Cure for Type 1 diabetes closer?
There are genuine prospects for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Tests using mice have indicated the possibility that a BCG vaccine, which is normally used to prevent Tuberculosis, might provide the answer.
The drug works by destroying abnormal blood cells in the pancreas which obstruct the production of insulin.
In the mouse study, mice suffering from diabetes and with about two weeks to live were completely cured.
Human clinical trials are about to start in Massachusetts General hospital in Boston, America. There could be useful feedback within just a few months.
Trials are also to take place at Kings College, London and Bristol University.
BCG is a drug for which there is extensive knowledge since it has been tried and tested for over 80 years. This means that any future treatment could be quite cheap.
There are suggestions that a cure may be available within 4 years, although care will be needed because of the risk of an immune reaction.
March 08 2009 12:00 am | diabetes information