Category Archives: Diabetes

CLEVELAND - An alarming number of new cases of diabetes are being diagnosed among American kids. A CDC report revealed last month that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are both on the rise.

The findings have doctors raising concerns and making sure parents know the signs and symptoms of diabetes among their children.

She just wasnt acting right but it was nothing I had experienced with the other children, said Tiffany Barzacchini.

Barzacchinis 7-year-old daughter was just 1 year old when she was rushed to the ER with the tell-tale symptoms of diabetes.

She was just lethargic at times, craving water, and by the third day of this, her breathing became real intense, said Barzacchini.

Isola is the youngest of five. None of her older siblings have ever displayed symptoms of diabetes and genetically, theres no trace of the disease in either her moms or dads family history.

The CDC is reporting though that Isola is not alone. In a ten year study of kids from just a few months, to 19-years-old it was discovered each year, there was an increase of 1.8% of new Type 1 diabetes cases and an increase of 4.8% of new Type 2 cases.

Frankly, we dont know the cause, said Dr. Roy Kim, the Section Head of Pediatric Endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital.

Kim finds the surge in new diabetes cases alarming.

We know that individuals must have a certain genetic predisposition to be at risk for Type 1 Diabetes but there must be other environmental triggers and frankly we just havent figured out what those triggers are, he said.

An increase in Type 2 among kids can be linked to an increase in overall American childhood obesity. Type 2 is directly tied to weight gain, lack of exercise, and unhealthy eating habits. But whats more confusing is a rise in Type 1, a lifelong condition, with the root cause still unknown.

What goes underappreciated is how life changing the diagnosis is for those kids and what they have to go through, said Kim.

It doesnt ever go away, you dont ever get a break from it, it is literally 24/7 that you have to manage it, said Barzacchini.

For Isolas family, managing her disease is a full time job. Her blood is checked for insulin first thing in the morning when she wakes up, at every meal and after physical activity which must be limited.

Its the same story for millions of Americans. According to the American Diabetes Association, every 23 seconds in this country, theres a new diabetes diagnosis. Its estimated those patients will pay around $14,000 a year in medical expenses dealing with the disease.

Ultimately in her lifetime Im hoping they have a cure, said Barzacchini.

Symptoms parents should be on the lookout for include increased thirst and urination among their children, a feeling of constant exhaustion or hunger, sometimes weight loss and in its severe form, Type 1 can lead to vomiting, severe dehydration, and a coma-like state.

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CDC reports diabetes is on the rise among children - News 5 Cleveland

Local instructor Chazz Glaze will cover important diabetes-nutrition topics during this course. (Courtesy photo)

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nonprofit dedicated to promoting preventive medicine, is offering a cooking class designed to help local residents with type 2 diabetes avoid complications from the disease and reduce or eliminate the need for medications.

Food for Life: The Power of Food for Diabetes Nutrition and Cooking Class will be held Thursdays from May 18 to June 8 at Salud Family Health Center, 1950 Redtail Hawk Dr. There is a suggested donation of $10 to attend the classes.

The course teaches participants how food choices can prevent and treat type 2 diabetes and arms them with practical cooking skills for making healthy and delicious meals. People who have type 2 diabetes, or concerns about developing diabetes and their friends and family members will benefit from the class.

"Research shows type 2 diabetes can be controlled and even reversed with a healthy plant-based diet," said Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., the director of nutrition education for PCRM. "A vegan diet can help people with diabetes control blood sugar more effectively than the standard diabetes dietary regimen."

The class, designed by physicians, diabetes educators, registered dietitians and professional chefs, offers an easy-to-follow dietary approach based on scientific research. Population studies and clinical research show that a low-fat, plant-based diet is effective at improving blood glucose levels, promoting weight loss, reducing cholesterol and lowering the risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Local instructor Chazz Glaze will cover important diabetes-nutrition topics and guide students through the preparation of tasty and easy-to-prepare recipes. Participants will watch a 30-minute DVD featuring Neal Barnard, M.D., speaking on the role of meal planning, as well as inspiring interviews with people who reversed their diabetes with a vegan diet. They will also enjoy food samples of the recipes prepared in class.

The class details are as follows:

Thursday, May 18, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. How Foods Fight Diabetes

Thursday, May 25, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The Power of Your Plate (and Grocery Cart)

Thursday, June 1, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Understanding Type 2 Diabetes and Recognizing and Treating Low Blood Sugar

Thursday, June 8, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Designing a Diet for Maximum Weight Control

Students will leave the class with delicious recipes, information on how to switch to a vegan diet and additional diabetes resources, including information on online webcasts and group support. Participants are strongly encouraged to work with their health care team to safely make dietary changes.

