Diabetes: New Compounds May Lower Blood Sugar But Prevent Weight Gain

Diabetes: New compounds may lower blood sugar but prevent weight gain

Researchers are one step closer to a new drug that could lower blood glucose levels in patients with insulin resistance, but without the potentially harmful side effects.
Insulin resistance is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes. It arises when the body's cells are no longer able to respond to insulin, which is the hormone that regulates blood glucose.
As a result, blood glucose levels can become too high, and this may lead to type 2 diabetes. There are medications that can help to prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes in patients with insulin resistance, such as thiazolidinediones.
But unfortunately, these medications can promote weight gain and a number of other health problems.
Dr. Domenico Accili — director of the Columbia University Diabetes Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, NY — and colleagues have identified a number of compounds that may be just as effective as current insulin resistance medications on the market, but which do not lead to weight gain.
The researchers recently reported their findings in the journal Cell.
FOXO1 and insulin resistance
The reason why currently available medications for insulin resistance can cause weight gain is because they target and block a protein called FOXO1.
While inhibiting FOXO1 reduces glucose production in the liver — thereby reducing blood glucose levels — it also increases the production of lipids, or fat.
"Thus, treatment of insulin resistance with a broadly acting FOXO1 inhibitor can lead to a host of unwanted side effects, such as weight gain," says Dr. Accili. "Unfo Continue reading

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Here's Exactly What I Ate To Cure My Type 2 Diabetes & High Cholesterol

Mary Jenkins is 51 and lives in Kanab, Utah. Last December, before starting her new diet, she weighed 225 pounds. She has since lost 50 pounds—and the weight is still coming off. This is her story.
I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I lived off a Southern-fried diet for most of my life. As a result, I had extremely high blood pressure for over 30 years. I tried every eating plan out there to get it under control: low-carb diets, high-protein diets—all that stuff. None of it worked for me. I was still obese, and my cholesterol levels didn’t improve.
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Then two years ago, my doctor ordered an A1C test. He had a hunch I may have type 2 diabetes as a result of my weight. My score was a seven, which meant his suspicions were correct. (A normal A1C level is below 5.7. ) It got worse: Because I’ve had high blood pressure for so long, he said I could have long-term organ damage now that I also had diabetes. You’d think at that point, he would have sat me down and talked to me about how I could improve my diet, but he didn’t. He just said something like, “Watch your carbs and exercise.” That was it. So I basically kept living as I had before.
My motivation
Then my doctor moved away, and I found another doctor in a larger town nearby. My new physician told me th Continue reading

Is Type 2 Diabetes Reversible? Your Guide In 2017

“Is type 2 diabetes reversible, doctor?”
It’s a common question I get asked by many people that I meet.
When I was back in medical school more than 10 years ago, we were all taught that type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease. Which means that it will be there with you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it doesn’t go away. Essentially, it is incurable. And once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, the best you can do is to try to manage it as best as you can.
Today, the answer is no longer clear cut. Thankfully, in a positive way. Let’s take a deeper look at what the science tells us.
What is Type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is a relatively common metabolic disorder that results in high blood glucose levels in your body. Did you know that over 415 million people today are living with diabetes globally? If you have diabetes, you’re far from being alone.
The condition arises from a combination of high insulin resistance in the tissues of our body and decreased insulin secretion by the pancreas, an internal organ. Insulin is an important hormone that allows our cells to properly absorb and use glucose. Insulin serves to regulate our blood glucose levels and keep it at a constant, normal level.
Some factors that can put you at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes include a strong family history of the disease (genetics), obesity (lifestyle) and age.
If you’re worried that you may have diabetes, you can find out more about the symptoms of diabetes here.
Is Type 2 diabetes reversible?
Even though diabetes is commonly thought of as a chronic disease, our understanding of it Continue reading

Drinking wine can fight diabetes: Regular glass can cut risk by a third say experts

Experts say those who enjoy a regular tipple in moderation can stop themselves being struck down with the Type 2 form of the condition and avoid the need for painful daily injections.
They believe wine provides the greatest protection because of the way polyphenols regulate blood sugar.
The chemical is especially abundant in red wine.
But the scientists have warned heavy drinking will not help combat the debilitating condition and increases the threat of a host of life-threatening diseases like cancer.
The Danish experts behind the latest study found consuming alcohol three to four days a week resulted in the lowest risk compared to those drinking once a week, reducing the danger by 27 per cent in men and 32 per cent in women.
Professor Janne Tolstrup, of the University of Southern Denmark, said: “Our findings suggest alcohol drinking frequency is associated with risk and that consumption over three to four days a week is associated with the lowest risk of diabetes, even after taking average weekly alcohol consumption into account.”
The findings come after researchers from Denmark’s National Institute of Public Health examined the effects of drinking frequency on risk and the association with different types.
Data from the Danish Health Examination Survey from 2007–2008 saw 70,551 people aged 18 and over provide details on lifestyle and health including frequency of consumption. A standard drink was classified as one unit (12g) of alcohol.
They were monitored for an average of five years until 2012 with information on diabetes incidence obtained from the Danish Nati Continue reading

5 Causes of Blood Sugar Fluctuations in Diabetes

Blood sugar levels fluctuate all the time and for many different reasons. If living with diabetes, these fluctuations can be problematic, debilitating, and even dangerous for some. By better understanding the factors that trigger these events, you can avoid many of the ill effects of the disease and better manage your condition over the long term.
Here are five of the most common causes of blood sugar fluctuations and things you can do to better control them:
1. Food and Drink
When you eat, your blood sugar will rise as the foods you consume are metabolized and enter the bloodstream. The types of food you eat, therefore, are key to controlling your disease. Simple carbohydrates and high-sugar foods, for example, cause bigger spikes in blood glucose than either protein, fats, and complex carbs. Understanding this can help you direct your eating habits.
To avoid fluctuations, focus on foods that are lower on the glycemic index. This is the index that rates carbohydrates by how much they affect blood sugar. Carbs like candy, cake, and cookies have a high glycemic index, while whole-grain bread, yams, and oatmeal have a low glycemic index.
Fiber is also an important part of a diabetic diet. Although fiber is a carbohydrate, it doesn't raise blood sugar like other carbs. In fact, high fiber intake is associated with decreased glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
2. Alcohol Intake
What you drink matters just much as what you eat. This is especially true when it comes to alcohol. Alcoholic beverages of any type are known to increase insulin production which, in turn, cau Continue reading