Type 1 Cured In Mice
Ralph DeFronzo and his researchers at UT Health at San Antonio announced that they have cured type 1 diabetes. Researchers think they have found a way to trick the body into curing type 1 diabetes that may also have a great impact possibly for type 2 diabetes. Even though it was only in mice, this could be very positive, even with years of testing still remaining. Doctor Ralph DeFronzo, chief of the diabetes research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, says that this way of doing a gene transfer can wake up cells in the pancreas to produce insulin. The immune system of a person with diabetes kills off useful “beta” cells, but the researchers say they have found a way to make other cells in the pancreas perform the necessary work. Their approach, announced earlier this month in the academic journal Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, not only would have implications for type 1, but also could help treat the far more common type 2 diabetes. The researchers have cured mice, which are genetically similar to people but different enough that new rounds of animal testing are needed before human trials can begin. This approach is sure to attract skeptics, in part because it is a significant departure from the many other attempts at curing diabetes, which typically involve transplanting new cells and/or suppressing the immune system’s attempts to kill off useful ones. By contrast, “we’re taking a cell that is already present in the body and programming it to secrete insulin, without changing it otherwise,” said DeFronzo. Diabetes is a disease characterized by a person’s inability to process carbohydrates, a condition that if untreated can lead to often-catastrophic health consequences. The core problem is insulin. Most people naturally secrete that su Continue reading >>
To The Doctor Who Thought Type 1 Diabetes Has Been 'basically Cured'
I was just beginning my long 12-hour shift. As a nurse, I deal with people who have chronic diseases all day long. It’s rare for somebody to come into the hospital without a chronic condition. However, I’m not just an onlooker when it comes to chronic disease. I have type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. I’m right in the midst of things. So, I find some comfort in being an advocate for those struggling with chronic illness. As such, I wear a “Cure Type 1” pin on my hospital badge. I occasionally get some comments on it, so it was no surprise that morning when a doctor made a remark about it. “Are you a type 1 diabetic?” he inquired with interest. “Yes I am – for 21 years,” I replied with a smile. “Isn’t that basically cured now?” My smile faltered. I couldn’t believe my ears. Did a doctor just ask me that? A doctor. A medical professional. I just looked at him for a few seconds, trying to form a reply that wasn’t you’re kidding me, right?! He went on to further clarify his question: “I mean, they have that closed-loop system, right – the artificial pancreas?” Um, no. That is another device that can help me cope with and manage my type 1 diabetes. There is no cure for type 1 diabetes. In the first couple years of my nursing career, I have been astounded by the ignorance surrounding diabetes, specifically type 1. It’s a forgotten disease in adults. Children are the focus of juvenile diabetes – which they should be. Most of us are diagnosed when we are very young. I was diagnosed at 2 years old. But it doesn’t go away as you get older; that’s not how it works. I regularly wake up in the middle of the night with a low blood sugar because the activity from my 12-hour shift finally catches up with me. I feel nauseous and suddenl Continue reading >>
What If There Was A Cure For Diabetes
Dreaming of a cure for diabetes: Fact or Fiction? With tears in her eyes but a faint smile, Camp Director Maura Prescott, approached the podium. I would like to say that I am overjoyed that we are closing our Diabetes Camp with the announcement from the CDC that Type 1 Diabetes has now been eradicated, and that the services of our camp are no longer needed. I look forward to continuing to work in the diabetes world, but with the older Type 2 population, helping to fine tune their diabetes control with the Bionic Pancreas and increase their quality of life and time on this earth. I have given my life to working with and improving the lives of those with diabetes, and I will continue to do so. By the end of my life, I hope to see that there is not one single person with diabetes on this planet, and that our children and grandchildren are taught about this debilitating chronic illness in history class. We have come so far since the 1920’s, where we saw the discovery of insulin. We have come to the point of cure. Here, in 2056, we can say that on the horizon, we can see a world without diabetes. I stand before you today in awe at the shear genius of scientists who have worked tirelessly in efforts to make this day come. From the introduction of the vaccine for Type 1 diabetes in 2032, we have seen worldwide eradication similar to that seen many years ago with polio. The camp closes because there are no more children with diabetes to attend it, and is that not what we have all been working for? Honestly, I never expected to be able to say those words in my lifetime. But here we are. Tania Prescott read the scribbled notes from her mother’s speech some 25 years before. She had just read a news article online explaining how there are now only a few people left on the earth Continue reading >>
Is There A Cure?
