Tablets raise hope for diabetics

Patients who are suffering from genetic diabetes, a particular strain of the disease, could have the burden of daily injections lifted. Children with diabetes from infancy were the subjects of a study carried out by a Dundee University Student .
Dr Ewan Pearso, working from the Peninsula Medical School in Devo, found that patients suffering genetic diabetes might be able to swap insulin injections for tablets. The treatment, sulphonylurea, did not unfortunately work for type 1 diabetics. For those diagnosed before the age of six months, the pills were 90 per cent effective.
The change apparently has a marked effect on young diabetics, with the overall blood sugar apparently lower and easier to maintain. Speaking about her baby, one woman said: “It has been a fantastic change and he is so much happier. His blood sugars are so much better and he loves his food .”
Dr. Pearso, discussing his discovery, reported: “The striking finding was not just that patients could stop insulin but in every case the overall blood sugar was lower without patients having problems with too low blood sugar.”
The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine