http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Dec. 26, 2010 – New findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers may solve a 17-year-old mystery about how the so-called "starvation hormone" affects multiple biological systems, including preventing insulin sensitivity and promoting cell survival. http://phys.org/news212672755.html Medicine & Health Mon, 27 Dec 2010 11:46:26 EST news212672755 Silencing the TLR4 gene can stop the process which may lead to cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine carried out a series of in vitro tests which demonstrated that TLR4 plays a critical role in hyperglycaemic cardiac apoptosis, and that silencing the gene using specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) can prevent it. http://phys.org/news211176126.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:02:34 EST news211176126 A myriad of inputs can indicate a body's health bombard pancreatic beta cells continuously, and these cells must consider all signals and "decide" when and how much insulin to release to maintain balance in blood sugar, for example. Reporting in Nature Chemical Biology last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have teased out how these cells interpret incoming signals and find that three proteins relay signals similar to an electrical circuit. http://phys.org/news211136872.html Chemistry Thu, 09 Dec 2010 17:40:01 EST news211136872 Beta cells, which make insulin in the human body, do not replicate after the age of 30, indicating that clinicians may be closer to better treating diabetes. http://phys.org/news207495035.html Medicine & Health Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:31:08 EST news207495035 Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is a multifactorial disease of complex etiology characterized by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta cells. In addition to genetic susceptibility, it is generally accepted that environmental factors play important roles in triggering disease, with virus infection having perhaps the strongest association. Multiple viral infections including cytomegalovirus, mumps, rubella, enteroviruses, and parvovirus have all been associated with human T1D. Indeed, the effects of diverse viruses in triggering T1D may explain the heterogeneous nature of disease onset and kinetics in the general population. http://phys.org/news207326477.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:41:37 EST news207326477 University of Michigan scientists have identified events inside insulin-producing pancreatic cells that set the stage for a neonatal form of non-autoimmune type 1 diabetes, and may play a role in type 2 diabetes as well. The results point to a potential target for drugs to protect normally functioning proteins essential for producing insulin. http://phys.org/news206099883.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:58:35 EST news206099883 A clinical trial at UT Southwestern Medical Center aims to determine whether adding the hormone leptin to standard insulin therapy might help rein in the tumultuous blood-sugar levels of people with type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes. http://phys.org/news205989406.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:17:04 EST news205989406 With a single stimulatory molecule, human insulin-producing beta cell replication can be sustained for at least four weeks in a mouse model of diabetes, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association. http://phys.org/news199432194.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:01 EST news199432194 Take a skin cell from a patient with Type 1 diabetes. Strip out everything that made it a skin cell, then reprogram it to grow into a colony of pancreatic beta cells. Implant these into your patient and voilà! She's producing her own insulin like a pro. http://phys.org/news198572040.html Chemistry Sun, 18 Jul 2010 13:00:06 EST news198572040 Disruption of two genes that control circadian rhythms can lead to diabetes, a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found in an animal study. http://phys.org/news198237039.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:51:04 EST news198237039 The muscle weakness and coordination problems sometimes seen in patients with neonatal diabetes - a rare, inherited form of diabetes - are caused by problems in the brain rather than the muscles, according to research published today. The findings could pave the way for the development of improved treatments for the disease. http://phys.org/news197206043.html Medicine & Health Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:00:12 EST news197206043 Researchers funded by JDRF have discovered that the hormone, serotonin, may be involved in the increase of insulin-producing beta cells during pregnancy. The findings reveal one of the mechanisms underlying beta cell expansion during pregnancy, and are the latest advances underscoring the potential for regeneration as a key component of a possible cure for type 1 diabetes. http://phys.org/news196940552.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:42:46 EST news196940552 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international consortium of scientists has identified 12 new genes associated with type 2 diabetes, in the largest study of the genetics of the condition to date. http://phys.org/news196938856.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jun 2010 10:15:04 EST news196938856 Researchers have developed an experimental cure for Type 1 diabetes, a disease that affects about one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents. They will present their results in a mouse model of Type 1 diabetes on Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego. http://phys.org/news196348799.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:40:01 EST news196348799 Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, working in collaboration with colleagues from Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the University of Brighton, have used a unique collection of pancreas specimens taken from patients who died soon after diagnosis of type 1 diabetes to show that they respond to the ongoing process of destruction by inducing their islet cells to proliferate. http://phys.org/news195732816.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:13:48 EST news195732816 If you think of diabetes onset like an elaborate molecular drama, then a research team led by a La Jolla Institute scientist has unmasked a previously unknown cellular player, which is critical to proper insulin secretion. "Defective insulin secretion is a hallmark of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes," said Catherine Hedrick, Ph.D., a scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, who led the team, which included researchers from the University of Virginia. http://phys.org/news195134872.