The new study, led by C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., and Cullen Taniguchi, M.D., Ph.D., of Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and their colleagues, is published in the May edition of Cell Metabolism. The findings open the door to the development of new treatments that one day may target directly the conditions that contribute to type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.
"Patients with the metabolic syndrome have high levels of both glucose and lipids in the blood. We now understand that insulin that controls the pathways that control glucose levels are different from those that regulate lipid levels. By targeting these specific pathways, we might be able to improve problems with glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism or both," says Dr. Kahn, President of Joslin Diabetes Center and Mary K. Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Diabetes affects an estimated 20.8 million children and adults in the United States -- 7 percent of the population. An estimated 14.6 million Americans have been diagnosed, leaving 6.2 million Americans unaware that they have the disease. In addition, 41 million Americans are thought to have pre-diabetes, or elevated blood glucose levels that put them at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. If untreated or poorly treated, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney disease, stroke, nerve damage and circulation problems that can result in limb amputations.
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12-May-2006