Interval training - more fat loss and less insulin requirements
Filed under: Type 1, Type 2, Adult Onset, Diet, Research, Exercise
A study found that two interval sessions of cardio exercise caused enhanced fat metabolism compared with a single session of cardio exercise.
This study compared the fat metabolism after exercise of equal intensity (60% of maximum heart rate) but differing in session length. The trials compared 7 men performing either: 1) a 60 minute session of exercise once 2) a 30 minute session of exercise twice, separated by a 20 minute session of rest and 3) rest. The first 30 minutes of both exercise groups showed a significant increase in growth hormone, epinephrine and norepinephrine. However, in the interval session (30 minute sessions separated by 20 minutes of rest) the free fatty acids (FFA) levels rose significantly in the 20 minute rest period. During the subsequent 30-min exercise interval, FFA was significantly greater in the second interval training sessions than in the single 60 minute session.
More importantly for us diabetics - the second 30 minute interval session showed significantly lower values of insulin and glucose than the single 60 minute exercise session. What's the moral of this heart-pounding story? Interval training seems to be the fittest choice if you are looking for maximum fat-burning and effective insulin-lowering exercise.
Less insulin longer life
Filed under: Type 1, Type 2, Childhood, Adult Onset, Diet, Research
Howard Hughs Medical Experts have discovered the key to a longer life is lower insulin levels. Less insulin helps cells fend off diseases that lead to early death like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. So how does one lower their insulin levels? Caloric restriction by way of eating less carbohydrates.
Caloric restriction postpones the onset of life-threatening conditions like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It may still happen, but at a later age. Scientists manipulated genes in mice to produce 50% less insulin and saw the mice live 18% longer. While lowering insulin throughout the body can lead to a diabetic state, scientists found that allowing insulin levels to be high throughout most of the body, and lowering the insulin signaling only in the brain through genetic manipulation, extended the life of mice.
Although the mice were overweight, they lived longer and seemed active and youthful. Scientists believe that this research explains why some people who live past 100 may have a natural genetic tendency for lower insulin signaling in the brain. They eat a normal amount of calories and may even be a bit overweight, but still enjoy the benefit of life extension. This begs the question: if all diabetes oral meds multiply the effect of insulin -- doesn't this increase the chances of heart disease and cancer? New Rule: Black box warning on ALL prescription diabetes drugs!!
Insulin "Bong" produces mixed results
Filed under: Type 2, Drugs, Research
I apologize for covering a topic that may have very well been covered already a few weeks ago, but the way I see it, if
the entries on this page change too quickly for the bloggers to keep up, it must be extra tough for the readers. That all being said, I wanted to point out the mixed results of a recent study on inhaled insulin (or the insulin bong, as I like to call it).
For people with type 2 diabetes, taking extra insulin during mealtimes is a necessary step in helping to regulated blood glucose levels. These doses are taken in addition to baseline insulin that is taken throughout the day and night. What researchers at the ECRI Institute have discovered is that inhaled insulin may improve blood sugar control for people with type 2 just as well as short-acting insulin taken by injection.
After a three-month period, the researchers found the inhaled insulin to produce equally as effective results in patients than insulin shots. The tricky part, however, is that the inhaled insulin seemed to be a bit problematic for users who experienced low blood sugar levels -- hypoglycemia.
Despite the mostly positive results, inhaled insulin still gets mixed reviews from researchers. Not only is its problem dealing with hypo a...well, a problem, but speculation also surrounds the long-term effect of inhaled insulin on the lungs.
Sugars in liver may help lower triglyceride levels
Following a post about the bad rap that fat has gotten over the years, I felt the need to point out that it is, in some ways, warranted. This is not to say that I am recanting my statements about the benefits of certain good fats, I'm just pointing out the fact that bad fat can have adverse affects on your health. There, my own version of a disclaimer. Good, now I can move on --
For most of us, eating red meat or most other foods found to be higher in fat can add triglycerides to your system. Not a huge problem if you are exercising and eating healthy most other times. But, for the 10 percent of Americans who have elevated levels of fat in their bloodstream, this could be a bit more problematic. Fortunately, a research team from the University of California, San Diego discovered another possible reason for these unexplained cases of elevated triglyceride levels.
It is known that high-triglycerides can be related to diabetes, diet, or drug and alcohol consumption. It is also known that it is something that can run in a family. But, what the researchers discovered is that sugar is another significant factor. We're not just talking about any ol' sugar here, though. We're talking about a complex sugar called heparin sulfate -- which is produced by all cells in the body and is related to the anti-coagulant heparin.
The researchers found that heparin sulfate in the liver helps clear triglycerides and cholesterol from the blood. Their full details of their findings can be found in the January issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Colestimide to lower Blood Fats and Sugars
Filed under: Type 2, Adult Onset, Drugs, Research
A study suggests that a bile acid may be used for the treatment of obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. This discovery was made when researchers found colestimide, a resin that eliminates bile acids, as a cholesterol-lowering treatment.
The study was based on the fact that abnormal lipids lead to high mortality in type 2 diabetics. The researchers investigated the effects of colestimide on blood glucose levels in mice that develop a disease akin to type 2 diabetes. Colestimide treatment prevented diet-induced obesity and high blood sugar, and corrected diet-induced obesity in mice. It also showed a significant decrease in levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol without affecting "good" HDL cholesterol levels.
How about that? The unlikely path of colestimide could detour us from hitting the dead end consequences of high blood fats and obesity. All these discoveries on mice eventually will prove something remarkable for us humans. Won't they?
Long-term effects of insulin analogues in Type 1
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Adult Onset, Research
There is still no evidence to declare superiority of rapid-acting insulin analogues in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. These studies compared either insulin aspart (NovoLog) or insulin lispro (Humalog) with human insulin; no such study was available for glulisine (Apidra).
