Most diabetics 'believe community blames them'

ALMOST three quarters of type two diabetes sufferers wrongly believe the community blames them for their disease, new research shows.

While almost 60 per cent of Australians are overweight or obese, the figure rises to nearly nine out of 10 among people with type two diabetes.

Nine-hundred-and-fifty-six people participated in the online survey for drug and research company, Eli Lilly Australia, including 254 with type two diabetes. More...

Drug breakthrough 'could cure diabetes

Diabetes sufferers have been given hope of a cure after scientists regenerated cells destroyed by the disease for the first time.

Researchers have identified a cocktail of drugs that prevents the immune system malfunction that triggers Type 1 diabetes.

They found that boosting levels of a chemical produced by the body to ease inflammation led to the regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. While the effect has been demonstrated only in animals so far, the researchers are planning human trials and hope the breakthrough could lead to a cure. More...

Bloodless Diabetes Monitoring

To track their blood sugar levels, patients with diabetes typically prick their fingers at least three times a day and feed blood samples into glucometers. It's a tedious and sometimes painful process, and a patient will often need to run a second test due to "insufficient blood" in the first sample. Now, researchers at Baylor University, in Waco, TX, have engineered a thumb-pad sensor that measures glucose levels via electromagnetic waves--no finger pricking required. More...

Diabetics' deaths tied to lower blood sugar

Federal researchers who tried to reduce heart attacks among diabetics by driving their blood sugar to low levels found that more patients were dying instead. The finding, announced yesterday, prompted officials to halt part of a major study of diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers said they don't know what caused the spike in deaths but said it can't be blamed on Avandia - a diabetes medication linked last year to an increased risk of heart attacks - even though some volunteers were taking the drug. More...

Gum disease linked to diabetes

When physicians list the complications that come with having diabetes, they mention heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, possible blindness and amputations, neuropathy and even depression.

What isn't routinely mentioned, if it is talked about at all, is periodontal disease, a serious gum infection that causes tooth loss in adults.

It is usually painless, and often goes undetected, but as physicians see more diabetics with gum disease and tooth loss, they believe there is a link between the two. More...

Deaths halt diabetes study

Results of a medical study revealed that lowering blood sugar to normal levels in Type 2 diabetes patients suffering from cardiovascular disease might not always be the best plan of action, according to a press conference held by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Feb. 6.

In the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes trial study, patients who were randomly assigned to lower their blood sugar to nearly normal levels, had 54 more deaths than the group with a less stringent regimen. More...

Breakthrough discovered in type 1 diabetes treatment

Scientists say a painless treatment for type 1 or juvenile diabetes may only be a few years away, after a major breakthrough in stem cell technology.

Researchers in the US have created insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells implanted in mice and found the technique alleviated diabetes-like symptoms.

The scientists say the approach could lead to a renewable source of cells for the treatment of diabetes and eliminate the need for insulin injections. More...

Cortisol underlies diabetes-related mental woes

An animal study indicates that the cognitive impairment that can occur in people with diabetes appears to result from high levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Diabetes is known to affect many organs, and in the case of the brain these adverse effects can lead to cognitive impairment, Dr. Mark P. Mattson, from Princeton University in New Jersey, and colleagues point out in the research journal Nature Neuroscience. More...

Seaweed holds the secret to cure diabetes

Seaweed may help cure diabetes, researchers suggests.

Scientists from MicroIslet Inc firm at San Diego have developed the seaweed coating as a potential cure for diabetes.

Alginate, a jelly-like substance extracted from the seaweed is being wrapped around insulin-producing cells taken from pigs and injected into the patients' body, hiding the pig cells from the immune system. More...

Lack Of Sleep Can Lead To Diabetes, Weight Gain

Studies show more sleep leads to better health, but plenty of people can't get the recommended hours of sleep.

David Brezack experiences sleeplessness because his business, The Bagel Bin, requires work in the wee hours of the morning. The married father of two said he's working the polar opposite of banker's hours. More...

Diabetes control is harder for Hispanics

Lack of access to health care is making it harder for Hispanics to control diabetes than non-Hispanics, according to a study released yesterday by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

The study also was reported in the February issue of Diabetes Care. More...

