Cure For Type 1 Diabetes A Step Closer

Cure for type 1 diabetes a step closer

Research into a possible cure for type 1 diabetes has taken an "important step forward," according to the latest research by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
The study, which was published in journals Nature Medicine and Nature Biotechnology on Monday, builds on work by the Harvard Stem Cell Institute which last year discovered a way of creating beta cells (whose primary function is to store and release insulin) which could then be implanted in mice and, it is hoped in future, humans with diabetes.
Now, in the latest development, scientists and researchers at MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with other university experts, have developed an implantable device that could prevent those implanted insulin-producing cells from being attacked by the immune system for six months – effectively allowing the insulin-producing cells to do their job.
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that causes a person's blood sugar (glucose) level to become too high. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system kills off the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Daily injections of insulin are the primary treatment, but are only partially successful in regulating patients' metabolism.
If a device could be implanted into diabetics that could prevent those insulin-producing cells from being attacked, it could be a huge leap forward in terms of research. The results could have an impact on health provision around the world as diabetes ranks as one of the leading causes of death in America.
Type 1 diabetes differs from type 2 Continue reading

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What is the future for diabetes treatment?

The future of treating Type 1 diabetes
There are few conditions that science has made such a fundamental impact on as Type 1 diabetes - the first use of insulin in the 1920s transformed it from a death sentence into something people can live with.
But even today, Type 1 diabetes typically involves a lifetime of daily injections and, on average, people with it die younger than the rest of the population. This is why we urgently need more research into the condition.
Diabetes: type 1 vs. type 2
In type 1 diabetes, the body is unable to produce any insulin
In type 2 diabetes, not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is made by the body doesn't work properly
One of the most exciting areas of research is islet cell transplants. These involves taking the islet cells - the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin - from dead donors and putting them into people with Type 1 diabetes, whose own islet cells have stopped working.
Diabetes UK funded the UK's first 15 islet cell transplants. It is now available on the NHS and 34 people have benefited since 2005.
The treatment is very effective. However, there are still issues to solve. The transplanted cells only last for a few years; there is a very limited supply of cells; and it is difficult to stop the body rejecting them.
We are already funding research that will help to solve these issues. The results should make islet transplants more successful and available to more people in the next few years.
Artificial pancreas
We are also funding research into the artificial pancreas, a combination of electronic devices that work Continue reading

How I Lost 140 Pounds, Cured My Type 2 Diabetes, and Saved Thousands in Medications

In 2010, my doctor suggested that I purchase a funeral plot, because I would most likely need one within five years unless I lost weight and got my chronic health conditions under control. I was 51 years old and taking well over $1,000 in medications per month. I had type 2 diabetes; my total cholesterol was 300; my blood pressure was 160/100; I was about 320 pounds at 5’10”, my waist was 52 inches, and my shirt size was 3XL. I was constantly exhausted and sleeping ten to twelve hours each night. It was becoming harder and harder to walk, and I couldn’t tie my shoes or walk up a few stairs without becoming out of breath. I was single but hadn’t been on a date in 15 years and stopped attempting to maintain friendships or even leave my home except when absolutely necessary.
I had been overweight for 30 years and was morbidly obese. I had tried most of the fad diets marketed for weight loss in this country, including Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, and many more. I used my best efforts to follow each of those diets, and was usually able to lose some weight. But eventually I found all of them to be unsustainable, and when each failed I quickly regained the temporary weight loss, plus an extra ten pounds. And then I would resume eating packaged and processed foods that were delivered to my home or served to me through the window of my car.
My final straw came in August 2010, as I was returning home from a business trip. My flight was delayed when my airline ran out of seat belt extensions, and the regular seatbelt was too short for me to buckle. As my Continue reading

This Extreme Diet Reversed Type 2 Diabetes in Up to 86% of Patients

Type 2 diabetes isn't necessarily for life, with a new clinical trial providing some of the clearest evidence yet that the condition can be reversed, even in patients who have carried the disease for several years.
A clinical trial involving almost 300 people in the UK found an intensive weight management program put type 2 diabetes into remission for 86 percent of patients who lost 15 kilograms (33 lbs) or more.
"These findings are very exciting," says diabetes researcher Roy Taylor from Newcastle University.
"They could revolutionise the way type 2 diabetes is treated."
Taylor and fellow researchers studied 298 adults aged 20-65 years who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within the previous six years to take part in the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT).
Participants were randomly assigned to either an intensive weight management program or to regular diabetic care administered by their GP, acting as a control group.
For the 149 individuals placed in the weight management program, participants had to restrict themselves to a low calorie formula diet consisting of things like health shakes and soups, limiting them to consuming 825-853 calories per day for a period of three to five months.
After this, food was reintroduced to their diet slowly over two to eight weeks, and participants were given support to maintain their weight loss, including cognitive behavioural therapy and help with how to increase their level of physical activity.
Not an easy lifestyle change to adapt to, perhaps; but where there's a will, there's a way.
"We've found that people were re Continue reading

Type 2 Diabetes and Peripheral Neuropathy: To Walk or Not to Walk?

It is now well known that engaging in light to moderate physical activity on a regular basis is of significant value for most people that have either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. In fact the American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes should get a minimum of 150 minutes of light to moderate exercise per week including aerobic and resistance training.
What the ADA says...
It has also been recommended that people with peripheral diabetic neuropathy that have reduced or absent feeling in their feet should not engage in any form of weight bearing exercise activity. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy should limit the amount of weight-bearing physical activity they perform due to their increased risk of foot ulcers and amputation (1, 2). This is based on the fact that with peripheral neuropathy there is either a decreased ability or total inability in the feet to feel pain or discomfort.
As an example, standing barefoot on hot asphalt maybe in a parking lot in the middle of the summer would be very uncomfortable for someone with normal sensation in their feet, however go unnoticed for someone with peripheral neuropathy. Similarly, the person with peripheral neuropathy may develop a painful nickel-sized blister after walking too far or when wearing new shoes and not even feel it. Without daily inspection of the ankles and feet (which a lot of people do not do) this blister could go unnoticed for days resulting in a potentially infected, slow to heal, or non-healing wound. In the worst case this Continue reading