Read this and comment. It may be that the lack of proper sleep may be causing insulin resistance and the epidemic of obesity and diabetes.
Drug helps brain control blood sugar in diabetics
LAURAN NEERGAARD
Associated Press
May 7, 2009
People with Type 2 diabetes may soon get a very different treatment approach: A drug that helps control blood sugar via the brain - an idea sparked, surprisingly, by the metabolism of migrating birds.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Cycloset, maker VeroScience announced yesterday. It’s a new version of an old drug called bromocriptine, which is used in higher doses to treat Parkinson’s disease and a few other conditions. But unlike its older parent, Cycloset is formulated to require a low, quick-acting dose taken just in the morning - no other time of day.
That timing provides a bump of activity in a brain chemical that seems to reset a body clock that in turn helps control metabolism in Type 2 diabetes, said VeroScience’s Anthony Cincotta, who led the drug’s development.
Company studies suggest that one morning dose helped lower the usual postmeal blood-sugar rise at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Over six months, 35 per cent of Cycloset users reached recommended average blood sugar levels, compared with 10 per cent of diabetics given a dummy drug.
Cycloset is the first drug to win FDA approval under new guidelines that require better evidence that diabetes treatments are heart-safe (diabetics are at increased risk of heart disease). In a year-long safety study involving 3,000 diabetics, those given Cycloset had 42 per cent fewer heart attacks and other cardiovascular complications than those given a dummy drug.
Where do the birds come in? Years ago, Louisiana State University researchers were studying how migrating birds arrived at their destinations without being emaciated. They develop seasonal insulin resistance, the very condition that in people leads to Type 2 diabetes.
People don’t have those seasonal variations, but the theory is that dopamine plays a role anyway in sensitivity to insulin.
The researchers discovered a biological clock - in the brain’s hypothalamus - that controlled when the metabolism change kicked in for the birds, and also in hibernating mammals. Different concentrations of certain brain chemicals, including dopamine, at different times of day dictated whether the bird metabolized like a fall bird or a summer bird, Mr. Cincotta said.
Bromocriptine mimics dopamine: “We’re regulating the regulator,” Mr. Cincotta said.
Side effects include nausea and dizziness, sometimes because of blood-pressure dips upon standing, and nursing women shouldn’t use it. Bromocriptine inhibits lactation, and although no link is proven, there have been reports of strokes in postpartum women using higher doses. The FDA said it also should be used cautiously with people on blood-pressure-lowering medication.
A company press released said now that it has the green light from the FDA, it will move forward with approval applications outside the United States, with an immediate focus on Europe and Canada.