A breakthrough may have been made by a Winnipeg-based biotechnology company into the treatment and prevention of Type Two diabetes.
DiaMedica, which specializes in diabetes research, says its researchers have discovered a hormone they call HISS.
Company chief executive officer Dr. Wayne Lautt, says HISS is released in the liver after a meal and accounts for more than half the storage of sugar in the muscles.
Until now, scientists thought insulin alone managed sugar storage.
Dr. Lautt says in people who will develop Type Two diabetes, the patient has low levels of HISS or none at all.
He's developed tests to determine if the body is blocking the hormone's release.
Human tests have already been conducted by Dr. Lautt's collaborators in Portugal.
Dr. Lautt hopes DiaMedica will soon receive funding for its own tests.
The Canadian Diabetes Association estimates that by the end of the decade, three million Canadians will have diabetes
