Nitric oxide signaling plays role in multiple diseases

Once again nitric oxide (NO) shows itself as a multitalented and multitasking substance. In a new study researchers have found that it's not just how much or how little of it your cells have, but how much nitric oxide is being added or taken away from proteins by the body's enzymes--the removal process itself (dynitrosylation) seems to trigger apoptosis (cell death) in the cells it's being removed from.

This discovery is meaningful in many diseases that involve inflammation--including widespread conditions like heart failure, asthma, atherosclerosis, Parkinson's, diabetes, and cancer.

So--like those of the earth's ecosystem--our bodies' systems and components continue to gradually reveal themselves as intimately and profoundly connected in countless ways that we have only begun to discern.

Inhaled Insulin Effective for Diabetes Control

More good news on the finding-progressively-less-invasive-approaches front. This study indicates that inhaled insulin can facilitate people's willingness to institute needed therapy for diabetes. They say that many people actually put off for years, sometimes as much as 5 years, starting to take needed insulin--because of fear of needles, denial, or whatever reasons--and thus put themselves at far greater risk of developing those serious complications that come along with uncontrolled blood sugar.

Inhaled insulin shows similar levels of effectiveness as subcutaneous insulin, and can be extra helpful when used in combination with oral antidiabetic agents. And while it can cause a slight decline in lung function, that's said to be minor and reversible. Unfortunately, side effects are a fact of life with so many treatments. Prolonged use of some inhaled drugs for asthma is known to cause early cataracts. Let's hope this exciting discovery for diabetics doesn't reveal worse problems with long-term use.

New technologies at work for asthma and diabetes

With the invention of a nanosensor that measures nitric oxide in the breath, a new race may have begun to help those who suffer from asthma. Just as researchers are constantly searching for less invasive ways for diabetics to test their blood glucose levels, now this nitric oxide nanosensor is the first on-the-street way to predict--and possibly prevent--a serious asthma attack.

Since levels of NO rise as airways become more inflamed, asthmatics can be alerted as early as three weeks ahead of a possible impending episode and thus adjust their inhaled and other medications to ward off the attack.

With diabetes, glucose monitoring is critical and about 25 types of meters are currently available for home testing. So far, researchers haven't managed to get FDA approval on a non-invasive glucose testing device, though a few have been invented and developed using infrared technology. Earlier this year a cell-phone-sized glucose sensing device walked off with all kinds of awards at the International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products.

Just as we've now found stem cells can perform "miraculous" regrowth of human tissue (remember those high school biology days when we all thought the planarium worm was the only creature that could grow its parts back?), now we are discovering other ways to help human beings without hurting, cutting, bleeding, and traumatizing them with our cures. Looks to me like we'll just keep finding more of this good news every day.

What a time to be alive.