The Number of People with Diabetes is Predicted to DOUBLE in the Next 25 Years

In a study in the December issue of Diabetes Care, the number of  people with Diabetes is predicted to almost double to 44.1 million people by 2034. And, at the same time, the cost of treating people with Diabetes will triple to $336 million dollars!

Factors driving the increase in diabetes cases include the aging population and continued high rates of obesity, both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, Additionally, more and more people will live with Diabetes for a longer period of time, thus increasing the length of treatment as well as the serious complications that Diabetes can cause. 

Molecule That Makes Obese People Develop Diabetes Discovered

 

A new European study has shown that obese people have large amounts of the chemokine molecule CXCL5, produced by certain cells in fatty tissue, and it is this molecule that  researchers feel will cause an obese person to develop Type II Diabetes.

'Chronic inflammation of the adipose tissue, which is characteristic of obese people, is a crucial stage in the development of insulin resistance and Type II Diabetes", Lluis Fajas, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) in France, said.

 Serum levels of CXCL5, produced by certain adipose tissue cells, appear at much high levels in the tissues of obese people than in those of individuals with normal weight. An experimental treatment aimed at inhibiting the action of CXCL5 has protected obese mice from developing Type II Diabetes. If this can be shown in humans, an important step to prevent diabetes in obese people will have been taken.

Tattoos May Help People with Diabetes

A new  type of sensor that changes color with rising blood sugar levels is now being testing by scientists. About the size of the clicker on the end of a ballpoint pen, this high tech tattoo is made up of tiny nanospheres which contain a special kind of ink that reacts with glucose. Invented by Heather Clark, a biomedical engineer at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the tattoo hasn’t yet been tested in humans but the early results in mice have been very promising.