A Patient With Diabetes No Longer Needs Insulin After Receiving A Bioengineered “Pancreas”

A year after receiving a new type of islet cell transplant to treat her severe diabetes, a patient continues to do well and no longer needs insulin injections to manage her disease.
A Happy Anniversary
Even the most exciting breakthrough medical treatment can be rendered obsolete by a particularly insurmountable obstacle: time. If a treatment only works temporarily, it has little chance of making a significant difference in the lives of patients, which is why the latest news from the University of Miami’s Diabetes Research Institute is so exciting.
A year after transplanting insulin-producing islet cells into the omentum of a woman with a particularly unwieldy form of type 1 diabetes, the cells continue to operate as hoped. She no longer needs to receive insulin via injections or an insulin pump and is in good health.
By using the omentum, a fatty membrane in the belly, as the transplant site, the researchers were able to avoid complications associated with the traditionally used site, the liver. The longterm goal of the research is to identify a suitable location for a pancreas-mimicking mini-organ called the BioHub. Based on this patient’s response, the omentum is looking like it just may be the ideal spot.
A Better Life
Prior to this transplant, the patient’s entire life revolved around her diabetes. “Her quality of life was severely impacted. She had to move in with her parents. And, if she traveled, she had to travel with her father,” the study’s lead author, Dr. David Baidal, told HealthDay.
Unfortunately, she’s not alone in having diabetes control her l Continue reading

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Rising insulin prices forcing Hoosiers with diabetes to make tough choices

INDIANAPOLIS (Statehouse File) – For six years, Erin Roberts worked two jobs in order to afford the life-saving medication her son depends on.
“It was really hard,” she said. “I feel like I missed a lot of family life because I was working as a registered nurse, and so I would work five 12-hour shifts a week.”
When he was 2 years old, Roberts’ son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a disease that occurs when the body does not properly process the food it needs for energy.
The pancreas, an organ that lies near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin, which is needed to transform the sugar from foods into energy. Without it, the body’s glucose levels can rise dangerously, resulting in potentially life-threatening situations.
But while necessary for survival, families across the country are finding it increasingly difficult to afford their diabetes medication.
Roberts, who requested her name be changed for the purpose of this article, said she didn’t want her son to feel like his diabetes was a burden on their family.
“I try not to let our son know how his disease affects our family financially,” she said. “I know he’s somewhat aware, but I don’t want that to be something he feels bad about.”
As a nurse practitioner, Roberts works with disadvantaged diabetic Hoosiers, many of whom are at a loss for how they way pay for their insulin.
The price of an order of insulin per patient increased from roughly $230 in 2002 to more than $700 in 2013, according to an analysis published in 2016 for the Journal of the American Medical Association. An order c Continue reading

12 Benefits Of Turmeric In Diabetes [UPDATED]

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition wherein blood sugar levels in the body remain high as the body fails to regulate it. Insulin is the hormone that plays a vital role in this disease.
It is produced by the pancreas and it controls the blood sugar. Blood sugar or glucose acts as a fuel for various cellular activities. Insulin moves glucose from blood to muscles, fat and liver cells where it is stored or used as fuel.
In diabetes either little insulin or insulin resistance hampers this transformation of glucose and in turn tends to affect the body negatively. There are three main types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes: It is caused due to lack of insulin production.
Type 2 diabetes: It is caused due to failure of cells to respond to insulin appropriately.
Gestational diabetes: It occurs during pregnancy due to high blood glucose levels.
Type 1 diabetes is not treatable while Type 2 can be cured by use of medications with or without insulin and lifestyle changes. Turmeric is a perennial herb that is cultivated mainly in Asia as a spice.
Numerous research studies have proven the use of turmeric in treating diabetes and its complications. This article goes over various studies and developments made in utilizing the medicinal properties of turmeric to cure or prevent pathological conditions associated with diabetes.
Composition of Turmeric
The bioactive properties of turmeric are attributed to various components isolated from its rhizome. The important components are curcuminoids and the volatile oil.
Curcuminoids comprise of curcumin, monodemethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycur Continue reading

Alpha Lipoic Acid: Improve Insulin Sensitivity & Fight Diabetes!

What is it about foods like broccoli and spinach that make them so healthy? There’s the fiber, vitamins and minerals, of course, but then there’s other important chemical compounds we call “antioxidants” too — like alpha lipoic acid (ALA).
Chances are you’ve heard a lot about the many benefits of various antioxidants and high-antioxidant foods — fighting inflammation, helping beat cancer or heart disease, warding off depression and cognitive decline, and so much more — but have you ever wondered what exactly antioxidants are and how they work in the body?
Alpha lipoic acid — one kind of antioxidant — is a type of compound found in plant foods we commonly eat that scavenges free radicals, fights inflammation and slows the aging process. But perhaps its most famous use is in treating diabetes naturally.
Humans also make a small amount of ALA on their own, although the concentration in our bloodstreams goes up substantially when we eat a healthy diet. Naturally abundant in foods like green veggies, potatoes and certain types of yeast, lipoic acid is similar to a vitamin in that it can also be man-made in a lab so it can be taken as an anti-inflammatory supplement (which is then called alpha lipoic acid).
How Alpha Lipoic Acid Works
Lipoic acid is found in the body and also synthesized by plants and animals. It’s present in every cell inside the body and helps turn glucose into “fuel” for the body to run off of. Is it “essential” that you consume a certain doseage of alpha lipoic acid every day? Not exactly.
Even though we can make some of it on ou Continue reading

The Power of Potassium

We’ve talked about several different minerals in past blog entries. Potassium is the mineral of choice for this week’s post for several reasons, and it’s a mineral that people with kidney problems should be sure to pay close attention to.
What potassium does in the body
First, let’s explore what potassium does in the body. This mineral is often referred to as an “electrolyte.” Electrolytes are electrically charged particles, called ions, which our cells use to maintain voltage across our cell membranes and carry electrical impulses, such as nerve impulses, to other cells. (Bet you didn’t think you had all this electrical activity in your body, did you?) Some of the main electrolytes in our bodies, besides potassium, are sodium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium. Your kidneys help regulate the amount of electrolytes in the body.
Potassium’s job is to help nerve conduction, help regulate your heartbeat, and help your muscles contract. It also works to maintain proper fluid balance between your cells and body fluids. The body is a fine-tuned machine in that, as long as it’s healthy and functioning properly, things will work as they should. This means that, as long as your kidneys are working up to par, they’ll regulate the amount of potassium that your body needs. However, people with diabetes who have kidney disease need to be especially careful of their potassium intake, as levels can get too high in the body when the kidneys don’t work as they should. Too much potassium is just as dangerous as too little.
Your physician can measure the amount of potassi Continue reading