Category: Diabetes News

Diabetic Blindness Could Be Prevented By Statin: A popular drug known as Statin (brand name, Lipitor) may help diabetic patients who are suffering from blindness, suggests a New University of Georgia study.

Over 26 million people in America have been diagnosed with diabetes and diabetes retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in adults. Diabetic retinopathy usually begins to happen when a patient has had diabetes for 10-15 years. Currently, no FDA-approved oral treatments can be found for those suffering from diabetic retinopathy and surgery is very painful and very expensive.

A study led by lead author Azza El-Remessy, an assistant professor in the University Of Georgia College Of Pharmacy, used diabetic rats to perform statin tests on. They found that the statins prevented free radicals in the retina from killing nerves, which are essential in maintaining vision.

With uncontrolled and excessive glucose, the introduction of free radicals becomes a huge problem. When free radicals appear in the retina, the eye releases a protein called pro-nerve growth factor. This factor matures into a nerve growth factor in an attempt to protect the retinal nerves. The free radicals generated by diabetes however, prevent this growth from happening, which ultimately leads to impaired neuronal function.

By using the rates and isolated retinal cells displayed in high glucose, El-Remessy and colleagues found that the drug atovastation blocked the formation of free radicals in the retina. Due to the blockage, pro-nerve growth factor was successfully able to mature into the nerve growth factor and preserved the neurons in the retina.

El-Remessy said, “It removed the break on the pro-form nerve growth factor to develop into its mature form,” she said. The drug was orally administered to rats in doses proportional to levels given to human patients with cardiovascular problems.

El-Remessy and her colleagues also found that a component within green tea called epicathecin is also helpful in the prevention of adverse affects on the pro-nerve growth factor in the retina. It will not affect the maturing from pro-nerve growth factor to nerve growth factor, but it regulates a receptor used by the pro-nerve growth factor that sends a signal to kill the neuron.

“We are still getting the same result, that we are preventing neuronal death and restoring neuronal function, but just in a different way,” said El-Remessy.

This study found great theoretical treatments for the eye, but it also was helpful for the rest of the body as well, which are continuously affected by diabetes.

“Diabetic patients need to protect the nerves beyond vision. El-Remessy stated.

El-Remessy study does not end her; she hopes to find treatment for other parts of the body dealing with the imbalance of pro-nerve growth factor as well. “If proNGF accumulates in the eyes in diabetes, I can imagine that it accumulates in the nerve endings in the skin, in the foot, in the hand and in the brain… everywhere,” she said.

This study was backed by the American Heart Association, which is making a difference from those suffering from diabetes.

Chicago’s home town band, Ovrevolt, is hosting a fund raiser on May 6th at Real Time Sports Bar in St. Charles, from 6pm-1am. Ovrevolt (pronounced Over-volt) has 2 goals, one is to produce dynamic high energy music, and the other is to help the community by donating 100% of all profits from their performances to charity. Gary Kouba, the drummer in Ovrevolt came up with the idea of doing a large scale fund raiser for JDRF. Real Time Sports will provide free pizza and all bands are donating their time for this worthy cause. The band line up is Friction, Ovrevolt, AVM band and Skin Walker.

Over 3 million Americans have Type 1 Diabetes, and over 30,000 people are newly diagnosed each year. Diabetes is the single greatest expense on our health care system. Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects every organ. People with Type 1 face many challenges, including possible long term effects like kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness and amputations. Type 1 is not caused by obesity or consuming too much sugar and a person cannot out grow Type 1 Diabetes. Insulin injections are necessary to keep type 1 diabetics alive, however insulin does not sure diabetes nor does it prevent its complications.

Since JDRF was founded in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.3 billion to diabetes research. More than .85 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and researched related education. JDRF is the leading charitable funder and advocate for Type 1 Diabetes worldwide.

If you cannot attend the fund raiser on May 6th, you are encouraged to send a check payable to JDRF to
Gary Kouba
255 Heritage DR
Roselle IL 60172

NOTE, THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO PEOPLE OF ALL AGES!!!!!!!!
SO TEENS ARE WELCOME!!!
……………………

You will get a tax receipt for a deduction on your income tax for donations.

