blood sugar levels

(GCI Health) New data analyses presented at the 44th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes showed initial combination therapy with the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor, Januvia (sitagliptin),and metformin provided improvements in blood sugar levels (as measured by A1C) over two years of treatment and was generally well tolerated.

Teenagers' obesity-related medical complications improve just six months after laparoscopic gastric banding surgery, according to outcomes data.

Researchers have discovered that women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are less likely to ovulate in response to a promising new drug treatment for the condition if they have a variation in a particular gene.

The gene, known as STK (serine-threonine kinase) 11 is involved in controlling blood sugar levels. Along with infertility and cyst-like structures in the ovaries, women with PCOS often have insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition in which higher-than-normal amounts of insulin are required to reduce blood sugar levels.

A gene therapy treatment that restores a missing liver enzyme in test animals could provide a cure for a rare metabolic disorder in humans, according to medical researchers.

People born with the disorder, called glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia), can't make an enzyme that helps the liver store and release glucose, the sugar that all cells use for energy.

Without treatment, their blood sugar levels drop dangerously low, causing seizures and organ damage.

Continually revved up insulin production, the kind that results from overeating and obesity, slowly dulls the body's response to insulin.

As a result, blood sugar levels start to creep up, setting the stage for diabetes-associated complications such as blindness, stroke and renal failure.

To make matters even worse, chronically elevated blood sugar concentrations exacerbate insulin resistance.