If you or a loved one are one of the almost 24 million Americans with diabetes, you may be interested in learning more about findings on enzyme research and how it may impact your treatment.
Considerations
According to the American Diabetes Association or ADA, as of 2007 nearly 18 million adults and children in the U.S. suffer from diabetes. An additional 5.7 million individuals have diabetes and don't know it -- yet. Plus, there are another 57 million people who are considered pre-diabetic. Every year, 1.6 million people, both adults and children, are diagnosed with the disease. It is also the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S,, claiming more than 200,000 lives in 2005, the last year a count was available. The total cost of diabetes care in the U.S. in 2007 was a whopping $218 billion dollars.
Effects
Diabetes strikes men, women and children. It does not discriminate based on race, culture or age. This insidious disease results in complications including heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease and nervous system disease. It is the cause of 60 percent of non-traumatic or not caused by accidents, amputation of legs, feet and toes performed each year. The ADA reported that in 2004, 71,000 diabetic individuals underwent lower limb amputations.
If you have diabetes, your muscles are not able to absorb enough glucose or sugar from your blood stream. The glucose provides energy for your cells. If you cannot absorb enough glucose, your blood sugar levels rise.
Current Treatment
Current treatment is focused on controlling your blood glucose or blood sugar levels. This is achieved by diet and use of different types of medications, both oral and injectible. Another important management option is weight loss. By losing weight, you put less stress on your body which helps to prevent complications. Weight loss can lower your blood glucose levels.
Enzymes
Dr William W.Winder of Brigham Young University, identified an important enzyme that triggers muscles to absorb adequate glucose from the blood stream. In his research, Dr Winder worked with rats and was able to prove that exercise produced an enzyme called AMP-activated kinase, or AMPK. This enzyme is activated when your muscles contract. When you exercise, your muscles use a protein known as GLUT4 to transport more glucose from your bloodstream in to the muscle tissue where it is used for energy. If you have diabetes, the increased use of glucose by your muscles is a good way to use up the extra glucose in your bloodstream. Dr Winder's goal was to help people with diabetes manufacture more GLUT4 transporter protein as a way to manage blood sugar levels.
Another approach to enzyme treatment is the product called benfotiamin which was discovered in Japan in the 1950s. In an article that appeared in "Diabetes," researchers reported that diabetic individuals who took benfotiamine, a thiamine compound, daily had improved glucose transportation. If you are interested in using enzymes, talk with your health care provider to determine what is best for you.
Significance
Scientists continue to work on medications for diabetes. In the ADA's journal "Diabetes," researchers reported the results of a study that found that injecting rats with a medication called rosiglitazone resulted in decreasing insulin resistance, and moving glucose into the rat's muscle tissue. You may be familiar with an enzyme based, FDA approved medication, called Metaformin. It uses this method to help lower your blood sugar levels by activating your AMPK.
As more work is done on enzyme therapy, new options such as benfotiamin and IkB kinase will emerge. Talk with your health care provider to determine the role these new medications and enzymes should play in your diabetes management plan.
References
- Brigham Young University: "BYU Magazine": Discovery of Exercise Enzyme May
- American Diabetes Association: Diabetes Statistics
- "Diabetes"; Rosiglitazone Treatment Enhances Acute AMP-Activated Protein Kinase--Mediated Muscle and Adipose Tissue Glucose Uptake in High-Fat--Fed Rats; Ji-Ming Ye, et al.; Oct. 2006
- "The Journal of Biological Chemistry": Activation of 5'-AMP-activated; Jee Hyun Um et al.; May 2007
- Benfotiamine: "Diabetes": Benfotiamin inhibits intracellular formation of advanced Glycation endproducts in vivo
