Diabetic

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have been developing artificial pancreas technology to help manage diabetes for more than a decade and have now reported "life-changing" results from trials in young children.

A peptide called MOTS-c shows promise in preventing type 1 diabetes, in new tests in human cells in culture and live mice. The peptide regulates the immune system, potentially leading to treatments for type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.

An artificial pancreas has been trialed in patients with type 2 diabetes for the first time. The device monitors a person’s blood glucose levels and automatically administers insulin when needed – and the results so far are promising.

Scientists at Oxford have uncovered a mechanism behind why people with diabetes have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. High blood sugar levels seem to “reprogram” stem cells so that the immune cells they produce become more inflammatory.

Researchers have found a way to maintain insulin levels in diabetic mice by growing and implanting new beta cells that produce the hormone. These cells are housed inside a tiny device that protects them from the immune system, like a shark cage.

Researchers have long detected higher rates of cognitive decline in people with type 2 diabetes and new findings indicate cardiometabolic factors associated with diabetes, such as increased blood pressure, could be contributing to the development of dementia.

For millions of patients with diabetes, daily insulin injections are a necessary nuisance. A once-a-week shot might be more palatable, and new results from phase 2 clinical trials suggest just such a drug is safe and effective.

An oral pill would be much easier for diabetics than daily insulin injections. An experimental new method for packing insulin into capsules helps it survive the trip through the stomach to the bloodstream, and releases its payload only when needed.

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal has concluded adhering to a low-carbohydrate diet for six months is the most effective dietary strategy to put type type 2 diabetes into remission.

An incredible proof-of-concept study has demonstrated the development of a novel insulin molecule that can sense blood sugar levels and self-adjust its activity in response to a patient’s needs, raising hopes of a safer and easier insulin therapy.

The promising results of a Phase 2 trial testing a new, once-weekly insulin treatment for type 2 diabetes have been published. The weekly injection was found to be as safe and effective as daily insulin shots and a larger Phase 3 trial is currently being planned.

The brain may be a new drug target for longer term control of diabetes. Two new studies on rodents have investigated how a certain peptide works to induce remission for animals with diabetes, which could lead to new breakthroughs in human treatments.