So is there now a drug which can prevent diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease which impacts nearly everyone, it is increasing in western society. We all know someone who has one of the two types and is taking insulin, other medication and controlling their diet.

Doing work with aged care centres I have seen changes in the diabetic diet over time. At one stage it was all about reducing sugar intake, so there were lots of low sugar foods and drinks. Now it has become obvious that diabetes is not just about sugar intake, it is about the whole diet. Diabetics are now eating whatever anyone else is eating, but making sure that the total balance is suitable for their disease.

We all know it is mostly caused by insulin either missing or not working properly, but until now, why that was so, was not clear.

So a finding by Monash University scientists has finally answered this question and the research has been published in the latest edition of the Cell Metabolism journal.

A specific protein called FetuinB is only found in those people who have Diabetes or are pre-diabetes.

This protein was found to stop insulin working properly and was found during research into non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is found in around 60 percent of obese adults.

So there is a clear link between NAFLD and Type 2 diabetes and this protein is involved.

Professor Matthew Watt, leading researcher at Monash University, said; “By developing a drug that could block this protein, it may be possible to prevent the development of diabetes in patients with fatty liver.”

For the first time we may be on the doorstep of a method to actually prevent diabetes.