developing dementia, but we see much less of it in people with type 1 whose diabetes is well-controlled,” he says. People with type 2 may face a double-whammy because they tend to have other problems that also can cause blood vessel damage. “These patients tend to be less metabolically fit overall, with low HDL [“good”] cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure, and they are more likely to be obese,” Zonszein says. Diabetes can combine with these other problems to create inflammation that damages bl Continue reading >>
How Can Diabetes Affect The Heart And Blood Vessels?
ANSWER Heart disease and blood vessel disease are common problems for many people who don't have their diabetes under control. You're at least twice as likely to have heart problems and strokes as people who don't have the condition. Blood vessel damage or nerve damage may also cause foot problems that, in rare cases, can lead to amputations. People with diabetes are 10 times likelier to have their toes and feet removed than those without the disease. Continue reading >>
Diabetes Complications
High blood sugar (glucose) that circulates in the bloodstream instead of being absorbed into cells damages nerves and blood vessels throughout the body and, ultimately, the major organs such as the kidneys and heart. It has been said that there isn’t a system in the body that isn’t affected by diabetes. The good news is that diabetes can be managed and the risk of developing complications significantly reduced. A nationwide study conducted from 1983-1993 called the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial showed that when blood sugar levels are checked consistently throughout the day – and kept close to normal – complications of the disease can be reduced by as much as 70 percent. This method is also referred to as "tight control" of blood sugar and has become standard of care in diabetes management. Diabetic Neuropathy (Nerve Damage) Approximately 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage. Often the first symptoms of diabetes are tingling, numbness or pain in some part of the body, which is an indication that nerves have been damaged. Neuropathy from diabetes can affect many different parts of the body, including the lower limbs (legs, feet), the bladder and the gastrointestinal tract. Several theories exist as to why diabetes has such a devastating effect on the nervous system. One theory holds that excess sugar in the bloodstream reacts negatively with an enzyme in the cells surrounding the nerves and damages them. Another theory suggests that decreased blood flow to nerves, from damaged blood vessels caused by diabetes, results in neuropathy. In general, there are three types of neuropathy: sensory, autonomic and motor. Sensory neuropathy is the most common, affecting how we perceive temperature, texture and pain. Autono Continue reading >>
Blood Vessels
Tweet Blood vessels are vital for the body and play a key role in diabetes helping to transport glucose and insulin. Blood vessels can be damaged by the effects of high blood glucose levels and this can in turn cause damage to organs, such as the heart and eyes, if significant blood vessel damage is sustained. About blood vessels The three main types of blood vessels are: Arteries Capillaries Veins Arteries carry blood to the organs and muscles. Capillaries are very small blood vessels which transfer oxygen and nutrients to cells and collect waste products from the cells. Veins are the blood vessels which carry deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Blood vessels role in blood sugar levels Blood vessels play an important role in diabetes as they carry glucose in the blood as well as hormones such as insulin. Too much glucose in the blood leads to the symptoms of diabetes. The body requires insulin to enable glucose to pass from the blood vessels into the cells that need energy. In type 1 diabetes In untreated type 1 diabetes, there is not enough insulin in the blood to help transport glucose into the body’s cells. Type 2 diabetes In type 2 diabetes, the primary problem is that the body is unable to respond adequately to the presence of insulin, and this also prevents glucose from being transported out of the blood into cells. How diabetes damages blood vessels High blood glucose levels over long periods of time are known to lead to the blood vessels becoming damaged. How the damage occurs is not so well understood but researchers have hypothesised how the damage may occur. Medical theory notes that molecules known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are involved in the damage that is sustained by blood vessels. AGEs are the result of fats and proteins that have b Continue reading >>
Why Are Only Certain Organs Damaged?
