Meta-analysis Discovers Repletion Of Vitamin D Deficiency May Help Type II Diabetes

Meta-analysis discovers repletion of vitamin D deficiency may help type II diabetes

A new meta-analysis discovered that the repletion of vitamin D deficiency may lead to HbA1C reductions among type II diabetes patients.
Diabetes is responsible for over 75,000 deaths each year in the U.S, making it the seventh leading cause of death. Approximately 29.1 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, with type 2 diabetes accounting for about 90 to 95 percent of adult cases.
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition, in which the body resists the effects of insulin or doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain a normal blood sugar level.
Insulin is a hormone made by pancreatic beta cells that regulates the body’s blood sugar level. Insulin secretion into the bloodstream enables sugar to enter the cells. This lowers the amount of sugar in the bloodstream.
Researchers propose that vitamin D may help diabetes by stimulating insulin secretion via the vitamin D receptors in the pancreas, lowering inflammation and thereby improving insulin resistance or improving insulin resistance through the vitamin D receptors in the muscles and liver.
Observational studies have established a clear relationship between low vitamin D levels and diabetes. However, whether vitamin D supplementation improves glycemic control is still up for debate. In an effort to resolve this argument, researchers recently conducted a meta-analysis of 22 randomized controlled trials that assessed the effects of vitamin D supplementation on glucose metabolism, specifically HbA1c and fasting blood glucose. HbA1c is a lab test that shows the average blood sugar (glucose) level over the previous three month Continue reading

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Abbott Secures Health Canada License for FreeStyle Libre System for People with Diabetes

Abbott Secures Health Canada License for FreeStyle Libre System for People with Diabetes
- REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR ROUTINE FINGER STICKS1 AND FINGER STICK CALIBRATION
- PROVIDES REAL-TIME GLUCOSE LEVELS FOR UP TO 14 DAYS
- WILL BE REIMBURSED BY TWO MAJOR CANADIAN INSURERS; AVAILABLE IN THE COMING MONTHS ACROSS CANADA
ABBOTT PARK, Ill., June 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT ) today announced the Health Canada license of its FreeStyle Libre Flash Glucose Monitoring System, a revolutionary new glucose sensing technology for Canadian adults with diabetes. The first-of-its-kind system eliminates the need for routine finger sticks,1 requires no finger stick calibration, and reads glucose levels through a sensor that can be worn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days.
FreeStyle Libre system eliminates the need for routine finger sticks(1), requires no routine finger stick calibration, and reads glucose levels through a sensor worn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days. The disposable sensor, the size of a quarter, is worn on the back of the upper arm. The sensor can read glucose levels through clothing, making testing more convenient and discreet.
FreeStyle Libre system eliminates the need for routine finger sticks(1), requires no routine finger stick calibration, and reads glucose levels through a sensor worn on the back of the upper arm for up to 14 days. The disposable sensor, the size of a quarter, is worn on the back of the upper arm. The sensor can read glucose levels through clothing, making testing more convenient and Continue reading

Type 1 Diabetes Risk May Come Down to Gut Bacteria Counts

Read Stomach Bacteria Could be an Early Type 1 Detector.
Some scientists decided to test whether the environmental conditions at the differing labs affected the rate of non-obese diabetes in the mice, according to Dr. Aleksander Kostic, an assistant investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. They raised the mice in a completely sterile, germ-free environment, and found that the rate of non-obese diabetes quickly climbed upwards. They then transferred stool from mice raised in a non-sterile environment to mice raised in a sterile environment, and noticed that the rate of diabetes for the mice who received the transplanted stool went down.
This seemed to indicate that a lack of exposure to microbes was somehow having a severely detrimental effect on the immune system and preventing protection from Type 1 diabetes to mice that were genetically prone, Dr. Kostic said in a phone interview with Insulin Nation.
Read Why People with Type 1 Have Stomach Problems.
Findings like these have given rise to the hygiene hypothesis. This theory supposes that our immune systems are genetically designed to handle a certain load of exposure to microbes. As societys hygiene has improved, it has left the immune system with not enough to do, the theory goes, and it becomes more prone to attacking the body. This could have led to a rise in autoimmune diseases like Type 1 diabetes.
With this theory in mind, Dr. Kostic and others have observed that gut bacteria becomes less diverse in people with Type 1 a year before diagnosis. The guts of people with Type 1 become dominated by several Continue reading

$Diabetes: Stimulating bone stem cells may improve fracture repair$

Diabetes: Stimulating bone stem cells may improve fracture repair

Diabetes: Stimulating bone stem cells may improve fracture repair
Researchers have discovered a protein that stimulates bone stem cells in mice with diabetes so that the animals heal better after a fracture. They suggest that this could lead to a new treatment to improve bone repair in people with diabetes.
Bones of normal mice (top) form larger calluses during healing, which lead to stronger repair. However, bones of diabetic mice (bottom) have smaller calluses, which lead to more brittle healed bones.
The team, from Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, CA, reports the findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Michael T. Longaker, a professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and one of the study's senior authors, sums up the work:
"We've uncovered the reason why some patients with diabetes don't heal well from fractures, and we've come up with a solution that can be locally applied during surgery to repair the break."
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body's ability to produce or respond to insulin - a hormone that regulates blood sugar - is impaired.
Raised blood sugar (hyperglycemia) is a common effect of uncontrolled diabetes, and over time it can cause serious damage in many parts of the body, including the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.
Today, there are more than 420 million people with diabetes worldwide - nearly four times as many as there were in 1980 (108 million).
Problematic bone healing is one of the many health complications that people with diabetes experience; following a break Continue reading

Baylor's Lauren Cox has been tender and tough playing with diabetes - Women's college basketball

WACO, Texas -- Trying to please the demanding Kim Mulkey and adjusting from high school to elite college basketball at Baylor could lead to a breakdown for any freshman. But Lauren Cox's major freshman issue had nothing to do with any of that. Her misery before Baylor faced Tennessee on Dec. 4 was all because the biggest challenge of her life -- Type 1 diabetes -- threatened to keep her from playing in the game. Her blood sugar levels were dangerously high.
Cox ended up taking the floor in the Baylor win. Her blood sugar returned to the necessary level to allow her to play. Still, she admits it's been incredibly challenging -- dealing with her condition, working to succeed on the court for a top program and trying to be a freshman in college all at the same time.
"It's been pretty tough," Cox said this week, before Baylor faces Louisville in the Sweet 16 on Friday night (ESPN2/WatchESPN, 9 p.m. ET). "Not having my parents there (at Baylor) is definitely a big challenge. Just managing my levels has been pretty tough but I've had a pretty good handle on it."
Natalie Chou can't help the comparisons to Linsanity as she attempts to shatter stereotypes. From pro-style workouts with Jason Terry to navigating her first year at Baylor, this is her story.
On the court, Cox has flashed the potential that made her the top recruit in the country. She has been a key reserve for Mulkey, earning the Big 12 Sixth Man Award while being named to the All-Freshman team after averaging 8.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
That is even more impressive considering Cox has to wa Continue reading