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2002 Archived News

  • New Mouse Model Sheds Light on Lipoatrophic Diabetes  :  [December 12, 2002] — A collaboration of scientists from Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School and Dartmouth Medical School has developed a new mouse model of lipoatrophic diabetes, and highlighted leptin therapy as a successful tool to combat this rare form of type 2 diabetes. The research will be published in the December, 15 issue of the journal Genes & Development.
  • Joslin Researchers Shed Light on Genetic Defects that Cause Diabetes  :  [November 25, 2002] — New findings by Joslin Diabetes Center researchers headed by Steven E. Shoelson, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Cellular and Molecular Physiology section at Joslin and the Helen and Morton Adler Chair in Structural Biology, visualize the protein that is mutated in most individuals having a form of diabetes called Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY). “These findings, reported in the November issue of the journal Molecular Cell, provide a clear picture of why mutations cause diabetes and potential avenues for improved treatments for the disease,” Shoelson said.
  • Identifying People with "Pre-diabetes" Can Help Prevent the Disease and Its Complications  :  [November 22, 2002] — Now that national and international clinical research have demonstrated that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced by more than half by altering diet and increasing physical activity to promote weight loss, it's more important than ever that people with "pre-diabetes” be identified.
  • Joslin Clinic Launches Culturally Oriented, Bilingual Program to Help Latinos Living With Diabetes  :  [November 13, 2002] — National studies indicate that the prevalence of diabetes, pre-diabetes, obesity and diabetes related complications in Latinos is reported to be significantly higher than in their Caucasian counterparts, according to government reports. An alarming increase in type 2 diabetes among Latino children and adolescents has been identified, adding to the dramatic burden of diabetes in this population group.
  • Lawrence Lee Wing, Joslin Trustee and Asian-American Community Leader Dies at Age 72  :  [October 16, 2002] — Lawrence (“Larry”) Lee Wing, of Chelsea, MA, a prominent member of Boston’s banking and business community and a leader in Boston’s Asian-American community, died suddenly on Oct. 15. A Trustee of Joslin Diabetes Center since 1995, Mr. Wing was a founder of Joslin’s Asian-American Program and Fund, which supports research, culturally appropriate treatment and education interventions for the Asian-American population, which is at-risk for developing diabetes.
  • Researchers Are Learning How the Immune System Gets to Know Its Own Body  :  [October 10, 2002] — Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, and other institutions have identified the function of a protein, dubbed "aire," that is critical to helping immune cells learn to recognize-and avoid attacking-the far-flung organs and tissues of the body. The discovery could shed light not only on how the healthy immune system develops tolerance to its own proteins but also how tolerance is lost, as it is in diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and other autoimmune illnesses.
  • Through Interactive Animations, Joslin Brings Fresh Approach to Online Diabetes Patient Education  :  [July 11, 2002] — Joslin Diabetes Center has enlisted the help of computer animation — and an interactive multimedia agency — to create a brand new on-line diabetes patient education initiative that its creators believe will help people with diabetes learn more effectively than traditional text-based online learning.
  • Insulin Stimulation of Fat Cells is Critical for Obesity  :  [July 9, 2002] — Over a billion people worldwide are classified as overweight and at high risk for developing other serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Faced with this burgeoning health crisis, scientists are striving to gain new insights into mechanisms that govern fat cells, called adipocytes. Two reports published in the July issue of Developmental Cell provide exciting new perspectives about regulation of adipocytes.
  • Joslin Physician Discusses Diabetes Management Program at Annual AMA Meeting  :  [June 14, 2002] — Caring for the nation's burgeoning number of adults and children with diabetes requires a focused effort on the part of the nation's primary care doctors and other health professionals to help diabetic patients reduce the risk of long-term complications such as heart disease, blindness and limb amputations, according to James L. Rosenzweig, M.D., Director of Joslin Diabetes Center's Disease Management Program.
  • Discovery Opens New Avenues for Developing Insulin-producing Cells  :  [May 21, 2002] — For the first time, researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston have isolated and cloned the third and remaining gene believed to be a key regulator of insulin production. This may enable researchers to use the trio of genes to encourage stem cells or other cells that do not normally produce insulin to do so, thereby creating a possible new way to treat diabetes.
  • New JumpStart Program Offers Free Care to Kids  :  [May 2, 2002] — A new program at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston will target children with newly diagnosed type 1 and type 2 diabetes to provide a combination of free care and "care ambassadors" helping to coordinate that care to enable kids to get a "JumpStart" on a lifetime of good health with diabetes.
