Research into type 1 diabetes has received an important boost as the United States Government has pledged to invest $150 million dollars for research into the condition.
The US Senate has agreed to extend an important research programme for type 1 diabetes, the Special Diabetes Program (SDP). The programme aims to forward progress in the following areas of type 1 diabetes research:
Identifying genetic and environmental causes of type 1 diabetes
Preventing or reversing type 1 diabetes, such as by modifying the immune system
Developing new islet cell transplantation
Preventing or reversing hypoglycaemia, such as through artificial pancreas technology
Preventing and reducing complications
Attracting new research talent and applying new research technologies
To date, the Special Diabetes Programme has lead to advances in artificial pancreas technology and therapies to reverse vision loss in people with retinopathy and prevent kidney failure.
The funding has implications to more than the USA as medication, therapies and new understanding can have application worldwide. In contrast, funding for research into type 1 diabetes from the UK’s Government has been decreased and JDRF UK, the UK’s largest type 1 diabetes charity, is urging the UK Government to reverse the decrease in funding.
JDRF’s #CountMeIn campaign aims to convince the Government to put research into type 1 diabetes higher up the agenda.