Please come out and have some fun, and help us find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes in our lifetime.

Diabetes: The Cause Of Blood Vessel Damage: More than 26 million people across American suffer from diabetes and by the time this year is up, another million will be diagnosed as well.

Damaged blood vessels are such a growing problem in diabetic patients that heart attacks, strokes and amputations are becoming more common daily. Thanks to the researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, a significant mechanism is said to be the contributor to the damage of blood vessels in diabetic patients.

According to this study, mice have shown damage which involved two enzymes, fatty acid synthase (FAS) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which interacted in the cells that line the blood vessel walls.

Here is what Xiaochao Wei, Ph.D said, “We already knew that in diabetes there’s a defect in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels. People with diabetes also have depressed levels of fatty acid synthase. But this is the first time we’ve been able to link those observations together.”

Wei is a postdoctoral research scholar in the lab of Clay F. Semenkovich, MD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine. He studied the mice which had been genetically engineered so that would make FAS in their tissue, which are the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. The mice began experiencing problems in their vessels, which was compared to the same problems animals experience when they have diabetes.

“It turns out that there are strong parallels between the complete absence of FAS and the deficiencies in FAS induced by lack of insulin and by insulin resistance.” stated Semenkovich

When comparing the FASTie mice to normal animals, even other mice, Semenkovich and Wei found out that mice without FAS could not make the substance that attaches nitric oxide synthase to the endothelial cells in blood vessels.

“We’ve known for many years that to have an effect, NOS has to be anchored to the wall of the vessel,” said Semenkovich. “Xiaochao discovered that fatty acid synthase preferentially makes a lipid that attaches to NOS, allowing it to hook to the cell membrane and to produce normal, healthy blood vessels.”

Throughout the study, the Fastie mice blood vessels grew leaky and even became injured and were not able to regenerate new blood vessel growth, in some cases.

The significant mechanism that attaches NOS to the endothelial cells is called palmitoylation. If it were not for the FAS, the mice would lose the NOS palmitoylation, which would make the mice incapable of NOS modification. It would not be able to attach to the endothelial cell membrane, causing major damage to the blood vessels.

In an explanation given by Semekovich, he says, “In animals that don’t have fatty acid synthase and normal nitric oxide synthase in endothelial cells, we saw a lot of leaky blood vessels. The mice also were more susceptible to the consequences of infection, and they couldn’t repair damage that occurred — problems that also tend to be common in people with diabetes.”

Trying different things during the study, researchers interrupted blood flow to the normal leg of a normal mouse and a FASTie mouse. Semenkovich states what happened, “”The control animals regained blood vessel formation promptly but that did not happen in the animals that were modified to be missing fatty acid synthase.”

Just because this is how it works in mice does not mean it will work the same in humans. So researchers looked toward human endothelial cells next. They found the same significant mechanism that was found in the mice.

“Our findings strongly suggest that if we can use a drug or another enzyme to promote fatty acid synthase activity, specifically in blood vessels, it might be helpful to patients with diabetes. We also have been able to demonstrate that palmitoylation of nitric oxide synthase is impaired in diabetes, and if we can find a way to promote the palmitoylation of NOS, even independent of fatty acid synthase, it may be possible to treat some of the vascular complications of diabetes.” Wei states.

According to the researchers, it shouldn’t matter if a person has type 1 diabetes and has become resistant to insulin or has type 2 diabetes

Semenkovich says “That’s one of the key findings. It won’t matter whether it’s an absence of insulin or resistance to insulin: both are associated with defects in FAS.”

Home Urine Test Measures Insulin Production in Diabetes: Throughout years of diabetic diagnosis and treatments, one thing that people continue to dislike is the many blood tests they have to endure to check for insulin production. Children who have diabetes can highly attest to this.

