Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have done some research on mice with Type II Diabetes. The good news: resveratrol, the same anti-aging compound in grapes and red wine, lowers insulin levels even on a high fat diet. The bad news: because “resveratrol does not cross the blood brain barrier efficiently,”they had to inject resveratrol directly into the brains of those mice to do it. Researchers hope this will lead to the development of resveratrol-like compounds designed to work specifically on the brain.

They were trying to specifically learn about how resveratrol activates proteins called sirtuins. These proteins are found throughout the body, and some scientists think they are the key to how resveratrol works in general. Sirtuin research on human diabetics has already reached the drug trial stage. Sirtuin anti-aging research is also in high gear, and has resulted in some drug testing and some topical serums.

While this path of research may indeed result in revolutionary new treatments for diabetes, we have a long way to go from injecting things into mouse brains to coming up with something humans can use on a regular outpatient basis. The bottom line is that for the foreseeable future, diabetics are going to have to manage their disease the old fashioned way: a healthy lifestyle and medication where indicated.