Newfound hormone holds hope for diabetes treatment

[hue]

Source: USA TODAY

The new research suggests that giving diabetics a hormone might help them avoid insulin shots.

NEW YORK — Scientists have identified a hormone that can sharply boost the number of cells that make insulin in mice, a discovery that may someday lead to a treatment for the most common type of diabetes.

People have their own version of this hormone, and the new work suggests that giving diabetics more might one day help them avoid insulin shots.

That would give them better control of their blood sugar levels, said Douglas Melton of Harvard Medical School, senior author of a report published Thursday by the journal Cell.

Experts unconnected with the work cautioned that other substances have shown similar effects on mouse cells but failed to work on human ones. Melton said this hormone stands out because its effect is unusually potent and confined to just the cells that make insulin.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/25/hormone-diabetes-treatment/2112673/

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. DU Rec

this could be huge.

[RebelOne]

2. Sure hope the FDA approves this real soon.

My doctor diagnosed me as pre-diabetic. And all the women on my mother's side developed Type II diabetes in their later years. My sister already has it.

[Wednesdays]

3. K & R

[rexcat]

4. As insulin levels increase...

so do cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Insulin affects lipid metabolism and glucose metabolism. This is a two edged sword.