Diabetes is a growing health problem around the world. Right now, about 415 million people have diabetes, and most of them—around 90%—have type 2 diabetes.
This condition happens when the body cannot make enough insulin, which leads to high levels of sugar in the blood. Insulin is a hormone made by cells in the pancreas called beta-cells. It helps lower blood sugar when it gets too high.
For a long time, doctors believed that the main issue in type 2 diabetes was having too much sugar in the blood. But new research from the University of Oxford is changing that idea.
The study shows that it’s not just the sugar (glucose) itself that damages the pancreas. Instead, it’s what happens to sugar once it gets inside the body’s cells. When glucose is broken down inside cells, it creates byproducts—also called glucose metabolites.
These byproducts may be the real reason why the insulin-producing beta-cells stop working well over time. The research suggests that the process of glucose metabolism—how the body handles and breaks down sugar—may be more harmful than the sugar levels alone.
This is a big discovery because it changes how scientists and doctors might treat type 2 diabetes. If we can find ways to slow down or change how glucose is broken down in the body, we might be able to protect the beta-cells and help people with diabetes make insulin for longer.
That means we could one day have better treatments that don’t just focus on lowering blood sugar, but also on fixing how the body processes sugar.
Keeping blood sugar levels balanced is very important for health. If blood sugar goes too low, it can make a person feel dizzy, confused, or even faint.
But if blood sugar stays too high for a long time, it can harm the eyes, kidneys, nerves, and heart. In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas still makes insulin, but the beta-cells become weaker and less able to respond to changes in blood sugar.
The Oxford study, led by Dr. Elizabeth Haythorne, shows that a certain glucose byproduct builds up in the cells because of a blockage in how glucose is broken down. This buildup seems to damage the beta-cells and make it harder for them to release insulin. This changes the focus from just blood sugar levels to the entire process of sugar metabolism.
This research gives hope to the millions of people living with type 2 diabetes. It opens the door to new ways of treating the disease that go beyond the usual methods.
By understanding what really causes the beta-cells to fail, scientists can look for treatments that stop or slow down that damage. This could lead to better health and quality of life for many people.
For anyone living with diabetes or working to fight it, this study is a big step forward. It changes how we think about the disease and offers new ideas for improving care and outcomes.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about the cooking connection between potatoes and diabetes, and low calorie diets may help reverse type 2 diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about protein power: a new ally in diabetes management, and pineapple and diabetes: A sweet surprise.
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