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January 5, 2006

The High-Fat Smoking Gun?

Many studies have indicated a correlation between a lifestyle that correlates to diabetes. Causality, however, is generally assumed but not proven. As a result, I hesitate to get too excited about any one set of results. Nevertheless, this is interesting:

High-fat diet linked to diabetes
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego believe they have discovered a link between type 2 diabetes and high fat diets.

5 Jan 2006, 09:33 GMT - Their findings suggest that high fat diets suppress the production of GnT-4a, the enzyme which allows cells in the pancreas to balance the body's glucose and insulin levels.

Though their experiments were carried out on mice, the team believes that should their findings hold true in humans there would be a significant breakthrough in our understanding of diabetes and the possibility of developing a treatment.

The research validates the widely held belief that diabetes is strongly related to a high-fat diet and obesity. High levels of insulin have also been implicated in contributing to other diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The researchers said new forms of treatment may include inhibiting the GnT-4a gene to reduce insulin production.

Posted by Diabetologica at January 5, 2006 2:23 PM