British researchers believe they may have found a molecule that can taste sweets. This breakthrough could lead to better lines of treatment for the hundreds of thousands of diabetics who live in Dallas, Houston, Austin and elsewhere in the state of Texas.

You could call it a gut feeling, but scientists carrying out research into diabetes say they have found that a sweet taste receptor, one which senses sugar and sweeteners, is not only present in the human tongue, but also in the human intestine.

Now these researchers are trying to harness its power and utilize it like a dimmer switch. These researchers believe this finding could lead to improved treatment for diabetes, which causes blood sugar levels to become chronically higher than normal.

Professor Soraya Shirazi-Beechey, from the University of Liverpool’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, announced the molecule’s discovery in the intestine.

Shirazi-Beechey said that the researchers found that the sweet taste receptor and the taste protein, which is called gustducin, are present as taste cells in the intestines. These sweet sensing proteins allow both humans and animals to detect sugar or glucose within the intestine.

The doctor explains, “We discovered that mice missing the gene for either of these proteins were unable to process the production of the intestinal sugar and were therefore unable to regulate the intestinal capacity to absorb dietary sugars.”

This is a critical breakthrough because the molecule determines how much sugar the human body absorbs. If scientists can discover how to manipulate this sweet tasting molecule, then they can control how much sugar is absorbed by the intestine. Once it identifies the sweets, it sends signals to another molecule that regulates the levels of sugar taken into the body,” she said. “For example, with a dimmer switch you can control the level of light in the room. That’s what we are trying to do. We are trying to control the switch, the molecule, to increase or decrease the amount of sugar that is absorbed by the body.”

Shirazi-Beechey adds that those who use an artificial sweetener and think they are going to lose weight are sorely mistaken. “Surprisingly we also found that the receptor was able to detect artificial sweeteners in foods and drinks resulting in increased capacity of the intestine to absorb dietary sugars, which would explain why these sweeteners are unsuccessful at helping people lose weight,” she explained.

Prof Shirazi-Beechey and her team are currently working on a food supplement that may be able to control the molecule. Tests are being carried out on mice with the study is still in its early stages.

Scientists are also reporting that, besides a possible cure for diabetes, the ability to control this molecule can help those with obesity. As a side note for horse racing fans, it could help racehorses retain a high level of sugar to sustain them for long races.

Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at Precedent.com

Well, well, well. I do believe we finally have a winner: free therapy for the growing number of those with diabetes. It turns out there are few excuses for diabetics — or any of us, for that matter — not to exercise. According to recent reports, nearly any form of exercise benefits the long-term control of blood sugar levels, be it aerobic, weight/resistance training, or both. Both forms in conjunction worked better than either one alone. This is great news for Texas, with more than 1.8 million estimated diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetics.

There were doubts about the safety and efficacy of weight training for those with diabetes until Dr. Ronald Sigal of the University of Calgary and his colleagues from the University of Ottawa decided to question that assumption. Together, they studied 251 individuals with type-2 diabetes ages thirty-nine to seventy, none of whom exercised regularly. Subjects were broken down into four groups: the first group participated in aerobic training three times a week; the second group did resistance training three times a week; the third upped their heart rates by doing both aerobic and resistance training, for a total of one and a half hours, three times a week; and the fourth group participated in no extra exercise whatsoever.

Participants used treadmills, stationary bikes, and/or weight machines at health clubs, exercised consistently, and were given a diet designed to prevent undo weight loss. Their blood sugar and cholesterol levels were monitored, as were other vital statistics. By the study’s end, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, participants’ blood sugar levels had dropped, and — more importantly — so had their A1c levels, hemoglobin that indicates average blood sugar over the past six months.

For those who participated in one form of exercise, their A1c dropped by half a point on average. For those who did both aerobic and resistance training, the average A1c drop was a full point.

A diabetic’s A1c level is of vital importance because it helps measure his or her long-term control of blood sugar. A normal A1c level is between four and six; patients in Sigal’s study began at a concerning 6.6 to 9.9. A one-point drop in this hemoglobin is associated with a fifteen to twenty percent decrease in major cardiovascular events, like heart attacks and strokes, and a thirty-seven percent decrease in complications like kidney, eye, and limb damage.

According to Sigal, there were some who brought their A1c into the normal range — a feat for nearly anyone with this condition. Some participants were even able to reduce their medications, and many lost weight and body fat.

Such studies are pertinent to Texas, which has a diabetic population higher than the national average, and one-quarter of its population going without health insurance. According to 2006 statistics from the Texas Diabetes Council, 1.3 million men and women eighteen and older in the state have the disease, as compared with 15.3 million in the entire country. Another estimated 400,000 in Texas are left undiagnosed.

More Texan men than women have it, and, while non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics are only a little more likely to be afflicted with the condition than whites, their death rates due to the disease are more than double than that of their white counterparts. In fact, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in Texas, and it’s believed the condition is actually underreported on death certificates as both a cause and a condition.

What is, perhaps, even more concerning is that recent studies in Dallas, Houston, and Austin reveal that certain risk factors for the disease, such as obesity, are increasing among children. One in every 400 to 600 children in Texas have type-1 diabetes, a much more serious, autoimmune disorder than its more prevalent counterpart, type-2.

Type-1 diabetes is a condition in which the body essentially attacks its own immune system, destroying insulin-producing cells and requiring patients to administer multiple insulin shots a day, or a pump.

Type-2, on the other hand, is often caused by a combination of poor diet, lack of exercise, and genetic characteristics. Data needed to monitor diabetes trends by type in youth is not yet available, but if incidences of those with risk factors, like obesity, keep increasing, cases of type-2 (if not also type-1) are also expected to rise.

