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. (PhysOrg.com) -- Chemical fingerprints produced by the body's normal metabolic processes predict who will suffer cardiovascular events and who will benefit from weight loss by reduction of insulin resistance, according two new studies by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news177698765.html Medicine & Health Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:50:01 EST news177698765 As rates of obesity, diabetes, and related disorders have reached epidemic proportions in the US in recent years, scientists are working from many angles to pinpoint the causes and contributing factors involved in this public health crisis. While sedentary lifestyles and diets high in sugar and fat contribute significantly to the rise in diabetes rates, genetic factors may make some people more vulnerable than others to developing diabetes. http://phys.org/news176405410.html Biology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:20:02 EST news176405410 Working like an architect, Prof. Hagit Eldar-Finkelman of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine is "building" a new drug, L803-MTS, to treat a number of central nervous system (CNS) diseases like Alzheimer's. In pre-clinical studies, it also shows promise against Parkinson's, Huntington's and diabetes. http://phys.org/news175786041.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:28:18 EST news175786041 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Queensland pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative traditional Chinese exercise program on depression and obesity has produced very promising results. http://phys.org/news175184645.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:27:33 EST news175184645 We've all heard about the damage that reactive oxygen species (ROS) - aka free radicals - can do to our bodies and the sales pitches for antioxidant vitamins, skin creams or "superfoods" that can stop them. In fact, there is considerable scientific evidence that chronic ROS production within cells can contribute to human diseases, including insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. http://phys.org/news174052401.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:40:24 EST news174052401 Fat and muscle mass, as potentially determined by a person's ethnic background, may contribute to diabetes risk, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). http://phys.org/news174041922.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:59:08 EST news174041922 (PhysOrg.com) -- Skeletal muscle plays a critical role in regulating blood sugar levels in the body. But few studies have comprehensively examined how obesity caused by a high-fat diet affects the health of muscle in adolescents who are pre-diabetic. http://phys.org/news174025470.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:40:01 EST news174025470 When most people think of insulin, they think of diabetes — a disease that arises when, for one reason or another, insulin can't do the critical job of helping the body process sugar. But the hormone has another, less well-known function. It's also necessary for muscle growth, increasing blood flow through muscle tissue, encouraging nutrients to disperse from blood vessels and itself serving as a biochemical signal to boost muscle protein synthesis and cell proliferation. http://phys.org/news173098645.html Medicine & Health Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:58:49 EST news173098645 Insulin resistance, the hallmark of type 2 diabetes and a condition often associated with obesity, is paradoxically also an apparent contributor to muscle wasting and severe fat loss that accompanies some cancers, according to new research. http://phys.org/news173019935.html Medicine & Health Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:06:40 EST news173019935 Childbearing is associated directly with future development of the metabolic syndrome — abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, insulin resistance and other cardiovascular disease risk factors — and for women who have had gestational diabetes, the risk is more than twice greater, according to a study co-authored by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. http://phys.org/news172856390.html Medicine & Health Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:10:01 EST news172856390 In patients with recent onset type-2 diabetes, treatment with insulin or the diabetes drug metformin did not reduce inflammatory biomarkers, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, although the treatment did improve glucose control, according to a study in the September 16 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news172253516.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:20:01 EST news172253516 An enzyme known to cause insulin resistance in muscle is also located in the brain and has a similar function there, a research team that includes a University of Cincinnati scientist has found. http://phys.org/news172153316.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:40:09 EST news172153316 Scientists have identified a genetic variation in people with type 2 diabetes that affects how the body's muscle cells respond to the hormone insulin, in a new study published today in Nature Genetics. The researchers, from Imperial College London and other international institutions, say the findings highlight a new target for scientists developing treatments for diabetes. http://phys.org/news171461893.html Medicine & Health Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:18:59 EST news171461893 Researchers may have found a key ingredient in the recipe that leads from obesity to chronic low-grade inflammation, according to a report in the September issue of Cell Metabolism. http://phys.org/news171028922.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:20:01 EST news171028922 A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the August 28th issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, a Cell Press journal. http://phys.org/news170594640.html Chemistry Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:24:34 EST news170594640 An exploration of the molecular links between insulin resistance and inflammation may have revealed a novel target for diabetes treatment, say scientists at the John G. Rangos Sr. Research Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. Their findings were published earlier this month in the online version of Diabetes, one of the journals of the American Diabetes Association. http://phys.org/news170504200.