StemCell Therapy

A small pilot study in which researchers attempted to slow attacks mounted by the immune system on insulin-producing cells in type 1 diabetes has given promising results. The study by researchers at Linkping University in Sweden has been published in the scientific journal New England Journal of Medicine.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body loses its ability to produce insulin. During the development of the disease, the body's own immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This often gives rise to the presence of antibodies against the body's own proteins in the beta cells. One of these proteins is GAD65 (glutamic acid decarboxylase), and several clinical trials are underway of a drug known as GAD-alum, based on GAD65.

In the study reported here, DIAGNODE, researchers from Linkping University have injected GAD-alum directly into lymph nodes in the groin, rather than under the skin, in order to determine whether this causes the immune response to become more tolerant towards the body's own GAD protein. This method is similar to one known as "allergen immunotherapy" used in certain treatments for allergy, where it induces tolerance against an allergenic substance.

Six patients aged 20-22 years who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes up to 6 months previously were included in the study. They were injected with a small dose of GAD-alum on three occasions, and took vitamin D supplements during the period of the study. The latter can reduce the inflammatory response of the immune system.

"The results for these six patients are very promising. Type 1 diabetes usually progresses gradually as the patient loses the ability to produce insulin, but this has not happened in these patients. We must follow them for a longer period and we must include more patients before we can say anything about the effectiveness of the treatment, but the results so far are extremely exciting," says Johnny Ludvigsson, senior professor at Linkping University and principal investigator for the study.

The pilot study does not contain a control group of patients who do not receive the treatment being tested. The report instead compares the results with those from other studies of untreated patients. The long-term blood sugar level (HbA1c) and the need to inject extra insulin both fell in the patients in the current study. Their natural production of insulin remained at a stable level. The six patients were followed for at least six months; four of them for more than 15 months.

The researchers are now planning to continue the study by increasing the number of participants, and including younger patients.

"If these results are confirmed when we test more patients, it would be an extremely important advance. The way in which type 1 diabetes progresses differs between individuals for many reasons, and this means that it is not necessary to find a treatment that has excellent effects for everyone. Even if it helps only half of patients, this would be a major step forward," says Johnny Ludvigsson.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Linkping Universitet. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Excerpt from:
Pilot study shows stable insulin production in type 1 diabetes - Science Daily

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Feb. 16, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetes that develops during pregnancy -- known as gestational diabetes -- carries health risks for both the mom-to-be and her baby, new research confirms.

A team of French researchers analyzed data from more than 700,000 births in France occurring after 28 weeks of pregnancy in 2012.

Compared to other pregnant women, those with gestational diabetes were 30 percent more likely to experience preterm birth, 40 percent more likely to require a C-section, and 70 percent more likely to have preeclampsia/eclampsia, a dangerous spike in blood pressure.

Risks weren't confined to the mother, however. Babies born to women with gestational diabetes were 80 percent more likely to be of significantly larger-than-average size at birth; 10 percent more likely to suffer respiratory issues; 30 percent more likely to experience a traumatic birth, and 30 percent more likely to have heart defects, the study found.

Babies born after 37 weeks to women with gestational diabetes also had an increased risk of death, compared to babies born to women without the condition, the study authors said.

The study clearly shows that gestational diabetes "is a disease related to adverse pregnancy outcomes," concluded a team led by Dr. Sophie Jacqueminet, of the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris.

Two experts in diabetes care weren't surprised by the findings, and they noted that while a woman's weight isn't always a factor, the odds for gestational diabetes go up in the obese.

"Gestational diabetes is a dangerous entity, and the child is at risk," said Dr. Robert Courgi, an endocrinologist at Northwell Health's Southside Hospital, in Bay Shore, N.Y.

"As obesity increases, so does [the risk of] diabetes," he added. "We need to do a better job at diagnosing and treating gestational diabetes."

The study also found that the risk of death was 30 percent higher among babies born to women whose gestational diabetes was treated with a special diet. There was no increased risk of death among babies born to women whose gestational diabetes was treated with insulin, however.

This difference in death risk could be because women with diet-treated gestational diabetes tend to give birth later than those who are insulin-treated, the research team said.

Outcomes were worse for mothers with gestational diabetes "who gave birth later because the baby was exposed to higher blood sugar levels for a longer period of time," Courgi explained.

Dr. Gerald Bernstein coordinates the diabetes program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He stressed that gestational diabetes requires prompt and proper treatment.

"Once diagnosed, treatment is geared to maintain normal blood sugar but without the risk of hypoglycemia [low blood sugar]," Bernstein explained. "This may range from nutritional and other lifestyle changes to the addition of insulin. The goal is to give the baby a maximum opportunity for growth and development without an unusual early delivery, so that key organs are as mature as possible.

"Most patients are followed by an endocrinologist, a high-risk ob-gyn and diabetes educators in various disciplines," Bernstein added. "To reduce birth complications, early diagnosis along with aggressive therapy with a full health care team is essential."

The study was published Feb. 15 in the journal Diabetologia.

WebMD News from HealthDay

SOURCES: Robert Courgi, M.D., endocrinologist, Northwell Health's Southside Hospital, Bay Shore, N.Y.; Gerald Bernstein, M.D., endocrinologist and coordinator, Friedman Diabetes Program, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Dibatetologia, news release, Feb. 15, 2017

Continue reading here:
Gestational Diabetes Poses Risks for Mom, Baby - WebMD - WebMD

HUNTINGTON A health professor and researcher at the Department of Family and Community Health at Marshall University has received a $1.3 million grant to support health care work for high-risk diabetes patients.

Dr. Richard Crespo said the funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission will aid community health workers in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio. He said the grant supports the creation of care coordination teams, which work with patients in their homes and communities.

What community health workers can do is invaluable, especially with patients with chronic conditions who are at high risk, Crespo said. What we are doing with this project is engaging the health insurance companies in coming up with a system for reimbursing the health care agencies who are doing this care coordination for the high-risk patients.

Crespo said community health workers rely on grants for much of their funding, so the project is important to the continued care of patients.

The critical outcome of this grant is sustainable employment for the community health workers, he said.

Crespo estimated the funds will support approximately 25 community health workers care for about 625 high-risk diabetes patients with the goal of providing them with self-management skills to control their condition.

In Kentucky, he is working with Big Sandy Healthcare, which operates in Magoffin, Martin and Pike counties.

Read this article:
Marshall researcher lands grant for diabetes - The Independent

Fat cells can regulate genes in distant organs like the liver by sending out molecular messengers.

Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source

By Emma HiolskiFeb. 16, 2017 , 6:00 PM

Theres more to those love handles than meets the eye. Fat tissue can communicate with other organs from afar, sending out tiny molecules that control gene activity in other parts of the body, according to a new study. This novel route of cell-to-cell communication could indicate fat plays a much bigger role in regulating metabolism than previously thought. It could also mean new treatment options for diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

I found this very interesting and, frankly, very exciting, says Robert Freishtat of Childrens National Health System in Washington, D.C., a pediatrician and researcher who has worked with metabolic conditions like obesity and diabetes. Scientists have long known that fat is associated with all sorts of disease processes, he says, but they dont fully understand how the much-reviled tissue affects distant organs and their functions. Scientists have identified hormones made by fat that signal the brain to regulate eating, but this new studyin which Freishtat was not involvedtakes a fresh look at another possible messenger: small snippets of genetic material called microRNAs, or miRNAs.

MiRNAs, tiny pieces of RNA made inside cells, help control the expression of genes and, consequently, protein production throughout the body. But some tumble freely through the bloodstream, bundled into tiny packets called exomes. There, high levels of some miRNAs have been associated with obesity, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

To understand how miRNAs function in fat, a team of researchers led by Thomas Thomou, a diabetes researcher at Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, studied a genetically engineered strain of mice in which fat cells lacked a critical miRNA-processing enzyme. These rodents had less fat tissue, and they couldnt process glucose as effectively as nonengineered mice. They also had low circulating miRNA levels overall, suggesting that most of the miRNAs in exosomes come from fat tissue, the researchers reported this week in Nature.

By transplanting fat from normal mice, the researchers restored the previously low miRNA levels in the modified mice. Transplants of brown fatspecialized energy-burning fat that regulates temperaturehelped restore glucose processing in the genetically modified mice, whereas white fatenergy-storing fattransplants did not.

In a previous study with the mice whose fat had impaired miRNA production, the researchers also noticed that other organsincluding the heart and liverwere affected, even though the genetic modification didnt alter those tissues directly. So they decided to investigate whether fat uses miRNAs to communicate with other tissues, Thomou says. They developed a method to measure cross-talk using a human miRNA. In one group of mice, they engineered brown fat cells to produce the human miRNA and package it in exosomes; in another, they engineered liver cells to produce a fluorescent molecular target for the miRNA. Injecting exosomes from the first group of mice into mice from the second group caused a drastic drop in liver cell fluorescence, because the miRNA bound to the fluorescent target and suppressed its production. This confirmed that fat tissue, through exosomes, can communicate with the liver and regulate gene expression. Exosomal miRNAs from brown fat were also found to regulate expression of an important metabolism gene, Fgf21, in liver cells.

This finding will provide not only insights into new pathways of tissue communication, but also pathways that can be altered in disease states, says study co-author C. Ronald Kahn, a diabetes researcher and physician at Harvard University. If researchers can figure out how to engineer exomes to target specific cell types, adds Thomou, they might one day use the vesicles to deliver drugs and other therapies. But its far from clear, he notes, whether exomes target specific cell typesusing a kind of molecular ZIP code that could help them travel from point A to point B.

Thomou and his team plan to continue identifying specific miRNA signatures from different tissues to determine what other factors, besides miRNAs, are bundled into exosomes. For Freishtat, the new work offers an exciting way to begin filling a gap between mouse models and human patient studies. This is a big deal, he says. Were just beginning to scratch the surface of exosomes and how they regulate processes in the body.

Please note that, in an effort to combat spam, comments with hyperlinks will not be published.

See more here:
Fat tissue can 'talk' to other organs, paving way for possible treatments for diabetes, obesity - Science Magazine

It may be possible to slow the progression of type 1 diabetes, according to a new pilot study that used an experimental therapy that centers on the immune system.

In the new study, researchers in Sweden tested a new method to train the immune system to stop attacking the body's own insulin-producing cells, according to the findings published today (Feb. 15) in the New England Journal of Medicine. With only six participants, the study was small, but experts called these early results exciting.

In people with type I diabetes, the immune system mistakenly recognizes certain proteins in beta cellsas foreign invaders and wages a war against them. Once the beta cells have been killed, the pancreas produces little or no insulin, the hormone that regulates how the body absorbs sugar from the blood to use for energy. As a result, patients need to follow lifelong treatments such as insulin injections to keep their blood sugar levels at normal ranges. [9 Healthy Habits You Can Do in 1 Minute (Or Less)]

This destruction of beta cells doesn't happen overnight, however. Although the majority of them are gone by the time someone is diagnosed, some cells manage to dodge the attacks and continue to produce some insulin. That's why several research teams have been working on finding ways to rescue the remaining cells, or delay their destruction in people who have been recently diagnosed with the condition.

In the new study, the researchers injected a protein normally found on beta cells directly into the patients' lymph nodes.

"This method has shown the best efficacy so far," at slowing the disease's progression, said Dr. Johnny Ludvigsson, senior professor of pediatrics at Linkping University and the study's lead investigator. "But we have to be cautious. The number of patients is small."

If confirmed in larger trials, the therapy could bring a number of benefits to patients. The ability to make insulin secretion, even if only at very low levels, dramatically decreases people's risk of complications, such as episodes of dangerously low blood sugar levels, Ludvigsson told Live Science.

The small amount of insulin that the patients in the study could produce would also make it easier for the patients to maintain a good blood sugar balance, improving their quality of life. It would also reduce their risk of long-term complications of the disease, such as heart attack, stroke, neuropathy, kidney problems and eye disease.

"These are exciting results," said Dr. Lawrence Steinman, a professor of pediatrics and neurological sciences at Stanford University, who was not involved with the study. Steinman echoed Ludvigsson's warning that the study is small, and said that trials with more people and which include a control group of patients who are given a placebo are needed to confirm the findings.

The injections that the researchers gave to the patients in the study contained a protein called GAD, which is normally found in the beta cells. Ludvigsson and his colleagues injected this protein into the patients' lymph nodes near the groin. Lymph nodes contain many immune cells, and the idea behind the treatment is that exposing the body's immune cells to larger amounts of GAD than they normally encounter will cause the immune cells to become more tolerant of GAD, and halt their attack on it.

The participants in the study were ages 20 to 22, and all had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the last six months. The researchers followed up with the patients six to 15 months after the treatment, and found that the functioning of the pancreas had not declined, as expected in the typical course of the disease, but remained stable.

Previously, Ludvigsson's team had tried the same treatment, but had injected the protein under the skin. The new results suggest that an injection directly into the lymph nodes better exposes immune cells to the self-antigen.

"With a much lower dose, we got a very strong desired effect on the immune system," Ludvigsson said.

The team is now planning to repeat the study in a larger number of people, which would take a few years, Ludvigsson said.

Although these results are far too early to be applied to patients, they lend promising evidence to a relatively new line of research that aims to modify the immune system with high precision to treat or perhaps even cure type 1 diabetes.

