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Study shows how gene action may lead to diabetes prevention, cure (For now, eat fish)
Texas A&M AgriLife Communications ^ | Dec 11, 2009 | Unknown

Posted on 12/11/2009 3:53:57 PM PST by decimon

COLLEGE STATION – A gene commonly studied by cancer researchers has been linked to the metabolic inflammation that leads to diabetes.

Understanding how the gene works means scientists may be closer to finding ways to prevent or cure diabetes, according to a study by Texas AgriLife Research appearing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Because we understand the mechanism, or how the gene works, we believe a focus on nutrition will find the way to both prevent and reverse diabetes," said Dr. Chaodong Wu, AgriLife Research nutrition and food scientist who authored the paper with the University of Minnesota's Dr. Yuqing Hou.

Wu said the research team will collaborate with nutritionists to identify what changes or supplements in a diet will activate the gene to prevent or stop the progression of diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar (glucose) levels are higher than normal and the body has a hard time converting food to glucose which is then turned into energy, according to the National Institutes of Health. When the body cannot metabolize food, the amount of glucose builds in the blood while the cells lack energy. Complications can include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, nerve problems and gum infections. Some of the complications can lead to amputation.

The gene with the possible answers to ways of fighting the disease is known in the science world as PFKFB3. Wu and the team of researchers identified it as a regulator for metabolism, which plays a vital role in the development of diabetes.

Wu noted that while it is a major health concern in the U.S., obesity does not necessarily cause diabetes to develop; i.e., just because a person is overweight does not mean they have diabetes. Rather, "metabolic inflammation" causes or exacerbates the disease. That's where the team began looking at PFKFB3 -- because it regulates metabolism -- to find the mechanism or how the inflammation begins. Metabolic inflammation is different from classic inflammation because there is no infection, virus or bacteria present, though the symptoms appear similar.

He believes nutritionists working with the biological chemists can help develop food consumption plans that either prevent people from developing metabolic inflammation or cause existing conditions to retreat.

"First we will need to identify what effective compounds will trigger the gene to regulate metabolism," Wu said. "Then we need to determine what combinations within foods are more effective."

In the meantime, Wu suggested, people need to consume healthier foods.

"Basically, fish and seafood," Wu said. "That's always good in a diet."


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: diabetes; epigenetics; inflammation; metabolicdisorder; pfkfb3; type2diabetes

1 posted on 12/11/2009 3:53:58 PM PST by decimon
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To: decimon

Seems like they have a long way to go.

But cutting simple carbs is always good, and there’s some reason to believe that mammalian proteins can drive a low-level inflammation reaction.

Mom had it right: eat your veggies.


2 posted on 12/11/2009 3:56:54 PM PST by RightOnTheLeftCoast (Obama: running for re-election in '12 or running for Mahdi now? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahdi])
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To: decimon; neverdem

Ping.


3 posted on 12/11/2009 3:59:43 PM PST by decimon
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To: decimon

I’ll bet that diabetes would be a less serious (perhaps *much* less serious) problem if we,as a people,vowed to stop being fat slobs.Being overweight is a *huge* factor (in this country at least) in the diabetes problem.


4 posted on 12/11/2009 4:16:54 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Host The Beer Summit-->Win The Nobel Peace Prize!)
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To: decimon; neverdem; AdmSmith; Berosus; bigheadfred; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; ...

Thanks decimon.


5 posted on 12/11/2009 4:19:19 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: RightOnTheLeftCoast

Ummm, many veggies are loaded with carbs.


6 posted on 12/11/2009 4:52:29 PM PST by taxcontrol
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To: All

My family doctor (who has been practicing medicine for nearly 40 years) has told me that a majority of type 2, non-insulin dependent diabetics (from his observations) can reverse their condition by simply losing weight to the desired level, diet and exercise.

He’s worked with people who have lost over 100 pounds and have changed their lives. They’re now off their meds (sugar, BP and Statins). Others have improved to a point where their meds have been halved or close to illiminated.

