7 November DRC Director's Update - November 2022 November 7, 2022 By The Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center DRC, Diabetes, Diabetes Research Center, Iowa, Charity Foundation, FOE, Eagles, Fraternal Order of Eagles 0 Neuropathy is a devastating diabetes complication that causes nerve damage throughout the body. This can lead to infection and/or amputation of the affected area. The most common type of neuropathy is peripheral neuropathy. This affects the nerves in the hands, feet, legs, and arms. Peripheral neuropathy is the most common complication of diabetes affecting about 50% of patients. Because early diagnosis is difficult, there is no effective treatment, as the neuropathy can only be detected after the nerve damage is already occurred. Thus, there is a need for a screening method for early detection of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Early detection would need to be coupled to effective therapies to slow the progression of neuropathy. Unfortunately, such therapies do not yet exist. FOEDRC faculty member Mark Yorek, PhD, is making significant progress in creating better early detection and treatment of diabetic neuropathy. He and his team have recently published findings that the nerves of the cornea (the outer part of the eye) experience diabetic nerve damage before other parts of the body. Thus, testing the nerves of the cornea might provide a means for early detection of diabetic neuropathy. His group have also recently published practical methods to detect corneal nerve damage in animals and are now working to translate the detection methods to humans. In a complementary line of research, Dr. Yorek and his laboratory have found that fish oil protects against diabetic neuropathy in rodents. This finding is the culmination of several years of research and has resulted in several recent breakthrough publications. As a result of these advances, his group has now partnered with a pharmaceutical company and the University of Michigan to begin a clinical trial in humans to test the ability of fish oil to protect against diabetic neuropathy in patients with diabetes. These are very exciting developments that we hope will lead to better detection and treatment of this devastating complication of diabetes. Related Articles DRC Director's Report - July 2022 Recently, the University of Iowa Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center (FOEDRC) held our annual Diabetes Research Day in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Institute for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. This year, Diabetes Research Day was a hybrid event comprised of speakers from both institutions and split into two different events. Our first keynote speaker was Bryan Bergman, PhD. Professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus who gave a talk entitled Intermuscular Adipose Tissue: A Novel Adipose Depot Impacting Muscle Strength, Size, and Insulin Sensitivity in Humans. DRC Director's Report - November 2018 We have known for a very long time that obesity is associated with many cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease (where liver stores fat in large lipid droplets), coronary artery disease, heart failure, and many more chronic diseases are all linked to obesity. DRC Director's Report - September 2022 Over the past decade, evidence has emerged indicating that high blood sugars in type 1 diabetes cause adverse brain changes in children. The adverse changes include abnormal brain structural alterations and reduced functioning on some cognitive tests. Over the past few years, hybrid closed-loop insulin pumps have become commercially available. These devices combine a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) with an insulin pump that is controlled by an algorithm that uses the CGM data to inform insulin delivery. DRC Director's Update - June 2019 In healthy adults, blood pressure (BP) decreases during sleep at night to lower levels than during the daytime. This phenomenon is referred to as nocturnal BP “dipping” and normally dips 10-20% compared with daytime. Blunted nocturnal BP dipping has been independently associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The prevalence of blunted nocturnal BP dipping is higher in persons with obesity and diabetes, which are traditional risk factors for CVD. DRC Director's Update - August 2019 FOE Diabetes Research Center faculty recognize the importance of continuing the tradition of research excellence as we fight for the bridge to the cure. Because of this, part of our mission must be the preparation of the next generation of diabetes researchers. In addition to our commitment to training Ph.D. students and Postdoctoral scholars, the FOEDRC is a leader at the University of Iowa in providing research experience to our undergraduate students. DRC Director's Update - September 2019 It has long been known that increased abdominal fat, is a major risk factor for developing diabetes. A new study done by Yangbo Sun, MD, PhD, and colleagues, under supervision of Wei Bao, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and a member of the FOEDRC, has identified a concerning new and underrecognized complication of increased belly fat, namely a high-risk for premature death particularly in post-menopausal women, who might not be obese or overweight. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.