Type 2 diabetes symptoms - vegetarian diet could increase risk
GETTY Type 2 diabetes symptoms: Experts said lack of Vitamin A could increase risk
Experts suggest this could be due to Vitamin A - a substance which is found in animal foods and dairy products. The vitamin boosts cells in the pancreas that produce the blood sugar-regulating hormone insulin, researchers said. There has previously been no known link between diabetes and Vitamin A - which is found in liver, oily fish and cheese - until now. Dr Albert Salehi, senior researcher at the Lund University Diabetes Centre in Sweden, said vitamin A is found mainly in offal and dairy products. The researchers said milk in Sweden is enriched with Vitamin A and there appears to be no deficiency in people who eat a varied diet.
GETTY Type 2 diabetes symptoms: Experts said lack of Vitamin A could increase risk
However he said some vegetarians perhaps need to be aware of the problem. The research team from King's College London and the Oxford Centre for Diabetes found the vitamin improves the function of the specialist cells - known as beta cells. They initially discovered the cells contain a large quantity of a cell surface receptor for vitamin A. Dr Salehi said: "There are no unnecessary surface receptors in human cells. They all serve a purpose but which, in many cases, is still unknown and because of that they are called 'orphan' receptors. "When we discovered insulin cells have a cell surface expressed receptor for vitamin A, we thought it was important to find out why and what the purpose is of a cell surface receptor interacting with vitamin A mediating a rapid response to vitamin A."
Symptoms of diabetes Fri, August 19, 2016 Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. There are 3.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 500,000 who are living undiagnosed with the condition. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 9 People should be aware signs and symptoms of diabetes are not always obvious and the condition is often diagnosed during GP check ups.
The researchers believe Vitamin A has an important role for the development of beta-cells in the early stages of life - and as people get older. They worked with insulin cells from mice and non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic donors. By partially blocking the vitamin A receptor and challenging the cells with sugar, they could see that the cells' ability to secrete insulin deteriorated. Dr Salehi said: "We saw close to a 30 per cent reduction.” He said impaired cell survival and insulin secretion are key causes of type 2 diabetes and said the same thing could be seen when comparing insulin cells from type 2 diabetics. Cells from patients were less capable of insulin secretion compared with those from healthy individuals. WHAT IS TYPE 2 DIABETES?
GETTY Type 2 diabetes symptoms: Experts said lack of Vitamin A could increase risk
vitamin A would not work as a treatment for diabetes