Jo's Cafe

Good Morning everyone.  Did you have a great weekend?  I did.  The weather was beautiful!

How is your diabetes doing?  Under control?  Issues?  Rant to me or talk to the folks at diabetes.about.com.   They are the best!

Human Skin Cells Turned Into Insulin-Producing Cells Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have transformed cells from human skin into cells that produce insulin, the hormone used to treat diabetes. The breakthrough may one day lead to new treatments or even a cure for the millions of people affected by the disease, researchers say.

Chamomile Tea May Ward Off Diabetes DamageDaily drinks of chamomile tea with meals may help prevent the complications of diabetes, report researchers in Japan and the United Kingdom. The findings, published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, are based on feeding chamomile extract to a group of diabetic rats for 21 days. Those on the chamomile supplement experience a significant decrease in blood glucose levels. The extract also appears to inhibit ALR2 enzymes and sorbitol, whose elevated levels are associated with increased diabetic complications.

New non-invasive device could control diabetes Early trials of a new implantable, and removable, intestinal liner have shown promise as a noninvasive means to promote blood sugar control and weight loss. In contrast to well-established invasive procedures like gastric bypass surgery, the application of the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner, does not involve a scalpel. Rather, a doctor inserts it into a patient’s small intestine through the mouth in a procedure known as endoscopy. Once placed, it creates a physical barrier between incoming food and the intestinal wall, thereby altering the way food moves through, and gets processed by, the digestive system. The liner appears effective at both quickly reducing blood glucose levels and shrinking the waistline.

Diabetes pill hope as bacteria halts disease   They found that the “friendly” bugs appeared to stop the onset of the disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK in tests on mice.

Eventually they hope to make a pill, food supplement or even pro-biotic yogurt that could reproduce the bacteria and so prevent the condition in those deemed high risk.

The study relates to type 1 diabetes that often develops in childhood when for some reason the body’s own immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The condition has to be controlled by daily insulin injections and specialist diets.

Related: Prevalence of type 1 diabetes linked to excessive cleanliness

Don’t you just love the way the media twists stories with scary titles?  The related post above is about the same story, just with a spookier headline.

Have a great day!