Posts Tagged ‘diabetes complications’

Maggot Therapy for Diabetic Ulcers

September 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Foot Care, It's Complicated 
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diabetic ulcer

Photo: stevenfruitsmaak

One of the complications of diabetes can be ulcerated wounds that won’t heal, particularly on the feet. This is because diabetes causes nerve damage and impairs blood flow and circulation to the extremities. About 1 in 5 diabetics who seek hospital treatment do so because of foot problems, and diabetes is one of the leading causes of lower limb amputations worldwide.

The medical removal of dead or infected tissue from wounds such as diabetic ulcers is called debridement. Doctors typically use scalpels, high pressure fluid, or tissue-dissolving enzymes for the procedure. A less known procedure is maggot debridement therapy, or MDT. Read the full article

Crippling Condition Associated With Diabetes Often Misdiagnosed

September 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Foot Care, It's Complicated 
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A new article explains symptoms and treatments for Charcot foot, a form of localized osteoporosis linked to diabetes that causes the bones to soften and break, often resulting in amputation.

“Even though it was first described in 1883, the diagnosis and successful treatment of Charcot foot continue to be a challenge because this syndrome is not widely known or understood by the broader medical profession,” said Lee C. Rogers, D.P.M., co-director of the Amputation Prevent Center at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, CA.

“Charcot foot is now considered to be an inflammatory syndrome most often seen in patients with diabetes which can be successfully treated in its early stages.”  To read the full article on this little known diabetes complication on ScienceDaily and to view a picture of this crippling condition, CLICK HERE.

What is Stiff-Person Syndrome?

August 26, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: It's Complicated, Uncategorized 
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One very rare and unusual condition associated with diabetes is Stiff-Person syndrome, also referred to as Myotonic Dystrophy. Stiff-Person syndrome (SPS) is a central nervous system disorder characterized by severe muscle stiffness that moves from place to place in the trunk, arms and legs. SPS affects about 1 in 1 million Americans, and about 1 in 10,000 diabetics.

Someone with SPS is exceedingly hypersensitive to normal stimuli such as sound, touch and emotional stress. A sudden noise, tap or worry can trigger muscle spasms that distort the body into hunched over stiff postures. People with SPS suffer from frequent falls when spasms are triggered by commonplace noises like a door slamming or a car horn. Because people with SPS lack normal protective reflexes, spasms and falls can result in serious injuries, including fractures, muscle tears and joint dislocations.

Read the full article

New Treatment Approach for Diabetic Macular Edema

August 23, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Diabetic Retinopathy, It's Complicated 
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SOUTHAMPTON, England, August 23, 2011 /PRNewswire

KalVista Pharmaceuticals (“KalVista”), a new ophthalmology company with a focus on diabetic macular edema (DME), has raised £8 million in a series A round from leading life sciences investors Novo A/S and SV Life Sciences. The company is developing novel, small molecule plasma kallikrein inhibitors, which represent a new approach to the treatment of DME, a leading cause of adult visual loss in developed countries and a major unmet medical need. KalVista’s advanced pre-clinical product pipeline is targeting both intravitreal injection and oral administration routes. KalVista acquired these inhibitors plus all relevant intellectual property from Vantia Therapeutics.

KalVista’s scientific founders include world-leading experts in ophthalmology, diabetes and diabetes-related complications, Dr Lloyd Paul Aiello and Dr Edward P. Feener. Dr Aiello is Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Joslin’s Beetham Eye Institute and Inaugural Chair of the National Eye Institute Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network.

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Researcher Links Diabetic Complication to Nerve Damage in Bone Marrow

August 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Diabetic Neuropathy, Diabetic Retinopathy, Uncategorized 
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Eye vessels

ScienceDaily (2010-01-08) — Scientists have discovered a link between diabetes and bone marrow nerve damage that may help treat one of the most common and potentially blindness-causing diabetes complications – diabetic retinopathy.

