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DiabetesDiabetes mellitus is a chronic, progressive disease caused by a lack of, or problems with processing, the hormone insulin. The result is persistently high glucose (sugar) in the blood, causing symptoms including slow-healing wounds, exhaustion, and increased thirst.
Globally, roughly 1 in 10 adults have diabetes. The condition is considered an epidemic by the World Health Organization, though a quarter of adults with diabetes don't know they have the disease.
There are two primary types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes—formerly known as juvenile-onset diabetes—is a partially inherited autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, undermining and potentially halting all production of the hormone. Type 2 diabetes occurs when your cells don’t respond normally to insulin or the pancreas can’t keep up with the amount of insulin needed to lower blood sugar levels.Explore Diabetes
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Leonard Thompson was the first human to receive an insulin injection for diabetesIn January 1922, the 14-year-old was the first person to receive an insulin injection to treat diabetes, just months after insulin was isolated in dogs and used to treat their induced diabetes. Thompson had an allergic response to an apparent impurity in the injection, but his second dose, 12 days later, was a success. UMass Chan Medical SchoolDiabetes drug GLP-1 is a peptide (that's what the 'P' is for)Glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, is one of the most well-known peptides in common use. In 2024, 26.5% of all adults with diagnosed diabetes used the substance. GLP-1 was particularly popular among people with diabetes aged 50-64, followed by younger adults and then seniors aged 65+. US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionType 1.5 diabetes is typically found in adulthoodClinically referred to as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA, this condition is often diagnosed as Type 2 diabetes. However, it’s an autoimmune disease that eventually requires insulin, just like Type 1 diabetes. Misdiagnosis can result in uncontrolled high blood sugar and a slew of other serious health issues. SELFThe popularity of new weight loss drugs has led to a diabetes treatment shortageThe FDA approved Ozempic to help patients with diabetes, but the popularity of semaglutide as a weight loss drug led doctors to prescribe Ozempic to nondiabetic patients who needed to lose weight. Ozempic became so popular that manufacturers could not keep pace with demand, posing risks for Ozempic-users with diabetes. NPRDiabetes is a chronic disease linked to insulin production and high blood sugarDiabetes is a chronic, progressive disease caused by a lack of, or problems processing, the hormone insulin, leading to persistently high blood sugar. Around 90 to 95% of cases are Type 2 (chronic and caused by factors like diet and environment). The remainder are Type 1 diabetes (an autoimmune disorder). 1440Black Americans with diabetes have amputation rates three times higher than averageAnnually, 130,000 US diabetics undergo amputations due to complications from diabetes, with many patients located in low-income and uninsured neighborhoods. More than half of US diabetics who lose lower limbs are not subject to pre-surgery angiograms, imaging that shows blood flow blockages to determine if (and where) amputation is necessary. ProPublicaFiji's 'quiet' diabetes crisisAcross the Pacific archipelago of Fiji, diabetes often avoids diagnosis until amputation or death is imminent. Fiji's government has said nearly 30% of its population has diabetes, and, in 2019, related amputations accounted for 40% of the country's hospital operations. This "sugar disease" may have such a stronghold on the archipelago, which has a physically active culture that prizes locally sourced foods, due to cost, with processed foods being much cheaper than alternatives. The GuardianWhy don't fruit bats get diabetes?Fruit bats eat up to twice their body weight in sugary fruit daily. Yet, they don't develop Type 2 diabetes, a condition not caused by sugar but influenced by the byproducts of high sugar consumption, such as weight gain and insulin resistance. Researchers have found that Jamaican fruit bats have more cells that produce insulin and glucagon—insulin's counterpart that keeps blood sugar from falling too low—than their bug-eating peers, so they are better able to regulate blood sugar. DiscoverIs it possible to cure diabetes?Treatments for diabetes depend on the type of condition a patient has. Gestational diabetes typically goes away after birth, and those with Type 2 diabetes may be able to reverse their condition through diet, exercise, and blood sugar management. Type 1 diabetes has no cure, but can be successfully managed. Labiotech.euType 2 diabetes is a chronic disease that develops over timeAlmost 90 to 95% of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, occuring when the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or the insulin fails to work correctly. Insulin malfunction causes the pancreas to crank out increasingly high amounts of the blood sugar-regulating hormone, leading to overwork and reductions in production. Diabetes UKType 1 diabetes is an inherent autoimmune disorder inhibiting insulin productionDiabetes causes the body to attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, causing a shortage or lack of insulin. This prevents the body from accessing and storing blood sugar—the brain and muscles' primary energy source. It's unclear what causes Type 1 diabetes, an incurable yet manageable chronic condition as of 2024. Mayo ClinicGestational diabetes occurs when the body can't produce insulin during pregnancyPregnant people worldwide are increasingly likely to develop gestational diabetes due to rising maternal ages and obesity rates. Gestational diabetes is associated with heavier fetal weight, congenital abnormalities, and perinatal mortality, which includes stillbirths and deaths of infants younger than seven days old. Oxford University PressDiabetes has downstream effects on the heart, eyes, kidneys, and moreHigh blood sugar levels in untreated diabetes roughen artery walls, increasing plaque buildup, heart disease, and high blood pressure risk. High levels also cause acid to build up in the bloodstream, potentially making the brain swell, the lungs fill with fluid, and the heart to beat arrhythmically—all fatal complications. Yale MedicineOne in 10 adults worldwide has diabetesAs of 2021, diabetes claimed at least 6.7 million lives and continues to kill one person every five seconds. Nearly one in two adults with diabetes don't know they have the condition, which is expected to increase in prevalence from 537 million in 2021, to 783 million in 2045. International Diabetes FederationAn overview of 200 years of diabetes treatmentDiabetes treatment became truly effective after the advent of insulin injections in the early 1900s. Diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Current trends estimate one in three Americans will have diabetes by 2050. This overview explores two centuries of diabetes treatment—starting in 1812—and outline potential challenges to treatment and prevention. The New England Journal of MedicineDiabetes 101: Insulin deficiency leads to high glucose levels in the bloodGlucose, the brain's preferred energy source, enters the bloodstream when the body breaks down consumed carbohydrates. To manage this increase in readily available energy, the body releases the hormone insulin, which allows glucose to enter and fuel our cells. Without insulin, glucose remains in the blood, causing health issues. Diabetes UKGLP-1 drugs, first used to manage diabetes, were derived from Gila monster salivaScientists studying the barely-there feeding frequency of the Gila monster found its saliva had a hormone regulating blood sugar and appetite. Further research revealed this hormone resembled a human one known as GLP-1, giving rise to the modern wave of diabetes and weight-management drugs. Plain EnglishWhy are South Asian populations at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes?During the British Raj, 25 major famines killed at least 60 million Indians (comparatively, India had just 17 famines in the 2,000 years before this conquest). British policies, including land taxes and food exports, worsened droughts and redirected essential resources from the Indian citizens who needed them. Epigenetics—the study of how one's behaviors and environments change gene expression—has revealed that these tragedies resulted in survivors passing down genetic traits that made their children more susceptible to health issues, including Type 2 diabetes. The GuardianHow scientists are using the vagus nerve to treat heart conditions, epilepsy, diabetes and moreThe vagus nerve is a long nerve that connects the brain to many parts of the body, including the heart, lungs, and gut. Doctors have long known that stimulating the vagus nerve can help treat epilepsy and depression, but recent research suggests it may also be help treat other conditions, such as heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes. The vagus nerve is a two-way street, meaning that it sends signals from the body to the brain and from the brain to the body. This makes it a promising target for new therapies, as it could be used to both calm the brain and to stimulate the body's own healing mechanisms. Science NewsBlood Pressure and DiabetesNew meta-analysis shows blood pressure reductions with ACE inhibitors and ARBs are associated with a lower diabetes risk, but other types of antihypertensive agents have the opposite effect. MedscapeHow scientists study Earth's geocorona, the farthest portion of the planet's exosphereSeen via ultraviolet radiation scattered by neutral hydrogen in the region, observations by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory indicate that the geocorona extends roughly 50 times Earth's diameter above its surface. At this distance, the geocorona extends beyond the Moon's orbit. NASA GoddardAurea is the first US baby born following polygenic analysisThe child, born in May 2020, was selected by her parents to optimize for certain health qualities based on an analysis of her multifactorial genes by a New Jersey-based company called Genomic Prediction. Her embryo was selected for implantation based on polygenic risk scores for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The GuardianPolygenic scores aim to predict traits based on the contributions of many genesThese novel tests for multifactorial conditions evaluate the probability of traits like elevated blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol based on what researchers currently know about different gene variants and their links to various traits. The tests are predictive, not definitive, partly because environmental factors influence the expression of genes. What's more, knowledge about cumulative effects from individual genes continues to evolve. