Diabetic Live

The maker of the injectable insulin Victoza  (aka/ liraglutide), Danish company Novo Nordisk, presented test results at the 9th Annual International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region Congress in Kyoto, Japan, on November 27, 2012, that reflected that Victoza is more likely to enable Type 2 diabetics to achieve lower AIC levels during a 26-week period (testing at 12 weeks, 20 weeks and 26 weeks) than does oral Sitagliptin (Januvia) and injectable Exenatide in people with Type 2 diabetes.  The study results indicated that the AIC desired levels were lower than 7.0 during that testing period for the participants in the study.

Continue reading “New Study Results Released on Victoza”

Past studies have shown that if you have diabetes, you are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when you get older, and having diabetes even accelerates the Alzheimer’s progression.

Why?  The complete answer is unknown at this time, although many theories have been culled from many different studies.

Continue reading “New Grant Issued To Find Out Why Diabetes Accelerates Alzheimer’s”

According to new research by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, limiting carbs to dinnertime can help those who are suffering from severe or morbid obesity, reducing the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular risk.

By opting for this diet, a secretion pattern of hormones that are responsible for both satiety and hunger and hormones that are associated with metabolic syndrome are influenced. It can help to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease from ever occurring.

Continue reading “Dinnertime Carbs Reduce Diabetes And Cardiovascular Risk”

According to new research obtained by St. Louis’s Washington University School of Medicine, vitamin D can be helpful in unclogging arteries, which causes heart disease, in patients with diabetes.

Researchers report that blood vessels are less likely to clog in patients that have an adequate amount of vitamin D in their body. In patients that have little vitamin D in their body, the immune cells that are near and around the heart become trapped with cholesterol, which will in turn block those blood vessels , causing clogged arteries, heart disease and numerous other heart problems. Vitamin D deficiency is responsible for a lot of health problems.

Continue reading “Vitamin D Helping Diabetics With Clogged Arteries”

According to a new study taken by the University Of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brian Institute, there is proof that a new drug therapy called nabilione can treat by nerve pain and neuropathy.

Sixty patients with diabetic neuropathy were enrolled in a 12-week placebo controlled clinical study. When the study was over, patients stated that there was less pain and an improvement in both anxiety and sleep as well in taking nabilone as opposed to the placebo.

Dr. Cory Toth, the study’s lead researcher and a neurologist said, “This is a good option to help treat nerve pain due to diabetes, with very few side effects.”

Continue reading “New Study Shows Nabilione Can Treat Diabetic Nerve Pain”

Two genes have been discovered by a group of international researchers that increases the risk of developing diabetes that is associated with kidney disease.

Kidney disease is a common problem when it comes to the complications of diabetes and the disease typically leads to both strokes and heart attacks. Diabetic kidney disease is known world-wide as the leading cause of kidney failure in which a kidney transplant or dialysis is used as treatment.

Researchers led a study from the Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin, Harvard University and the University of Helsinki in order to find significant evidence about genes associated with both diabetes and kidney disease.

The study was congratulated by Professor Bernie Hannigan, Director of HSC R&D who said, “This research consortium is tremendously productive. Their dedicated work will immediately benefit patient management and in the longer term can lead to new treatments with both health and economic impacts. Such international research collaboration can result in gains for all partners involved.”

This study is the largest of its kind, 4,750 patients with diabetic kidney disease and nearly 7,000 patients with long-standing diabetes (with no kidney disease) were recruited for the study.

A principal of the study, Professor Peter Maxwell of Queen’s University said, “Currently available drugs cannot cure the kidney failure but may slow its progression. Knowing which patients are most at risk of kidney complications will be helpful in managing their diabetes.”

Over two million DNA markers per person were analyzed and two genes were found (AFF3 and ERBB4) which were increases for kidney disease.

Professor Catherin Godson, lead investigator of the UCD group stated, “These new research findings are very important as they help accelerate development of new and effective therapies.”

Diabetes is a common problem all around the world and while many studies have shown great strides in helping to calm the disease, at best, there are still many more tests and studies that are yet to be discovered that may in fact cure diabetes once and for all.

There have been many ways to help resist and even in some cases prevent the onset of diabetes. However, there is a new study that shows that something as natural as sleep could be the beginning of a great improvement for insulin resistance and even used as a prevention method for the future onset of diabetes.

Lead author Karen Matthews, PhD, of the University Of Pittsburgh Department Of Psychiatry, “High levels of insulin resistance can lead to the development of diabetes. We found that if teens that normally get six hours of sleep per night get one extra hour of sleep, they would improve insulin resistance by 9 percent.”

During the study, the sleep duration and insulin resistance levels of 245 healthy high school students were tracked. They each provided a fasting blood sample and also completed as sleep long while also wearing a wrist actigraph for one week during a whole school year. Sleep duration was based on actigraphy averaging about 6.4 hours through the week. Weekends averaged slightly higher.

The results provided significant evidence that higher insulin resistance came with shorter sleep duration, depending on age, gender, waist circumstance, and body mass index. Matthews states that the study is the only one in, healthy adolescents that shows a relationship between shorter sleep and insulin resistance that is independent upon obesity.

One of the best ways for our bodies to rejuvenate, heal and prevent impending diseases and illnesses is to maintain great sleeping habits. Making sure teens implement one that allows them to get more than 9 hours of sleep a night can be a great way to prevent the onset of diabetes in the future.

