What causes Type 1 diabetes?

Wouldn’t we all like to know! Scientists are looking at every avenue to figure out what causes the disease. In doing so, they hope to find a cure.

One study is going to look at “200 newborns in Georgia and Florida with high-risk genes for type 1 diabetes will be enrolled over the next year in a long-term study to determine how genetics and environment cause the disease.”

The study will cost $10 million, and go for five years.

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New Diabetes Study to Look at Newborns

Here’s some great news to start your day. The “Joslin Diabetes Center today announced it has received a $1 million gift from the Thomas Beatson Jr. Foundation to support Type 1 diabetes research.”

Doesn’t that just bring a smile to your face? Mr. Beatson has had Type 1 diabetes for over 50 years. Wouldn’t it be great if his donation was just the incentive to put research over the mark in reaching a cure?

This is fabulous news, of course, but you know that every little bit truly adds up. So even if you’ve got $10 here and there, and we all have $10, it can add up to a lot.

Still, thank you Mr. Beatson!

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$1 Million Gift for Type 1 Diabetes Research

Well this is super exciting news!

“Two popular leukemia drugs, Gleevec and Sutent, kept lab mice from developing type 1 diabetes and put 80 percent of diabetic mice in remission, an international team said on Monday.”

The mice that went into remission happened after 8-10 weeks on the drug.

Can you imagine the potential for this? It could mean a cure is very close. But we’ve heard that several times over the last few years, so I won’t get (too) excited. Yet.

The article further quotes that, “The fact that the treated mice maintained normal blood glucose levels for some time after the drug treatment was stopped suggests that imatinib and sunitinib may be ‘reprogramming’ their immune systems in a permanent way.”

This makes a lot of sense to me, especially as someone who immediately had thyroid problems after my Type 1 diagnosis.

I know a real cure is probably a long way off, but this research but isn’t it a positive thing to hear about this type of research? It’s filled with such hope.

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Leukemia Drugs Put a Stop to Type 1 Diabetes in Mice

Need a few items for your holiday shopping list?

The American Diabetes Association is having a sale over at its site. If you purchase $75 worth of items before November 9th, you get a free serenity candle. Use the code FREEGIFT at checkout.

They’ve got quite a few really nice things. One is this happiness candle. I love words and candles and inspiration, and this one covers all three!

I may also purchase this digital photo ornament. What a cool thing! How neat to have photos of your loved ones displayed right on the tree. If you buy something, be sure to tell me about it or comment here.

Remember, your purchases help support the race for a cure.

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Get a Free Gift from the ADA

Man, diabetics have so many things to deal with. As if having the disease weren’t bad enough, they can also get complications. One of those complications is kidney disease.

A new study finds that eating fish may help prevent the kidney disease associated with diabetes, however. According to the survey, “Adults eating fish more than once a week had less protein in their urine and those who ate less fish had more protein in their urine.”

Less protein in the urine means the kidneys are doing okay.

If you’re looking for a great fish recipe, I can personally recommend parmesan crusted tilapia. I buy the tilapia from Aldi, and there is a recipe right on the bag. Easy, good for you, and delicious!

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Fish May Help Prevent Kidney Disease in Diabetics

Researchers at the University of Warwick have found markers that show endothelial dysfunction and sub clinical systemic inflammation can also help identify people at risk for type 2 diabetes.

They found high levels of E-selectin and white blood cell count with low levels of serum albumin were clear predictors of high risk for type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that traditional risk factors such as obesity or family history helped identify 65% of all patients who were at high risk of developing type 2diabetes. But when the information from these three markers was added this increased from 65% to 73% which means doctors could be able to spot a greater number of people at risk of type 2 diabetes at an early stage.

Finding new markers of diabetes will open up ways to treat and fight the disease in the future.

via PubMed

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New markers will help fight and treat type 2 diabetes