November 26, 2008

Harvard Medical School and Joslin Diabetes Center released the findings of their new study. They found that a genetic variant linked with the higher risk of coronary artery disease in people is also associated with an even more increased risk for the diabetics especially if they had poor glucose control.

The Journal of the American Medical Association published this finding in the November 26 issue. This study is the first to find the increased risk in diabetics who have the genetic flaw on chromosome 9p21. The diabetics who have two copies of this plus poor glycemic control have four times increased risk when compared to those who do not have the variant and have good glycemic control.

The main author of this study, Alessandro Doria, M.D., PhD., who is also a Harvard Medical School's Associate Professor and Director of the Genetics Core at the Joslin Diabetes Center said that the leading cause of death in the US is coronary artery disease and diabetes is a main risk for this heart condition. He added that not all diabetics have the same risk because the extent of the damage due to the high glucose appears to be determined by genetics.

Dr. Doria further said that determining the diabetics who have a higher risk will help doctors employ an assortment of interventions to reduce the risk. In addition, this new knowledge could assist with the development of drugs that could help the diabetics.

As mentioned above, the diabetic participants with two copies of the genetic variant and poor glucose control had a four-fold increased risk for coronary artery disease whereas those with better glucose control have a two-fold higher risk. When the variant is not present, there was hardly any increase in the risk.

They found the same findings in a ten-year study with regards to mortality. The finding was that there was a two-fold mortality increase among the diabetics with two copies of the variant and a track record of poor glycemic control.

There is a need for more studies on this issue but the genetic variant of chromosome 9 and poor glycemic control are the two factors that seem to boost each other. Although good glucose control is essential for all diabetics, testing them to see if they have the variant will help the doctors identify those for whom good glucose control is absolutely essential.

Medical News Nuggets

Get Off the Path to Diabetes

November 25, 2008

I don’t want to scare anybody but research has shown that long term damage to the body may already be occurring when one is diagnosed with pre-diabetes. But there is good news in the sense that one can delay or prevent diabetes by regular exercise like walking everyday, reducing calories and fat consumption and losing weight. So be careful at Thanksgiving dinner or any other occasion for that matter. They pose danger to the waistline. Me? I will eat half of every serving.

November 19, 2008

The Phase 2b results of the clinical trial to treat diabetic neuropathic pain are out. The XTL Biopharmaceuticals just announced the top-line findings and they are not encouraging. They were hoping that the new product called Bicifadine would show good results.

The primary purpose of the clinical trial was to find if two doses of Bicifadine would ease the pain linked to diabetic neuropathy. They wanted to compare the results against those who took the placebo to reduce the same type of pain. Here's what they found.

They just announced that their product they were hoping to reduce the pain did not succeed in doing so. In addition, it also failed in the other secondary analysis they made. It is not often to get results like this from pharmaceutical companies so we applaud the XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. for their honesty.

The CEO of the company said they were all disappointed with the findings of the study. They plan to spend some time to analyze the data further so they can decide what the next course of action they will take specifically for this product and for their company as well.

And now what else can one do to ease the pain? Let us deal with how some people dealt with the pain associated with diabetic neuropathy. One person said that he started reversing the condition after seeing an acupuncturist. And he said what he did is something anybody can follow.

Of course he said that consulting with the health care provider is something that is necessary. For one thing one may require a neurological exam or an EMG which is an electromyogram to find out the nature of the problem which really is an essential part of the treatment procedure.

What worked was what one doctor told him. You will be surprised to know what it is. He was told to eat only raw foods and that he would have to be on this type of diet for about six months. After three weeks of eating only raw vegetables, fruits and nuts he started feeling some relief from the pain.Do you think this will work for you too?

Medical News Nuggets

Why HIV Treatment Makes Patient Susceptible to Diabetes and Heart Disease

November 18, 2008

It has been common knowledge that those undergoing treatment for HIV have increased risk of developing diabetes. The definite reason was not known until the study conducted by the researchers at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney revealed the findings. They were able to find out why the patients became vulnerable to diabetes so their care improved with better management and monitoring. It looks like the HIV patients when undergoing treatment lose a lot of weight but this weight loss was transferred to the abdomen to the point that they were considered obese.