For more information about the Food for Life Diabetes Nutrition and Cooking Class program or to register for the classes, email Glaze at aveganwithaltitude@gmail.com or call (970) 235-1586.

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Diabetes prevention and treatment cooking classes start May 18 - Estes Park Trail-Gazette

(Reuters Health) - Rates of type 2 diabetes among children in the UK have been rising, and tracking along with increased obesity and severe obesity, researchers say.

Based on data for hundreds of thousands of UK children and teens, the study found that obese kids were four times as likely as normal weight children to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which has already been linked to obesity in adults.

Obesity is a major global health issue. More than half of adults and one out of three children leaving primary school are now overweight or obese, said lead study author Ali Abbasi of Kings College London.

More than 12 million children and teens in the United States are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 3,600 cases of type 2 diabetes are diagnosed in children and teens each year in the U.S.

The rapidity of the increase in type 2 diabetes is a real concern, which may have an important impact on the health of future generations, Abbasi told Reuters Health by email.

Abbasi and colleagues looked at records from 375 doctors' offices across the UK for the years 1994 through 2013. They analyzed data from 369,362 patients between ages 2 and 15, tracking new cases of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and comparing them to childrens body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height, over time.

There were 654 type 2 diabetes cases and 1,318 type 1 diabetes cases diagnosed during the study period.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes among the children rose from 6.4 cases per 100,000 people per year in 1994 - 1998 to 33.2 cases per 100,000 per year in 2009 - 2013, the study team reports in Journal of the Endocrine Society.

The increase took place primarily among overweight and obese children, and the greatest risk was seen among the obese kids.

During the same period, the increase in proportion of kids who were obese stabilized, the researchers note, but BMIs among obese children rose, meaning obesity became more severe.

Type 1 diabetes incidence also rose, though less dramatically, from 38.2 cases per 100,000 per year to 52.1 per 100,000 per year over the study period but there was no link to overweight or obesity.

Unfortunately, little surprises me about the findings of this study, since we have been reporting an increasing risk of type 2 diabetes in children in the Pima Indians since the 1970s, said Robert Nelson of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases office in Phoenix, who wasnt involved with the study.

The next steps are to carefully characterize the magnitude of obesity and its impact on diabetes incidence, he told Reuters Health by email. We are finding in American Indians that children who are severely obese have a far higher incidence than those who are obese or overweight.

Nelson and colleagues are studying ways to manage pregnancy weight gain and prevent gestational diabetes in mothers, which increases the risk of the child developing diabetes early in life.

Understanding the relationship between obesity and diabetes in kids is important because diabetes can actually develop in children while theyre still children, said Asheley Skinner of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, who wasnt involved with the study.

One important aspect to note is that about half of kids who develop type 2 diabetes arent obese, she told Reuters Health. Those who are obese have four times the risk, but that only represents part of equation. Obesity isnt the only important risk factor here.

We spend a lot of time and effort on trying to reduce obesity, and its often not successful, Skinner said. We should use diet and activity in all kids to reduce the risk for diabetes, as well as other diseases later in life.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2p7zbxT Journal of the Endocrine Society, online April 25, 2017.

NASHVILLE, Tenn Two U.S. states drew closer on Wednesday to legislating tougher restrictions on abortion with both Iowa and Tennessee seeking governors' signatures that would ban the procedure after 20 weeks.

A federal jury has cleared Bayer AG and Johnson & Johnson of liability in the first trial to flow out of thousands of lawsuits blaming injuries on the blood thinner Xarelto, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.

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More evidence ties childhood obesity to type 2 diabetes in kids - Reuters

Pathways leading to beta cell division identified, may aid diabetes treatment Science Daily Impairment and the loss of beta cells interrupts insulin production, leading to type 1 and 2 diabetes. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers have, for the first time, mapped out pathways that regulate beta cell growth that could be exploited to ... and more »

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Pathways leading to beta cell division identified, may aid diabetes treatment - Science Daily

New York Times

Fruit May Have Benefits for Diabetes New York Times A large study has found that eating fresh fruit may reduce the risk for developing diabetes, and the risk for its complications. Fresh fruit has well-known health benefits. But some experts, and some people with diabetes, question whether its high ...

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Fruit May Have Benefits for Diabetes - New York Times

Digital Diabetes Solutions

With employers footing a major part of the nation's massive diabetes-driven $300 billion medical bill, new digitally based workplace programs are showing progress in managing those costs and improving employees' lives.