There have been many advancements, when it comes to diabetes and a treatment for it. From medications to therapies, there are all kinds of ways that are effective. The latest treatment comes in the form of a tablet.

It is very possible that a capsule of insulin crystals a day can stop the development of type 1 diabetes. In an international TrialNet study that followed relatives of individuals with type 1 diabetes showed rather or not oral insulin could delay of even prevent the disease.

Type 1 diabetes is different from type 2 diabetes because it is autoimmune form; this means that patients with type 1 diabetes will produce insulin-producing beta cells that destroy their own immune system.

Åke Lernmark, Professor of Experimental Diabetes Research at Lund University in Sweden said “We know that if a person has two auto-antibodies and one of them is against insulin, there is a 50% risk that they will develop type 1 diabetes within five years. It doesn’t matter how old you are. There are indications that oral insulin may prevent or delay the clinical onset of type 1 diabetes among individuals with auto antibodies against insulin, who are thus in the risk zone.”

Lernmark is referring to a study that was presented earlier in the year by Canadian and American researchers. This study ran between 1994 and 2003 and participants with relatives who have type 1 diabetes and at least two auto-antibodies, one of those being insulin, to the oral insulin or a placebo capsule which contained an inactive substance. The results proved disappointed at first because just as many people became ill with the oral insulin as the placebo group.

Lernmark said, “However, the subsequent analyses showed something different. Among those who had high levels of insulin auto antibodies at the start of the study, the oral insulin had an effect and the development of type 1 diabetes was delayed. The delaying effect lasted for as long as the participants took the insulin.”

It is undefined at the moment on how helpful oral insulin can be in stopping type 1 diabetes. Lernmark believes that a possible explanation could be that the immune system could grow accustomed to the lower daily doses of insulin and therefore, the insulin capsules could become ineffective.

A new study from the University of Ulster reveals a possible drug that is designed to treat diabetic patients who suffer from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease has long been associated with type 2 diabetes. When insulin cannot get to the brain, it can cause damaged nerve cells, which leads to different neurodegenerative diseases. It is believed by scientists that the same drugs can also have positive benefits for keeping brain cells healthy as well.

Professor Christian Hölscher and his team from the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute on the Coleraine campus used an experimental drug called (Val8) GLP-1.

Through the drug, a protein called GLP-1 is stimulated. This helps the body control its response to blood sugar. The study scientists treated healthy mice with this drug and then studied the effects that appeared on the brain. It is typically hard for drugs to pass from the blood to the brain however the study team found that when the drugs entered the brain they appeared to have no side effects as well, in the dosage amount that was tested.

On the other hand, the drug did promote new brain cell growth in the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that controls memory, motor/cognitive skills. In finding this, it shows that the GLP-1 may be very important for the production of new nerve cells, the mouse’s brain.

By blocking the effect of the GLP-1 in the mouse’s brain, the mice did poorly when it came to its memory and in learning. However, in booting the GLP-1, it appeared to have no effect.

“Here at the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, we are really interested in the potential of diabetes drugs for protecting brain cells from damage and even promoting new brain cells to grow. This could have huge implications for diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, where brain cells are lost.” Professor Hölscher said.

“It is very encouraging that the experimental drug we tested, (Val8) GLP-1, entered the brain and our work suggests that GLP-1 could be a really important target for boosting memory. While we didn’t see benefits on learning and memory in these healthy mice, we are keen to test the drugs in mice with signs of Alzheimer’s disease, where we could see real improvements.”

“We are pleased to have supported this early stage research, suggesting that this experimental diabetes drug could also promote the growth of new brain cells. While we know losing brain cells is a key feature of Alzheimer’s, there is a long way to go before we would know whether this drug could benefit people with the disease.” Dr. Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said.

“This research will help us understand the factors that keep nerve cells healthy, knowledge that could hold vital clues to tackling Alzheimer’s. With over half a million people in the UK living with the disease, learning more about how to keep our brain cells healthy is of vital importance. Funding for dementia research lags far behind that of other common diseases, but is essential if we are to realize the true potential of research like this.”

Diabetes is a common problem all around the world. In just America alone, more than 24 million people have type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can cause many different complications with different parts of the body. One recent discovery showed that those with higher blood sugar (more than the normal range) may end up with greater chance of brain shrinkage, which also occurs in aging and diseases like dementia.

Study author Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, with Australian National University in Canberra said, “Numerous studies have shown a link between type 2 diabetes and brain shrinkage and dementia, but we haven’t known much about whether people with blood sugar on the high end of normal experience these same effects.”

This study involved 249 people who were aged 60 to 64. Each participant had a normal range of blood sugar that was defined by the World Health Organization. At the beginning of the study, each participant started with a brain scan and also had a brain scan four years later.

Participants with higher fasting blood sugar ranging from the normal range to below 6.1 mmol/l were more likely to have a loss of a brain volume in areas of the brain, the hippocampus and the amygdale. These areas control memory and cognitive skills. A fasting blood sugar that is considered impaired or pre-diabetic is a level of 6.1 mmol/l and a fasting blood sugar level of 10.0 mmol/l is considered diabetes.

The study looked to different aspects of each participant such as age, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol used and other aspects. Researchers found that high blood sugar accounted for 6 to 10 percent of brain shrinkage.  Cherbuin said, “These findings suggest that even for people who do not have diabetes, blood sugar levels could have an impact on brain health. More research is needed, but these findings may lead us to re-evaluate the concept of normal blood sugar levels and the definition of diabetes.”