Type 1 diabetes cure

Yes, there is a lot of money in treating T1 and that is what pharmaceutical companies are chasing. But then pharmaceutical companies don't do the research anyway. It is done at universities and by independent researchers. Pharmaceutical companies only get involved when there is something promising enough for clinical trials to be done. They buy up the research company and attempt to take the innovation to market. The clinical trials are expensive and the success rate is low, so pharmaceutical companies are very selective.

Throwing more money at the research won't make it more productive. The cause of T1 diabetes is still not fully understood. It is a complex condition and that a cure has not been found is really not surprising. While research will continue, a cure for T1 diabetes is still very far off. Probably not in my lifetime.

 

Aye! I’m sure a cure will be ten years away in ten years time, too...

 

The irony is I don't know, and probably never will know how old it is!

 

I used to clean the windows of a lass who'd had the pancreas/kidney transplant, I'm sure she knew the 'source' (no offence meant in using that term) of her new organs, we'd have a crack about it all, me "I was hypo this morning" her "it's been x years x months since I've had one ner ner ner ). It took her a few years to ride her horse again but pre transplant she had the dialysis at home, which I found a little mad!

To make the op look more common I then had my gas serviced by a guy who when he saw me fingerprick mentioned he'd had the transplant.

 

Diabetes has been cured many times, just not in humans. Researchers have managed to come up with various ways to cure mice. However, none of these have proved to work with our species. I believe that a cure is possible. I also believe that I won't see one in my lifetime. To develop a cure in a short timeframe, researchers would need unfettered access to human test subjects, and few or no restrictions on experimentation. This would result in many human rights violations and untold suffering, and even then there would be no guarantee of success.

However, think about where we are now. 100 years ago, all of us would be either dead or waiting to die because of Type 1. 60 years ago, we would have had no ability to test our own blood sugars to manage our insulin doses. 30 years ago (when I was diagnosed), insulin pens weren't a thing (or if they were, they were not widely available). I still remember my early childhood, with a long syringe needle that my mum had to clip before putting it into the sharps bin. My blood testing machine took two minutes to deliver a result. 15 years ago it took 5 seconds. A year ago I got my first Freestyle Libre sensor, with results delivered in 1 second.

Injected insulin itself has gone through amazing transformations. It wasn't until about 18 years ago that I went onto a basal bolus regime, which has allowed me to match my insulin and food intake more accurately. There is also more choice than ever regarding how to administer insulin (syringes/pens/pumps); new insulin is coming onto the market regularly (e.g. Fiasp). Long-acting insulin has undergone innovation, with Tresiba having a longer effect than Lantus or Levemir.

If you're waiting for a cure, holding your breath will result in suffocation. But with new ways of treating diabetes appearing so often, managing our condition will continue to get easier.

 

But that's not quite correct, the mice are given a chemical that damages their β cells to cause diabetes and then they experiment on them so when or if they're 'cured' or start producing some insulin there's not the immune system in the way.

 

Hi @kev-w I have met others who have heard from their donor families. I wrote to my donor family using just my Christian name and postal area (as imstructed by the Transplant Co-ordination Team), but heard nothing. Although I just avoided dialysis, I opted to do it at home, because peritoneal dialysis can be done while asleep and therefore I would be able to continue my job without interruption. The op is more common than most people think, but still not in the thousands in this country!

 

Well I’m 58 this coming October and next month I’ve had type 1 for 40 years , like many here I don’t think there will be a cure in my lifetime , however I do agree with some that with advances in technology I think better control will become easier that HAS happened in my lifetime , a point anyone who has had diabetes over 30 years would probably agree with . Like some trains of thought I think money is key , how much is spent on diabetes ? Quite a lot if you listen to media etc. Is that “ cash cow” going to be given up easily Nooooooo. I could go down the COVID route but that’s been flogged to death so I’ll resist lol. All I hope is that people in the future get a fair chance to live a life with fewer complications ! Cos type 1 diabetes is for life and I don’t think that will change anytime soon
Power to the “ jabbers “

 

Currently two methods of curing/ending Type 1 Diabetes:
-Encapsulated beta cell implants
-Immunotherapy

1st option does cure diabetes for mice but doesn’t work for humans. The material used to protect the cells from immune attack has seen to also prevent adequate oxygen from reaching the cells thus causing cell death. Please don’t ask for sources I read this months ago.

2nd option is just so complicated because they don’t even understand why T1D happens in the first place so can’t identify the thing they need to target.

Traditional pancreas transplants are only a temporary cure, you will just have another honeymoon period before your immune system destroys that pancreas too, that’s why they make you take immunosuppressants but these increase your risk of cancer greatly and have lots of nasty side effects and guess what the pancreas is killed off in the end anyways on average 10-12 years of use before it goes away.

I have an alternative idea. The fact that we have a honeymoon period and it takes several months to destroy your beta cells can be used to an advantage. It also shows that you have some mechanism to inhibit the destruction of your beta cells. A biotech company could mass produce beta cells in the lab and offer injectables, type 1 diabetics could go to the doctor once a month and get new beta cells which isn’t a total cure but better than 12 injections a day, who knows maybe being continuously exposed to beta cells our immune system may start to tolerate it and that could be a cure itself?

I have so many ideas— I work for a pharmaceutical company and I study biology— a toxic drug can be attached to a protein with a similar shape to our antibodies e.g. GAD, this would circulate in the blood attach to anti-GAD antibodies and destroy them

 

Human beings are not as smart as we think they are

Most so called "break throughs" in medicine happen completely by chance or accident

What we need is a big slice of luck. But I won't be placing any bets anytime soon

 

If you visit the website of Viacyte. For some reason it won't let me post the link, it might offer some hope, they have developed a credit card sized pouch that contains precursor cells to insulin producing beta cells. It is implanted into the patient and is given time to vascularise, clinical trials on humans have already taken place and have shown that blood sugars stay within range without the need for insulin injections. Further trials on a cohort of US Americans and Europeans are taking place now.

If everything continues down this successful path then it's earliest release date looks to be around 2030.

Edited by a moderator to add a link to the Viacyte website.
https://viacyte.com/

 

The magic ten year cure? I’ll watch that with interest.

 

Thanks - it looks like an interesting development.

 

Viacyte's T1 cure still would require immunosuppressants so would be a treatment, not a cure, or that's the first one, the second they do reckon to survive the immune system so we'll see

 

There could be a discussion to be had about whether it's a cure or a treatment but the immunosuppresant concern is only partly valid.

 

Aye, I noticed that on second reading

 

I was going to mark your post as optimistic but thought I would type a reply instead! (and I wont get told off )

Fingers crossed something may come out of it BUT I have seen, literally, countless amounts of thes things posted in various diabetic magazines and papers and now on 'tinternet

 

I’ve read a book on the discovery of insulin and what it took. To me the fact we now have insulin readily available is as good as a cure. I’m not worried. It doesn’t matter if there is no cure.

 

Out of interest why does your profile say 'BANNED'?! You clearly aren't and I cannot imagine why you would be!
Insulin is a hormone and does lots of things beyond controlling blood glucose.
Always fancied a day trip to the Islets of Langerhan -they always sound a bit mystical to me!