Category Archives: Diabetes

WE NEED TO INVEST IN YOUNG SCIENTISTS

"There is a need for increased collaborative efforts to eradicate diabetes. We need to invest in young scientists with new and fresh ideas that are willing to dedicate their career to study diabetes. Federal funding for young investigators in basic research is getting harder to acquire, so private funding is critical to invest in novel ideas to help young scientists in their quest for the cure."

Agata Jurczyk, Ph.D.

University of Massachusetts Medical School

A TREMENDOUS NEW WAY TO FUND YOUNG RESEARCH INVESTIGATORS

"DRC is a tremendous new way to fund brilliant young research investigators The Diabetes Research Connection is a tremendous new way to fund brilliant young research investigators in the early stages of their careers -- when they need our support the most. These fresh, innovative minds will spearhead scientific discoveries, and will ensure that we have a robust diabetes drug/device pipeline for years to come. I applaud the founders of DRC for..."

Lorraine Stiehl

Diabetes Research Advocate, Board Member JDRF, Board Member Diabetes Hands Foundation

I BELIEVE THE MISSION OF DIABETES RESEARCH CONNECTION IS VITAL!

"Entering my fourth decade of type 1 diabetes research, it is quite remarkable to look back and see how research seeking to identify answers to the questions of how this disease develops and how the disorder could be cured have changed. No one could have envisioned the difficulty of obtaining research funding, especially for young people. For these reasons, I believe the mis..."

Mark Atkinson, Ph.D.

Director, University of Florida Diabetes Institute

ADVANCING EFFORTS OF EARLY-CAREER SCIENTISTS

The Diabetes Research Connection will advance the efforts of early-career scientists whose innovative proposals for diabetes investigations might be overlooked by government funding agencies in favor of more conventional research.

Alberto Hayek, M.D.

Professor Emeritus, UC San Diego

INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR THE FUNDING WE RECEIVED

"Thanks to the Diabetes Research Connection, I was able to undertake my investigation, Can we engineer a patients immune cells to stop the autoimmune attack that causes type 1 diabetes? The Brusko lab is incredibly grateful for the $50,000 we received to drive this exciting research project forward."

Todd Brusko, Ph.D.

University of Florida

SOMETIMES DIABETES SIMPLY CANNOT BE CONTROLLED

I support the Diabetes Research Connection because I believe that a cure is possible and may very well lie in a different direction than where traditional research has been focused. I want to support new promising paradigms of thought that are scientifically endorsed by experts in the field of diabetes. I think the Diabetes Research Connection is the perfect platform for this type of investigat..."

Amy Adams

Donor, Chair of Lay Review Committee, Diabetes Research Connection

DRC IS COMMITTED TO THE CURE

"Committed To The Cure The Diabetes Research Connection will become a powerful breeding ground for new ideas in T1D research in the context of a supportive and enthusiastic community of donors.

C.C. King

Associate Research Scientist, Pediatric Diabetes Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, UCSD

A GROUNDBREAKING EFFORT TO REVOLUTIONIZE HOW WE FUND DIABETES RESEARCH

"I am passionate about User Experience and developing technologies that create meaningful communities that are focused on making a difference. So I am thrilled at this groundbreaking effort to revolutionize how we fund diabetes research. Most important to me is the effort to bridge the gap between scientist and supporters to cultivate a community of connection. The Diabetes Research Connection aspires to create a co..."

Jarryd Wafer

Senior Designer at FindTheBest.com

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Homepage | Diabetes Research Connection

We are your best source for diabetes management and education in Charlotte, Sarasota and DeSoto counties. We are committed to providing you with the most current information and treatments for managing your diabetes. Our Living Smart Diabetes Self-Management Program is recognized by the American Diabetes Association with classes offered monthly in our state-of-the-art conference room located next to our Diabetes Center.

