Hypoglycemia alert dogs for diabetes people

The Armstrong Project, now formally known as Dogs For Diabetics, Inc. began almost seven years ago, when the founder, Mark R., began researching the possibility of training dogs to detect type 1 diabetes related hypoglycemia and physically alert the diabetic to the impending hypoglycemia. – Glucose monitors, test strips, and lancets: people with diabetes are all too familiar with the equipment used to test their blood glucose (sugar) levels. Now some people are adding a different kind of aid to their diabetes management regimen. The March 2008 issue of Diabetes Forecast, the consumer magazine of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), features an article about assistance dogs that are trained to sense episodes of human hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose, and sound a life-saving alert.

Part of ACCORD study halted due to safety concerns

Canadian Diabetes Association has issued its position statement regarding safety concerns of diabetes treatment in ACCORD study. It is important that people with diabetes not make any changes to their treatments or adjust their blood glucose targets without speaking to their healthcare team. – Canadian Diabetes Association has issued its position statement regarding safety concerns of diabetes treatment in ACCORD study – “It is important that people with diabetes not make any changes to their treatments or adjust their blood glucose targets without speaking to their healthcare team”.

UK to fund islet cell transplants for diabetes patients

A treatment, developed thanks to Diabetes UK-funded research, that offers hope for some people with Type 1 diabetes who suffer from the most serious effects of hypoglycaemia will be made available on the NHS. – A new diabetes treatment offers hope for some people with Type 1 diabetes who suffer from the most serious effects of hypoglycaemia will be made available on the NHS in UK. The research was funded by Diabetes UK.

Intensive blood glucose lowering treatment proved fatal for diabetes patients

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, USA has stopped one treatment within a large, ongoing North American clinical trial of diabetes and cardiovascular disease 18 months early due to safety concerns after review of available data, although the study will continue. – Intensive blood glucose lowering treatment proved fatal for diabetes patients in a US study, and for Safety, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has changed intensive blood sugar treatment strategy in clinical trial of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Diabetes increasing among older Americans

Diabetes increasing among older Americans

The burden of financing and providing medical care for persons older than 65 in the United States having diagnosed diabetes is growing rapidly as a result of increased incidence and, especially, prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, decreased mortality, and overall lack of improvement in rates of complications in persons having diagnosed diabetes. – The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is growing worldwide. Consequently, there has been increased emphasis on primary and secondary prevention of diabetes. The annual number of Americans older than 65 newly diagnosed with diabetes increased by 23 percent between 1994 to 1995 and 2003 to 2004, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Breast size predicts type 2 diabetes risk

In a cohort study involving young and middle-aged women, researchers found that a larger bra cup size at age 20 predicted the onset of type 2 diabetes. Bra cup size, a simple, easily ascertained measure, explained the association beyond the well-established measure of BMI. – Elevated waist circumference and body mass index (BMI), both traditional measures of obesity, are accepted risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Girls who are obese experience earlier onset of puberty and possibly greater breast development. Young women with a larger bra cup size may be at higher risk of diabetes in adulthood, says a new study led by St. Michael’s Hospital physician Joel Ray.

Environmental pollution can cause diabetes

Can environmental pollution cause diabetes? Cambridge scientists are advocating additional research into the little understood links between environmental pollution and type 2 diabetes. – In the most recent edition of the Lancet, researchers from University of Cambridge, Drs Oliver Jones and Julian Griffin highlight the need to research the possible link between persistent organic pollutants (POPs, a group which includes many pesticides) and insulin resistance, which can lead to adult onset diabetes.

Cutting caffeine, coffee, tea may help control diabetes

Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes, research suggests. – Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes and may undermine efforts to control their disease, say scientists at Duke University Medical Center.

Pancreatic stem cells may cure diabetes

An international team of scientists has isolated pancreatic stem cells in adult mice, a breakthrough that could lead to treatment for juvenile or Type 1 diabetes. – Just as many scientists had given up the search, researchers have discovered that the pancreas does indeed harbor stem cells with the capacity to generate new insulin-producing beta cells. If the finding made in adult mice holds for humans, the newfound progenitor cells will represent “an obvious target for therapeutic regeneration of beta cells in diabetes,” the researchers report in the Jan. 25 issue of Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

Protein may trigger insulin production in diabetic patients

University of Florida researchers have coaxed liver and pancreatic cells within diabetic mice into churning out insulin by injecting the animals with a naturally occurring protein called Pdx1, opening up a new research avenue that someday could lead to safer treatments for type 1 diabetes. Pdx1 activates the genes controlling the development of the pancreas cells that make and release insulin to maintain safe levels of glucose in the body. – If the human body were a stage, then proteins would rank among the lead actors in the play we call “Life.” These large biological molecules hold many starring roles, and their lines are dictated by information encoded in our genes. They are production powerhouses, regulating the basic processes of living and controlling countless functions. Many are enzymes that produce or use energy. Others regulate genes.

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