Diabetes affects over one million Australians and is an increasing health problem in Australia and worldwide. Diabetes can damage small blood vessels, harming the kidneys and eyes and large blood vessels leading to heart attack, stroke and leg amputation. The research team leading this Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) has wide experience in diabetes research and includes experts in diabetes management in hospitals and in the community setting of general practice. There is special e ....Diabetes affects over one million Australians and is an increasing health problem in Australia and worldwide. Diabetes can damage small blood vessels, harming the kidneys and eyes and large blood vessels leading to heart attack, stroke and leg amputation. The research team leading this Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) has wide experience in diabetes research and includes experts in diabetes management in hospitals and in the community setting of general practice. There is special expertise in eye disease and in dietary management of diabetes. The research team will conduct research into diabetes, both type 1 diabetes, which usual starts in childhood, and type 2 diabetes that generally affects middle aged or older people, although increasingly is occurring in younger adults as the population becomes more obese. We will focus on the complications, which are common to both types of diabetes, looking for ways to detect them early and prevent them. Our studies will involve groups of up to 10,000 people with diabetes, sometimes followed over 5 or more years. Indigenous Australian groups will be included in the studies as they have a high rates of diabetes and its complications. We will also study ways in which people with type 2 diabetes can be more involved in improving the management of their illness. An exciting part of the study program will involve patients having transplants of insulin producing human islet cells. Although this treatment will be available for only a few patients, it is an important advance towards future treatments using human cells. The CCRE will have a very strong focus on recruiting and training the next generation of doctors and other clinicians involved in diabetes research, including nurses, dietitians and optometrists.Read moreRead less
The Metabolic Effects Of Oestrogens And SERMs: Regulatory Interactions With The GH-IGF-system In Health And Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$379,142.00
Summary
This project extends work aimed at understanding how GH and sex hormones work together to optimise physical health in women and men. It addresses the benefits and safety of oestrogen compounds in relation to their effects on body fat and muscle (body composition). Oestrogen compounds are among the most widely used medicines and include tradition oestrogens (female hormone) and synthetic oestrogens called SERMs. Oestrogens are used in young women as oral contraception and in the postmenopause for ....This project extends work aimed at understanding how GH and sex hormones work together to optimise physical health in women and men. It addresses the benefits and safety of oestrogen compounds in relation to their effects on body fat and muscle (body composition). Oestrogen compounds are among the most widely used medicines and include tradition oestrogens (female hormone) and synthetic oestrogens called SERMs. Oestrogens are used in young women as oral contraception and in the postmenopause for replacement therapy. Body composition is an important determinant of fitness and health. Obesity reduces fitness and increases the risk of diabetes and heart attacks while muscle loss causes weakness and frailty. GH is a major regulator of body composition; it acts by breaking down fat and building muscle mass. We discovered that oestrogens, when taken as a tablet interferes with the action of GH and causes detrimental changes in body composition. On the positive side, we have exploited the GH blocking action to treat acromegaly. This is a debilitating disease of excessive GH production from a pituitary tumour and for which available drug treatments are very expensive and require injection. The effects of SERMs on body composition are unknown. SERMs are interesting compounds because they act like oestrogens in some but as oestrogen blockers in other tissues. These are widely used in the treatment of breast cancer and osteoporosis. The extent to which they interfere with the action of GH has not been studied. They may exert additional effects because they act on the pituitary gland to reduce the secretion of GH. They may also prove to be effective in acromegaly which could extend their usefulness to men. In summary, the work will provide important information on the long-term benefits of SERMs in patient groups that tend to be frail. It may also prove to be a simple and inexpensive treatment for acromegaly.Read moreRead less