Dr. Philipp Scherer explains the effects of lipotoxicity on beta cells and how beta cells are prone to lipotoxic damage. He notes that healthy adipose tissue will actually spare beta cells and that if someone is gaining weight, only healthy fat expansion will preserve the beta cells….

Dr. Philipp Scherer talks about how lipotoxicity is critically important in diabetes because of its direct negative effect on cells, especially beta cells. In fact, lipotoxicity may be at the core of beta cell failure; a lot of evidence associated with insulin resistance and inflammation seem to be related….

Dr. Philipp Scherer talks about how most type diabetic patients are at risk for cardiovascular disease and that much of this risk stems from being overweight or obese. Reducing caloric intake is very difficult but if those extra calories could be neutralized as metabolically healthy obese people are able to …

Dr. Philipp Scherer discusses mitochondrial function in fat cells and especially how brown fats cells seem to burn more energy than white. This is becoming a very active area of research and researchers are looking to study how it might be possible to optimize the rate that mitochondria can burn up …

Dr. Philipp Scherer explains that some segment of the population will have perfect metabolic health despite being overweight, and that this is due mostly to genetic predisposition. Somehow, their bodies have a highly effective way to store excess calories, and although they may not be cosmetically attractive, they are healthy. More …

Dr. Philipp Scherer talks about the idea of the “metabolically healthy obese” individual and how their genetic make-up might be different. He also discusses the condition of congenital lipodystrophy, an extreme example of insulin resistance, when excess lipids cannot be stored in the places in the body where they should …

Dr. Philipp Scherer talks about the future possibility of increasing patients’ metabolism in order to lose weight by either stimulating the brain area that oversees some metabolic functions or simply “tickling” lipocytes to increase their energy expenditure. These are potential therapies that are being looked at but probably won’t be …

Dr. Philipp Scherer talks about the future possibility of an “exercise pill” or something that would increase metabolism, repress appetite, and simulate the effects of exercise so that patients could maintain a normal weight without diet or exercise. He expects that clinical trials might happen in the next 5-7 years …

Dr. Philipp Scherer, Professor and Director of the Touchstone Diabetes Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, gives us a brief introduction to himself, and talks about his work studying adipose tissue. He explains that besides the white and brown fat that we are familiar with, …

FDA MedWatch: FreeStyle and FreeStyle Flash Blood Glucose Meter by Abbott Recall May produce mistakenly low blood glucose results including the OmniPod Insulin Management System with the built-in FreeStyle Blood Glucose Meter. For more information.