Cure for Diabetes 

Is there a cure for diabetes?

There is no cure for diabetes.

…….not yet anyway!

But there are some of the worlds leading medical scientists working on the problem right now.

It is a comfort to know how much we have achieved and learnt about diabetes in the last century, which should give everyone great hope for the future.

It was only as recent as 1921 when insulin and its properties was discovered. 

Although people consider insulin to be a cure for diabetes, it is actually a way of maintaining the lives of those with Type 1 diabetes.

If it was an actual cure, they wouldn’t have diabetes any more would they?

Insulin is not the only thing which helps keep diabetics alive. 

Other ways of staying alive involve things as simple as a healthy diet and exercise.  Without these, 2 out of 3 diabetics die from a stroke or because of unstable blood sugar levels.

The ironic thing is, staying fit and eating the right foods not only saves diabetics’ lives, it saves everyone’s.

The really fantastic news is:

Scientists have worked out what needs to be done to find a cure for diabetes.

Now all they have to do is do it.  It requires finding a compound which meets the needs of the cure.

Until now, the most successful attempt at curing diabetes, was transplanting someone else’s pancreas into a diabetic’s body.

This is considered to be a good idea.  But the immune system often attacks the transplanted pancreas- believing it is a nasty foreign entity.

So when people have a transplanted pancreas inside them, they have to take immuno-suppressant drugs to stop the immune system from attacking the pancreas.

This is not recommended though, because the drugs can cause side effects such as cancer.

So scientists have been looking towards another solution, which is so far proving to be promising. 

Instead of transplanting from another human, this cure involves moving the insulin-producing cells from a pig to a human.

As pigs have been a source of insulin for diabetics, and their insulin was used for diabetics before we could produce synthetic insulin, this idea has very high hopes. 

However, the body also attacks the insulin producing cells (called islets) as they enter the human’s body.

But, not too be discouraged, scientists are working on a capsule for the islets to stay, which lets nutrients and oxygen enter and insulin exit.  This capsule will also stop the immune system from attacking.

Dr Robert Elliot has already attempted this at a school of medicine in New Zealand. 

Encapsulated islets from a pig were injected into two humans.

One of the experiment humans received no immuno-suppression therapy.  The other subject did.

There were no adverse health effects!  Blood-sugar levels were lowered!

Hurrah!

This did not cause complete insulin independence though.  But it’s a start!

Although it is not a sure cure for diabetics, it made huge advances in medical research.  Hopefully it will not be long before a permanent cure is found for diabetics.