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Army Study Improves Ability To Predict Drinking Water Needs
When soldiers leave base for a 3-day mission, how much water should they bring? Military planners and others have long wrestled with that question, but new research from the Journal of Applied Physiology may now provide them an accurate answer.
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Can-Fite-Completed Patient Enrollment For The Phase II Trial In Psoriasis With CF101
Can-Fite BioPharma (TASE:CFBI), a biotechnology company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, has achieved yet another goal by completion of patients" enrollment in its phase II Psoriasis trial. Approximately 70 patients were enrolled to this study, randomized into 4 groups treated with 1, 2 and 4 mg of CF101 and placebo. Patients are taking the drug for 12 weeks plus 2 weeks of follow-up. The trial is being conducted in 10 sites in Israel and Europe. The company estimates to release study data on Q3 2009.
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Food Additive May One Day Help Control Blood Lipids And Reduce Disease Risk
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a substance in the liver that helps process fat and glucose. That substance is a component of the common food additive lecithin, and researchers speculate it may one day be possible to use lecithin products to control blood lipids and reduce risk for diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease using treatments delivered in food rather than medication.
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Proven Link Between Obesity And Diabetes

A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease. The findings were published today in Cell Metabolism. The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes. "When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitised to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects, " Associate Professor Watt said. This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes." "It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body"s regulation of blood-glucose," Associate Professor Watt said. "Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated." Associate Professor Watt said identifying the link is a significant breakthrough in explaining the reasons why obesity triggers the onset of Type 2 Diabetes. "Until now scientists knew there was a very clear pattern and had strong suspicions that a link existed between the two conditions, but our understanding of the chain of events that are caused by the release of PEDF shows a causal link," Associate Professor Watt said. "Type 2 diabetes patients will benefit knowing the two conditions are linked. We already know that weight-loss generally improves the management of blood glucose levels in diabetes patients. Researchers can now move forward knowing this link exists and we can begin to design new drugs to improve the treatment of Type 2 diabetes," Associate Professor Watt said. Samantha Blair Monash University


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