Type 2 diabetes for many is simply a case where the pancreas is “overloaded” and “overworked”. The pancreas can only produce enough insulin for a certain maximum weight and no higher (otherwise problems develop). Getting below the maximum “insulin weight” and the body will be in sugar balance.


7 posted on 12/11/2009 4:58:16 PM PST by ak267
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To: decimon; Marysecretary

MARY SECRETARY PING

PRAYING YOUR NEW KIDNEY GETS SQUARED AWAY ASAP, MARY.


8 posted on 12/11/2009 5:04:57 PM PST by Quix (LET GOD ARISE AND HIS ENEMIES BE SCATTERED)
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To: decimon; SunkenCiv

Thanks for the ping.


9 posted on 12/11/2009 5:50:50 PM PST by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: ak267

Uh-huh. Well, I’m slender and very fit, I get a great deal of outdoor exercise each day, and my diet consists principally of protein and vegetables (mostly salads). And yet I’m working on developing a case of diabetes. No genetic history in the family. Bad luck, eh?


10 posted on 12/11/2009 6:25:48 PM PST by ottbmare (I could agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong.)
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To: austinmark; FreedomCalls; IslandJeff; JRochelle; MarMema; Txsleuth; Newtoidaho; texas booster; ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off the diabetes ping list.
11 posted on 12/11/2009 7:05:38 PM PST by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: ottbmare

Yup. Bad luck.

You could just have the “golden bee-bee”.

Might want to do a genetic test.


12 posted on 12/11/2009 7:07:51 PM PST by ak267
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To: ottbmare

***And yet I’m working on developing a case of diabetes.***

Well, quit working on it!
:>)


13 posted on 12/11/2009 7:13:10 PM PST by irishtenor (Beer. God's way of making sure the Irish don't take over the world.)
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To: ottbmare

Hope the cause wasn’t agent orange. Not nice


14 posted on 12/11/2009 9:13:16 PM PST by Rannug ("When you make peaceful protest impossible, you make violent protest inevitable." JFK)
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To: ottbmare
Read this, then examine your diet.
15 posted on 12/11/2009 9:48:50 PM PST by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))
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To: Gay State Conservative

August 01, 2008 - 235 pounds. Joined the Jewish Community center in order to use the gym.

January 22, 2009 - 220 pounds - after many HOURS on a treadmill. Started with 15 minute sessions at 3.5 mph, reached 20 minutes at 3.8 mph and an incline of 3.

May 10, 2009 - 200 pounds. I have been doing 45 minutes daily, at speeds from 4.3 to 4.8 mph and incline 11 (15 for last 5 minutes.) The coach wants me to add something besides treadmill, so I will be using the Cybex machines to build strength and muscle balance, and starting on the “Arc Trainer”, which has an elliptical motion. I could not reach 15 minutes on my first Arc Trainer session. When I can do 20 minutes, I will drop 10 minutes from the treadmill time.

August 2, 2009 - 175 pounds. 60 pounds lost, 15 to go. I am doing 35 minutes (each) on the arc trainer (incline 4, resistance 27) and the treadmill (incline 11, spd 4.3-5.4).

October 01, 2009 - 165 pounds on my 70th birthday! I am doing 35 minutes daily on the Arc Trainer (4, 29) and 35 minutes at 4.9 mph (average) and incline 14 on treadmill.

October 13, 2009 - 165 still! Add time and pace to ArcT, and increase treadmill - incline to 15 (maximum) and speed to 4.6-5.5 mph.

November 24, 2009 - 160 pounds, my target. Those last five pounds were REALLY hard to lose. I had to increase both intensity and duration to finally break through.

Thanksgiving (3-day break, plus overeating) added 3 pounds back, but I worked them off again in a few days... and then put back a pound! But now I intend to make 160 my ceiling weight, and try to stay UNDER it.

