Type 2 Diabetes - Research at Cell Level to Discover The Cause of Diabetes
The search for a cure for Type 2 diabetes is on, and some scientists are studying the insides of cells to get a precise definition of what causes the disease at the molecular level.
Investigators at Innsbruck Medical University in Innsbruck, Austria, and various other research institutions compared telomere length to risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Telomeres are caps at the ends of DNA molecules.
They are snipped off when DNA divides, presumably protecting the rest of the molecule.
Each time a cell and its DNA divide, the telomere becomes shorter.
Their study, reported on in the online journal PLoS One in November 2104, included...
It was found the individuals with the shortest telomeres were twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as the participants with the longest telomeres.
When three earlier studies were pooled and analyzed as one study...
They suggest more study will determine the reason.
Professor Richard Cawthon and others at the University of Utah in the USA, found among individuals over 60 years of age, those with short telomeres were more likely to die from heart disease and infections than those with long telomeres.
In the mean time, physical activity could be helpful in lengthening telomeres, according to an article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in October 2014.
Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden measured telomere length in 49 individuals 68 years of age.
One group of participants was given exercise therapy while the other was not.
Investigators at Innsbruck Medical University in Innsbruck, Austria, and various other research institutions compared telomere length to risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Telomeres are caps at the ends of DNA molecules.
They are snipped off when DNA divides, presumably protecting the rest of the molecule.
Each time a cell and its DNA divide, the telomere becomes shorter.
Their study, reported on in the online journal PLoS One in November 2104, included...
- 606 Type 2 diabetes-free participants,
- each person's telomere length was measured three times in fifteen years.
It was found the individuals with the shortest telomeres were twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as the participants with the longest telomeres.
When three earlier studies were pooled and analyzed as one study...
- participants with short telomeres had a 31 percent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes as those with long telomeres.
They suggest more study will determine the reason.
Professor Richard Cawthon and others at the University of Utah in the USA, found among individuals over 60 years of age, those with short telomeres were more likely to die from heart disease and infections than those with long telomeres.
- an enzyme called telomerase has been found to keep telomeres from shortening.
- biologists speculate that telomerase could some day be used to lengthen human life.
In the mean time, physical activity could be helpful in lengthening telomeres, according to an article published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in October 2014.
Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden measured telomere length in 49 individuals 68 years of age.
One group of participants was given exercise therapy while the other was not.
- after 6 months it was found those who exercised most, walked the longest distances, and spent the least amount of time sitting, had the longest telomeres.
