Diabetes News and Research

Latest Diabetes News and Research

Stevia tastes sweet, but does your body react as if sugar is coming?

In a randomized, double-blind crossover study, researchers tested stevia alone and with glucose in adults with normal weight, overweight, or type 2 diabetes to assess acute effects on blood glucose, insulin, gut hormones, appetite, and subsequent food intake. Stevia produced no significant changes in the measured glycemic or hormonal responses compared with water and did not significantly modify responses to glucose, while appetite and subsequent energy intake were also generally unchanged.

8 Sep 2026

COVID-19 linked to lower subsequent risk of type 1 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 people who have had COVID-19 have a lower, rather than higher, risk of subsequent development of type 1 diabetes (T1D).

8 Sep 2026

Rice, seafood and water may help explain striking differences in metal exposure across US communities

Researchers compared urinary trace-metal profiles across 666 adults from six ethnic groups in three US cohorts, with up to 19 elements measured and paired serum measurements available for the Asian Indian MASALA cohort. Distinct metal patterns emerged across populations, with the findings suggesting that diet, drinking-water sources, regional hydrogeology, urban-rural conditions, smoking, and physiological handling may all contribute to differences in exposure profiles.

8 Sep 2026

Working shifts may change more than your sleep schedule

A cross-sectional analysis of 1,814 Japanese workers found that shift work was associated with lower raw seafood intake and shorter sleep patterns in both sexes, while female shift workers also consumed less milk and dairy products. Total energy intake was similar between work groups, but male shift workers were more likely to consider preference and convenience when choosing foods, highlighting potentially important differences in dietary quality and lifestyle rather than calorie intake.

8 Sep 2026

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

GLP-1 treatment linked to 40% fewer asthma attacks

The diabetes and weight loss injection semaglutide can reduce asthma attacks by up to 40 per cent according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

7 Sep 2026

GLP-1 drugs looked promising for depression. The evidence tells a more complicated story

A systematic review of 43 studies found highly heterogeneous results for GLP-1 receptor agonists across animal models and human research assessing depression-, anxiety-, and stress-related outcomes. No study directly tested these drugs as a treatment for PTSD, and the available evidence does not currently support their use for depression or PTSD, although people with metabolic dysfunction may warrant further investigation.

7 Sep 2026

What mothers eat in pregnancy may shape a child’s weight years later

A prospective study of 252 mother-child pairs found that higher combined maternal fruit and vegetable intake during pregnancy was associated with lower odds of overweight or obesity in children at age four. Total and natural fruit juice showed no association, whereas higher commercial fruit juice intake was associated with increased odds, though the authors emphasized that this finding was exploratory.

7 Sep 2026

Atherosclerosis qualifies as an autoimmune disease

A new study in mice and patients shows that atherosclerosis meets the criteria for an autoimmune disease.

7 Sep 2026

GLP-1 drugs appear psychiatrically safe, but one finding still raises questions

A systematic review of 11 observational studies representing more than 4.9 million patients found that GLP-1 receptor agonists were generally associated with neutral or potentially protective psychiatric outcomes, although one obesity-focused cohort reported increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior. Direct evidence for antidepressant effects remains limited, with only one cross-sectional study using validated mood scales and no randomized trials in the final synthesis, meaning causality cannot be established

6 Sep 2026

AI chatbots wrongly reassure sleep apnea patients, study finds

In a third of cases, AI chatbots wrongly reassure sleep apnea patients that their symptoms are not serious, discouraging them from seeking a referral to a specialist, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

6 Sep 2026

What four pregnancy eating patterns revealed about mothers and newborns

Researchers analyzing 1,404 pregnant women in Germany identified four distinct dietary patterns that differed substantially in maternal BMI, socioeconomic status, age, and gestational weight gain. A vegetable-rich pattern was also associated with selected neonatal measures, including greater birth length, but most newborn associations were modest or nonsignificant, and the observational study cannot establish causality.

6 Sep 2026

Dual-drug microneedle patch targets inflammation and fat browning

The worldwide obesity crisis has become a dominant public health crisis across the globe. Over 3 billion people worldwide currently suffer from obesity, and forecasts warn the number will rise above 4 billion by 2035, accounting for more than half the global population.

4 Sep 2026

Childhood obesity prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs surge in the U.S.

Although the number of US children under age 12 with obesity being prescribed the weight loss drugs Saxenda, Wegovy, and Zepbound remains low, the number is 310 times higher in June 2026 than it was in 2019, when the drugs were initially prescribed, a new study shows.

4 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

As life expectancy rises, healthy aging is more important than ever

Global disease burden is shifting toward aging-related conditions as people live longer, with these diseases now representing the largest expected lifetime health burden for newborns across all income groups. Modeling suggests that reducing aging-related disease could produce unusually large and progressively greater gains in both longevity and healthy life expectancy because improvements in survival and health reinforce one another.

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

Coffee, tea and dementia risk: Why the amount you drink could matter

A targeted perspective synthesizes epidemiological and mechanistic evidence examining how caffeine consumption during midlife may influence dementia risk later in life. The authors highlight potential roles for dose, age, CYP1A2 genotype, adenosine signaling and cultural drinking practices, while stressing that current observational evidence cannot establish causality.

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