Diabetes News and Research

Latest Diabetes News and Research

The ethics of face transplants

The ethics of face transplants is among the issues to be discussed at the World Congress of Bioethics, which will be hosted by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) next week.

4 Nov 2004

British Medical Association calls on Health Secretary to deliver tough action to protect the nation's health

The British Medical Association today (4 November 2004) calls on Health Secretary John Reid to deliver tough action to protect the nation's health, as he finalises the White Paper on Public Health for England.

4 Nov 2004

Amputations due to diabetes can be prevented

Taking a minute or two every day to inspect your feet and observing a few simple rules can make the difference in sparing diabetes patients from a preventable outcome of the disease a foot amputation.

4 Nov 2004

Californians say yes on 71

With a clear mandate, the voters of California yesterday overwhelmingly approved Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

4 Nov 2004

FDA warns against use of Actra-Rx and Yilishen

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers not to purchase or to consume Actra-Rx or Yilishen, two products promoted and offered for sale on Web sites as "dietary supplements" for treating erectile dysfunction and enhancing sexual performance for men.

4 Nov 2004

Landmark case challenges safety of Atkins diet

West Palm Beach County Court Judge Susan Lubitz ruled today that the landmark lawsuit filed by former Atkins dieter and Florida businessman Jody Gorran will go forward.

3 Nov 2004

Labor lasts longer for overweight or obese women

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese progress through labor more slowly than do normal weight women, according to a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

2 Nov 2004

Diabetic or obese patients suffering advanced heart failure have higher levels of fat embedded in their hearts

Heart failure, progressive and potentially fatal weakening of the heart muscle, is associated with both obesity and diabetes, but the mechanisms by which damage occurs are not well-understood, said senior author Heinrich Taegtmeyer, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology.

1 Nov 2004

Expert panel see hope for stem cell use as diabetes cure

A report from a medical panel of academic and community-based endocrinologists and transplant surgeons acknowledged that a recent study supports the use of stem cells as a future cure for type I diabetes.

1 Nov 2004

Do cholesterol-reducing drugs decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes in diabetics?

International researchers will, for the first time, present findings from the landmark 4D trial about whether a cholesterol-reducing drug decreases the risk of heart attacks and strokes with type 2 diabetics on dialysis at the American Society of Nephrology’s 37th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.

1 Nov 2004

McGuinty Government introduces changes to eye care services

The McGuinty government is making changes to the way OHIP insures routine eye exams, Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.

1 Nov 2004

Interim recommendations on low-carb diets

From the extreme Atkins Diet to the more modest Zone Diet, low carbohydrate diets are all the rage, embraced by celebrities and the general public alike as a quick way to lose weight.

1 Nov 2004

Grant to develop high speed DNA sequence reader

Sequencing of the human genome is one of the major scientific advances of our time. But with 3 billion base pairs, initial sequencing of the human genome took 11 years and cost $1 billion to complete in 2002. Today, it costs up to $50 million to sequence 3 billion base pairs.

1 Nov 2004

Warning on Alzheimer drug mix up

Janssen Pharmaceutica, manufacturer of the Alzheimer drug galantamine (Reminyl), says it has learned of 10 cases in which individuals who should have gotten Reminyl accidentally received the diabetes drug glimepiride (Amaryl).

1 Nov 2004

Scientists have found that a protein present in normal body tissues can prevent tumour growth

A team led by Dr Dave Bates, British Heart Foundation Lecturer, and Dr Steve Harper, Senior Research Fellow in the Microvascular Research Laboratories, in the Department of Physiology at Bristol University, have discovered that a type of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) found in normal tissue, including blood, can prevent cancers from growing.

1 Nov 2004

Genetic evidence to support an inherited tendency to retain salt

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found genetic evidence to support the sodium-retention hypothesis, a controversial 30-year-old theory that the high rate of hypertension in certain ethnic groups is caused, in part, by an inherited tendency to retain salt.

29 Oct 2004

New evidence to explain why mental function becomes less efficient with ageing

Dementia and milder forms of loss of mental ability affects millions of older people every year, but the causes are unclear. Previous research using brain scanning has shown that brain shrinkage and changes in the brain's white matter 'wiring', are associated with mental function slowing down in old age.

29 Oct 2004

Controversial theory about how diabetes causes extensive tissue damage

A controversial theory about how diabetes causes extensive tissue damage will appear in the November issue of Diabetes. At stake in the heated debate over the theory are researchers' efforts to find new ways to reduce loss of vision, kidney failure, heart damage and other side effects of diabetes.

29 Oct 2004

Chronic diseases linked to obesity could put the brakes on economic progress in many developing countries

Chronic diseases linked to obesity could put the brakes on economic progress in many developing countries unless urgent action is taken, experts warned at the opening of the first major international conference on obesity in Africa yesterday (Oct 28).

29 Oct 2004