My son has type 1 and while this breakthrough may not help him directly it may well prevent any other kid from getting it.
Type 1 may well go the way of polio Huge feather in Canada's hat.
Quote:
Team finds hope for diabetes cure
Dec. 15, 2006. 07:02 AM
MEGAN OGILVIE
HEALTH REPORTER
A Toronto-led team of researchers has discovered a trigger for Type 1 diabetes, a breakthrough that has long evaded scientists and could lead the way to preventing the disease.
The team found that abnormal nerve endings in the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas initiated a chain of events that caused Type 1 diabetes in mice. When they removed the nerve cells, the mice did not develop the disorder.
That means diabetes may be a disease of the nervous system, not just an autoimmune disease, said Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children and the study's main investigator. Until now, research has primarily focused on the immune system and why it attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells, called islets.
But Dosch, working with colleagues at Sick Kids, the University of Calgary and Maine's Jackson Laboratory, identified a control circuit between islet cells and their related sensory nerves. Disrupting this circuit led to inflammation around the islets and eventually to their destruction. Without these cells, the mice could not make insulin.
"This control circuit is the real cause of diabetes," Dosch said.
Experts say the findings, reported yesterday in the journal Cell, will change the way scientists think about diabetes.
.......
In the lab mice, so-called TRPV1 sensory neurons produced a specific kind of neuropeptide responsible for maintaining a healthy environment for the insulin-producing islet cells. If the balance was disrupted in any way, the immune system launched an attack on the islets, triggering Type 1 diabetes.
Eliminating these neurons — or stopping their signals to the immune system — prevented the chain of events that initiate Type 1 diabetes.
More research is needed to find out if this theory will work in humans, not to mention if it will shed light on new therapies for Type 2 diabetes, Dosch said.
In a reversal of what they expected, the researchers also found injecting substance P — a chemical secreted by nerve cells — into mice whose islet cells were inflamed and on the way to being destroyed not only eliminated the inflammation but reversed it. "The blood glucose normalizes overnight and it stays low for weeks to months — this is with a single shot," Dosch said.
"We now have 4-month-old mice that are non-diabetic that used to be diabetic"— a period equivalent to six to eight years in humans. .
Incredible ..not a cure...but clearly a huge prevention step and with other stem cell research ongoing a cure for existing Type 1s may not be too far off.
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Great news if it comes through. My older brother was diagnosed with diabetes when he was around 11. He died from complications arising from it.... nearly ten years ago now. I owe him a great deal in terms of early musical and cultural influences. Wish he was still here today. My family is lousy with diabetes, on both sides. Be great to see it eradicated.
Oh wow indeed good news - we had none in our family. In your case it indeed is a huge benefit for future kids.
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As someone with Type 1 Diabetes, this is exciting news. However I cannot help but feel somewhat skeptical. What happens if there is a cure? I spend thousands each year on my diabetic supplies. Now multiply that by over 200,000 Canadians who are insulin dependent let alone world wide. That is big money.
Will these researchers be bought off to keep their mouths shut and never have human testing? Or will the price for a cure be so high that the average person will not be able to afford the cure?
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Big splash for Toronto team in daibetes
Huge feather in Canada's hat.
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