Hanson Diabetes Center also provides state-of-the-art thyroid evaluation and management. Lenita Hanson M.D., F.A.C.E., CDE, CPI, our board certified endocrinologist, is skilled in thyroid sonography and fine needle aspiration of thyroid nodules. Her thyroid expertise ranges from diagnosing basic thyroid imbalance to the management of thyroid cancer. Dr. Hanson also provides other endocrine services on a limited basis.

Our sister company, Hanson Clinical Research Center, is located next to the Diabetes Center. It provides an opportunity for anyone interested in becoming a part of clinical research to participate in our current diabetes related trials.

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Hanson Diabetes Center | Your best source for Diabetes ...

For them, other illnessesheart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, each of which takes more livesoften eclipse the need for HIV/AIDS resources, Stevenson says.

The study led by researchers from Peking University Health Science Center was then narrowed down to people who did not have prior cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

City of Hope, the world-renowned independent research and treatment cancer for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases, has appointed Evan Lamberg as the Music, Film and Entertainment Industry Boards new president.

But Zanos believes some conditions such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could be monitored with nerve implants in the not-too-distant future.

Many of her patients are low-income Latinos, often with chronic issues: diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

Long-term studies have found that people who follow a Mediterranean-style diet are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kidney disease and breast cancer, to name a few.

The links between obesity and heart disease, and between obesity and diabetes, have long dominated discussion of the health effects of excess weight.

Church's Harvard lab has worked through over 60 different therapies to modify two genes that act on four major diseases of aging (heart and kidney disease, obesity, and diabetes).

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Diabetes | Definition of Diabetes by Merriam-Webster

Overview

Type 2 diabetes, once known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition that affects the way your body metabolizes sugar (glucose), your body's important source of fuel.

With type 2 diabetes, your body either resists the effects of insulin a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar into your cells or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level.

More common in adults, type 2 diabetes increasingly affects children as childhood obesity increases. There's no cure for type 2 diabetes, but you may be able to manage the condition by eating well, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight. If diet and exercise aren't enough to manage your blood sugar well, you also may need diabetes medications or insulin therapy.

Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly. In fact, you can have type 2 diabetes for years and not know it. Look for:

See your doctor if you notice any type 2 diabetes symptoms.

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas stops producing enough insulin. Exactly why this happens is unknown, although genetics and environmental factors, such as excess weight and inactivity, seem to be contributing factors.

Insulin is a hormone that comes from the gland situated behind and below the stomach (pancreas).

Glucose a sugar is a main source of energy for the cells that make up muscles and other tissues.

In type 2 diabetes, this process doesn't work well. Instead of moving into your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream. As blood sugar levels increase, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas release more insulin, but eventually these cells become impaired and can't make enough insulin to meet the body's demands.

In the much less common type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the beta cells, leaving the body with little to no insulin.

Researchers don't fully understand why some people develop type 2 diabetes and others don't. It's clear, however, that certain factors increase the risk, including:

Type 2 diabetes can be easy to ignore, especially in the early stages when you're feeling fine. But diabetes affects many major organs, including your heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys. Controlling your blood sugar levels can help prevent these complications.

Although long-term complications of diabetes develop gradually, they can eventually be disabling or even life-threatening. Some of the potential complications of diabetes include:

Healthy lifestyle choices can help you prevent type 2 diabetes. Even if you have diabetes in your family, diet and exercise can help you prevent the disease. If you've already received a diagnosis of diabetes, you can use healthy lifestyle choices to help prevent complications. And if you have prediabetes, lifestyle changes can slow or halt the progression from prediabetes to diabetes.

Sometimes medication is an option as well. Metformin (Glucophage, Glumetza, others), an oral diabetes medication, may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes but healthy lifestyle choices remain essential.

Our patients tell us that the quality of their interactions, our attention to detail and the efficiency of their visits mean health care like they've never experienced. See the stories of satisfied Mayo Clinic patients.

