Medline Plus writes that diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods which you eat. Insulin is a vital hormone to help the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. In type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. In type 2 diabetes, which is the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. The glucose stays in your blood when there is not enough insulin. Too much glucose in your blood over time can cause serious problems. This can lead to damage of your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes is also associated with heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb. In a press release on Jan. 18, 2013, the University of Bern has reported, Good bacteria in the intestine prevent diabetes.
There are enormous numbers of bacteria and other micro-organisms in the lower intestine. These tiny bacteria are extremely important for our health. They assist us in digesting our food and provide us with energy and vitamins. These friendly commensal bacteria which are in the intestine help to stop bad bacteria, such as Salmonella that cause infections, from taking hold. If the bacteria balance in the intestine is disrupted inflammation and damage can occur at many different locations in the body. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can be triggered and the liver can be damaged.
Recent research groups led by Professor Jayne Danska at the Sick Children’s Hospital of the University of Toronto and Professor Andrew Macpherson in the Clinic for Visceral Surgery and Medicine at the the University of Bern have now shown that the influence of the intestinal bacteria
extends even deeper inside the body than previously understood, to influence the likelihood of getting diabetes. In both children and young people, diabetes is caused by the immune cells of the body damaging the special cells in the pancreas which produce the hormone insulin. These researchers have shown show that the intestinal bacteria, especially in male mice, can produce biochemicals and hormones that stop diabetes from developing.
Diabetes in young people has become so frequent that many doctors talk about a diabetes epidemic. This increase in diabetic disease has been seen over the last 40 years as our homes and environment have become cleaner and more hygienic. At the moment, once a child becomes ill with diabetes, he or she requires life-long treatment. Andrew Macpherson from the University of Bern has said, "We hope that our new understanding of how intestinal bacteria may protect susceptible children from developing diabetes, will allow us to start to develop new treatments to stop children getting the disease."
