type 2 diabetes

FDA approves diabetes pill that eliminates excess sugar through urine

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved a new diabetes drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca that uses a novel approach to reduce blood sugar.

Farxiga is a once-a-day tablet designed to help diabetes patients eliminate excess sugar via their urine. That differs from older drugs that decrease the amount of sugar absorbed from food and stored in the liver.

The drug is the second product approved in the U.S. from the new class of medicines known as SGLT2 drugs. In March the FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana, which also works by eliminating excess sugar through patients’ urine.

The agency cleared Farxiga tablets for patients with type 2 diabetes, which affects about 24 million people in the U.S. The approval marks a comeback for the drug, which was previously rejected last year after studies raised concerns about links to bladder cancer and liver toxicity.

Ten cases of bladder cancer were found in patients taking the drug in clinical trials, so Farxiga’s label warns against using it in patients with the disease. A panel of FDA advisers last month said that the uptick in cancers was likely a statistical fluke, and not related to the drug. But the FDA is requiring Bristol and AstraZeneca to track rates of bladder cancer in patients enrolled in a long-term follow up study. The companies will also monitor rates of heart disease, a frequent safety issue with newer diabetes medications.

The most common side effects associated with Farxiga included fungal and urinary tract infections. The drug can be used as a stand-alone drug or in combination with other common diabetes treatments, such as insulin and metformin.

People with type 2 diabetes are unable to properly break down carbohydrates, either because their bodies do not produce enough insulin or have become resistant to the hormone, which controls blood sugar levels. Diabetics often require multiple drugs with different mechanisms of action to control their blood sugar levels.

New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and London-based AstraZeneca PLC already co-market the diabetes drug Onglyza, which increases insulin production while reducing glucose production.

Source; Fox bangor

Mediterranean diet linked to lower risk of Type 2 diabetes

Even without weight loss, adhering to a diet rich in fresh produce, chicken, fish and olive oil is 40% more effective in heading off the development of Type 2 diabetes than following a low-fat diet, a new study has found.

The research suggests that for the nation’s 78 million obese adults, a diet that minimizes red meat and sweets but incorporates plant-based fats may be a sustainable way to improve health — even if permanent weight reduction proves elusive.

The findings add to mounting research that suggests a traditional Mediterranean diet may be easier to adhere to and more likely to improve health than more restrictive regimens.
Compared with those on a low-fat diet, trial participants whose Mediterranean-style diet was supplemented with a daily dose of tree nuts — almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts — were 18% less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. The researchers called that a positive trend but acknowledged that the difference fell short of demonstrating beyond doubt the superiority of such a diet over a standard low-fat diet.

Published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the latest entry in the diet fray followed for more than four years a group of 3,541 older Spaniards who were at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. They were a subgroup of a larger clinical trial that demonstrated the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet in reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Source: latimes

Indo-American leads possible treatment for diabetes

In a significant discovery, a team of researchers led by an Indian-American has found that a single gene dysfunction in mice results in developing fasting hypoglycemia, one of the major symptoms of Type 2 diabetes.

The discovery by researchers, led by Prof. Bellur S Prabhakar, focused on a gene MADD for the study and may enable a new potential treatment for diabetes patients.
If MADD is not functioning properly, insulin is not released into the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar levels, said Prabhakar, professor and head of microbiology and immunology at University of Illinois at Chicago.

In previous work, Prabhakar isolated several genes from human beta cells, including MADD, which is also involved in certain cancers. Small genetic variations found among thousands of human subjects revealed that a mutation in MADD was strongly associated with Type 2 diabetes in Europeans and Han Chinese.

People with this mutation had high blood glucose and problems of insulin secretion – the “hallmarks of type 2 diabetes”, Prabhakar said.

But it was unclear how the mutation was causing the symptoms, or whether it caused them on its own or in concert with other genes associated with Type 2 diabetes.

To study the role of MADD in diabetes, Prabhakar and his colleagues developed a mouse model in which the MADD gene was deleted from the insulin-producing beta cells. All such mice had elevated blood glucose levels, which the researchers found was due to insufficient release of insulin.

“We didn’t see any insulin resistance in their cells, but it was clear that the beta cells were not functioning properly,” Prabhakar said.

Examination of the beta cells revealed that they were packed with insulin. “The cells were producing plenty of insulin, they just weren’t secreting it,” he said.

Prabhakar said that the work shows that Type 2 diabetes can be directly caused by the loss of a properly functioning MADD gene alone.

