Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 28 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes Association, but medications now available only treat symptoms, not the root cause of the disease. New research from Rutgers shows promising evidence that a modified form of a different drug, niclosamide – now used to eliminate intestinal parasites – may hold the key to battling the disease at its source. The study, led by Dr. Victor Shengkan Jin (image), an associate professor of pharmacology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, was published online on October 5, 2014 by the journal Nature Medicine. Dr. Jin says it is important to find a suitable medication to correct the cause of the disease as quickly as possible because the only way now known to "cure" the disease involves major gastric bypass surgery. "The surgery can only be performed on highly obese people," Dr. Jin explains, "and carries significant risks that include death, so it is not a realistic solution for most patients." And the number of patients continues to rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projects that 40 percent of all Americans now alive will develop type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is the form of diabetes once known as "adult onset," in which the body produces insulin that ordinarily would keep blood sugar under control, but either it does not produce enough insulin or the body's ability to use that insulin is degraded. According to Dr. Jin, a major cause of insulin resistance is the accumulation of excess fat in the cells of the liver, as well as in muscle tissue. The fat disrupts the process where, ordinarily, insulin would cause body tissues to correctly absorb glucose – blood sugar – and use it as a fuel.Login Or Register To Read Full Story