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Gene Associated with Severe Kidney Failure in Diabetes Identified
Newswise — A research team at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and the University of Heidelberg has proven that a gene protects some people with diabetes from developing severe kidney failure or “end-stage renal disease.”

Diabetes is the leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide, an illness that requires either kidney dialysis treatments or a kidney transplant for survival.

The carnosinase 1 gene, located on human chromosome 18, produces the protective factor, said Barry I. Freedman, M.D., the John H. Felts III Professor and head of the Section on Nephrology, in an article in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation published online.

“This is a major gene that appears to be associated with development of severe diabetic kidney disease,” he said.

The research team evaluated 858 subjects, including diabetic patients with end-stage kidney failure on dialysis, diabetic patients with normal kidney function, and healthy non-diabetic individuals. They confirmed that a protective form of the carnosinase 1 gene was present in greater frequency among both healthy individuals and diabetic subjects without kidney disease, compared to the diabetic patients on dialysis who more commonly had forms of the gene that were not protective. Source

New Published Research Affirms The Benefits Of Diachrome(R) For Improving Blood Sugar In People With Type 2 Diabetes
Nutrition 21, Inc. today announced the results of a recent placebo controlled, double-blind, randomized, single center study that demonstrated that Diachrome(R), a patented combination of chromium picolinate and biotin, safely improves blood glucose levels and cholesterol metabolism in people with type 2 diabetes. Published in the December issue of Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, the study supports the role of chromium picolinate — the most studied, highly absorbed and efficacious form of chromium — plus biotin as a safe and effective nutritional adjunct therapy in diabetes care.

The 30-day study examined thirty-six overweight or obese poorly controlled patients with type 2 diabetes taking Diachrome who were already receiving oral anti-diabetic drug(s). The results also showed a significantly greater reduction in the total area under the curve for glucose during the oral glucose tolerance test for the treatment group compared with the placebo group. Mean fructosamine levels, a measure of the average blood glucose level during a period of three weeks, were also significantly reduced in the treatment group  compared to the placebo group.

“Results from this pilot study promote the potential benefits of supplementing chromium picolinate and biotin with one’s daily diabetes care regimen,” said Gregory Singer, MD, lead author and cardiovascular medicine specialist at Yale University School of Medicine. “Chromium picolinate with biotin represents an adjunctive strategy to conventional oral diabetes therapy for improved blood sugar control and cholesterol metabolism.” Source

Resources:
dLife; About Diabetes.com; American Diabetes Association

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Diabetes; Health News