Jan. 03, 2018

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Type 2 diabetes - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

WebMD Veterinary Reference from ASPCA Virtual Pet Behaviorist In this Article In this Article In this Article

Diabetes in dogs is a complex disease caused by either a lack of the hormone insulin or an inadequate response to insulin.

After a dog eats, his digestive system breaks food into various components, including glucose-which is carried into his cells by insulin, a hormone secreted by the pancreas. When a dog does not produce insulin or cannot utilize it normally, his blood sugar levels elevate. The result is hyperglycemia, which, if left untreated, can cause many complicated health problems for a dog.

It is important to understand, however, that diabetes is considered a manageable disorder-and many diabetic dogs can lead happy, healthy lives.

Diabetes can be classified as either Type 1 (lack of insulin production) or Type II (impaired insulin production along with an inadequate response to the hormone.)

The most common form of the disease in dogs is Type 1, insulin-dependent diabetes, which occurs when the pancreas is incapable of producing or secreting adequate levels of insulin. Dogs who have Type I require insulin therapy to survive. Type II diabetes is found in cats and is a lack of normal response to insulin.

The following symptoms should be investigated as they could be indicators that your dog has diabetes:

The exact cause of diabetes is unknown. However, autoimmune disease, genetics, obesity, chronic pancreatitis, certain medications and abnormal protein deposits in the pancreas can play a major role in the development of the disease.

It is thought that obese dogs and female dogs may run a greater risk of developing diabetes later in life (6-9 years of age). Some breeds may also run a greater risk, including Australian terriers, standard and miniature schnauzers, dachshunds, poodles, keeshonds and samoyeds. Juvenile diabetes can also be seen and is particularly prevalent in golden retrievers and keeshonds.

In order to properly diagnose diabetes, your veterinarian will collect information about your dogs clinical signs, perform a physical examination and check blood work and a urinalysis.

Diabetes treatment is based on how severe the symptoms and lab work are and whether there are any other health issues that could complicate therapy. Each dog will respond a little bit differently to treatment, and therapy must be tailored to the individual dog throughout his life.

Your vet may also show you how to perform glucose tests at home.

As your veterinarian will explain, its important to always give your dog insulin at the same time every day and feed him regular meals in conjunction with his medication. This allows increased nutrients in the blood to coincide with peak insulin levels, and will lessen the chance that his sugar levels will swing either too high or too low. You can work with your vet to create a feeding schedule around your pets medication time. It is also important to avoid feeding your diabetic dog treats that are high in glucose. Regular blood glucose checks are a critical part of monitoring and treating any diabetic patient, and your veterinarian will help you set up a schedule for checking your dogs blood sugar.

Please also consult your vet about a consistent, daily exercise program and proper nutrition for your dog to help keep his weight in check.

Although a certain form of diabetes-the type found in dogs less than a year of age-is inherited, proper diet and regular exercise can be very effective in helping to prevent onset of diabetes in older dogs. Aside from other negative health effects, obesity is known to contribute to an ability to respond normally to insulin.

If your dog is showing any of the clinical signs listed above, please see your veterinarian right away.

If diabetes progresses without being treated, dogs can develop secondary health problems like cataracts and severe urinary tract problems. Ultimately, untreated diabetes can cause coma and death.

WebMD Veterinary Reference from ASPCA Virtual Pet Behaviorist

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Dog Diabetes Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment - WebMD

Diabetes, short for diabetes mellitus, refers to a variety of metabolic disorders that cause high blood sugar levels over a protracted period of time. They occur either due to inefficient insulin production by the pancreas or to an inability by cells to react properly to the insulin that is released. Unfortunately, there is no current cure for diabetes, and treatment only seeks to prevent the various symptoms as well as the medical complications associated with the disease. The earlier it is detected, the sooner one may be able to begin treatment for diabetic woes. For the purpose of early detection, the following signs are what one must watch out for.