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine states that these tests are too unreliable and nascent for clinical use. American Society for Reproductive MedicineGLP-1 drugs are under investigation for treating Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and drug addictionResearchers are investigating GLP-1 applications for a variety of chronic conditions. One area of interest stems from how study participants using GLP-1 for diabetes and obesity reported describing less longing for wine and cigarettes while taking the medication—intriguing researchers about using the drugs for addiction applications. The drug, they theorize, could bind to receptors that mediate desire. (Some users may experience a paywall.) ScienceSee the first dog ever treated with insulin—a peptideFrederick Banting and his graduate student Charles Best were the first to isolate the peptide insulin from dogs. They induced diabetes in the animals and then treated them with this peptide. UMass Chan Medical SchoolExplore the effects of tornadoes of different scalesIn this simulation, users can adjust the tornado's diameter and rotation speed to see its impact as it passes through a series of trees and a one-story home. NOAATyphoid smells like freshly baked brown breadCertain ailments are associated with documented scents, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and typhoid. The skin of people with yellow fever, for example, can smell like a "butcher shop." Gross ScienceA super-sniffer smelled her husband's Parkinson's disease years ahead of symptomsShe discovered she could smell diseases, including Parkinson's, tuberculosis, Alzheimer's, cancer, and diabetes. Working with an analytic chemist, she's learned she can smell subtle changes in odor—ones that smell consistent across individuals with the same disorder—even before symptoms manifest. Invisibilia What do people do once GLP-1 medications succeed at weight loss?The drugs have been adopted by 1 in 8 Americans, with many achieving their prescribed weight loss. They now face the question of how to keep the weight off, the key issue with any weight loss program that researchers have known about for decades. Each case is unique. Some folks continue to use GLP-1s like Ozempic in minuscule doses, while others taper them off over time. The ConversationImmunosuppressants enable organ transplants, but come with severe side effectsThis drug cocktail helps to lower your body's natural response to attack a transplanted organ. Such medications usually need to be taken for a lifetime after receiving an organ and can come with serious side effects including high blood pressure, diabetes, increased risk of some cancers, and high cholesterol, among others. National Kidney FoundationSee different pig-to-human xenotransplantation possibilitiesXenotransplantation can include the insertion of any organ, tissue, cells or fluids from any nonhuman animal into a human. This US Food and Drug Administration graphic about pig-to-human applications shows different possibilities, including the exploration of using pig pancreatic cells for treating diabetes. US Food & Drug AdministrationEvery day, lightning releases several Hiroshima bombs' worth of energy into the atmosphereIf all this lightning struck one location at once, the bolt would be the diameter of the center circle of a basketball court, turning the entire court into a crater. Its heat would ignite surfaces for miles around, and its shockwave would demolish buildings. xkcd's What If?The first circular particle accelerator was narrower than the average cereal bowlThe 1939 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Ernest Lawrence for inventing the cyclotron. By comparison, the Large Hadron Collider is 5 miles in diameter and is the largest cryogenic system in the world, cooling its electromagnets to temperatures colder than those found in outer space. Symmetry MagazineHow semaglutides are both better and worse than we knowThe drugs were developed for use treating diabetes and, later, weight loss, but they have proven helpful with the heart, kidneys, and colon. On the flipside, it may slow digestion and lead to gastroparesis, or stomach blockages, and unexpected babies resulting from the slow effect of birth control pills. SciShowEstimates suggest inactivity contributes to 6% of deaths worldwideThe World Health Organization identifies physical inactivity as the fourth leading modifiable risk factor for global mortality, just behind hypertension, tobacco use, and high blood glucose. Latest estimates are that inactivity contributes to 6% of deaths and significantly increases the burden of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. National Institutes of HealthContinual sitting harms your health in a variety of waysProlonged inactivity, like sitting for long periods, slows metabolism, weakens muscles and bones, and impairs insulin function. When these negative changes persist over time, the cumulative result is an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and many cancers. TED-EdMyokines are molecules that facilitate some of the benefits of exerciseWhen