Diabetes: February 2007 Archives

(CP) - Cholesterol may not just be bad for your heart.

A study suggests problems with cholesterol regulation in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas may be responsible for the development of Type 2 (formerly known as late onset) diabetes.

The work, by scientists at Vancouver's Child and Family Research Institute, was done in mice. And the researchers would have to show that the same mechanism is seen in people.

COLUMBIA, Mo., Feb. 7 A University of Missouri-Columbia study says as little as 15 minutes a day of acute exercise can help prevent and fight diabetes.

Acute exercise is a bout of activity in which people actively participate, as opposed to activity resulting from everyday activities, according to study leader John Thyfault.

Many people can fight type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise alone, said Thyfault. It is important to ward off diabetes early. Exercise has proven to be effective at all levels. At any stage of type 2 diabetes, from an obese child to a person dependent for 20 years on insulin injections, exercise could have a dramatic effect on improving insulin sensitivity.Thyfault's study found that relatively short periods of acute muscle exercise in diabetic Zucker rats significantly increased insulin sensitivity in the previously insulin-resistant skeletal muscles.

NEW YORK, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- One in eight adults in New York City have diabetes, and nearly twice as many appear to be developing it, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Over all, 12.5 percent of adult New Yorkers, or more than 700,000 people have diabetes, according to a study released Tuesday by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

That is significantly higher than the 10.3 percent national rate in the United States. And in New York, about 30 percent of diabetics are unaware they have the disease -- they are not working to control the ailment and fend off devastating consequences.