Treating Diabetes With Less Need for Insulin
February 14, 2011
New approach lowers blood sugar in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes
Boston, MA – Diabetes can result from either a deficiency of insulin (type 1 or insulin-dependent diabetes) or decreased sensitivity to insulin (type 2 diabetes). Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston have discovered a mechanism for normalizing blood sugar that doesn’t involve insulin and could offer a new therapeutic approach to both kinds of diabetes.
Reporting in Nature Medicine online on February 13th, Umut Ozcan, MD, and colleagues in Children’s Division of Endocrinology show that a regulatory protein called XBP-1s, when activated artificially in the liver, can normalize high blood sugar in both lean, insulin-deficient type 1 diabetic mice and obese, insulin-resistant type 2 diabetic mice. This suggests that approaches aimed at increasing XBP-1s activity may benefit patients with either type of diabetes. [Read more]
Nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors common in overweight black youth
November 21, 2010
Chicago, IL – Doctors should screen for non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors when assessing heart disease risk in overweight black adolescents, according to a new study from a Memphis researcher released at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions today in Chicago.
Childhood obesity is linked to the development of cardiovascular disease and death in adulthood. However, black youth are not routinely assessed for cardiovascular risk factors. [Read more]
