Since the 1980s, the global prevalence of diabetes has almost quadrupled.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the United States, around 1 in 10 people have type 2 diabetes(T2D), the most common form of diabetes.
A further 1 in 3 people has prediabetes — higher-than-normal blood sugar levels that increase the risk of T2D.
The steady rise in levels of T2D is largely due to the increase in obesity rates: Obesity is one of the primary risk factors for diabetes.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates the levels of sugar in the blood. In T2D, the body either does not respond to the hormone, or it does not produce enough of it.
Although medications and lifestyle changes can help to manage insulin levels and control diabetes, there is no cure, and researchers are keen to find better interventions.
Recently, a group of researchers — many of whom are from the University of British Columbia, in Canada, or the Karolinska Institute, in Sweden — examined the role of a specific protein in fat cells.
They recently published their findings in the journal EBioMedicine.