Plus, how is the sugar tax structured and is it the right way to go?
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Sugar tax and the smart insulin patch gets smarter
Last year, we reported on a smart insulin patch that could eliminate insulin injections in people with type 1 diabetes. Well, the patch has just become smarter.
American researchers have upgraded the patch – which originally contained synthetic insulin – so it now contains live beta cells. Studies on animals have found the patch can control rising blood glucose levels for about 10 hours at a time.
The patch hasn’t yet been tested on humans, and this could take some time to accomplish. However, the evidence suggests that this technology could be effective in replacing insulin injections as well as safely managing patients’ blood sugar.
Insulin was also at the forefront of a study that found a compound, known as 5-IT, stimulates beta cells to divide and multiply. The discovery, made by American researchers, could help to reverse the damage done to the pancreas by diabetes.
The news will assuage campaigners who are concerned that the government needs to introduce measures to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes in children.
A new crackdown by the UK’s advertising watchdog could see children soon being protected from online junk food acts. Adverts promoting food high in fat, sugar and salt are already banned on children's television, but not online.
The study concluded that obesity and type 2 diabetes caused by eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet can be epigenetically inherited in offspring via egg and sperm cells. The findings suggest that parents can affect what their offspring inherits from their genes.
If this new test can identify when cells are dying, it could be an early indicator of a disease in the body. As well as diabetes, the blood test has so far been able to predict pancreatic cancer, pancretitis traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis.
Good diabetes control requires an appropriate diet. There are a wealth of diets that have proved to be either popular with or of interest for people with diabetes. We’ve compiled some of the more prominent of these diets, looking at both the benefits and disadvantages of each diet.
What diet is best for me?
The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was also in the spotlight in this week. This is a benefit for people who require care for long-term illnesses which can limit their ability to live comfortably and affect mobility.
Richard Hart, an amputee with type 1 diabetes, was told that he no longer qualified for PIP benefits and that his wife would be losing her carer’s allowance.
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