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.

New research may lead to new pharmacologic approaches to treating obesity

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene that when mutated causes obesity by dampening the body's ability to burn energy while leaving appetite unaffected.

5 Feb 2009

Molecule that suppresses immune response under study in type 1 diabetes

The idea is to teach the immune system of children at high risk for type 1 diabetes not to attack the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

5 Feb 2009

Cultured cells from the bone marrow can heal nerves in diabetes model

Transplanting cells that replenish blood vessels can also restore nerve function in an animal model of diabetic neuropathy, Emory researchers have found.

5 Feb 2009

Amino acid arginine could help fight human obesity

A Texas AgriLife Research scientist and fellow researchers have discovered that arginine, an amino acid, reduces fat mass in diet-induced obese rats and could help fight human obesity.

5 Feb 2009

New clues to pancreatic cells' destruction in diabetes

Researchers have found what appears to be a major culprit behind the loss of insulin-producing beta cells from the pancreases of people with diabetes, a critical event in the progression of the disease.

3 Feb 2009

Fat-free diet reduces liver fat in fat-free mice

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered crucial clues about a paradoxical disease in which patients with no body fat develop many of the health complications usually found in obese people.

3 Feb 2009

Drugs may be 'magic bullet' for infants born with rare form of diabetes

Infants born with a rare form of inherited diabetes might avoid irreversible damage to their pancreases if they are treated immediately with sulfonylurea drugs rather than insulin, according to a new report in the February 4th issue of Cell Metabolism , a Cell Press publication.

3 Feb 2009

Insulin may slow or prevent damage caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease

A Northwestern University-led research team reports that insulin, by shielding memory-forming synapses from harm, may slow or prevent the damage and memory loss caused by toxic proteins in Alzheimer's disease.

2 Feb 2009

Researchers identify protein that may explain 'healthy' obesity

Mice whose fat cells were allowed to grow larger than fat cells in normal mice developed "healthy" obesity when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center found in a new study.

2 Feb 2009

Short intense exercise best way to lower risk of diabetes

A regular high-intensity, three-minute workout has a significant effect on the body's ability to process sugars.

29 Jan 2009

Reduce the calories and increase that brain power!

According to a study conducted by researchers in Germany older people benefit from a calorie restricted diet in more ways than one - they lose weight but also improve their memories.

28 Jan 2009

Study compares exercise regimens for obese older adults

Sedentary, obese older adults appear to improve their functional abilities and reduce insulin resistance through a combination of resistance and aerobic exercises, according to a report in the January 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

27 Jan 2009

Diabetes epidemic shows no signs of abating

In the United States, nearly 13 percent of adults age 20 and older have diabetes, but 40 percent of them have not been diagnosed, according to epidemiologists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whose study includes newly available data from an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT).

27 Jan 2009