New Stem Cell Treatment "Switches Off" Type 1 Diabetes

For those with type 1 diabetes, regularly injecting themselves with insulin is part and parcel of their daily lives. This form of treatment hasn’t advanced much for nearly a century, so it will come as good news that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are on the verge of a breakthrough. As a study in Nature Medicine reveals, insulin-producing beta cells made from human stem cells have been shown to effectively “switch off” diabetes in mice for up to six months.
Within a healthy person’s pancreas, clusters of beta cells produce insulin in order to counteract rising blood sugar levels. Someone suffering from type 1 diabetes is unable to control their blood sugar levels, as their own immune system attacks and destroys these insulin-producing cells. Type 1 diabetes, which makes up roughly 10 percent of all diabetes cases, is therefore a type of autoimmune disease, and is currently incurable.
In 2014, a team led by Harvard University made a significant step in developing a bonafide cure. Using human embryonic stem cells, the team induced them into becoming beta cells in large quantities – up to hundreds of millions at a time, enough to transplant them into a hyperglycemic mouse and watch them dramatically reduce the animal's blood sugar levels.
Unfortunately, as with the mouse’s original beta cells, its faulty immune system destroyed the new, transplanted beta cells fairly quickly, so the technique didn't provide lasting benefits. Now, a team at MIT has found a way to hide these beta cells from the self-destructive immune system of mice su Continue reading

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Blood sugar alert – Why prediabetes can be just as deadly as diabetes

(NaturalHealth365) Prediabetes – elevated blood sugar that has not yet reached the threshold for clinical diabetes – is widespread in the United States. Now, several recent studies have revealed the dangers of being prediabetic – including a heightened risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and stroke.
Read on to learn more about prediabetes, and what you can do to reverse it.
Prediabetes is a warning sign of danger ahead
Prediabetes, characterized by a fasting glucose level between 100 and 125 mg/dL, is becoming more common across America. A 2016 UCLA study revealed that a shocking 46 percent of all adults in California either have prediabetes or suffer from undiagnosed type 2 diabetes – meaning that almost half of the adult population of the state has blood sugar that is too high.
And, elevated blood sugar could very well be even more widespread in other states across the nation, as California residents usually score near the top of the scale for longevity and healthy lifestyles.
For many, the term “prediabetes” seems to imply that no damage has occurred – yet. All too often, the condition is viewed as a yellow traffic signal, signaling “caution” – and possibly triggering a resolution to adopt healthier habits.
But in reality, a diagnosis of prediabetes should function as a red light, signaling a serious health threat.
It’s official: “High normal” blood sugar raises risk of degenerative diseases
The truth is: even with fasting glucose levels at the medically-accepted threshold, it is entirely possible that major microvascular damage has already Continue reading

Top 5 Apps for Diabetes Management

We live in a tech-centric world, and smart phone apps have become the new tools of today. Apps can certainly make living with diabetes more manageable. However, with so many out there it can often be difficult weeding out the best. Apps for diabetes can be used to log blood sugars, count carbohydrates, lose weight, and record exercise. Some apps do it all, but you may want to use them for a specific purpose.
Please note that the apps I will be discussing may not work for everyone and you will have to use your judgment as to what app is best for you—these are my top five because these have worked best for my patients.
dLife
I personally love this app because it has a feature that allows you to search a library of over 400 videos on cooking demos and real life stories from real people. The app has a Q&A feature where you can search from over 4,000 questions related to diabetes—answers are provided from both experts and people in the community. The food section of the app can help with recipes and its database includes information about 25,000 foods with full nutritional analysis for your diabetes diet. If you choose to use the logging feature of the app, you can elect to share your glucose readings and insulin doses with your health care provider by emailing them directly from the app.
Price: dLife is a free app that is available for both iPhone and android devices.
Go Meals
GoMeals is a nutrition focused app that has a wide search engine for counting carbohydrates. With over 40,000 common food items to select from and over 20,000 restaurant menu items, you are bound to f Continue reading

Diabetes & Alcohol? Here’s what you need to know

People suffering from diabetes should never have to feel left out when it comes to having a good time. One thing that has forever gone hand in hand with social gatherings and festivities is alcohol. Everyone has their own relationship with it, but for diabetics, it is especially important to understand what alcohol intake involves
Key Points:
Beers and Carbo-loaded Cocktails are Bad-for-you. Much of the adult beverages we consume are filled with harmful carbs and calories all of which pose a serious threat to one’s health.
Know your limit! Getting drunk is dangerous, excessive drinking is easy to do and difficult to recover from, whether you have a pre-existing condition or not. Essentially what alcohol does is damage the functionality of most of your organs. For instance, cirrhosis can occur in the liver, which causes intense cell damage and scarring.
Not all booze is bad! New studies find that certain alcohols can help maintain sugar levels at healthy levels. Unlike carb heavy beers or sugar filled cocktails red wine and gin have been found to improve the conditions of diabetes. Studies coming out of Europe and the Middle East are showing that alcohol can be used to help produce healthy amounts of insulin in the body.
What can I drink and how much of it?
Many sources offer different systems but the most simple one is to just be aware of what types of alcohol have which effects. Just remember that any considerable amount of alcohol is a bad idea, these recommendations are to be kept in great moderation and with great consideration.
Beer
Due to the large amounts of carbs, Continue reading

Medtronic Recalls Diabetes Infusion Sets for Overdose Risk

1 in 2 million sets susceptible to excess insulin delivery
Company to replace sets at no cost; no financial details given
Medtronic Plc is recalling a disposable device used with the company’s insulin pumps, after discovering that the part can trigger an excessive dose of the drug and put patients at risk of hypoglycemia.
About one in every two million infusion sets manufactured before April may be associated with the complication, which occurs when a membrane that’s used to release pressure from inside the pump gets wet and blocks the vents, said Francine Kaufman, chief medical officer of Medtronic’s diabetes group. The risk of an excessive insulin dose is greatest right after the patient changes the infusion set, which is done every three days, she said.
“Shortly after that change, the patient could experience insulin over-delivery,” she said in a telephone interview.
There haven’t been any deaths associated with the flaw, Kaufman said. Most patients who had a problem were aware that their blood sugar had gone too low and were able to treat the condition. Others called an ambulance, went to the hospital or saw their doctors, she said.
For patients with an infusion set that is in and working, nothing needs to be done, said Annette Bruls, president of Medtronic’s diabetes service and solutions business. Medtronic says it has fixed the problem and patients can use the devices that were made from April on.
Medtronic, based in Dublin and run from Minneapolis, said the majority of the cost from the recall is expected to be incurred in the second quarter of the com Continue reading