• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

What happened to this guy who was 'cured' of type 1?

phdiabetic

Well-Known Member
Messages
879
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
You probably remember this news story from earlier in the year: https://asweetlife.org/doctors-continue-to-search-for-answers-in-british-mans-disappearing-diabetes/
https://asweetlife.org/doctors-continue-to-search-for-answers-in-british-mans-disappearing-diabetes/
Does anyone know what happened to him? Is he still cured? Have doctors done any further investigations? Was it a misdiagnosis or a hoax? If he really did recover from type 1, surely this would be huge in the medical community and we would see a lot more research. I asked my doctor and she hasn't seen anything about him in the various medical journals she reads.
 
Sadly like " most" miracles/ cures for our condition they have to be taken at face value. From what I recall there was maybe a lot of extra points to be considered regarding this individuals lifestyle. Probably a combination of many factors, leading to a temporary outcome of events.
But hey it could be my scepticism creeping in.
 
Further to this

"
A man with type 1 diabetes has been told by doctors he has a rare type of gene which explains why he no longer needs to rely upon insulin to control his condition.

Dan Darkes, from Daventry in Northamptonshire, discovered he had type 1 in 2010 shortly after leaving the Army. He started using insulin, but he stopped with the daily injections earlier this year when tests showed his blood sugar levels were below average/average to low.

His healthcare team were puzzled as to why his body no longer required the insulin injections and so he travelled to America where tests were carried out on him.

Mr Darkes, known as “Miracle Dan” to his friends, returned to Northampton where his results have since been analysed.

Speaking to the Chronicle and Echo newspaper, he said: “My tests indicated that doctors found a rare gene in my results and that has acted as a ‘backup’ immune system. This has led to insulin being reproduced in my pancreas.

“The gene has basically recharged my immune system and pancreas, kicking into action beta cells which have laid dormant for the time I have had type 1. The consultants haven’t ruled out the possibility that me staying active and running was the trauma or shock which triggered the healing process."

http://diabetestimes.co.uk/rare-gene-explains-why-type-1-man-no-longer-needs-insulin/
 
He like 1 in a million.At least he will someday help science to find a way to cure type 1 and also type 2. I sure it not in my lifetime but maybe in my children lifetime.
 
Gabrielle_Tai said:
He like 1 in a million.At least he will someday help science to find a way to cure type 1 and also type 2. I sure it not in my lifetime but maybe in my children lifetime.
Click to expand...
It could easily be in your lifetime. Already the parts of the genome implicated in monogenic diabetes are being identified and in some cases being treated without insulin injections. Researchers believe they are close enough to a break through in MODY to ask people to consider DNA diagnosis and about 90 genetic regions involved in T2D have already been identified. Exciting times that just need everyone to support researchers and keep an open mind. Oh and then there is this https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/201...iabetes-a-month-ago-but-how-is-this-possible/ so with reports like this maybe scientists can accumalate enough data to suggest ways to manage the complex gene involved in the faulty auto immune response in months. We can only hope.
 

Thank you for this article! Actually the reason I was asking in the first place is that I've been having some very strange symptoms that seem to match up with Dan's, and now apparently this guy's, symptoms. So I wonder if I could have some version of this gene, and even if it isn't possible to go off insulin, a big reduction in doses would be a big achievement. I'll be seeing my endo soon so I'll ask her opinion on the symptoms.
 
Heres hoping you are in luck. I have heard it suggested it could be MODY. Is it possible you are? If so this may be of interest http://www.diabetesgenes.org/content/mody-probability-calculator. May you get the news you hope for in 2018.
 
covknit said:
Heres hoping you are in luck. I have heard it suggested it could be MODY. Is it possible you are? If so this may be of interest http://www.diabetesgenes.org/content/mody-probability-calculator. May you get the news you hope for in 2018.
Click to expand...

Thanks I did the test and got 49.4%. I actually asked my doctor about MODY a while back but we concluded that I probably wasn't based on my symptoms, treatment and medical history. Perhaps I am an atypical MODY. Anyway I will continue with my plan to exercise and see what happens!
 
Everything I read indicates that exercise is a major factor in improving the effects of diabetes as long as you do not put undue pressure on you heart and blood vessels. Do consider participating in the microarray research if the opportunity arises. I found the information from my results fascinating.
 