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:50:01 EST news195134872 Researchers from Italy have found a statistically significant association between enteroviral infection and diagnosis of type-1 diabetes in children. They report their findings today at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego, California. http://phys.org/news193937939.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 May 2010 17:00:03 EST news193937939 An artificial pancreas system that closely mimics the body's blood sugar control mechanism was able to maintain near-normal glucose levels without causing hypoglycemia in a small group of patients. The system, combining a blood glucose monitor and insulin pump technology with software that directs administration of insulin and the blood-sugar-raising hormone glucagon, was developed at Boston University (BU). The first clinical trial of the system was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and confirmed the feasibility of an approach utilizing doses of both hormones. In their report, appearing in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers also found unexpectedly large differences in insulin absorption rates between study participants, differences they were able to account for by adjustments to the system. http://phys.org/news190468700.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:00:14 EST news190468700 Alpha cells in the pancreas, which do not produce insulin, can convert into insulin-producing beta cells, advancing the prospect of regenerating beta cells as a cure for type 1 diabetes. The findings come from a study at the University of Geneva, co-funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, that is published today in the online edition of the scientific journal Nature. http://phys.org/news189676130.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:49:28 EST news189676130 Alterations in our response to the taste or smell of food may be another culprit responsible for Type 2 diabetes, according to scientists at Duke University Medical Center who have identified the specific mechanism in human specimens and in mice. http://phys.org/news187538186.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:14 EST news187538186 Funded by a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, University of Chicago scientists are aiming to develop a reliable method for determining how biological processes emerge from molecular interactions. The method may permit them to "rewire" the regulatory circuitry of insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells, which play a major role in type-2 diabetes. http://phys.org/news186848329.html Chemistry Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:30:01 EST news186848329 Over 60 per cent of Canadians are classified as overweight or obese. This epidemic is a concern for experts around the world. One of the major problems is high levels of lipids in the blood, which can lead to cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease and Type 2 diabetes. But a University of Alberta researcher has taken a major step in protecting people against these diseases. http://phys.org/news186757307.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:02:06 EST news186757307 The increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes places a huge burden on its victims and poses a tremendous challenge to healthcare systems. Half of all heart attacks and stroke cases, but also many other deleterious conditions, can be ascribed to the effects of this metabolic syndrome. In Germany alone, some seven million people currently suffer from the disease, and the number of cases worldwide is projected to reach 370 million by the year 2030. Type 2 diabetes results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors which cause the organism to become resistant to the action of insulin. This hormone controls the level of glucose in the blood, so insulin resistance leads to a chronic rise in glucose concentrations. http://phys.org/news186408731.html Medicine & Health Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:12:21 EST news186408731 Doctors at Eastern Virginia Medical School's Strelitz Diabetes Center have been stalking the culprit responsible for Type 1 diabetes. Now, they are one step closer. http://phys.org/news184526575.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:23:08 EST news184526575 A hormone responsible for the body's stress response is also linked to the growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, according to JDRF- funded researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. The findings are the latest advances to underscore the potential for regeneration as a key component of a possible cure for type 1 diabetes. http://phys.org/news184424467.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:50:06 EST news184424467 A new method of priming early embryos to form embryonic stem (ES) cells has allowed ES cells to be derived from mice used in diabetes research for the first time. http://phys.org/news183807973.html Biology Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:46:53 EST news183807973 The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) makes cameo appearances throughout the body, but its leading role is as the opening act in the stress response, jump-starting the process along the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that CRF also plays a part in the pancreas, where it increases insulin secretion and promotes the division of the insulin-producing beta cells. http://phys.org/news183380169.html Medicine & Health Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:56:26 EST news183380169 An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. http://phys.org/news182957302.html Medicine & Health Sun, 17 Jan 2010 13:29:09 EST news182957302 A new research discovery published online in the FASEB Journal may change the perception and treatment of diabetes. That's because scientists have moved closer toward correcting the root cause of the disease rather than managing its symptoms. Specifically researchers identified a protein (G6PD protein) and its antioxidant product (NAPDH) that both prevent the death and promote the growth of cells which produce and release insulin in the pancreas (beta cells). http://phys.org/news181830694.html Medicine & Health Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:50:01 EST news181830694 New findings by UT Southwestern researchers suggest that a drug already used to treat autoimmune disorders might also help slow the destruction of insulin-producing cells in patients recently diagnosed with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes. http://phys.org/news179151446.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:30:07 EST news179151446