  • Questions about Glucophage® and Metformin  :  [May, 2002] — A study published this week suggests that some physicians are inadequately informed about which patients can safely use the diabetes medication Glucophage® (metformin), and may be prescribing the medication for individuals who shouldn't be taking it because of certain other medical problems they have. If you take this medication, what should you do?
  • Joslin Unveils New Strategic Plan  :  [May, 2002] — The next decade offers important opportunities that, if seized now, can vastly improve the lives of people with diabetes and the lives of those at risk for the disease. Joslin's new Strategic Plan outlines how our research, clinical, educational, and fundraising programs will expand on the Center's legacy of discovery and care in the years ahead.
  • From Books to Professional Education, Joslin Diabetes Center Offers Tools To Help Healthcare Professionals Manage Diabetes Patients  :  [April 12, 2002] — A brand new book to help primary care health providers better manage their diabetes patients, Continuing Medical Education (CME) courses that reach 30,000 health practitioners from coast-to-coast each year, and a comprehensive Disease Management Program are among the wide range of tools that Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston offers to help health professionals improve care for their diabetes patients.
  • Diabetes Growing Rapidly in Asian-Americans Are Westernized Eating Habits, Sedentary Lifestyle To Blame  :  [April 12, 2002] — Diabetes affects 10 percent of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander-American population - making them almost two times more likely than whites to have the disease. Diabetes is also the fifth leading killer of Americans of Asian or Pacific Islander descent between the ages of 45 to 64.
  • New Islet Cell Research Has Implications for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes  :  [April 4, 2002] — New Joslin research reveals that a certain molecular pathway may not be as critical to the early development of insulin-producing beta cells as once thought — but  it  may be important in determining how beta cells respond to glucose. This new insight may have important implications for scientists studying both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
  • "Pre-diabetes" Identified as a Specific Condition  :  [April, 2002] — There are an estimated 16 million Americans who have "pre-diabetes" — a condition now officially identified by the federal government and  diabetes organizations as occuring when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as full-blown diabetes. How can those with "pre-diabetes" be best identified and treated to prevent diabetes?
  • Research Suggests Possible Cause of Birth Defects in Diabetic Pregnancies  :  [March 14, 2002] — Women with diabetes who become pregnant are two to five times more likely to give birth to babies with neural tube defects, including spina bifida, than women who don't have diabetes. Women can limit their risk by keeping their diabetes under excellent control before becoming pregnant and throughout pregnancy. And researchers may be closing in on the underlying cause of this serious problem.
  • Joslin Researchers Identify New Role for Protein in Blood Vessel Growth in Diabetic Eye Disease  :  [February 27, 2002] — A recent study by researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers further evidence that a protein called protein kinase C beta (PKC ß) is involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness in adults with diabetes. In a multicenter clinical trial, Joslin is testing a drug that is an inhibitor of PKC ß that may halt the damaging proliferation of blood vessels in the retinas of people with diabetes.
  • Unexpected Immune Pathway Linked to Rheumatoid Arthritis  :  [February 13, 2002] — Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have pinpointed a surprising set of factors contributing to joint destruction during arthritis development in mice. Their discovery, reported in the February 20 issue of Immunity, provides new insight into the mechanisms underlying pathogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis and may stimulate a search for therapeutic agents designed to target the alternative pathway.
  • Dr. Leo P. Krall Dies at 87  :  [February 4, 2002] — Leo P. Krall, M.D., an international leader in the field of diabetes for half a century and one of the original founders of Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, died Wednesday evening, Jan. 30, at the age of 87.
  • Can Weight Loss Decrease Heart Disease in Type 2 Diabetes?  :  [January 22, 2002] — More than 40 men and women from the Boston area have put their resolution to lose weight and exercise more to the ultimate test by enrolling in the first long-term study to look at the effects of weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes in a nationwide study conducted in the Boston area at Joslin Diabetes Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital. Named Look AHEAD: Action for Health in Diabetes, the National Institutes of Health funded study will examine how the lifestyle interventions affect heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular-related death in overweight people ages 45-75 with type 2 diabetes — the disease most affected by excess weight. An intensive lifestyle intervention program will be compared to a program involving general diabetes support and education.
  • Quitting Smoking, Improving Blood Sugar Control Result in Rapid Reduction in Kidney Disease Risk  :  [January, 2002] — A study from Joslin's Section on Genetics and Epidemiology shows that patients with type 1 diabetes can quickly begin to reduce their risk of microalbuminuria (the earliest sign of kidney disease) if they quit smoking and improve their blood sugar control. In fact, the researchers state, smoking in patients with type 1 diabetes appears to be an extremely important risk factor for microalbuminuria, and the effect of high blood sugar combined with smoking on the risk of developing microalbuminuria is greater than the sum of their separate effects.
 
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