Is a new diabetes treatment FOR the birds? No… it’s FROM the birds.
Researchers from Louisiana State University took a look at how migrating birds make such long flights — and survive without starving. As it turns out, the birds develop seasonal insulin resistance. One function of a bird’s hypothalamus is metabolism control. During different parts of the day, a bird’s metabolism can process fuel differently. Brain chemicals like dopamine regulate whether a migrating bird is insulin resistant or not.
Insulin resistance is the same thing that leads humans to develop type 2 diabetes.
Most people (as you may have noticed) don’t migrate. We don’t have the same seasonal migrations that require such dramatic changes in brain chemistry and metabolism. However, we do have that same brain chemical — dopamine. And researchers believe that dopamine does play a role in insulin sensitivity in humans.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Cycloset — a medication that can help control blood sugar through brain chemistry. Cycloset isn’t totally new; it’s a low-dose, fast-acting version of a drug called bromocriptine that is used to treat Parkinson’s disease.
Cycloset is taken just once — in the morning — and gives the metabolism a little nudge. Studies by drug maker VeroScience showed that Cycloset use helped lower post-meal blood sugar levels. Over six months of use, a little over one-third of study participants achieved average blood sugar levels! (In the placebo group, approximately ten percent of participants achieved average blood sugar levels.)
One more plus for the new drug: it falls under new FDA guidelines that requires diabetes treatments to demonstrate that they are heart-safe. Diabetics are at an increased risk of developing heart disease! Makers of Cycloset performed a year-long safety study and found that more than forty percent of diabetics taking the new drug suffered heart attack and other heart problems.
The new diabetes drug isn’t available quite yet — drug makers are working out distribution rights now. Still, this is very exciting news for diabetics!