The condition of diabetes causes the sugar content of the blood to rise above normal levels. This requires the patients kidneys to work harder than usual, so that the excess sugar can be removed successfully. This overtime work results in the formation of excess urine, causing the person to have frequent urges to urinate. Such a condition isnt just distracting, it can also lead to kidney damage and eventually kidney failure in case no treatment is undertaken. Frequent urination can hence be a very significant warning of diabetes and should be reported to a physician if prolonged.

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10 Warning Signs of Diabetes - Frequent Urination

How can you tell if you have diabetes? Most early symptoms are from higher-than-normal levels of glucose, a kind of sugar, in your blood.

The warning signs can be so mild that you don't notice them. That's especially true of type 2 diabetes. Some people don't find out they have it until they get problems from long-term damage caused by the disease.

With type 1 diabetes, the symptoms usually happen quickly, in a matter of days or a few weeks. They're much more severe, too.

Both types of diabetes have some of the same telltale warning signs.

Hunger and fatigue. Your body converts the food you eat into glucose that your cells use for energy. But your cells need insulin to bring the glucose in.

If your body doesn't make enough or any insulin, or if your cells resist the insulin your body makes, the glucose can't get into them and you have no energy. This can make you more hungry and tired than usual.

Peeing more often and being thirstier. The average person usually has to pee between four and seven times in 24 hours, but people with diabetes may go a lot more.

Why? Normally your body reabsorbs glucose as it passes through your kidneys. But when diabetes pushes yourblood sugarup, your kidneys may not be able to bring it all back in. This causes the body to make more urine, and that takes fluids.

You'll have to go more often. You might pee out more, too. Because you're peeing so much, you can get very thirsty. When you drink more, you'll also pee more.

Dry mouth and itchy skin. Because your body is using fluids to make pee, there's less moisture for other things. You could get dehydrated, and your mouth may feel dry. Dry skin can make you itchy.

Blurred vision. Changing fluid levels in your body could make the lenses in your eyes swell up. They change shape and lose their ability to focus.

These tend to show up after your glucose has been high for a long time.

Yeast infections. Both men and women with diabetes can get these. Yeast feeds on glucose, so having plenty around makes it thrive. Infections can grow in any warm, moist fold of skin, including:

Slow-healing sores or cuts. Over time, high blood sugar can affect your blood flow and cause nerve damage that makes it hard for your body to heal wounds.

Pain or numbness in your feet or legs. This is another result of nerve damage.

Unplanned weight loss. If your body can't get energy from your food, it will start burning muscle and fat for energy instead. You may lose weight even though you haven't changed how you eat.

Nausea and vomiting. When your body resorts to burning fat, it makes ketones. These can build up in your blood to dangerous levels, a possibly life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketones can make you feel sick to your stomach.

If you're older than 45 or have other risks for diabetes, it's important to get tested. When you spot the condition early, you can avoid nerve damage, heart trouble, and other complications.

As a general rule, call your doctor if you:

SOURCES:

Cleveland Clinic: "Diabetes: Frequently Asked Questions" and "What Is Diabetes?"

University of Michigan Health System: "Type 1 Diabetes."

National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse: "Am I at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes? Taking Steps to Lower Your Risk of Getting Diabetes."

Baylor Scott & White Healthcare: "Urinary Frequency" and "Diabetes and Diabetic Neuropathy Hard-to-Heal Wounds."

Sutter Health: "Question & Answer: Is Sudden Weight Loss a Sign of Diabetes? If So, Why?"

Neithercott, T. Diabetes Forecast, August 2013.

University of Rochester Medical Center: "Diabetic Skin Troubles."

Joslin Diabetes Center: "Diseases of the Eye" and "Diabetic Neuropathy: What You Need to Know."

The Nemours Foundation: "When Blood Sugar Is Too High."

Virginia Mason Medical Center: "Complications."

Carolinas Health System: "Diabetes: Yeast Infections and Diabetes: What You Should Know."

