Diabetes, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 25, 2018

This Man Says a 'Rare Gene' Cured His Type 1 Diabetes. Experts Are Skeptical.

Type 1 diabetes, or diabetes mellitus, is an incurable disease that requires lifelong treatment. That is, unless you're Daniel Darkes. About eight years ago, Darkes said, doctors diagnosed him with type 1 diabetes: a potentially life-threatening condition in which the immune system kills off the cells in the pancreas that...

Aug 31, 2018

How Could a Diabetes Drug Cause Severe Genital Infections?

People with type 2 diabetes who take a certain class of drugs have a very troubling side effect to worry about: The drugs may increase the risk of the genitals becoming infected with flesh-eating bacteria. On Wednesday (Aug. 29), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about...

Sep 15, 2018

How Far Off Is 'Home Brew' Insulin for Diabetes?

Soon after Federick Banting discovered that insulin could be used to treat diabetes in 1921, he sold the patent to the University of Toronto for about a dollar. Banting received the Nobel prize because his discovery meant a life-saving drug could become widely available. Nearly a century later, an American...

Oct 17, 2018

Gestational Diabetes: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Complications

Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops, or is first diagnosed, during pregnancy. The condition, like other forms of diabetes, involves high blood sugar levels. Often times, gestational diabetes is a temporary disorder that occurs around the second trimester of pregnancy and disappears after a woman gives birth....

Dec 21, 2018

Type 2 Diabetes May Be Linked to Erectile Dysfunction

Type 2 diabetes may be linked to erectile dysfunction, a new study suggests. People who had genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes were more likely to have erectile dysfunction (ED) than those without these risk factors, researchers revealed in a study published today (Dec. 20) in the American Journal...

Apr 24, 2019

A Common Food Additive Is Linked to Insulin Resistance. Here's What That Means

A common food additive could alter metabolism in ways that could increase the risk of diabetes, a preliminary study suggests. The study, which involved research in humans and mice, investigated a food additive called propionate, which prevents mold growth and is widely used as a preservative in cheeses, baked goods...

Aug 20, 2019

Many People with Diabetes Can't Afford 'Good' Insulin. What Should They Know About Switching to the Cheaper Stuff?

Josh Wilkerson began taking over-the-counter insulin for his type 1 diabetes when he aged off his stepfather's health insurance policy at age 26. But compared with the insulin Wilkerson had previously taken, the less expensive medication was difficult to use and left more room for error. Within a year, the...

Sep 10, 2019

Short Stature Linked with Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Shorter people may be at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes compared with taller people, a new study from Europe suggests. The study researchers analyzed information from thousands of people in Germany who underwent a physical exam and blood tests, and were followed for about seven years. The researchers...

Sep 12, 2019

Rogue 'Immune Cell X' Is a Completely New Type of Cell. It Could Trigger Type 1 Diabetes.

Scientists have discovered a mysterious population of previously unknown cells lurking in the human body, according to a new study. The enigmatic new cell type, called immune cell X, is a changeling that can act as two other cell types. And this rogue hybrid cell may trigger type 1 diabetes....

Feb 12, 2021

Diabetes drug led to dramatic weight loss in large trial

A diabetes drug may also be a promising treatment for obesity — in a new study, people taking the drug lost a stunning 15% of their body weight, which is more than has been seen with any other obesity drug on the market. The drug, known as semaglutide, is an...

May 27, 2021

Diabetes vaccine shows promise for some patients in early trial

In a small, early study, a vaccine for type 1 diabetes helped preserve the body's natural production of insulin, at least in a subset of newly diagnosed patients. In patients with type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, a hormone...

Feb 4, 2022

Newly discovered 'death receptor' could help drive type 1 diabetes

Insulin-producing cells in the pancreas carry a death receptor that, when activated, causes the cells to self-destruct. This cellular self-destruct button may in turn contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes, according to a new study in mice and human tissues. The findings also suggest a potential way to...

Mar 28, 2022

Father's use of diabetes drug could raise his kids' risk of birth defects

If men take metformin, a common type 2 diabetes drug, during a critical period of sperm development, their offspring may be more likely to develop birth defects, a large study suggests. In particular, the study found that male babies born to fathers who took metformin during this critical period had...

Aug 17, 2022

Diabetes: Symptoms, causes and treatment

Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high blood sugar, or glucose. This glucose, which is derived from the food we eat, is a critical source of energy for the body's cells. Once glucose enters the blood, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which shepherds the glucose from the blood...

Aug 17, 2022

Type 1 diabetes: Symptoms, causes and treatment

Type 1 diabetes, once referred to as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition characterized by high blood sugar, or glucose. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the cells in the pancreas that make the hormone insulin, resulting in the inability of the body to produce...