Diabetes Breakthrough(scientists cure disease in mice)

National Post ^ | Tom Blackwell,

[LibWhacker]

Well, I certainly hope this is true. But hold onto your grains of salt. Canadian research is right up there with Korean and Mexican.

[IslandJeff]

Type I Diabetes Ping List
FR mail me to add yourself! (Type IIs welcome, too.)

[milwguy]

My son has type 1 and it is very difficult, if not impossible to maintain HC1A levels which a normal person would have. Maintaining proper blood sugar is vital is reducing the possible ill affects of diabetes, but I think most doctors would say you can reduce the chances in type 1 diabetics, but never to the level of a non diabetic.

[rock58seg]

That was my immediate thought. How are the Pharma.. co.s going to get by without my over $250.00 monthly I spend for Insulin? Second thought was will they actually allow it to happen?

[untenured]

I am a Type I. I am 42, and have been diabetic since 1980. I have a little stomach neuropathy, but after 26 years my feet, kidneys and eyes are fine. Good control can delay complications well into the later stages of life. There is still some random variation (some people with poor control get few complications, some with great control get them early), but control is a big factor. Despite my diabetes, I have had a largely normal life and am a happily married father. Good control and regular contact with a good internist who knows about Type I are extremely important. (Have I mentioned good control yet? :))

The research is interesting, but this kind of "very exciting, five years away from a cure" thing has been around since I first got sick.

Ironically, insulin itself was first isolated in Toronto.

[Aggie Mama]

This will never work for pharmaceutical companies since they can't patent it.

[dangerdoc]

ping

[MichiganConservative]

They could pretend they're software IP vultures and patent the idea of curing someone's diabetes by giving them a treatment that would cause the diabetes to go away. Hey, maybe I'll patent that right there.

[altura]

bump

[Balding_Eagle]

Any treatment that may emerge to help at least some patients would likely be years away from hitting the market."

That last sentence is just plain unsat.

This ain't AIDs, so there will be no push.

[thulldud]

I note idly that it took WAY too many posts for this one to come up. Whatsa matta you peoples?

[montag813]

Michael J. Fox will be upset that the cure didn't involve putting fetuses into a meat grinder and feeding them to the mice.

[T.Smith]

If the Canadians have actually cured diabetes, then Hillary will quote it as proof socialized medicine works.

[toast]

Ho. Lee. Crap. I hope and pray that this works for my kid.

Ditto.

[Monterrosa-24]

"...thought the only promising thing out there was Byetta..."

Have you tried Byetta? How does it work?

[Comstock1]

This will make a major dent in Wilford Brimley's income. No more diabetes commercials for him. Now what are those mail order drug companies going to push to seniors in those annoying commercials?

[Txsleuth]

Thanks for the ping...this is amazing..and I will look forward to seeing what happens with human tests.

[Red Badger]

PLEASE, GOD, LET THIS ONE BE FOR REAL!........

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>...mail order drug companies going to push to seniors in those annoying commercials?

Incontinence products.

[kalt]

The CBC story you linked suggests that the treatment would only prevent susceptible people from getting type I, and maybe cure people who have only had it for a little while (i.e., islet cells are damaged but not destroyed yet). No use for people like me: ten years since diagnosis, islet cells long dead. Still, I wouldn't have to worry as much about my boys getting it.