By Tom Starner

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

What if an employer could cut in half the amount of prescription drugs used to treat employees' diabetes?

The obvious, extremely potent benefit of that scenario would be the dramatic improvement of affected employees' lives. And then there is the obvious cost saving, which would add up quickly for employers trying to stem the ever-rising price of healthcare benefits.

Human resource leaders at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., are finding out what it's like to experience such a dramatic change within its workforce.

Purdue is much like other employers affected by the costs involved in managing employees' diabetes, with more than 1,800 known Purdue employees and their family members living with the disease, leading to millions of dollars in medical costs. Since early 2016, however, a subgroup of Purdue employees has been enrolled in a specialized program from San Francisco-based Virta Health in an effort to treat their type 2 diabetes while also saving money and living healthier lives.

The early results, according to Purdue's HR department, show the program's promise.

"Virta did the work for us and kept our employees engaged, and the results have been incredibly promising," says Denny Darrow, Purdue's vice president of HR. "And based upon early success, we are now making Virta available to all eligible people with type 2 diabetes in our employee and dependent populations."

Diabetes is among the top five chronic health conditions affecting Purdue employees, Darrow says, adding that incorporating Virta -- which is delivered online -- into the diabetes outreach that already exists at the university provides another avenue for those living with type 2 diabetes (or for those who have been identified as in the "pre-diabetes" segment) to get assistance.

"Our hope is that it is successful for all affected Purdue employees as well," he says. "For those who choose to participate and are successful, research shows that, not only will their overall health improve, but there should be savings on healthcare medications."

On a more personal level, one Purdue employee who participated in the program calls it a lifesaver.

Kim Canine, a housing business process analyst at Purdue, lived with type 2 diabetes for two years and was on diabetes and blood pressure medication when she enrolled in the program. A year later, she's been able to stop taking all her old medications.

"I have tried everything to get my sugar and weight under control, and nothing worked," Canine says. "I was concerned about losing time with my family due to this disease. I can confidently say that Virta has saved my life, and it has also helped my mother and brother.

"The food is not a focus anymore in my life," she adds. "It's my friends, it's my family, it's my work. It's being outside and enjoying life again."

According to Mike Payne, head of commercial and policy at Virta Health, there is an estimated $300 billion spent annually on diabetes and pre-diabetes management nationwide. Among the U.S. workforce, 29 million people suffer from type 2 diabetes and 86 million from pre-diabetes -- an average of one in 10 employees or dependents.

The Virta-Purdue partnership comes on the heels of Virta's peer-reviewed studyin which the firm's approach was successful in lowering A1c levels (the primary blood glucose metric) below the diabetic range in more than 50 percent of trial participants with type 2 diabetes. To do that, the online clinic offers physician supervision and a dedicated health coach, digital tracking tools and an app, and a personalized nutrition and care plan.

For people with type 2 diabetes, Payne says, achieving blood sugar value reductions to below the diabetic range -- rather than simply managing the disease -- leads to more energy and better health. He says that employers in industries such as healthcare, education, government, transportation, utilities and manufacturing have large diabetic populations within their workforces.

"We are seeing much interest from HR leaders who understand that not all great healthcare comes from health plans alone," he says, adding that Virta's calculations find that employers can see a break-even ROI in year one or, at the latest, year two.

Apart from comprehensive programs such as Virta's offering, disease management using digital solutions can also have a positive impact. For example, a new study from the Northeast Business Group on Health, finds that digital diabetes solutions can make a difference.

While it's not a panacea, digital solutions can offer employers valuable assistance in combatting diabetes among their populations, says Jeremy Nobel, executive Director of NEBGH's Solutions Center, which conducted the Digital Diabetes Solutions in Action: An Opportunity Study.

"Diabetes remains a major concern for employers because of direct cost of treatment, as well as impairment in employee performance," Nobel says, adding that NEBGH research has confirmed that employers are very receptive to the potential benefits of digital diabetes care and see it as part of a "next generation" approach to supporting employees and dependents suffering from the disease.

Adding a digital component to diabetes care coordination offers significant advantages in better engaging patients in their care, he says, as well as proving an important stream of digital data that can be used to optimize therapy and assist patients in meeting treatment goals.

"It's too early for long-term measurable results . . . but based on observations we would encourage other employers to consider whether implementing a digital health solution -- for managing diabetes or other chronic illnesses -- might benefit their employee populations."