The thing is, I've had these weird situations where for periods of hours at a time, I don't seem to need any insulin. I turn off my pump for 2,3,4 hours, and my blood sugar stays stable, or worse, will drop and refuse to come back up after multiple juice boxes. To me this indicates a nontrivial amount of insulin being produced in my pancreas. This started a couple of months back after I'd started consistently exercising for half an hour a day. I stopped exercising to avoid hypos, and these times stopped happening as well. Now I've started up exercise and it's happening again. I can also eat basically whatever I want when I exercise and I won't get high as long as I break it up into manageable chunks of carbs. To me this indicates that I could fairly easily get rid of my mealtime boluses, and perhaps with a bit more exercise, I could get rid of basal too....

I will consider getting involved in the research if I have the chance. Sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing this information with me.
 
IMHO we over simplify diagnosis of diabetes. We do know there are many different types of diabetes and research is still a long way from being able to give definitive answers but is is definitelty past baby step stage and toddling well. It is only a matter of time before the gene combinations and their role is recorded.

If you are considering getting involved in research you may find a programme you are interested in at a local university or via your NHS trust. I have more iniversities than fingers within an hour of where I live and know at least 7 of them are currently conducting research into diabetes plus my local NHS trust and my GP are involved in clinical trials. There are rules designed to protect participants in clinical trials but I would suggest you should have absolute faith in your GP before getting involved in the latter.

De Montfort University were doing research into exercise and diabetes so I am wondering if their Health Psychology faculty would be interested in your results.
 

Unfortunately I do not live in the UK Otherwise I would definitely be interested. I looked up clinical trials in my area and sadly there is only one involving exercise, and it is for T1's who are fat and have a high HbA1c, I meet neither of those criteria so I guess they're not interested in me. My GP is not involved in any diabetes research (although she has an excellent track record diagnosing T1 - she always picks it up before people get to DKA. Unfortunately she's never seen anyone even remotely similar to me so she's not sure exactly what's happening). My endo is involved with clinical trials, so she may have some suggestions for me. I will give her a detailed explanation of everything that's happened to me, and see what she thinks!
 
I was diagnosed as type 1 but later realised I was type 2 when I started a diet and my need for insulin kept dropping. (which is typical of type 2) Hospitals diagnose type 1 by blood sample but don't do a full set of tests to save money (in UK). I was lucky and am no longer diabetic due to weight loss and exercise.
 
Hi, I am still currently off all insulin, it's been 13 months now, my results and gene still being analysed, I have regular appointments, and all is good still, my blood sugar, is around 6.5 to 7.5 mark, any more information I get from my consultants, and diabetes team, il will publish, they need to be 100,% sure what they are dealing with here, but looks promising, for all type 1s , cheers Dan
 
Amazing! My 4yo was diagnosed just last month, great to hear an update from you. Thanks Dan
 
All the cases of Type1 being cured that I recall have been people going VERY low carb with no grains. "leaky gut" may have something to do with it. Lots of people with Type1 find a very low carb diet is a great way to get good BG control, therefore, I think the diet should be decided on this bases, not base on a small number of "outliners".

Clearly in older people, often it turns out to be Type2 and not Type1. Given that 25% of people with Type1 never test positive for antibodies, it is clearly hard to know if someone had Type1, to begin with. Autoimmune disease often improve with "low carb", and Type1 is an autoimmune process. Yet clearly, we know from before the discovery of insulin, that "low carb" is not enough for most children with diabetes, for some reasons, there never used to be as many cases of Type1 in older people as we now get, and Type2 was uncommon in those days.
 
What interests me is the diets advocated on this website look similar to the only cures for diabetes available before 1920. The first being William Banting’s pamphlet from 1860’s which was a low carb diet.

I would be interested what would happen to people that have been “cured” but are in fact using a special diet to control it.

It would be interesting if they reverted to the American Dept of Agriculture recommendation of 50% of daily food energy requirements from carbs and see if the diabetes returns.
 
With a "cured" Type2, it is possible that someone has lost enough fat from their liver, that on the American Dept of Agriculture their BG will be OK for a few years before they regained Type2 from the high carbs.

(Remember that in 1860 they did not know anything about different types of diabetes, and there was no antibody testing, they also had no way to measure BG.)
 

You don't sound like a T1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…