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Diabetes Symptoms - webmd.com

Diabetes is a progressive, chronic disease related to your body's challenges with regulating blood sugar. It is often associated with generalized inflammation. Your pancreas produces the hormone insulin to convert sugar (glucose) to energy that you either use immediately or store. With type 2 diabetes, you are unable to use that insulin efficiently. Although your body produces the hormone, either there isn't enough of it to keep up with the amount of glucose in your system, or the insulin being produced isn't being used as well as it should be, both of which result in high blood sugar levels.

While this can produce different types of complications, good blood sugar control efforts can help to prevent them. This relies heavily on lifestyle modifications such as weight loss, dietary changes, exercise and, in some cases, medication. But, depending on your age, weight, blood sugar level, and how long you've had diabetes, you may not need a prescription right away. Treatment must be tailored to you and, though finding the perfect combination may take a little time, it can help you live a healthy, normal life with diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is most common is those who are genetically predisposed and who are overweight, lead a sedentary lifestyle, have high blood pressure, and/or have insulin resistance due to excess weight. People of certain ethnicities are more likely to develop diabetes, too. These include: African Americans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Asian Americans. These populations are more likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing diabetes.

As you age, you are also at increased risk of developing diabetes.

A poor diet and smoking can also affect your risk.

There are many complications of diabetes. Knowing and understanding the signs of these complications is important. If caught early, some of these complications can be treated and prevented from getting worse. The best way to prevent complications of diabetes is to keep your blood sugars in good control. High glucose levels produce changes in the blood vessels themselves, as well as in blood cells (primarily erythrocytes) that impair blood flow to various organs.

Complications of diabetes are broken into two categories: microvascular (damage to the small blood vessels) and macrovascular (damage to the large blood vessels). They can include:

Often people don't experience symptoms of diabetes until their blood sugars are very high. Symptoms of diabetes include: increased thirst, increased urination, increased hunger, extreme fatigues, numbness and tingling in the extremities (hands and feet), cuts and wounds that are slow to heal, and blurred vision. Some people also experience other less common symptoms including weight loss, dry itchy skin, increased yeast infections, erectile dysfunction, and acanthosis nigricans (thick, "velvety" patches found in the folds or creases of skin, such as the neck, that is indicative of insulin resistance).

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, don't ignore them. Make an appointment to see your doctor. The earlier diabetes is caught, the more likely you can prevent complications.

A diagnosis of diabetes can be done using a variety of blood tests.

If you are at increased risk of diabetes, have symptoms of diabetes, or have pre-diabetes (a major warning sign for diabetes), your doctor will check to see if you have diabetes. Your doctor may also check to see if you have diabetes if you are over the age of 45, have a family history of the disease, are overweight, or if you are at increased risk for another reason. The tests used to check for diabetes are the same tests used to check for pre-diabetes.

Fasting blood sugar test: This test checks your blood sugar when you haven't eaten for at least eight hours. A fasting blood sugar above 126 could be indicative of diabetes. Your doctor will re-check this to determine if you have diabetes.

Glucose tolerance test: This is a test that checks how you respond to sugar. You will be given a sample of sugar (75 grams over the course of two hours). If your blood sugar is above target after that time, you may be diagnosed with diabetes.

Hemoglobin A1c: This test checks your blood sugar over the course of three months.

If your blood sugar is above 6.5 percent, you may be considered to have diabetes.

Random blood sugar test: Your doctor can do this test if you are experiencing symptoms of diabetesincrease thirst, fatigue, increased urination. If your blood sugar is above 200mg/dL, you may be considered to have diabetes.

If you have no symptoms and any of these tests are positive, the American Diabetes Association recommends that a new blood sample be drawn to confirm a diagnosis.

While you can't change getting older, your family history, or ethnicity, you can work on ways to reduce your weight and waist circumference, increase your activity, and lower your blood pressure.

