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One of the priorities of the medical research community is to
find a cure for diabetes. But finding a cure is not the only
priority in the fight against diabetes, new treatments and
preventions are also important issues. Researchers are finding new
ways to make living with diabetes easier and treating diabetes more
effective. They are studying the effects of weight loss on glucose
levels, how effective exercise is as a tool in the fight against
diabetes and how certain foods or groups of foods affect blood
glucose levels.
Since the first line of defense against diabetes is a change in
lifestyle, centering on eating habits and exercise, a great deal of
diabetes research concentrates on the effects of different foods on
blood glucose levels. One such research study compared the American
Diabetes Association food pyramid diet plan with a diet plan
centered on the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index, or GI, rates
foods by registering their effects on blood glucose. Foods with a
high GI raise the blood glucose levels faster. Researchers wanted to
know if a diet based on lower GI values compared favorably with the
ADA diet. Their results did show a favorable comparison, meaning
people with diabetes have more options is choosing how to manage
their diabetes.
Researchers are working to find how exercise helps in the fight
against diabetes. Other than the obvious benefit of improving
overall health and reducing excess body weight, they wanted to know
how exercise affects the blood glucose levels. They had participants
exercise at different times of the day and both before and after
meals. Other exercise-based research concentrated on supervised
exercise programs versus home programs and the effect of exercise on
children with diabetes.
There are thousands of diabetes research studies going on at any
one time. Some of them concentrate on the medical aspects such as
islet research and transplants or pancreas/kidney transplants, while
others are interested in measuring the effect of blood glucose
levels on thinking and memory. All aspects of diabetes research are
vital in reducing the severity, complications and the sheer number
of people who are affected by this disease.
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