Transplant of insulin-producing cells offers hope against type 1 diabetes
Scientists report a step forward in the plan to create a truly artificial pancreas, offering new hope to people with type 1 diabetes. A 43-year-old single mother with dangerously difficult-to-control diabetes had insulin-producing islet cells transplanted into her omentum — a fatty membrane in the belly. The cells began producing insulin faster than expected, and after one year she is doing well and doesn’t need insulin injections, the University of Miami researchers said. (read more)
NIH suggests new exam schedule for diabetic retinopathy
Patients with moderate or severe retinal damage should be examined more often than the current recommendation, based on research from about 24,000 eye exams with retinal photography and 30 years of data from about 1,400 people with type 1 diabetes, according to a press release from the National Institutes of Health. To diagnose diabetic eye disease while it is treatable, experts currently suggest that people with type 1 diabetes get an eye exam at least once a year at 3 to 5 years after diagnosis. (read more)
For those without celiac, gluten-free carries diabetes risk
Gluten-free diets have become so mainstream that even the Girl Scouts now offer gluten-free Toffee-tastic and Trios in their cookie collection. New research suggests, however, that customers who stick to Thin Mints and Samoas are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. A large long-term, observational study by Harvard researchers has found that people whose gluten intake was highest had a 13% lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes than those who consumed the lowest amount of gluten. (read more)
