Sunday 28 April 2013

New treatment might put Type 2 diabetes in remission.

From:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/new-treatment-might-put-type-2-diabetes-in-remission-1.806064
"A new study by Toronto researchers on a new way to treat type 2 diabetes shows it may cause temporary remission of the disease in up to 75 per cent of patients.
 
The new treatment involves taking four shots of insulin -- the medication required by some diabetics to control blood sugar levels -- per day for just one month. This is a change from the usual treatment, which involves daily insulin shots over an extended period of time.

Patients develop diabetes when their pancreas can't produce enough insulin to lower blood sugar levels after meals. While medications can temporarily boost insulin production, many type 2 diabetics face a lifetime of daily insulin shots. Over time, patients with the disease can go on to suffer from a range of complications including blindness, heart disease, kidney problems and nerve damage.

Dr. Bernard Zinman, the director of the Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes and lead researcher of the study, explained how the new treatment works to CTV News. According to Zinman, by giving type 2 diabetics concentrated levels of insulin for a month early on in their disease, their pancreas, in effect, gets a "a break."

"The diabetes in essence goes away because their own pancreas now can make enough insulin," he said.

After the month on concentrated doses, patients are required to take another type of medication to "maintain" the remission, said Zinman.

Zinman said that the period of remission may eventually wear off, and so he sees the possibility of a future "top-up" treatment, which would last another month.

While the remission period can vary in patients, the prospect of improving pancreatic function is an exciting development in diabetes research, said Dr. Ravi Retnakaran, co-researcher of the study.

"This is a very novel and exiting way of treating diabetes that could have important implications," said Retnakaran.

For patients involved in the study, the treatment has had a major impact on their quality of life. Francoise Hebert was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in November 2010. Seven months ago she enrolled in the study, and while she found the four daily insulin doses challenging, her blood sugar levels are now normal.

Hebert now happily tells people she "no longer has the disease," and enjoys knowing she's delayed any progression of diabetes-related complications.

"It feels fabulous," she said with a laugh. "It feels absolutely wonderful."

In addition to having her diabetes go into remission, Hebert says she's also learned how to eat better and hopes to eventually be able to get her weight under control.

Type 2 diabetes is primarily caused by an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

The research team at Mount Sinai Hospital hopes to have study results in a year or two, as well as more safety data on the medication."

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Nigel

Have you seen this paper on VLC diets?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2903931/
Insulin Sensitivity and Glucose Tolerance Are Altered by Maintenance on a Ketogenic Diet

Abstract
Low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets (KD) are frequently implemented in efforts to reduce or maintain body weight, although the metabolic effects of long-term exposure to this type of diet remain controversial. This study assessed the responsivity to peripheral and central insulin, glucose tolerance, and meal-induced effects of consuming a KD in the rat. After 8 wk of consuming chow or KD, caloric intake after peripheral or central insulin and insulin and glucose levels after a glucose challenge were assessed. In a separate group of rats, glucose and insulin responses to either a low- or high-carbohydrate test meal were measured. Finally, rats maintained on KD were switched back to a chow diet, and insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance were evaluated to determine whether the effects of KD were reversible. Maintenance on KD resulted in decreased sensitivity to peripheral insulin and impaired glucose tolerance. Furthermore, consumption of a high-carbohydrate meal in rats that habitually consumed KD induced significantly greater insulin and glucose levels for an extended period of time, as compared with chow-fed controls. Responsivity to central insulin was heightened in KD rats and associated with increased expression levels of insulin receptor mRNA. Finally, returning to a chow diet rapidly reversed the effects of KD on insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. These data suggest that maintenance on KD negatively affects glucose homeostasis, an effect that is rapidly reversed upon cessation of the diet.

Unknown said...

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(13)70006-8/fulltext#article_upsell

Background
Studies have shown that, when implemented early in the course of type 2 diabetes mellitus, treatment with intensive insulin therapy for 2—3 weeks can induce a glycaemic remission, wherein patients are able to maintain normoglycaemia without any anti-diabetic medication. We thus did a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies to assess the effect of short-term intensive insulin therapy on the pathophysiological defects underlying type 2 diabetes mellitus (pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance) and identify clinical predictors of remission.

Methods
We identified studies published between 1950 and Nov 19, 2012, which assessed the effect of intensive insulin therapy on β-cell function or insulin resistance, or both, or assessed long-term drug-free glycaemic remission in adults aged 18 years or older with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. We calculated pooled estimates by random-effects model. This study is registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, number CRD42012002829.

Findings
We identified 1645 studies of which seven fulfilled inclusion criteria (n=839 participants). Five studies were non-randomised. A pooled analysis of the seven studies showed a post-intensive insulin therapy increase in Homeostasis Model Assessment of β-cell function as compared with baseline (1·13, 95% CI 1·02 to 1·25) and a decrease in Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (—0·57, −0·84 to −0·29). In the four studies that assessed glycaemic remission (n=559 participants), the proportion of participants in drug-free remission was about 66·2% (292 of 441 patients) after 3 months of follow-up, about 58·9% (222 of 377 patients) after 6 months, about 46·3% (229 of 495 patients) after 12 months, and about 42·1% (53 of 126 patients) after 24 months. Patients who achieved remission had higher body-mass index than those who did not achieve remission (1·06 kg/m2, 95% CI 0·55 to 1·58) and lower fasting plasma glucose (—0·59 mmol/L, 95% CI −1·11 to −0·07) at baseline.

Interpretation
Short-term intensive insulin therapy can improve the underlying pathophysiology in early type 2 diabetes mellitus, and thus might provide a treatment strategy for modifying the natural history of diabetes.

LeonRover said...

Hee,hee, hee, Nige.

You are being love-bombed by Grashow - the cut & paste meister.

He is, however, an equal opportunity C & Pee'r - Eddie is being subject to the same treatment.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Hi Charles,

Thank you for your input.

I am familiar with physiological IR and glycaemic remission brought on by IIT. Now everybody else who reads this will be, too.

Cheers, Nige

Jake Findley said...

I actually think it is rather dangerous. Dr. Jason Fung contends that insulin is the problem, not the solution. You can watch for yourself at

https://vimeo.com/64934347

Astounding how much evidence exists linking insulin to increased, not decreased morbidity.

Nigel Kinbrum said...

Hi Jake,

Thanks for the link to https://vimeo.com/64934347

Just like with fructose and everything else in life, the dose makes the poison. The SAD/SED with its regular over-consumption of over-processed high-GI carbs + fats produces regular hyperinsulinaemia in a milieu of caloric excess. This is definitely not healthy, long-term!

If you read The problem with Diabetes., you'll see that I was advocating Bernstein's "Law of Small Numbers" back in February 2010, long before Eddie appeared on the scene.

Eddie trying to "school" me with his "read xxxx and learn something" is a joke.

Cheers, Nige

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