Eating a balanced diet that is rich in fiber, non-starchy vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fat can help get you to your goal weight and reduce your waist size and body mass index (BMI). Reducing your intake of sweetened beverages (juices, sodas) is the easiest way to lose weight and reduce blood sugars. If you are someone who has high blood pressure and are salt sensitive, aim to reduce your intake of sodium; do not add salt to your food, read package labels for added sodium, and reduce your intake of fast food and take out. Don't go on a diet. Instead, adapt a healthier way of eating, one that you'll enjoy for a long time.

Exercising regularly, about 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes per week, can also help to reduce your weight and blood pressure. Finally, if you smoke, aim to quit. Smoking can increase your risk of stroke, blood pressure, and heart attack, and quitting can reduce your risk of diabetes.

The good news is that if you have diabetes, you have a great amount of control in managing your disease. Although it can be difficult to manage a disease on a daily basis, the resources and support for people with diabetes is endless. It's important for you to receive as much education as possible so that you can take advantage of all the good information that is out there (and weed out the bad).

Don't let others let you feel like a diabetes diagnosis means you are doomed.

All people with diabetes should also be seen by an ophthalmologist after diagnosis. Diabetes can affect the eyes before it is even diagnosed. After the initial session, people should be seen every two years if there are no issues, or more often if there are.

In addition, people with diabetes should have a comprehensive foot exam by a podiatrist once they are diagnosed or if they are experiencing issues, such as tingling of the feet, pain, sores, hammer toes, thick dry skin, or fungal nails.

A registered dietitian and/or certified diabetes educator will educate you on how to eat for diabetes and provide you the tools you need to self-manage your diabetes.

Some other doctors you may want to or have to add to your list as the disease progresses include a cardiologist (to make sure your heart is working efficiently and you have no blockages in your arteries), a vascular doctor (a doctor who specializes in veins and circulatory issues), and a therapist to help you cope with your diagnosis.

What you eat plays a major part in your diabetes controland your weight. Eating a balanced diet that is rich in non-starchy vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats can help you improve your nutrition, lose weight, and lower your blood sugars.

These dedicated Verywell sections can help you improve your diabetes diet know-how:Type 2 Diabetes DietDietitian Advice and Recipes

It isn't always easy to start an exercise regimen, but once you get into a groove, you may be surprised at how much you enjoy it. Find a way to fit activity into your daily routine. Even a few minutes a day goes a long way. The American Diabetes Association recommends that adults with diabetes should perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week (spread over at least three days with no more than two consecutive days without exercise). You don't have to start with this right away, though. Start with five to 10 minutes per day and go from there. To stay motivated, find a buddy, get a fitness tracker, or use another measurement tool that can help you see your progress.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that blood sugars be 80mg/dL-130mg/dL before meals and less than or equal to 180mg/dL two hours after meals. Blood sugar targets are individualized based on a variety of factors such as age, length of diagnosis, if you have other health issues, etc. For example, if you are an elderly person, your targets maybe a bit higher than someone else. Ask your physician what targets are right for you.

Read: High and Low Blood Sugar: Managing the Ups and Downs

The above tips are important for you. But it's also crucial to allow yourself time to cope with the diagnosis and commit to making lifestyle changes that will benefit you forever. The good news is the diabetes is a manageable disease; the tough part is that you must think about it daily. Consider finding supportsomeone that you can talk to about your strugglesbe that a friend, another person with diabetes, or a loved one. This may seem trivial, but it truly can help you take control of diabetes so that it doesn't control you. Some next steps that may help you to get on the right track at this early stage in your journey:

Diabetes is a chronic condition that must be managed daily, but it is manageable. You can live a long, healthy life with diabetes if you adapt a healthy lifestyle. By choosing to eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and quit smoking, and seeing your doctors regularly, you will increase your energy, feel better, and maybe even feel great.

Many people with diabetes also have other conditions such as sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Once they change their lifestyle, many of these other symptoms improve or go away. You are in the driver's seat. You have the ability to control diabetes.

