Live Well with Diabetes

What’s New in Diabetes Research ?

Keep up with the times
Social media and diabetes care
 
Social media has become a force to reckon with and has permeated through every known activity. Doctors can get greater insight into what patients are discussing regarding care, treatment, and needs especially in diabetes management. As managing diabetes is a continuous process, doctors can get to understand the day- today life and the impact of diabetes by reading patients’ tweets on Twitter. Doctors will be able to observe a lot more about the patient than they usually do through a short interaction at the clinic. 

To prevent the development of foot ulcers in people with nerve damage in their lower limbs, a UK research team is testing new technology to help find a way to raise an alarm if pressure is too high. The
‘biofeedback’ system uses special insoles in shoes to record foot pressure and relays this information to the screen of a ‘smart watch’. When the system beeps or vibrates as a warning of high pressure, the user can use corrective measures to reduce the pressure.

Gut bacteria –
‘The forgotten organ’

 Possible links have been observed between gut bacteria and the rise in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes mellitus.

An ideal balance of gut bacteria is important to our health and any changes can play a role in the development of conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer,asthma and so on.

There is now growing evidence that changes to the balance are also involved in the development of both Type 1 diabetes mellitus and Type 2 diabetes mellitus.*

Increasing evidence suggests that gut bacteria are an important bridge between genes and lifestyle, environment, immune system and risk of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus.

Animal studies show that obesity is linked to changes in the composition and function of the gut bacteria. Diet and physical activity both have an effect on gut bacteria. – a healthy diet low in fat and high in fibre has been linked to more diverse bacteria when compared to a diet high in fat and low in fibre*.

Experiments show that gut bacteria help to digest otherwise indigestible sugars in our diet, store energy as fat, and use energy by burning fats. By doing this, they can either contribute to or help protect against weight gain, resistance to insulin in body cells and Type 2 Diabetes mellitus.

Excess of gut bacteria due to eating too much fibre can change the way the liver processes fat and can lead to the development of metabolic syndrome, a precursor of Type 2 Diabetes mellitus *.

Further studies could open the door to completely new ways to treat obesity and T2DM.*

Diabetes mellitus is a group of diseases that
result in too much sugar in the blood, or
high blood glucose.
The most common types are:
Type 2 diabetes - A chronic condition that
affects the way the body processes blood
glucose
Type 1 diabetes - A chronic condition in
which the
pancreas produces little or no insulin.
Pre diabetes - A condition in which blood
sugar is high, but not high enough to be
Type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes - A form of high blood
sugar affecting pregnant women
Consult a doctor for medical advice.