Bone Fractures Could Increase with Glitazones

April 30, 2008

The risk of fractures of the bones could go up when people with diabetes take glitazones. This is the latest report of a new research study. The risk is almost double when one has been taking glitazones for one year to one year and a half. The fracture is at the wrist or hip. And if the diabetic has been taking the same for over two years, the risk for bone fracture is nearly three times more.

Switzerland's University Hospital Basel's Dr. Christian Meier is the leader of this research. What he did was look at 1020 British diabetics who suffered from fractures during the years from 1994 to 2005. He found that the findings of the study pointed to an increase in bone fractures when glitazones was used.

The Diabetes UK's Director of Research, Dr. Iain Frame, said that the result of this research corroborated the findings of other studies. The authors did say though that the number of the participants in the research was small so there is a need for further proof. Conducting controlled trials will be the way to go before making firm conclusions.

Due to the aforementioned situation, people with diabetes should not stop taking this medication. This is what is being recommended by the European Medicines Agency as well as by the MHRA which stands for the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Those who are concerned about this should have a consultation with their physicians. And Diabetes UK recommends with emphasis that eating a healthy well balanced diet along with physical activity every day is key to control diabetes.

Oral Insulin Could Become a Reality Sooner Than Later

April 23, 2008

An oral insulin report from Texas said that researchers have developed a material that could speed up the arrival of insulin that is taken by mouth. This is a gel-like material that the study developed and is reported in the American Chemical Society's Biomacromolecules of the April issue.

Nicholas A. Peppas, PhD of Austin's University of Texas and his team said that the acid in the stomach obliterates the insulin. This is the obstacle that is preventing the use of oral insulin instead of taking it via injection. This is what researchers all over the world are looking for. They are searching for ways and means to solve this challenge which has not been found yet.

However, this new research has found a way to go around this problem. They uncovered a polymer hydrogel that is able to take action as the pH levels change. What they did to this hydrogel is change it by adding wheat germ agglutinin. This acts as anchors that make it possible for the hydrogel to work together with the small intestine's linings.

When they tested this at the laboratory, the polymer hydrogel with insulin got bigger as it reacted to the acid in the stomach. This made it possible to protect the insulin it contained. The insulin therefore was not destroyed by the acid in the stomach. What happened next?

As soon as the polymer hydrogel was exposed to the alkaline part of the stomach which is the location for insulin absorption, it got smaller and released the insulin. The addition of the wheat germ agglutinin allowed the polymer to stick to the small intestine for longer periods.

Why is this possible? Well, the wheat germ agglutinin is a plant sugar that is sticky and so it is able to help the polymer hydrogel stick longer in the small intestine. This in turn improves the absorption of insulin for it makes the duration longer.

Let's hope that this is the answer to our prayers. It has been long in coming. Hopefully this promise will become a reality for some people really have a difficult time with the injection way instead of taking the oral insulin. Let us all keep our fingers crossed.

Embryonic Stem Cells May Solve Immune Rejection

April 16, 2008

University of Oxford's Dr. Paul Fairchild spoke at the meeting of the UK National Stem Cell Network Science in Edinburgh on how the tissues from embryonic stem cells could help the immune systems to the point that rejection could be prevented.

He further said that even though the embryonic stem cells give in to rejection, they could be researched more. Why? Because he said that the embryonic stem cells have a natural immune advantage that could lead to the treatment of diabetes as well as Parkinson's and heart attacks.

This is the reason why Dr. Fairchild and his colleague, Dr. Nathan Robertson, are studying to find out if the embryonic stem cells tissues are usually rejected or if the recipients just do not see them as foreign. The promise of the use of embryonic stem cells in regenerative medicine is exciting.

This promise can only become real if the way the body manages to respond to them is understood so the Medical Research Council provided the funding for this investigation. For now, the findings show that the embryonic stem cells are vulnerable to rejection but their natural immune advantage could be used to help the T-cells restrain the immune system from activating.

There is hope that the immune system may be influenced to accept the embryonic stem cells tissues better than what is happening now. It looks like the tissues from these cells can be accepted by making the environment more favorable to the T-cell activity. And this can be used for treatment.

How are they doing this? They produced embryonic stem cells from mice that are different from the recipients. This difference caused a rejection but the rejected cells showed an inherent immune advantage. This is what they want to investigate further.

The Electronic Health Record Benefits Thousands of Diabetics

April 9, 2008

The Journal of General Internal Medicine published a study in its April issue that reported on the improvement in most diabetics. The report says it is due to the use of the Electronic Health Record. The use of this helped the diabetics to participate actively in self care.

Apparently, using the electronic record resulted in better cholesterol and blood glucose levels. As well the patients became more compliant and more of them stopped smoking. How did this happen? Well, the Geisinger Health system that embarked on this study said that with better reminders from the use of the electronic record, the patients were able to receive vaccinations and blood tests in a timely manner.

This study involved 20,000 diabetics in 2005. Here are the improvements shown by these patients:

• The pneumonia vaccinations received went up from 56 to 80%.
• The microalbumin test to detect kidney complications increased from 57 to 87%.
• The number of patients who do not smoke went up to 82% from 77%.
• The number of diabetics with the best cholesterol level went up from 54 to 57%.

Along with this study, the Geisinger also developed guidelines consisting of nine best practices. The clinical teams used this in the way they care for the diabetics. Many of these guidelines on the best practices depend on the Electronic Health Record. This record cost Geisinger $90 million dollars.

This looks like a cool device as it reminds the diabetics to take the tests and lets both patients and doctors to review the results from the lab right away. It therefore makes feedback available to the doctors regarding the condition of the patients.

Part of this study is a personalized MyGeisinger which allows a diabetic to email his blood tests results that were taken at home to the doctor. The diabetic can also make appointment to see their doctor and for their prescription to be renewed through this device.

Frederick Bloom, MD who is the medical director of performance improvement at Geisinger said that integrating the information technology in caring for patients is important. Using these tools at home by the patients and in clinics by the doctors will improve the overall health of the patients.

Tai Chi Helps Control Type 2 Diabetes

Tai Chi is the martial art that combines gentle movement with relaxation and deep breathing. Researchers from Taiwan conducted a study on how this kind of exercise helps type 2 diabetics. They held a 12-week session of Tai Chi exercises and studied the impact on the T cells of the participants.

There were sixty participants of similar age. Half of them have diabetes while the other half are free of the condition. The British Journal of Sports Medicine will publish their findings. What did they find? They found that the control of type 2 diabetes is helped by Tai Chi.

The immune system of the body has an important part that produces potent chemicals. What is this component? They are the T cells that upon production of chemicals help change the immune response. The researchers reported that vigorous physical activity slows down the response of the immune system but the opposite is true of the effect of moderate type of exercise.

What has all these got to do with Tai Chi? Tai Chi, with its gentle movement, is considered a moderate type of exercise. Care advisor at Diabetes UK Cathy Moulton said that this study verifies the previously reported finding that moderate exercise can help manage diabetes.

With the fine diabetes control that Tai Chi can be of help with, the diabetics can lower their risk of developing severe complications that come with the condition. Among these are blindness, stroke and heart disease. The question is how much moderate exercise to do everyday?

The recommendation that Diabetes UK is giving people with diabetes is for them to do thirty minutes of moderate physical activity everyday at a minimum. They have to do this for at least five days a week. Moderate activity means any action that can leave one breathless to some extent and feeling warm and yet able to talk.

Tai Chi, vigorous house cleaning and walking the dog briskly all count as moderate physical activity. Tai Chi has an additional benefit in the sense that it has a relaxation component along with it. This can help lower the level of stress thus avoiding the adrenalin release that can contribute to resistance to insulin and high blood sugar levels.

Refresh Alert 8

Alert 9

Return from Alert 8 to Symptoms-of-Diabetes Home Page for the Disclaimer.