Immunotherapy, Gene Editing Advances Extend To Type 1 Diabetes

Immunotherapy, gene editing advances extend to Type 1 Diabetes

Immunotherapy, gene editing advances extend to Type 1 Diabetes
December 13, 2017, Seattle Children's Research Institute
Dr. Jane Buckner of the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason and Dr. David Rawlings at Seattle Children's Research Institute are leading research to develop an immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes. Credit: Seattle Children's
Advances in engineering T cells to treat cancer are paving the way for new immunotherapies targeted at autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. Now, researchers are also investigating therapies that reprogram T cells to "turn down" an immune response, which may hold promise for curing type 1 diabetes, as well as a number of diseases where overactive T cells attack a person's healthy cells and organs.
"Instead of stimulating the immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells , treating autoimmune conditions will require programming a patient's own T cells to tell rogue immune cells to calm down," said Dr. David Rawlings, director of the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies at Seattle Children's Research Institute and chief of the Division of Immunology at Seattle Children's Hospital.
Harnessing gene-editing techniques pioneered by Seattle Children's, Rawlings and colleagues have already made headway in equipping T cells with the instructions needed to potentially reverse type 1 diabetes . In a new $2 million research project funded by The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, researchers will leverage these recent successes using this new form of T-cell immunotherapy into first-in-human clinical trials. Continue reading

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What Are the Best Essential Oils for Diabetes? | Everyday Health

Should You Use Essential Oils for Diabetes Treatment?
Just because its a natural remedy commonly used for treating diabetes doesnt guarantee that its safe. Heres what you need to know before trying any oils, and the best types to consider.
Essential oils wont cure diabetes, but adding them to your management routine may help relieve stress and potentially relieve diabetic neuropathy symptoms.
If you follow type 2 diabetes forums, you may have come across users suggesting turning to essential oils often for managing blood sugar, treating symptoms, or even curing the disease. While these oils may be considered a more natural therapy, they also may have side effects, which is why there are many things you need to know before giving them a try in your diabetes management plan.
What Are Essential Oils Made of and Can They Cure Diabetes?
Essential oils are derived from plants, but that doesnt mean they arent potent. For instance, it takes 50 lemons to make a 15-milliliter (mL) essential oil bottle; 3 pounds (lbs) of lavender flowers are used in a 15 mL bottle; and there are 105 lbs of rose petals in a 5mL bottle, according to Doterra, a brand of essential oils .
Theyre powerful, and as lovely as they smell, they need to be taken seriously. First, its important to cut through the chatter you may have heard: Essential oils will not reverse diabetes or treat it in lieu of more traditional approaches. None of the essential oils are significantly potent enough to serve as diabetes medication, says Rasa Kazlauskaite, MD , an associate professor in endocrinology, diabetes, and Continue reading

ADA Issues New Position Statement to Manage Diabetes and Hypertension

With George L. Bakris, MD, Priyathama Vellanki, MD, and Mark E. Molitch, MD
For the first time in nearly 15 years, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has updated its position statement on the screening and diagnosis of hypertension in patients with diabetes.1 The update to the existing guideline is of vital importance given that patients with diabetes often develop hypertension, and it is a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and microvascular complications.
The position statement is authored by nine leading diabetes experts on behalf of the ADA, including George L. Bakris, MD, professor of medicine and director of the ASH Comprehensive Hypertension Center at the University of Chicago Medicine. Dr. Bakris spoke with EndocrineWeb to offer his insight on key changes to the guidelines of particular interest to clinicians. The position statement was made available August 22 online and is scheduled to be published in the September 2017 issue of Diabetes Care. 1
"In terms of blood pressure goals, we did it in two tiers," Dr. Bakris told EndocrineWeb. "We said everyone should be below 140 over 90, regardless.'' Blood pressure should also be measured at every routine clinical care visit.
Furthermore, Dr. Bakris said there is an indication for reducing blood pressure below 130/80. "Most people should be urged to go to 130/80 [or below] because the cardiovascular risk in that subgroup of people is higher than the general population," he stated. "The level of evidence is not as strong, but it's reasonable." He cited the findings from the Action to Continue reading

The Nuts and Bolts of Dietary Iron

Despite the many jokes about doctors and their love of golf, golf clubs arent the only irons physicians talk about. Although its in the headlines less often than protein, trans fat, or calcium, iron is more than just the metal in a golf club its also an important part of your diet, and a lack of iron can cause some serious problems.
Iron is an essential mineral that is needed for the formation of red blood cells, hemoglobin (the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen), and myoglobin (the protein that carries oxygen in muscle). In addition to carrying oxygen, iron is involved in energy metabolism, collagen formation, immune system function, and the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Approximately two-thirds of the iron in our bodies is found in hemoglobin, with smaller amounts found in myoglobin, some catalytic molecules (enzymes), and in storage molecules such as ferritin (a protein that stores iron and releases it when the blood has too little of it).
Despite irons many roles, the total amount of iron in the body only adds up to roughly one teaspoon. About 15% of our bodys iron is stored for future needs or as a backup for when dietary intake is insufficient. Our bodies obtain iron from the food that we eat (or supplements), and on average, we lose about 1 milligram of iron each day (a very small amount) through intestinal blood loss (and some small amounts lost through sweat and urine), although premenopausal women lose more iron than others from blood lost through menstruation.
The iron we consume from foods comes in two forms, Continue reading

Beta Blockers And the Risk of CV Events in Type 2 Diabetes

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Beta Blockers And the Risk of CV Events in Type 2 Diabetes
Beta-blocker use in patients with T2DM and established CV risk factors associated with increased risk of CV events and severe hypoglycemia, according to recent study.
Diabetes mellitus management mainly aims at preventing diabetes mellitusrelated complications. Although appropriate glycemic control prevents complications, the ACCORD trial (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) revealed that intensive therapy can increase all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities. A possible explanation for the results is that glucose-lowering therapy increases the frequency of hypoglycemic episodes, which in turn is associated with increased risks for vascular events and death. Patients with diabetes mellitus with severe hypoglycemia face many critical problems, such as severe hypertension, hypokalemia, and QT prolongation, resulting in cardiovascular diseases, fatal arrhythmia, and death.
Recent studies have suggested that -blockers may prevent or decrease the adverse effects after the occurrence of severe hypoglycemia, such as severe hypertension and hypokalemia, and may reduce severe hypoglycemia-associated cardiac arrhythmias and death. A recent study revealed that the cardiovascular event rate in patients with diabetes mellitus on -blockers was significantly lower in the intensive therapy group compared with the standard therapy group. Conversely, all-cause and cardiovascular mortalities in patients not on -blocker Continue reading