Send questions or comments about this story to hreletters@lrp.com.

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Digital Diabetes Solutions - Human Resource Executive Online

The Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative (OHAI) Northeast Center of Healthy Aging will be providing the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program, a news release states.

Diabetes Empowerment Education Program is a six-week program designed to teach self-management tools to older adults and their caregivers who want learn how to manage diabetes to improve their overall quality of life. This program is interactive and will teach through small groups, games, activities and support conversations. Learn about management through meal planning, how diabetes affects the body, how to monitor changes, get tips on physical activity, encouraging family involvement and much more.

Each week will focus on a different aspect and provide tips to implement at home. Participants will receive supportive handouts and meet others who have diabetes.

The Diabetic Empowerment Education Program will begin at 12:30 p.m. June 5and will continue once a week through July 10,at the Honor Heights Tower Apartments, 200 N. 40th St. Instructors are provided by OHAI, a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Oklahoma.

To receive additional information or to reserve your spot in the classes, call OHAIs Northeast Center of Healthy Aging, (888) 616-8161.

Information: Sharon Elder, Oklahoma Healthy Aging Initiative (OHAI), (888) 616-8161.

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Diabetes Empowerment Education Program accepting reservations - Muskogee Daily Phoenix

Dr. Randy Hansbrough, YourNews contributor 11:12 a.m. ET May 2, 2017

Dr. Randy Hansbrough: Natural News(Photo: submitted)

STUART A powerful connection between your diet and your risk of Alzheimer's disease via similar pathways that cause type 2 diabetes has been increasingly recognized as a legitimate contributor to neurodegeneration.

Over a decade ago, a published medical paper introduced a new disease called "type 3 diabetes."Researchers learned that your brain also produces insulin, like your pancreas does.

Without insulin your brain cells will die, and a drop in insulin production in your brain may contribute to the degeneration of your brain cells. Studies have found that people with lower levels of insulin and insulin receptors in their brains often have Alzheimer's disease. Since 2005, mounting studies have documented that insulin has a much greater role in the brain than previously expected. (J Diabetes Sci Technolv.2(6); 2008)

Insulin is directly responsible for brain cell sugar usage, affecting neurotransmitters that are critical for memory, learning and many other functions. Neuroscientists have shown that cognition is impaired when insulin levels are reduced. Clinical findings have shown that the same pathological process that leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes also apply to your brain.

It is clear from these studies that the over-consumption of sugars, and grains, which also convert to sugars and have added hazardous effects, contribute significantly to the the development of diabetes and may also result in type 3 diabetes (brain diabetes). Grains in general are major causes of runaway autoimmunity, including thyroid disease, especially in the U.S., where they are consumed heavily.

When the brain becomes overwhelmed by the consistently high levels of glucose, the insulin receptors eventually become numb and desensitized. This will lead to impairments in thinking and memory abilities, eventually causing permanent brain damage. And if that isn't enough, the autoimmune condition set up by the use of grains can lead to autoimmune brain disease (ABD), as a result of antibodies attacking your neurons.

Health practitioners trained in functional medicine have the training and experience to find out what is at the root of the progression that ultimately causes, or at the very least contributes to type 3 diabetes and ABD, which is often certain foods, and different per individual. Those on that path are at risk for Parkinson's, dementia, ALS, MS and Alzheimer's.

For those whose insulin receptor status has failed, are type 1 insulin dependent for survival and managed by an endocrinologist, removing sugars and grains from the diet still holds value. It is better to be a step or two ahead of that though, and that is done by not waiting for any kind of diabetes to gain hold, whether type 1, 2, or 3. This is done by unconventional functional medicine testing and a sound cooperative approach.

For more information on autoimmune brain disease and type 3 diabetes, and how you or someone you know may benefit from this effective approach while your MD manages your medications, contact Dr. Randy Hansbrough, DC, DPsc at 772-287-7701 in Stuart, or 561-277-6612 in Jupiter and Palm Beach. Visit http://www.hcfn.org

Read or Share this story: http://www.tcpalm.com/story/specialty-publications/your-news/martin-county/reader-submitted/2017/05/02/natural-news-type-3-diabetes-and-alzheimers/101194606/

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Natural News: 'Type 3' diabetes and Alzheimer's - TCPalm

Possible cures routinely pop up only to fade from view, their benefits never quite surpassing the simple efficacy of an insulin injection.

