Slashdot Log In
NIH Confirms Protocol To Reverse Type 1 Diabetes
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Sat Nov 25, 2006 08:53 AM
from the sugar-more-than-pleased dept.
from the sugar-more-than-pleased dept.
FiReaNGeL writes "In 2001, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital demonstrated the efficacy of a protocol to reverse type 1 diabetes in diabetic mice. New data from a study performed at the National Institutes of Health provides additional confirmation of the ability to reverse type 1 diabetes and on the role of spleen cells in islet regeneration. Spleen cells appear to contribute to islet recovery more in mice who are older and with more advanced diabetes compared with younger mice with less advanced diabetes, in which regeneration of remaining islets may be the dominant mechanism."
Related Stories
[+]
Researchers May Have Found Cause of Type 2 Diabetes 181 comments
ozmanjusri writes "Scientists at Sydney's Garvan Institute have identified an enzyme called PKCepsilon as the active agent that blocks the production of insulin in diabetics. Insulin injections and implants try to control levels but do not address the reasons why insulin production is failing. This discovery may allow pharmaceutical companies to develop a drug to block the enzyme, allowing cells in the pancreas to function normally, though the team's leader, Trevor Biden, says 'What we've identified is a target that we can now latch onto to get therapy, but the journey from target to tablet of course is a long one ... It's probably going to take another 10 years at least to get something that's effective in humans.'"
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading ... Please wait.

Missing something? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
AIDS is a viral disease. So are many cancers -- more and more are being identified as such every year. No one has yet f
Re: (Score:2)
As several have pointed out, the commercial entities mo
Re: (Score:2)
may nytimes article on this (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Missing something? (Score:4, Informative)
There is no such thing as severe/end-stage type I diabetes. Usually by the time you are diagnosed, you are at the "severe/end stage" - Your pancreatic beta cells are gone or nearly so. Insulin can prolong your life for decades, and if your bloodsugars are carefully controlled (via aggressive and careful diet, insulin dosing, and glucose monitoring), you will live just as long a life as a normal person.
If you're talking about severe diabetes complications (Kidney damage, retina damage, etc.)- By the time those present themselves, the cumulative damage of years of abnormal bloodsugars is done and curing the underlying diabetes isn't going to help.
Last but not least, you clearly missed the "In the 2001 and 2003 studies, Faustman and colleagues treated end-stage nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice with Freund's complete adjuvant, a substance that suppresses the activity of the immune cells that destroy islets in type 1 diabetes." line. Immunosuppressants are scary shit, and usually considered an absolute last-resort treatment when the other choice is death. Admittedly, it sounds like this MIGHT be a rather targeted immunosuppressant with fewer side effects than most, but still, it's an immunosuppressant.
I've been a type I diabetic for over a decade and have been looking forward to a cure for years. While this article gave me a lot of hope, the mention of immunosuppressants took a lot of it away. There are already quite a few treatments for Type I diabetes that are proven to work, but generally are only given to those who are already on immunosuppressants for another reason. (For example, pancreas or pancreatic beta cell transplants are only given to patients already receiving another transplant who will be on antirejection drugs and immunosuppressants anyway.)
That said, it sounds like there are fewer side effects than other immunosuppressants, as I have heard that there are plans for human trials starting in 2007 or 2008. Six years from the first results in mice to the first human trials is actually quite quick. There are plenty of examples of cases where botched human trials nearly killed the test cases. (Remember that incident a year or two in London where 6-8 test patients basically swelled up like balloons and found that six months later most of them had trashed immune systems and the beginnings of cancer?) People are REALLY, REALLY careful with human trials.
It sounds like they are conducting one more large-scale study in mice before beginning human trials. They didn't have money for it before, but they received a large amount from one of Lee Iacocca's charities to fund further studies.
Given the involvement of immunosuppressants, I hope they are extra careful with human trials. I can wait another decade if it means I won't be developing cancer or a few years after treatment.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freund's_adjuvant [wikipedia.org] - One of the core aspects of this treatment. N
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
A
Re: (Score:2)
First you test it in vitro, in a test tube.
Re: (Score:2)
Then you test it in sick people, to see if it actually works on humans.
In some cases healthy people may not be tested first- they may try especially risky procedures only
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Oblig /. (Score:2, Funny)
You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Although type II diabetes is by far more prevalent than type I. Still an effective cure would be a major breakthrough for thes
Type I, not Type II (Score:5, Informative)
Type I diabetes [wikipedia.org] comes from an autoimmune reaction against the insulin-producing cells. It is more common in children, and accounts for about 10% of all insulin cases.
Type II diabetes [wikipedia.org] tends to be caused by an insulin insensitivity - the insulin receptor in cells looses its effectiveness. The complications from Type II diabetes tend to be worse, and none of them are pleasant. There are many risk factors for Type II diabetes, some of which a person can't do anything about (i.e., genetic predisposition), but the primary risk factor is obesity and inactivity. So, for the foreseeable future, doctors will no doubt continue to caution people to be vigilant about their weight and, for those under treatment for diabetes, to still be especially vigilant about monitoring their blood sugar levels.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Type 2 diabetes deteriorates if not kept well-controlled. In advanced stages, the hyperglycemia oxidizes proteins and kills off pancreatic islets, until the pancreas is unable to produce insulin, just as in Type 1.
S
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
You are right on the result (pancreas no longer able to produce insulin), but your mechanism (oxidative stress) is a
Re: (Score:2)
Point is still that the pancreas needs new islets, which this therapy may be able t
Re: (Score:2)
Not as simple (Score:2, Informative)
T
Re:itll be years (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:itll be years (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Fairly large? My infusion set has a catheter that's a quarter inch?
--Rob
Re:itll be years (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
You *must* watch your diet all the time or risk coma/death very quickly in the short term, or bad side effects (blindness, loss of limbs, organ failure) in the long ter
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Type 1 Diabetes is not fun to have, and it's not something to be shrugged off. I'm sure that some diabetics ex
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Insulin pumps can be pretty darned dangerous, too. Over 25% of diabetes related deaths are actually due to (accidental or intentional) insulin overdose. At least it's n
Re:itll be years (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, look at it the other way. Just because you're prepared to die to test out a new treatment doesn't mean that I'm prepared to kill you with it. We u
Re: (Score:2)
Who
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
In 2001 one resear
Re: (Score:2)
Which other scientists (just curious)? What's suspicious about all this is that JRDF, which will throw money at everything from new implantable device research to stem cell research won't fund [jillstanek.com] research [massgeneral.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Did you ever consider that there are cases with some disease processes where people might be very pleased to consider becoming a "guinea pig"?
Not everyone thinks the government should be their mommy. If you need a mommy, then by all means, have some ol
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The fact that there are risks and unknowns do not in any way reduce your ability to make an informed choice. An intelligent adult understands that there are risks and unknowns. You can't be protected from everything, including people who might not care ab
Re: (Score:2)
I did that. For some reason these damned mice just won't sit still when I plug them into the USB slots. I have to use duct tape to hold their tails in place. And