Posted on 11/25/2005 4:46:28 PM PST by neverdem
Seattle Times medical reporter
Seattle researchers will soon begin testing a way to stave off diabetes by tripping up the immune system with the help of mouse cells.
Scientists at the Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) will be part of a national effort to see if they can stop type 1 diabetes — or at least delay its progression — by derailing the immune cells that attack the body's insulin producers.
The experimental therapy "has a reasonable shot at being the first building block toward a cure," said Dr. Bill Hagopian, director of PNRI's work on the therapy. In early trials, the treatment has enabled patients to continue making a portion of the insulin they need for up to two years.
Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, afflicts more than 1 million people in the United States. It develops when the immune system destroys the cells that produce insulin, which the body needs to process sugar.
Most cases of type 1 diabetes develop in childhood or young adulthood, and patients become dependent on injected insulin for the rest of their lives. Complications include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney damage and amputations. Many sufferers have shortened lives.
Scientists in Seattle and four other cities are testing the notion that if they treat patients within about six months of a diabetes diagnosis, they can prevent destruction of all the insulin-producing "beta" cells.
"We want to get in there early to extend the 'honeymoon' phase," when about 10 percent to 25 percent of the patient's beta cells are alive and still functioning, Hagopian said.
The treatment would not be effective for the more-common type 2 diabetes, which usually begins in adulthood and affects more than 19 million people in the United States. It is not caused by an immune-system problem but develops when the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce insulin.
Researchers at PNRI will test the type 1 treatment on 13 newly diagnosed patients, ages 15 to 30. They will be among a total 70 patients nationwide, including at Columbia University; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of Colorado; and the University of Florida. The Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle also is planning to join the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health.
And that's where the mice come in.
The treatment relies on the rodents to help make a drug containing the protective antibodies:
These "monoclonal antibodies" are taken from laboratory-preserved mouse cells, then altered to prevent a human allergic reaction and tailored to seek out key human immune cells.
The antibodies then are mass-produced and injected into the patients, where they "neutralize" the immune cells that otherwise would orchestrate a wide attack on the insulin-producing beta cells.
Scientists believe that protecting those remaining beta cells will decrease the chances of long-term complications of diabetes, especially with repeated treatments. They also hope that the therapy eventually may "reset" the immune system, permanently ending the attacks on beta cells.
In a best-case scenario, the beta cells then would begin to multiply slowly, perhaps with the help of hormonal treatments, and eventually return to normal levels, essentially curing the diabetes, Hagopian said.
13 patients
Of the 13 patients to be treated at the PNRI, eight will receive the antibody-containing drug and five will continue to receive standard diabetes treatment, including intensive counseling about care. The patients who receive the antibodies will get them for up to 30 minutes a day for 14 days, including spending five of those days in a hospital. Side effects may include fever, headache, nausea and a one-day rash.
After a year, the antibody group will receive another dose. Over the course of five years, the two groups will be compared to see whose diabetes is best controlled.
If the antibody treatments are successful, the researchers would launch a wider-scale trial involving hundreds of patients.
For those who have struggled with diabetes, news of the research and its possible long-term success is heartening.
"It's simply astounding to think that your doctor could intervene and control [the disease] on the cellular level," said Brett Eckelberg, vice principal for academics at Holy Names Academy in Seattle.
"Athlete's response"
Eckelberg, 37, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 14. At the time, he was a nationally ranked junior tennis player, and the news was a shock. As with many young people when they learn they have such a difficult disease, it threatened to undermine his self-identity and sense of independence.
Eckelberg has spent his life giving the disease his "athlete's response," taking it as a challenge and focusing on keeping his blood glucose at the proper level with frequent testing and insulin injections. He continued working hard in school and kept playing tennis, eventually playing at Princeton University.
Even so, Eckelberg was self-conscious about diabetes. He always had to eat on a schedule, check his blood sugar and give himself insulin injections. Spontaneity was difficult. His sense of control and feeling of youthful invincibility were shaken at times. But counseling, his loved ones and lifelong self-discipline sustained him.
His continuing vigilance has paid off, and he has not had significant complications from diabetes. "Everybody has challenges," Eckelberg said. "They help make us who we are."
Even though it has come too late to help him, he knows how this new research on diabetes could possibly help make life much easier for millions of others.
"It could mean everything to intervene at an early stage, to offset the antibody process, to offset the complications."
Warren King: 206-464-2247 or wking@seattletimes.com
The treatment would not be effective for the more-common type 2 diabetes, which usually begins in adulthood and affects more than 19 million people in the United States. It is not caused by an immune-system problem but develops when the pancreas gradually loses its ability to produce insulin.??
Mouse recipes anyone? Or just use the pills.
and the blessings of PETA...
Hey Freepers,
Let's all post this story to the PETA website. They oppose ALL animal research for any reason.
Actually, I think I read years ago Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, is a diabetic.
What does this have to do with animals? Isn't this about computers? ;^D
My nephew, who is just 10, was recently diagnosed. He's on insulin shots a number of times a day, now. :(
This site has such a great summary of how people should use animals for good and not evil from a Biblical perspective:
http://www.dianedew.com/animals.htm
"Whenever I read of the intense zeal of animal rights advocates or legislation being passed on behalf of their cause, I cannot help but sense something abnormal in their avid devotion to these lower life forms.