Copyright 1996 by Diabetes Services, Inc. Cell health depends on a steady supply of fuel from glucose and free fatty acids. These two major fuels are both regulated by insulin released directly into the blood from beta cells in the pancreas. From the blood, an insulin molecule crosses the blood vessel wall and attaches to an insulin receptor on the outer wall of a muscle, liver or fat cell. This attachment triggers the movement of glucose into the interior of the cell, where it can be converted into energy for metabolism, repair and defense. In contrast to the complicated transport system for glucose, and to the chagrin of many, fat moves easily across cell membranes. If insulin levels are too low, less glucose enters cells, but more glucose is released by the liver and more fat is released from fat cells. So a low insulin level causes not only a high blood sugar but it also causes more fat to enter the blood. Cells in the muscle, liver, and fat need insulin to receive glucose. The first group of cells that need insulin, those in muscle, liver, and fat, do not become exposed to high internal glucose levels when the blood sugars are high and insulin levels are low. The lack of insulin slows the movement of glucose into these cells, and probably spares them from damage when blood sugars are high. However, other cells such as those in the brain, nervous system, heart, blood vessels and kidneys pick up glucose directly from the blood without using insulin. These cells, except the brain, are more prone to damage from high blood sugars because they become exposed to high internal levels of glucose. This is one reason why damage tends to occur in these areas of the body, such as in nerve and kidney cells, and in small blood vessels like those in the eyes. They always have the Continue reading >>
High Blood-sugar Levels Seen To Affect How Blood Vessels Contract
A new research study has demonstrated, for the first time, how high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) influence the heart and blood pressure. According to the study, higher glycemia levels affect how blood vessels contract, making for stronger contractions than at normal physiological sugar levels. Specifically, the researchers found that increasing glucose levels to those that might be found after a large meal altered vascular contraction. The study was conducted by researchers at the Leicester University‘s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, and led by Dr. Richard Rainbow, lecturer in Cardiovascular Cell Physiology. Titled “Distinct and complementary roles for α and β isoenzymes of protein kinase C in mediating vasoconstrictor responses to acutely elevated glucose,” it was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. The research team investigated the mechanism behind the narrowing of blood vessels by studying the impact of glucose on arterial myocytes, the cells that compose arterial tissue and blood vessels. It used electrophysiology and myography techniques, methods that allow muscle assessment by measuring its electrical properties. Heart attacks result when coronary arteries become blocked, and prevent blood from reaching heart muscle. Research has shown that higher glucose levels can make such blockage more severe, leading to a higher risk of complications. According to Dr. Rainbow, the study showed “that the amount of sugar, or glucose, in the blood changes the behaviour of blood vessels, making them contract more than normal. This could result in higher blood pressure, or could reduce the amount of blood that flows through vital organs.” “Here, we have identified [that] a known signaling protein family, protein kinase C, is a key part of Continue reading >>
Blood Vessel Damage May Occur Even Before Prediabetes Stage
A long-term British research study shows that even before people reach a prediabetes stage of elevated blood sugar levels, damage to their blood vessels may have already occurred. The study found the existence of certain biochemical markers in the blood that can signal the eventual onset of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Although their presence occurs before the onset of elevated blood sugars—the traditional benchmark for determining diabetic conditions—researchers found that they can cause blood vessel damage well before a diagnosis. The scientists at The University of Manchester and King’s College in London tracked changes in blood fat metabolites among young women who were determined to have varying risks of developing type 2. (Metabolites are substances necessary to or a product of metabolic functioning.) They found that changes in blood metabolites took place and could be detected long before changes in blood glucose levels. They also found that some amino acids and vitamin D levels changed before blood glucose increases could be detected. One distressing finding is that changed blood fat metabolites led to damaged blood vessels, meaning that even before some study subjects had reached prediabetes or type 2 stages, they already had experienced some of the complications of the disease.The study’s lead author, Prof. Kennedy Cruickshank, said the study may lead to a new definition of type 2 diabetes—one that leads back to blood fat metabolites in the prediabetes stage as an indicator of the disease rather than just a reliance on blood glucose measurements. However, there’s still work to be done before the UK research leads to a new or more comprehensive test for incipient type 2. The researchers say a look at all of the chemicals in the blood will be nec Continue reading >>
Why Does Eye Damage Occur?
Thu, 11/18/2010 - 16:35 -- Richard Morris Loss of vision in diabetes occurs largely through blood vessel damage. With high blood sugars, damage can occur to blood vessels throughout the body in three ways: Leakage: high blood sugars cause damage to individual cells and later shows up as damage to structures like capillaries, the smallest of blood vessels. Endothelial cells, which form a very smooth surface on the inner walls of blood vessels, and helper cells, called pericytes, are especially damaged by excess sugar. These cells lose the electrical charge normally found at their surface due to inactivation of mineral transporting enzymes and to depletion of energy resources in the high blood sugar environment. As damage progresses, the blood vessel walls starts to become porous, letting proteins and other materials leak out abnormally. Blood vessel blockage: high blood sugars cause partial and total blockages within existing blood vessels. Blockage of capillaries is found in background retinopathy, but a more serious form of blockage to arterioles occurs in preproliferative and proliferative retinopathy. Arteriolar blockage slows the delivery of oxygen and other nutrients that are required to maintain cell health. The oxygen deficit in turn can trigger release of growth factors. Abnormal growth: as blood vessels become blocked and oxygen deprivation begins, excess growth factors start to be released to promote the growth of new blood vessel, or neovascularization. Among these various growth factors, one called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF, is found in the endothelial cells lining these blood vessels. Retinal blood vessels have three times as many receptors for VEGF as vessels elsewhere, and the oxygen deficit dramatically raises VEGF levels. VEGF is belie Continue reading >>
How Does Diabetes Affect Blood Vessels?
