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November is Diabetes and Diabetes Eye Disease Awareness Month.
The impact of diabetes on American health is widespread and severe. The seventh leading cause of death and number one cause of kidney failure, lower-limb amputation and adult blindness, diabetes prevention and treatment are major areas of concern for a variety of specialists, such as neurologists, nutritionists and ophthalmologists. UC Davis has several active studies on diabetes, of which the following are a few examples:
Bethany Cummings, associate professor in the surgery department, is using state-of-the-art mouse modeling to generate new insights into the regulation of pancreatic islet function that will serve as the basis for developing therapeutics for type 2 diabetes.
Pediatrician Craig Warden has been conducting a study to identify the genes that influence the development and severity of type 2 diabetes in obese Zucker rats.
Thomas Jue, professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine, has a project, funded by the California Department of Public Health, on the link between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Diabetes and Dementia Prevention Program (DDPP) is a research study that is looking at the potential of lifestyle changes to protect memory and thinking as we age. The study consists of control, diet and exercise intervention cohorts. The PI is David K. Johnson, associate clinical professor in the department of neurology.
Ophthalmology professor Glenn Yiu is conducting a study on an early treatment for Diabetic macular edema (DME) using a subthreshold micropulse diode laser (SML). This is a laser treatment that delivers laser energy in a “chopped” fashion allowing the tissue being treated to cool between pulses. Previous studies have shown that early intervention with SML may significantly improve or stabilize vision loss.
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