In light of the lack of legislation protecting the unborn child -- and inadequate laws regarding child abuse and neglect -- I can come to only one conclusion: These zealots suffer from a severe case of misplaced priorities.
The Biblical Perspective
There is a balance. God cares for animals. He provides daily for their needs. (Lk 12:24) "... not one of them is forgotten before God." (Ps 147:9) "The righteous man cares for the life of his beast." (Prov 12:10) Thus, cruelty to animals is condemned by God. (Ezek 34:2, 3) When Balaam "smote the ass with a staff," God rebuked him. (Num 22:23-33) If an ox falls into a pit, we are to help it out. (Lk 14:5) We are to provide animals the necessary food and drink (Gen 24:14), medical care (Ezek 34:4) and rest (Ex 23:5).
However, animal rights activists generally fail to discern between the value of human life and that of a beast: that "there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts ..." (1 Corin 15:39)
Scripture teaches that man is valued above beasts. (Heb 12:20; 2 Pet 2:12; Jude 10) "Ye are of more value than many sparrows." (Lk 12:7, Mat 6:26) God gave man dominion over animals (Gen 1:26, 28). They were created for our pleasure (Rev 4:11); but we are not to exalt "the creature more than the Creator." (Rom 1:25)
Fur, Leather & Ivory
Animal rights activists reacts with outrage to the wearing of fur or leather. Nevertheless, it was God Himself who clothed Adam and Eve with skins in the garden. (Gen 3:21) Throughout Scripture, animal skins were used for cloth, wearing apparel (Lev 13:48; Heb 11:37; Ex 22:27), shoes (Gen 14:23; Neh 1:7; Ezek 16:10; Mk 1:7), etc. John the Baptist wore camel's hair and a leather girdle. (Mat 3:4; cp 2 Ki 1:8). Paul was a tanner .(Acts 10:32)
It took many animal skins to make the 75-foot by 45-foot covering for the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 25:5; Numbers 4:8-14)! Leather was also used in the construction of armor (1 Sam 17:4-7, 40, 49; Judg 20:16; 2 Ki 3:25) and for containers, particularly for wine because the skins would expand when the wine fermented (Gen 21:14-19; Judg 4:19; Josh 9:4, 13; Lk 5:37, 38; Job 32:19). Solomon's throne was of ivory, from the tusks of elephants. (I Ki 10;18). "
Continues...
Wow Diana,
Now you are educating me. I bookmarked those Biblical references.
The best sermon I ever heard was one where the pastor talked about how God protects the smallest hummingbird (weighing only ounces), as it crosses a continent.
And hearing it made me realize my problems are far less perilous than some of those HE protects.
Thanks for posting those.
No son . . .
It's about animals, at least as far as I can reckon.
What the heck does computers have to do with animals, or diabetes :)
It said something about mouse.
Sure you ain't referring to mouuse? I'm not real sure what that is or how to spell it right, but I suspect it is either a drink of some sort or something women put in their hair to make it manageable :)
Then again, some folks on FR often concur about Moose and cheese. I ain't never figured that one out either.
Check this link out. It is Allison Moorer's "Looking for a soft place to fall", one of my all time favorite Country songs. http://www.lndigo.net/music/softplacetofall.htm
Seems to me there was a spate of moose bites here a year or two ago, although it never happened to me. Yet.
My son was diagnosed at 10. He's 12 now. If his parents can manage it, I highly recommend the pump. Now it's just one "shot" every three days. Giving insulin is as easy as using a pager now. He climbs trees, swims, rides his bike and raises hell like every other pre-teen boy. He eats when he wants to, as much as he wants to instead of when the clock tells him he has to.
Also, I suggest his parents look into Benfotiamine. It's a synthetic vitamin B-1 that prevents the complications that come with diabetes. It costs about $20 a month. My kid's a Brittle Diabetic and it brought his A1C down from 12 to 7.6 after only 2 months. I know one father who brought his son's A1C down to 4.6 in less than 6 months.
In another year or two MiniMed will have their continuous glucose monitor approved for children and most insurance companies will pay a large part of it. It's set up like the pump, with a set you change every 3-5 days and takes readings every 5 minutes. It alarms if the kid goes too high or low and the user can personalize the settings. It was just approved for adults a few months ago.
Diabetes is never a good thing, but I have to say that it's better to be a diabetic now than in any time in history. Just 50 years ago it was a death sentence. Now its a serious, expensive, pain in the @$$. But you can live with it.
PS: It takes about a year for parents to stop the serious grieving. They'll never fully accept it, but they will learn to live with it. Everything gets better with time.
The hardest part is not feeling pity for the kid and that's the worst thing that anyone can do. I thought I was being tough, but I let my kid get away with waaay too much. Now I'm reigning in a kid who thinks he can slide because he's a diabetic. It's important to treat him just as he's always been treated. If he gets a whap on the butt for mouthing off, then he needs to get a whap when he mouths off. If he has chores he's always had to do, he still has to do his chores. If he goes low then treat the low, allow him 15-20 minutes to recover, retest to make sure he's back where he should be, then make him finish his job. It sounds harsh, but parents need to nurse their broken hearts on their own time.
And that's my sermon for the day! ;-)
You're welcome. Some people are blinded by their desire to fight against the words of God and the normal Cycle of Life that he designed for us.
Go figure! ;)
I'll pass this on to his Mom, my SIL. She's a doctor, so I'm sure she's up on this stuff, but you never know. Thanks!
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