Dr Bart Roep: The Man Who Wants To Cure Type 1 Diabetes Within Six Years
'The C-word is controversial within diabetes circles, yet the City of Hope had no reticence about making the claim.' - Jack Woodfield. Dr Bart Roep is the director of the diabetes research facilityat the City of Hope's Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute. Born in the Netherlands, he leads a team whose mission is to cure type 1 diabetes, and while their ambitions are lofty, so is their early success. In March, Dr Roep's team published the results of a 14-year-boy with type 1 diabetes who underwent stem cell transplantation. The boy has since been free from insulin without any side effects for eight years. This, Dr Roep said, was the first definitive proof that type 1 diabetes can be cured. But there are still several critical questions to be answered. Dr Roep acknowledges that cure is "a dangerous word to use" in regard to type 1 diabetes research. "What we are trying to do is understand why people get type 1 diabetes and to translate this to find a cure," Roep said. "That is, of course, a dangerous word to use. But we think that we are onto a couple of leads." One of these leads is islet cell transplantation, a procedure that involves transplanting islet (insulin-producing) cells into patients from donor pancreases. In some cases, the transplants can help a patient come off insulin, but other times the cells are rejected or attacked by the immune system unless immunosuppressant drugs are also given, which can cause side effects. Dr Roep's team made a significant discovery along the way: by reading the immune signatures of patients they were able to predict how successful transplantation would be. Dr Roep says this is the first step towards personalising medicine in type 1 diabetes. "It turns out we can predict before surgery who has a fantastic chance of lasting Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes
Cure For those who have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, JDRF is funding research towards curing the disease by replacing or renewing insulin-producing cells, and also stopping the body from attacking these cells. The Basic Challenges of Curing Type 1 Diabetes Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself and destroys beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells normally produce insulin, a hormone that helps the body turn sugar from food sources into energy for cells throughout the body. But when the immune attack destroys the beta cells, insulin is no longer produced and the sugar stays in the blood where it can cause serious damage to body organs. Because of this, people with type 1 diabetes have to regularly inject insulin in order to stay alive. To cure someone with type 1 diabetes, two aspects of the disease need to be corrected. We need to stop the mistaken immune system attack on the insulin-producing beta cells, as well as protecting new beta cells from this ongoing attack (encapsulation). We need to restore the body’s ability to produce its own insulin, either by making new beta cells from other remaining healthy cells in the pancreas (regeneration) or by making them in a lab or obtaining them from other animals and putting them into the body (replacement). Our CURE research priorities in FY18 focus on: Beta cell replacement and encapsulation devices to protect cells from the immune system Therapies that promote the survival, health, and function of beta cells Beta cell regeneration therapies that restore insulin independence Read more about recent research on our blog. Continue reading >>
A Permanent Cure For Type 1 Diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is the most prevalent metabolic disorder among young people. Approximately two million Europeans suffer from the disease, and the group of patients grows by an average of 3% annually. The origins of the disease remain unknown, but an effective therapy with permanent results and without side effects may be found in the near future, according to Professor Chantal Mathieu of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology. A new approach using active biopharmaceuticals appears promising. Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disorder by which the immune system of the patient attacks his/her own body. Insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed, deregulating the patient’s blood sugar levels and leading the patient to require regular insulin injections to survive. Moreover, complications such as eye diseases, kidney conditions and vascular diseases may drastically reduce life expectancy and quality of life. But new research may change this reality. The new therapy was developed by ActoGenix, a biopharmaceutical spin-off of Ghent University and the VIB. The spin-off specialises in the development and valorisation of ActoBiotics, a new class of orally administered and locally active biopharmaceuticals. Professor Mathieu’s team conducted a study with mice at KU Leuven, funded by European and international research grants. ActoBiotics significantly reduced newly developed type 1 diabetes permanently and had no side effects. “Therein lies the breakthrough”, Professor Mathieu says. “Until now, the most successful treatment for newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes in mice only worked for a period of approximately six months in humans. What is more, these therapies also had significant side effects. Our approach promises to have a more lasti Continue reading >>
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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 >>
Introduction To Type I Diabetes