However, every year brings a chance for something new, something that helps take some of the pain away when it comes to testing for insulin production and this year, it’s an at home urine test. Children and adults alike would much rather take a urine test than a blood test. Urinating is something a person does naturally and does not hurt while bleeding is caused by a prick or poke and does cause pain. So of course, if given the option, they would choose a urine test and many diabetic patients are now finding out that they are given the option upon medical visits.

This urine test, designed, by Andrew Hattersley’s Exeter-based team at the Peninsula Medical School was developed for patients of have type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It was designed specifically to check for insulin production in one’s body, to make sure that the person being tested is creating their own insulin. It is quickly replacing blood tests in many hospitals and it is becoming highly popular among children who no longer have to deal with a painful prick or poke.

For patients who must take insulin injections, the at-home urine test measures their ability to make their own insulin without the need of an insulin injections. The test has met requirements for patients suffering from type 1, type 2 and rare types of diabetes.

Jillian, a woman of 35 years has recently tested the new at home urine test and found herself to be pleasantly surprise with the outcome. Jillian was diagnosed with diabetes when she was 19. Quickly, she was put on insulin injections so that her body could get insulin that it needs. The urine test was helpful in finding that Jillian was still creating her own insulin. Jillian had been taking insulin injections for 14 years, but today, no longer has to.

Feeling extremely relieved, here is what Jillian had to say. “Being told I don’t have to take insulin injections any more has changed my life.”

This study was taken on 300 patients and led by Dr. Rachel Besser and Dr. Angus Jones and was funded by the Diabetes UK.

Dr. Rachel Besser commented. “The urine test offers a practical alternative to blood testing. As the urine test can be done in the patient’s own home we hope that it will be taken up more readily, and more patients can be correctly diagnosed and be offered the correct treatment.”

Smoking Increased Among Youth With Diabetes: According to a new report from SEARCH Study Group, the number of young adults and children with diabetes who smoke has increased quite a bit, though health care providers are doing very little to encourage them to stop.

When a person has diabetes, they are already at a high risk for heart disease and when you put smoking into the mix, the risk becomes even greater. However, few studies have been created to find out the distinction between the two, in young adults and children. The study, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases, evaluated tobacco use and heart disease risk factor, both ethnically and racially. A diverse group of over 3,000 young adults and children who have been diagnosed with diabetes aging from 22 to 10 years were assessed in the United States.

Here is what they found:

Out of 10 percent of youth who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and 16 percent of youth who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were currently smoking. A little less than half of those evaluated said that they had been counseled by their health provider to stop smoking.

“We found a substantial proportion of youth with diabetes are current cigarette smokers, which greatly adds to their already elevated risk for heart disease. Smoking is preventable, so aggressive smoking prevention and cessation programs are needed to prevent or delay heart disease in youth with diabetes.” said study lead author Kristi Reynolds, PhD, MPH, a research scientist and epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.

The findings of the study were based on data received from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study, which is a large multi-center study of youth who have been diagnosed with diabetes before the age of 20. The youth that the study was based on were enrolled in six different clinical centers in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington.

Here are some disconcerting statistics the study showed:

• 1.3 percent of youth with type 1 diabetes age 10-14 years of age, smoke
• 14.9 percent of youth with type 1 diabetes age 15-19 years of age, smoke
• 27 percent of young adults with type 1 diabetes 20 years and older, smoke
• 4.4 percent of youth with type 2 diabetes age 10-14 years of age, smoke
• 12.9 percent of youth with type 2 diabetes age 15-19 years of age, smoke
• 37.3 percent of young adults with type 2 diabetes 20 years and older, smoke

The study showed that among these teens early signs of heart disease were already showing. For example, many teens showed symptoms of high triglyceride levels, high LDL cholesterol levels and low HDL cholesterol levels.

“Cigarette smoking is a completely preventable risk factor for cardiovascular and other diseases. While this is true for all children, it is especially true for children with diabetes because of the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in that population,” commented study co-author Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Pediatrician-in-Chief at The Children’s Hospital in Denver.

Ninety percent of adult smokers began smoking at age 18, the risk of heart disease increases when a person has diabetes compared to a person who doesn’t.

