Diabetes therapies to be discussed at March 3 Well-Informed Seminar

Feb. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- With more than 23 million people living with diabetes in the United States, nearly everyone has heard of ways to prevent the disease and is most likely familiar with the daily blood sugar tests and insulin injections some patients give themselves. But thanks to ongoing research, there are emerging ways to treat diabetes more effectively, such as using insulin-stimulating hormones called incretins. Dr. Sergio Mather, a physician associated with Lee Memorial Health System, will discuss some of these new therapies at the system’s Well Informed lecture on March 3 between 5 – 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Place Coconut Point in Estero.

“Incretins are hormones that are typically released by your gut when you eat,” Mather explains. “It stimulates the production of insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. In diabetics, insulin either isn’t being created or doesn’t work well, so understanding patients’ incretin levels is very important.

“We first learned about incretins in the mid-1990s and there are now drugs designed to make the pancreas more receptive of incretins, so it produces insulin more regularly,” Mather continues. “However, there is still a lot of research going on involving incretin hormones, and we’re learning more about them and how they work every day. We’re also finding other hormones that ‘mimic’ their effects.”

One example: In 2005, researchers presented a drug containing a hormone found in the saliva of the Gila monster, a lizard that eats just four times per year. The isolated hormone is only secreted when it eats to stimulate insulin production; its pancreas remains unused at other times. In humans, researchers found this hormone aids incretin absorption, which helps diabetics make more insulin.

“As we understand more about incretins, it will open the door to a lot of additional treatment options for diabetics,” Mather says.

Mather will discuss incretins and other advances in diabetes therapies at Lee Memorial Health System’s upcoming Well Informed lecture.

Date:   Wednesday, March 3, 2010
   
Time:   5 – 6:30 p.m.
   
Location:   Hyatt Place Coconut Point, located at Coconut Point mall
23120 Via Villagio, Estero, FL 33928
   
Reservations:   239-433-8505 or www.HealthyBonitaEstero.org


About Dr. Sergio Mather
Dr. Sergio Mather has practiced internal medicine in Fort Myers for 27 years. He is certified in endocrinology and metabolism by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Mather earned his medical degree from Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, completed internships in Peru and with the University of Miami, served his residency at the University of Miami, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in endocrinology at Baylor College of Medicine.  

About Lee Memorial Health System
Open since 1916, Lee Memorial Health System is the fifth largest public health system in the United States and the largest community-owned health system in Southwest Florida. With more than 9,300 employees, the system is made up of four acute care hospitals and two specialty hospitals, as well as outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers and primary care physician offices.  An award-winning health care system, it provides regional programs, such as our Trauma Center and Children’s Hospital, which serve our community members from Tampa to Miami. Visit www.LeeMemorial.org for more information.

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Press contact information:
Karen Krieger, Director
Public Affairs
Phone: 239-454-8765
Fax: 239-454-8775
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E-Mail: Karen.krieger@leememorial.org

Carolyn Rogers, CPRC
Briggs & Rogers
Phone: 239-278-3900
Mobile: 239-850-5020
Fax: 239-465-4529
E-mail: carolyn@briggsrogers.com