Everyone wants a cure for diabetes. Or do they? Some people think so much money is made from “treating” diabetes that nobody in power really wants to “cure” it. Is there any truth to this? Could there be a cure? I’m not sure it’s possible to find a cure for something without knowing what causes it or how it works. At least in the case of Type 1, we have a general idea. The immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells and destroys them. For this reason, Type 1 is called an “autoimmune” disease, although nobody seems to know exactly what that means. We don’t know why beta cells come under attack, but environmental exposure to something — a food, a virus, a chemical — seems to set the process off. According to JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), to cure Type 1, we would have to turn off the immune system attack, or somehow protect beta cells from the immune system. Then we would need to find a way to restore new, functioning beta cells. These cells could perhaps be grown from other remaining healthy cells in the pancreas, or they could be manufactured in a lab or obtained from another animal and put into the body. If this all sounds extremely difficult, it is. Until now, no autoimmune disease has been cured. But perhaps it is possible. University of Colorado researchers say they have cured the condition in mice. They created a peptide that stops the immune system’s T-cells from attacking the beta cells. One researcher, Dr. David Wagner, said the effect could be huge, if it works in humans. The drug is effective at both preventing the mice from developing diabetes as well as reversing the effects of diabetes in mice that already have the condition. These effects “last for as long as we administer the drug,” Wagner Continue reading >>
The Cure For Type 2 Diabetes Is Known, But Few Are Aware
The cure for type 2 diabetes is known, but few are aware I recently posted to Facebook about a cure for diabetes and suggested someone try it. Just six days later, I received the following message from a friend: I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for that post… My lab results at the beginning of the month were 230. After just this last week it’s down to 155. I think I’ll be in normal range within a month. Really miraculous… It’s really been a game changer for me already and I wanted you to know how much I appreciated the info and how much of a difference I think it will make in my life. Four months later, the friend posted this to Facebook: I started on this regiment when Nathan posted about it [four months ago]. My blood glucose level at that time, while taking two daily glucose meds, was 235. Two weeks ago, my [fasting] glucose level, WITHOUT the meds, was 68. If you google “diabetes cure” you are directed to websites like WebMD and the Mayo Clinic where you find information on diet, exercise, medication, and insulin therapy, but nothing about the cure. This lack of information may have to do with the fact that Americans spend $322 billion a year to treat diabetes, $60 billion a year on weight-loss programs, and $124 billion a year on snack foods. This is about 3% of the US economy! Because so many peoples’ livelihoods are supported by diabetes and its main cause, obesity, the viral effect of people getting cured and telling others is greatly diminished. Because of this understandable stifling of the message, if you are like my Facebook friend and have already experienced the type 2 diabetes cure for yourself — there are thousands of you out there — it is important for you to share your success stories as far and wide as possible. You c Continue reading >>
Has A British Man Really Been Cured Of Type 1 Diabetes?
I have been living with type 1 diabetes for 25 years now. The relentlessness of type 1, and the fact that I will probably live with this non-preventable condition for the rest of my life never goes away, but I have almost made peace with it. A few days ago, I saw something that gave me pause. “British man with type 1 diabetes to receive tests after coming off insulin,” read Diabetes.co.uk’s headline. The article goes onto say that, “Daniel Darkes, from Daventy in Northamptonshire, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes seven years ago. But his recent tests have baffled doctors as his pancreas has shown signs of working properly again.” My first thoughts upon reading this were, “this can’t be true,” and “what’s the real explanation here?” There are many types of diabetes including type 2, LADA, and monogenic. Maybe he actually had one of those types instead of type 1. Usually, tests can determine this quickly though, so why was it not the case with Dan? I live in the UK and I wanted to get to the bottom of things. I managed to get in touch with ‘Miracle Dan’, as he’s been called by his friends. Although he is saving the specific details of his recent test results from the U.S. for an upcoming exclusive interview with another media outlet, he spoke to me and answered some of my questions about everything that has been happening. Please tell us a bit about yourself and your diabetes. When were you diagnosed? I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes back in February 2011 at the age of 23, after just leaving the army. I started a new engineering job and within two weeks of starting, I noticed the traditional symptoms of type 1 diabetes: thirst, weight loss, blurry vision, and a lot of vomiting. I collapsed and was taken by ambulance to hospital where I wa Continue reading >>
Researcher May Have Found A Cure For Diabetes