"A few approaches are in clinical trials, but nothing is yet on the market," Steinman said. "Antigen-based therapy [which was used in the new study] is a sought-after approach, but only a few in the world are attempting this."

In his own work, Steinman has focused on another protein, called proinsulin, which also becomes a target of the immune system in people with type 1 diabetes.

In a 2012 clinical trial with 80 people, Steinman and his team injected participants with a chunk of DNA-encoding proinsulin, in an attempt to desensitize the immune system to proinsulin. The researchers found that the function of the pancreas not only stabilized, but actually improved. It is possible, Steinman said, that some beta cells somehow hide from the immune attacks by going into hibernation, and that once the attacks are eased, they recover and resume function. Plans for the next trial are ongoing, Steinman said.

An immune therapy for type 1 diabetes in the future might combine some of the various approaches that different research teams have tried.

"So far, almost all studies have been performed testing one drug at a time, and they have not been effective enough," Ludvigsson said. "My opinion is that we need a combination of different approaches. For example, different drugs, given in a planned scheme, as is done in oncology. And not until just recently has that idea started to become accepted."

Originally published on Live Science.

Continued here:
Experimental Therapy May Slow Type 1 Diabetes - Live Science

People who undergo gastric bypass surgery are more likely to experience a remission of their diabetes than patients who receive a gastric sleeve or intensive management of diet and exercise, according to a new study. Bypass surgery had already shown better results for diabetes than other weight-loss methods in the short term, but the new research followed patients for five years.

We knew that surgery had a powerful effect on diabetes, says Philip Schauer of the Bariatric & Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic. What this study says is that the effect of surgery is durable. The results were published online February 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study followed 134 people with type 2 diabetes for five years in a head-to-head comparison of weight-loss methods. At the end of that time, two of 38 patients who only followed intensive diet and exercise plans were no longer in need of insulin to manage blood sugar levels. For comparison, 11 of 47 patients who had a gastric sleeve, which reduces the size of the stomach, and 14 of 49 who underwent gastric bypass, a procedure that both makes the stomach smaller and shortens digestion time, did not need the insulin anymore. In general, patients who had been diabetic for fewer than eight years were more likely to be cured, Schauer says.

Even those surgical patients who still needed to take insulin had greater weight loss and lower median glucose levels than others in the study. This study was also one of the few to show that bariatric surgery could help those with only mild obesity, defined as a body mass index between 27 and 34. How bariatric surgery might improve diabetes is still unknown, but scientists have pointed to effects on the bodys metabolism (SN: 8/24/13, p. 14) and gut microbes (SN: 9/5/15, p. 16).

Over five years, gastric bypass patients showed bettercontrol ofblood sugar levels than patients whoused a gastric sleeve or medical management such as intensive diet and exercise plans.

The same research team had published similar results at one and three years after surgery, but few studies looked further, says Kristoffel Dumon, a bariatric surgeon with the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia. The criticism of bariatric research has been that there are no good long-term results. With weight-loss surgery, you often see rapid initial results, but you want to see that to a five-year time point.

Dumon also notes that the patients who received only intensive medical therapy did not report an improvement in their quality of life, and their emotional well-being worsened. People in the surgical group reported improvements in quality of life, but not in emotional well-being, a finding that Schauer says has more to do with stress management and other characteristics that wouldnt necessarily be affected by surgery.

Schauer hopes to have even longer-term data in the future. His team will combine their results with those from similar research at three other U.S. sites with the goal of following patients for up to 10 years.

See original here:
Gastric bypass controls diabetes long term better than other methods - Science News

Published Feb 15, 2017 at 11:08 am (Updated Feb 15, 2017)

Chris Gildea, with sons Austin and Henry, volunteering at an American Diabetes Association event. Photo provided by Katie Gildea.

'); //-->

By Meghan Byers

SPARTA For the Gildea family, diabetes isn't just a disease; it's a daily battle. Sparta residents Katie and Chris Gildea, along with their two young sons, ages 3 and 7, will volunteer this June at the American Diabetes Association's upcoming Skylands Tour de Cure, an event which helps fund diabetes research. Chris Gildea, who has type 1 diabetes, has volunteered with the ADA for 10 years. This year, the Gildea family plans to help out at each Tour de Cure event in New Jersey.

"It's a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week job, living with diabetes," said Katie Gildea. "Diabetes robs you of your ability to lead a care-free life."

The Tour de Cure is the ADA's biggest fundraiser. The Skylands event, which will be held at Waterloo Village, will include both a cycling portion and "fun run & walk" for non-cyclists.

While raising money for a cure is a top priority, Katie Gildea believes that education is equally important, especially when it comes to confronting the social stigma often associated with diabetes.

"A lot of people don't realize that Type 1 diabetes is separate from Type 2 diabetes, and that anyone can have it. A lot of people think it's a choice," she said. "People always tell my husband, 'You look so healthy.' But diabetes doesn't look a certain way. It can affect anyone of any age, any lifestyle."

Chris Gildea, who works at Becton-Dickinson, a company that provides diabetes care products, enjoys an athletic lifestyle despite his disease. "My kids think he's a superhero," said Katie Gildea. "He always tells them never give up, never surrender, and that's how we are with this never give up, never surrender."

According to the ADA, 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each year, and approximately 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes. In 2010, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

"When you have something like this that can affect your children," said Katie Gildea, "you'll do anything in your power to rid the world of it."

The Skylands Tour de Cure will take place June 4 at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, with a kickoff event taking place on March 23 at Czig Meister Brewery in Hackettstown.

More information and event registration is available at http://www.diabetes.org/skylands, and anyone interested in volunteering can email Katie Gildea at katiehug@hotmail.com.

Here is the original post:
Sparta family raises diabetes awareness - The Sparta Independent

A recent study reported that diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the United States, up from seventh in 2010.

This study also reported that life expectancy has slowed down or even decreased, mainly due to the rise of diabetes and obesity in our country. Per recent Centers for Disease Control statistics, 21.95 million people in the United States, or 9.3 percent of the population, in 2014 had diabetes. In those 65 years old and older, more than 25 percent have diabetes, and that percentage is expected to double by 2050 if current trends continue.

If glucose levels are high over long periods of time, heart disease, blindness, kidney disease, nerve damage and other complications can result. But prevention of these complications is possible. The American Diabetes Association recommends that most non-pregnant adults with diabetes maintain a hemoglobin A1c (a 3-month blood sugar average) less than 7 percent, with daily blood sugars less than 130 mg/dl after fasting and less than 180 mg/dl two hours after eating.

Diabetes costs $245 billion a year; $69 billion of those costs are indirect, such as lost productivity and increased absenteeism from work. Patients with diabetes have medical costs twice as much as those without diabetes. The risk of death in adults with diabetes is 50 percent higher than for adults without diabetes. Prediabetes (often a precursor to type 2 diabetes) currently has a prevalence of 86 million, or 30 percent of the population, and nine out of 10 of those folks are unaware they have it. In the Medicare population, more than half have prediabetes, based on estimates from the Centers for Disease Control.

Recent statistics estimate that 90 percent of the cases of type 2 diabetes can be prevented through lifestyle change, specifically Diabetes Prevention Programs. Structured DPPs are effective interventions lasting one year and taught by a lifestyle coach. Participants in the DPP learn about healthy eating, ways to incorporate exercise, how to manage stress and set up their environment and life for success.

The goal of the DPP is to have participants lose 7 percent of their body weight over the course of a year through nutrition interventions and exercising at least 150 minutes per week. The results from the DPP suggest over a 50 percent reduction in acquiring type 2 diabetes for those at risk. In 2018, Medicare will pay for the DPP as long as the program goes through the CDC accreditation process.

The potential is there to slow the rate of type 2 diabetes in our country. If you or someone you love is concerned about having prediabetes, ask your doctor to do a simple blood test such as a hemoglobin A1C or take the CDC risk test found at cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/pdf/prediabetestest.pdf.

We can turn the tide of diabetes in our country by screening all people with risk factors for diabetes and getting them into a DPP. Such opportunities exist in Missoula and Western Montana. As Robert Ratner, M.D., chief scientific officer for the American Diabetes Association once said, We must prevent diabetes or our health system will be consumed by it. Now is the time!

Jennifer Troupe, MS, RD, is the manager of Providence Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition Center

View original post here:
Nurse's Notes: The state of diabetes in America - The Missoulian

ANN ARBOR, MI Why do some people get Type 2 diabetes, while others who live the same lifestyle never do?

For decades, scientists have tried to solve this mystery and have found more than 80 tiny DNA differences that seem to raise the risk of the disease in some people, or protect others from the damagingly high levels of blood sugar that are its hallmark.

But no one Type 2 diabetes signature has emerged from this search.

Now, a team of scientists has reported a discovery that might explain how multiple genetic flaws can lead to the same disease.

Theyve identified something that some of those diabetes-linked genetic defects have in common: they seem to change the way certain cells in the pancreas read their genes.

The discovery could eventually help lead to more personalized treatments for diabetes. But for now, its the first demonstration that many Type 2 diabetes-linked DNA changes have to do with the same DNA-reading molecule. Called Regulatory Factor X, or RFX, its a master regulator for a number of genes.

The team reporting the findings in a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences comes from the University of Michigan, National Institutes of Health, Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, University of North Carolina, and the University of Southern California.

They report that many diabetes-linked DNA changes affect the ability of RFX to bind to specific locations in the genomes of pancreas cell clusters called islets. And that in turn changes the cells ability to carry out important functions.

Islets contain the cells that make hormones, including insulin and glucagon, which keep blood sugar balanced in healthy people. In people with diabetes, that regulation goes awry leading to a range of health problems that can develop over many years.

We have found that many of the subtle DNA spelling differences that increase risk of Type 2 diabetes appear to disrupt a common regulatory grammar in islet cells, says Stephen C.J. Parker, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics, and of human genetics, at the U-M Medical School. RFX is probably unable to read the misspelled words, and this disruption of regulatory grammar plays a significant role in the genetic risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Parker is one of four co-senior authors on the paper, which also includes Michael Boehnke, Ph.D., of the U-M School of Public Healths Department of Biostatistics, Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, and Michael L. Stitzel, Ph.D. of the Jackson Laboratory.

Prior to their current faculty positions Parker and Stitzel worked in Collins lab at the National Human Genome Research Institute. Parkers graduate student, Arushi Varshney, is one of the papers co-first authors with Laura Scott, Ph.D., and Ryan Welch, Ph.D., of the U-M School of Public Healths Department of Biostatistics and Michael Erdos, Ph.D., of the National Human Genome Research Institute.

They performed an extensive examination of DNA from islet samples isolated from 112 people. They characterized differences not just in DNA sequences, but also in the way DNA was packaged and modified by epigenetic factors, and the levels of gene expression products that indicated how often the genes had been read and transcribed.

This allowed them to track the footprints that RFX and other transcription factors leave on packaged DNA after they have done their job.

RFX and other factors dont bind directly to the part of a gene that encodes a protein that does a cellular job. Rather, they bind to a stretch of DNA near the gene a runway of sorts.

But when genetic changes linked to Type 2 diabetes are present, that runway gets disrupted, and RFX cant bind as it should.

Each DNA change might alter this binding in a different way, leading to a slightly different effect on Type 2 diabetes risk or blood sugar regulation. But the common factor for many of these changes was its effect on the area where RFX is predicted to bind, in the cells of pancreatic islets.

So, says Parker, this shows how the genome the actual sequence of DNA -- can influence the epigenome, or the factors that influence gene expression.

The researchers note that a deadly form of diabetes seen in a handful of babies born each year may be related to RFX mutations. That condition, called Mitchell-Riley syndrome, involves neonatal diabetes and malformed pancreas, and is known to be caused by a rare autosomal recessive mutation of one form of RFX.

In addition to co-senior and co-first authors listed above, the studys authors include a range of researchers from several institutions. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (HL127984, DK062370, HG000024, DK099240, DK092251, DK093757, DK105561, DK072193, ZIA HG000024).Parker is a 2014 recipient of the American Diabetes Associations Pathway to Stop Diabetes grant, a type of grant awarded annually by the American Diabetes Association to provide up to $1.625 million to each scientist over a five- to seven-year grant term to spur breakthroughs in clinical science, technology, diabetes care and potential cures. Since launching in 2013 Pathway has awarded more than $36 million to 23 leading scientists.

Reference: PNAS, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1621192114

Go here to see the original:
Diabetes in your DNA? Scientists zero in on the genetic signature of risk - University of Michigan Health System News (press release)

The End of Diabetes Is within Reach

By Satesh Bidaisee

The Food and Drug Administration just approved what could be one of the biggest breakthroughs in the treatment of type 1 diabetes in decades.

Dubbed an "artificial pancreas," the MiniMed 670G is an implantable pump that senses blood glucose levels and delivers precise insulin doses to diabetic patients. Devices like these could make syringes for injecting insulin and manual blood monitors obsolete.

Unfortunately, victories like this in the battle against diabetes remain rare. Even though the condition is one of the top causes of death in the United States, research into it is grossly underfunded. Just as troubling, public awareness of how to prevent diabetes -- and how to manage it effectively -- remains inadequate.

The medical community has the power to stop the diabetes epidemic in its tracks -- but only if it makes diabetes research and education a bigger priority.

About one in 10 Americans currently suffers from diabetes. Worse, incidence of the disease has been rising for years. The number of cases in the United States shot up 44 percent between 2004 and 2014.

