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Stem cell therapy could help reverse type-1 diabetes, according to a new study to be published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

The majority of the patients who had hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) became free from insulin, some for up to three years, and were able to keep blood sugar levels steady.

Patients also had higher levels of C-peptide, which indicates increased function of the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.

Of the 23 newly-diagnosed patients, 20 experienced time free from insulin – on average 31 months.

It is now hoped that in the future, HSCT could offer hope to slowing the disease progression in recently diagnosed patients.

Commenting on the study, the researchers said: "At the present time, autologous nonmyeloablative HSCT remains the only treatment capable of reversing type 1 DM in humans," adding that more studies were needed.

Type-1 diabetes develops if the body cannot produce any insulin – a substance needed to regulate blood sugar levels.

Failure to control blood sugar levels could have a long-term impact on brain function in people with type-2 diabetes, according to new research.

Severe hypoglycaemic episodes – when blood sugar drops dangerously low – could lead to poorer memory and diminished brain power, scientists at the University of Edinburgh have discovered.

The study of 1,066 diabetes sufferers found that the 113 who had previously experienced severe hypoglycaemic episodes performed poorly in tests of general cognitive functions and vocabulary.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Diabetes UK, said this study reinforces previous evidence that poorly controlled diabetes affects brain function.

"We already know that type 2 diabetes increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, which is a type of dementia, and this research adds another piece to a very complex jigsaw puzzle," he added.

People with diabetes are also twice as likely to suffer from depression as the general population, which is also likely to result in poorer blood-glucose management.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with diabetes.

Patients with heart disease who are diagnosed with depression are at greater risk of heart failure, new research suggests.

The study, due to be published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, also found that taking antidepressant medication did not reduce this risk.

People with depression and coronary artery disease (CAD) were twice as likely to suffer from heart failure – a condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body.

Dr Heidi May, epidemiologist at the Intermountain Medical Center in Utah, said the findings show that depression is an important and emerging risk factor for heart failure in patients with CAD.

"It may be important for clinicians to keep in mind that although a patient’s depressive symptoms may improve, the risk for harmful cardiovascular outcomes related to depression might not," she added.

CAD kills more than 110,000 people in the UK every year, making it the nation’s biggest killer.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with heart conditions.

Around 85 per cent of adults with diabetes in the UK are missing out on specialist psychological support, according to a leading charity.

The Mind the Gap report, by Diabetes UK, found that only 25 per cent of diabetes services could name and supply contact details for specific services that provide specialist psychological care for diabetes patients.

Professionals in these services often lack the specific knowledge about the condition, despite there being evidence of elevated psychological problems in patients with diabetes.

Depression, which is doubled in diabetes sufferers, and other psychological problems can lead to poor patient self-care.

Bridget Turner, head of healthcare and policy at Diabetes UK, said: "Living with diabetes can be challenging and the emotional stress of having to deal with this complex condition on a daily basis means specialist psychological services are crucial."

More than 2.5 million people in the UK suffer from diabetes and a further half a million have the disease and do not know.

Adults with high levels of baby fat could be protected against diabetes and obesity, research suggests.

So-called brown fat, previously thought to exist only in babies and small children, actually burns calories and uses up energy, unlike normal white fat.

The study, conducted at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, also found that slimmer adults had higher levels of this brown fat than heavier ones.

Senior author Dr C Ronald Kahn said: "The fact that there is active brown fat in adult humans means this is now a new and important target for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes."

In the study of nearly 2,000 people, 7.5 per cent of women and over three per cent of men had substantial deposits of brown fat.

Although the incidence of brown fat among patients was relatively small, scientists believe this could be an underestimate as medical scans could miss smaller deposits.

Nearly one in four UK adults are currently obese and the cost of obesity-related illness to the NHS is an estimated £4.2 billion a year.

AEGON Scottish Equitable reported a rise in income protection claims paid out for stress and depression-related illnesses last year.

Figures published today reveal that claims for such conditions were up 12 per cent on the previous year, which the insurer said could be due to the worry over the economic downturn.

Overall, the company paid out 93 per cent of income protection claims and 91 per cent of critical illness claims in 2008. The seven per cent of claims not paid out were due to non-disclosure.

Helen Morris, claims manager at AEGON Scottish Equitable, said: "We continue to encourage advisers to use all the tools available to them in order to encourage full disclosure at the application stage and to this end we have launched a new understanding claims website."

Earlier this week, influential think-tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research predicted the economy would not recover until 2012.


The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with depression.

A larger waist is associated with a higher risk of heart failure, even if body mass index (BMI) is normal, according to a new study.

The research, which was carried out on a Swedish population over seven years, adds to a growing body of evidence that waist circumference is a good indicator of overall heart health.

In men with a BMI of 25 (within the normal range) a ten cm higher waist circumference was associated with a 16 per cent higher rate of heart failure, increasing to 18 per cent when BMI rose to 30.

"This study reinforces the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight through diet and exercise," said study author Dr Emily B Levitan, from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Heart failure is a life-threatening condition that develops when the heart cannot pump blood around the body very efficiently.

There are several causes for the condition, including heart attack, high blood pressure or an inherited disease.


The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with heart conditions.

Experts at Cancer Research have revealed that binge tanning on sunbeds and foreign holidays is leading to a dramatic increase in cases of skin cancer in young women.

Malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease, is now the most common form of cancer in women in their 20s, with twice as many cases in this age range as breast cancer.

Skin cancer is now set to become the fourth most common cancer overall by the year 2024.

Cancer Research UK’s director of health information Sara Hiom said it is extremely worrying to see so many young girls using sunbeds.

"Young skin is delicate and so easily damaged by the sun. Damage from UV builds up over time. Every time young people use a sunbed they are harming their skin and increasing their risk of skin cancer," she added.

Around 9,000 cases of malignant melanoma are diagnosed in the UK each year, 340 of which occur in women in their 20s.

The first sign of the disease is usually the appearance of a new mole, or a change in appearance to an existing mole.

A novel drug being tested in the US could bring hope to men diagnosed with the most aggressive form of prostate cancer.

The compound successfully shrank human prostate tumours in mice that were untreatable with current drugs, and showed some signs of arresting tumour growth in men with similar drug-resistant tumours.

Scientists found that the experimental drug caused the level of a prostate cancer marker to fall by at least 50 per cent in 13 of 30 patients with advanced disease that had resisted other treatments.

It is hoped that in future the compound, which tackles prostate cancer in a different way to other drugs, could offer new hope to patients.

Dr Philip Kantoff, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, told ScienceNOW daily news: "It’s possibly a new and better way of treating prostate cancer."

This development could be important for people wishing to obtain prostate cancer/” target=”_self”>cancer life insurance.

Prostate cancer rates have tripled over the last 30 years in the UK, but this thought to be largely due to better detection methods.



The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.

A new drug that may prolong the life of women suffering from ovarian cancer could be available in five years, according to British scientists.

Eight out of 18 women who were given the experimental drug found their tumours shrank or stabilised, meaning they could live longer than doctors originally predicted.

This response rate is unusually high, as typically fewer than 20 per cent of patients respond to experimental cancer drugs.

Chief trial investigator Iain McNeish, a professor of gynaecological oncology at Barts, told the Guardian: "The hope with this group of patients was to slow down the progress of their ovarian cancer, improve the quality of their life and possibly make them live longer."

He added that if the drug becomes a treatment, it could lead to a whole new way of treating ovarian cancer.

The drug, codename CNTO328, was tested in a clinical trial at the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine, part of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Currently there is no proven screening tool for ovarian cancer, which is the biggest gynaecological killer of women in the UK.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with cancer.