A review of new research suggests that the brain plays a key role in glucose regulation and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM).

In the latest issue of the journal Nature, researchers from the Universities of Washington, Cincinnati and Michigan (USA), as well as their colleagues from the Technical University of Munich (Germany), provided evidence for the existence of a glucose control system that depends on the activity of the hypothalamus and other brain structures..

Scientists suggest that glucose regulation depends on " If their assumption is correct, then completely new opportunities for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes open up before the world medicine..

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body does not produce enough insulin or cells respond poorly to insulin (insulin resistance). As a result, hyperglycemia occurs - an increased level of glucose (sugar) in the blood.. The US Centers for Disease Control estimates that by 2050, about 30% of Americans will have diabetes..

Modern drugs only curb diabetes.

In their article, the researchers note that even a century ago, doctors believed that the brain played an important role in maintaining sugar levels.. But after the discovery of insulin in the 1920s, the attention of the scientific community turned to this hormone and its role in the treatment of diabetes.. Today, almost all drugs for the treatment of diabetes either increase the production of insulin in the body, or increase the sensitivity of cells to it..

The scientists write: "

However, they say the new study has revived the idea that the brain is involved in glucose regulation.. The results showed that glucose levels depend on the coordinated work of insulin-producing cells (islet cells) and key areas of the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain..

The authors reviewed animal and human studies documenting that the brain regulatory system influences sugar levels independently of the insulin mechanism.. They argue that type 2 diabetes is the result of disturbances in the work of pancreatic cells and in the work of the brain insulin regulation system..

The brain system "

The brain system affects the efficiency of glucose uptake by cells. Scientists believe we have a dual-system model of insulin-producing cells that respond to high blood sugar by producing insulin, and brain regions that stimulate "

Diabetes, in their opinion, occurs when there is a violation in both systems. But research data show that the brain's regulatory system fails first.. This increases the load on insulin-producing cells, which tend to compensate for the lack of " As a result, this system cannot cope with the load, which leads to further decompensation.. Result - type 2 diabetes.

The introduction of insulin, which returns sugar levels to normal limits, is, according to scientists, just a half measure.. We need to somehow “fix” the brain regulatory system. This will help not only keep sugar levels under control, but also do the unthinkable - reverse the disease..

And a few words about another interesting discovery. The journal Nature recently published an article by American researchers who discovered another link between diabetes and heart disease.. They found that poorly controlled sugar levels can lead to arrhythmias, and even described the mechanism of this connection..

medbe. en.