And go easy on yourself: Sometimes you can be doing everything perfectly and your blood sugars start to creep up. Because diabetes is a progressive disease, your body slowly stops making insulin over time. If you've had diabetes for a very long time, try not to be discouraged if your doctor has to increase your medication or discusses insulin with you. Continue to do what you can to improve your health.

Sources:

American Diabetes Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators, and the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Diabetes Self-management Education and Support in Type 2 Diabetes 2015. https://www.diabeteseducator.org/docs/default-source/practice/practice-resources/position-statements/dsme_joint_position_statement_2015.pdf?sfvrsn=0

American Diabetes Association. Standards of Medical Care 2016. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/39/Supplement_1

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Type 2 Diabetes Articles - Symptoms, Treatment, and More

ALTON Alton Memorial Hospitals Diabetes Management office has earned the prestigious American Diabetes Association Education Recognition Certificate. The ADA believes that this program offers high-quality education that is an essential component of effective diabetes treatment.

The Associations Education Recognition Certificate assures that educational programs meet the national standards for diabetes self-management education programs.

The process gives professionals a national standard by which to measure the quality of services we provide, said Lisa James, diabetes educator at AMH. And, of course, it assures the consumer that he or she will receive high-quality service.

Education Recognition status is verified by an official certificate from ADA and awarded for four years.

Self-management education is an essential component of diabetes treatment. One consequence of compliance with the national standards is the greater consistency in the quality and quantity of education offered to people with diabetes. The participant in a recognized program will be taught, as needed, self-care skills that will promote better management of his or her diabetes treatment regimen. All approved education programs cover the following topics as needed: diabetes disease process; nutritional management; physical activity; medications;

monitoring; preventing, detecting, and treating acute complications; preventing, detecting, and treating chronic complications through risk reduction; goal setting and problem solving; psychological adjustment; and preconception care, management during pregnancy, and gestational management.

Unnecessary hospital admissions and some of the acute and chronic complications of diabetes may be prevented through self-management education.

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are 29.1 million people or 9.3 percent of the population in the United States who have diabetes. While an estimated 21 million people have been diagnosed, 8.1 million people are not aware that they have this disease. Each day more than 3,900 people are diagnosed with diabetes. Many will first learn that they have diabetes when they are treated for one of its life-threatening complications heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and nerve disease and amputation.

For more information about diabetes education at Alton Memorial, call Lisa James at 618-463-7526.

James

http://thetelegraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_Lisa-James.jpgJames

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The Telegraph | Alton Memorial Hospital's diabetes program ... - Alton Telegraph

June 30, 2017 by Veronica Meade-Kelly Credit: Susanna Hamilton, Broad Communications, from material provided by Leslie Gaffney and Lauren Solomon

Following up on findings from a an earlier genome-wide association study (GWAS) of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Latinos, researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) traced an association detected in that study to variants in a specific gene, SLC16A11, and uncovered two distinct mechanisms by which those variants disrupt the gene's function in liver cells, possibly contributing to the pathogenesis of T2D. The findings, which appear this week in Cell, offer insights into the biology underlying T2D and suggest new leads in the search for therapeutics.

T2D is a chronic metabolic disease that affects how the body handles glucose, a type of sugar that serves as cells' basic unit of fuel. While environmental factors play a role in developing T2D, it is also highly heritableand the genetics involved are complex, with many genes contributing to disease risk. Though progress has been made in defining the genetic architecture of T2D, much remains unknown about how different types of genetic variation may lead to the disorder.

T2D afflicts over 400 million people worldwide, but has a disproportionate impact on certain populations, including those of Latin American descent (who are twice as likely as those of European ancestry to develop the disease). Suspecting that this disparity might help shed light on the condition's genetic underpinnings, researchers at the Broad's Diabetes Research Group, as part of the Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas (SIGMA) T2D Consortium, teamed with partnering institutions for the earlier GWAS study to discover genetic determinants of T2D from DNA samples from over 9,000 Hispanic individuals from Mexico and the United States. Previous studies had focused on populations of European descent.

