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  • Type 1 Diabetes breakthrough
  • Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/11151909/Cure-for-Type-1-diabetes-imminent-after-Harvard-stem-cell-breakthrough.html

    Heard and read about this earlier and me and the missus cried.

    Told my daughter that people were working on it and she asked to be cured today. We cried again.

    Getting closer. Brilliant news to 400,000 people in the UK, 29,000 of which are kids!

    superdan
    Full Member

    I’ve been type I since I was 4. I’m excited by this, but it’s tempered by the cynical voice in my head which points out that a cure for diabetes has been “5 years away” since I was old enough to read the news.
    Follow the money I guess, Drug companies must love diabetes, its the ultimate razor-blade business model.

    PJM1974
    Free Member

    Stepson 2 is Type 1, this is fantastic news for all of us. Although an insulin pump has given him an awful lot of freedom, it’s a partial solution at best.

    Whenever he’s stressed – ie when sitting his exams, his blood sugars rise to frightening levels and he’s unable to think clearly. As a result, he flunked his written tests despite scoring extremely well with coursework. I’m sure it’s a familiar tale to anyone out there with Type 1.

    My heart goes out to anyone who has to deal with this every day of their lives.

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    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Follow the money I guess, Drug companies must love diabetes, its the ultimate razor-blade business model.

    Indeed. Why ‘cure’ a health condition when half a dozen medications can be prescribed thus increasing Big Pharma’s profits? Vested interests as usual.

    votchy
    Free Member

    I’ve been type I since I was 4. I’m excited by this, but it’s tempered by the cynical voice in my head which points out that a cure for diabetes has been “5 years away” since I was old enough to read the news

    +1

    Was diagnosed at 7 yo, 38 years ago, been waiting for a cure since then, my 16yo son was diagnosed at 10 too, hoping this does come to fruition but am not holding my breath. There was also something about a cure that they are trialling in Mexico however I am more sceptical about that one.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    It’s great to be able give hope to people with these kind of conditions, and this potentially brings a therapy a step closer.

    However, whenever I see the word ‘cure’ bandied around for something which is still being trialled in primates, I’m a little hesitant.

    I’ve seen lot of ‘cure’ articles about type I floating around over the last couple of decades.

    Having said that, scaling up stem cell production is a massive hurdle, and if they’ve genuinely overcome that in a way that can be reproduced in a clinical setting, it may have implications for a lot of conditions.

    But it’s still going to be a good few years off, with the best will in the world.

    kelvin
    Full Member

    A great result. But so far from a ready to use cure, that the journalists involved should be ashamed.
    All very interesting, and promising, but the headlines are misleading, yet again.

    robw1
    Free Member

    This is good news. From what I understand a huge barrier to this (stem cell) research in the USA was the US government’s reluctance to allow the creation of human stem cells for research purposes (probably due to the pressure from pro life type campaigns). So in the last few years since things have progressed a lot has been achieved….and perhaps we might see some human trials in the not too distant future.

    I was diagnosed aged 29 in 2007, and although I am always sceptical of ‘the cure’, advances like this could actually mean so form of treatment in the next 10 or 20 years that could have a real and last effect upon peoples lives and long term health.

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    I’ve been type I since I was 4. I’m excited by this, but it’s tempered by the cynical voice in my head which points out that a cure for diabetes has been “5 years away” since I was old enough to read the news.

    This. Type 1 since 7 (I’m 29), a cure has always been just around the corner.

    I’ll believe it when I see it.

    avdave2
    Full Member

    Indeed. Why ‘cure’ a health condition when half a dozen medications can be prescribed thus increasing Big Pharma’s profits? Vested interests as usual.

    Type 1 is only around 10% of diabetes so with type 2 increasing at current rates it’ not going to worry the pharma industry.

    fourbanger
    Free Member

    Indeed. Why ‘cure’ a health condition when half a dozen medications can be prescribed thus increasing Big Pharma’s profits? Vested interests as usual.

    Why not start a non profit pharma company and cute it yourself. Crowdfund it.

    WackoAK
    Free Member

    Type 1 is only around 10% of diabetes so with type 2 increasing at current rates it’ not going to worry the pharma industry.

    ^This, it’s a major growth market with the increase in obesity rates.

    Also, even if they “cure” and rebuild the pancreas cells won’t it just mean being on immunosuppressants to stop the body attacking the pancreas again?

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Off at a tangent, but whilst people involved are looking…

    What are you doing with regards to Type 1 kids and school dinners? I’m a proper Bolshi bastard when the need arises and have, along with my daughter’s diabetic nurse, an NHS dietician and the school cook, carb scored the entire school dinner menu. And you know what… it works!

    My daughter has a school dinner along with all of the other kids and we’ve had no hypers and only 4 hypos in her first 5 weeks. The hypos were a result of her ratio being slightly off anyway, so a tweak from 1:12 to 1:14 should have nailed that one.

    If our local authority is anything to go by the nutritional content of all meals has been worked out and the portion sizes are standard. Also, every school in the borough operates the same 3 week rolling menu. It just needs somebody to put the two together and fill in any blanks with a copy of “Carbs & Cals” and you are away. It took a bit of pestering from me to get it going but the results have been bang on. With a bit of luck it will be rolled out across all 30+ schools in the local authority.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    If our local authority is anything to go by the nutritional content of all meals has been worked out and the portion sizes are standard. Also, every school in the borough operates the same 3 week rolling menu. It just needs somebody to put the two together and fill in any blanks with a copy of “Carbs & Cals” and you are away. It took a bit of pestering from me to get it going but the results have been bang on. With a bit of luck it will be rolled out across all 30+ schools in the local authority.

    Good effort. Schools need a lot more parents like you. Keep pestering to get it rolled out – why don’t you and your contact in catering stick a little paper presentation on what you’ve achieved together and pop it to somewhere like this with a view to getting it presented at their conference?

    captaincarbon
    Free Member

    I so hope they’re close to a cure. Diabetes is a terrible disease, had to admit 3 people for amputations last week… shocking and heartbreaking for all concerned, and I only get 30 mins to treat, break the news, and admit.. with the limb removed quite often within 12 hours.

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    Un managed Type 2s?

    captaincarbon
    Free Member

    Nope, two were T1, young.

    Harry_the_Spider
    Full Member

    😯

    They must have been in a terrible state.

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    I’ve been type I since I was 4. I’m excited by this, but it’s tempered by the cynical voice in my head which points out that a cure for diabetes has been “5 years away” since I was old enough to read the news.
    This. Type 1 since 7 (I’m 29), a cure has always been just around the corner.

    I’ll believe it when I see it.Likewise here. Been type 1 diabetic since just before my 10th birthday, 38 years ago and heard so many promises of a cure in that time it’s daft.

    Let’s just hope they’ve got it right this time and the rollout will be pretty quick.

    On the immunosuppressant side of it – I may have misunderstood but I thought the use of stem cells reduced the need for them?

    Could be wrong though.

    kimbers
    Full Member

    Follow the money I guess, