There’s a disease called type 2 diabetes (or T2D for short), and it’s a big problem all over the world. It’s responsible for more than a million deaths every year.
T2D happens when your body can’t use insulin properly to control your blood sugar levels. Insulin is like a key that lets sugar into your body’s cells. But in people with T2D, the key doesn’t work properly.
This causes blood sugar levels to rise and over time, can damage your heart, eyes, feet, and kidneys. It can even shorten your life by around ten years.
The Current Solution
Currently, people with T2D are usually given medicine and asked to change their lifestyle at first. But most will need to take insulin injections eventually. Scientists are always looking for better treatments.
One group of researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have found a promising new method. They have figured out a way to help your body use sugar more effectively.
The Sugar-Sucking Muscle Experiment
In a previous study, these scientists created special muscle cells that could take in more sugar from the blood. They put these cells into mice with diabetes, and it helped lower their blood sugar levels for four months!
In their newest experiment, they did something similar but with human muscle cells. They changed the cells so they would make more of a protein called GLUT4.
This protein helps cells take in sugar. They grew these cells into 3D tissue (kind of like a small chunk of muscle) in the lab.
The Sweet Results
They found that this new tissue could take in 50% more sugar than normal muscle tissue.
They then put this tissue into diabetic mice and saw that it lowered their blood sugar levels by around 20%. That’s a big improvement!
To make the treatment even easier, the team developed a soft, sponge-like material that could be injected with a syringe.
That means no need for surgery! The tissue grown on this new material worked just as well, and the injection didn’t hurt the tissue.
The Future of Diabetes Treatment
According to one of the researchers, Hagit Shoyhet, this new treatment could change the lives of people with T2D. She said, “Our technique would allow a patient’s own cells to be modified to take up more glucose.
A single injection of engineered tissue could provide long-lasting glucose control, significantly improving quality of life and life expectancy.”
The team is excited to do more tests and hopefully start clinical trials soon. It could be a sweet solution to a sugar problem!
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about Vitamin D and type2 diabetes, and what you need to know about avocado and type 2 diabetes.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about How to eat to prevent type 2 diabetes, and 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes.
Copyright © 2023 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