Based on average HbA1c values, patients treated with NovoLog had lower levels. However, statistical comparisons were so small that an effect on patients' health is not to be expected. It was also hypothesized that Humalog may prevent night time lows better than Apidra.
Even though patients have been treated with insulin analogues for 10 years, it is still unclear as to how these types of insulin affect long-term complications of type 1 diabetes. The long-term effects of insulin decisively increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, according to recent studies at Howard Hughs Medical Institute. Would you be surprised to learn that one of the insulin analogue manufacturers chose to withhold some of the results of their studies?
Many doctors aren't bothered when their patients can't lower cholesterol
Filed under: Prevention
Although you may be frustrated when your efforts to lower your cholesterol don't work, your doctor may not be. In a recent study of general and family practitioners there seemed to be a scary number of doctors who weren't surprised or frustrated when their patients were unable to get cholesterol levels down. 61% of doctors stated they don't feel frustrated when they are unable to lower cholesterol levels in their patients, despite understanding the severe health risks that go along with it. Are they not taking it seriously? Is it that they just don't expect their patients to take it seriously? Whatever the issue, make sure you have a doctor that takes a personal interest in you and your health.
Health, longevity linked to insulin in the brain
Filed under: Type 2, Diet, Lifestyle, Research, Exercise
What makes for a long and healthy life? Why, you say, how about a healthy diet and liberal quantities of exercise? True! A healthy lifestyle keeps you in shape and is one factor that promotes longevity. But have you ever wondered exactly how this works on a physiological level? How does the brain understand you skipped the gym all summer and had French fries for lunch yesterday? The answer, according to the results of a new study published in Science (July 2007), could relate to insulin levels in the brain. Researchers induced lab mice to overeat until they became obese and some exhibited symptoms of diabetes. Yet some of those same mice actually lived eighteen percent longer than their slender mice buddies. The researchers attributed that longevity to a gene that affects insulin. Put simply: the longevity gene (called Irs2) effectively "tricked" the brains of those mice into thinking they were slim and fit, when in fact the opposite was true.
For diabetics, the study raises an additional question: if raising insulin levels decreases the body's sensitivity to it, is it really desirable to treat type 2 diabetics with insulin over the long-term? Lead author of the study, Morris White of Children's Hospital in Boston, says it's highly preferable (when possible) to get type 2 diabetes under control through old-fashioned diet and exercise, rather than through insulin or other meds.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Pig Islets 10 Years and Counting
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Lifestyle, Research, Events, Support
In 1996 a 41 year old male (a type 1 diabetic for 18 years) was injected with biocapsules containing pig islets to regulate his blood sugar level. The transplanted cells helped reduce the patient's insulin requirement by 34% for over a year, which provided better control. By 2005 the patient's glycated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c) remained lower than the pre-transplant levels.
Ten years later, the patent contacted Living Cell Technologies to inform them that he believed the transplanted pig islets were still alive and well. After tests were conducted, it was concluded that the pig cells were (as he reported) still functioning. This proved that the LCT patented technology for xenotransplantation was effective. It allows the islets to survive at least ten years in a micro-capsule coating and continue to release insulin into the patient's bloodstream without immune suppression. After tests we conducted on the type of insulin present in the patients blood - it was with 100% certainty that it was pig and not human insulin.
LCT has significantly advanced the encapsulation process since the 1996 clinical trial and there is an even greater understanding and control over the longevity and robustness of the encapsulation process, as well as the porcine islet cells. LCT will be trialing the DiabeCell pig islet cell transplant in patients in a phase I/IIa clinical trial, expected to begin in Quarter 2, 2007. In addition, LCT is awaiting approval to conduct an additional trial in New Zealand this year with a different treatment protocol. Subsequent trials in the US or Europe are intended following initial results from these studies.
If overseas trials are coming through with flying colors - why aren't we doing this yet? C'mon USA - where's your competitive spirit? All these pigs up in Spring Point might be put to good use, after all. Oink Oink.
This Little Piggy Left the Market
Filed under: Type 1, Childhood, Adult Onset, Lifestyle, Drugs, Research, Opinion, Support
A study published in 1991, comparing the efficacy of human synthetic insulin to porcine insulin states "there is no reason to treat all insulin-requiring diabetic subjects with human insulin except those who have developed insulin allergy".
In light of this study - how was rDNA synthetic human insulin able to monopolize the US market?
The absence of highly purified porcine insulin in the US is probably (my guess) because it's cheaper to manufacture. The saturation of the US market with rDNA synthetic human insulin seems to be treating the masses with a specialized need existing in only a few individuals. But the top line of this marketing campaign must have had a good effect on the bottom-line, too. Sales reps convinced doctors to switch their patients because it was going to become nearly impossible to continue getting animal derived insulin. The insurance companies (the guys picking up the tab) must've loved this option, too. Why wouldn't they? It's better - right?
I'm going to do a self-analysis of the stuff, based on my IAA, IA and C-peptide levels. I've been on human synthetic insulin since 1985. I've never been on highly purified porcine insulin. The IAA is my insulin autoantibodies -- the antibody attacking my islets. My IA is the insulin antibody attacking the injected insulin and my c-peptide will tell me how much insulin my body is making. After 12 weeks on the highly purified porcine insulin - I'm going to do my labs again. I'm curious to see if these levels move, at all. If my c-peptide levels rise, that's a GOOD indicator what's best for Allie Beatty.
So is the best choice for me the best choice for all? Probably not. But at least I can see for myself - even if it costs me a pretty penny to get my hands on highly purified porcine insulin. Nobody said being an experimentalist was cheap. However, never exploring my options would deeply discount the value of experience.