Type 2 Diabetes Treatment - A Hope or a Promise?
Roger Guzman, M.D.
December 22, 2008
Type 2 diabetes treatment that is possible is based on the discovery of the scientists at the Medical Research Council that could lead to a more effective help for the diabetics. The scientists have found the makeup of the enzyme that controls the cellular energy levels.
This enzyme is called AMPK which perceives cell's energy level. Afterwards, it changes the balance of activities that either produce or use the energy. To determine the enzyme's structure, the researchers employed X-ray crystallography which is often used in developing new drugs.
This finding will help produce new therapies that will lower the extra blood sugar that type 2 people are not able to process. This is also the opinion of Dr. Steve Gamblin of the MRC National Institute of Medical Research.
Focusing on this enzyme will only help develop a type 2 diabetes treatment for patients to control their blood glucose levels. This way, they will avoid the drastic complications that could result from having this condition.
Interest on the aforementioned hope for type 2 diabetes treatment led to research on its progress. From Lausanne, Switzerland, the most that was found is that drugs to adjust metabolism give promise as possible diabetes therapy.
The drugs the researchers investigated shows the same metabolic effects of restriction of calories. The results were favorable in animal models in the investigations both in France and in Switzerland. A synthetic drug was able to keep mice healthy and lean even though they were fed a diet that was high in fat.
Then in another study, they injected apelin which is a human hormone into normal and also obese mice. What did they find? They found that the apelin reduced the blood sugar levels in both the normal and obese mice. They published this result in the journal called "Cell Metabolism."
These two studies are saying that the two agents they used in their investigation have a common ultimate goal. This target is the AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase). The SRT1720 which is the synthetic drug mentioned above changed the metabolism of the animals.
The change they saw in the animals can only be seen in those that are deprived of calories.
They treated the mice with SRT1720 for ten weeks. The surprise was that the mice that were fed with a diet high in fat did not gain any weight or the increase was too small for it to be significant. In addition, they did not show any resistance to insulin and their stamina for exercise increased.
They compared this finding with result shown by the mice on the same diet which did not receive the SRT1720. These mice have higher fat mass and could run less than the mice that were treated. In fact, the treated mice were able to run twice as much as the untreated ones. This could only lead to a more effective type 2 diabetes treatment.
Since obesity is linked to diabetes, then these findings bode well as a potential treatment. However, don't go and eat a high-fat diet in anticipation for this form of therapy for there are caveats to consider. These findings are only under investigation and have not even tried on humans at the time of this writing. Let's hope though that the realization will be here soon for this type 2 diabetes treatment.
Please visit these sites for more diabetes help:
Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes Treatment
Copyright © December 22, 2008 Roger Guzman, M.D. (Type 2 Diabetes Treatment- A Hope and a Promise) All Rights Reserved. You may copy and publish this article as long as the text, the author's name, the active links and this notice remain the same.
This enzyme is called AMPK which perceives cell's energy level. Afterwards, it changes the balance of activities that either produce or use the energy. To determine the enzyme's structure, the researchers employed X-ray crystallography which is often used in developing new drugs.
This finding will help produce new therapies that will lower the extra blood sugar that type 2 people are not able to process. This is also the opinion of Dr. Steve Gamblin of the MRC National Institute of Medical Research.
Focusing on this enzyme will only help develop a type 2 diabetes treatment for patients to control their blood glucose levels. This way, they will avoid the drastic complications that could result from having this condition.
Interest on the aforementioned hope for type 2 diabetes treatment led to research on its progress. From Lausanne, Switzerland, the most that was found is that drugs to adjust metabolism give promise as possible diabetes therapy.
The drugs the researchers investigated shows the same metabolic effects of restriction of calories. The results were favorable in animal models in the investigations both in France and in Switzerland. A synthetic drug was able to keep mice healthy and lean even though they were fed a diet that was high in fat.
Then in another study, they injected apelin which is a human hormone into normal and also obese mice. What did they find? They found that the apelin reduced the blood sugar levels in both the normal and obese mice. They published this result in the journal called "Cell Metabolism."
These two studies are saying that the two agents they used in their investigation have a common ultimate goal. This target is the AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase). The SRT1720 which is the synthetic drug mentioned above changed the metabolism of the animals.
The change they saw in the animals can only be seen in those that are deprived of calories.
They treated the mice with SRT1720 for ten weeks. The surprise was that the mice that were fed with a diet high in fat did not gain any weight or the increase was too small for it to be significant. In addition, they did not show any resistance to insulin and their stamina for exercise increased.
They compared this finding with result shown by the mice on the same diet which did not receive the SRT1720. These mice have higher fat mass and could run less than the mice that were treated. In fact, the treated mice were able to run twice as much as the untreated ones. This could only lead to a more effective type 2 diabetes treatment.
Since obesity is linked to diabetes, then these findings bode well as a potential treatment. However, don't go and eat a high-fat diet in anticipation for this form of therapy for there are caveats to consider. These findings are only under investigation and have not even tried on humans at the time of this writing. Let's hope though that the realization will be here soon for this type 2 diabetes treatment.
Please visit these sites for more diabetes help:
Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes Treatment
Copyright © December 22, 2008 Roger Guzman, M.D. (Type 2 Diabetes Treatment- A Hope and a Promise) All Rights Reserved. You may copy and publish this article as long as the text, the author's name, the active links and this notice remain the same.