Blood Sugar News and Research

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Blood sugar concentration, or glucose level, refers to the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally, in mammals the blood glucose level is maintained at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM (mmol/l). It is tightly regulated as a part of metabolic homeostasis.

Diabetes drug Pioglitazone reduces risk of death, heart attack and stroke, but increases risk of heart failure

A drug widely used to treat type 2 diabetes has been found to reduce the risk of death, heart attack (myocardial infarction) or stroke when used alone or in combination with other therapies for diabetes, according to a Cleveland Clinic study.

12 Sep 2007

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes

Mutations in the insulin gene can cause permanent neonatal diabetes, an unusual form of diabetes that affects very young children and results in lifelong dependence on insulin injections, report researchers from the University of Chicago and Peninsula University (Exeter, UK) in Sept. 18, 2007, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published early online.

11 Sep 2007

Health benefits of fruit juice

In years past, family physician Pamela Rockwell told parents not to let their children drink too much fruit juice because of its link to obesity.

5 Sep 2007

Antiobesity gene

Researchers have revealed an antiobesity gene that has apparently been keeping critters lean during times of plenty since ancient times.

5 Sep 2007

Adipose gene may be the key to tackle weight

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that a single gene might control whether or not individuals tend to pile on fat, a discovery that may point to new ways to fight obesity and diabetes.

5 Sep 2007

Fatty hearts in pre-diabetics

A simple imaging technique developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has revealed fat buildup in the hearts of pre-diabetic people long before symptoms of heart disease or diabetes appear.

5 Sep 2007

The burden of diabetes in heart disease in Europe

Diabetes is becoming one of the major health problems in the European and US populations. It is frequently associated with overweight, hypertension and high serum cholesterol levels, representing a dangerous combination of risk factors for the development of heart and vascular diseases.

2 Sep 2007

FDA approves Somatuline Depot to treat acromegaly

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Somatuline Depot (lanreotide acetate injection) for the treatment of acromegaly, a rare and potentially life threatening disease in adults caused by abnormal secretion of growth hormone (GH), commonly from a benign tumor located in the pituitary gland located in the brain.

30 Aug 2007

Brain's impaired ability to sense glucose might play role in type 2 diabetes

New findings from studies in mice suggest that defects in the brain's ability to respond to glucose play a role in the development of non-insulin dependent (type 2) diabetes, and that a high-fat diet may contribute to impairing brain cells' ability to regulate glucose throughout the body.

30 Aug 2007

New understanding of endoplasmic reticulum

In obese individuals, fat cells are bloated and inflamed because they receive too many nutrients, including lipids.

29 Aug 2007

Gestational diabetes doubles children's risk of obesity

According to the latest research babies born to mothers with untreated gestational diabetes have nearly double the normal risk of becoming obese during childhood.

29 Aug 2007

Higher maternal sugar levels increases risk of childhood obesity

Treating diabetes during pregnancy can break the link between gestational diabetes and childhood obesity, according to a Kaiser Permanente study featured in the September issue of Diabetes Care.

28 Aug 2007

Discovery of molecule in the intestine that can 'taste' the sugar content of the diet

Diabetes patients could benefit from new research at the University of Liverpool that has identified a molecule in the intestine that can 'taste' the sugar content of the diet.

21 Aug 2007

Strengthened warnings on some type 2 diabetes drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced manufacturers of certain drugs approved to treat Type 2 diabetes have agreed to add a stronger warning on the risk of heart failure, a condition that occurs when the heart does not adequately pump blood.

16 Aug 2007

Healthy eating for type 2 diabetes

Myths abound when it comes to diabetes and food - one of the most common being that there is a "diabetes diet" that prohibits sugar and other items.

16 Aug 2007

FGFR4 gene plays a complex role in obesity, fatty liver and diabetes

Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston have found that a gene in the liver and elsewhere in the body, when inhibited or increased, affects fatty liver and diabetes but does not alleviate both diseases at once.

11 Aug 2007

The skeleton is an endocrine organ

Bones are typically thought of as calcified, inert structures, but researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have now identified a surprising and critically important novel function of the skeleton.

11 Aug 2007

Reducing inflammation plays key role in type 1 diabetes therapy

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have found that a triple combination therapy consisting of both tolerance-inducing and anti-inflammatory properties is successful in abolishing adverse autoimmunity against insulin-producing cells in a mouse model of Type 1 diabetes.

1 Aug 2007

Discovery of pathway that controls cell size and division

Organisms precisely regulate cell size to ensure that daughter cells have sufficient cellular material to thrive or to create specific cell types: a tiny sperm versus a gargantuan egg for example.

1 Aug 2007

Takeda responds to FDA recommendation on Actos

Following a joint meeting today of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee and the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee, Takeda Global Research & Development (TGRD) underscores its position that ACTOS(R) (pioglitazone HCl) offers a proven safety profile regarding the risk of cardiovascular disease.

30 Jul 2007