Diabetes drugs affect hearts of men, women differently

Widely used treatments for type 2 diabetes have different effects on the hearts of men and women, even as the drugs control blood sugar equally well in both sexes, according to researchers at the School of Medicine. The investigators used PET scans to measure heart and whole-body metabolism in patients taking common diabetes drugs. Pictured are researchers Janet B. McGill, MD, and Robert J. Gropler, MD.

Washington People: Tamara Hershey

The brain uses more glucose than just about any other organ in the body, and Tamara Hershey, PhD, uses brain-imaging tools to study the effects of diabetes. She also studies Parkinson’s disease, obesity, Tourette syndrome and Wolfram syndrome, learning about how fluctuations in glucose levels can influence brain function.

Artificial sweeteners may do more than sweeten

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a popular artificial sweetener can modify how the body handles sugar. They analyzed the sweetener sucralose in 17 severely obese people and found it can influence how the body reacts to glucose.

Local health departments find Twitter effective in spreading diabetes information

Twitter is proving to be an effective tool for local health departments in disseminating health information — especially in promoting specific health behaviors. The latest study, led by Jenine K. Harris, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School, focused on diabetes, a disease that may affect an estimated one-third of U.S. adults by 2050. “We focused on diabetes first, both because of increasing diabetes rates,” Harris says, “and also because people living with diabetes tend to use online health-related resources at a fairly high rate and are an audience already online and on social media.”

Diabetes drug safe for HIV patients, study finds

People with HIV have an elevated risk of heart attacks, diabetes and insulin problems, and there are not many drug options to prevent those problems due to concerns that they will weaken the immune system. But a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine has shown that a diabetes drug appears to be safe in patients and does not dampen their immunity.

Weight loss, not surgery, controls blood sugar

Gastric bypass surgery has been thought to offer advantages, independent of weight loss, for improving insulin sensitivity and blood glucose levels in obese patients. But new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that those improvements are related to weight loss alone and not to the surgical procedure itself.

Vitamin D prevents clogged arteries in diabetics

People with diabetes often develop clogged arteries that cause heart disease. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found that when vitamin D levels are adequate in people with diabetes, blood vessels are less likely to clog. But in patients with insufficient vitamin D, immune cells bind to blood vessels near the heart, then trap cholesterol to block those blood vessels.

Study to analyze brains of kids with rare disorder

School of Medicine researchers have received a five-year, $2.7 million grant to detect and analyze differences in the brains of children with a rare illness, Wolfram syndrome. The disorder includes a severe form of diabetes, hearing and vision loss and kidney problems. Patients also eventually lose muscle control and coordination from brain degeneration.

Resveratrol falls short in health benefits

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine thought to improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of heart disease and increase longevity, does not appear to have those benefits in healthy women, according to new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
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