The most common form of treatment for Type 1 diabetes involves monitoring glucose levels and injecting insulin several times a day. Ending the world’s diabetes epidemic could be one step closer, with a promising new technique curing the condition in mice. Scientists at the University of Texas announced the breakthrough, which uses a novel approach that may eliminate Type 1 diabetes and see painful insulin injections become a thing of the past. University of Texas Health Science Center doctors used a virus as a carrier to introduce insulin-producing genes into the pancreas of rodent subjects. Professor Ralph DeFronzo said researchers altered cells so they secreted insulin, but only in response to glucose — mimicking the behavior of the body’s beta cells. This study bypasses the autoimmune system by altering other pancreatic cells so they can co-exist with immune defenses — unlike beta cells, which are rejected in Type 1 patients. At the moment, Type 1 diabetes is treated by monitoring glucose levels and injecting artificial insulin several times a day. While technology has made management of the condition easier, a cure has been elusive — until now. The patent’s co-inventor, Professor Bruno Doiron, said the results had never been seen before. “It worked perfectly,” Doiron said. “We cured mice for one year without any side effects.” Doiron predicted the same low-risk response in humans. “If a Type 1 diabetic has been living with these cells for 30, 40 or 50 years, and all we’re getting them to do is secrete insulin, we expect there to be no adverse immune response.” DeFronzo said the same method of treatment has been approved almost 50 times by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat various conditions, including rare childhood diseases. Whi Continue reading >>
Team Cures Diabetes In Mice Without Side Effects
A potential cure for Type 1 diabetes looms on the horizon in San Antonio, and the novel approach would also allow Type 2 diabetics to stop insulin shots. The discovery, made at The University of Texas Health Science Center, now called UT Health San Antonio, increases the types of pancreatic cells that secrete insulin. UT Health San Antonio researchers have a goal to reach human clinical trials in three years, but to do so they must first test the strategy in large-animal studies, which will cost an estimated $5 million. Those studies will precede application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Investigational New Drug (IND) approval, Bruno Doiron, Ph.D., a co-inventor, said. The scientists received a U.S. patent in January, and UT Health San Antonio is spinning out a company to begin commercialization. The strategy has cured diabetes in mice. "It worked perfectly," Dr. Doiron, assistant professor of medicine at UT Health, said. "We cured mice for one year without any side effects. That's never been seen. But it's a mouse model, so caution is needed. We want to bring this to large animals that are closer to humans in physiology of the endocrine system." Ralph DeFronzo, M.D., professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Diabetes at UT Health, is co-inventor on the patent. He described the therapy: "The pancreas has many other cell types besides beta cells, and our approach is to alter these cells so that they start to secrete insulin, but only in response to glucose [sugar]," he said. "This is basically just like beta cells." Insulin, which lowers blood sugar, is only made by beta cells. In Type 1 diabetes, beta cells are destroyed by the immune system and the person has no insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, beta cells fail and insulin decreases. At the same time Continue reading >>
Diabetes Cured In Mice. Are We Next?
2 pictures According to the Center for Disease Control, 1.25 million people suffer from type 1 diabetes in the US alone. So far, it can only be managed with diet and regular doses of insulin, but scientists at UT Health San Antonio have invented a way of curing the disease in mice that may one day do the same for humans even with type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a particularly unpleasant condition. It occurs when the pancreas ceases to produce the insulin needed by the body to metabolize sugar and, until the invention of artificial insulin injections, it was as deadly as cancer. Type 2 is the less severe form of the disease, where the body produces insufficient insulin; it can often be managed through diet alone. Add some color to your diet with this recipe for rainbow sheet pan veggies, using Eggland’s Bes... Surprisingly, diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Insulin is made by specialized cells in the pancreas, called beta cells, and sometimes the body's immune system turns against itself and attacks these beta cells, destroying them. Diabetes results when this destruction is over 80 percent. Invented by Bruno Doiron and Ralph DeFronzo, the UT Health technique uses gene transfer to alter cells in the pancreases of mice to make them think they're beta cells and start making insulin. This involves taking selected genes from external beta cells and using viruses as carriers to move them into the new host cells, in the diabetic pancreas. According to DeFronzo, the altered cells then produce insulin, but only in the presence of sugar, which is how a functioning beta cell is supposed to work. Otherwise, the cells would just keep cranking out the hormone, metabolizing all the sugar in the bloodstream and causing hypoglycemia. Only about 20 percent of the lost cells need t Continue reading >>
Boy Is 'cured' Of Type 1 Diabetes Through Complimentary Therapies