Three Articles On Type I Diabetes: Article #1: Introduction to Type I Diabetes (This Article) Article #2: Possible Causes of Type I Diabetes Article #3: The Treatment of Type I Diabetes Introduction to Type I Diabetes Did you know that there are two products that have cured advanced Type I diabetes cases? Both of them will be discussed in this article. But more importantly, one of these products can reverse cumulative severe side-effects of Type I or Type 2 diabetes. Type I diabetes is actually a set of symptoms, meaning it can be caused by several different things. The symptoms are that the blood lacks insulin. There are actually several things that can cause an abnormally low level of insulin in the blood. Type I diabetes is a very severe disease. The average lifespan of Type I diabetic is 5-8 years shorter than an average person. But death is not the worst thing about Type I diabetes. Here is a list of some of the health problems it can lead to: Amputation of limbs Blindness (retinopathy) – diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in America — 12,000 to 24,000 case annually Kidney failure (nephropathy) – frequently leading to dialysis or a kidney/pancreas transplant Liver disease Arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) Heart disease Stroke (e.g. paralysis) High blood pressure Nerve damage (neuropathy) Dementia Urinary tract infection (mostly in women) Depression – Note: Aspartame (e.g. Equal, NutraSweet, etc.) and sugar are the leading causes of depression in non-diabetics. However, because the average diabetic consumes more aspartame than the average person, it is highly possible that aspartame is by far the REAL cause of depression in diabetics!! A diabetic should absolutely avoid aspartame and all other artificial sweeteners! Bone quali Continue reading >>
A Permanent Cure For Type 1 Diabetes?
(Excerpt) Type 1 diabetes is the most prevalent metabolic disorder among young people. Approximately two million Europeans suffer from the disease, and the group of patients grows by an average of 3% annually. The origins of the disease remain unknown, but an effective therapy with permanent results and without side effects may be found in the near future, according to Professor Chantal Mathieu of the Department of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology. A new approach using active biopharmaceuticals appears promising. Lactococcus bacteria Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disorder by which the immune system of the patient attacks his/her own body. Insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed, deregulating the patient’s blood sugar levels and leading the patient to require regular insulin injections to survive. Moreover, complications such as eye diseases, kidney conditions and vascular diseases may drastically reduce life expectancy and quality of life. But new research may change this reality. The new therapy was developed by ActoGenix, a biopharmaceutical spin-off of Ghent University and the VIB. The spin-off specializes in the development and valorization of ActoBiotics, a new class of orally administered and locally active biopharmaceuticals. Professor Mathieu’s team conducted a study with mice at KU Leuven. ActoBiotics significantly reduced newly developed type 1 diabetes permanently and had no side effects. “Therein lies the breakthrough”, Professor Mathieu says. “Until now, the most successful treatment for newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes in mice only worked for a period of approximately six months in humans. What is more, these therapies also had significant side effects. Our approach promises to have a more lasting effect with no side Continue reading >>
- Get off your backside! It's madness for the NHS to spend millions fighting type 2 diabetes when the simple cure is exercise, says DR MICHAEL MOSLEY, who reversed HIS own diabetes
- New way to BEAT diabetes: Single operation could cure Type 2 disease, says UK doctors
- The cure for type 2 diabetes is known, but few are aware
Researchers May Have Found A Way To Reverse Type 1 Diabetes
Image Point Fr/Shutterstock A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes means a lifetime of constant diligence. Unlike type 2 diabetes, type 1 usually develops early in life. Those diagnosed have to check blood sugar several times a day and take insulin as needed; the process is difficult, expensive, and potentially dangerous. That helps explain the excitement about a potential cure for type 1 diabetes using an already approved treatment. Doctors diagnose more than 18,000 children and teens with type 1 diabetes every year, according to the CDC. These kids lack the ability to make enough insulin, the hormone that processes blood sugar. Using insulin injections to control blood sugar with insulin is tricky because diet, exercise, and stress can quickly alter levels. Without enough insulin, kidney, heart, and nerve damage can be the result. Get too much, and blood sugar levels will plummet dangerously low. (This is the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.) Researchers in Israel have tried treating type 1 diabetics with an immune system protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin (alpha-1)—it helps target germs. Normally, insulin gets lower and lower over time in diabetics, but extra alpha-1 seems to help the body produce more. Researchers gave 12 recently diagnosed type 1 diabetics an alpha-1 drip once a week for eight weeks in a study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. For a year and counting following treatment, two of the participants have been making more of their own insulin. Another three saw only minor decreases—which is a good sign. “Compared to the natural course of the disease, which is downhill, even a flat line is considered success,” says study co-author Eli C. Lewis, PhD, biochemical and pharmacology professor at Ben-Gurion University of the N Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes: How Is It Treated?
