Posts tagged Type II diabetes
Articles and news from the latest research reports.
Scientists announce new treatment for type II diabetes
According to the World Health Organization, there are currently 347 million diabetics worldwide, with 90 percent of those people having type II diabetes specifically. It occurs when fat accumulates in places such as muscles, blood vessels and the heart, causing the cells in those areas to no longer be sufficiently responsive to insulin. This insulin resistance, in turn, causes blood glucose levels to rise to dangerous levels. Ultimately, it can result in things such as heart disease, strokes, blindness, kidney failure, and amputations. Fortunately, however, an international team of scientists has just announced a new way of treating the disease.
Currently, one of the main ways of treating type II diabetes involves switching the patient to a healthier diet and increasing the amount of exercise they get – the disease is most often caused by obesity. Additionally, oral medication can be used to increase insulin production and the body’s sensitivity to it, or to decrease glucose production. For approximately 30 percent of patients, however, such medication ceases to be effective after a few years, and they end up having to receive regular insulin injections.
The new treatment focuses on VEGF-B, a protein within the body that affects how fat is transported and stored. Using an antibody/drug known as 2H10, the scientists were able to block the signaling of VEGF-B in mice and rats, which subsequently kept fat from accumulating in the “wrong” areas of the animals – namely their muscles, blood vessels and hearts.
Diabetes Drug Could Help Fight Alzheimer’s Disease
A drug designed for diabetes sufferers could have the potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, a study by scientists at the University of Ulster has revealed.
Type II diabetes is a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s and it is thought that impaired insulin signalling in the brain could damage nerve cells and contribute to the disease.
Scientists believe that drugs designed to tackle Type II diabetes could also have benefits for keeping our brain cells healthy.
To investigate this, Prof Christian Hölscher and his team at the Biomedical Sciences Research Institute on the Coleraine campus used an experimental drug called (Val8)GLP-1.
This drug simulates the activity of a protein called GLP-1, which can help the body control its response to blood sugar. The scientists treated healthy mice with the drug and studied its effects in the brain.
Although it is often difficult for drugs to cross from the blood into the brain, the team found that (Val8)GLP-1 entered the brain and appeared to have no side-effects at the doses tested.
The drug promoted new brain cells to grow in the hippocampus, an area of the brain known to be involved in memory. This finding suggests that as well as its role in insulin signalling, GLP-1 may also be important for the production of new nerve cells in the mouse brain.
The team found that blocking the effect of GLP-1 in the brain made mice perform more poorly on learning and memory task, while boosting it with the drug seemed to have no effect on behaviour.
The new findings, published this week in the journal Brain Research, are part of ongoing research funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK, the leading dementia research charity.
Prof Hölscher, said: “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.
“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.”
Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “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.
"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 realise the true potential of research like this.”
(Source: alphagalileo.org)
Even in normal range, high blood sugar linked to brain shrinkage
September 3, 2012
People whose blood sugar is on the high end of the normal range may be at greater risk of brain shrinkage that occurs with aging and diseases such as dementia, according to new research published in the September 4, 2012, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"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," said study author Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, with Australian National University in Canberra.
The study involved 249 people age 60 to 64 who had blood sugar in the normal range as defined by the World Health Organization. The participants had brain scans at the start of the study and again an average of four years later.
Those with higher fasting blood sugar levels within the normal range and below 6.1 mmol/l (or 110 mg/dL) were more likely to have a loss of brain volume in the areas of the hippocampus and the amygdala, areas that are involved in memory and cognitive skills, than those with lower blood sugar levels. A fasting blood sugar level of 10.0 mmol/l (180 mg/dL) or higher was defined as diabetes and a level of 6.1 mmol/l (110 mg/dL) was considered impaired, or prediabetes.
After controlling for age, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol use and other factors, the researchers found that blood sugar on the high end of normal accounted for six to 10 percent of the brain shrinkage.
"These findings suggest that even for people who do not have diabetes, blood sugar levels could have an impact on brain health," Cherbuin said. "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."
Source: medicalxpress.com
Are cardiac risk factors linked to less blood flow to the brain?
7/18/2012
Metabolic syndrome, a term used to describe a combination of risk factors that often lead to heart disease and type 2 diabetes, seems to be linked to lower blood flow to the brain, according to research by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Dr. Barbara Bendlin, researcher for the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and an assistant professor of medicine (geriatrics) at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said study participants with multiple risk factors connected to metabolic syndrome, including abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol averaged 15 percent less blood flow to the brain than those in a control group, according to results of brain scans to measure cerebral blood flow.
"We thought the cerebral blood flow measurements of the metabolic syndrome group would be lower, but it was striking how much lower it was," said Bendlin.
Although lower blood flow could result in an eventual reduction in memory skills, Bendlin said it is not known if people with metabolic syndrome will get Alzheimer’s disease.
"Having metabolic syndrome at middle age does have an effect on the brain, and there is some suggestion that if you have lower blood flow, certain types of memory functions are reduced," she said. "The key will be to follow these people over time, because we want to know if lower blood flow will lead to a gradual loss of memory and cognitive skills. But it’s too early to say if these people will develop Alzheimer’s."
The study, presented today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, involved 71 middle-aged people recruited from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention (WRAP). Of this group, 29 met the criteria for metabolic syndrome and 42 did not.
Bendlin said the next steps will be to conduct additional brain scans on people with metabolic syndrome to get more specifics on why they have reduced cerebral blood flow.
"By comparing people with metabolic syndrome with those who don’t, we don’t know which of the risk factors are worst," she said. "Is having a high blood-glucose level worse than having high blood pressure or is it different than having abdominal obesity? All of these risk factors have been linked to increased risk for dementia, but they are clustered together. If we knew which ones were the worst, those would be the ones to target with specific treatments."
Source: Bio-Medicine