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Could Diabetes Spread Like Mad Cow Disease? (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit quotes Science magazine:
Prions are insidious proteins that spread like infectious agents and trigger fatal conditions such as mad cow disease. A protein implicated in diabetes, a new study suggests, shares some similarities with these villains. Researchers transmitted diabetes from one mouse to another just by injecting the animals with this protein. The results don't indicate that diabetes is contagious like a cold, but blood transfusions, or even food, may spread the disease.
The work is "very exciting" and "well-documented" for showing that the protein has some prionlike behavior, says prion biologist Witold Surewicz of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who wasn't connected to the research. However, he cautions against jumping to the conclusion that diabetes spreads from person to person. The study raises that possibility, he says, but "it remains to be determined."
The work is "very exciting" and "well-documented" for showing that the protein has some prionlike behavior, says prion biologist Witold Surewicz of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who wasn't connected to the research. However, he cautions against jumping to the conclusion that diabetes spreads from person to person. The study raises that possibility, he says, but "it remains to be determined."
One recent study found that 3/4 of the food purchased by American households contain added sugar, so it's not that easy for most people.
That said, I prepare nearly all of my own meals from scratch; having grow up in a restaurant family it's second nature. The last 4 pound bag of sugar I bought was purchased maybe three years ago and it's still not empty. So I don't eat much sugar one way or the other, and I'm certainly waay below the average 100 pound/per capita/per year average for an American.
Yet I still developed Type 2 diabetes, which two of my siblings also have and which killed my mother and grandmother.
IT's not as simple as "people who eat sugar get diabetes." Some people do and do; some people do and don't. Others like me don't touch the stuff and still get it.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
In case others wonder about the same, the article is about TYPE 2 diabetes. Just writing "diabetes" is quite pointless since type 1 and 2 are completely different. (Got type 1 myself for 26 years)