Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
NEW YORK - Scientists have identified a hormone that can sharply boost the number of cells that make insulin in mice, a discovery that may someday lead to a treatment for the most common type of diabetes.
People have their own version of this hormone, and the new work suggests that giving diabetics more might one day help them avoid insulin shots.
That would give them better control of their blood sugar levels, said Harvard University researcher Douglas Melton, senior author of a report published Thursday by the journal Cell.
Experts unconnected with the work cautioned that other substances have shown similar effects on mouse cells but failed to work on human ones. Melton said this hormone stands out because its effect is unusually potent and confined to just the cells that make insulin.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/204691481.html
People have their own version of this hormone, and the new work suggests that giving diabetics more might one day help them avoid insulin shots.
That would give them better control of their blood sugar levels, said Harvard University researcher Douglas Melton, senior author of a report published Thursday by the journal Cell.
Experts unconnected with the work cautioned that other substances have shown similar effects on mouse cells but failed to work on human ones. Melton said this hormone stands out because its effect is unusually potent and confined to just the cells that make insulin.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/204691481.html