Leukaemia drug could prove effective for diabetes

According to recent reports in the international diabetes news, research teams have found a treatment that dampens the immune system and stops it from destroying pancreatic beta cells – the cause of type 1 diabetes . The drug could now have a role to play in preventing and even reversing type 1 diabetes .
The drug, which is called Imantinib or branded as Gleevec, is used to inhibit cell mutation amongst patients with chronic leukaemia. Fresh University of California research have shown that the drug substantially reduces diabetes amongst mice.
The team tested mice with Imantinib, and found that 80 per cent of mice experienced remission in their diabetes . The researchers concluded that the same drugs could be used to treat type 1 diabetes and perhaps even other auto-immune diseases.