Diabetes & Atherosclerosis
Diabetes & Atherosclerosis
www.bakeridi.edu.au
Head – Terri Allen
The Diabetes and Atherosclerosis lab focuses exclusively on atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fatty deposits in the heart’s blood vessels, in diabetes. Heart disease is a major complication of diabetes, and its greatest cause of death in people with the disease. People with diabetes generally have an abnormal cholesterol level, known as a lipid profile. So even though, compared to the rest of the population, diabetics have higher cholesterol levels, they run a greater risk of going on to have a heart attack than a person with a higher cholesterol reading but who does not have diabetes. The presence of diabetes is a risk factor for heart disease as great as family history, high cholesterol and even having had a heart attack previously.
The lab, which works in collaboration with many other Baker IDI labs on projects, investigates the effectiveness of drug treatments in diabetic atherosclerosis, as well as the effectiveness of dietary interventions. Using a genetically modified mouse model with diabetes and high cholesterol, the group monitors the effects of diet and drugs on the development of atherosclerosis and also studies what has taken place at a cellular and molecular level. This approach gives insight into why a particular intervention may or may not have proved effective and does so in a condensed space of time: in humans diabetic complications such as atherosclerosis can take 15-20 years to develop.
Ongoing research projects, many conducted in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, include the study of a new application of the hormone endothelin, which constricts blood vessels, in diabetic kidney disease and atherosclerosis. In conjunction with Baker IDI's Paul Nestel, the lab has conducted research into the controversial notion of reducing cholesterol and the incidence of atherosclerosis by boosting cow’s milk with a specific oil. Their finding, that the effects on disease were unremarkable, will add to the body of information on this topic.
Research now underway, conducted in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases, will look at the relationship between changes in platelets, manufactured in the bone marrow and associated with the blood’s ability to clot, and atherosclerosis.
About Us
Joining forces to prevent heart disease and diabetes
Baker IDI was create in 2008 after the merger of the Baker Heart Research Institute and the International Diabetes Institute (IDI. The establishment of our new institute is an important milestone for medical research and patient care both Australia-wide and internationally. Baker IDI combines the formidable strength of Baker’s research into cardiovascular disease and diabetic complications with the outstanding diabetes research, education and patient care of IDI. Patient care is focused on equipping people with diabetes with the skills they need to slow down – and where possible halt – the progression of their disease before the appearance of life-threatening complications.
We do this with our staff of specially-trained nurse educators and other health professionals who understand the importance of a holistic approach to self-management of the disease. Our staff and clinics offer care, support and education in use of latest developments in diabetes therapies.
page: 93 last published: 8 October 2008
