A New Clinical Trial Just Made Diabetes Patients Insulin Independent

New research involving pancreatic islet cell implants show promise in treating Type 1 Diabetes, a potentially debilitating form of the disease that affects more than a million people in the U.S. This new treatment might just spell the end for T1D.
With Promising Potential
No matter how modern the world has become, there are certain ailments that continue to persist. One of these is diabetes, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are now over 422 million people in the world suffering from it. Generally characterized as a problem in blood sugar levels, diabetes has two variants — an insulin-dependent one, known as type 1 diabetes (T1D), and type 2 diabetes that’s non-insulin-dependent.
In the United States, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation reports that about 1.25 million people have T1D. The cause of this particular diabetes variant still remains unknown, and treatments generally involve pumping insulin daily into the patient’s body. As such, there’s still no known cure for T1D. However, researchers from the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Florida may have just made it possible to develop one.
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers described how clinical trials involving pancreatic islet cell implants to the omentum — the tissue covering organs in the abdomen — shows promise in treating T1D. “Islet transplantation can restore euglycemia and eliminate severe hypoglycemia in patients with [T1D],” the researchers wrote. “The omentum has a dense vascularized surface Continue reading

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'Smart' insulin hope for diabetes

Scientists are hopeful that "smart" insulins which are undergoing trials could revolutionise the way diabetes is managed.
Instead of repeated blood tests and injections throughout the day to keep blood sugar in check, a single dose of smart insulin would keep circulating in the body and turn on when needed.
Animal studies show the technology appears to work - at least in mice.
Scientists plan to move to human trials soon, PNAS journal reports.
Experts caution that it will take years of testing before treatments could become a reality for patients.
Smart insulin
People with type 1 diabetes, who either do not make or cannot use their own natural insulin, rely on insulin injections to stay well.
Without these, their blood sugar would get dangerously high.
But injecting insulin can also make blood sugar levels dip too low, and people with type 1 diabetes must regularly check their blood glucose levels to make sure they are in the right zone.
Diabetes experts have been searching for ways to make blood sugar control easier and more convenient for patients, which is where "smart" insulins come in.
There are a few different types in development, but all are designed to automatically activate when blood sugar gets too high and switch off again when it returns to normal.
Dr Danny Chou from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been testing a smart insulin that he and his colleagues developed in the lab.
It is a chemically modified version of regular, long-acting insulin.
It has an extra set of molecules stuck on the end that binds it to proteins that circulate in the bloodstr Continue reading

5 Reasons to Test Your Cat for Diabetes

One of my least favorite diagnoses to make in cats is diabetes. I have a deep dislike for feline diabetes because of two indisputable facts:
1) It’s largely preventable and unnecessary
2) It’s a real challenge to treat for many owners
Fortunately, diabetes is also one of those diseases that benefits from early detection. I’d like to share my top five reasons you need to test your cat early and often for diabetes:
One of the most interesting aspects of feline diabetes is its potential reversibility or remission, especially when diagnosed in the earliest stages. Over the past twenty-three years, I’ve seen scores of kitties weaned off insulin when diagnosis and treatment was initiated quickly. Research has shown up to 60% of cats will experience diabetic remission within the first few months of treatment, reports Alice Huang (VMD, DACVIM) from Purdue University. Combining strict blood sugar regulation with precise insulin therapy, changes in diet and weight loss are a recipe for reversing diabetes in many cats. Some cats will remain diabetes-free for many months to years. My advice is to have blood work and urinalysis performed yearly, twice yearly if you have a flabby feline.
Many cat owners focus solely on blood sugar levels. That's good, but too often we forget the continuous and severe damage hyperglycemia is causing throughout the body. The longer diabetes goes unchecked, the more potentially irreversible damage occurs. Prolonged high blood sugar levels can lead to nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy that typically causes weakness in the rear legs), chronic infectio Continue reading

Diabetes & High Blood Pressure: It’s Causes, Symptoms, Treatment & Diet Plan

It is a known fact that diabetes is a disease which is today affecting a large population of people around the globe. Tackling diabetes often becomes really challenging because of the several other complications that it brings along. One of the varied complications includes hypertension or high blood pressure.
Several studies and research fhave established the correlation between the two diseases. While an ideal blood pressure reading for a normal average adult should be 140/90, a person suffering from diabetes is often kept under examination to maintain a blood pressure which is lower than 135/80. This is particularly true of type 2 diabetes. In most of the cases with diabetes patients, this is the first and foremost thing which the doctor would want to ensure.
In the following article, we discuss ‘Diabetes and High Blood Pressure: their relation, causes, symptoms, and whether the same can be treated?’
What is the Meaning of Hypertension or High Blood Pressure?
Let us first begin by understanding the meaning of hypertension or high blood pressure.
Hypertension or high blood pressure refers to a condition in which the flow of blood from the blood vessels and the heart occur with an abnormally high force. Over the period of time, the patient develops a host of complications and cardiovascular diseases.
What is the Relation Between Diabetes and Blood Pressure?
Let us now understand the relation between diabetes and hypertension or high blood pressure.
There is a close relation between the two diseases: diabetes and high blood pressure and if a patient suffers from one of Continue reading

High-Fat Dairy Products, Like Whole Milk And Cream, Can Lower Diabetes Risk

Fats in our diet play an important role in type 2 diabetes development, whether it be good or bad, by affecting glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. A recent study presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria suggests that consuming dairy products high in fat, such as whole milk and cream, can reduce our risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 23 percent.
"Our observations may contribute to clarifying previous findings regarding dietary fats and their food sources in relation to T2D,” lead researcher Dr. Ulrika Ericson said in a statement. “The decreased risk at high intakes of high-fat dairy products, but not of low-fat dairy products, indicate that dairy fat, at least partly, explains observed protective associations between dairy intake and T2D.”
Ericson and her colleagues gathered their data using the population-based Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort that included 26,930 participants between the ages 45-74 years, 60 percent of which were women. After 14 years of follow up, it was determined that 2,860 participants had developed type 2 diabetes. The research team used hazard ratio modeling to determine each participant’s risk of diabetes, which included age, sex, season, diet assessment method version, total energy intake, BMI, leisure time physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and education.
Higher intake of high-fat dairy products lowered the risk of type 2 diabetes by 23 percent in the highest consuming 20 percent of participants (eight portions per day) compared to t Continue reading