Researchers Look To Our Ancestors For Diabetic Genetic Connection: Throughout history, the root causes of complex diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes have been very hard to identify. In recent years, the diseases happen where genes and the environment collide making it very hard to see the genetic culprit behind them. But now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified genetic discrepancies in a hormone involved in the secretion of insulin, a molecule that occurs in more humans than others and is known to control blood sugars.

The human populations that share this new discrepancy were thought to have appeared in history 2,000 to 12,000 years ago. They had higher fasting levels of blood glucose then the traditional gene that is found today. When a body has high blood glucose levels that are connected with diabetes, the body is unable to produce or respond to insulin.

With this new study, scientists may be able to understand human metabolism, which occurred between the transitions from human hunters/gatherers to a more agriculturally based civilization. It could also help doctors track diabetes in patients to allow them to see which individuals are more likely to develop diabetes and can help provide an early development in treatment and therapies alike.

Sheau Yu “Teddy” Hsu, PhD, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and one of the senior author behind this study had this to say,”These studies are fascinating because it shows how much the selection process has affected human energy-balance regulation in just a few thousand years and how complex it could be for the future practice of personalized medicine.”

Hsu and his colleagues at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan and Texas A&M University first identified 207 genetic regions, which have been connected with obesity and diabetes. These genetic regions were then looked into further to see which ones had started to increase when humans departed from Africa more than 60,000 years ago. Fifty-nine genetic regions became of great interest that occurred in 30 percent of people associated with the HapMap Project. The HapMap Project is a worldwide survey of the genetic differences in mixed populations.

Five genes with different genetics occurred more frequently in Asians and Europeans. “We thought GIP was the most interesting because the newly selected form occurs in about 50 percent of people from Europe or Asia, but in only about 5 percent of Africans. That indicates this gene is highly adaptable to new environments,” said Hsu.

Hsu and his team identified 3 separate changes in the region of GIP, the DNA neighbor to the GIP gene, which affects when and how it is decoded into protein, which reduces the levels of the hormone itself. The three separate changes also appeared with another alteration in the coding region causing the result of a different form of protein, which is degraded slowly in human blood.

Hsu said. “So now we know there are two different forms of the protein, which allowed one form to be selected in one population, and the other in a different population, but we still needed to show that these variants led to phenotypic differences in modern humans.”

Hsu and his colleagues next focused their study on pregnant women. Out of 123 East Asian pregnant women, those who held two copies of the newly developed alternate had considerably lower levels of GIP circulating in their blood. They were also at a considerably increased risk to have fasting blood glucose levels that surpassed the suggested amount of 140 mg/dL. The finding many help doctors in determining which pregnant women may be at more risk of developing gestational diabetes. It may also shine some light on how our ancestors adapted to the changing world.

“Like other humans at the time, the Eurasian population really had to fight for survival.” Now we’re starting to pinpoint how they did that on a molecular level. These gene variants, and the resulting higher blood sugar levels it fostered, may have helped women maintain successful pregnancies in the face of the inevitable famines that occur in an agriculturally based society. Now, in a more food-secure environment, variations in GIP could contribute to the development of diabetes or obesity.” said Hsu.

Popular Social Networking Websites And Diabetes: As the internet continues to grow, so does the need for social networking sites. Just under a half of U.S. adults who use the internet, use it to access social networking sites. Many social networking websites are focused on health but some are not as safe as they claim to be. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital Boston Informatics Program took a closer look through their evaluation of ten diabetic websites.

What they found was shocking, only 50 percent of the ten sites were current with content that was consistent with clinical practice and diabetic science. Few websites offered patient privacy and even less provided scientific accuracy. Seven out of the ten websites did not allow their members to restrict visibility on their profiles while three out of the ten websites advertised unsupported cures.

Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc, lead author of the study commented, “We saw that people are sharing incredible amounts of personal health information on these sites, including highly identifiable information. They are eager to accelerate their understanding of the disease, obtain support, find treatments and see if their experience is common or different.”  Assistant professor in the laboratory, Kenneth Mandl, MD, MPH added, “They are eager to accelerate their understanding of the disease, obtain support, find treatments and see if their experience is common or different.”

