US university receives research grant to better understand obesity in type 2 diabetes

A grant of nearly £400,000 has been awarded to a US research team which hopes to improve type 2 diabetes treatments.
Wayne State University, based in Detroit, Michiga, is a pioneering public research institute which seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life around the world.
It has now been given an 18-month grant from the Department of Defense to better understand why type 2 diabetes develops in some people and not others.
Scientists want to further understand why, despite obesity being strongly linked to the condition, not everyone obese develops the condition. The focus of the $308,000 (£395,000) Discovery Award will also be used to “distinguish different genetic variations” in a bid to develop new therapies.
Professor Assia Shisheva, from the physiology in the School of Medicine at the Wayne State University, who will lead the research, said: “Some obese individuals have a genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes, which is in line with family histories of the disease.
“Our research will characterise a cohort of obese people with and without type 2 diabetes, which will help us distinguish different genetic subtypes of this most frequent endocrine disease. It will help us to distinguish different genetic variations and translate genetics into functional studies to help development of novel therapies.”
Shisheva hopes their research will advance knowledge of genetic mutations in obesity which cause type 2 diabetes, and provide new strategies for early diagnosis.
This, they hopen, will lead to the development of biomarkers to identify and monitor individuals deemed to be at risk of type 2 diabetes.
People can reduce their risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by signing up to the Low Carb Program. This 10-week education course has shown to help people reduce their HbA1c levels and lose weight, lessening dependency on medication.