As complicated as the disease is, diabetes is known to cause adverse effects on different body parts and organs. Uncontrolled diabetes causes high levels of blood glucose which causes damage and disruptions to the blood vessels which include the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. Each of these is responsible for their own individual functions and diabetes can lead to a complete destruction of the same. In this article, we shall try to analyze the causes as to how does diabetes affect the blood vessels of the patient’s body. How Can Complications in Diabetes Affect the Blood Vessels? It is a well-known fact that various diabetic complications can lead to damage caused in various blood vessels of the body. When blood vessels of a particular organ are damaged effectively, the particular organ ceases to function in a normal healthy manner. The organs which are at a higher risk owing to diabetes and its related complications include the heart, the eyes, the human brain, as well as those of the kidneys. Effect of Diabetes on the Blood Vessels Diabetes has a damaging effect on the normal functioning of the blood vessels due to the following reasons: In diabetes, patients often suffer from high levels of blood glucose. In the long run, the high blood glucose proves damaging to the various blood vessels of the body. Nitric oxide is an important element which smoothness function of the blood vessels. The high blood glucose levels slow the release of this important element with the result that the blood vessels of the patient tend to narrow down over a period of time. If you are someone who suffers from diabetes and its related complications, the blood will often carry what is known as Advanced Glycation End Products or AGEs as they are called. AGEs are the result of a pr Continue reading >>
Researchers Discover Root Cause Of Blood Vessel Damage In Diabetes
A key mechanism that appears to contribute to blood vessel damage in people with diabetes has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Blood vessel problems are a common diabetes complication. Many of the nearly 26 million Americans with the disease face the prospect of amputations, heart attack, stroke and vision loss because of damaged vessels. Reporting in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Washington University researchers say studies in mice show that the damage appears to involve two enzymes, fatty acid synthase (FAS) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), that interact in the cells that line blood vessel walls. “We already knew that in diabetes there’s a defect in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels,” says first author Xiaochao Wei, PhD. “People with diabetes also have depressed levels of fatty acid synthase. But this is the first time we’ve been able to link those observations together.” Wei is a postdoctoral research scholar in the lab of Clay F. Semenkovich, MD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine, professor of cell biology and physiology and chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research. Wei studied mice that had been genetically engineered to make FAS in all of their tissues except the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. These so-called FASTie mice experienced problems in the vessels that were similar to those seen in animals with diabetes. “It turns out that there are strong parallels between the complete absence of FAS and the deficiencies in FAS induced by lack of insulin and by insulin resistance,” Semenkovich says. Comparing FASTie mice to normal animals, as well as to mice with diabetes, Wei and Semenkovich determined that mice without F Continue reading >>
How High Blood Sugars Damage Blood Vessels
Researchers have gained fresh insights into how elevated glucose levels damage blood vessels. The mechanism could lead to novel strategies for blocking the destruction. High glucose levels reduce the levels of the powerful vasodilator nitric oxide in blood vessels, a shortfall that increases the risk of high blood pressure and eventually narrows down the vessels. Rita C. Tostes, physiologist in the MCG School of Medicine, found that decreased ability of blood vessels to relax resulted from increased activity of a natural mechanism for altering protein form and function. The researchers suspect that increased modification of proteins by a glucose-derived molecule is a player in vascular problems associated with hypertension, stroke and obesity as well. Tostes stated that, “We know diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and we think this is one of the reasons.” In the study conducted on healthy mice, the researchers found that there was an increased activity by O-GlcNAc in the blood vessels, which competes with another mechanism for modifying proteins called phosphorylation. In blood vessels, phosphorylation modifies the enzyme that produces nitric oxide, called nitric oxide synthase, so that it makes more of the blood vessel dilator. O-GlcNAc seems to beat phosphorylation to the punch so there is the opposite result. Victor Lima, a graduate student at the University of Sao Paulo working with Dr. Tostes stated that, “The longer O-GlcNAc levels were high, the worse the resulting problem.” An animal model of hypertension confirmed the finding that the more O-GlcNAc, the more blood vessels contract because these animals had higher O-GlcNAc levels. “Now we are trying to see why this is happening and what comes first. Is increased blood pressure l Continue reading >>
Mouse Study Reveals Mechanism Behind Diabetes Blood Vessel Damage
It is well known that diabetes wreaks havoc on the vascular system. In fact, vascular complications arising from diabetes are the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and cardiovascular problems in the U.S. And yet, the physiological mechanisms that link diabetes, which afflicts 26 million Americans, to sickly blood vessels are poorly understood. Researchers have now identified key interactions among two enzymes that may help connect the dots between insulin control and the integrity of blood vessels. The two enzymes work in tandem to regulate the production of nitric oxide, a gas that relaxes blood vessels. The findings, shown in mice, could provide targets for drugs that would be designed to prevent and offset vascular damage. "Sadly, most people with diabetes will die from vascular complications," says Clay Semenkovich of Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine, co-author of the study published January 28 in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Diabetes contributes to large blood vessel damage associated with common cardiovascular problems such as stroke and heart disease, but diabetes also deteriorates small blood vessels found in the eyes, kidneys and around nerves. "Small-vessel disease is fairly specific for diabetes, while large-vessel disease also occurs in people without diabetes, especially smokers," Semenkovich says. As a metabolic disease, diabetes causes a cascade of problems, many linked to high blood levels of glucose and lipids. "Increased sugars and fats promote oxidative stress—the production of excessive amounts of oxygen-derived free radicals that can damage blood vessels," according to Semenkovich. The damage manifests as inflammation. Nitric oxide, produced by the enzyme nitric-oxide synthase (NOS), helps reduce inflammatio Continue reading >>
