Diabetes Pill Might Replace Injection To Control Blood Sugar

Diabetes pill might replace injection to control blood sugar

An injectable class of diabetes medication — called glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 — might one day be available in pill form, research suggests.
Based on the results of a global phase 2 clinical trial, the study authors reported a significant drop in blood sugar levels for people on the oral medication, and no significant increase in low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) compared to a placebo over six months.
The findings also showed that people taking the highest dose of the pill lost a large amount of weight — about 15 pounds — compared to a weight loss of fewer than 3 pounds for people on the inactive placebo pill.
The research was funded by Novo Nordisk, the company that makes the drug, called oral semaglutide.
"Semaglutide could transform diabetes treatment," said Dr. Robert Courgi, an endocrinologist at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, N.Y.
"Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists are agents that are highly recommended according to diabetes guidelines, but rarely used because they require injection. Most patients prefer a pill," Courgi explained.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, agreed that these new findings were exciting.
"This medication looks pretty good. The high dose matched the [injection] version. There was low hypoglycemia. It controls blood glucose. There was weight loss and it's not an injection. This is the same molecule that's been shown [as an injection] to decrease cardiovascular mortality," Zonszein said.
"It has all the ingredients for an excellent medication. If this Continue reading

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Add These To Your Atta (Flour) To Make It Diabetes-Friendly

Expert-reviewed by Ashwini S.Kanade, Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Educator with 17 years of experience.
Fact-checked by Aditya Nar, B.Pharm, MSc. Public Health and Health Economics.
In diabetes, you indeed are what you eat. This is all the more critical when it comes to choosing to right kind of atta (or flour).
As with everything else they eat, diabetics must choose a flour that can be digested slowly, is high in fibre, low in carbs and calories to maintain blood sugar levels. Considering all this topped with the wide variety of “diabetes-friendly” attas (flours) available in the market today – one might think it is easier never to eat anything made with flour again!
But wait, help is at hand! Because today, we have the full scoop for you on which varieties and types of flours are best suited for people with diabetes.
The perfect recipe for diabetes-friendly flour
According to Dr. Jyoti Sawant, Dietitian at Delhi-based Obino, “The best flour for people with diabetes would be to eat standalone or a good mix of multigrain flour. Mix whole grains, such as finger millets (ragi or nachni), millets (bajra), barley (jau), soya beans, sorghum (jowar), amaranth grains (ramdana/rajgira), and chickpea flour (Bengal gram or kabuli chana) and your perfect diabetes-friendly flour is ready. All of these ingredients have a rich nutritional profile and are high in dietary fibre with complex carbohydrate content.Making multigrain flour an excellent choice for controlling blood sugar spikes and managing weight.”
How to make diabetes-friendly flour at home
Indian brea Continue reading

This Protein Could Be Spreading Type 2 Diabetes Like Mad Cow Disease

A type of misbehaving protein might be behind some cases of type 2 diabetes, indicating the condition could potentially be contracted through blood transfusions and organ transplants, or passed to children before birth.
While a lot more research needs to be done to determine if the risks to the general public are in any way significant, the find has established a new area of study in how the disease develops and spreads inside individuals.
Led by researchers from the University of Texas, the study used mice to test whether clumps of a misfolded protein called amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) taken from a pancreas can spread and produce diabetes-like symptoms when transferred between individuals.
Unlike its sister disease type 1 diabetes, type 2 – or diabetes mellitus – is a condition that forms over time, reducing a person's ability to produce or respond to insulin.
The disease is far more common that type 1, affecting just under half a billion people worldwide, but its exact causes are still vague. Researchers have identified genetic and environmental factors, but there is still a lot to learn about how many people develop the condition.
Toxic clumps of misfolded proteins similar to those in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease have previously been associated with type 2 diabetes. But finding a link isn't the same thing as identifying a cause, so researchers have now taken a closer look at the amyloid proteins in the pancreas to trace their pathology.
Proteins such as IAPP can twist into forms that are more likely to clump as a result of mutations, which has al Continue reading

Polyphagia: The Relationship Between Hunger And Diabetes

Is hunger a sign of diabetes?
If you don’t have diabetes, could hunger be one of the signs of diabetes?
Is being hungry all of the time (polyphagia) a sign that you should go get checked for diabetes? After all, polyphagia is one of the “3 Poly’s,” is part of a triad of symptoms indicating diabetes. In addition to polyphagia, or increased hunger, the symptoms of polyuria and polydipsia are also signs of diabetes.
Susan’s story
Susan was constantly hunger. She never seemed to feel satisfied as she snacked off and on all day long from increasing hunger pangs. Susan’s hunger had gotten progressively worse over the past year.
She noticed that she had been going to the bathroom more frequently, and wasn’t sure if she might be getting a urinary tract infection. Oddly enough, she hadn’t gained any weight. She had even lost a few pounds. She visited her primary care provider, and relayed her symptoms to the nurse.
The doctor recommended that Susan be checked for several different conditions, but the one that stuck out in Susan’s mind was diabetes. She had an aunt with diabetes. She remembered how sick she got, and how she’d spend her days in the dialysis unit. Susan didn’t want diabetes, at least the kind that she knew about from her aunt.
When Susan contacted TheDiabetesCouncil, she was concerned that she did indeed have diabetes. She was waiting for her test results, but she was eager to find out if hunger was a sure sign that she has diabetes?
I suggest reading the following articles:
We decided to look into it for Susan. Let’s see what we found.
Polyphag Continue reading

The Professor’s Guide to Type 1 Diabetes

For students –
It’s that exciting time of the year – back to school! Whether you’re heading into college as a freshman, or returning for another year at your university, you are heading into a time where you need to be independent and assertive about your health. Unlike elementary and secondary schools, colleges have no responsibility to identify disabilities. Therefore, it is the student’s job to let his or her school know about a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis in order to find out what accommodations are available. This is your choice in the end though. (Read about one US student’s opinion on applying for disability.)
Whether or not you apply for disability, you should let your professors know about your Type 1 and what to expect through the year. Here are some essential tips to get your professors up to speed on Type 1 diabetes.
Professor’s Guide to Type 1 Diabetes –
What is Type 1 diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that occurs when a person’s own immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in their pancreas. People with Type 1 are insulin-dependent for life, and must manually give themselves insulin through multiple daily injections or an insulin pump. They must carefully balance insulin, food, exercise and other factors in order to prevent or minimize serious short and long-term complications due to out-of-range blood sugar levels.
If you have not heard much about Type 1, here are some other fast facts –
T1D is not caused by a lack of exercise or eating too much sugar
T1D is not contagious
There is no cure for T1D at the present mo Continue reading