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Potential diabetes cure

Pura Vida

Well-Known Member
Potential diabetes cure
A breakthrough transplant technique in mice suggests there may finally be a cure for diabetes on the horizon. Using stem cells made from the animal’s own blood to avoid rejection, Canadian scientists were able to give diabetic mice new insulin-producing cells and reverse both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, effectively curing the disease. Fundraising is now underway to bring the research to the human trial stage, and eventually make it available to the roughly 422 million people with diabetes around the world.
 
Very exciting, though I guess it's another cure in ten years concept. Not sure you'd stop the T1s killing off the new cells just as they did the old ones, but I guess you just inject more? And I also don't quite see how this helps T2s, who are insulin resistant and generally produce lots of insulin (at least for the first few years).

Thanks for sharing. Good news for young T1s, I think.
 
Pura Vida said:
Potential diabetes cure
Click to expand...

I have seen this so so many times, every 5-10 years or so something comes up claiming to be the next potential cure (for at least the last 40 years), afraid I'm not believing it until its actually available.
 
I would be more inclined to believe in using something from MRNA technology to reprogram the beta cells to fight off the cause of beta-cell destruction is more hopeful. Maybe give the beta cells some RNA that allows the beta cells to be recognised and not treated like an alien invader? genetic trans[plants? snip, snip done.
 
Rokaab said:
I have seen this so so many times, every 5-10 years or so something comes up claiming to be the next potential cure (for at least the last 40 years), afraid I'm not believing it until its actually available.
Click to expand...
Not in my lifetime ,I know
 
I like @EllieM can't see how this would help type 2s who are producing their own insulin.

Like others I am sceptical. I hope for type 1s it is true but unlikely in my lifetime I suspect.
 
The express newspaper reported last week on a new pill for T1 treatment. It uses nanoparticles to protect the insulin through the stomach..
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1422008/pill-vaccine-diabetes-type-one-jab-daily
If the link does not work here is the gist of the report, copied and pasted.

Scientists have developed a groundbreaking capsule which, after being swallowed, automatically releases insulin when blood sugar levels get too high. It could replace traditional injections for type 1 sufferers, which can be difficult to self-administer and lead to people skipping doses.

The technology, developed by researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi, would help tackle the disease – the seventh leading cause of death worldwide.

Diabetes is characterised by inconsistent levels of the hormone insulin but developing a pill has been difficult as insulin is fragile.

It gets broken down by stomach enzymes before it reaches the bloodstream, where it is needed.

The challenge has been to find a way to package insulin so it can survive the trip through the stomach.

Researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi believe they’ve solved the problem by creating a framework of tiny organic particles which can resist the body’s efforts to digest them.

Amazingly, these capsules actually protect insulin from the harsh environment of the stomach to transport it safely to the bloodstream.

Once in the blood, the particles can automatically monitor a person’s insulin levels and only release the drug when it is needed.

Dr Farah Benyettou, a research chemist and lead author of the study, said: “Our work uses insulin-loaded nanoparticles which exhibit insulin protection in the stomach as well as a glucose-responsive release.

“This technology responds quickly to an elevation in blood sugar.

“But it would promptly shut off to prevent insulin overdose and will dramatically improve the wellbeing of diabetic patients.”

In tests on diabetic rats, the research team showed the pills brought the animals’ blood glucose levels back to normal within two hours of swallowing it.

Further work will now investigate implementing the technology with humans.

The study is published in the latest edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Chemical Science.



It will of course take years for trials to be completed, but fingers crossed for us all, I doubt if I will survive to see it though
 
Last edited:

Citation needed!
Beta cells in your bloodstream, effectively?

Sounds potentially good for T1s but if 80% of T2s are insulin over producers with insulin resistance then the benefits are less clear.

This also does not really address the issues of those who produce low levels of insulin but whose main issue seems to be inappropriate production of glucagon which forces BG up through liver dumps.

However, having said all that, if it works for 10% of T2s and 50% of T1s then that is a major breakthrough.
 
The Express article says it is for Type 1.
 
I wonder if it will suffer a similar hesitancy to the Covid vaccinations? How long before the anti-vaxer websites pick up on this one? Unknown nanoparticles in the bloodstream? Shudder!!!! Will it make the tea while it's waiting to be switched on?
 

Still has to be less risky then asking you to make toast in the morning....
 
Certainly less risky than shrinking a submarine with a human inside then injecting it into the bloodstream aka Hollywood fantasy. The thing is - if this is approved for use in humans, then it will form the basis for the delivery of many other medicines and treatments for other difficult diseases, so I hope they research it well and do proper trials. I see that like statins, it will be touted as a panacea for many of our ills in the future, so it better be right from the getgo.
 

I imagine many people shuddered when they came up with insulin. None of us want to be guinea pigs for anything of course but in the end (when it comes to life saving medicines/procedures) you have to hope they've done sufficient research then accept the associated risks and go for it. What's the alternative really? x
 
I have exactly the same thoughts myself about Covid, and I am due my second dose this coming week. It is a no-brainer for me. However, those using insulin do have an acceptable alternative currently being offered, so maybe have less incentive, perhaps? As a T2D on orals, I have no axe to grind in this debate. Merely making observations.

I can accept MRNA technology as per the vaccinations to be a potential contender to zap the cause of T1D to be a better route than putting armour-plated nanoparticles into the blood as a treatment (and its only a treatment, not a cure it seems)
 
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