Final Piece Of Type 1 Diabetes Puzzle Solved

Final piece of type 1 diabetes puzzle solved

A complete picture of the areas that the immune system attacks to cause type 1 diabetes has finally been revealed by scientists.
The study, published in the journal Diabetes, discovered the fifth and final critical target at which the immune system errantly takes aim.
The team at the University of Lincoln say the findings could help develop new ways to prevent and treat the disease.
Diabetes UK said the findings were "impressive".
In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the beta cells that make insulin - the hormone needed to keep blood sugar levels under control.
Studies looking at the unique antibodies made by patients with type 1 showed there were five key targets that the immune system attacked.
But working out exactly what they were has been like identifying someone from their silhouette.
Studies long ago discovered some of the targets, but the final one has proved elusive for two decades.
Dr Michael Christie, who led the research at the University of Lincoln, told the BBC: "With this new discovery, we have now finished identifying what the immune system is targeting - we have the complete picture."
The targets are:
Insulin
Glutamate decarboxylase
IA-2
Zinc transporter-8
And the final piece of the puzzle, tetraspanin-7
The more technically named ones are largely involved in secreting or storing the hormone insulin.
Knowledge of some of these targets is already being used in a trial at King's College London that is aiming to stall the progression of type 1.
But Dr Christie says having the complete picture could help transform care for type 1 patients.
He said: "O Continue reading

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Deadly diabetes in 'unrelenting march'

The world is facing an "unrelenting march" of diabetes which now affects nearly one in 11 adults, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
In a major report it warned cases had nearly quadrupled to 422 million in 2014 from 108 million in 1980.
High blood sugar levels are a major killer - linked to 3.7 million deaths around the world each year, it says.
And officials said the numbers would continue to increase unless "drastic action" was taken.
The report lumps both type 1 and type 2 diabetes together, but the surge in cases is predominantly down to type 2 - the form closely linked to poor lifestyle.
As the world's waistlines have ballooned - with one-in-three people now overweight, so too has the number of diabetes cases.
How diabetes has taken its toll
422 million
adults were living with diabetes in 2014 - that's
314 million
more than there were in 1980
8.5% of adults worldwide has diabetes
1.5 million people died as a result of diabetes in 2012
2.2 million additional deaths were caused by higher-than-optimal blood glucose
43% of these 3.7m people died before they were 70 years old
Source: WHO
Dr Etienne Krug, the WHO official in charge of leading efforts against diabetes, told the BBC: "Diabetes is a silent disease, but it is on an unrelenting march that we need to stop.
"We can stop it, we know what needs to be done, but we cannot let it evolve like it does because it has a huge impact on people's health, on families and on society."
Failing to control levels of sugar in the blood has devastating health consequences.
It triples the risk of a heart attack and leaves peop Continue reading

Drinking a few times a week linked to lower diabetes risk

Drinking three to four times a week has been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than never drinking, Danish researchers suggest.
Wine appears to be particularly beneficial, probably as it plays a role in helping to manage blood sugar, the study, published in Diabetologia, says.
They surveyed more than 70,000 people on their alcohol intake - how much and how often they drank.
But experts said this wasn't a "green light" to drink more than recommended.
And Public Health England warned that consuming alcohol contributed to a vast number of other serious diseases, including some cancers, heart and liver disease.
"People should keep this in mind when thinking about how much they drink," a spokeswoman said.
'Better effect'
Prof Janne Tolstrup, from the National Institute of Public Health of the University of Southern Denmark, who led the research, said: "We found that drinking frequency has an independent effect from the amount of alcohol taken.
"We can see it's a better effect to drink the alcohol in four portions rather than all at once."
After around five years, study participants were followed up and a total of 859 men and 887 women group had developed diabetes - either type 1 or the more common type 2.
The researchers concluded that drinking moderately three to four times a week was linked to a 32% reduced risk of diabetes in women, and 27% in men, compared with people drinking on less than one day a week.
Findings also suggest that not all types of alcohol had the same effect.
Wine appeared to be particularly beneficial because polyphenols, particularly in red wine, Continue reading

Why Google Is Going All In On Diabetes

Millions of people with diabetes prick a finger more than five times a day to monitor their blood glucose levels. It's a painful and expensive process.
But now, Google's Life Sciences division is putting its immense resources behind new initiatives aimed at helping them better live with the disease.
"It's really hard for people to manage their blood sugar," said Jacquelyn Miller, a Google Life Sciences spokeswoman, in an interview with KQED. "We're hoping to take some of the guesswork out of it."
Earlier this week the new Google Life Sciences unit announced that diabetes is the company's first major disease target. It may come as a surprise that Google, a company that helps people search online for flights and restaurants and dabbles in other ventures like self-driving cars, is investing in new therapies to treat disease.
But according to Michael Chae, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter at the American Diabetes Association, Google's decision is a no-brainer. It's a highly lucrative opportunity. In 2012, the total cost of managing diabetes was put at $245 billion in the U.S. alone. The timing also appears just right for technology companies to enter the field.
"There's been an explosion of wearables, data and analytics," Chae said. "People with diabetes are more comfortable living in a measured world."
He envisions a future where people with diabetes can measure their blood glucose levels on a continuous basis, using painless methods. One of Google's emerging products is a contact lens embedded with a glitter-sized sensor that can measure glucose levels Continue reading

'I beat type 2 diabetes with 200-calorie drinks'

Nearly half of patients have reversed type 2 diabetes in a "watershed" trial, say doctors in Newcastle and Glasgow.
People spent up to five months on a low-calorie diet of soups and shakes to trigger massive weight loss.
Isobel Murray, 65, who had weighed 15 stone, lost over four stone (25kg) and no longer needs diabetes pills. She says: "I've got my life back."
The charity Diabetes UK says the trial is a landmark and has the potential to help millions of patients.
Isobel, from Largs in North Ayrshire, was one of 298 people on the trial.
Her blood sugar levels were too high, and every time she went to the doctors they increased her medication.
So, she went on to the all-liquid diet for 17 weeks - giving up cooking and shopping. She even ate apart from her husband, Jim.
Instead, she had four liquid meals a day.
It is hardly Masterchef - a sachet of powder is stirred in water to make a soup or shake. They contain about 200 calories, but also the right balance of nutrients.
Isobel told the BBC it was relatively easy as "you don't have to think about what you eat".
Once the weight has been lost, dieticians then help patients introduce healthy, solid meals.
"Eating normal food is the hardest bit," says Isobel.
The trial results, simultaneously published in the Lancet medical journal and presented at the International Diabetes Federation, showed:
46% of patients who started the trial were in remission a year later
86% who lost 15kg (2st 5lb) or more put their type 2 diabetes into remission
Only 4% went into remission with the best treatments currently used
Prof Roy Taylor, from N Continue reading