Lev Dolgachov/Thinkstock

Type 1 diabetes is a discouraging disease. Despite the availability of synthetic insulin and increasingly sophisticated monitoring technology, its still a condition that requires incessant vigilance: Diabetics must constantly track their blood sugar levels and carefully use that information to calibrate drug doses. Even if you manage to do all of that well, bad days remain almost inevitable. Take too much insulin, and you can spiral into a hypoglycemic delirium. Take too little, and your glucose levels will rise, filling the body with dangerous levels of ketones.

Less immediately frustratingbut no less familiar for diabeticsis the state of diabetes research. Possible cures routinely pop up only to fade from view, their benefits never quite surpassing the simple efficacy of an insulin injection. More recently, though, the field of synthetic biologya hybrid discipline that aims to construct or redesign biological components and systemshas shown the potential to produce a novel set of treatments. The solutions remain speculative, but they do offer cautious reasons for hope.

Type 1 diabetes, in theory, should be relatively easy to solve. That has been the mantra of researchers for the last 30 years. And I still take insulin every day.

John Glass, a researcher working on one such new effort, knows how maddening false hope can be, having lived with the disease for decades. Type 1 diabetes, in theory, should be relatively easy to solve, he told me over the phone. That has been the mantra of type 1 diabetes researchers for the last 30 years. And I still take insulin every day.

I had originally called Glass, a synthetic biologist with the J. Craig Venter Institute, in the hopes of better understanding how his burgeoning field was contributing to the search for a cure. Id been drawn to the topic through a seemingly promising synthetic biology study led by researchers at ETH Zurich and East China Normal University. I came away from our call fascinated instead by the promise of new research that Glass himself has recently begun to pursue. He believes it might be possible to re-engineer the genomes of skin bacteria in ways that would allow them to perform some of the functions that diabetics bodies no longer can. Whether or not that ultimately works, it exemplifies the promise of synthetic biology to provide a way around problems that have long been insurmountable for researchers.

My own interest in this topic is far from academic. Im a type 1 diabetic, and I read the study I called Glass aboutdauntingly titled -CellMimetic Designer Cells Provide Closed-Loop Glycemic Controlfrom a hospital bed where Id regained consciousness after a sudden and unexpected seizure, likely brought on by a low blood sugar episode. Though my own condition is generally well-managed, I cant help but long for a better way.

To understand the promise of the Closed Loop paper, you first have to understand what Type 1 diabetes entails. At core, its an autoimmune disease, one that results from a biological glitch that leads the body to attack the insulin-producing beta cells of its own pancreas. Beta cellsthe -cells of the papers titleserve two primary functions in a healthy organism: First, they detect blood glucose levels within the body. Second, when those levels begin to rise, the cells secrete insulin. The diabetic autoimmune assault kills off the beta cells, leaving the body with no way to process the carbohydrates it consumes.

In essence, the researchers behind this paper sought to re-engineer human embryonic kidney cells to mimic the functions of the pancreatic beta cells (the mimetic of the papers title) that immune systems of those with diabetes destroy. They then implanted these designer cells into diabetic mice, where, according to the paper, they successfully and autonomously stabilized their hosts blood sugar levels.

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Can Synthetic Biology Finally Cure Diabetes?

Its the autonomous, or closed loop, quality thats most exciting hereoffering the potential to stabilize the body without regular injections and blood sugar checks. True closed-loops recreate the healthy bodys natural processes, much as these modified kidney cells seem to do by automatically distributing insulin in response to blood sugar fluctuations. Such systems have long been the holy grail for diabetic researchers, since they would allow diabetics to go about their liveseating and exercising as they wantedwithout having to check glucose readings and juggle dosing regimens.

Medical technologists have long been at work on devices that would achieve similar results by more mechanical means: MedTronic recently received FDA approval for what it calls a closed loop combination of a digital glucose sensor and an insulin pump that it plans to roll out later this year. Its a potentially powerful device, but it still demands substantial involvement from the user, who must feed it information about carbohydrate intake, regularly recalibrate the sensor, and, of course, attach the sensors and insulin pump to their body. By comparison, synthetic biology promises a truly hands-off solution, one that wouldat least in theorysimply work.

I dont want to overstate things here. While projects working to synthesize replacements for beta cells are impressive (and have produced exciting results elsewhere), they still exhibit a fundamental problem: the diabetic bodys seemingly irreversible autoimmune response. Because the mimetic replacements resemble natural beta cells, the immune system still recognizes them as targets and eventually kills them off. Even if they work under experimental conditions for a few weeks, their effectiveness fades in time, as Glass and other researchers explained to me. Its not immediately obvious how or if the new research would overcome that hurdle, and the researchers did not respond to requests for comment.