November 12, 2008

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology are trying to develop a test for the eyes that will aid in saving not only the limbs but also the lives of people who have diabetes. This is a debilitating condition that happens to up to 50% of diabetics.

They are trying to develop an optical instrument that is able to look at the cornea. What and where is the cornea located? Professor Nathan Efron said that it is the window in the front of the eye. Through this part, the instrument they are developing will be able to evaluate the painful condition called diabetic neuropathy.

There is a test they are now using to determine the condition of the nerves to find the state of the diabetic neuropathy. This current test consists of taking a biopsy of the skin from the foot of the patient. They run tests on this biopsy which can take approximately three days. The eye test the researchers are developing will take the place of the test currently in use.

The team of researchers headed by Professor Efron at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation in Queensland University of Technology is using an equipment called a corneal confocal microscope. With the $5 million funding they received from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, they are authenticating this new diagnostic technique.

How will they validate this new instrument? In Australia and the United Kingdom, they will track 400 diabetics over the span of five years. Professor Efron explained further this disorder called diabetic neuropathy is caused by diabetes. At present there is no treatment that is effective for this condition that is affecting around 50% of diabetics.

Diabetic neuropathy can be a very painful condition with numbness and tingling in the extremities. In advanced cases, it could even lead to death. The use of a corneal confocal microscope can determine this condition in two minutes.

How will this instrument do this? It will help the doctors to look closely at nerves of the eye to determine if there is damage to the nerves. They will then be able to identify if the patient has diabetic neuropathy or not. What is good about this test is that it is not painful and invasive and it can quickly diagnose the condition.

Medical News Nuggets

Preventive Therapies for Heart Disease Found Not Effective

November 11, 2008

It looks like there has been a change regarding the effect of Vitamins C and E and aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The two studies presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association are saying so. Apparently, the researchers from Harvard University found the two vitamins did not reduce the risk of a major cardiovascular event.

November 5, 2008

Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney is the site where a PhD student discovers a significant part of the puzzle on how insulin works. This information is what overwhelmed researchers in their work. Now this finding explains how insulin triggers the muscle and fat cells to take in glucose.

Freddy Yip is the PhD student responsible for this discovery and his report has been published in Cell Metabolism. Professor David James who is chief of the Diabetes Program at Garvan said that since the discovery of insulin in the 1920s, the problem of how insulin works has weighed down the researchers.

Now Freddy Yip reveals an entirely new action of insulin. This newly discovered action of the insulin plays a basic role in the absorption of glucose. This is what is defective in people with type 2 diabetes. This will certainly help the researchers move forward in their work.

In type 2 diabetes there are two procedures involved. One is the inadequate insulin production in the pancreas after a mealtime. The other is insulin resistance which is the defective uptake and storage of glucose in the cells of the fat and muscle.

What Freddie did was focus on the connection between the two processes. He said that there are a series of proteins that can move the molecules around the intracellular pathways. This is where he discovered that a protein known as Myolc is activated by insulin which leads to the uptake of glucose.

This is how the insulin controls the uptake of insulin into the fat cells. Insulin moves the proteins to the surface membrane from inside the cell. This way, the proteins are able to propel the glucose into the cell. This is how the Myo1c helps the process.

After a meal, what moves 80% the glucose to the cell membrane occurs in people who are healthy. The trouble lies in the fact that among type 2 diabetics only 10% of the glucose gets transported to the membrane of the cells.

This new knowledge will provide a strong basis and help in future research. Myo1c was known before to be involved in the transport of the glucose. Now this research shows that it has a major role in the action of insulin. It aids to speed up the movement to the cell membrane.

There may be obstructions between the Mjo1c and insulin among those who are resistant to it. With this in mind, then the possibility of developing new treatments to correct this blockage will be close at hand. Professor James believes this discovery is an important milestone in diabetes research.

Medical News Nuggets

Surgery May Be 'Magic Cure' For Diabetes

November 4, 2008
Here's a man who is convinced he has been cured of diabetes. His peak weight was 315 and he had been on insulin for 11 years. He thought he'd end up in a wheel chair so he underwent a Gastric Bypass surgery and now does not have to take insulin anymore and all his ailments are gone.