Free Republic

The damaged immune systems of diabetics can be ‘retrained’ to stop them destroying insulin, scientists believe, following successful trials of a pioneering new therapy. Researchers at King’s College London and Cardiff University showed that injecting patients with tiny protein fragments prevented immune cells from targeting vital insulin. Type 1 diabetes develops when a patient's immune system mistakenly attacks the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas. Without treatment the number of beta cells will slowly decrease and the body will no longer be able to maintain normal blood sugar (blood glucose) levels, leading to patients needing daily injections. But a...

In a new clinical trial to observe a new method of injecting islet cells into a patient with Type 1 diabetes, doctors from the University of Miami’s Diabetes Research Institute have confirmed that their first trial patient no longer needs insulin therapy. Wendy Peacock, their first patient, has been giving herself insulin injections and following a strict daily schedule to take care of her diabetes since she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 17. Now 43, Peacock has undergone the surgery in this new trial and no longer needs injections because her body is producing insulin naturally. Since the...

One of the world's oldest vaccines now has a new use. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG, is an 80-year-old vaccine designed to tread tuberculosis. Bit it has now been found effective in treating long-term type 1 diabetes, which is on the rise worldwide. BCG has long been administered to children in developing countries to guard against tuberculosis. But in a recent clinical trial, researchers at Harvard Medical School found the vaccine was also able to increase insulin production in patients with type 1 diabetes. Dr. Denise Faustman, the lead researcher, says the team was able to cure type 1 diabetes in...