I hope that this really works.

“A man with type 1 diabetes was cured of the condition after a first-of-its-kind procedure, experts have revealed.

The 42-year-old from Sweden was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at just five years old, which caused his body to not produce enough insulin to control blood sugar.

But today he no longer needs daily insulin shots and can finally enjoy sugar without stress, doctors wrote in a medical journal this month.

Last year, the man underwent an islet cell transplant, which involves transplanting islet cells into the liver to help the pancreas produce insulin on its own. Islet cells are cells in the pancreas that produce hormones to help regular blood sugar levels.

This was done with a series of injections in the man's forearm muscle.

Over the next three months, his body responded to the transplanted cells and started to make its own insulin in response to glucose spikes, which usually happen after meals.

While islet cell transplants have been performed in a handful of patients, the man was the first to have his islet cells genetically engineered so his body wouldn't reject them. …”

DailyMail article:
https://mol.im/a/15010707

I have been following all of these closely. My oldest daughter is Type 1, since she was 9. She is 22 now.

I am a Type 1 for the last 10 years. I made it to 58 before the pancreas gave out. Bad genes unfortunately. The immune system kills the new beta cells the pancreas produces to heal itself. The downside is the nerves that are killed by high blood sugar don't reconnect and the body's organs no longer communicate. I.E. when the sugar gets low, the liver does not know it needs to release glucose in to the blood system. I pray they can cure it but the treatment has to be hundreads of billions of dollars a year.

My niece just got diagnosed at 4 years old. It would be awesome if this becomes a main stream cure.

Not enough in that story to even begin to think about it rationally.

Number of patients: one

Follow-up length: 3 months

Adverse events: downplayed

Don’t hold your breath for a real cure.

It’s 5 years away. Always 5 years. For decades.

The lack of immune suppression is the big news. Promising treatment.

A cure for diabetes would be economically devastating to big pharma.

It certainly would

And being the cynic that I am, they will find a way to make sure that they never lose the revenue stream by allowing to come to market.

I've been hearing about this crap for at least a decade now. My oldest daughter has Type 1 and it was absolutely devastating to a 13yr old girl. To say it changed her life is a gross understatement. Coaches gave her lip for not being able to perform when her blood sugar crashed, her friends treated her different like she was contagious, physical persistent body aches, severe depression, etc. I'd give my life in exchange for a cure.

China has done something similar where their Type 1 patient was also fully cured. I would not be surprised if this becomes more common with curing Type 2 within 5 years. God Bless

quote:

Originally posted by VBVAGUY:
China has done something similar where their Type 1 patient was also fully cured. I would not be surprised if this becomes more common with curing Type 2 within 5 years. God Bless

The patient in the Chinese study was on immunosuppressants from a
transplant.

What keeps the body from targeting the insulin producing cells like it did in the first place? If they have to stick you on a regimen of immunosuppressants to make this work that is probably worse than the disease.

I was diagnosed at 36, and the most frustrating part was the fact that they knew my body was actively killing its own ability to produce insulin, but couldn't do shit about it. But they'll happily sell you insulin for the rest of your life.

Type 1 sucks. If they could make it go away, that would be awesome. But thankfully it's at least not the death sentence it was a hundred years ago.

2 of the companies I worked for were in diabetes healthcare. I remember 10 years ago, there were reports of diabetes being “cured” related to some organ in the body removed. I forget which organ and the diabetes going away was only coincidental with the removal which was for another reason.

ETA: I asked AI and it was partial pancreas removal allowing the remaining pancreas to produce enough insulin and also bariatric surgery for weight reduction.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
What keeps the body from targeting the insulin producing cells like it did in the first place? If they have to stick you on a regimen of immunosuppressants to make this work that is probably worse than the disease.
<snip>

Didn’t you read the article in the OP?

“While islet cell transplants have been performed in a handful of patients, the man was the first to have his islet cells genetically engineered so his body wouldn't reject them.”

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
What keeps the body from targeting the insulin producing cells like it did in the first place? If they have to stick you on a regimen of immunosuppressants to make this work that is probably worse than the disease.
<snip>

Didn’t you read the article in the OP?

“While islet cell transplants have been performed in a handful of patients, the man was the first to have his islet cells genetically engineered so his body wouldn't reject them.”

I did read it. I guess I'm just incredulous that that's all there is to it. I've asked all those questions multiple times over the last four years. They can't tell me why my body suddenly tried to start killing itself. They say it's hereditary, but neither my parents or any extended family have it. They can't tell me if my kids will get it. They made absolutely zero effort to combat it because supposedly there was nothing they could do. And now they expect me to believe that they've not only identified the genetic anomaly behind the disease but also synthesized cells to defeat it without having to do any kind of immunosuppressant therapy to make it work (which has been the core component of every experimental study I've read to date)?

I hope they truly have. Really, I do. That would be awesome for millions of people, myself included. But usually stuff that seems too good to be true is, and I'm not getting my hopes up without more evidence.

Pharmaceutical companies blocking the introduction of a drug that cures diabetes. You are more than a cynic. There are pleny of diseases to work on, and most new drugs are on patent for several years.

no, I think I'm a realist when it comes to the billion dollar industry that is big pharma

why would they ever want to cure something that eliminates a revenue stream?

thats like putting yourself out of business

I'm type 1. Such stories come up every year based on different methods. We have yet to see a real "cure". Stem cells, transplants, etc. etc.

I'll believe it when I can permanently unplug myself from these damn machines (pump and sensor).

quote:

why would they ever want to cure something that eliminates a revenue stream?

thats like putting yourself out of business

^^^^^^^^^^
Have you noticed there are lots of diseases out there and that Big Pharma gets a patent for several years. That is a lot more lucrative than protecting a current revenue stream.