Diabetes and Depression Can Be a Fatal Mix

The Illinois college shooter had diabetes, his father said, and the police said the man halted his medication. Could his depression be triggered by

Type 2 diabetes and depression can be a fatal mix. Patients whose type 2 diabetes was accompanied by minor or major depression had higher mortality rates, compared to patients with type 2 diabetes alone, over the three-year period of a recent study in Washington state. More...

Cutting caffeine may help control diabetes

Caffeine from coffee, tea or soft drinks interferes with sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a new study led by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. Details...

Brown rice lowers risk of diabetes

A simple change in your diet can now lower your cholesterol level and protect you against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and breast and colon cancer. Details...

Diabetes study has surprising results

The doctors' challenge: explain to 21 million Americans with diabetes how they might be affected by a major study's surprise discovery that lower blood sugar levels are linked to greater numbers of deaths. Details...

Cure hope over diabetes therapy

A pioneering treatment for diabetes is being rolled out across the country with experts believing it could eventually lead to a cure.

Six centres are receiving nearly £10m of government funding to offer transplants of insulin-producing cells.

The technique has been used on a handful of patients already to reduce the risks of coma-inducing blood sugar attacks in people with type 1 diabetes. Details...

Study: Cinnamon Helps Lower Blood Sugar

Soaring blood sugar, diabetes and high cholesterol are all words most people don't want to hear, but what if you could manage them simply by eating a common spice?

Barry Ballow said he is currently full of energy, but it hasn't always been that way. He said he struggled with his blood sugar for years, and then his doctor told him he was a diabetic. Details...

Type 1 Diabetes: Calvin's War

Low-Carb Diets Better Than Low-Fat Diets at Preventing Diabetes

A diet low in carbohydrates but high in animal fat and protein doesn't seem to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in women, a new study claims.
"One study is never enough to change a recommendation, but this study is interesting in that it shows that a low-fat diet is no better than a low-carbohydrate diet in preventing type 2 diabetes," said Thomas Halton, lead author of a study in the current issue of theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition. "The one diet that did seem to show a protective effect was a vegetable-based, low-carb diet which consisted of higher amounts of vegetable fat and vegetable protein, and lower amounts of carbohydrate." Details...

Major diabetes, heart disease study halted after deaths

WASHINGTON — The government abruptly halted aggressive treatment in a major study of diabetes and heart disease after a surprising number of deaths among patients who pushed their blood sugar to near normal levels, findings that call into question a growing movement in diabetes care.

Wednesday's move doesn't affect health guidelines for most Type 2 diabetics, but it raises concern about a particularly vulnerable group: Patients at especially high risk of heart attack or stroke. Details...

Pumping iron 'may prevent diabetes'

Pumping iron could play a previously unrecognised role in preventing obesity and diabetes, new research has suggested.

Scientists made the surprise discovery that body builders' "type II" muscle helps to reprogramme the whole body's metabolism, suggesting resistance training may be part of the answer to keeping the nation trim.

It had been widely assumed that only aerobic endurance exercise, such as running or swimming, had any significant influence on the body's energy balance. Details...

Cutting Caffeine Could Help Control Diabetes

Rates of obesity have been rising in the United States and Western Europe for the past few decades. But in recent years, people in other parts of the world are becoming obese as well — places such as Australia, India, China and Southeast Asia. And, as Rose Hoban reports, with the rise of obesity has come an increase in Type 2 diabetes. Details...

Bigger Breasted Women More Vulnerable to Diabetes, Says Canadian Study

A Canadian study asserts that girls and young women with big breasts run a 68-percent greater chance of acquiring diabetes by middle age than their smaller-breasted peers.

However, concerned that the finding might inspire some women to seek out breast reductions, researchers emphasize that their conclusion is broad and preliminary. They say there are several other factors besides breast size that they must study before definitively linking size to increased vulnerability to diabetes. Details...

The facts on diabetes.

Diabetes is a condition where people don't produce enough insulin to meet their body's needs or their cells don't respond properly to insulin. Insulin is important because it moves glucose, a simple sugar, into the body's cells from the blood. It also has a number of other effects on metabolism. Details...

The Pre-Diabetes Danger

Diabetes is a disease that can silently ambush your health. If you are not aware of the early signs of diabetes you are setting yourself up for the fight of your life. Because recognizing the signs of diabetes is so ultra important you must become an expert at detecting the diabetes early warning signs and symptoms. Details...