Endocrinology News and Research

Latest Endocrinology News and Research

Canadian Diabetes Association, UBC partner on funding for childhood diabetes research

A new partnership announced by the Canadian Diabetes Association and the University of British Columbia (UBC) will help fund research in childhood diabetes. Not only will this research further investigate type 1 diabetes, it will also explore the areas of type 2 diabetes and obesity in children, a problem of growing concern and proportions.

23 Apr 2005

Federal food pyramid redesigned

The US Department of Agriculture has released a new version of the Food Guide Pyramid, the drawing it uses to show people how to follow federal dietary guidelines. The new pyramid has vertical bands for each food group, instead of the horizontal ones used in the last version of the food guide, and includes a figure climbing steps along the side of the pyramid to emphasize exercise.

23 Apr 2005

Demoralization: A syndrome which should not be confused with depression

A group of Italian researchers headed by Prof. Giovanni Fava (University of Bologna) has published a multicenter investigation on demoralization in the setting of medical disease. Demoralization was defined according to diagnostic criteria encompassing unpleasant, distressing feelings of personal failure and inadequacies, with a loss of continuity in the sense of sequence between past and future.

23 Apr 2005

Could diabetes drug prevent cancer?

A well known drug which is commonly used to treat Type 2 diabetes may prevent cancer tumours, according to researchers at the University of Dundee.

23 Apr 2005

Being chubby means you may be healthier!

A new study is saying that being overweight may not be the killer we once thought it was and the number of deaths each year attributed to obesity and being overweight in the United States is around 112,000 - about one-quarter of the previous estimate of more than 400,000 deaths.

23 Apr 2005

Day care in infancy protects against childhood leukaemia

Children who attend day care centres on a regular basis in the first few months of life are less likely to develop leukaemia than children who do not, finds a study published online by the BMJ.

22 Apr 2005

Aging population correlates with a switch from acute infectious diseases to chronic diseases as the major cause of morbidity and mortality

Some diseases like ulcers and certain types of cancer, once thought to be primarily related to lifestyle factors, are now known to be caused by microorganisms, and many more syndromes, including some psychiatric conditions, may have a connection to infection, according to a report released today by the American Academy of Microbiology.

22 Apr 2005

Rare surgery performed to remove pancreas, prevent diabetes and ease pain of chronic pancreatitis

In a 12-hour, dual-stage surgery known to be performed at only two other centers in the U.S., doctors at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on Tuesday returned a patient's own insulin-producing cells to him after surgically removing his pancreas to eliminate constant, severe pain from chronic pancreatitis.

22 Apr 2005

Brain system that controls the sleep/wake cycle might also play a role in regulating appetite and metabolism

A new mouse study suggests that a brain system that controls the sleep/wake cycle might also play a role in regulating appetite and metabolism. Mice with a mutation in a gene called "Clock," which helps drive circadian rhythm, ate significantly more and gained more weight.

22 Apr 2005

Propensity for obesity, diabetes may occur in utero

The adage "You are what you eat" should be rephrased to include "and so are your children," based on metabolic research pioneered by researchers at the University at Buffalo.

22 Apr 2005

Body's 24-hour internal clock linked to obesity and diabetes

Obesity and diabetes in both adults and children are rising at alarming rates and a wide range of culprits -- super-sized food portions, lack of exercise due to television, computers, suburban sprawl and loss of gym classes, high-fat and fast foods, sugar-laden drinks and psychological trauma -- have been blamed.

21 Apr 2005

Dundee Diabetes Research Centre in Scotland

In a joint venture between two faculties with a common interest in Diabetes research, a facility, the Dundee Diabetes Research Centre has been launched reinforcing the city's standing as one of the world's key hubs of research into the disease.

21 Apr 2005

Researchers study radiation blockers while conducting nuclear imaging of Iodine uptake in mouse tissues

Scientists have found that a dose five times higher than the FDA-recommended dosage of potassium iodide in the event of a nuclear accident is needed to protect small animals effectively from radioactive iodide in medical imaging procedures. The long-term animal nuclear imaging project is being conducted by a collaboration of biology and physics researchers from the Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab and The College of William & Mary (CWM).

20 Apr 2005

New gene linked to familial cancer

Scientists have identified a new gene that appears to be linked to a small but significant percentage of familial cancer cases – as well as seemingly randomly occurring malignancies.

20 Apr 2005

Eating hot dogs increases risk of pancreatic cancer

Heavy consumption of hot dogs, sausages and luncheon meats, along with other forms of processed meat, was associated with the greatest risk of pancreatic cancer in a large multiethnic study reported today at the 96th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

20 Apr 2005

Cardiovascular risk factors have declined substantially over past 40 years

Prevalence of high cholesterol levels, hypertension and smoking, particularly among overweight and obese adults, have declined considerably over the past 40 years, according to a study in the April 20 issue of JAMA. This trend was not true for diabetes, which has had a stable prevalence.

19 Apr 2005

Have a laugh a day, it will do you good !

It used to be an apple a day which kept the doctor away now scientists at University College London have found that being happy might be equally beneficial.

19 Apr 2005

World's first recipient of insulin-producing cells from a living donor

A 27-year-old diabetic woman has become the world's first recipient of insulin-producing cells from a living donor.

19 Apr 2005

New method for the study of ion channel gating kinetics

An ion channel is a protein pore that lets ions (charged atoms such as calcium) pass through a cell's membrane. The method fits data to a new class of models, called manifest interconductance rank (MIR) models, which will give researchers a better understanding of the mechanisms by which ion channels open and close.

19 Apr 2005

Short segments of sugar chains useful in search for new drugs for Alzheimer's

Heparansulfate, which is needed for normal fetal development among other things, is also important for the build-up of amyloid, morbid protein deposits that appear in several serious diseases. This is shown by Uppsala scientists in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

19 Apr 2005