Diabetes News and Research

Latest Diabetes News and Research

Sun and vitamin D levels may play a strong role in risk of type 1 diabetes in children

In this new study, the researchers found that populations living at or near the equator, where there is abundant sunshine (and ultraviolet B irradiance) have low incidence rates of type 1 diabetes. Conversely, populations at higher latitudes, where available sunlight is scarcer, have higher incidence rates.

5 Jun 2008

Discovery of new signal pathway important to diabetes research

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Miami University have discovered that cells in the pancreas cooperate - signal - in a way hitherto unknown. The discovery can eventually be of significance to the treatment of diabetes.

4 Jun 2008

Prostate Cancer Foundation 'beefs up' cancer research

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has committed more than $19 million in new research funding for scientific investigations focused on discovering new treatments for recurrent prostate cancer. A total of eight programs representing 18 leading research institutions and 36 researchers were selected as part of the foundation's 2008 Challenge Awards. The funded programs will receive the first of three annual payments, ranging between $500,000 and $1.0 million per program, this week.

4 Jun 2008

Long-term pesticide exposure may increase diabetes risk

Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk, said the scientists with the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

4 Jun 2008

Human stem cells show promise against fatal children's diseases

Scientists have used human stem cells to dramatically improve the condition of mice with a neurological condition similar to a set of diseases in children that are invariably fatal, according to an article in the June issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell.

4 Jun 2008

Many young children short on vitamin D

A new study by researchers in the United States has found that many young children are lacking in vitamin D.

4 Jun 2008

Kidney cell suicide in diabetes patients

Diabetes is the leading cause of renal failure that requires dialysis. The disease generates such a hostile environment that it forces the kidney cells to kill themselves, progressively reducing the renal functions of the kidneys.

4 Jun 2008

You may not be what you eat after all!

A new study shows that increased eating does not necessarily lead to increased fat. The finding in the much-studied roundworm opens the possibility of identifying new targets for drugs to control weight, the researchers say.

3 Jun 2008

Discovery of genes that regulate glucose levels

In an effort to understand how genes work, a collaborative study which includes the University of Southern California (USC) has identified a gene that regulates glucose levels. The results, which will be published in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation and is currently available online, may provide further understanding of the underlying causes of diabetes.

3 Jun 2008

60% of people in the U.S. age 18 and older have at least one chronic medical condition

About six of every 10 people in the United States age 18 and older have at least one chronic medical condition, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research ands Quality.

3 Jun 2008

NGAL protein levels in simple urine test speed diagnosis of failing kidneys

Walk into any emergency department complaining of chest pain and you are likely to have blood drawn. Within hours it should be clear whether you've had a heart attack, based on enzyme levels in your blood and whether those levels reveal the tissue damage normally associated with a heart attack or other major cardiac event.

2 Jun 2008

Members of European Parliament discuss food labelling and heart health

Members of the European Parliament Heart Group meet today, 3 June, in Brussels, to discuss the link between nutrition and cardiovascular diseases and how labelling of food can help people choose products that are better for their hearts and vessels.

2 Jun 2008

Study looks at the role of metformin as possible anti-tumor agent

Metformin, the common first-line drug for type 2 diabetes, may be effective in increasing pathologic complete response rates in diabetic women with early stage breast cancer who took the drug during chemotherapy prior to having surgery, paving the way for further research of the drug as a potential cancer therapy, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

2 Jun 2008

New genetic mutations involved in inflammatory intestinal disorders discovered

The discovery of new genetic mutations involved in inflammatory intestinal disorders could lead to a better understanding of these common conditions, two scientists told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Monday 2 June).

2 Jun 2008

UT Southwestern mouse model mimics hyperglycemia, aids in diabetes research

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have genetically engineered a laboratory mouse in which pancreatic beta cells can regenerate after being induced to die. The new animal model's regenerative ability may provide future insights into improved treatments of diabetes, which affects millions of Americans.

2 Jun 2008

Minnesota Health Care Group to launch pilot 'pay-for-performance' initiative to reduce treatment costs for depression

The Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in Minnesota for large employers, on Wednesday announced a pay-for-performance pilot program that will reward physicians who effectively treat depressed patients, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

30 May 2008

More aggressive hospital care does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, study finds

More aggressive hospital care -- such as higher numbers of tests and procedures and longer stays -- does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, according to a study released on Thursday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

30 May 2008

Spontaneous mutations widespread in non-familial schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations - most in pathways affecting brain development - than healthy controls, in a study supported in part the National Institutes of Health?s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). By contrast, no spontaneous mutations were found in people with schizophrenia who had family histories of the illness.

30 May 2008

New type of wound dressing made of silica gel fibers

A new type of wound dressing made of silica gel fibers will soon help to heal difficult wounds caused by burns or diabetes. The dressing forms a supporting matrix for newly growing skin cells and is fully absorbed by the body during the healing process.

29 May 2008

Why do Finnish children have type 1 diabetes and allergic symptoms approximately five times more often than children in Russian Karelia?

High living standards and the life style connected to them seem to promote the development of autoimmune diseases and allergic symptoms. This has lead to the assumption that the immune system begins to overreact to the organism's own structures or to exogenous non-infectious proteins, i.e. allergens, when it does not have to work hard enough to protect the individual from infections.

28 May 2008