[/caption]Editor - Can you cure diabetes? Most experts would say no, as the struggle against the dreaded disease has appeared to be a difficult one with the rise in rates of diabetes around the world, but new research reveals that a naturally-occurring compound may be able to reverse and prevent it.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found they were able to reverse diabetes in mice with the use of a compound called nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), which naturally occurs in the body.
Scientists found that the blood sugar of the mice returned completely back to normal after being given the compound.
NMN helps with the production of an important molecule that harvests energy and has been shown to promote healthy metabolism throughout the body, including in the pancreas, liver, muscle and fat tissue.
During the aging process the production of NMN is reduced, leading to abnormal metabolic conditions such as diabetes. Scientists now believe it could be possible in the future to take a compound just like one takes a vitamin, which could potentially return blood sugar to normal..
Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, PhD, associate professor of developmental biology tells us, "After giving NMN, glucose tolerance goes completely back to normal in female diabetic mice," says "In males, we see a milder effect compared to females, but we still see an effect. These are really remarkable results. NMN improves diabetic symptoms, at least in mice."
Because the mechanisms that NMN influences are largely the same in mice and humans, Imai says this discovery holds promise for people with diabetes. Imai says the researchers plan to check whether this mechanism is equally compromised in human patients with type 2 diabetes in the "very near future."
Type 2 diabetes, occurs when the pancreas makes insulin but it doesn't work very well so that the blood sugar may rise or fall below normal in a fashion that triggers additional health problems, such as heart attack or stroke. Type 2 diabetes is associated with older age, obesity, family history of diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, impaired glucose metabolism, physical inactivity, and race/ethnicity. It is reported to affect 8.3 per cent of the general US population and 26.9 percent of those people over age 65.
