The current practice of intensively lowering blood glucose in critically ill patients increases the risk of death by 10%. Results of the largest trial of intensive glucose lowering in critically ill patients published today in The New England Journal of Medicine indicate that international clinical guidelines need urgent review.

Widely varying blood glucose levels may pose as great a threat, or possibly a greater threat, to critically ill patients as high, but steady, glycemic levels, according to researchers in Saudi Arabia, who will present their findings at the American Thoracic Society’s 2008 International Conference in Toronto on Tuesday, May 20.

Canadian, French and British researchers have identified a DNA sequence that controls the variability of blood glucose levels in people. This is a potentially significant discovery because high blood glucose levels in otherwise healthy people often are indications of heart disease and higher mortality rates. The results will be published May 1 in the online version of the journal Science.

Insulin, long known as an important regulator of blood glucose levels, now has a newly appreciated role in the brain.

Scientists say they have discovered a gene responsible for increasing a person's likelihood of contracting type 1 diabetes.

A single neurotransmitter can carry the signal that alerts the brain to low blood sugar levels, say USC neuroscientists