Diabetes mellitus is a condition in which the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin or when cells stop responding to the insulin that is produced, so that glucose in the blood cannot be absorbed into the cells of the body. Symptoms include frequent urination, lethargy, excessive thirst, and hunger. The treatment includes changes in diet, oral medications, and in some cases, daily injections of insulin.
Pregnant women with mildly abnormal blood sugar levels at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes – Gestational diabetes happens in more than three per cent of pregnancies in Ontario. Usually the condition resolves itself after delivery, but many studies have shown that these women are at a very high risk for developing “regular” type 2 diabetes later in life.
To stall progress of neuropathy, doctors should monitor levels of an easily measured blood fat as closely as they do blood sugar, study suggests. – A common blood test for triglycerides ? a well-known cardiovascular disease risk factor ? may also for the first time allow doctors to predict which patients with diabetes are more likely to develop the serious, common complication of neuropathy.
Potential preventative therapy for Type 1 diabetes – Scientists believe they may have found a preventative therapy for Type 1 diabetes, by making the body’s killer immune cells tolerate the insulin-producing cells they would normally attack and destroy, prior to disease onset.
Biomedical engineers at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering have patented a device to quickly and painlessly test blood glucose levels. The Electronic Mosquito is based on the biting mechanism of a mosquito. – A skin patch could one day provide a less-invasive alternative for diabetics who need to take regular samples of their own blood to keep glucose levels in check. The common method of drawing blood from fingertips and using glucose testing strips and metres can be painful, inconvenient and time-consuming.
Mirthful Laughter Coupled With Standard Diabetic Treatment, Raises Good Cholesterol And May Lower Heart Attack Risk. – Researchers found that mirthful laughter, as a preventive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, raised good cholesterol and lowered inflammation.
Stem cell transplantation helps patients with diabetes become insulin free – The majority of patients with type 1 diabetes who underwent a certain type of stem cell transplantation became insulin free, several for more than three years, with good glycemic control, and also increased C-peptide levels, an indirect measure of beta-cell function.
Low Blood Sugar Events Increase Dementia Risk in Elderly Patients with Type 2 Diabetes, Kaiser Permanente Study Finds. – Hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes that require a visit to the hospital are associated with increased risk of dementia in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
New study of human pancreases links virus to cause of type 1 diabetes. Key to success is unique availability of relevant organs for research. – A common family of viruses (enteroviruses) may play an important role in triggering the development of diabetes, particularly in children, revealed by researchers.
Fruits as a whole is better than fruit juice consumption, revealed by researchers. – Eating just one more serving of green leafy vegetables or three more servings of fruit a day reduces the risk of developing Type II diabetes, according to results of data analysis performed by researchers in the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the Harvard School of Public Health.
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus is growing faster than ever as new figures show that one person is diagnosed with diabetes every three minutes. – One person is diagnosed with diabetes every three minutes in the UK, according to new figures from Diabetes UK. The charity reports that the number of people diagnosed with the condition is growing faster than ever.