The key to better treating retinopathy – damage to blood vessels in the retina that affects up to 80 percent of diabetic patients – lies not in the retina but in damage to the nerves found in bone marrow that leads to the abnormal release of stem cells, said Julia Busik, an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Physiology.

> read full article

Diabetes and Gastroparesis: A Vicious Cycle

July 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes and Gastroparesis, Diabetes Control 
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Photo credit: Ambro

Diabetes is the most common cause of gastroparesis, or delayed stomach emptying. That’s because years of high blood glucose damage the vagus nerve, which controls the movement of food from the stomach through the digestive tract. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics are at risk of gastroparesis.

When the vagus nerve is damaged, food either moves too slowly through the digestive system, or doesn’t move at all. As a result, people with gastroparesis often feel bloated, feel full after eating a small amount, and may experience heartburn, stomach and abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, and acid reflux.

Gastroparesis is a vicious cycle for a diabetic. Not only does uncontrolled blood sugar lead to gastroparesis, gastroparesis leads to poor blood sugar control due to the irregular passage of food through the digestive system. When food is finally absorbed, blood sugar levels may rise unexpectedly.

Read the full article

Researchers Invent New Drug Delivery Device to Treat Diabetes-Related Vision Loss

July 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Research and News, Diabetic Neuropathy, It's Complicated, Uncategorized 
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Photot credit: gokce

ScienceDaily (2011-06-29) — Engineers and scientists have developed a device that can be implanted behind the eye for controlled and on-demand release of drugs to treat retinal damage caused by diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of vision loss among patients with diabetes. The disease is caused by the unwanted growth of capillary cells in the retina, which in its advanced stages can result in blindness.

The novel drug delivery mechanism is detailed in the current issue of Lab on a Chip, a multidisciplinary journal on innovative microfluidic and nanofluidic technologies.

Read the full article…

Thirty Seven Strawberries a Day Keep the Doctor Away

July 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Research and News, It's Complicated 
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Photo credit: Marcus Vegas

 

A flavonoid called fisetin, found in abundance in strawberries, has been found to lessen complications of diabetes in mice. Fisetin is a neuroprotective flavonoid that can target multiple organs, suggesting that a single natural remedy could be developed to address numerous diabetes complications. 

 

But obtaining a protective patent to bring a natural product like fisetin to market is difficult, meaning further research is stalled until researchers can find someone willing to support a clinical trial. Read more about the benefits of strawberries and the recent research on fisetin and diabetic complications on Diabetic Live.

Dramatic Increase in Life Expectancy for Type 1 Diabetics

June 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Research and News 
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ScienceDaily (2011-06-25) — The life expectancy of people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes between 1965 and 1980 dramatically increased, compared to people diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1964, according to a new study. … > http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110624182309.htm read full article

Nicotine Raises Blood Sugar

June 22, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diabetes Control, Diabetes Research and News, It's Complicated 
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The Department of Chemistry at California State Polytechnic University has some important news about smoking and blood sugar levels, especially for diabetics:

  • Nicotine is now known to raise blood sugar levels.
  •  The more you smoke, the higher your blood sugar rises.
  • In laboratory testing, two days of nicotine dosing (the equivalent of one or two packs a day) increased HbA1c levels (average blood sugar readings over a period of time) in blood samples by up to 34.5 percent.
  • An increase in HbA1c levels of just 1 percent equals a 40 percent increase in the risk of diabetes complications.
  • Nicotine replacement products such as gum and patches have the same effect on blood sugar as smoking.

Increases in blood sugar and poor diabetes control have already been clearly linked to diabetes complications such as heart attack and stroke, eye and kidney disease and nerve damage, and it was known that diabetics who smoke have higher levels of complications than diabetics who don’t smoke.

What wasn’t clear was which of the thousands of chemicals in cigarettes were responsible. It’s now believed that nicotine may impact glucose metabolism by interfering with the way glucose attaches to proteins, possibly changing their structure and function.

The American Cancer Society has developed a useful guide to help both diabetics and non-diabetics quit smoking.  Download the PDF >HERE<.

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