Diabetes News and Research

Latest Diabetes News and Research

Simvastatin linked to protection against endothelial dysfunction in diabetic rats

Almost two years ago, the diabetes arm of the Heart Protection Study, the largest-ever study using a cholesterol-lowering medication, found that diabetics who took a daily dose of the statin drug simvastatin over five years reduced the risk of a first nonlethal heart attack by 37 percent and risk of a first nonfatal or fatal stroke by 24 percent, regardless of their cholesterol or glucose levels.

3 Apr 2005

The facts on prenatal care

The nine months of pregnancy come complete with a rich folklore, from guessing at a baby’s sex by the expectant mother’s shape to home remedies for morning sickness. Along with these ageless stories and advice, women also face a variety of recommendations from the modern world of medicine on how best to take care of themselves during pregnancy.

3 Apr 2005

Urine actually helps a particular yeast stick to cells along the urinary tract

The finding might offer a new way to prevent or treat certain yeast and fungal infections, and the researchers' work also provides an unexpected new role for some proteins already known to help hungry yeast live longer.

30 Mar 2005

Medication that both stimulates appetite and reduces metabolic rate

Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, in collaboration with Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., have successfully tested a research medication that both stimulates appetite and reduces metabolic rate in preclinical trials.

30 Mar 2005

Important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems

Scientists have identified an important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems, creating new possibilities for treating the primary cause of death in kidney disease patients.

29 Mar 2005

KCP protein protects kidneys from damage caused by chronic renal disease and injury

University of Michigan scientists have identified a new and unusual protein that reduces, in laboratory mice, kidney damage caused by chronic renal disease and acute toxic injuries.

28 Mar 2005

Body fat may promote inflammation

Why does extra fat around the waist increase the risk of heart disease? A new study by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center researchers and colleagues suggests that inflammation may be the key.

28 Mar 2005

Variation in the gene ENPP1 may predict risk for diabetes

A particular gene variant that could serve as a predictor for type 2 diabetes has been identified by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

28 Mar 2005

Genome in gut bacterium key to intestinal health

A bacterium that lives in the human gut adaptively shifts more than a quarter of its genes into high gear when its host's diet changes from sugar to complex carbohydrates.

28 Mar 2005

First patient to test new treatment for peripheral arterial disease

For several years, crippling leg pain has prevented Joan Erickson from walking more than a block. If she paused to rest, she could walk a little more, but not enough to continue playing golf, her favorite pastime.

23 Mar 2005

Sunlight prevents cancer

The health of the public is being put at risk by recommendations to cover up and stay out of the sun in the UK. These recommendations, which are part of Cancer Research UK’s SunSmart programme, increase the risk of several types of cancer, and may also increase deaths from melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

23 Mar 2005

Scientists have found genetic regions that, when defective, allow the immune system to attack the pancreas

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have found genetic regions that, when defective, allow the immune system to attack the pancreas -- the first in a series of mis-steps that lead to type 1 diabetes. Armed with these findings, published yesterday, March 22, in the journal Immunity, the researchers are now trying to hone in on the exact genes involved, in mice and in human patients.

23 Mar 2005

Tummy size an indicator of potential diabetes

A study by Youfa Wang, PhD, MD, assistant professor with the Centre for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, has found that the size of a man's waist is a better predictor of his risk of developing type 2 diabetes than his body mass index (BMI).

22 Mar 2005

Tiny scaffolding allows stem cells to become working fat cells

Researchers here have used a new microscopic, three-dimensional scaffolding to coax mouse stem cells to transform themselves into fat cells, and then to function identical to how fat cells naturally do in the body.

22 Mar 2005

Link between high cholesterol and better memory

What's bad for your ticker may be good for your bean, according to a research from a team of scientists at Boston University.

22 Mar 2005

Waist size is better predictor of diabetes 2 risk than BMI

This finding, published in the March 2005 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is based on data collected from 27,270 men tracked over 13 years who participated in the Harvard Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

21 Mar 2005

Chemists say they have identified a gene that appears to play a key role in the development of type 1 diabetes

In the current study, the researchers focused on the formation of the MIF protein (macrophage migration inhibitory factor), a proinflammatory protein that they showed in previous studies is elevated in diabetic animals and may be involved in the cascade of immunological events that leads to the destruction of the pancreas and the subsequent onset of type 1 diabetes.

21 Mar 2005

Rapid rise in obesity may reverse life expectancy trend

It's been assumed that U.S. life expectancy would rise indefinitely, but a new data analysis, published as a special report in the March 17 New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that this trend is about to reverse itself -- due to the rapid rise in obesity, especially among children.

21 Mar 2005

Genetically modified plants are to be used to fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies

Genetically modified (GM) plants are to be used to grow vaccines for use in the worldwide fight against HIV, tuberculosis, diabetes and rabies thanks to a grant of 12 million euros from the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).

21 Mar 2005

Discovery of a single mutation responsible for a number of blood disorders

Myeloproliferative disorders form a range of haematological malignant diseases, with three main members: polycythaemia vera, essential thrombocythaemia, and idiopathic myelofi- brosis. The disorders are characterised by overactive production of blood cells and can lead to thrombosis, haemorrhage or acute myeloid leukaemia.

21 Mar 2005