There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease
The most common form of dementia may be closely related to another common disease of old-age - type II diabetes, say scientists.
Treating Alzheimer's with the hormone insulin, or with drugs to boost its effect, may help patients, they claim.
The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports insulin could protect against damage to brain cells key to memory.
UK experts said the find could be the basis of new drug treatments.
The most exciting implications are that some diabetes drugs have the potential to be developed as Alzheimer's treatments
Spokesman, Alzheimer's Research Trust
The relationship between insulin and brain disease has been under scrutiny since doctors found evidence that the hormone was active there. More
Study: Diabetes Linked to Cognitive Decline
By ALICE PARK Monday, Jan. 05, 2009
Studies have shown that diabetes may speed up aging-related deficits in mental function and lead to a twofold increase in the risk of dementia. Some researchers have speculated that diabetes could even boost the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Roger Dixon, a psychologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, wanted to learn whether this was true and set out to study exactly how uncontrolled blood sugar affected the brain.
Dixon and his colleagues studied 41 adults with diabetes and 424 healthy adults between the ages of 53 and 90, and reported their findings in the journal Neuropsychology. After testing the participants on memory, recall, verbal fluency, executive functions involving critical thinking and the speed of their mental faculties, researchers found the most significant deficits in diabetes patients on tasks of executive function and speed. These problems showed up in the youngest patients as well as the older ones, and once the cognitive symptoms appeared, they did not seem to worsen or change over time. Although Dixon's study failed to add new information on the question of diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, other experts view these results as useful fodder in the growing field of diabetes research.
"This study in general supports what we understand," says Dr. Alan Jacobson, chief of psychiatric services at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. "It's another study adding to our recognition that Type 2 diabetes portends some type of problem in terms of cognitive function." More
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Monday, August 18, 2008
Diabetes drug Byetta causes deaths: FDA Warns
Several deaths were reported with the medication of diabetes drug, Byetta, marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co.
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has received six new reports of patients developing a dangerous form of pancreatitis while taking Byetta. Two of the patients died and four were recovering.
Regulators stressed that patients should stop taking Byetta immediately if they develop signs of acute pancreatitis, a swelling of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The FDA warned that it is very difficult to distinguish acute pancreatitis from less dangerous forms of the condition.
The FDA announcement updated an October alert about 30 reports of Byetta patients developing pancreas problems. None of those cases were fatal, but Byetta's makers agreed to add information about the reports to the drug's label.
Byetta competes against blockbuster drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the $24 billion global market for diabetes medications, according to health care research firm IMS Health.
More than 700,000 patients with type 2 diabetes have used the injectable drug since it was launched in June 2005.
Read it full
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has received six new reports of patients developing a dangerous form of pancreatitis while taking Byetta. Two of the patients died and four were recovering.
Regulators stressed that patients should stop taking Byetta immediately if they develop signs of acute pancreatitis, a swelling of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The FDA warned that it is very difficult to distinguish acute pancreatitis from less dangerous forms of the condition.
The FDA announcement updated an October alert about 30 reports of Byetta patients developing pancreas problems. None of those cases were fatal, but Byetta's makers agreed to add information about the reports to the drug's label.
Byetta competes against blockbuster drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the $24 billion global market for diabetes medications, according to health care research firm IMS Health.
More than 700,000 patients with type 2 diabetes have used the injectable drug since it was launched in June 2005.
Read it full
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Weight gain beneficial for diabetics
Weight gain may actually be beneficial for diabetics
Sat, Jun 7 12:35 PM
Washington, June 7 (ANI): Diabetics are often advised to shed those extra pounds, however a new study suggests that weight gain can actually help people with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health examines 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years and found that patients who gained weight over time were less likely to die.
Participants with an average age of 28 when entering the study and 44 at its completion were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1980.
The team measured patients' body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and assessed BMI every two years during the study period and over the course of the study, 147 deaths occurred.
The findings revealed that patients whose BMI increased the most during the study (2 to 11 points or about 10 to 55 pounds) were one-third less likely to die than those who had smaller increases in BMI, indicating that weight gain may protect people with type 1 diabetes from premature death.
"Although weight gain in adulthood is typically associated with increased mortality, this may not be the case for those with type 1 diabetes," said Dr Trevor Orchard, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
"Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates," said Orchard, who also is professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"These results are not a firm recommendation to people with type 1 diabetes to put on weight, but it does raise the possibility that weight recommendations in type 1 diabetes may be somewhat different," added Baqiyyah Conway, M.P.H., lead author of the abstract.
The study was presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco. (ANI)
Sat, Jun 7 12:35 PM
Washington, June 7 (ANI): Diabetics are often advised to shed those extra pounds, however a new study suggests that weight gain can actually help people with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health examines 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years and found that patients who gained weight over time were less likely to die.
Participants with an average age of 28 when entering the study and 44 at its completion were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1980.
The team measured patients' body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and assessed BMI every two years during the study period and over the course of the study, 147 deaths occurred.
The findings revealed that patients whose BMI increased the most during the study (2 to 11 points or about 10 to 55 pounds) were one-third less likely to die than those who had smaller increases in BMI, indicating that weight gain may protect people with type 1 diabetes from premature death.
"Although weight gain in adulthood is typically associated with increased mortality, this may not be the case for those with type 1 diabetes," said Dr Trevor Orchard, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
"Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates," said Orchard, who also is professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"These results are not a firm recommendation to people with type 1 diabetes to put on weight, but it does raise the possibility that weight recommendations in type 1 diabetes may be somewhat different," added Baqiyyah Conway, M.P.H., lead author of the abstract.
The study was presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco. (ANI)
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