Diabetes Reversed and/or Prevented in Lab Study

May 29, 2008

Studies have shown that diabetes is prevented and also reversed new cases of type 1 diabetes. This was done on animal models where microspheres that carry nucleic acid molecules made in the lab were used. This was the report made on a study conducted at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. How did the researchers do this? Read on.

What the researchers did was to inject the microspheres under the skin of the diabetic mice. The site of the injection was near the pancreas. The white blood cells got hold of the microspheres that released the nucleic acid which then reprogrammed the cells. These then stopped the attack of the immune system on the beta cells that produce insulin.

What happened after they did that? The mice with diabetes started producing insulin. These results were published in the American Diabetes Association's journal called Diabetes. Look for it in the June issue of this journal.

Massimo Trucco, MD and Nick Giannoukakis, PhD led a group of scientists who conducted this study. Since T cells from the immune system of type 1 diabetes go to the pancreas to attack the beta cells that make the insulin, they found a way for the microspheres to stop the assault.

The scientists used the previous research of Drs. Trucco and Giannoukakis that tried to block the immune system from destroying the insulin-producing cells by using another way of doing it in order for the pancreas to produce insulin again. The new study that built on this research showed such an improvement that they are now conducting clinical trials on humans.

The chief of the Children's Hospital's Division of Immunogenetics, Dr. Trucco said that the microspheres not only prevented type 1 diabetes but also showed the ability to overturn hyperglycemia. This shows that reversing type 1 diabetes is on the horizon.

This is the first time that a vaccine is used that has the capacity to reverse and prevent diabetes. They are now carrying out a clinical trial at the Children's Hospital. Their mission is to use this therapy on children who have been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Initiative to Improve Diabetes Care Continues

May 17, 2008

ACP (American College of Physicians) and the ACP Foundation are continuing the diabetes initiative that was funded in 2005 by Novo Nordisk, Inc. This is a three-year initiative to improve the care of diabetics by special efforts directed at physicians' practices. This is great news for the diabetics.

Both the ACP and the ACP Foundation have released the information that they will continue with this initiative for two more years at the Washington DC's annual meeting where 6000 Internal Medicine physicians were at attendance.

Due to the success of the first year's initiative, Novo Nordisk awarded ACP an additional grant for two years to continue the success realized during the first year. The success was on the use of the team approach at the level of both the patient and the provider.

The chief medical officer of Novo Nordisk, Alan C. Moses, MD, said that in order to beat diabetes the cooperation of the public, industry, academic circles and the primary care is crucial. So Novo Nordisk is supporting the critical role of the ACP to educate the doctors who are treating the diabetics.

The doctors who are in the frontlines battling diabetes with their patients will be provided with tools needed in order to provide the care in a proactive manner. The director of quality of care and clinical programs, Vincenza Snow, MD, FACP, said that best possible diabetes care will require the effort of a team.

Now they will be able to build on the success of the first year that will only improve the products and programs to help make the diabetics' quality of life better. So for the next two years, they plan to add more members to the Diabetes Advisory Board. This will include some from the American Academy of Family Physicians as well as that of the Nurse Practitioners and others.

They also plan to continue the Closing the Gap Diabetes model that was highly rated during the first year with participants from 19 practice teams and 60 members of the offices who were taking care of 1300 patients. This time though they plan to have a web-based version as the face-to-face meeting required that the practices had to close for a number of days.

Doing it through the web will provide the continuing medical education. They plan to have 1000 practices to participate. They will also distribute 26,000 Diabetes Care Guide to the residents who will be the next physicians to treat diabetes.

The experiences of the residents will be tracked in order to determine the weaknesses and strengths of patient care. They will be taught how to make their practice better. Educational tools will be provided for physicians, the patients and the health care team.

This multi-disciplinary has already shown improvement in the number of in between days of visits the diabetics made to the office from 115 to 58, a 50% improvement. As well there has been a 40% increase in the yearly urine albumin test, and a 62% increase in the yearly dilated eye examinations.

Driving Discrimination for Diabetics Should End

May 14, 2008

Diabetics should not be discriminated when it comes to driving. That is the new study that Diabetes UK welcomes. This study has shown that the diabetics on insulin therapy does not make them get into accidents more than those without diabetes.

The diabetics have been subjected to rules that are tighter to the point that some are discriminated and can't get a license to drive. The perception is that, because of hypoglycemia, the diabetics can be involved in causing accidents to happen.

But this new study has made a point that statistics show the diabetics on insulin therapy cause less accidents than those without diabetes. The diabetics had 957 accidents per 100,000 while the non-diabetics figured in 1469. The difference was not significant even when the ages of those involved in the accidents were considered.

This is why Diabetes UK is running a campaign to end this driving discrimination for the drivers on insulin therapy of larger vehicles. However, Diabetes UK says that although the diabetics do not have to stop driving, it is pointed out that these drivers should plan ahead before they do so.

Diabetes UK Director of Care, Simon O'Neill, said that if the diabetes is under control and showing no complications, with a doctor confirmation, the driving discrimination should stop. This discrimination is affecting the employment of some diabetics especially for bus and taxi drivers.

Before driving, the diabetics should check their blood sugar level and routinely during the trip to be certain of not having hypoglycemia. Avoiding long trips that could become stressful when they are tired should also help. With any concern regarding this, they should consult with their doctor or their health care team.

This research was conducted at the Exeter's Peninsula Research Development Unit of the Peninsula Medical School. They examined the database of the Cornwall and Devon Constabulary that shows the traffic accidents. The researchers also looked at the retinal screening database of the district.

Dr. Kathryn Lonnen who is one of the researchers said that they looked to see if the diabetics on insulin therapy cause more accidents because of the increased likelihood of getting hypoglycemia. She said that their findings show that these diabetics do not cause those accidents.

Eye and Kidney Disease Linked to a Particular Gene

May 7, 2008

The John A. Moran Eye Center researchers at the University of Utah have recognized a gene that increases the risk of diabetic kidney and eye diseases. This gene is called EPO (erythropoietin). It plays a role in retinopathy and nephropathy, both diabetes complications.

The complication that threatens the loss of sight among diabetics is called PDR (proliferative diabetic retinopathy). This is the leading cause of blindness among adults. With ESRD (end-stage renal disease), diabetes is also the main cause in the west.

The director of the Moran Eye Center's Division of Ophthalmic Genetics, Kang Zhang M.D., Ph. D., who is also a professor at the University of Utah, led the study. This was published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

The importance of the discovery, according to Dr. Zhang, is that now the genes that increase the risk to develop ESRD and PDR, have been identified. In previous studies, the acknowledgement is that genes contribute to the problem; they just didn't know the particular genes that contribute to the increased risk.

To pinpoint the gene, Dr. Zhang and the team compared the data from 1618 diabetics who had ESDR and PDR with the 954 diabetics who did not have the kidney or eye disease. They found out that those with the EPO gene have an increased risk to develop ESRD and PDR.

Now it looks like the result of this research enables them to recommend to exercise caution in the use of EPO on diabetic patients as this may speed up the progress of both ESDR and PDR. At present, EPO is widely used to aid in red blood cell production of patients with anemia caused by chemotherapy or renal failure, costing one billion dollars a year.

Many of these patients with anemia from renal failure have diabetes. Those who receive EPO often to maintain higher hemoglobin count also have a higher rate of complications for heart disease. This study suggests to exercise caution in the use of EPO as it may speed up ESRD and PDR.

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