by Jeff Hansen, University of Alabama at Birmingham Type 1 diabetes, or T1D, is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune cells—led by inflammatory macrophages—attack and destroy the beta cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. Researchers have long tried to unravel the signaling that provokes this attack. One of the less-studied forms of signaling...
Tag: <span>Diabetes</span>
Common diabetes drug reverses inflammation in the liver
SALK INSTITUTE IMAGE: FROM LEFT: REUBEN SHAW AND JEANINE VAN NOSTRAND. The diabetes drug metformin–derived from a lilac plant that’s been used medicinally for more than a thousand years–has been prescribed to hundreds of millions of people worldwide as the frontline treatment for type 2 diabetes. Yet scientists don’t fully understand how the drug is...
Women with diabetes and high levels of coronary artery calcium at greater risk of death than men
A new study finds women with diabetes and significant levels of calcium in their coronary arteries have higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and all causes than their male counterparts. Published in the American Diabetes Association journal, Diabetes Care, researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center compared...
In sickness and in health
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba show that the wives of men with major cardiovascular disease risk factors, namely hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia, are more prone to suffer from the same disorders UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA Tsukuba, Japan – Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, killing nearly 18 million people annually, which is...
Newly discovered ‘support system’ for axons suggests a novel therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases
by Ellen Goldbaum, University at Buffalo This image shows axons in vitro 24 hours after injury. The presence of Schwann cells (nuclei in cyan) helped maintain the integrity of axons (in magenta and yellow). Credit: Elisabetta Babetto, HJKRI Axons are long, finger-like projections of neurons that transmit critical signals throughout the nervous system. But because...
Transplanted brown-fat-like cells hold promise for obesity and diabetes
by Joslin Diabetes Center Microscopic images of the various types of fat tissues developed in mice after transplantation. Top panels show the fat tissue’s general morphology, and the bottom panels are the tissue sections stained with hUCP1 (red color), which is unique for brown fat cells. These images show that while the HUMBLE fat cells...
Major weight loss—whether from surgery or diet—has same metabolic benefits
by Washington University School of Medicine Gastric bypass surgery is the most effective therapy to treat or reverse type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients. A longstanding theory has suggested that the operation may have unique, weight loss-independent effects in treating diabetes. But new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates...
Risk of diabetes complications increases with elevated levels of NT-proBNP
DEUTSCHES ZENTRUM FUER DIABETESFORSCHUNG DZD Healthy people – especially women – with elevated levels of the heart failure marker NT-proBNP have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, if these people develop diabetes nonetheless, they are more likely to suffer from macro- and microvascular complications such as heart attack, stroke, or severe damage...
Smartphones may help detect diabetes
by University of California, San Francisco Researchers at UC San Francisco have developed a ‘digital biomarker’ that would use a smartphone’s built-in camera to detect Type 2 diabetes—one of the world’s top causes of disease and death—potentially providing a low-cost, in-home alternative to blood draws and clinic-based screening tools. Type 2 diabetes affects more than...
Non-fasting blood test can help screen youth for prediabetes and diabetes
Study suggests the hemoglobin A1c test can identify youth at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and associated cardiovascular problems JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH A simple blood test that does not require overnight fasting has been found to be an accurate screening tool for identifying youth at risk for type...