Rats get insulin boost
Medication based on pumpkin extract may significantly reduce the amount of insulin type 1 diabetics need to inject, say Chinese researchers. The extract reportedly helps regenerate damaged pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production. Diabetic rats fed the extract had almost normal insulin levels, healthday.com reports. Team leader Tao Xia of Shanghai's East China Normal University says that although type 1 diabetics probably would still require insulin shots, the extract could drastically cut the dosage.
Dieting diabetics skip jabs
Meanwhile, doctors in the US and Britain fear that thousands of young women with diabetes may be skipping their insulin injections to lose weight. The so-called diabulimia disorder - which the charity Diabetes UK estimates affects as many as one in three young female diabetics - can lead to blindness and heart and kidney disease, BBCi reports. Type 1 diabetics need daily injections to help them absorb glucose. Failure to do so can cause rapid weight loss.
Depression find electric
Stanford University researchers have isolated an electrical circuit in the brains of rats that appears to act as a funnel for depression - which could lead to better diagnosis and treatment for humans. The circuitry within the hippocampus was identified using high-speed, high-resolution cameras, AFP reports. Team leader Karl Deisseroth says the discovery helps explain why there can be many causes of and treatments for depression. 'It also helps us understand conceptually how something that seems as hard to get traction on as depression can have a quantitative, concrete basis.'
Synthetic skin trials bode well