muscles contract, they release ‘hope molecules’ (myokines) such as IL-6 and irisin. These proteins then travel through the bloodstream to reduce inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and even support brain repair. This piece illustrates how movement triggers a systemic healing cascade throughout the human body. NIHVoyager Station, the world's first space hotel, is planned for 2027The structure spans 488 meters in diameter and will rotate to simulate one-sixth of Earth's gravity while circumnavigating the planet every 90 minutes. The Voyager Station is designed to accommodate 450 guests and 150 crew members, providing amenities such as restaurants, a sports hall, and a movie theater. ArchiExpo e-MagazineThe Hubble Space Telescope uses curved mirrors to collect and focus lightClassified as a Cassegrain reflector, the observatory bounces incoming visible light and some infrared and ultraviolet light off a primary mirror with a diameter of 2.4 meters. The reflected light is directed to a secondary mirror, which reflects it through a tiny hole in the primary mirror and onto detectors. Space.comEarth is constantly bombarded by material from spaceMost of this matter is composed of small particles, with any smaller than 33 feet in diameter burning up in the atmosphere. Larger asteroids can reach the ground, and those larger than several thousand feet cause global damage, including earthquakes and tsunamis. 1440Research suggests Ozempic has benefits beyond weight lossSemaglutide, the key ingredient in Ozempic, is proving to be more than just a diabetes and weight loss drug. Research suggests it may also help prevent strokes, improve heart health, and slow Alzheimer’s. 1440 DailyTirzepatide: A GLP-1 drug that also acts on separate receptors to promote weight lossTirzepatide, like semaglutide, is a GLP-1 drug used in diabetes treatment and for weight loss. Unlike semaglutide, it also acts on glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptors, proving a second route to reducing appetite as a means to treat diabetes and promote weight loss. GoodRxRead the FDA's statement on concerns over compound pharmaciesGLP-1 drugs popularity for weight loss and treating diabetes, led to a significant supply shortage and the rise of compound pharmacies, which produce customized drug formulations but lack formal approval from regulators. The drugs are ostensibly the same, but manufacturing methods lead to variations in concentration, filler compounds, and more. U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSee which GLP-1 drugs are currently approved (along with their cost)Around 75% of prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs are used to treat diabetes, while the remainder is used for weight loss. This overview from GoodRX includes a list and overview of currently available options along with prices for each. GoodRXWhy diabetics are making homemade insulinTreating Type 1 diabetes, and sometimes Type 2, requires access to the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin. The price of this life-saving drug has more than tripled in the US since 2002, leading some American diabetics to ration the necessary medication, turn to the black market, or buy it from other, more affordable countries. There's now another way people are coping: making their own. A team of biohackers in California is trying to create an open-source version. CNBCOvermedication has put type 2 diabetics at risk of low blood sugarType 2 diabetics in the US risk dying from low blood sugar, an epidemic traced to a decades-old, multi-million-dollar drug industry campaign encouraging an average blood sugar level below 7%. Contemporary research correlated such levels with reduced risk of eye, nerve, and kidney damage and increased hypoglycemia risk. ReutersInsulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar by helping absorb it into cellsBlood sugar levels increase after a meal when the body starts turning food into usable fuel—sugars, proteins, and more—which are absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestines. Blood sugar levels rise, releasing insulin, and letting sugar in the blood be absorbed into hungry cells, thereby dropping blood sugar levels. NatureThe discovery of insulin led to a controversial Nobel Prize in 1923For centuries, Type 1 diabetes was fatal. The 1920s "discovery" of insulin netted two of its creators—Frederick Banting and his boss, John Macleod—a Nobel prize. Separately, the German doctor Georg Zuelzer synthesized an effective version of the life-saving drug years earlier but was interrupted by World War I. The ConversationFalcon 9's first stage is able to land within a 30-foot diameter target consistentlySpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket releases its reusable first stage hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface as it travels thousands of mile per hour. The stage often then lands on an autonomous ocean drone in the middle of the sea. Art of EngineeringGLP-1 drugs mimic a natural hormone that triggers appetite-suppressing effectsOzempic, one of the brand names for the drug semaglutide, was originally developed in 2012, to help treat Type 2 diabetes. Among other effects, the drug mimics a naturally produced hormone known as GLP-1, which is released while eating to let our bodies know we are full. Vox
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