People with type 2 diabetes have to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, a meticulous task involving insulin injections, and regular monitoring. Scientists around the globe are continuously searching for more convenient ways to manage the condition.
Among them, researchers from the University of Iowa (UI) have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar non-invasively. The UI team built a ‘remote control’ for diabetes management that reduces blood sugar levels via electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and improves the body’s response to insulin.
This new technique came about when the scientists borrowed some diabetic mice from another group of researchers, who were using the animals as part of their studies on EMFs’ effect on the brain.
Sunny Huang, the study’s co-lead author, recalled:
It was really odd because normally, these animals have high blood sugar and type 2 diabetes, but all of the animals exposed to EMFs showed normal blood sugar levels. I told Calvin (co-lead author Calvin Carter), ‘There’s something weird going on here.’
To further investigate the matter, the scientists analyzed previous research on EMFs’ biological effects, which come from several sources, such as mobile devices, telecommunications infrastructure, and the Earth.
Carter explained:
This literature pointed to a quantum biological phenomenon whereby EMFs may interact with specific molecules. There are molecules in our bodies that are thought to act like a tiny magnetic antenna, enabling a biological response to EMFs. Some of these molecules are oxidants, which are studied in redox biology, an area of research that deals with the behavior of electrons and reactive molecules that govern cellular metabolism.
The UI team then studied a molecule’s activity known to play a role in type 2 diabetes, called superoxide, in mouse models of type 2 diabetes. The scientists applied EMFs to three different types of mouse models for a few hours a day. The results showed a change in the liver’s superoxide molecules’ signaling, which rebalanced the antioxidants and oxidants in the organ and lowered the animals’ blood sugar levels while improving their insulin response.
Carter said:
We’ve built a remote control to manage diabetes. Exposure to EMFs for relatively short periods reduces blood sugar and normalizes the body’s response to insulin. The effects are long-lasting, opening the possibility of an EMF therapy that can be applied during sleep to manage diabetes all day.
With human trials as an eventual goal, the team also tested the technique on human liver cells. The researchers saw a significant improvement in a surrogate marker for insulin sensitivity after just six hours of treatment. This is a promising sign that the therapy could have the same effects in humans.
Carter added:
Our dream is to create a new class of non-invasive medicines that remotely take control of cells to fight disease.
The IU team published their findings on Oct 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism.