Diabetes takes a toll not just on the health of millions of Americans but on the economy, too. The disease costs Florida over $24 billion a year -- and the entire country about $250 billion annually. That's bigger than the yearly economic output of most states.

Compared to these staggering treatment costs, research funding for diabetes is a pittance.

Consider that the disease kills 28 times more Americans each year than HIV/AIDS. Yet the National Institutes of Health spend nearly three times as much annually on HIV/AIDS research as on diabetes research.

Given the enormous promise of today's diabetes research, this lack of funding is a missed opportunity.

Researchers at Harvard and MIT, for instance, are exploring a technique for making large numbers of insulin-creating cells that, once delivered to type 1 diabetes patients, could keep the disease at bay for years at a time. Johnson & Johnson, together with biotech firm Viacyte, is currently developing the first-ever stem-cell treatment for diabetes.

In short, we've never been closer to curing diabetes. But meeting that goal will take far longer if research funding remains as sparse as it is today.

Halting the epidemic will also require a more aggressive effort to prevent and diagnose the disease. More than one-third of American adults have pre-diabetes -- the kinds of elevated blood sugar levels that often lead to diabetes. Yet 90 percent of these individuals aren't aware of their condition.

This is where government agencies and academic institutions could have a significant impact.

The school I teach at, St. George's University in Grenada, has already taken up this cause. We're collaborating with Grenada's Ministry of Health on a school nutrition policy to advocate for healthy consumption habits. We've also worked with the ministry to launch programs that promote physical activity in schools and offer exercise classes to the community.

Ending the diabetes epidemic is within reach -- if we commit to funding the most promising medical research and effectively educating the public about the disease.

Satesh Bidaisee is an Associate Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies at St. Georges University, Grenada.

Read the original post:
The End of Diabetes Is within Reach - Gilmer Mirror

When she was just 11 months old, Billie Sue Wozniaks daughter Juno was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that affects 1.25 million people and approximately 200,000 children under age 20 in the United States.

The disease had affected several members of Billie Sues family, including her uncle, who passed away at the age of 30.

My first thought was, Her life is going to be short, the 38-year-old from Reno, Nevada recalled. The more that I learned, the more I found that many people with type 1 live longer and the treatment advances are really exciting.

While looking for treatments, Wozniak learned about encapsulation therapy, in which an encapsulated device containing insulin-producing islet cells derived from stem cells is implanted under the skin. The encapsulation device is designed to protect the cells from an autoimmune attack and may help people produce their own insulin.

After learning of the therapy through JDRF, Wozniak saw an ad on Facebook for Store-A-Tooth, a company that offers dental stem cell banking. She decided to move forward with the stem cell banking, just in case the encapsulation device became an option for Juno.

In March 2016, a dentist extracted four of Junos teeth, and sent them to a lab so her stem cells could be cryopreserved. Wozniak plans to bank the stem cells from Junos molars as well.

Its a riskI dont know for sure if it will work out, Wozniak said.

Dental stem cells: a future of possibilities

For years, stem cells from umbilical cord blood and bone marrow have been used to treat blood and bone marrow diseases, blood cancers and metabolic and immune disorders.

Although there is the potential for dental stem cells to be used in the same way, researchers are only beginning to delve into the possibilities.

Dental stem cells are not science fiction, said Dr. Jade Miller, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. I think at some point in time, were going to see dental stem cells used by dentistson a daily practice.

Dental stem cells have the potential to produce dental tissue, bone, cartilage and muscle. They may be used to repair cavities, fix a tooth damaged from periodontal disease or bone loss, or even grow a tooth instead of using dental implants.

In fact, stem cells can be used to repair cracks in teeth and cavities, according to a recent mouse study published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Theres also some evidence that dental stem cells can produce nerve tissue, which might eliminate the need for root canals. A recent study out of Tufts University found that a collagen-based biomaterial used to deliver stem cells to the inside of damaged teeth can regenerate dental pulp-like tissues.

Dental stem cells may even be able to treat neurological disorders, spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries.

I believe those are the kinds of applications that will be the first uses of these cells, said Dr. Peter Verlander, Chief Scientific Officer for Store-A-Tooth.

When it comes to treating diseases like type 1 diabetes, dental stem cells also show promise. In fact, a study in the Journal of Dental Research found that dental stem cells were able to form islet-like aggregates that produce insulin.

Unlike umbilical cord blood where theres one chance to collect stem cells, dental stem cells can be collected from several teeth. Also, gathering stem cells from bone marrow requires invasive surgery and risk, and it can be painful and costly.

The stem cells found in baby teeth, known as mesenchymal cells, are similar to those found in other parts of the body, but not identical.

There are differences in these cells, depending on where they come from, Verlander said.

Whats more, mesenchymal stem cells themselves differ from hematopoietic, or blood-forming stem cells. Unlike hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells can expand.

From one tooth, we expect to generate hundreds of billions of cells, Verlander said.

Yet the use of dental stem cells is not without risks. For example, theres evidence that tumors can develop when stem cells are transplanted. Theres also a chance of an immune rejection, but this is less likely if a person uses his own stem cells, Miller said.

The process for banking stem cells from baby teeth is relatively simple. A dentist extracts the childs teeth when one-third of the root remains and the stem cells are still viable. Once the teeth are shipped and received, the cells are extracted, grown and cryopreserved.

Store-A-Tooths fees include a one-time payment of $1,749 and $120 per year for storage, in addition to the dentists fees for extraction.

For families who are interested in banking dental stem cells, they should know that theyre not necessarily a replacement for cord blood banking or bone marrow stem cells.

Theyre not interchangeable, we think of them as complementary, Verlander said.

Although the future is unclear for Junowho was born in 2008her mom is optimistic that shell be able to use the stem cells for herself and if not, someone else.

Ultimately, however, Wozniak hopes that if dental stem cells arent the answer, there will be a biological cure for type 1 diabetes.

I hold out hope that somewhere, someone is going to crack the code, she said.

Julie Revelant is a health journalist and a consultant who provides content marketing and copywriting services for the healthcare industry. She's also a mom of two. Learn more about Julie at revelantwriting.com.

Go here to see the original:
Can banking baby teeth treat diabetes? - Fox News

John Webb, Special to The Clarion-Ledger 6:17 p.m. CT Feb. 11, 2017

Nikki Nichols of Richland, left, is quite familiar with diabetes. Her daughter, Bella, was diagnosed four years ago at age 5.(Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger)

Madison Avenue could have us believing that once people with diabetes lower that all-important A1c number an indicator of how well blood sugar has been controlled over the past few months theyll be skipping, dancing and otherwise frolicking through life with a song or balloon for every passerby.