Many in Texas also lack health insurance, a factor recent reports by the Commonwealth Fund reveal to contribute to less access to quality care. Twenty-five percent of the Texas population is currently without health coverage — the worst rate in the nation — and, unless something is done, that number is not expected to improve. High premium costs of most health insurance companies and the debate over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program in Congress add to the strain. Without proper diagnosis and care, diabetes can easily lead to other, sometimes fatal conditions. Any activity a diabetic can do on one’s own that decreases the chances of complications is worth it.

“Imagine an inexpensive pill that could decrease the hemoglobin A1c value by one percentage point, reduce cardio death by twenty-five percent, and substantially improve the functional capacity [strength, endurance and bone density]” wrote Dr. William Kraus of Duke Medical School and Dr. Benjamin Levine of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. They continued by saying all able-bodied diabetics should be prescribed exercise regimens.

Imagine that: something we can all actually do for ourselves — no doctor’s visits, no prescriptions, no therapy appointments, time out of the work day, or exorbitant amounts of cash out of our pockets. Just a matter of getting up off of our couches. Well, well, well.

Pat Carpenter writes for Precedent Insurance Company. Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance. Learn more at Precedent.com

These are not the normal signs of getting older. They are the warning signs that accompany blocked arteries. Fingers or toes that often feel cold? Your arms or legs often “go to sleep”? Is there a diagonal crease in your earlobe? Do you experience numbness in the arms or legs? A whitish ring under the outer cornea in your eye? Do your lips or fingers often have a tingling sensation? Breathless with slight exertion or when lying down? On short walks, do your legs get aches or pains? Is your memory worse than it used to be? Ankles or toes that swell late in the day? Has your blood pressure increased lately? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you may have early warning signs of arterial blockages. Your body is saying that it’s time to make a change and put time ON your side.

Doctors Gave Up On Me

( Read This )

I lost my health and I almost lost my life twice during an angioplasty. I survived, but I walked out of the hospital worse than when I walked in. My health was so bad I couldn’t walk up a half flight of stairs without being totally exhausted. Life was barely worth living and my doctor didn’t have a solution.

I am alive today because I found a solution, I cleaned out my body virtually overnight. This is the Story and it happened 10 years ago.

Enter Angioprim (a refined form of the stain remover) Angioprim for me was very fast acting and dissolved my arterial plaque virtually overnight. I was lucky, for a very small price I gained a very great improvement in my health.

With age comes changes, and like and old dog our eyesight weakens our hearing diminishes, we get more aches and pains, we don’t sleep as well, our energy level is reduced and our memories fade. This is called aging. Angioprim gave me the benefits of a younger and healthier body.

You don’t have to go through what I did, you can get the same results and clean your system quickly.

No matter your age or health condition, you can extend your life and add life to your years beginning right now!Read This report:Lower Cholesterol & Defeat Cardiovascular Disease

According to the Webster’s 21st Century Dictionary, the word “cure” means;

*Method of remedial treatment, esp. for disease.
*Recovery from disease.
*Restore to health; heal.

When type 2 diabetes is discussed, the word “cure” is met with a wide array of responses. Many people with this disease and their prescribing doctors believe there is no cure. For many however, saying type 2 diabetes can’t be reversed is like saying there is no cure for obesity.

Once you understand how type 2 diabetes develops in most people, it would be fair to say that type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease brought on by obesity, lack of exercise, drug use and other conscious choices. There are cases of type 2 diabetes brought on by other factors such as prescription drugs, stress and even agent orange exposure. However, obesity seems to play the largest part in the surge of the type 2 diabetes epidemic.

For the majority, the problem lies here. Beta cells inside the pancreas secrete insulin when food is eaten. Insulin acts as a key to open muscle and liver cells to allow sugars inside to be used for fuel. When a diabetic person gains additional weight due to excessive food intake, beta cells try to keep up with insulin production until they are so stressed that they eventually break down and produce less and less insulin…leaving high amounts of sugar in the blood.

The body does not replace damaged or destroyed beta cells on it’s own.

Then there is insulin resistance simply meaning muscle and liver cells don’t respond to the insulin already made by the body. Too much insulin in the bloodstream with no place to go is stored as fat. This is why so many type 2 diabetics have a unique apple-shaped body, carrying most of their excess weight around their middle.

An herbal remedy called Eleotin was introduced to the world in 1999 from Canada. Working on a metabolic level Eleotin restores beta cell function, insulin sensitivity and the health of the pancreas…the three most common causes of type 2 diabetes. Google the word Eleotin to find great informational resources on this product.

If a product such as Eleotin can rejuvenate tired and damaged beta cells and increase insulin sensitivity, the body can begin to process sugars on it’s own again. This restorative process can be considered a cure. However, if a person lives for many years untreated, this process could only halt or slow future physical damage to the body, not the complications already executed by the disease such as blindness, kidney failure or amputations. This is the same as taking a weight loss pill to “cure” obesity and thinking it will also cure the stretch marks that were the result of being overweight.

It is truly up to each individual as to what a cure means to them. No product natural or man-made will ever restore a diabetic to a non-diabetic stage forever and allow them to eat whatever they choose with no limitations. Knowing this, is there really a cure for type 2 diabetes? Define what a cure means to you. For the many thousands of Eleotin users all over the world, this means a cure.

An avid researcher on herbal diabetic treatments, Emily is a recovered type 2 diabetic as a result of using Eleotin and the owner of http://www.BetaTherapy.com.