U Tests New Transplant Treatment For Type 1 Diabetes

U tests new transplant treatment for Type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have studied everything from human organ donors to specially grown pigs as sources of insulin-producing islet cells for people with type 1 diabetes who lack them.
Now they are testing the transplant of islets from a new source — embryonic stem cells.
The university earlier this fall became the third U.S. academic institution to transplant an islet cell product made by California-based ViaCyte in patients with severe and poorly controlled diabetes.
A stem cell solution to producing islets could be a significant step in the treatment of type 1 diabetes, said Dr. Melena Bellin, the university researcher leading the local arm of the ViaCyte study. While islets can be transplanted from deceased organ donors, that supply is limited and unpredictable.
“Really, to overcome that barrier, you have to find some sort of renewable source of islets,” she said.
Insulin is a hormone in the pancreas that regulates the body’s storage and use of sugar. Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed when people lack the islets to produce insulin.
Gregory Romero was the second to sign up for the trial. The 43-year-old web developer has resented his type 1 diabetes but managed it through insulin injections.
In recent years he has become less sensitive to fluctuations in his blood sugar, which has resulted in blackouts. Once, he awoke after falling down stairs. Another time, he couldn’t walk and had to crawl out of his house to meet paramedics.
Having a chance at a treatment that could stabilize his blood sugar felt like “winning the lottery,” said Romero, w Continue reading

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How to use long-acting insulin: Types, frequency, peak times, and duration

Long-acting insulin can help to stabilize blood sugar levels throughout the day, with only one or two shots.
Fast-acting insulin replaces the surge of insulin that a healthy pancreas would release at mealtime. In contrast, long-acting insulin mimics the low-level flow of insulin normally released between meals and overnight.
In this way, long-acting insulin works to establish a healthy baseline blood sugar level for the body to work around.
Contents of this article:
Using long-acting insulin
Long-acting insulin cannot be delivered in pill form because it would be broken down in the stomach. Instead, it must be injected into the fatty tissue under the skin. From here, it can be gradually released into the bloodstream.
Delivery methods
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, there are a few ways to deliver long-acting insulin. These include:
Needle and syringe: a dose of insulin is drawn from a vial into a syringe. Different types of insulin must not be mixed in the same syringe.
Pen: this can be loaded with a cartridge containing a premeasured dose, or prefilled with insulin and discarded after use.
Injection port: a short tube is inserted into the tissue beneath the skin. Insulin can be delivered using either a syringe or a pen. This only requires the skin to be punctured when the tube needs to be replaced.
Injection sites
Long-acting insulin can be injected into the abdomen, upper arms, or thighs.
Abdomen injections deliver insulin into the blood most quickly. The process takes a little more time from the upper arms, and it is eve Continue reading

10 Signs You May Have Diabetes

The number of people world-wide with diabetes has almost quadrupled since 1980, according to the World Health Organization.
The American Diabetes Association reports these other alarming statistics:
About 10% of Americans have diabetes
1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year
More than 86 million Americans over age 20 are prediabetic
Diabetes in children is increasing
Many patients come to our practice, currently labeled as diabetic. We’re seeing more and more of our patients that are diabetic or pre-diabetic who are looking for ways to treat and reverse diabetes naturally, without Big Pharma meds.
We are very successful at normalizing blood sugar.
But what’s most disturbing are the number of people with diabetes who don’t know they have it.
Diabetes kills. It’s been linked to heart disease, kidney disease, blindness, stroke and other severe health issues. That’s why it’s imperative that you are on the lookout for these symptoms and signs that you may have diabetes.
# 1 – More Bathroom Breaks at Night
It is quite normal to get up once during the night to go to the bathroom. In fact, being properly hydrated means a nighttime trip to the commode. If you find yourself doing it more frequently, it could be a sign that you have diabetes.
Your body is less efficient at breaking food down into sugar when you have diabetes. This inefficiency causes sugar to sit in your bloodstream. Your body gets rid of the sugar in the bloodstream by flushing it out in urine. That’s why diabetics with elevated blood sugar tend to go to the bathroom a lot.
# 2 � Continue reading

Have YOU got diabetes? The 10 signs you shouldn’t ignore – and that could save your life

DIABETES is a life-long health condition that affects about 3.5 million people in the UK alone.
In 2012 it was responsible for about 1.5 million deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.
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It is caused by high levels of glucose – or sugar – in the blood because the pancreas either does not produce enough insulin to break down the sugar or cannot effectively use the insulin.
Insulin is a hormone typically produced by the pancreas and allows glucose to enter the cells in the body, where it’s used for energy.
There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed during childhood and is a result of cells in the body that usually produce insulin being destroyed.
Type 2 is the most common form of the disease, according to Diabetes UK, and is caused when the insulin producing cells are unable to produce enough of the hormone.
Although it is considered a chronic disease it can be managed with healthy lifestyle choices such as a balanced diet, regular exercise and maintaining a normal body weight.
However, like all conditions, if it is not managed properly people may well develop uncontrolled diabetes.
This can trigger a range of conditions from frequent infections, vision problems and even kidney disease.
1. High blood sugar readings
This may sound obvious given diabetes is caused by high sugar levels.
Usually, diabetes medication and a healthy lifestyle will manage blood sugar levels to an almost normal level.
But when it is uncontrolled a person's blood sugar levels can remain very high - an obvious warning s Continue reading

Diabetic Ketoacidosis Increases Risk of Acute Renal Failure in Pediatric Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Condition often under-recognized, yet preventable and treatable.
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a syndrome presenting in people with diabetes when insulin utilization is markedly diminished, whether via sudden increases in insulin requirements (most often due to acute illness) or sharp decreases in exogenous insulin administration (sudden cessation, for example). DKA is manifested as severe hyperglycemia, systemic acidosis, and severe dehydration due to rapidly increasing osmotic diuresis. This condition is especially worrisome in the pediatric diabetic population, as the resulting risk of renal injury often goes unrecognized at presentation.
In 2014, the results of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study suggested that approximately 30% of pediatric (<18 y.o.) type 1 diabetes patients presented with DKA at initial diagnosis. Other studies have looked at the treatment of DKA in the pediatric population, and its effects on morbidity and mortality, but until now, none have attempted to correlate DKA and acute renal failure. The current issue of JAMA Pediatric presents a study looking at the incidence of acute kidney injury in pediatric patients hospitalized for DKA and attempts to show a correlation between the two events. This retrospective review collected data on pediatric T1D patients admitted to the British Columbia Children’s Hospital with DKA between September 2008 and December 2013. Patients with the above mentioned conditions and complete medical records during that period were included. The primary objective was to determine the proportion of eligible subjects who Continue reading