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World Diabetes Day: Google Celebrates Man Who Discovered Insulin Could TREAT Diabetes

World Diabetes Day: Google celebrates man who discovered insulin could TREAT diabetes

World Diabetes Day: Google celebrates man who discovered insulin could TREAT diabetes

The search engine’s latest doodle features a picture of Sir Frederick Banting, who, with the help of Charles Best, found hormone could treat diabetes.
The second ‘O’ of the word Google is replaced by a bottle of insulin, and the doodle also features a drawing of Sir Banting.
The doodle also features the pancreas, the organ which makes insulin, a hormone which helps the body store and use glucose.
Banting's interest in diabetes first developed when he read an article about the pancreas.
He then drew upon research which found diabetes resulted from a lack of a hormone secreted by the organ.
Banting also sought advice from Professor Macleod, at the University of Toronto, who provided facilities for the scientist, and assistance of Dr Charles Best and biochemist James Collip.
Banting and Macleod were jointly awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery insulin could treat diabetes.
Diabetes occurs where there is too much glucose in the blood because the body cannot use it properly.
There are two forms of the condition - Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce insulin.
Fri, August 19, 2016
Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. There are 3.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 500,000 who are living undiagnosed with the condition.
Around one in 10 people with diabetes have Type 1 and it usually affects children or young adults.
Type 1 diabetes means the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin.
When insulin is not produced a person’s glucose levels increase Continue reading

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Drug to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Passes Critical Test in Mice

Drug to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Passes Critical Test in Mice

In a groundbreaking study, researchers found that they were able to effectively reverse type 2 diabetes symptoms in mice by administering a daily oral drug with no adverse side effects.
Millions of people worldwide suffer from diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes—which accounts for nearly 90% of all documented cases. If the medication is successful in humans, it would revolutionize how diabetes is treated.
Type 2 diabetes is common in older individuals whose bodies’ do not respond as they should to insulin, the key hormone that regulates blood sugar. Most diabetics opt for insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels, while others rely on restrictive diets to avoid sugar altogether. Though both of these techniques help manage the disease, they cannot cure it. They come with a number of potential of side effects including weight gain and diarrhea.
What’s more, dependence on insulin injections may lead to insulin resistance. And if untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to health problems like kidney disease, nerve damage, and vision problems.
The proposed daily pill would restore the body’s sensitivity to insulin and increase the activity of the insulin receptor in the liver. Researchers believe this could introduce a new therapeutic strategy to treating type 2 diabetes and hopefully result in a lessened reliance on insulin injections by people with adult-onset diabetes.
Here’s Andy Coghlan, reporting for New Scientist:
The drug works by inhibiting an enzyme called low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMPTP), which seems to contribute to cell Continue reading

A New Clinical Trial Just Made Diabetes Patients Insulin Independent

A New Clinical Trial Just Made Diabetes Patients Insulin Independent

New research involving pancreatic islet cell implants show promise in treating Type 1 Diabetes, a potentially debilitating form of the disease that affects more than a million people in the U.S. This new treatment might just spell the end for T1D.
With Promising Potential
No matter how modern the world has become, there are certain ailments that continue to persist. One of these is diabetes, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are now over 422 million people in the world suffering from it. Generally characterized as a problem in blood sugar levels, diabetes has two variants — an insulin-dependent one, known as type 1 diabetes (T1D), and type 2 diabetes that’s non-insulin-dependent.
In the United States, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation reports that about 1.25 million people have T1D. The cause of this particular diabetes variant still remains unknown, and treatments generally involve pumping insulin daily into the patient’s body. As such, there’s still no known cure for T1D. However, researchers from the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Florida may have just made it possible to develop one.
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers described how clinical trials involving pancreatic islet cell implants to the omentum — the tissue covering organs in the abdomen — shows promise in treating T1D. “Islet transplantation can restore euglycemia and eliminate severe hypoglycemia in patients with [T1D],” the researchers wrote. “The omentum has a dense vascularized surface Continue reading

'Smart' insulin hope for diabetes

'Smart' insulin hope for diabetes

Scientists are hopeful that "smart" insulins which are undergoing trials could revolutionise the way diabetes is managed.
Instead of repeated blood tests and injections throughout the day to keep blood sugar in check, a single dose of smart insulin would keep circulating in the body and turn on when needed.
Animal studies show the technology appears to work - at least in mice.
Scientists plan to move to human trials soon, PNAS journal reports.
Experts caution that it will take years of testing before treatments could become a reality for patients.
Smart insulin
People with type 1 diabetes, who either do not make or cannot use their own natural insulin, rely on insulin injections to stay well.
Without these, their blood sugar would get dangerously high.
But injecting insulin can also make blood sugar levels dip too low, and people with type 1 diabetes must regularly check their blood glucose levels to make sure they are in the right zone.
Diabetes experts have been searching for ways to make blood sugar control easier and more convenient for patients, which is where "smart" insulins come in.
There are a few different types in development, but all are designed to automatically activate when blood sugar gets too high and switch off again when it returns to normal.
Dr Danny Chou from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been testing a smart insulin that he and his colleagues developed in the lab.
It is a chemically modified version of regular, long-acting insulin.
It has an extra set of molecules stuck on the end that binds it to proteins that circulate in the bloodstr Continue reading

5 Reasons to Test Your Cat for Diabetes

5 Reasons to Test Your Cat for Diabetes

One of my least favorite diagnoses to make in cats is diabetes. I have a deep dislike for feline diabetes because of two indisputable facts:
1) It’s largely preventable and unnecessary
2) It’s a real challenge to treat for many owners
Fortunately, diabetes is also one of those diseases that benefits from early detection. I’d like to share my top five reasons you need to test your cat early and often for diabetes:
One of the most interesting aspects of feline diabetes is its potential reversibility or remission, especially when diagnosed in the earliest stages. Over the past twenty-three years, I’ve seen scores of kitties weaned off insulin when diagnosis and treatment was initiated quickly. Research has shown up to 60% of cats will experience diabetic remission within the first few months of treatment, reports Alice Huang (VMD, DACVIM) from Purdue University. Combining strict blood sugar regulation with precise insulin therapy, changes in diet and weight loss are a recipe for reversing diabetes in many cats. Some cats will remain diabetes-free for many months to years. My advice is to have blood work and urinalysis performed yearly, twice yearly if you have a flabby feline.
Many cat owners focus solely on blood sugar levels. That's good, but too often we forget the continuous and severe damage hyperglycemia is causing throughout the body. The longer diabetes goes unchecked, the more potentially irreversible damage occurs. Prolonged high blood sugar levels can lead to nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy that typically causes weakness in the rear legs), chronic infectio Continue reading

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