The results of the study also involved scientists from the University of Leipzig and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 1.6 billion people are overweight worldwide. The number of people with type 2 diabetes has increased accordingly to 230 million. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is approximately 50% hereditary, but is also dependent on nutrition and lifestyle factors.

In the present study, the researchers compared the genomes of different mouse strains. Some mouse strains were obese but had no strikingly elevated blood glucose levels and were less susceptible to diabetes. Other strains developed a severe malfunction of fat and glucose metabolism as they continued to gain weight, causing these mice to rapidly develop type 2 diabetes.

According to the study, this difference is due to a small fragment of genetic information: a so-called “jumping gene” or “transposon” of viral origin, localized in a non-coding segment of the gene Zfp69, whose effect it diminishes. Without this genetic fragment, the risk gene is fully active and, in combination with obesity, leads to high blood sugar levels and malfunction of fat metabolism. The gene is also active in the fat tissues of overweight people suffering from diabetes – more so than in healthy individuals.

“Our data suggest that the protein product of the risk gene in obese individuals enhances the storage of fat in fat cells. As a result, excessive fat accumulates in the liver and this in turn contributes to the development of diabetes,” explains Stephan Scherneck, first author of the study.

“We have therefore discovered a new diabetes gene of similar importance in mice and humans,” says Hans-Georg Joost, head of the study and scientific director of DIfE, “as well as a mechanism that has not been described before in connection with the heredity of diabetes and obesity.”

These data show the importance of studying in detail not only genes themselves but also transposons in their vicinity.

Joost continued, “This transposon is quite active and almost completely “turns off” the Zfp69 gene. We have found indications that it is also active in other mouse genes. Since the human genome is full of such fragments, it is quite possible that they play a greater role than previously assumed.”

Public Library of Science. “‘Jumping Gene’ Diminishes The Effect Of New Type 2 Diabetes Risk Gene.” ScienceDaily

People who slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely to develop a condition that precedes diabetes than those sleeping for longer, they found.

They said the study supported mounting evidence that cutting back on sleep can have a profound impact on health.

The six-year study was presented at a American Heart Association conference.

Cases of type 2 diabetes, which are often, but not always, linked to obesity, have been rising across the globe.

The condition develops when the body makes too much insulin, but does not use the hormone efficiently to break down sugar in the blood.

A stepping stone on the way to the condition is known as impaired fasting glucose, in which blood sugar levels are too high, but not high enough to constitute a diagnosis of diabetes.

A team from the University of Buffalo, in New York, followed a group of volunteers over a six-year period.

They found those who slept on average for fewer than six hours a night during the working week were 4.56 times more likely to develop impaired fasting glucose than those sleeping six to eight hours a night.

Lead researcher Dr Lisa Rafalson said: “This study supports growing evidence of the association of inadequate sleep with adverse health issues.”

Complex area
Dr Rafalson said it was likely that hormones and the nervous system were behind the link.

“Our findings will hopefully spur additional research into this very complex area of sleep and illness,” she said.

A recent study suggested that taking regular lunchtime siestas could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep expert at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said there was a mounting body of evidence linking lack of sleep to conditions such as diabetes.

However, he said the reasons remained unclear, although it was possible that lack of sleep raised the risk of putting on weight, which in turn could raise the risk of diabetes.

“There is some evidence that lack of sleep mucks up our appetite hormones, so you want to eat more, and eat the wrong things – when we are tired we tend to crave sugary foods.

“A good night’s sleep is a biological necessity: your body wants and needs a good night’s sleep every night, and if you are well rested you will get a lot more done during the day.”

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at the charity Diabetes UK, said the study was too small to draw any firm conclusions.

However, he said the findings echoed previous studies which found there might be a link between disturbed sleep patterns and a raised risk of type 2 diabetes.

But he added: “When it comes to discussing major risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, issues with sleep duration will remain less significant than other established risk factors such as being overweight, being over the age of 40 or having a history of diabetes in the family.”

From BBC News

Living with Type II Diabetes?

In one study, U.S. researchers found the same cluster of metabolic disorders that raise a woman’s risk for heart disease and diabetes also increase her chances of memory declines later in life.

A second study found that a history of diabetes and high cholesterol hasten the rate of mental declines in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Preventing heart disease, stroke and diabetes — or making sure these conditions are well managed in patients diagnosed with them — can potentially slow the disease progression of Alzheimer’s,” said Yaakov Stern of Columbia University Medical Center, whose study was one of several on metabolic diseases and dementia published in the Archives of Neurology.

The findings build on recent studies that suggest people who take cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a lower risk of developing all forms of dementia. And diabetics who take pills that help their bodies use insulin better have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s.

Now many teams are trying to get a better understanding of how these disorders affect Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Researchers at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center studied the effects of heart risk factors such as abdominal fat, high blood pressure and low levels of good cholesterol, known collectively as the metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Kristine Yaffe and colleagues followed 4,895 women with an average age of 66 who had no memory problems or other cognitive impairment at the beginning of the study.

Of the nearly 500 women in the group who had metabolic syndrome, 36 percent developed cognitive impairment during the four-year study period, compared with just 4 percent of the 4,400 women who did not have metabolic syndrome.

The team said future studies need to focus on whether modifying behaviors could reduce these risks.

Stern and colleagues at Columbia looked to see whether cholesterol levels and a history of diabetes affected the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in 156 older patients over 10 years.

After an average of three and a half years, those with higher levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol — the so-called bad cholesterol — declined more quickly than those with normal cholesterol readings.

“These findings suggest that perhaps dealing with some of these metabolic vascular issues early in life might help,” Stern said in a telephone interview.

“Even if people have Alzheimer’s disease, this is one thing people might want to try to slow its progression,” he said.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia among older people, affecting 5.2 million people in the United States and 26 million globally, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and current drugs merely delay symptoms.

By Julie Steenhuysen (Editing by Maggie Fox)

© Reuters 2009

Living with Type II Diabetes?

The study of 16,480 people, found those who napped were 26% more likely to get the condition than those who did not.

Several factors which may be behind the link included disrupted night-time sleep and an association between napping and reduced physical activity.

But a conference in Glasgow will hear that factors like genetics and being overweight are more significant.

The researchers will tell delegates at the Diabetes UK event that napping during the day may disrupt night-time sleep.

This could have an impact as short night-time sleep duration has been shown to be associated with an increased Type 2 diabetes risk.

Another step
Waking up from napping also activates hormones and mechanisms in the body that stop insulin working effectively, the researchers said, and this could predispose people to Type 2 diabetes – which can develop when the insulin the body makes does not work properly.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said: “We already know that people who are overweight or obese, and therefore more at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, can have problems sleeping.

“This new research could be another step towards explaining the possible link between disturbed sleep patterns and Type 2 diabetes.”

“However, in terms of being major risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes, disturbed sleep or napping are likely to remain less significant than already established risk factors such as being overweight, being over the age of 40 or having a history of diabetes in the family.”

Diabetes is a serious condition that can lead to long-term complications such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputation.

Short-term complications include hypoglycaemic episodes, which can lead to unconsciousness and hospitalisation if left untreated, and persistent high blood glucose levels can be fatal if untreated.

The research, conducted by scientists from the University of Birmingham and from Guangzhou Hospital in China, will be presented at Diabetes UK’s annual conference in Glasgow’s SECC.

From BBC News

Living with Type II Diabetes?