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2000 Archived News

  • Is There A New Subtype of Type 1 Diabetes?  :  [November, 2000] — Type 1 diabetes is believed to be autoimmune in nature. Scientists and clinicians have long noted that some patients who develop type 1 diabetes seem to develop the disease very rapidly, suggesting that a different process might be involved in some instances. In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Japanese scientists describe a novel subtype of type 1 diabetes in a population of 56 Japanese patients which develops rapidly and has no diabetes-related antibodies present at the time of diagnosis.
  • Drs. Benoist and Mathis Named First Recipients of Young Chair  :  [November, 2000] — Earlier this year, Joslin Trustee William T. Young Jr. established the William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research at Joslin in Boston in honor of his parents to further the Center’s efforts in type 1 diabetes research. Christophe O. Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., and Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., heads of the Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics, were named the first recipients of the Young Chair at a ceremony at Joslin.
  • What Changes in the Immune System Trigger Type 1 Diabetes?  :  [November, 2000] — What triggers the immune system to attack its own insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas, throwing off track the body’s system for controlling blood sugar levels and obtaining energy from food? Why does type 1 diabetes often develop in young children, while in others it may take decades to appear? These are some of the questions being explored by Christophe O. Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., and Diane J. Mathis, Ph.D., who head the Section on Immunology and Immunogenetics at Joslin in Boston.
  • Joslin-Beth Israel Deaconess Foot Center Keeps Patients on their Feet  :  [November, 2000] — Sixty thousand amputations are performed on people with diabetes in the U.S. each year, due to circulatory problems, infections and neuropathy caused by the disease. But thanks in part to the staff at the Joslin-Beth Israel Deaconess Foot Center, this number is decreasing. The center handles 13,000 patient visits annually, providing one-stop access to vascular surgeons, podiatrists, diabetologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists and infectious disease specialists who use the latest research and treatment options to keep patients on their feet.
  • During November's Diabetes Awareness Month Joslin Diabetes Center Calls on All Americans to Observe "Get Movin' Mondays" and "Lower Your Fat Fridays"  :  [November, 2000] — Summer is over, the days are shorter, it gets dark earlier, and we all just feel the need to eat more comfort (i.e. fatty) foods and sit in front of the TV for the next six dark months. According to the staff at Joslin, this is the quickest way to develop adult onset or type 2 diabetes. And if you have diabetes already, a sedentary wintertime lifestyle can make blood sugars hard to control.
  • Longtime Joslin Patient Wins Gold in Sydney  :  [October, 2000] — Longtime Joslin patient Pam Fernandes of Needham, MA has won a gold medal and set a world record at the Paralympics Games in Sydney, Australia. In the finals of the Mixed Tandem 1km Time Trial, Fernandes and cycling teammate Al Whaley of Houston TX, won gold in a world record time of 1:08.997.
  • Diabetes is Growing and People are Developing the Disease Earlier  :  [October, 2000] — Over the past few weeks, there has been extensive media coverage about the rising prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. Diabetes has been the cover story of Newsweek magazine, and the focus of multiple newspaper articles, and national as well as local news broadcasts. What is this news really about? What are its implications? Joslin president C. Ronald Kahn M.D. offers his perspective.
  • Researchers Find Common Link Between Diabetes, Obesity and Infertility  :  [September, 2000] — Research published in this week's issue of the journal Nature shows that insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2), a protein inside of cells that is essential for normal response to insulin, might also promote fertility and fight against obesity. The study shows that female mice lacking the IRS-2 gene rarely become pregnant, consume more food, and become fat.
  • Scientists Link Role of Insulin Receptors in Brain to Type 2 Diabetes, Appetite Control, Obesity and Infertility  :  [September, 2000] — A new study led by scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center and a German university links the insulin signaling system in the brain not only to the onset of type 2 (adult onset) diabetes, but also to appetite control, obesity and even infertility. Using genetically-altered laboratory mice, the researchers found that the mice in which insulin action was blocked gained weight at a considerably higher rate than their counterparts, developed resistance to insulin action in other tissues of the body, and exhibited a 50 percent decrease in fertility.
  • New Theories of Type 2 Diabetes Emerging  :  [August, 2000] — New research published in the July 26 issue of Molecular Cell suggests that insulin action in the liver is both important in the development of type 2 diabetes and normal liver growth and function. This research, coupled with other studies that have come out in the past several years, is resulting in an evolving, more complex picture of what may cause type 2 diabetes in humans and the importance of insulin for normal tissue function.
  • Joslin Part of Ten Site, Worldwide Clinical Trial of Islet Transplants Using Edmonton Protocol  :  [July, 2000] — The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Center for Islet Cell Transplantation at Harvard Medical School — of which Joslin Diabetes Center is a key member — has been named one of ten sites in the world which will participate in a multi-center study of the Edmonton Protocol for islet transplantation that will begin this Fall.
  • New Source of Insulin-Producing Cells Developed  :  [July, 2000] — Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston have discovered a way in the laboratory to encourage cells that do not normally produce insulin to evolve into insulin-producing cells, thereby creating a potential new source of insulin-producing cells for people with diabetes.
  • New Islet Transplant Research Report Generates Enthusiasm  :  [June, 2000] — A new islet cell transplantation technique, developed by Dr. James Shapiro and colleagues at the University of Alberta, has garnered international headlines in recent days after it was announced that all 8 patients they treated remain free from the need for daily insulin injections for up to 14 months following treatment.
  • More Proof that Small Daily Insulin Injections Can Delay or Prevent Type 1 Diabetes  :  [June, 2000] — New research shows that small daily doses of injected insulin given to individuals likely to develop type 1 diabetes may prevent the disease for as long as eight years, according to researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
  • Study Shows Fiber's Great Benefits in Type 2 Diabetes  :  [May, 2000] — An article in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine suggests that people with type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes can lower their blood sugars significantly by increasing the amount of fiber in their diet beyond the levels currently recommended by the American Diabetes Association. But the question remains: how can clinicians get patients to eat more fiber?
  • Diabetes Cost Reduction Signed Into Law  :  [May, 2000] — The Diabetes Cost Reduction Act, which is legislation to mandate insurance coverage for preventative care for people with diabetes, has now been signed into law by Governor Paul Cellucci.
  • Patients with Diabetes Who Have Heart Attacks Fare Better If They Have Had Bypass Surgery  :  [April, 2000] — A study in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine suggests that patients with diabetes who suffer a heart attack are more likely to survive the heart attack if earlier heart disease has been treated using cardiac bypass surgery rather than angioplasty.
  • Do You Have Diabetes and Not Know It?  :  [March, 2000] — Nearly three years after guidelines for diabetes diagnosis were changed by the American Diabetes Association, many people who may have diabetes — and the physicians who treat them — remain unclear as to how diabetes should be diagnosed.
  • Study Shows Beta-Blockers Can Increase Patients’ Risk of Type 2 Diabetes  :  [March 29, 2000] — A study by researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the use of beta-blockers, a commonly prescribed medication for high blood pressure (hypertension), can increase patients’ risk of type 2 diabetes.
  • Rezulin Withdrawn from the Market  :  [March 22, 2000] — Warner Lambert has agreed to withdraw the type 2 drug Rezulin from the market at the request of the federal Food and Drug Administration. Patients using Rezulin are urged to contact their physicians to discuss stopping the drug immediately and to obtain information about switching to alternative treatments.
  • C. Ronald Kahn, M.D., Named Sixth President of Joslin Diabetes Center  :  [January, 2000] — An internationally recognized diabetes researcher has been named the sixth President of Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, effective Jan. 13, 2000.
 
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