News tagged with insulin
Insight into the dazzling impact of insulin in cells
Australian scientists have charted the path of insulin action in cells in precise detail like never before. This provides a comprehensive blueprint for understanding what goes wrong in diabetes.
Medical research
May 21, 2013 |
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Gut microbe battles obesity
(Medical Xpress)—Akkermansia muciniphila is one of the many microbes that live in our intestines. This bacterium, which feeds on the intestine's mucus lining, comprises between 3 and 5 percent of the gut microbes of hea ...
Medical research
May 14, 2013 |
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Potential diabetes breakthrough: Researchers discover new hormone spurring beta cell production
Researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) have discovered a hormone that holds promise for a dramatically more effective treatment of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic illness afflicting an estimated ...
Medical research
Apr 25, 2013 |
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Diabetes' genetic underpinnings can vary based on ethnic background, studies say
Ethnic background plays a surprisingly large role in how diabetes develops on a cellular level, according to two new studies led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Diabetes
14 hours ago |
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Treatment of sleep apnea improves glucose levels in prediabetes
Optimal treatment of sleep apnea in patients with prediabetes improves blood sugar (glucose) levels and thus can reduce cardiometabolic risk, according to a study to be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference in ...
Sleep apnea
May 20, 2013 |
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Free fatty acids linked to cardiac risk in late adulthood
(HealthDay)—Blood levels of free fatty acids are associated with insulin resistance during young adulthood and cardiovascular risk factors in later adulthood, according to a study published online May 13 ...
Cardiology
May 17, 2013 |
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DNA variant affects diabetes risk and treatment response
A DNA variant near a digestive enzyme does not only affect risk of developing diabetes but also affects the response to treatment, an international consortium of researchers including the University of Dundee has found.
Diabetes
May 17, 2013 |
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The artificial pancreas that keeps tabs on sugar
(Medical Xpress)—Development of a sophisticated artificial pancreas holds potential to transform the lives of patients with Type 1 diabetes.
Diabetes
May 16, 2013 |
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Discovery of new hormone opens doors to new type 2 diabetes treatments
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have discovered that a particular type of protein (hormone) found in fat cells helps regulate how glucose (blood sugar) is controlled and metabolized (used for energy) in ...
Diabetes
May 07, 2013 |
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Study identifies genes, pathways altered during relaxation response practice
A new study from investigators at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind/Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) finds that elicitation of the relaxation response ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 01, 2013 |
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Scientists make insulin-producing cells self-replicate
(Medical Xpress)—Scientists have discovered a hormone that causes the body's insulin-producing factories, beta cells, to churn out more of themselves. Having enough insulin is critical to regulating the amount of sugar ...
Medical research
Apr 29, 2013 |
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Type 2 diabetes progresses faster in kids, study finds
(HealthDay)—Type 2 diabetes is more aggressive in children than adults, with signs of serious complications seen just a few years after diagnosis, new research finds.
Diabetes
10 hours ago |
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Study findings significant for treating infections in Type 1 diabetes
A small University at Buffalo study has found for the first time that in Type 1 diabetics, insulin injections exert a strong anti-inflammatory effect at the cellular and molecular level, while even small amounts of glucose ...
Diabetes
May 16, 2013 |
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Novel study reports marijuana users have better blood sugar control
Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators. They found that current marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin ...
Health
May 15, 2013 |
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Hospital hypoglycemia rates up in black men with diabetes
(HealthDay)—Home diabetes regimens partially explain the increased risk of having a hypoglycemia event during hospitalization among older African-American men with diabetes, according to a study published ...
Diabetes
May 14, 2013 |
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Insulin
More reference expression data
Insulin is a hormone that has extensive effects on metabolism and other body functions, such as vascular compliance. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stopping use of fat as an energy source. When insulin is absent (or low), glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source, for example, by transfer of lipids from adipose tissue to the liver for mobilization as an energy source. As its level is a central metabolic control mechanism, its status is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body. When control of insulin levels fails, diabetes mellitus results.
Insulin is used medically to treat some forms of diabetes mellitus. Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus depend on external insulin (most commonly injected subcutaneously) for their survival because the hormone is no longer produced internally. Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus are insulin resistant, and because of such resistance, may suffer from a relative insulin deficiency. Some patients with Type 2 diabetes may eventually require insulin when other medications fail to control blood glucose levels adequately.
Insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. It is produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The name comes from the Latin insula for "island".
Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animal. Insulin from animal sources differs somewhat in 'strength' (in carbohydrate metabolism control effects) in humans because of those variations. Porcine (pig) insulin is especially close to the human version.
For more information about Insulin, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