Among the team's findings was variation in a specific part of the genome that was associated with a roughly 30 percent increase in diabetes risk. That variant is absent in Africa and rare in Europe but common in the Americas and it explains as much as 20 percent of the increased prevalence of T2D among Latinos. But discovering an association is only a first step in understanding the role genetics plays in the development of the disease.

"Drilling down to the pathogenesis of disease is a very laborious road to travel. It's relatively straightforward to discover genetic associations, but it's another matter to then go from association to function," explains the study's co-senior author Jose Florez, co-director of Broad's Metabolism Program, associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and chief of the Diabetes Unit at MGH.

Even focusing on a specific gene posed a challenge. Each locus found in GWAS spans a number of genes. The 2013 study, which was led by David Altshuler (now chief scientific officer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals), had shown that one gene in that region, SLC16A11, harbored several suspicious mutations, and more detailed genetic mapping of the region strengthened the case for focusing on it. Yet the role that gene might be playing in T2D remained a mystery.

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"One of the challenges with this study was that the genetic hits pointed to a gene that had not been characterized, so we were really starting from scratch in terms of grasping the biology," says Suzanne Jacobs, the associate scientific director of the Broad's Diabetes Research Group and a co-senior author of the paper.

The team had yet to figure out what SLC16A11 did, and where. SLC16A11 belongs to a family of genes known to transport molecules across cell membranes, but the proteins that genes produce can perform many different roles in the body, and they can be active in some tissue types but not others. The researchers not only had to figure out how SLC16A11 performed in normal circumstances, but also then determine how mutations in the gene disrupted that function. Specifically, they needed to determine the "direction of effect": Did gene activity go up or down? Understanding that function would provide vital clues about the gene's potential role in T2D.

"When we set about answering all these questions, there wasn't a single go-to experiment that we could do. We needed to use an array of tools at our disposalmolecular, biochemical, cellular, and physiologicalto figure out how the gene might contribute to type 2 diabetes risk," explains Eitan Hoch, a postdoctoral associate at the Broad and co-first author of the paper.

Through a series of tests, the team found that mutations were altering gene activity through two distinct mechanismsboth in the same "direction," by disrupting the gene. Some genetic variations in SLC16A11 simply decrease its expression in the liver (an organ that helps regulate blood sugar levels, and is therefore implicated in T2D). Other variants disrupt an interaction with another protein. The disruption changes the location of SLC16A11 within the cell and prevents the protein from doing its job as a transporter, influencing how fats are handled by the liver.

"To then determine how disrupting the gene might play out in the context of disease, we chemically knocked out the activity of SLC16A11 in human liver cells," explains co-first author Victor Rusu, a former Harvard graduate student at Broad now at Jnana Therapeutics. "We found that knocking this gene down resulted in changes in fatty acid and lipid metabolism that are reminiscent of what we see in insulin resistance and T2D."

The findings suggest that reviving SLC16A11 function may be beneficial for treating T2D, opening new avenues in the search for therapeutics. Such treatments, if discovered, could counter not only the effects of mutations in SLC16A11, but also potentially any T2D-associated variants that may trigger the disease through similar mechanisms.

"There is a lot more that needs to be done to determine where these findings fit within the T2D picture, but this study opens up a new direction in T2D research, identifying a potential new pathway that we don't yet fully understand," says Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad and a co-senior author of the study. "It's a great example of how genetic discoveries lead to biological insights and ultimately inform the search for much-needed treatments."

Explore further: SLC16A11 linked to type 2 diabetes in american indians

More information: Victor Rusu et al. Type 2 Diabetes Variants Disrupt Function of SLC16A11 through Two Distinct Mechanisms, Cell (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.06.011

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