Nasal Spray Vaccine To Prevent Diabetes In Children

Australian researchers have come up with a nasal spray vaccine that could stop kids from developing Type 1 diabetes or childhood diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is a life-threatening chronic condition that can shorten life, cause kidney failure, heart disease, amputation and blindness.

The pancreas stops insulin production in type 1 diabetes and the body cannot process sugar without insulin.

Insulin is a key hormone that transports glucose from the blood stream into the body’s cells.

Type 1 diabetes develops when the immune system attacks & destroys the beta cells & more importantly, the insulin itself becomes a definite target of the immune attack that destroys the beta cells.

The researchers discovered that the nasal spray distinctly turned off the immune response to insulin in fifty-two adult new type 1-diabetes patients.

The researchers claim that while giving nasal insulin didn’t stop the loss of insulin-secreting cells, there was proof that the nasal spray made the body’s immune system more insulin-tolerant and could, hence, be used to check diabetes in those at risk, especially children.

However, the insulin nasal spray is not proposed as a treatment for those who already have diabetes.

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37 Strawberries A Day Keep Health Complications Away

According to U.S. researchers, eating 37 strawberries a day can help keep diabetes, as well as a host of other complications at bay.

Salk Institute‘s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory researchers believe fisetin, a naturally-occurring flavonoid that’s found in abundance in strawberries & in lesser amounts in other vegetables and fruits, reduces complications of diabetes and helps protects neurons in the brain.

The fact that fisetin strongly targets multiple organs means that a single drug can be used to alleviate several medical complications

U.S. researchers fed a high-fisetin diet to Akita mice, which were afflicted with abnormally high blood sugar & the medical effects of diabetes were reduced. The study also found that fisetin’s neuron protective property could help check Alzheimer’s disease.

To consume fisetin levels equivalent to those given to Akita mice, researchers estimate that humans need to eat 37 strawberries daily.

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Too Much TV May Cause Premature Death

Researchers say telly time could distract people from engaging in more healthy activities and prolonged television viewing increases the risk of diabetes & heart disease.

A Harvard School of Public Health study reveals that every 2 hours spent watching TV each day ups the diabetes risk by 20% & risk of heart disease by 15%.

But switching it off & doing something more demanding could stop 2 people in every 1000 developing these conditions.

Reducing TV viewing can significantly lower risk of heart disease, type-2 diabetes & premature mortality.

The issue is not TV watching per se, but that those who spend hours in front of the box are less likely to have an active lifestyle and therefore are more prone to be obese or overweight.

Other sedentary activities, such as surfing the internet or playing computer games could have a similar effect and needs to be studied.

The study showed that in excess of 2 hours of TV viewing a day upped the risk of type-2 diabetes & cardiovascular disease, and over 3 hours of daily TV viewing raised the risk of an early death.

The absence of any muscle contractions on account of sitting for extended periods brings about physiological changes – not all glucose & fats are removed from the bloodstream thereby increasing the risk of disease.

The combination of an inactive lifestyle, unhealthy diet & obesity creates the perfect breeding ground for type 2 diabetes & heart disease.

Some sort of physical activity for at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week is required to keep the heart healthy.

The findings serve as a wake-up call regarding the risk of having a sedentary lifestyle. Physical activity can lower by over 60% the risk of type-2 diabetes.

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Diabetes Drug Actos Banned For Risk Of Bladder Cancer

Drug stores in France & Germany have pulled Actos off their shelves after a study found the diabetes drug raised the risk of bladder cancer.

The French Medicines Agency has banned Actos as well as Competact, a pill that combines Actos & metformin and has advised doctors not to prescribe the drug to patients. German health officials followed suit after seeing the French report.

Manufactured by Tackeda, Actos or pioglitazone is prescribed for type 2 diabetes patients to control their blood sugar levels.

The French study found that people taking the popular diabetes drug Actos had a 22% higher risk of developing bladder cancer than those diabetics on other drugs.

Patients on Actos should consult their physician about this drug’s risks & benefits.

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Diamond ‘Pacemaker’ for Diabetics Helps Check Sugar Overload

A pacemaker-style gadget that sends mild electric signals to the stomach has been developed by scientists. This innovative medical device could help effectively manage type-2 diabetes.

When this thumb-sized gadget known as the Diamond (Diabetes Improvement And Metabolic Normalization Device) is implanted under a person’s skin, it stimulates the patient’s stomach muscles while he is eating.

This facilitates the boosting of muscle movement, leading to more insulin being released. Insulin is a hormone that’s responsible for the removal of excess sugar in a person’s blood.

Earlier studies on the Diamond pacemaker suggested that it results in long-term reduction of blood sugar levels in obese type-2 diabetics.

Developed by MetaCure, the gadget sends electrical stimulation via 2 wires located in the muscular layer of a person’s stomach. The wires are channeled under the skin to the impulse generator.

The Diamond pacemaker senses automatically when a person is eating, by recognizing when the stomach begins to naturally contract & fires tiny painless electrical pulses into the stomach muscles.

This fools the brain into believing more food has gone into the patient’s stomach than what he has actually eaten. To handle this supposedly huge meal, the brain increases insulin production plus triggers the release of appetite-suppressing hormones. This means that a person feels full much earlier than usual. The Diamond’s rechargeable battery usually lasts for 5 years.

The device’s wireless charger system lets a person recharge the gadget at home by resting the charger over his stomach for forty-five minutes, once every week.

The DIAMOND device & electrodes are implanted under general anesthesia via a laparoscopic procedure.    

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