In 2008, The Incurables, a U.S reality television series about people who overcome series medical conditions, aired an episode about a boy called Zachary Swerdlow who suffers from type 1 diabetes. Zachary’s parents, who prefer homeopathic solutions to Western medication, began investigating alternative treatments shortly after his diagnosis. They consulted a natural pharmacist, Robert Kress, who believed that Zachary’s diabetes was caused by infections and parasites in the body, placing his internal organs under strain. Despite Kress's beliefs, it is important to note that the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is not yet fully understood. Zachary was placed on a strict diet aimed at detoxifying his liver. Kress believed that this would reduce the strain on Zachary’s “overworked” pancreas, enabling it to function better. He was also advised to apply regular mudpacks to the areas of the abdomen in which his kidneys are located. This was intended to remove harmful toxins from the kidneys. Zachary was also taken to Alan Maynard, a chiropractor who informed the family that the vertebrae in Zachary’s spine responsible for the pancreas, were significantly out of alignment. Maynard began treating Zachary with the aim of “addressing the cause of his diabetes”. While Zachary’s parents believed that when Zachary swam in a salt water pool, it would have the most significant effect on lowering his blood sugar. Using the above methods, amongst others, Zachary’s parents claim that he no longer requires insulin. Watch some of the footage from the episode here: Did alternative therapies cure Zachary? Whilst it cannot be denied that these different therapies may have helped to improve Zachary’s blood glucose control, they cannot be suggested as a cure for type 1 diabet Continue reading >>
Scientists Cure Type 1 Diabetes For A Year Without Side Effects
A potential cure for Type 1 diabetes looms on the horizon – and the novel approach would also allow Type 2 diabetics to stop insulin shots. The treatment totally cured diabetes in mice for an entire year without any side effects. The discovery, made at UT Health San Antonio, works by increasing the types of pancreatic cells that secrete insulin. “It worked perfectly,” said Dr. Bruno Doiron, assistant professor of medicine at UT Health. “We cured mice for one year without any side effects. That’s never been seen.” CHECK OUT: First Ever Quadriplegic Treated With Stem Cells Regains Motor Control in His Upper Body Insulin, which lowers blood sugar, is only made by beta cells. In Type 1 diabetes, beta cells are destroyed by the immune system and the person has no insulin. In Type 2 diabetes, beta cells fail and insulin decreases. At the same time in Type 2, the body doesn’t use insulin efficiently. The therapy is accomplished by a technique called gene transfer. A virus is used as a vector, or carrier, to introduce selected genes into the pancreas. These genes become incorporated and cause digestive enzymes and other cell types to make insulin. Unlike beta cells, which the body rejects in Type 1 diabetes, the other cell populations of the pancreas co-exist with the body’s immune defenses. Gene transfer using a viral vector has been approved nearly 50 times by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat various diseases. MORE: After Marrying On Her ‘Deathbed,’ This Bride Made a Miraculous Recovery After Quitting 1 Food “The pancreas has many other cell types besides beta cells, and our approach is to alter these cells so that they start to secrete insulin, but only in response to glucose [sugar],” said co-inventor Ralph DeFronzo. “This is basicall Continue reading >>
Is There A Cure For Diabetes?
At this time there is no known cure for Type 1 diabetes or Type 2 diabetes. However, we are funding pioneering, life-changing research into care, treatment and prevention, and working to find a cure for all types of diabetes. Is there a cure for diabetes? Video chat with Dr Alasdair Rankin How is diabetes treated, and is there a cure? Currently, there is no cure for Type 1 diabetes, but it can be treated successfully by administering insulin, either by an injection or pump, and by following a healthy, balanced diet and getting regular physical activity. Looking after diabetes requires planning and attention, which may feel overwhelming at times, especially when your child is first diagnosed. However, there’s no reason for it to stop your child living the healthy, happy and successful life you had hoped for them. Diabetes UK funded projects development of an artificial pancreas, a vaccine (Type 1 diabetes) further understanding of genetic mechanisms, very low-calorie diet (Type 2 diabetes) Research Project Directory Our research project directory showcases the diverse and exciting array of diabetes research projects that we are supporting all over the UK. Everything you see is possible thanks to the continued support of our members, donors and voluntary groups – who help us decide which studies deserve the charity's support and help raise the money that is vital to research. Ever since Diabetes UK awarded its first research grant in 1935 (for £50), we have been one of the largest funders of diabetes research in the UK. We support a wide range of pioneering initiatives into the causes and prevention of diabetes, improvements in care and treatment and the search for a cure. Note:You can search for projects in this directory based on the type of research involved or th Continue reading >>
Can Synthetic Biology Finally Cure The Autoimmune Disease?
