Press Release

In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a new therapuetic strategy for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes and obesity-related metabolic diseases, the author says. In the study, the BIDMC researchers pinpointed the fat gene and its effect in mouse models of human obesity and insulin resistance and reported supporting evidence from fat tissue samples from both lean and obese people. "Two things were surprising -- first, that a lone gene could shift the metabolism of the fat cell so dramatically and then, that turning on this master switch selectively in adipose tissue is beneficial to the whole body," said senior author Barbara Kahn MD, the George R. Minot Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at BIDMC. Twelve years ago, Kahn first demonstrated that fat cells are a master regulator of healthy levels of glucose and insulin in mice and require sugar to do the job.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is now recognized as a metabolic syndrome and although the treatment paradigm has shifted from one that focuses solely on glycemic control to one addressing global cardiovascular risk factors in a particular individual, glycemic control remains one of the key challenges that the physician faces in his daily practice. The practicing physician must be familiar with the basic pharmacology of the various classes of hypoglycemic drugs to ensure its effective and rational use. This is becoming an increasingly complicated task given the rapid pace of progress in diabetes therapy. There is also a need to appreciate the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes and the concept of insulin resistance and b-cell dysfunction, and how this may influence the choice of therapeutic agents in any particular patient.

Journal

Type 2 diabetes is still not satisfactorily managed anywhere in the world, thereby accounting for the considerable morbidity and mortality from diabetes-related complications. Epidemiologically, the Asia-Pacific region alone accounts for nearly 50% of the world's diabetic patients, 95% or more being type 2 diabetics. Singapore has one of the highest prevalence of diabetes in the region. The National Health Survey of Singapore in 1998 estimated an overall prevalence of 9.0% among adults 18 to 69 years of age, with rates highest among Indians (15.8%) and Malays (11.3%). Diabetes alone is the sixth commonest cause of death, excluding deaths secondary to cardiovascular and renal complications.

Magazine

Type 2 diabetes is still not satisfactorily managed anywhere in the world, thereby accounting for the considerable morbidity and mortality from diabetes-related complications. Epidemiologically, the Asia-Pacific region alone accounts for nearly 50% of the world's diabetic patients, 95% or more being type 2 diabetics. Singapore has one of the highest prevalence of diabetes in the region. The National Health Survey of Singapore in 1998 estimated an overall prevalence of 9.0% among adults 18 to 69 years of age, with rates highest among Indians (15.8%) and Malays (11.3%). Diabetes alone is the sixth commonest cause of death, excluding deaths secondary to cardiovascular and renal complications.