Diabetes is really starting to feel like that annoying party guest who just won’t leave. Experts are already tossing around words like “epidemic” when they talk about the next few decades, which, honestly, is kind of terrifying.
You’ve got your classic duo: Type 1, which is basically your immune system going rogue (thanks, genetics), and Type 2, which—let’s be real—scientists still don’t totally get why it happens.
Now, here’s the wild bit. Out of nowhere, some brainiacs over at IIT Bombay stumbled on a link between collagen (yeah, the same stuff people inject into their faces to look younger) and Type 2 diabetes.
What does the new IIT Bombay research reveal?
Turns out, collagen isn’t just making you look snatched; it might also be helping a hormone called amylin pile up in your pancreas. When that happens, your insulin production tanks, and boom—hello, high blood sugar.
The study conducted by the Journal of the American Chemical Society for publishing breaks it down like this: Your body pumps out insulin and amylin after you eat, to keep your blood sugar in check. But when amylin starts acting weird, it can lump up into these nasty amyloid clumps. Those clumps go straight for your pancreas’s beta cells and wreck them, which just makes diabetes even worse.
It’s not just about sugar anymore
Professor Shamik Sen and his squad figured out that this specific type of collagen, fibrillar collagen 1, actually encourages the formation of those amylin clumps. So it’s not just about sugar anymore; your body’s structural proteins might be getting in on the action, too.
Honestly? It’s kind of a game-changer. If scientists can figure out how to keep collagen and amylin from double-teaming your pancreas, maybe we’ll finally get some new treatments for Type 2 diabetes. Millions of people are crossing their fingers right now.
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