Lev Dolgachov/Thinkstock Type 1 diabetes is a discouraging disease. Despite the availability of synthetic insulin and increasingly sophisticated monitoring technology, it’s still a condition that requires incessant vigilance: Diabetics must constantly track their blood sugar levels and carefully use that information to calibrate drug doses. Even if you manage to do all of that well, bad days remain almost inevitable. Take too much insulin, and you can spiral into a hypoglycemic delirium. Take too little, and your glucose levels will rise, filling the body with dangerous levels of ketones. Less immediately frustrating—but no less familiar for diabetics—is the state of diabetes research. Possible cures routinely pop up only to fade from view, their benefits never quite surpassing the simple efficacy of an insulin injection. More recently, though, the field of synthetic biology—a hybrid discipline that aims to construct or redesign biological components and systems—has shown the potential to produce a novel set of treatments. The solutions remain speculative, but they do offer cautious reasons for hope. “Type 1 diabetes, in theory, should be relatively easy to solve. That has been the mantra of researchers for the last 30 years. And I still take insulin every day.” John Glass, a researcher working on one such new effort, knows how maddening false hope can be, having lived with the disease for decades. “Type 1 diabetes, in theory, should be relatively easy to solve,” he told me over the phone. “That has been the mantra of type 1 diabetes researchers for the last 30 years. And I still take insulin every day.” I had originally called Glass, a synthetic biologist with the J. Craig Venter Institute, in the hopes of better understanding how his burgeoning f Continue reading >>
Diabetes Cure
Tweet Cures for both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes have not yet been discovered, but progress is being made to prospectively cure type 1 diabetes in this generation. As studies continue, the root causes and mechanism behind both forms of the disease are becoming more clearly understood all the time. People with type 2 diabetes can go into remission, but while a cure is still elusive for type 1 diabetes, research from major angles is contributing towards a potential cure. Type 1 diabetes cure Researchers are beginning to get excited again that a cure or near-cure treatment could come as early as within the next decade or two. A diabetes vaccine diabetes vaccine is consistently being investigated to provide a true biological cure for type 1 diabetes. The aim is for a vaccine to be created that stops the immune system from attacking the body's insulin-producing beta cells. Another cure prospect gaining momentum is islet cell encapsulation, with stem cells used to create insulin-producing cells that can work without immune system interference. Type 1 diabetes vaccine Research into a diabetes vaccine is being made on several fronts, with Selecta Bioscience, a clinical bioscience company, developing a Synthetic Vaccine Particle (SVP) as an immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes. The vaccine is expected to reprogram the immune system to prevent inflammatory responses to insulin cells, with Selecta currently trialling SVP on mice courtesy of funding from JRDF, a leading global organisation funding type 1 diabetes research. Elsewhere, the Faustman Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital is currently leading a human clinical trial program to test the efficiency of their Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine. Positive results have already been reported from their Phase I study. An Continue reading >>
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Type 2 Diabetes Is A Fully Curable Disease
Type 2 diabetes is a fully curable disease. And still conventional medicine treat it as the opposite – as a chronic and progressive disease. We try to mask the symptoms and slow down the complications, instead of curing it! It’s quite easy to prove that type 2 diabetes is a curable disease. Have a look at this chart of the number of required drugs for treating the disease, over 12 months on three different treatments in a 2012 study: The top graph is conventional treatment. Everyone starts out on three different medications and they keep having to take the drugs. This is what we normally do. It simply does not work as a cure and may even make the diabetes worse. The bottom two graphs are common variants of obesity surgery, where a large (healthy) part of the stomach is removed. Many patients suddenly don’t need drugs anymore, their diabetes completely goes away! The point is not to recommend surgery that removes healthy organs – I don’t recommend that. The point it that type 2 diabetes is a fully curable disease. Luckily it’s not even necessary to remove healthy organs to do so, it’s also possible by just changing your lifestyle. Here’s a longer post on the subject by the great Dr. Jason Fung: IDM: Surgery Reverses Diabetes – T2D3 I just spent a few days with Dr. Fung and we have some really interesting plans. If you’re at all interested in this topic I think you’ll love what we have coming up soon. More Continue reading >>