Before I started, I was taking 10 mg quinapril (ACE inhibitor), plus 50 mg metoprolol (beta blocker), and 8 mg Doxazosin (alpha blocker) for hypertension. Also, I took 40 mg Lasix, along with 20 Meq potassium for swollen ankles. I still need the quinapril, 2 mg of doxazosin instead of 8, and triamterine/HCTZ instead of Lasix and K-Dur. And I don’t need support hose any more!


16 posted on 12/11/2009 9:53:44 PM PST by MainFrame65 (The US Senate: World's greatest PREVARICATIVE body!.)
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To: MainFrame65
Before I started (exercising), I was taking 10 mg quinapril (ACE inhibitor), plus 50 mg metoprolol (beta blocker), and 8 mg Doxazosin (alpha blocker) for hypertension. Also, I took 40 mg Lasix, along with 20 Meq potassium for swollen ankles. I still need the quinapril, 2 mg of doxazosin instead of 8, and triamterine/HCTZ instead of Lasix and K-Dur. And I don’t need support hose any more!

Excellent!

17 posted on 12/12/2009 12:42:44 AM PST by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: ottbmare
I've been thin all my life, yet developed Type 2 about seven years ago in my mid 50s. It was my dad's "gift." He was diabetic and so were a brother and sister and probably his father, who died young.
Records of the disease are hard to trace more than a few generations back.
18 posted on 12/12/2009 6:09:34 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (Impeachment !)
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To: MainFrame65
Before I started, I was taking 10 mg quinapril (ACE inhibitor), plus 50 mg metoprolol (beta blocker), and 8 mg Doxazosin (alpha blocker) for hypertension. Also, I took 40 mg Lasix, along with 20 Meq potassium for swollen ankles. I still need the quinapril, 2 mg of doxazosin instead of 8, and triamterine/HCTZ instead of Lasix and K-Dur.

Up until about 20 years ago weight wasn't an issue for me.I was,for example,165 lbs (6 feet tall),on the day I graduated from BCT.I looked like a red headed string bean wearing olive drab! But in the last 20 years I've gained...and lost...and regained...and re-lost...about the equivalent of 3 grown adults.The last time I lost a lot of weight (about 7 years ago) I went from moderate doses of several BP meds to a minimal dose of one med and my A1c went from quite high (can't recall the number) to completely normal.But then my hip went and therefore couldn't exercise...and,therefore,got very discouraged...

And now,I'm back on medium doses of a half dozen BP meds plus glucophage (oral diabetes med).But my hip is just now starting to feel OK (had it replaced last year) and I just resumed my old exercise regimen (less vigorously,per order of the orthopedic surgeon) and we'll see what happens.Both my primary care doctor and my cardiologist (both on the staff of a large Boston hospital) have told me that *my* diabetes and *my* BP issues are caused largely,if not entirely,by my weight.

It sounds like *you* have done a lot of work and have reason to be proud.You're clearly doing *your* part in lowering health care costs so we can afford to pay for all those millions of abortions under HusseinCare.

Sorry,just had to get a little politics into the mix.

19 posted on 12/12/2009 11:29:12 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Host The Beer Summit-->Win The Nobel Peace Prize!)
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To: Gay State Conservative

And it seems that you are headed in the right direction, as well. I am still searching for a maintenance regimen that will work for the long term, as well as maintaining my fitness level. It seems that dropping days per week from my workout schedule has not worked as well as I had hoped, and I now need to work off as many pounds as the number of extra days I skipped.

According to my observed pulse rate, I actually seem to work harder on the Arc Trainer than on the treadmill, so I might try a little more A-T and a little less TM to see what effect that might have.

And of course, I need to quit tasting the dark chocolate dipped rum balls I always make this time of year... (recipe available on request!)


20 posted on 12/13/2009 1:31:25 AM PST by MainFrame65 (The US Senate: World's greatest PREVARICATIVE body!.)
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