“Without the gene, insulin can’t leave the beta cells, and Blood sugar levels are chronically high,” he said.

In the future, the researchers plan to look into effects of a drug that allows for the secretion of insulin in MADD-deficient beta cells.

“If this drug works to reverse the deficits associated with a defective MADD gene in the beta cells of our model mice, it may have potential for treating people with this mutation who have an insulin-secretion defect and/or type 2 diabetes,” he said.

Type 2 diabetes affects roughly 8 per cent of Americans and over 366 million people worldwide. It can cause serious complications, including cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, loss of limbs and blindness.

Source: The Sen Times

Cinnamon may help diabetics

Cinnamon, a common kitchen spice, may improve blood sugar levels for patients with type 2 diabetes, new research has found.

In a review study, researchers looked at data collected from 10 randomised control led trials involving 543 patients with type 2 diabetes.

These studies compared people who took cinnamon in a pill form, in doses ranging from 120 milligrammes to 6 grams a day, for a period of four to 18 weeks, to people who did not take cinnamon.

They found that people with type 2 diabetes who took cinnamon supplements had lower fasting plasma glucose levels compared with people who didn`t take them.
The most popular form of the supplement, which was used in six out of 10 trials, was Cinnamomum cassia, which participants were advised to take before, during or after their meals, `LiveScience` reported.

The review also found that cinnamon benefited several important measures of heart health: It reduced total cholesterol, LDL “bad” cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and increased HDL “good” cholesterol.

“When we combined the results of all the trials, we found that in patients with type 2 diabetes, there was a benefit on blood glucose and cholesterol levels,” said study researcher Olivia Phung, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.

Preliminary studies have suggested that the compound, cinnamaldehydein, is responsible for cinnamon`s health effects.

Researchers suspect this substance may stimulate the release and effect of insulin, providing cinnamon its power to improve blood sugar.

“By enhancing insulin activity, it`s assumed there`d be better control of blood glucose,” Phung told the website.

The researchers have not yet determined the exact dose of cinnamon that may be helpful for people with type 2 diabetes, or the length of time or frequency the supplement should be taken.

The study was published in the journal The Annals of Family Medicine.

Eating whole fruit lowers risk of diabetes than its juices

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Eating whole fresh fruit, especially blueberries, grapes, apples and pears, will lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but drinking more fruit juice has the opposite effect

Eating more whole fresh fruit, especially blueberries, grapes, apples and pears, is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but drinking more fruit juice has the opposite effect, says a study.

British, US and Singaporean researchers pored over data from three big health investigations that took place in the United States, spanning a quarter of a century in all.

More than 187,000 nurses and other professional caregivers were enrolled.

Their health was monitored over the following years, and they regularly answered questionnaires on their eating habits, weight, smoking, physical activity and other pointers to lifestyle.

Around 6.5 percent of the volunteers developed diabetes during the studies.

People who ate at least two servings each week of certain whole fruits, especially blueberries, grapes and apples, reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 23 percent compared to those who ate less than one serving per month.

“Our findings provide novel evidence suggesting certain fruits may be especially beneficial for lower diabetes risk,” said Qi Sun, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

On the other hand, those who consumed one or more servings of fruit juice each day saw their risk of the disease increase by as much as 21 percent.

Swapping three servings of juice per week for whole fruits resulted in a seven-percent reduction in risk, although there was no such difference with strawberries and cantaloupe melon.

“Greater consumption of specific whole fruits, particularly blueberries, grapes, and apples, was significantly associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas greater fruit juice consumption was associated with a higher risk,” the authors say in the paper.

The paper, published on Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), says further work is needed to to explore this “significant” difference.

It speculates that, even if the nutritional values of whole fruit and fruit juice are similar, the difference lies with the fact that one food is a semi-solid and the other a liquid.

“Fluids pass through the stomach to the intestine more rapidly than solids even if nutritional content is similar,” says the paper.

“For example, fruit juices lead to more rapid and larger changes in serum [blood] levels of glucose and insulin than whole fruits.”

The study also points to evidence that some kinds of fruit have a beneficial effect for health.

Berries and grapes, for instance, have compounds called anthocyanins which have been found to lower the risk of heart attacks.

But, say the authors, how or even whether this also applies to diabetes risks is for now unclear.

The investigation looked at data from the Nurses` Health Study, which ran from 1984-2008; the Nurses` Health Study II (1991-2009); and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (1986-2008).

