Insulin News and Research

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Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert glucose, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Insulin allows cells to use glucose for fuel and is secreted by beta cells in the islets of Langerhans. The release of insulin from the pancreas is stimulated by increased blood glucose, vagal nerve stimulation, and other factors. Insulin is obtained from various animals and available in a variety of preparations. Commercial insulin preparations differ in a number of ways, including differences in the animal species from which they are obtained; their purity, concentration, and solubility; and the time of onset and duration of their biologic action. An oral hypoglycemic agent is not a form of insulin therapy.

Could one amino acid help explain why men tend to live shorter lives?

A UK Biobank cohort and Mendelian randomization study involving 272,475 participants linked higher circulating tyrosine with greater all-cause mortality and genetically predicted higher tyrosine with shorter lifespan. After accounting for phenylalanine, the relationship with shorter lifespan was clearest in men, while findings in women were less consistent, suggesting a potential sex-specific role for tyrosine in longevity.

7 Sep 2026

Some popular drinks were linked to depression and anxiety. Coffee was different

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6 Sep 2026

Gestational diabetes history linked to earlier development of type 2 diabetes

New research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) shows that, in women that develop type 2 diabetes (T2D), those who had gestational diabetes (GD) when pregnant are developing T2D on average almost 13 years earlier than those who did not.

3 Sep 2026

The obesity-microbiome story is more complicated than ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria

This review finds that obesity is linked to reciprocal interactions between diet, the gut microbiome, microbial metabolites, and host metabolic pathways that influence appetite, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and energy balance across the lifespan. It highlights diet as a particularly tractable way to influence this system, while emphasizing that microbiome changes associated with GLP-1 therapies remain difficult to separate from weight loss and that functional multi-omics approaches may help enable more personalized interventions.

3 Sep 2026

Semaglutide extended lifespan in older female mice, but that was not the only finding

Late-life semaglutide treatment slowed age-related physiological decline, attenuated multiple molecular hallmarks of aging, and extended median lifespan from 742 to 834 days in aged female mice. The drug reproduced many effects of calorie restriction while providing additional benefits in exploratory behavior, spatial memory, and glucose control, suggesting that some effects extend beyond reduced calorie intake alone.

3 Sep 2026

Same foods, different timing, very different glucose patterns

In a randomized crossover study of 22 healthy, normal-weight Chinese men, consuming canola oil alone or with spinach before a high-glycemic mashed-potato meal produced flatter post-meal glucose and insulin responses than spinach alone or no preload. The effects were associated with increased GLP-1 signaling and slower gastric emptying, with the findings indicating that the unsaturated oil was the primary driver of the metabolic response.

3 Sep 2026

Study links popular weight-loss drugs to increased male hair loss

Men already at risk genetically for the most common form of hair loss have a 7 percent added risk of losing their hair if they use drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound for type 2 diabetes and obesity, a new study shows.

3 Sep 2026

Certain diabetes patients face higher ketoacidosis risk with SGLT2 drugs

Patients with type 2 diabetes who have high blood glucose levels, low body weight, or a history of ketoacidosis are at increased risk of developing this serious condition when treated with so-called SGLT2 inhibitors.

1 Sep 2026

GLP-1 drugs have benefits beyond weight loss. Could microdoses preserve them?

A narrative review suggests GLP-1-based therapies deliver metabolic, cardiovascular, renal, and other systemic benefits, raising interest in whether lower fractional doses could improve tolerability and treatment continuity. However, direct evidence for GLP-1 microdosing remains extremely limited, and researchers say prospective studies are needed to determine whether lower doses preserve long-term benefits.

1 Sep 2026

The scale told a similar story across three diets. The liver told a different one

In a randomized controlled trial of people with metabolically unhealthy obesity, approximately 10% weight loss improved insulin sensitivity and several cardiometabolic measures across ketogenic, Mediterranean, and very-low-fat plant-forward diets. However, the very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet produced larger improvements in hepatic insulin sensitivity and greater reductions in liver fat and several glucose and insulin measures than the higher-carbohydrate diets.

31 Aug 2026

Is there a best day to take GLP-1 drugs? Researchers looked for an answer

A systematic review of 1,000 screened records identified only three eligible studies examining administration timing for semaglutide, and none directly compared different days of the week or assessed tirzepatide timing. The limited evidence suggests flexible dosing may support adherence and tolerability without compromising glycemic control or weight loss, but these findings rely largely on indirect evidence and expert opinion rather than direct comparative trials.

30 Aug 2026

Met-HeFT trial finds no cardiovascular benefit from metformin

Metformin did not significantly affect the risk of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and diabetes or at risk of diabetes.

30 Aug 2026

People with diabetes may have another reason to protect their cardiovascular health

Better cardiovascular health, measured using Life’s Essential 8, was associated with a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment among people with diabetes after accounting for genetic susceptibility. Associations with dementia varied by genetic risk, while higher LE8 scores were also linked to greater gray matter volume and lower white matter hyperintensity volume.

30 Aug 2026

Type 1 diabetes cases projected to increase worldwide by 2049

New research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) estimates the number of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) worldwide will increase by 29% from 9.4 million in 2025 to 12.1 million in 2049.

28 Aug 2026

Study identifies role for peroxisomes in protecting insulin and maintaining beta cell health

Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center have identified a previously underappreciated role for tiny structures inside cells called peroxisomes in protecting insulin and maintaining the health and maturity of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells.

28 Aug 2026

Sunlight, blood sugar and diabetes: a new study finds an intriguing connection

Higher short-term ambient UVA exposure was associated with modestly lower blood glucose levels, particularly during winter, in a large UK Biobank analysis. Separately, more frequent solarium use, used as a proxy for habitual sunlight exposure, was associated with a lower hazard of type 2 diabetes, although the observational findings do not establish causality.

27 Aug 2026

Ketogenic diet excels at reversing prediabetes and fatty liver

There is no shortage of popular diets to try, and they can generally produce weight loss if followed to the letter. But are all diet plans created equal in terms of reducing the cardiometabolic risks that come with obesity, such as Type 2 diabetes and liver disease?

27 Aug 2026

Ketogenic diet provides greatest health benefits for treating obesity

A diet that severely limits carbohydrates but is high in fat has the greatest health benefits for people with obesity compared to a Mediterranean diet or a low-fat diet, according to a clinical trial publishing August 27 in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism.

27 Aug 2026

Metformin cuts preterm birth risk among high-risk mothers

A common diabetes medication can reduce the risk of early and preterm births for mothers at high metabolic risk, according to new research led by Monash University.

26 Aug 2026

Maternal obesity alters fetal liver metabolism via placental molecular signals

A mother's obesity during pregnancy may send molecular signals across the placenta that permanently alter her son's liver metabolism, according to a new study in mice published in Nature Communications.

26 Aug 2026