Pumpkins 'offer potential insulin alternative'
Monday, 09 Jul 2007 08:31
The humble pumpkin appears to have unexpected potential
Chinese scientists have identified pumpkins as a potential reliever of insulin injections for type one diabetes sufferers.
Extracts from the squash fruit were fed to diabetic rats by researchers from East China Normal University in an attempt to see what effect the extract had on damaged pancreatic cells.
They found the pumpkin extract helped regeneration of the cells, meaning the diabetic rats had only five per cent less plasma insulin than normal, healthy rats.
Tao Xia, who led the research, said the pumpkin extract would be useful for pre-diabetic persons as well as those who have already developed the disease.
But David Bender of University College Medical School in London warned that it was "impossible to say" whether pumpkins have the capability of affecting similar change in humans.
"I think the exciting thing is that this may be a source of a medication that could be taken by mouth," he added.
Approximately six per cent of the world's adult population are affected by diabetes, according to the World Diabetes Foundation.