Chad Cowan, director of the diabetes program at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, told me that the issue has been extremely difficult to resolve. Over the course of the last two years, weve tried to talk to every immunologist and every person who works on autoimmunity, particularly if they have any focus on type 1 diabetes, he said. Our overall assessment is that there isnt an easy solution, at least in terms of modulating the immune system. Various attempts to work around the immune systems response, he said, havent done more than slightly ameliorate the disease in experimental mice or clinical trials. A Californian company called ViaCyte thinks it has found a possible solution, sheathing cells in what it calls a retrievable and immune-protective encapsulation medical device. But the results of that approach remain uncertain.

Its here that the real promise of Glass proposal reveals itself: He thinks hes found a workaround for the autoimmune problem, one that would allow the body to autonomously produce insulin as needed and without risk of disruption.

Glass own professional involvement in the field began a few years ago when Alberto Hayek, a diabetes researcher and emeritus professor from University of CaliforniaSan Diego, reached out. Hayek was curious about a project Glass had worked on in 2010, in which JCVI had created a fully synthetic bacterial organism. Wondering if the same techniques might be applicable elsewhere, Hayek called Glass attention to the work of one of his UCSD colleagues, a dermatologist named Richard Gallo, who discovered a beneficial bacteria living deep in the layers of our skin that seem to be overlooked by the immune system. Would it be possibleGlass says Hayek wonderedto harvest and modify these microbes so that they function like beta cells. Instead of making new beta cells, which the body would simply reject, they would be taking something that the body still accepts and lead it to act like a beta cell.

It seemed feasible to Glass. The idea is that hed introduce new features to the bacteria, genetically re-engineering them so that theyd be able to perform the feats that diabetics bodies no longer can. He might, as he explained to me, be able to take those cells from any given person [and] put in the machinery that would allow those cells now to sense blood glucose, there in and amongst the capillaries that are in our skin. And since the immune system usually passes over these particular microbes, it might just let the newly engineered cells go about their business. Further, he said, We also know that if you put bacteria on your skin, they very quickly make it into the deep layers, meaning it could potentially be delivered via a nonintrusive application, such as personalized skin cream.

At present, Glass work is still in its earliest stages. He and his colleagues at JCVI are currently seeking funding to conduct experiments in mice. He also freely acknowledges that the re-engineered microbes might not work in practice. For one, bacteria arent great at building the structures that constitute insulin, which means Glass and his team would have to get them to produce an experimental variant. Then, of course, there are the safety concerns: They need to build a kill switch into the engineered bacteria, lest they start producing dangerously excessive amounts of the hormone. On top of that, its also unclear how many microbes they would need to apply and whether they can make enough to do the job. Its even possible, Cowan said, that the T-cells in some diabetics would attack the modified insulin.

As any longtime diabetic will tell you, the most likely outcome is that we simply wont see results soon, if ever. Even when you have a good, workable idea, the process of medical science tends to be slow: According to Cowan, it took 15 years just to get from the idea of making beta cells out of stem cells to actually producing them.

Nevertheless, Glass enthusiasmboth for synthetic biologys broader role in diabetes research and for his own work in the fieldis infectious. When I first got into science, I used to go to seminars about trying to solve diabetes. And I found them so depressing. I was convinced I was not going to live to be 30, he says. Hes survivedas have I and so many other diabeticsthanks to powerful, but largely incremental steps forward in medical technology. Now, he thinks, he may be ready to help us make a larger leap.

Im convinced that Ive reached the point in my career where I have just the right set of skills to take this completely different approach to the problem, he told me. And Im thrilled about it.

This article is part of the synthetic biology installment of Futurography, a series in which Future Tense introduces readers to the technologies that will define tomorrow. Each month, well choose a new technology and break it down. Future Tense is a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate.

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Can Synthetic Biology Finally Cure Diabetes? - Slate Magazine

BBC News

Health of children with diabetes improving, report shows BBC News The health of children with diabetes in Wales is improving, a report has shown. Those with type 1 diabetes whose blood glucose is in the target range increased from 17.8% in 2014-15 to 27.2% in 2015-16. Diabetes affects the body's ability to produce ... Doctor presents patient with diabetes awardJournal Gazette and Times-Courier Take time to learn about, manage diabetesPlattsburgh Press Republican Time put into managing diabetes is well worth effortPoughkeepsie Journal Netdoctor -Walker Pilot Independent -Spartan Newsroom all 25 news articles »

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Health of children with diabetes improving, report shows - BBC News