KidsHealth / For Teens / Type 1 Diabetes: How Is It Treated? en espaolDiabetes tipo 1: Cul es el tratamiento? Your teachers follow a lesson plan that outlines what you'll study each day. Your parents may have a plan to help you pay for college. And your weekend social plans determine whether you're seeing a movie, heading to a concert, or playing basketball at the gym. People with type 1 diabetes need to follow a different type of plan. A treatment plan, also called a diabetes management plan, helps people to manage their diabetes and stay healthy and active. Everyone's plan is different, based on a person's health needs and the suggestions of the diabetes health care team. The first thing to understand when it comes to treating diabetes is your blood glucose level, which is the amount of glucose in the blood. Glucose isa sugar that comes from the foods we eat and also is formed and stored inside the body. It's the main source of energy for the cells of the body, and is carried to each cell through the blood. Glucose gets into the cells with the help of the hormone insulin . So how do blood glucose levels relate to type 1 diabetes? People with type 1 diabetes can no longer produce insulin. This means that glucose stays in the bloodstream and doesn't get into the cells, causing blood glucose levels to go too high. High blood sugar levels can make people with type 1 diabetes feel sick, so their treatment plan involves keeping their blood sugar levels within a healthy range, while making sure they grow and develop normally. To do that, people with type 1 diabetes need to: eat a healthy, balanced diet and stick to a diabetes meal plan check their blood sugar levels several times a day Following the treatment plan can help a person stay healthy, but it's not a cure for diab Continue reading >>
Can Type 1 Diabetes Be Fully Cured?
Diabetes cannot be cured. The treatment of diabetes largely focuses on keeping your glucose level and symptoms in control. Doing so can prevent you from a wide range of health diseases in future. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system destroys insulin-making cells in the pancreas. It mostly develops if it runs in your family, as it is a genetic response. Proper care of diabetes is a must, as high blood sugar level can lead to many troubles over time. Here’s what you need to do for diabetes management: Insulin is classified into three groups: Human, analogue, and animal. All these groups have different types of insulin acting at different speeds for a different time period. Human insulin is the synthetic variation that is produced naturally in the body and analogue insulin is the synthetic variation of human insulin. All insulins that are synthetic works in the same way as natural insulin. Artificial pancreas The latest treatment approach that may come in the near future is an artificial pancreas. The artificial pancreas integrates a continuous glucose monitor to an insulin pump. So whenever the person is in need, the monitor directs the device to the amount of insulin needed to the person. The clinical trials of different versions of artificial pancreas have so far brought about positive results. But it still needs more research before it can have regulatory approval to become fully functional. Medications Here are the medications known to treat people with type 1 diabetes High Blood Pressure Medications – You can take drugs like angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin two receptor blockers (ARBs) after consulting your doctor. Pramlintide (Symlin) – The injection of this medication is taken before meals to slow down the food movement i Continue reading >>
Scientists May Have Found A Functional Cure For Type-1 Diabetes
Type-1 diabetes is a chronic condition that affects an estimated 42 million people worldwide, and occurs when the pancreas produces little to no insulin. Those with the condition must take supplemental insulin so their bodies can process sugars. But now, researchers at ViaCyte, a regenerative medicine company, have some good news: They're working on a therapy based on stem cells that can automatically release insulin into the body when it's needed. The treatment is specifically aimed at patients with high-risk type-1 diabetes. ViaCyte estimates that around 140,000 people in the US and Canada suffer from the condition, which can cause life-threatening events. The use of stem cells to replace pancreatic insulin cells has been tried before, but without much success. ViaCyte's approach shows promise because the stem cells can mature within the body itself through an implant the company calls PEC-Direct. There has already been a round of clinical trials to test whether the stem cells could fully grow into the type of cells necessary to produce insulin -- called islet cells. That was a success. But the number of cells within the implants wasn't enough to actually treat the patients; it was solely to test whether the cells could, in fact, be grown. Now, in coordination with JDRF, an organization that funds type-1 diabetes research, ViaCyte has implanted PEC-Directs into two patients as a trial. It's important to note that this isn't a full cure. It's what ViaCyte President and CEO Paul Laikind calls "a functional cure." It doesn't address and treat the specific causes of the condition. Additionally, patients using this treatment would be required to take immunosuppressive drugs to protect the created cells from the body's immune system, according to New Scientist. Regardless, Continue reading >>
Will Diabetes Go Away?
