Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
Health

'Good fat' could help manage diabetes

Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Nov, 2014 11:11 AM
    Brown fat, nicknamed the ‘good fat’ because it warms up the body in cold temperatures, burning up calories in the process, could also be used to manage Type 2 diabetes, finds research.
     
    Brown fat absorbs excess sugar in the blood and therefore if brown fat cells can be activated, blood glucose levels could be controlled without the need for daily insulin injections, a researcher pointed out.
     
    Located on the back, the upper half of the spine and the shoulders, younger people are more likely to have brown fat than people who are overweight or obese or diabetic.
     
    “In theory if we can find out how to stimulate brown fat into action, we could use it, not only to manage obesity, but type 2 diabetes too,” said lead researcher Masaaki Sato from the Monash University in Australia.
     
    “Brown fat was discovered in adults a few years ago and now research is taking place world-wide to understand why some adults have it and others don’t,” Sato added.
     
    By observing cells, the team found that following application of a drug that mimics cold exposure, brown fat produces large amounts of a protein that transports glucose into cells, and importantly does so independently of the way insulin transports glucose into these cells.
     
    Closer analysis showed brown fat cells produced 10 times the amount of glucose transporters than insulin.
     
    Potentially the research could lead to a completely new medicine to treat Type 2 diabetes, offering an alternative to daily insulin injections.
     
    The study appeared in The Journal of Cell Biology.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    How flawed gene can cause deafness

    How flawed gene can cause deafness
    Researchers have found how mutations in a gene called Tmie can cause deafness from birth, suggesting new avenues for therapies aimed at restoring hearing....

    How flawed gene can cause deafness

    Obesity silently damages heart

    Obesity silently damages heart
    Obese people without an overt manifestation of heart disease experience silent cardiac damage that fuels risk of heart failure in the future, with new research...

    Obesity silently damages heart

    Trans fats bad for brain too

    Trans fats bad for brain too
    Every gram of dietary trans fatty acids consumed in a day was linked with 0.76 fewer words recalled, which means 11 fewer words recalled with...

    Trans fats bad for brain too

    Sleep-deprived schoolchildren run obesity risk

    Sleep-deprived schoolchildren run obesity risk
    Children of mothers who work full time may not be getting the amount of sleep they need each night, placing them at higher risk of being overweight or obese...

    Sleep-deprived schoolchildren run obesity risk

    Unravelling the process of going to sleep

    Unravelling the process of going to sleep
    Sleeping is a gradual process and researchers have now developed a method to estimate the dynamic changes in brain activity and behaviour during the transition from wakefulness to sleep....

    Unravelling the process of going to sleep

    Male hormone does not hamper women's libido

    Male hormone does not hamper women's libido
      Failed relationships and emotional health threaten menopausal women's interest in sex more than levels of the male hormone testosterone and other...

    Male hormone does not hamper women's libido