But experts in both the physical and psychological care of people with diabetes is more than a number, and its management far more complex than the regulation of glucose through insulin, diet and exercise.

Sometimes we focus too much on the numbers and the A1c and lose sight of the humanity, said Dr. Elaine Apperson, a pediatric endocrinologist from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine who will be addressing these issues at the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippis 2017 Super Conference on Feb. 18 at the Marriott Hotel downtown.

This can be especially true when it comes to children. Often the child becomes a math equation dehumanized to the point where the first thing asked when they come home from school is what their blood sugar is, and what did they eat to cause a problem, Apperson said. But their blood sugar may have nothing to do with what they did or didnt do sometimes blood sugars are beyond their control.

And this can lead the child later in life to dismiss the very real importance of balancing blood sugar to avoid dangerous complications. The tighter the fist when the child is younger, the less likely the child will take care of himself or herself down the line, Apperson said. The child sometimes has no way of putting things in context.

The worst situation is when a child is prevented from living fully because of diabetes, Apperson said. Say she was prohibited from going to a paintball birthday party, she said. The more that child experiences upheaval because of an overbearing parent the less likely she is to fall into line.

Parents have genuine reasons to be anxious, but it is important to look at the big picture, and they should ask themselves, what would I do if my child didnt have diabetes, would I let them go to that party or play that sport? Its incumbent on the parent to make that happen.

Its also important to expect some rebellion, a normal part of adolescent development. One of the things that I think is most effective is for parents to remember that teens will rebel, diabetes or not, and trying to prevent that will not likely be successful, said Dr. Marisa Hilliard, a clinical psychologist at Texas Childrens Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. Instead, find ways to support them and stay involved in diabetes care throughout the teen years.

Parents should do their best to pay attention to what teens are doing right with their diabetes management. If they can get their schoolwork done, maintain friendships and outside interests, and learn to manage their diabetes at the same time, theyre doing many things right. Recognizing and reinforcing all of the hard work teens put into life with diabetes will be more successful than focusing on the problems.

That life should be sacrificed on the altar of diabetes is a misconception, these experts say.

Parents should understand that there is a lot they cannot control, Apperson said. It is not worthwhile for them to expend significant energy on a daily basis making everything secondary to diabetes, with other relationships suffering in terms of spouses, friends and other children in the family.

Nikki Nichols of Richland, whose daughter, Bella, was diagnosed four years ago at age 5, and whose husband also has had type 1 all his life, knows all too well. As much as I may manage her diabetes care and a lot goes into that I am simply the responsible person teaching my child how to properly care for herself, she said. Bella is the one who experiences the effects of a high or low blood sugar episode, who must wear her insulin pump or subject herself to constant needle pokes, who gets stares from other children because they see her checking her blood sugar.

Diabetes burnout is real, Hilliard said, especially in adolescence, and parents should be supportive. With so many demands of life with diabetes, teens get burnt out, so anything the parent can do to help lighten their load, for instance during finals helping them with blood sugar checks or insulin dosing for the week, can make all the difference, she said.

Its important for health care providers to remember that as well, Hilliard said. When you expect teens to be autonomous you will always be disappointed, she said. Diabetes is too much for any one person to manage alone. Give them resources and assistance rather than expecting them to win at a team sport as a single player.

Nichols says her daughter has been champion at this sport.

I do feel like Bella has grown up faster than her peers, and I know that she has days when diabetes pushes its way to the forefront and ruins her day, she said. We all struggle at times, but our overall attitude is that diabetes is just a part of our lives and we arent going to let it drag us down. Bella has been a role model to other kids whove been diagnosed with diabetes, and her tenacity is inspiring.

She is just a normal kid, who happens to be kicking diabetes butt when nobody is looking.

What: The Diabetes Foundation of Mississippis 2017 Super Conference

When: Feb. 18 (registration is at 8 a.m., and sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.)

Where: Marriott Hotel in downtown Jackson

Details: 601-957-7878 or visit msdiabetes.org

Read or Share this story: http://on.thec-l.com/2l1Uz6b

Read more here:
Diabetes and children: A balancing act - Jackson Clarion Ledger

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Feb. 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of air pollution may increase some Hispanic children's risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.

"Exposure to heightened air pollution during childhood increases the risk for Hispanic children to become obese and, independent of that, to also develop type 2 diabetes," said study corresponding author Michael Goran. He is co-director of the University of Southern California's Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute.

"Poor air quality appears to be a catalyst for obesity and diabetes in children, but the conditions probably are forged via different pathways," Goran said in a university news release.

For the study, researchers followed 314 overweight or obese Hispanic children in Los Angeles County. The children were between 8 and 15 years old when the study started. None had diabetes.

By the time children who lived in areas with high levels of air pollution turned 18, their insulin-producing pancreatic cells -- called beta cells -- were 13 percent less efficient than normal. Insulin is a hormone that helps maintain appropriate blood sugar levels.

When beta cells stop working as they should, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes rises, the study authors noted in the news release.

Although this study found a link between air pollution and type 2 diabetes risk, it wasn't designed to prove cause and effect. And none of the youngsters developed type 2 diabetes during the study period.

Study senior author Dr. Frank Gilliland is a professor of preventive medicine at USC. "Diabetes is occurring in epidemic proportion in the U.S. and the developed world," he said.

"It has been the conventional wisdom that this increase in diabetes is the result of an uptick in obesity due to sedentary lifespans and calorie-dense diets. Our study shows air pollution also contributes to type 2 diabetes risk," Gilliland said.

Diabetes has quadrupled in the United States in the past four decades, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If nothing changes, one-third of Americans could have diabetes by 2050, putting them at risk for complications such as blindness, kidney failure, limb amputation or early death, the researchers said.

So, what can parents living in cities do to counteract this potential risk?

Tanya Alderete is the lead author of the study and a post-doctoral research scholar at USC. She acknowledged that it's nearly impossible to avoid pollution.

"Air pollution is ubiquitous, especially in Los Angeles. It's important to consider the factors that you can control -- for example, being aware that morning and evening commute times might not be the best time to go for a run. Change up your schedule so that you're not engaging in strenuous activity near sources of pollutants or during peak hours," she suggested.

The study was published recently in the journal Diabetes.

WebMD News from HealthDay

SOURCE: University of Southern California, news release, Feb. 7, 2017

See the original post:
Air Pollution May Raise Risk of Type 2 Diabetes - WebMD

Diabetes is a serious disease affecting millions of people in the United States, adults and children alike. While there is yet no cure for diabetes, researchers are gradually learning more about the mechanism behind the illness. New research identifies how insulin-producing cells can change to avoid the autoimmune attack present in type 1 diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that more than 29 million people (or over 9 percent of the population) currently have diabetes in the U.S.

