Insulin News and Research

RSS

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.

REST protein protects embryonic stem cells' versatility and self-renewal

A protein known as REST blocks the expression of a microRNA that prevents embryonic stem cells from reproducing themselves and causes them to differentiate into specific cell types, scientists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Nature.

25 Mar 2008

Researchers find evidence of periodontal disease leading to gestational diabetes

A study by a New York University dental research team has discovered evidence that pregnant women with periodontal (gum) disease are more likely to develop gestational diabetes mellitus than pregnant women with healthy gums.

25 Mar 2008

Research finds genes and processes that may underlie what makes some people more susceptible to Parkinson's disease

Better understanding of Parkinson's disease onset during aging is important for improving diagnostics and developing strategies for therapeutic intervention.

24 Mar 2008

New genetic clue to Parkinson's disease

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University have discovered a gene that could hold the key to developing new treatments for Parkinson's disease – a progressive and often debilitating movement disorder that affects as many as one million Americans.

24 Mar 2008

Discovery of new effect for insulin

Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have shown that insulin has a previously unknown effect that plays a role in aging and lifespan, a finding that could ultimately provide a mechanism for gene manipulations that could help people live longer and healthier lives.

24 Mar 2008

Russell Berrie Foundation donates $28 million for diabetes research

The Russell Berrie Foundation has donated $28 million to Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, as part of a focused effort to provide comprehensive care to diabetes patients while working, through concentrated research initiatives, toward a cure, the Medical Center gratefully announced today.

20 Mar 2008

Cell therapies for diabetes, cancer

Therapies using stem cell transplants are advancing promising treatments for such conditions as Alzheimer's Disease, neurological diseases and spinal cord injury, and heart disease.

20 Mar 2008

Cell transplant dramatically changes diabetic's life

Experimental cell plant transplantation has dramatically changed the life of a diabetic woman.

19 Mar 2008

Zebrafish enables cell regeneration studies to help understand, treat human disease

One aquarium fish's uncanny ability to regenerate essentially any cell type has given scientists a way to mimic cell loss that occurs in diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes then watch how the fish make more of them.

18 Mar 2008

Minority, low-income diabetics least likely to monitor their blood glucose

Black and Hispanic adults with insulin-treated diabetes are less likely than whites to monitor their blood glucose, according to a new study presented at the American Heart Association's 48th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

17 Mar 2008

BMI may serve as prognostic tool for advanced, aggressive breast cancers

Body Mass Index (BMI), the measure of a person's fat based on their height and weight, may be an effective prognostic tool for specific types of breast cancer, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

17 Mar 2008

Simple laboratory test predicts risk of kidney injury after surgery

A simple laboratory test may provide a new way for doctors to identify patients at risk of developing potentially severe acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery up to three days before the problem would otherwise be detected, reports a pilot study in the May 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology .

14 Mar 2008

MGH initiates trial to reverse type 1 diabetes

Scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have initiated a phase 1 clinical trial to reverse type 1 diabetes.

14 Mar 2008

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood cut adult diabetes risk

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood may ward off the development of type 1 diabetes in later life, reveals a research review published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

14 Mar 2008

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood reduces the adult diabetes risk

Scientists in Britain have found that vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

13 Mar 2008

Protein deficiency leads to faster fat burning in mice, study shows

Researchers have developed a new, lean mouse with characteristics suggesting that someday, using medication to manipulate a specific protein in humans could emerge as a strategy to treat obesity and disorders associated with excess weight, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

13 Mar 2008