
Is THIS Causing Type 2 Diabetes?
Since the differentiation between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, there’s been a lingering stigma around those diagnosed with Type 2 as not caring for their health.
A new study, however, suggests that placing blame on the patients who develop Type 2 diabetes might be an extremely unfair conclusion. Microbiologists from the University of Iowa recently found that “prolonged exposure to a toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria causes rabbits to develop the hallmark symptoms of Type 2 diabetes, including insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, and systemic inflammation.”
This breakthrough suggests that research into therapies that eliminate staph bacteria might be effective in preventing or treating Type 2 diabetes.
The research team was led by Patrick Schlievert, a professor and department executive officer of microbiology at the UI Carver College of Medicine. He said that while obesity is a known risk factor in developing Type 2 diabetes, what’s often not considered is how obesity changes the biome of a body.
“What we are finding is that as people gain weight, they are increasingly likely to be colonized by staph bacteria—to have large numbers of these bacteria living on the surface of their skin,” Schlievert said to IowaNow. “People who are colonized by staph bacteria are being chronically exposed to the superantigens the bacteria are producing.”
Professor Schlievert’s ultimate goal is to create a vaccine that will prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes all together.
Each and every day, important studies like this is underway at researc
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