Although type 1 diabetes is the least prevalent - accounting for only 5 percent of diabetes cases - it is not yet known how to prevent the illness.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The body does not recognize its own insulin-producing beta cells, so the immune system attacks and destroys them as if they were invaders. The body needs insulin to metabolize sugar and turn it into energy.

However, of these beta cells, some manage to survive. In fact, some of the cells persist and proliferate for years after the disease has started.

New research, led by professor of immunobiology Dr. Kevan Herold of Yale University in New Haven, CT, identifies the mechanism that explains how these beta cells survive the immune attack. The study was a collaboration with the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard.

The findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

The scientists investigated the adaptive changes in beta cells that take place during the immune attack in both mouse models and in human cell culture. They used cyclophosphamide to accelerate the diabetes onset.

Herold and colleagues identified a resistant subpopulation of beta cells in 9-week-old, non-obese diabetic mice. The new subpopulation seems to develop from normal beta cells when they detect infiltration into the islet.

These new cells have a lower granularity, and they develop during the progression of type 1 diabetes.

"During the development of diabetes, there are changes in beta cells so you end up with two populations of beta cells. One population is killed by the immune response. The other population seems to acquire features that render it less susceptible to killing."

Dr. Kevan Herold

The new subpopulation is also less differentiated and displays stem-like properties. Much like stem cells, they have the ability to revert to a previous stage of development that enables them to survive and continue to replicate despite the immune attack.

As the study's senior author explains, these cells "duck and cover" as they develop molecules that inhibit the immune response. Human beta cells were revealed to go through similar changes when the researchers cultured them together with immune cells.

Although the cells do eventually die, the authors explain, the mechanism they uncovered might account for the long-term development of type 1 diabetes.

"Eventually, in [non-obese diabetic] mice as in humans, the majority of - if not all - [beta] cells are destroyed by immune effectors and products. However, the process is protracted. We have identified mechanisms that [beta] cells use to survive. Future studies that can recover mature [beta] cells from the pool of modified cells may identify ways of restoring normal metabolic function together with immune therapy," the authors conclude.

As Herold notes: "The next question is, can we recover these cells so that there is insulin production in someone [with] type 1 diabetes?"

Herold and team intend to conduct clinical trials to test drugs that might have the potential to change this subpopulation of beta cells, and transform it into insulin-producing cells.

Learn how interspecies transplantation may be a viable treatment for type 1 diabetes.

Written by Ana Sandoiu

Visit link:
Why does type 1 diabetes kill some cells but not others? - Medical ... - Medical News Today

By Andrea Ray | Feb 11, 2017

There are currently 680,771 people in Massachusetts with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Thats 12 percent of Massachusetts adult population - and roughy 162,000 of them havent been diagnosed.

Additionally, 1.7 million people in Massachusetts have been diagnosed with prediabetes - 35 percent of the state's adult population. The disease and its complications, including heart disease, stroke, non-traumatic lower-leg amputation, kidney disease and blindness, costs Massachusetts $8.1 billion every year according to the ADA.

The Diabetes Prevention Program is fighting to change these statistics. The class is a year-long, lifestyle change, according to Dara Midwood, YMCA Southcoast diabetes prevention coordinator. It was introduced to the Southcoast YMCA two years ago.

The goal of the classes, which are held at five of the six Southcoast locations (Swansea, New Bedford, Dartmouth, Wareham and Fall River) is to lower participants body weight by 5-7 percent in the first 16 weeks of the class, and to teach participants better lifestyle habits.

The first 16 weeks, the participants meet for one hour per week with a certified diabetes counselor, who will teach them how to read labels, make healthy choices, and increase their physical activity.

At the end, participants should be able to increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week. Its not a diet program, Midwood said. We dont say that you cant have it. We explore your options to be able to eat in a healthy manner.

The classes are held in small-group format, where participants can exchange ideas and share problems and successes with others in the same boat. The success of the program is based on people being able to find out what works for them, Midwood explained.

Current program member Christine Schryver showed the group MyFitnessPal, a phone application which breaks down what is in the food you eat, and tracks exercise. She enjoys the supportive small-group atmosphere. Ive done Weight Watchers, Ive tried dieting on my own, she said. This works for me.

The local classes have smashed their goals. The last Wareham class lost an average of 6 percent of their bodyweight in the first 16 weeks. Wareham's program leader, certified lifestyle coach Lu Brito, said one participant in his class lost 46 pounds in that space of time.

"One hundred fifty minutes of walking every week, and developing a maintainable healthy lifestyle. She can still eat mostly what she wants, she just knows how to do it in a healthy manner. Thats all it took.

New classes will begin in March - for more information, inquire with Diabetes Prevention Coordinator Dara Midwood, at 508-996-9622 ext. 141, or ymcadpp@ymcasouthcoast.org.

Read more here:
Gleason YMCA class aims to prevent diabetes - Wareham Week

The iLet, a device being tested by Ed Damiano of Boston University.Ed Damiano

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that is funding four last-stage clinical trials of artificial pancreas devices, which automate blood sugar control for people with type 1 diabetes . If the trials go well, the groups could seek approval from federal authorities.

These are the latest steps in a race to make a device that eliminates the need for daily finger pricks and careful blood sugar control for people with the condition. There have been promising recent developments: In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first artificial pancreas device in the United States, which monitors a person's blood sugar levels and automatically provides insulin if needed. However, people using that device still need to manually request more insulin after they eat.

The ideal device would require no human input whatsoever, which is what the four new studies are testing this year and next. The devices vary in approach, but all aim to limit the amount of time a person with diabetes, or their caregiver, has to manage changes in blood sugar levels.

One of the studies slated to begin in mid-2018 will be led by Dr. Steven Russell of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Ed Damiano of Boston University. It will enroll 312 people ages 18 and older who will spend six months testing a bionic pancreas , which uses both insulin and another hormone called glucagon to keep levels stable throughout the day.

Damiano began developing his bionic pancreas after his son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, as TIME explained in a 2015 profile . Damiano says he wants the device approved so his son doesn't have to constantly think about managing his disease.

For many people with type 1 diabetes, the realization of a successful, fully automated artificial pancreas is a dearly held dream," said Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, in a statement . "Nearly 100 years since the discovery of insulin, a successful artificial pancreas would mark another huge step toward better health for people with type 1 diabetes.

Read more from the original source:
Four Artificial Pancreas Trials for Type 1 Diabetes Move Forward - TIME

A view of the Los Angeles city skyline as heavy smog shrouds the city in 2015. Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

"Exposure to heightened air pollution during childhood increases the risk for Hispanic children to become obese and, independent of that, to also develop Type 2 diabetes," said Michael Goran, who worked on the study.

The children who participated in the study lived in areas that, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had excess nitrogen dioxide and tiny air pollution particles that are generated by vehicles and power plants.