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:17:40 EST news170504200 New findings from nutrition researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggest that it's not whether body fat is stored in the belly that affects metabolic risk factors for diabetes, high blood triglycerides and cardiovascular disease, but whether it collects in the liver. http://phys.org/news170346913.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:20:04 EST news170346913 Elevated insulin levels in the normal range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study published online August 21 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://phys.org/news170093661.html Medicine & Health Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:14:41 EST news170093661 Short sleep times, experienced by many individuals in Westernized societies, may contribute to the development of insulin resistance and reduced glucose tolerance, which in turn may increase the long-term risk of diabetes, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). http://phys.org/news169141622.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:10:08 EST news169141622 Taking the most commonly-prescribed anti-diabetic drug, metformin, reduces an individual's risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 62 percent, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, published in the Aug. 1 issue of Gastroenterology. http://phys.org/news168324813.html Medicine & Health Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:00:01 EST news168324813 Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which can cause gastric ulcers, have been linked to type B insulin resistance syndrome in diabetics, researchers reported in the British medical journal The Lancet. http://phys.org/news167403440.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:00:02 EST news167403440 (PhysOrg.com) -- A flavonoid derived from citrus fruit has shown tremendous promise for preventing weight gain and other signs of metabolic syndrome which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, led by Murray Huff of the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario looked at a flavonoid (plant-based bioactive molecule) called naringenin. The findings are published online in the journal Diabetes. http://phys.org/news166703997.html Medicine & Health Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:10:02 EST news166703997 Pluronic surfactants are synthetic copolymers based on ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. It has been reported that a nonionic L-81, effectively inhibits absorption of dietary lipids from the intestine and secretion of VLDL and LDL from the liver. Although L-81 is a potent anti-obesity drug, its potential in alleviating obesity-induced insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes has not been fully explored. http://phys.org/news166266885.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:15:14 EST news166266885 Obesity very often leads to insulin resistance, and now researchers reporting in the July 8 issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered another factor behind that ill consequence. The newly discovered culprit—a protein known as pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF for short)—is secreted by fat cells. They also report evidence to suggest that specifically blocking that protein's action may reverse some of the health complications that come with obesity. http://phys.org/news166191801.html Biology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:24:09 EST news166191801 Researchers have found evidence that chronic disease in either a mother or father can create unfavourable conditions in the womb that are associated with the development of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in daughters. In another study, researchers found that brothers of women with PCOS and insulin resistance are themselves at greater risk of developing insulin resistance or diabetes, suggesting that factors associated with the condition can be passed down to sons as well as daughters. http://phys.org/news165576895.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:40:01 EST news165576895 Exercise and electro-acupuncture treatments can reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to a new study. The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated sympathetic nerve activity, which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease http://phys.org/news165475002.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:17:54 EST news165475002 Obesity is probably the most important factor in the development of insulin resistance, but science's understanding of the chain of events is still spotty. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have filled in the gap and identified the missing link between the two. Their findings, to be published in the June 21, 2009 advance online edition of the journal Nature, explain how obesity sets the stage for diabetes and why thin people can become insulin-resistant. http://phys.org/news164810148.html Medicine & Health Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:36:38 EST news164810148 Researchers have determined that individuals with mild to severe symptoms of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are more likely to suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), a collection of cardiovascular risk factors thought to be linked by insulin resistance). LUTS encompass voiding (incomplete emptying, weak stream, intermittency, straining) and storage (frequency, urgency, nocturia) difficulties. http://phys.org/news164623200.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Jun 2009 09:44:25 EST news164623200 Researchers have discovered a reason why smoking greatly increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Nicotine promotes insulin resistance, also called prediabetes, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, according to the new study. http://phys.org/news163946959.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:49:29 EST news163946959 Scientists in Sydney and Boston believe they may have identified a gene that controls abnormal production of sugar in the liver, a very troublesome problem for people with diabetes. http://phys.org/news162133734.html Medicine & Health Thu, 21 May 2009 14:09:22 EST news162133734