Word: insulin
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...these results are confirmed and inflammation turns out to be as important as insulin resistance in triggering diabetes, then it should become much easier to identify incipient problems in metabolism before they get out of control. Why? Because inflammation is much easier to measure than insulin resistance; all that is required is a single blood test. (Abnormal glucose levels only suggest the possibility of insulin resistance; they don't prove it. Insulin resistance is difficult to measure directly.) It might also mean that anti-inflammatory agents like aspirin may be particularly effective in diabetics...
Advances in diabetes research over the past few years have been swift and wide ranging. Scientists are beginning to identify the genetic and environmental factors that predispose some people to insulin resistance and increase their risk of diabetes. They are looking beyond glucose levels to gauge patients' health and progress. They have identified other pathways that may play a role in triggering diabetes. Every new insight into Type 2 diabetes, from its biochemistry to its metabolic roots, makes clear that it can be avoided--and that the earlier you intervene the better...
When health professionals talk about the growing diabetes epidemic, they are usually referring to Type 2 diabetes. But that doesn't mean that Type 1, which afflicts up to 1 million Americans, is under much better control. While both types of diabetes concern the relationship between insulin and glucose, there are important differences in the progression of the disease and its treatment. The key distinction is that Type 2 diabetes involves an inability to utilize the insulin the body has, while Type 1 is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the islet cells in the pancreas that produce...
Once 90% of the islet cells are destroyed, the body is no longer able to regulate blood-sugar levels and the patient develops the classic symptoms of diabetes. At this point, the patient needs insulin injections to survive. Even with insulin, though, the complications of Type 1 disease can take a terrible toll. By age 55, for example, 35% of victims have died of a heart attack. Kidney failure is also common, and after 15 years of the disease, 80% of Type 1 diabetics have sustained significant eye damage...
That's what Type 1 patients had to look forward to in the past. The good news is that there are now better treatments, including more effective preparations of insulin, closer monitoring of blood sugar and earlier intervention for complications. Even more promising are current attempts to make an end run around the disease. A case in point is Gary Kleiman, 50, who has had two kidney transplants and lost most of his eyesight since being diagnosed at age 6. Today Kleiman is one of 300 patients worldwide who have received a transplant of pancreatic islet cells. For the first...