Electronic Contact Lenses for Blood Glucose Monitoring

January 9, 2012 | by

Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. Ask anyone with the condition and they will tell you: using a spring-loaded needle to prick their fingers monitor blood glucose (i.e.sugar) levels several times a day is painful procedure.

Researchers from the University of Washington (UW) and Microsoft Research Connections are working together to develop a non-invasive, technological solution that promises to improve both the health and overall quality of life for people with diabetes: a contact lens that, instead of correcting vision, monitors blood glucose levels.

Electronic contact lens

Inactivity May Encourage the Body to Create New Fat in Fat Cells

January 4, 2012 | by

It’s obvious that obese people more have fat than non-obese people, but it’s not as clear how it happens. Do obese individuals have more adipocytes (fat cells) than lean people, or do they have the same number of adipocytes, just larger ones? It turns out to be both. But the way that comes to pass is just being worked out by scientists. Engineering Professor Dr. Amit Gefen and his colleagues at Tel Aviv University recently demonstrated in a mouse cell line model that preadipocytes (precursors to fat cells) subjected to prolonged periods of “mechanical stretching loads” — the kind of weight we put on our body tissues when we sit or lie down — differentiate significantly faster, and retain significantly larger fat droplets, than those that are not. The research was published in the American Journal of Physiology — Cell Physiology [1].

Lounging couple

Lowering Physical Activity Impairs Glycemic Control, Even in Healthy People

December 13, 2011 | by

Low levels of physical activity — like the 5,000 steps per day that Americans typically achieve, which is only about half of the recommended amount — have been implicated in the development of insulin resistance and its progression to full blown type 2 diabetes. However, the studies that suggested this connection were performed under laboratory conditions; they did not use people eating real meals, and they did not assess glycemic variability, so the direct impact of physical activity on glycemic control is not completely clear.

People walking down the street

Elevated postprandial glucose (PPG) often precedes the development of type 2 diabetes, and is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular events, independently of diabetes status. Thus, Dr. Catherine Mikus and her colleagues at the University of Missouri set out to precisely define the impact of reducing physical activity on PPG and glycemic variability in healthy, active volunteers as they went about their daily lives. The results of their study were recently published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise [1].

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Causes More, Faster Weight Gain Than Table Sugar

September 21, 2011 | by

High-fructose corn syrup, common in processed foods, is more likely than table sugar to increase the rate and amount of weight gain, according to a study in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior [1]. Specifically, consuming high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) increases the likelihood of gaining abdominal fat, which is particularly dangerous with regard to risk of heart disease.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup Causes More, Faster Weight Gain Than Table Sugar

New Strategic NIH Plan to Fight Diabetes

March 31, 2011 | by

A new strategic plan to guide diabetes-related research over the next decade was announced recently by the National Institutes of Health. The plan, developed by a federal work group led by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), identifies research opportunities with the greatest potential to benefit the millions of Americans who are living with or at risk for diabetes and its complications.