New Hampshire Health News Digest

New Link Discovered Between Insulin And Core Body Temperature A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin - a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes - and core body temperature. While much research has been conducted on insulin since its discovery in the 1920s, this is the first time the hormone has been connected to the fundamental process of temperature regulation. The paper was published recently in an advance, online issue of the journal Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, and will appear in the January print edition of the publication. The scientists found that when insulin was injected directly into a specific area of the brain in rodents, core body temperature rose, metabolism increased, and brown adipose (fat) tissue was activated to release heat. The research team also found that these effects were dose-dependent - up to a point, the more insulin, the mo...

Spoonful Of Sugar Makes The Worms Life Span Go Down If worms are any indication, all the sugar in your diet could spell much more than obesity and type 2 diabetes. Researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, say it might also be taking years off your life. By adding just a small amount of glucose to C. elegans usual fare of straight bacteria, they found the worms lose about 20 percent of their usual life span. They trace the effect to insulin signals, which can block other life-extending molecular players.

Insulin’s Role in the Aging Body - Scienceline Insulin, a hormone well known for its role in diabetes, may also lie at the root of another common but serious medical condition: age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia. In fact, sarcopenia is in part due to muscle tissue not responding properly to insulin, according to a new study in the journal Diabetologia. The researchers found that an increased dose of insulin restored the muscle-building processes that tend to deteriorate with old age. Unfortunately, insulin cannot be used as a treatment for sarcopenia due to its toxic effects in high concentrations. Still, the new results help clarify its role in muscle growth and could serve as a basis for future treatments. Sarcopenia affects 24 percent of adults between 45 and 70 years old, and half of people over 80. “The new finding serves as a proof of concept,” said Elena Volpi, a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. “It confirms our belief that the age-rel...