Stem Cells and Diabetes

Stem Cells and Diabetes

For decades, diabetes researchers have been searching for ways to replace the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas that are destroyed by a patient’s own immune system. Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms.

 Diabetes type 1

The autoimmune reaction of the body to the pancreatic beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans and the resulting destruction of these beta cells, cause an immediate  insulin deficiency, resulting in type 1 diabetes. Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a degenerative disease, which is traditionally treated using insulin injections. These injections
replace the missing hormone, but the complications can be farreaching.

Hyperglycemia is a common contributor to a number of complications like
    • Heart and vascular diseases Stem Cells and Diabetes
    • Eye and kidney complaints
    • Poor vascularisation   
    • Damage to nerve cells (neuropathy)
    • Diabetic feet
    • High susceptibility for infections
    • Erectile penile dysfunction

Diabetes type 2

    Type 2 diabetes used to be known as maturity onset, or noninsulin dependent diabetes. Although type 2 diabetes typically affects individuals over the age of 40, today it occurs at an increasingly younger age, especially in people who have a family history of diabetes. Diabetes mellitus type 2 is the most common form, affecting 85 - 90% of all people with diabetes. Experts estimate that nearly one-third of people who have type 2 diabetes don’t even know it.

  
What are stem cells and why are they important?

Stem cells have two important characteristics that distinguish them from other types of cells.

    • They are unspecialised cells that renew themselves for long periods through cell division.
    • Under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become cells with special functions such as the beating cells of the heart muscle or the insulinproducing cells of the pancreas.

    • Milk, Yogurt and Cheese: 2-4 servings a day 1 serving = 1 cup milk or yogurt, 1 oz natural cheese, 2 oz processed cheese.
    • Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs and Nuts: 2-3 servings a day 1 serving = 3 oz cooked lean meat, poultry or fish; 1 egg; 1/2 cup cooked beans; 2 tablespoons peanut butter, nuts or seeds.Couple the Food Guide Pyramid with practical food portion measurements and you’ve got an easy and pretty accurate way to gain control over the amount of food you eat.

What are adult stem cells?

Adult (Somatic) stem cells are unspecialized cells that are found in different parts of the body and, depending on the source tissue, have different properties.
• Adult stem cells are capable of self-renewal and give rise to daughter cells that are specialized to form the cell types found in the original body part.
• Adult stem cells  multi-potent, meaning that they appear to be limited in the cell types that they can produce based on current evidence. However, recent scientific

For more information visit us at,
http://www.mvdiabetes.com

Diabetes Research Centres in Chennai

Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Five Race and Ethnic Populations

Diabetes, a leading cause of nephropathy, retinopathy, neuropathy, and coronary and peripheral vascular disease, is the third most prevalent severe chronic disease of childhood in the U.S. People with diabetes diagnosed before the age of 20 years have a life expectancy that is 15–27 years shorter than people without diabetes , although prospective data show improvements in mortality for those diagnosed in more recent years.Until only a decade ago, diabetes diagnosed in children and adolescents was almost entirely considered to be type 1 diabetes, most often due to the autoimmune destruction of the β-cells of the pancreas leading to an absolute deficiency of insulin.

Diabetes in children and adolescents is now viewed as a complex disorder with heterogeneity in its pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and clinical outcome. The occurrence of what appears clinically to be type 2 diabetes in youth, particularly overweight minority youth, has been documented in several studies. 

The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Diabetes Translation, with support from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, began in 2000 with an overarching objective to describe childhood diabetes as it occurs among the five major race and ethnic groups in the U.S. These groups include non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, African American, and American Indian. Key aims of the study with a focus on race and ethnicity are the following:

• To estimate the prevalence and incidence of physician-diagnosed diabetes in youth aged <20 years by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and diabetes type; and
• To characterize key risk factors for diabetes complications, according to race
  
  

  

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes occur in each of the five major race/ethnic groups under surveillance  In this Diabetes Care supplement, we provide a set of five articles, each devoted to one of the five race/ethnic groups. These articles were designed to provide a comprehensive picture of the face of diabetes in the race/ethnic group of interest and to highlight important aspects of the epidemiologic, biochemical, quality-of-care, social, and behavioral aspects of diabetes in these youth.

For more information visit us at,
http://www.mvdiabetes.com

Hospital for Diabetes Care,Diabetes Research Centre

Diabetic Clinic in India

Nutrition and Dietetics (4.66%) as India's share in these areas is inadequate. Changes in life-style including appropriate nutritional practices and exercise are critical in the management as engaging in moderate exercise, avoid excessive weight gain, eating whole grain carbohydrates and vegetable oils could eliminate over 80 per cent of type-2 diabetes. This is especially ironical for a poor country like India where childhood and adult obesity stare at us alongside poverty and malnutrition.

Diabetologists and Researchers

Broad subject categorization of the type of highly cited papers in India showed that four were from the clinical sciences area followed by three epidemiological studies and three in basic diabetes science area. Interestingly, all but one of the highly cited papers from the world appear to be from the clinical research area, many of them reporting data from large clinical trials.

Types of Diabetes

Sixty percent to 70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe diabetes-related nerve damage, which often includes deceased sensation or pain in the feet, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data the release. Severe nerve damage can lead to foot ulcers and lower limb amputation.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood.

Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb. Pregnant women can also get diabetes, called gestational diabetes.