There is no cure for diabetes. Neither type 1 (juvenile onset or insulin-requiring) diabetes or type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes ever goes away. In type 1 diabetes, patients sometimes experience what physicians have come to call a "honeymoon period" shortly after the disease is diagnosed. During the "honeymoon period" diabetes may appear to go away for a period of a few months to a year. The patient's insulin needs are minimal and some patients may actually find they can maintain normal or near normal blood glucose taking little or no insulin. It would be a mistake to assume that the diabetes has gone away, however. Basically, type 1 diabetes occurs when about 90 percent of the body's insulin-producing cells have been destroyed. At the time that type 1 diabetes is diagnosed, most patients still are producing some insulin. If obvious symptoms of type 1 diabetes emerge when the patient has an illness, virus or cold, for example, once the illness subsides the body's insulin needs may decrease. At this point, the number of insulin-producing cells remaining may be enough — for the moment — to meet the person's insulin needs again. But the process that has destroyed 90 percent of the insulin-producing cells will ultimately destroy the remaining insulin-producing cells. And as that destruction continues, the amount of injected insulin the patient needs will increase — and ultimately the patient will be totally dependent on insulin injections. Scientists now think that it is important for people with newly diagnosed diabetes to continue taking some insulin by injection even during the honeymoon period. Why? Because they have some scientific evidence to suggest that doing so will help preserve the few remaining insulin-producing cells for a while longer. Patients diagnosed wi Continue reading >>
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Us Facility Aims To Cure Type 1 Diabetes Within Six Years
A diabetes research facility in the US has set the goal of curing type 1 diabetes within six years. The City of Hope's Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, based in California, is aiming to cure type 1 diabetes using $50 million (£40m) of funding from the Wanek family, who owns Ashley Furniture Industries, the world's largest home furniture manufacturer. City of Hope will be collaborating with the Wanek Family Project for Type 1 Diabetes on the six-year project, using an integrated approach to curing type 1 diabetes. These techniques include: Immunotherapy: Unlocking the immune system's role within diabetes and how stem cell-based therapies could reverse the immune attack on pancreatic beta cells Beta cell transplantation: Improving ways of boosting beta cells and encouraging their long-term survival following transplantation Preventing diabetes complications: Intervening at a genetic level to reverse complications and predict their development Dr Bart Roep, director of City of Hope's research team, says that the key to curing type 1 diabetes will be to understand what causes it to develop. From there, research can begin on treatments, which could vary from person to person. "[It's] something we call personalised medicine or precision medicine, which is very much in vogue in cancer. That means we need to understand where patients differ and then tailor the immune therapies to their specific needs," said Roep. Robert W. Stone, president and chief executive officer at City of Hope, added: "City of Hope is best positioned to take on this challenge. This is thanks to our 40-year institutional legacy of pioneering treatment and research advances in diabetes." City of Hope is an independent research and treatment centre for diabetes, cancer and other life-threatening Continue reading >>
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The Long Road To A Cure
Checking blood sugar levels with a finger-stick device. “Well, I hope for the best cause I’m 26 and I’ve been type 1 for like 2 to 3 years. I’ve been looking for a cure and a way out of using needles every day. I will say that it’s made me healthy, but I just want to be the old great person I was before this all came along into my life. … Right now I finally got health insurance from my job and I’m thinking about getting the pump but I just don’t like the idea. Well anyway, I hope the best in your research and for a day that I don’t have to use a pump or needles anymore.” Finding a cure for type 1 diabetes has been a roller-coaster of high hopes and deep disappointments. At the time of the great discovery of insulin, people thought that surely a permanent cure couldn’t be far off? Decade by decade we learned more about this complex disease and how to control it, so that diabetics could live long and productively. Yet close to a century after that great breakthrough, living with type 1 is still a formidable challenge, and the promise of a real cure seems to retreat into the indefinite future. Diabetes is unlike other diseases where the cause is unknown and a cure might not be easily recognized. We know what conditions cause diabetes and we know how to recognize a cure, but still none has been found. In diabetes, the parameters are clearly defined: a therapy that results in normal blood sugars all the time is a cure. This makes it all the more frustrating when the available therapies are so imperfect. What Is a Cure? People define a “cure” for type 1 in different ways. Some insist that the only true cure would be to eliminate the cause—to somehow turn off the immune system malfunction that attacks the insulin-producing beta cells. Much effort i Continue reading >>
Can Type2 Diabetes Be Cured Permanently????
