A NEW HOPE FOR TREATING INSULIN RESISTANT DIABETES
There has been recent news and hope for type 1 diabetics with stem cell research. Unfortunately the news has been more hype than reality. Though there may indeed be a diabetes cure down the road for type 1 diabetics, it is still a long way down that road. Recent research for type 2 diabetes, however, holds more promise of real hope.
Type 2 diabetes is for all intents and purposes a different disease than type 1. In type 1 diabetes there is no production of insulin. Insulin works as a “key” to unlock the cells so that the glucose in the bloodstream can move into the cells where it is needed for energy. To prevent the buildup of blood sugar in their bloodstream, type 1 diabetics must inject insulin as part of their treatment and therapy.
Type 2 diabetics, on the other hand, do make insulin but have become “insulin resistant”. That is, their cells resist the unlocking mechanism of insulin so that the glucose cannot transfer from the bloodstream into the cells. Insulin resistance is what defines type 2 diabetes. In other words, type 1 diabetes is the inability to make insulin, while type 2 is the hampered ability to use the insulin they make.
There may be a future cure for type 1 diabetes if and when stem cells can be used to replace damaged insulin-producing cells in their pancreas. There is some hope and promise in the ongoing research, but such a cure is a long way off.
The cure may be somewhat closer for type 2 diabetics. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine may have discovered a new way to decrease levels of glucose and increase sensitivity to insulin. This may be done by targeting a particular gene called Sirtuin 1. This suppresses a blood sugar-producing enzyme in the liver. Suppressing the enzyme lowers glucose and increases insulin sensitivity. Another effect of inhibiting Sirtuin 1 appears to be lower levels of cholesterol, one of the chief factors in diabetic heart disease.
The research so far is still in the laboratory-rat stage. A metabolic condition similar to type 2 diabetes is induced in lab rats. They are injected with a particular nucleic acid that is targeted at the Sirtuin 1 gene. The rats’ blood sugar reduced to near normal levels, as did their blood cholesterol levels.
This could prove to be very happy news for the majority of people with diabetes. Nearly 90 percent of diabetes cases are type 2 diabetics, reaching epidemic proportions in the United States. Many type 2 diabetics struggle with diet and exercise, as well as oral medications and sometimes insulin injections to manage their diabetes. This research, if it works in humans, could soon relieve much of that struggle and the many early deaths caused by insulin resistant diabetes.
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