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Innovation Incentive Initiative - Metabolic Disease |
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Metabolic disease is the result of an abnormal metabolic process at the cellular level. These disorders can be congenital due to an inherited enzyme abnormality or acquired due to complex, multigenic diseases such as diabetes or obesity. Alternatively, metabolic disorders can result from disease of an endocrine organ or failure of a metabolically important organ such as the liver. The major research emphasis in this area at the University of Cincinnati is on diabetes and obesity, two of our nation’s fastest growing metabolic health problems. Basic research in diabetes (primarily type-2) focuses on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the disease, using mostly molecular approaches. Clinical research in this area is very broad with studies aimed at the diagnosis, prevention and treatment aspects. Obesity research is a strength at UC with investigators focusing on the biochemical imbalances underlying the origins of obesity and the neurobehavioral mechanisms associated with altered food intake and derangements in energy metabolism.
The potential economic impact of research on metabolic disease is well-illustrated by the example of obesity. The incidence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions, is a major health burden, and costs the U.S. billions of dollars in health care and lost productivity. Failure to develop effective treatments for obesity is in large part due to a lack of clear understanding as to how food intake and energy balance are regulated by the central nervous system. Research to determine the processes by which food intake and energy balance are controlled will have a major impact on public health.
The impact of diabetes in Ohio is growing. The statistics from the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland show the high cost of diabetes complications in Ohio, where over 700,000 people have diabetes, about 1/16 of our population. Among those who have had diabetes for more than 10 years, preventable diabetes-related complications and disease are quite common: amputations of the leg or foot (more than 2,500 Ohioans/year at a cost of $21,500 per amputation); blindness due to diabetes (1400 Ohioans/year, with complete rehabilitation services costing $40,000 per person); kidney failure because of diabetes (1300 Ohioans/year at a cost of $50,000/year each for dialysis for life and the rate is increasing by about 8% every year.); and every year, more than 11,000 Ohioans die due to diabetes. Ohio has the fourth highest death rate due to diabetes in the U.S. The death rate due to diabetes in central Ohio is twice the national average. For African American men in central Ohio, it is four times the national average.
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