Ten kinds of fruit were used in the questionnaire: grapes or raisins; peach, plums or apricots; prunes; bananas; cantaloupe melon; apples or pears; oranges; grapefruit; strawberries; and blueberries.

The fruit juices identified in the questionnaire were apple, orange, grapefruit and “other.”

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/healthy-eating/whole-fruit-deters-diabetes-juice-boosts-risk-study_23641.html

Diabetes: 5 healthy lifestyle tips that can save you

following simple healthy lifestyle habits, one can easily stay away from the fangs of the killer Diabetes

The emergence of diabetes is turning out to be debilitating day-by-day. It has become a common disease these days just like any other whacky flu or cough and cold. The disease is mainly a result of modern erratic lifestyle, lack of physical activity, obesity, stress and consumption of junk and fast foods.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 346 million people worldwide with diabetes, with more than 80% of deaths occurring in developing countries. India has nearly 63 million diabetic patients, with the situation becoming grimmer mainly because of the sedentary lifestyle prevailing across key metros and big cities aggravating the situation. Studies show that a major chunk of Indian population suffers from Type 2 diabetes which is closely associated with obesity and consuming junk and fatty foods.

In order to put a check on diabetes in India, the Government of India has initiated a National Program for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) in 100 selected districts in 21 States. This effort, however, is yet to show any major changes in the spread of the disease in the country.

But don’t worry, as by following simple healthy lifestyle habits, one can easily stay away from the fangs of the killer Diabetes.

–Be physically active: Yes, exercise is the key to say no to diabetes. It not just helps reduce weight, but also regulates blood sugar levels. Half-hour of exercise whether aerobic exercise, or activities like dancing, playing tennis, brisk walking etc. reduces risk of Type 2 diabetes by 30%. Also, while one is in office, a fifteen minute walk after each meal helps in regulating blood sugar levels thereby reducing the risk of developing the disease.

– Healthy diet: Consuming a healthy diet is a must to keep diabetes at bay. Eating foods that are rich in fibre helps to naturally balance sugar levels in the body. Avoid the habit of overeating and instead divide your meals into 5-6 including snacks, juices etc. to stay healthy. Also, don’t do emotional eating as it leads to weight gain and eventually diabetes. Junk food is a strict no-no as they are a major reason of obesity and diabetes.

–Take proper sleep: Sleeping for at least 7-8 hours in a day is a must as proper sleep will make one feel energetic, put a check on cravings for high-calorie food and hence save one from being a victim of obesity and eventually diabetes.

–Manage stress: Stress is the major reason of why people fall prey to diabetes. Stress can actually play havoc on one’s health. As a result, the stressed out person tends to resort to unhealthy food habits like eating junk food, eating after long gaps, emotional eating etc. Also one might start smoking, consuming alcohol etc. Besides that, stress hormones may alter blood glucose levels directly increasing the risk of the diabetes. So it is important to keep a check on one’s stress levels by adapting to yoga, meditation, exercising, listening music or anything that makes you happy and stress free.

–Regular check-ups: It is highly recommended for people above 45 years of age to go for blood glucose screening. But if you have known risk factors (like high blood pressure or obesity), discuss them with your doctor.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/diseases/diabetes-5-healthy-lifestyle-tips-that-can-save-you_23621.html

 

Insulin inhaler could replace diabetic injections

An Insulin Inhaler delivers powdered insulin with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes

An inhaled insulin device made by MannKind Corp proved more effective than injected and oral treatments in trials, potentially improving the quality of life for millions of diabetics and creating a multi-billion dollar opportunity for the company.

The product, Afrezza, is a whistle-sized inhaler that delivers powdered insulin to adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This ease the use of insulin compared to regular shots, it has the potential to capture a big share of the global insulin market.

The number of diabetic patients is increasing worldwide and is projected to cross half a billion by 2030. According to a July report by Transparency Market Research, the global insulin market is expected to reach $32 billion in 2018.

MLV & Co analyst Graig Suvannavejh expects Afrezza to get regulatory approval; to market the company successfully.

He estimates U.S. and European sales of about $3 billion for Afrezza by 2025.

The inhaled insulin market has seen high-profile commercial failure in the past. Pfizer Inc withdrew Exubera in 2007 due to poor sales. The large size of the device and a high price were blamed for its failure.

Suvannavejh said a potential partner for MannKind could come from among such major diabetes players as Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, French drugmaker Sanofi, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck & Co Inc, Eli Lilly & Co and Johnson & Johnson.