(Getty Images) By Amanda Gardner
TUESDAY, January 17, 2012 (Health.com) — Celebrity chef Paula Deen, who appeared this morning on the Today show to confirm rumors that she has type 2 diabetes, likely faces an uphill battle in managing her disease, experts say.
With time and effort, many people can control diabetes through diet and lifestyle changes alone, without the aid of drugs. B
A SCOTTISH patient says her life has been transformed after a specialist transplant to help treat her debilitating diabetes. Kathleen Duncan, from Dunfermline, would frequently be found unconscious at home and collapsed on the street as she struggled with low blood sugar caused by Type 1 diabetes.But after becoming the first patient in Scotland to undergo a transplant ADVERTISEMENTof cells from a donor pancreas, she no longer needs to use insulin and life has dramatically improved for both her and her family.Staff at the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service’s Islet Isolation Laboratory in Edinburgh now hope that up to 12 patients a year could benefit from the procedure.Developments in stem cell technology could mean that islet cells – the insulin-producing cells found in the pancreas – could be produced without the need for donor organs, widening the procedure to even more patients.Mrs Duncan, 52, has suffered from diabetes for 32 years, with the last six seeing her condition deteriorate. Read more…
The link between obesity and type 2 diabetes is well-established. Adiponectin is a protein produced by adipocytes and plays an important role in lipid metabolism and insulin secretion. The role of serum adiponectin concentrations in predicting future type 2 diabetes and its association with insulin sensitivity and beta-cell functioning were investigated in a prospective, population-based study. The cohort consisted of 500 Caucasian females aged 64 years. Evaluations included adiponectin serum levels, insulin sensitivity , glucose tolerance, lifestyle factors and C-reactive protein . At baseline, 159 subjects had diabetes, 174 had impaired glucose tolerance and 167 had normal glucose tolerance .
Type 2 diabetes patients have increased risk for bone fractures despite the fact that bone mineral density tends to be higher among individuals with diabetes. To investigate this paradox, data from three prospective observational studies were pooled and analyzed to identify fracture risk predictors in adults with type 2 diabetes. In particular, the associations between femoral neck BMD T score and the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Algorithm score versus the risk for hip and non-spine fractures were investigated. The 3 studies included 9,449 and 7,436 community-dwelling U.S. adults. Data analyzed included incidence of radiology-verified fractures, demographics and insulin use.
The National Institute of Health announced a new plan to set a standard for diabetes-related research over the next 10 years. The plan, “Advances and Emerging Opportunities in Diabetes Research,” was created by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The plan assesses the research opportunities with the greatest possible benefit to the millions of American who have diabetes, the potential to develop it, and its complications. The report detailed the 10 areas of diabetes research with the most potential, including: the relationship between obesity and type 2 diabetes, autoimmune mechanisms at work in type 1 diabetes, biology of beta cells, development of artificial pancreas technologies, prevention of complications of diabetes, and reduction of the impact of diabetes on groups with high susceptibility to the disease. The plan looks at both type 1 and type 2 diabetes as well as gestational diabetes. A draft of the strategic plan has been posted for public comment before it proceeds to publication.