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.

Smoking and type 2 diabetes

A review of previous studies indicates that people who currently smoke have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, compared with non-smokers, according to an article in the December 12 issue of JAMA.

13 Dec 2007

$1.7 million grant to advance understanding of genetic influences on diabetes

Scientists at Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR) expect to make big leaps in their understanding of genetic influences on diabetes, thanks to a new $1.7 million grant awarded to Dr. Joanne Curran, the grant's principal investigator.

13 Dec 2007

Predicting growth hormone treatment success

Growth hormone treatments work better on some children than on others, but judging which candidates will gain those vital inches in height is no simple task.

13 Dec 2007

Study finds Avandia may increase risk of heart failure

A popular class of drugs for treating type 2 diabetes is under scrutiny again. A new Canadian study released by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) finds that drugs such as Avandia increase the risk of heart failure, heart attacks and death.

13 Dec 2007

GlaxoSmithKline response to JAMA article on ICES retrospective analysis

The following is GlaxoSmithKline's response to the retrospective analysis by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) titled "Thiazolidinediones and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Older Patients with Diabetes".

13 Dec 2007

Guideline for management of postmeal glucose

Christmas time is full of food when most of us simply have to worry about our expanding waist lines but new research led by the University of Warwick’s Medical School says that people with diabetes need to pay attention to the dangers of a neglected post meal peak in blood glucose.

10 Dec 2007

Keeping at-risk cells from developing cancer

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that cancers arising from epigenetic changes - in this case the inappropriate activation of a normally silent gene - develop by becoming addicted to certain growth factors.

10 Dec 2007

International initiative to study viruses implicated in type I diabetes launched in London

The Virus in Diabetes International Study Group (VIDIS Group) has announced its formation and plans to launch an initiative to study in detail the relation between viruses and type I diabetes in childhood.

10 Dec 2007

Sugary drinks may increase Alzheimer's risk

Excess drinking of sugary beverages like soda may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, suggests new research in mice.

10 Dec 2007

Research findings link weight gain and diabetes to a variety of cancers

During this holiday season with its tempting bounty of edible delights, new research calls attention to the role of the expanding American waistline in health and medicine.

10 Dec 2007

Popular diabetes drug Avandia linked to osteoporosis

Diet low in carbohydrates reduces inflammation and blood saturated fat in metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a condition afflicting one quarter to one third of adult men and women and is an established pre-cursor to diabetes, coronary heart disease, and other serious illnesses.

4 Dec 2007

Hydrogen sulfide provides clues to a longer life

Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, the chemical that gives rotten eggs their sulfurous stench - and the same compound that researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center successfully have used to put mice into a state of reversible metabolic hibernation - has now been shown to significantly increase life span and heat tolerance in the nematode worm, or C. elegans.

4 Dec 2007

Researchers capture key step in process that allows materials to move in and out of cells

A group of Purdue University researchers has captured a key step in the metabolic process that allows materials, such as nutrients and drug treatments, to move in and out of cells.

3 Dec 2007

Not enough sleep raises the risk for diabetes

The most common factors believed to contribute to diabetes are a decreased amount of physical activity and access to highly palatable processed foods.

3 Dec 2007

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals unveils promising, novel SIRT1 activators for treating diseases of aging

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals has announced that findings in the journal Nature demonstrate that Sirtris has developed novel drug candidates that offer a promising, new approach to treating diseases of aging, including Type 2 Diabetes, by targeting SIRT1, a gene that controls the aging process.

29 Nov 2007

Effects of weight, genetics and religious beliefs on prostate cancer

African-American men face an observable disadvantage versus Caucasian men when it comes to prostate cancer survival.

29 Nov 2007

Insulin regulates the secretion of the antiaging hormome Klotho

Dr. Carmela Abraham, a professor of biochemistry and medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), reports this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences new findings on Klotho, an anti-aging gene that is associated with life span extension in rodents and humans.

27 Nov 2007

Certain infusion therapy after heart attack does not appear to be beneficial, may cause harm

Infusion of a combination therapy consisting of glucose, insulin, and potassium, which was thought could be a beneficial treatment immediately following a heart attack, may increase the risk of heart failure and death in the first 3 days for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI; a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram following a heart attack), according to a study in the November 28 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

27 Nov 2007

Living donors may be best source of insulin-producing islets for diabetes treatment

According to a new study in Clinical Transplantation, obtaining islet cells (clusters of pancreatic cells that create insulin) from living donors may be a solution to the shortage of islets available for transplantation.

27 Nov 2007