Artificial Sweeteners May Increase Risk Of Type Two Diabetes, Finds Study

Artificial sweeteners may increase risk of type two diabetes, finds study

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Artificial sweeteners may increase risk of type two diabetes, finds study
Consuming artificial sweeteners might raise the risk of developing type two diabetes, new research suggests.
The study was conducted by professors at the University of Adelaide in Australia and looked at whether ingesting significant amounts of artificial sweeteners would affect the body’s ability to control glucose levels in the blood.
They recruited 27 healthy participants and gave some of them capsules containing artificial sweeteners, an amount equivalent to five cans of diet drinks.
The capsules contained sucralose and acesulfame K and had to be taken three times a day for two weeks.
The others took placebo capsules.
Once the study was over, tests were taken which showed that those who were consuming artificial sweeteners had damaged their body’s ability to manage glucose, which could subsequently lead to developing type two diabetes in the long run.
Participants’ blood sugar levels were obviously higher after consuming the sweeteners, whereas their gut peptides, which prevent the surge of blood glucose levels after eating and drinking, were impaired.
“This study supports the concept that artificial sweeteners could reduce the body’s control of blood sugar levels and highlights the potential for exaggerated post-meal glucose levels in high habitual NAS [non-caloric artificial sweeteners] users, which could predispose them to develop type 2 diabetes,” the study’s authors said, whose findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Lisbon, Por Continue reading

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Diabetes: New pathway to treatment suggested by protein culprit

What is the link between anxiety and diabetes? New research shows that a protein related to the development of anxiety and depression may also play a role in triggering diabetes. Scientists from the Max Planck Institutes hypothesize that an antagonist compound could be used to block its effect.
The main known causes for type 2 diabetes so far include obesity and lack of physical exercise — both of which can lead to insulin resistance — as well as a family history of the condition.
Insulin resistance occurs when muscles, liver, and fat cells become unable to use insulin appropriately, which ultimately leads to a dangerous rise in blood glucose levels.
Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, have found that a protein called FKBP51 may also play a role in triggering type 2 diabetes.
The protein has so far been associated with anxiety and depression; it contributes to the regulation of the stress system. When the gene that controls the production of FKBP51 suffers a mutation, this can lead to dysregulation of the stress system, which, in turn, can cause mental health disorders.
Mathias Schmidt — lead researcher of the current study — and colleagues have recently noted that the FKBP51 protein also contributes to forming a molecular link between the stress system and the regulation of various metabolic functions. This may make FKBP51 responsible for the onset of metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
The team's findings have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Protein reacts to metabolic stress
Schmid Continue reading

Are You Staying Informed With New Diabetes Treatments?

Poll finds less than half of health care professionals aware of newest drug up for FDA approval.
By Steve Freed, R.Ph., Diabetes Educator, Publisher
In the past two years, more than 30 medications have come to the market, and more than 475 additional diabetes drugs are in the works to get approved.
To test the knowledge of endocrinologists, 149 endocrinologists responded to a survey about a new drug that the FDA is looking to approve shortly. The drug, ertugliflozin, met the primary outcomes in two year-long phase 3 trials, VERTIS SU and VERTIS SITA2 and only 45% of the physicians said they had heard of the drug. Of those, 20% knew it only by name and only 5% were “very familiar” with it.
Ertugliflozin is an investigational oral sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor aimed at improving glycemic control in adults. It is expected to be approved before the end of the year, which would make it the fourth drug in its class to market.
Respondents were asked, after reading the clinical trial data provided about the drug and assuming ertugliflozin is approved and performs as described, how long they thought it would take for them to start prescribing. Only 7% answered that they would start prescribing within the first week, another 18% said they would prescribe it in the first month, and nearly half (46%) said they would prescribe it within 2 to 6 months. Just more than 1 in 5 (21%) said they would likely wait at least 9 months before prescribing.
Among the 113 endocrinologists who anticipated prescribing ertugliflozin, the main reason given was efficacy (58% answer Continue reading

How Fresno Man Started Biking and Reversed Type 2 Diabetes

FRESNO — Jaime Rangel holds a bike tire and begins checking with his hands for thorns and other sharp objects that might be puncturing the tire’s rubber tread. His fingers, stained with black patches of oil, move quickly and seamlessly. He’s done this type of work dozens of times before.
All around him, a steady stream of kids line up to get their bikes’ flat tires and faulty brakes fixed at this free event at a park in southeast Fresno.
The free bike repairs are a preamble to the Cumbia Ride, a group bike ride with Latin American dance music started last year by Fresno’s Cultiva la Salud to promote biking and a healthier lifestyle among Latino families.
Rangel, 26, says he’s here fixing bikes because he relates to many of the young riders at the event — kids who can’t afford to have their bikes repaired.
“When I was a kid, no one showed me how to fix a bike,” he says. “My mom never took me to a bike shop because we grew up low income, so everything I had to learn from scratch.”
Rangel makes a point of showing those skills to the kids and parents lingering by their bikes. He wants young people and adults, especially in working-class neighborhoods like southeast Fresno, to be able to bike more to fend off chronic illnesses such as diabetes.
Rangel speaks from personal experience.
Facing Type 2 Diabetes as a Teen
Rangel was just 14 and living with his family in Los Angeles when he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are risk factors for the illness. While he was tall — 6-foot-1 — he weighed 260 pounds.
It’s been Continue reading

Diabetes at Work: Your Rights and Benefits

By Isabel Chin, Lynn Kennedy, and Jeemin Kwon
Breaking down employer-based health insurance, employee health benefits, and employee rights for people with diabetes
The most common type of health insurance coverage in the US is employer-based insurance, covering almost 50% of all Americans in 2015. Despite its prominence, employer-based health insurance can be challenging to navigate, and living with diabetes makes the process of understanding and accessing employee health benefits like insurance all the more critical. This guide breaks down employer-based insurance, employee health benefits, and the rights of people with diabetes in the workplace.
We hope this guide helps you better understand employer-based insurance, maximize your health through work benefits, and know and protect your workplace rights as a person with diabetes.
In this article, you can read about (click a particular section to jump right to it!):
What to do to maintain employer-based health insurance after a major life event like losing a job
Employer-Based Health Insurance: The Basics
Currently, all US employers with over 50 full-time employees are required to provide health insurance that meets certain standards of affordability otherwise they face a fine. While small businesses are not required to offer health insurance to their employees, many companies will so they can take advantage of tax credits.
It is important to understand what coverage and health benefits your employer offers in order to choose the right insurance plan for you. Job-based health plans are required to provide a “Summary of Be Continue reading