Symptoms of Type 2 diabetes may include fatigue, thirst, weight loss, blurred vision and frequent urination. Some people have no symptoms. A blood test can show if you have diabetes. Exercise, weight control and sticking to your meal plan can help control your diabetes. You should also monitor your glucose level and take medicine if prescribed.

For more information visit us at,
http://www.mvdiabetes.com

Skin Care in Diabetes

Skin care in Diabetes

Diabetes affects different body parts of a person including skin. The skin disorders can be seen in normal individual too, but diabetics are more frequently prone to it. Fortunately, most of the skin infections can easily be controlled if detected in early stages. Infection can be bacterial, fungal or simple itching.

Fortunately, many skin problems can be prevented or treated easily if caught early.

Skin can be kept healthy by following these tips:

Bathing
    • Use a moisturizing soap, but avoid bubble baths.
    • Use warm (not hot) water while bathing.
    • Bathe less during cold (dry months.)
    • Dry your skin well and use talcum powder to minimize friction between contact areas of skin.

Moisturizing
    • Drink at least eight glasses of water each day.
    • Apply lotion to your skin after bathing, but don’t use it between the toes.

Avoiding Injury
    • Treat cuts right away. Wash minor breaks with soap and water.
    • Do not use antiseptic, iodine or alcohol, as these can be too harsh.
    • Always wear soft foot wear at home.
    • Check for injuries every day -- especially on your feet.

Diabetes skin care tips

• Optimize your high blood sugar levels
• Keep your skin dry as much as you can
• Do check regularly your skin for damaged areas 
• Be careful while treating cuts or burns
• Do use room humidifiers to prevent dry skin  
• Use sunscreens with a15 or higher SPF
• Always go for cotton clothes
• Seek dermatologist help 

For more info visit us

http://www.mvdiabetes.com

Diabetes Research

M.V. Hospital for Diabetes (P) LTD. 
WHO Collaboration Center for Research, Education & Training in Diabetes 

                           M.V. Hospital working in tandem with WHO, launched a campaign on November 11,2007,titled “ campaign on prevention of childhood obesity and diabetes”. On this occasion a manual on prevention of childhood diabetes was released by Mr. Thangam Thennarasu, Honorable Minister of Education, Tamil Nadu and the recipient of the first copy was Mr. D. Jagannathan ,Director of school Education, Tamil Nadu .


.MV Hospital for diabetes & research center is WHO collaboration centre for diabetes in India and over the years it has grown to be one of the largest referral centers for diabetes, with 200,000 patients registered to-date. It is recognized as an international known tertiary care center for referral of diabetic patients requiring super-specialist opinion and management.

About M.V. Hospital for Diabetes (P) LTD, And Diabetes Research Center, Royapuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

M.V. Hospital for Diabetes and Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, Chennai an ISO 9001-2000 certified organization .

Founder of the M.V. Hospitals, Prof. M .Viswanathan was known as the “Father of Diabetology” and his vision towards M.V. hospital to become one of the largest diabetes referral centers in Asia. Over the years M.V. Hospital has grown and registered over 2,00,000 patients to-date.

M.V. Hospital for Diabetes is also recognized as an internationally known tertiary care center for referral of diabetic patients requiring super-specialist opinion and management. The entire set up is a purpose built organization to provide modern services to the patients and their families.

The centre is also working hard to fulfill the mission statement of our Founder Director Prof. M. Viswanathan “To make every person with diabetes lead his normal span of life in perfect health.

The Terms of reference of the centre are:

·         To conduct epidemiological research in diabetes prevention at the community level, its complications and cardiovascular risk factors

·           To strengthen education and training in diabetes research, prevention and control.

·          To design and test on models of diabetes health care delivery system for developing countries in the region and contribute to activities of the national diabetes programme.

The WHO Collaborating centre has been actively involved in carrying out activities such as:                  

      

Conducting diabetes screening camps for the general population and for different occupational  groups such as bank employees, police officers, railway employees, software professionals, Marvadi Trust association members, etc.

Conducting training programmes on “Prevention on Diabetes” and “Management of Diabetes” to doctors within India and from abroad.

Diabetes Research Centre     
  

Sharing experiences with other WHO collaborating centres and SEARO, New Delhi.

On World Diabetes Day, 2007, Diabetes Research Centre released a manual on “Prevention of Childhood Obesity and Diabetes” and a poster showing ten rules for prevention of childhood obesity on November 11th, 2007. 

For creating awareness on primary prevention of diabetes among the public, a postal cover customized and carrying ten golden rules for primary prevention of diabetes by DRC was released on 6th April 2008, by the Principal Chief Post Master General, Tamil Nadu Circle.


WHOCC has taken up a major campaign on Primary Prevention of Diabetes with the Govt. of Tamil Nadu by training both rural and urban doctors. This is a structured training programme with basic and advanced level of training on the Primary Prevention of Diabetes.

        

Research and Wound Healing in Diabetes

An active collaboration is going on between the foot clinic at DRC and the CLRI in the field of wound healing. Different types of wound dressings and growth factors for wound healing are being studied in diabetic foot ulcers. 

These studies are being carried out under the able guidance of Dr. Mary Babu, Former Deputy Director, Head Biomaterials Division, CLRI, Chennai.

For more Information Visit us:

www.mvdiabetes.com