Related:

By the time the children turned 18, their insulin-creating pancreatic cells were 13 percent less efficient than normal, making them more vulnerable to developing Type 2 diabetes, Goran's team found.

They also had nearly 27 percent higher blood insulin after having fasted for 12 hours. During their two-hour glucose test, had about 26 percent more insulin than normal, showing the body was using insulin less efficiently.

Related:

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the journal Diabetes, is the first to connect air pollution and diabetes risk in children. The findings, however, may be generalized only to overweight and obese Latino children, mostly of a lower socioeconomic status.

Follow NBC News Latino on

More here:
Study: Air Pollution Is Linked to Diabetes in Overweight Latino Children - NBCNews.com

The Crossville and Fairfield Glade Lions Clubs, Cumberland County High School Leo Club and Cumberland Medical Center Diabetes Group will again sponsor a Strides Walk for Diabetes Awareness on Saturday, April 29. The event will take place at Centennial Park, 837 Industrial Blvd., Crossville, starting at 9 a.m.

The April 29 walking event will again be titled Fighting Diabetes One Step at a Time. The course is a 1.1 mile, flat course with a resting location at the half-way mark to rest and get more water.

Registration forms are currently being prepared and will be available shortly. One side of the form is for individual participants who are asked to donate $25 tax-deductible dollars. The other side of the form is for Supporters who have three levels of participation:

Bronze Level requests a $100 tax-deductible donation that allows you to name two walkers and receive publicity.

Silver Level requests $250 tax-deductible donation that allows you to name five walkers and receive publicity.

Gold Level requests $500 tax-deductible donation that allows you to name 10 walkers and receive publicity.

Each paid participant will receive an event T-shirt, a bottle of water and a goody-bag filled with an energy bar and some information about diabetes. You are encouraged to bring your family dog to enjoy the walk. A $5 donation is being requested with a bandana and water being supplied in return.

The net dollars collected will be used to send two Cumberland County students with type 1 diabetes to the Tennessee Diabetic Summer Camp for two weeks this year and the balance will go to the American Diabetic Association (ADA) to help cure this terrible disease. Last year over $6,000 gross was donated. The event sponsors are hoping to collect a larger donation this year.

If you have any questions or concerns about diabetes, please call the Cumberland Medical Center, 484-9511, and ask to speak to someone in the Diabetic Group or check with your doctor.

The rest is here:
Join second annual walk to help fight diabetes April 29 - Crossville Chronicle

(Reuters Health) - A genetic trait that affects red blood cells and is fairly common among African Americans and Hispanic Americans can cause an important blood sugar test to miss signs of diabetes, researchers say.

The test known as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) estimates long-term blood sugar levels by measuring the amount of glucose sticking to red blood cells, but blood cells from people with sickle cell trait don't live as long, so they have less time to collect glucose.

When lead author Mary Elizabeth Lacy from Brown University School of Public Health in Providence, Rhode Island, and her colleagues used standard HbA1c cutoffs to screen for diabetes, we identified 40 percent fewer cases of prediabetes and 48 percent fewer cases of diabetes in individuals with sickle cell trait than in those without sickle cell trait, she told Reuters Health by email.

Sickle cell disease is a serious condition that occurs when a person has two copies of a defective gene responsible for making part of the hemoglobin molecule in red blood cells. Hemoglobin allows the cells to carry oxygen to the tissues that need it, but in people with two copies of the faulty gene, blood cells can turn sickle-shaped, causing painful crises and even death.

People with only one copy of the defective gene are said to have sickle cell trait, and most have no symptoms of sickle cell disease. The gene is most common among people with ancestry in sub-Saharan Africa, Central America and South America, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Greece and Italy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 13 African American babies are born with sickle cell trait.

In their study of 4,620 African Americans, including 367 with sickle cell trait, Lacys team found that HbA1c levels were 0.3 percent lower in those with the trait than in those without it, even though they had similar blood sugar levels.

While 0.3 percent may seem small, Lacy said, a difference of 0.3 percentage points in HbA1c could be the difference between being identified as high-risk (and being targeted for more frequent monitoring as well as additional diabetes prevention efforts) or not, or receiving a diagnosis of diabetes or not.

Among individuals with no history of diabetes and not taking diabetes medications, testing blood sugar directly detected pre-diabetic elevated blood sugar levels or full-fledged diabetes in equal numbers of people, regardless of whether they had sickle cell trait, the researchers report in JAMA.

But if HbA1c was used instead of blood sugar testing, pre-diabetic elevated blood sugar would be diagnosed in about 29 percent of those with sickle cell trait compared to 49 percent of those without the trait. Similarly, the HbA1c test would identify diabetes in about 4 percent of those with sickle cell trait and about 7 percent of those without the trait.

The results of HbA1c testing need to be interpreted with caution in patients with sickle cell trait, Lacy concludes. These findings were based on one method of HbA1c measurement. While it is approved for use in those with sickle cell trait, we are unable to say whether our findings are due to assay interference or a biological phenomenon in those with sickle cell trait.

Doctors should consider using a glucose tolerance test if they suspect diabetes in people with SCT whose HbA1c is close to the cutoff level, said Dr. Anthony J. Bleyer from Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who coauthored a related editorial.

I think there needs to be more research in this area. The HbA1c is a really important test that we use all the time. We need to make sure it is accurate for individuals of all races and ethnicities, Bleyer said by email.

Approximately 10 percent of African American patients have sickle cell trait. It is prudent to test African American patients for hemoglobinopathy (sickle cell trait) before relying on HbA1c for diagnosis diabetes/prediabetes and before using HbA1c to monitor blood sugar control, Dr. Kristina Behan from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, who was not involved in the study, said by email.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2ln3Rap and bit.ly/2kovj9m JAMA, online February 7, 2017.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Amgen Inc's treatment for secondary hyperparathyroidism in adult patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, the U.S. biotech company said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Shire ViroPharma on Tuesday, accusing it of abusing government processes in order to fend off generic competition to its antibiotic Vancocin HCl, the agency said in a statement.

VATICAN CITY Beijing's top official on transplants said on Tuesday Beijing was "mending its ways" from a murky past when organs were taken from detained or executed prisoners.

Read more here:
Sickle cell trait skews common diabetes test - Reuters

Medical Xpress

Sitting not linked to incident diabetes, new research suggests ... Science Daily Sitting may not be as deadly as previously thought, with new research ruling out sitting as a direct cause of diabetes. Sitting not linked to incident diabetes, new research saysMedical Xpress Sitting might not increase type 2 diabetes risk as much as previously thought, say scientistsDiabetes.co.uk Is sitting a direct cause of diabetes?eMaxHealth 9Coach (blog) -Yahoo News -iTech Post all 8 news articles »

View original post here:
Sitting not linked to incident diabetes, new research suggests ... - Science Daily