The ten websites evaluated were the ones that appeared more over others in Google searches and ones that allowed their members to construct profiles and relate to one another.

While evaluating, researchers looked for four factors:

• Current content that reflected diabetes science and clinical practice
• Concise and clean privacy policies
• The limitations of sharing personal information
• Ability to review content clearly

Averagely, most websites had a little over 6,700 members and activity showed up to 100 new posts daily down to 5 posts daily, depending on the day and topics.

Many of the sites did not include a disclaimer, which is meant to share with their members, the importance of discussing with their doctors about their health. Websites are not doctors. Therefore they do not have all the answers that one needs. A doctor should still be seen.  Many websites skipped out on the topic of important diabetic information as well.

When it comes to online social networks supporting health issues, diabetes is among the many that are out there. Researchers decided to evaluate diabetes social networking sites because they were among the first and have continued to remain active, while many other sites have closed down. Researchers are continuing to study these sites to find out how they are used, how people interact with them and how they share important medical information.

Mandl and Weitzman created a program last year called TuDiabetes. TuDiabetes allows users to submit their A1c levels so that it is displayed on a world-wide map. TuDiabetes is meant to encourage the management of diabetes and to encourage research as well.

“Social networking activity is clearly replacing or adding value that is missing in the standard health care system,” Mandl says. Later Weitzman added, “We sought to jump start a conversation about how to balance patients’ safety with their autonomy, as we’re in an era where terrific levels of health care communication are happening outside of the usual channels.”

Diabetes Affects Patients’ Spouses: Diabetes is a hard disease to manage and so many people are being diagnosed with the disease that it is becoming even harder and for far too many, depression sets in. The thing about depression is that it never just hurts the one who is depressed. According to research from Purdue University, spouses are finding themselves highly impacted as well.

“Responsibilities and anxieties can differ for patients with diabetes and their spouses, but each may experience stress, frustration and sadness at times related to the demands of living with this disease. We know spouses often support their partners, but in our work we want to know what form their involvement takes and how the disease and its management affect both the patient and spouse.” said Melissa M. Franks, an assistant professor of child development and family studies.

The research showed that the impact spouses were feeling was highly similar to what patients were feeling. For example, many spouses and diabetic patients would feel saddened or irritable. Depression during diabetes comes from the impact of having to live with the disease itself. The researchers found that men who were diagnosed with diabetes had an increase in their mood when they were confronted about management of their diabetes, while women went unchanged by the same scenario.

Franks commented. “This gender difference is consistent with prior work showing that male patients who are not managing their disease well tend to experience greater depressive symptoms. And while we saw this difference between male and female patients, we did not see the same pattern of distress between their respective spouses. This is surprising, because one might assume that the spouse would be as worried, or, according to family roles, that wives might worry more. However, more research, especially long-term observations, is needed.”

The study was based on 185 couples who were over the age of 50. Each couple completed their own survey, which measured the depression that was related to diabetes. To find out the gender differences, the responses were measured individually. There were 67 female patients and 118 male patients and each couple was medically screened to ensure only one person within the couple had diabetes.

“Because spouses’ distress is not always directly linked to feelings of their partner, it tells us that we need to pay more attention to the spouse as well as the patient. Understanding the triggers for depressive symptoms can help practitioners and experts better care for patients and spouses as individuals and as a unit. We also found that many people reported some depressive symptoms, and some reported levels indicative of risk for clinical depression. It’s important to consider depressive symptoms because they may signal concerns and problems that could be alleviated with treatment.” Franks said.

Diabetes is a very powerful disease and affects so many people’s lives, not just the people who are diagnosed. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in America. While many people can help their diabetes with exercise and diet, others are forced to give themselves shots of insulin to keep their blood sugar levels stable. Amazingly, one in five American’s over the age of 60 are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Why Do Some Diabetics Never Encounter Complications: Through research, professionals have been trying to figure out why some patients develop diabetic complications and why some do not.

