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From the world of research comes new advances for diabetics. Welchol is a new drug from Daiichi-Sankyo. This medication is to help reduce blood glucose levels in adults with type 2 diabetes. Recommended for use with Metformin or insulin it’s the only drug approved by the FDA to help reduce both blood glucose levels and LDL cholesterol levels.

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts inform us that tea and red wine may help regulate blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Both contain natural antioxidants that help slow the passage of glucose through the small intestine, eventually getting into the bloodstream and preventing spikes in blood sugar levels.

There is a vaccine that has prevented and reversed type 1 diabetes in mice. It’s scheduled to begin testing on human subjects by the end of next year. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are cautious about this as they are not sure this vaccine will work on humans as well as it did on mice. However, they are excited by the results so far.

There is a link between midlife development of type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Doctors doing the study in Sweden suggest that abnormal insulin levels may damage blood vessels in the brain.

Blood testing one day could be replaced by a flash of light instead of the eight to twelve hour fasting and drawing blood. MedStar Research is conducting tests in Washington D.C. Called the VeraLight Scout system, fluorescent light measures the effects of high glucose levels on the forearm’s connective tissue. This takes approximately 3 minutes and won’t require fasting.