
Common jab could hold key to finding cure for Type 1 diabetes
Scientists are convinced the debilitating effects of Type 1 diabetes can be reversed with a cheap jab used to combat tuberculosis.
Unlike lifestyle-driven Type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to obesity, Type 1 is an auto immune disease that, until now, was thought to be incurable.
But a major breakthrough could see the chronic condition - known as early onset diabetes - wiped out within years.
Researchers think the generic Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) jab, administered to tens of millions of children each year, can help regenerate insulin-making cells, effectively reversing the condition.
The BCG vaccine is up to 80 per cent effective in preventing TB for 15 years.
Results of initial tests in those who had diabetes for an average of 15 years suggest insulin production can be restored, albeit briefly, by a simple booster injection.
This is a cheap and generic drug that could be very effective and we’ve been saying that message over and over ahead since the start
The astonishing outcome is considered so significant £12million is being ploughed into a second five-year trial.
Experts in Britain described the quantum leap as “very exciting”.
Dr Denise Faustman, who is leading the research, said: “We decided to use a safe 100-year-old vaccine to make this happen and we’ve found that it works.
“We saw early signs that even at low doses of this vaccine the bad white blood cells that were killing the pancreas were killed and the good white blood cells that quiet down Type 1 diabetes were up-regulated.
“This is a cheap and generic drug that could be very effecti
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