Professionals believe that through a study known as PROLONG, (Protective Genes in Diabetes and Longevity) they might find the answer. From the Lund University Diabetes Centre, Valeriya Lyssenko and Peter Nilsson, who lead the PROLONG had this to say about the statistics of patients with and without diabetes, “”The majority of diabetics will over time develop severe or fatal complications, but 10-15 per cent never do. They are the ones we are interested in the PROLONG study.”

Typically, an individual suffering from diabetes will have some form of diabetic complications later in life. Sometimes, retinopathy (eye damage) is an complication, sometimes neuropathy (kidney disease)can be an complication; neuropathy (nerve damage) is also a complication that many diabetic suffer from. Other times, a diabetic patient might suffer from a stroke, heart attack or require an amputation, when an ulcer will not heal. It is not yet possible to treat blood vessels that become damaged through high glucose levels. Therefore, far too many people suffer from all of these complications that derive because of it.  However, while many people go through their diabetic life with one complication after another, some diabetic patients never encounter a complication at all.

One of the diabetic complications that many diabetics encounter is cardiovascular disease. In fact, the risk of dying from said disease is two to three times higher in those who have diabetes than those who do not.  This is all due to blood vessel damage, which in turn affects everything else, almost like a domino chain. According the statistics, 70 percent of individuals suffering from diabetes will have some sort of kidney damage that could result in kidney failure. Through retinopathy, many will suffer severe visual impairment and 2 percent of diabetic patients will eventually become blind. Peter Nilsson commented while talking about complications, “The blood vessels and other organs of the body become sugar coated and stiff. It is reminiscent of premature biological ageing.”

The PROLONG investigation looked at many theories and here are some things that were found.

In Sweden, there are 12,000 people who have been diagnosed with diabetes for at least 30 years, 1,600 have has diabetes for over 50 years. “About half of these diabetic veterans do not have major complications. Two thirds of those who have had diabetes for more than 50 years have escaped complications. Clearly they are different and we want to find out what it is that protects them,” stated Valeriya Lyssenko.

The PROLONG study is moving around investigating different parts of the world, it is not taken a pilot study in Skane for patients who have has diabetes for more than 30 years. In having diabetes for more than 30 years, the chance for complications increases. The patients will say in health care centres and hospitals where they will be compared with patients who have has diabetes for 15 years and who have severe complications. A 30-year gap has been chosen for the study because researchers believe that after a patient has had diabetes for 30 years and has not suffered any kind of complication, they are less likely to, down the road.

These patients will be asked about any diseases they have encountered, about their lifestyle, about family and relatives diseases.  Blood samples and genetic tests will be analyzed and close relatives will also be able to take part in the PROLONG investigation.

Valeriya Lyssenko states, “If we can identify factors protecting these veterans from devastating complications, then it might be possible to develop drugs that can do the same thing. I have dreamt of performing a study like this for a long time,” adds Peter Nilsson.

Controlling Blood Sugar Levels Through Protein: While many breakthroughs have found some pretty wonderful evidence to help those struggling from diabetes, many professionals and scientists alike believe that in controlling the blood sugars alone, diabetes will become obsolete.

According to a new study, that just might have happened. Scientists at the University of Leicester have found the newest way to control the levels of blood sugar after food has been consumed. A particular protein is helping in the effort to control blood sugar levels.

This study comes from the University of Leicester, where a team led by Professor of Cell Biology and Welcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Andrew Tobin who said,”The work, which was done wholly at the University of Leicester, is focused on the mechanisms by which our bodies control the level of sugar in our blood following a meal. “We found that in order to maintain the correct levels of sugar, a protein present on the cells that release insulin in the pancreas has to be active. This protein, called the M3-muscarinic receptor, is not only active but also needs to undergo a specific change. This change triggers insulin release and the control of blood sugar levels.”

Later he added, “Without the change in the M3-muscarinic receptor protein sugar levels go up in the same way that we see in diabetes. We are of course testing if the mechanism of controlling sugar levels we have discovered is one of the mechanisms disrupted in diabetes. If this were the case then our studies would have important implications in diabetes.”