Diabetes Forum The Global Diabetes Community Find support, ask questions and share your experiences. Join the community Can Type2 diabetes be Cured permanently???? Type 1 diabetes is, currently, incurable. Type 2 diabetes, in a lot of cases, can be reversed. Is reversal a cure? That is the debate. Does a cure need to be a magic tablet, or can it be an implemented change that's kept up 24/7? Unfortunately, not all type 2 diabetics can reverse their condition. Like type 1 diabetics, some have very little or no control over their outcome. Persistent diet, exercise and lifestyle changes can lower A1c's to a level deemed "non-diabetic". It must be noted that the lifestyle changes need to be maintained, otherwise the diabetes simply returns. So in short, type 2 diabetes can sometimes be reversed. But in my opinion, it can only be cured providing that the "cure" is a change that you implement and keep up for the rest of your life. Whether that is cure, or just permanent reversal is six and half a dozen... In my opinion though, a cure would mean that you could live your life normally without making adjustments to your lifestyle. Eat what and when you want and have a non-diabetic HbA1c, all without diet, exercise and carbohydrate intake limitations. You should go and see your Dr for more conclusive tests as to whether you need medication or not in this instance. I wish you well. DavidGrahamJones Type 2 Well-Known Member If you can eat about 250 gms of carbohydrate per day (that's approximately equal to 750 calories worth or 1/3 of your daily diet, depending on what source of information you use), without your BG going through the roof then I would suggest you were no longer diabetic. However, if you are cutting carbs to achieve sensible BG then it's not exactly cured. Only my o Continue reading >>
Can Diabetes Be Cured? A Review Of Therapies And Lifestyle Changes
Diabetes is a condition that affects blood sugar levels and causes many serious health problems if not managed well. The health impacts of diabetes can be limited, but can it ever be "cured"? Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that develops when the body destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. This means people with type 1 diabetes do not make insulin. In those with type 2 diabetes, there is a decreased sensitivity to insulin and the body does not make or use as much insulin as it needs. Type 2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 diabetes. This article reviews therapies and lifestyle changes that can help reduce the effects of diabetes on a person's health. It also explores whether these treatments can help "cure" diabetes, or if they are simply helpful ways to manage the condition. Contents of this article: Is diabetes curable? Medically speaking, there is no cure for diabetes but it can go into "remission." Diabetes in remission simply means the body does not show any signs of diabetes. However, the disease is technically still there. According to Diabetes Care, remission can take different forms: Partial remission: When a person has had a blood glucose level lower than that of a person with diabetes for at least 1 year without any diabetes medication. Complete remission: When the blood glucose level returns to normal, not simply pre-diabetic levels, for at least 1 year without any medications. Prolonged remission: When complete remission lasts for at least 5 years. Even if a person has had normal blood sugar levels for 20 years, their diabetes is still considered to be in remission rather than "cured." There is no known cure for diabetes. The good news is that remission is possible in many cases and can be as simple as making some lifestyl Continue reading >>
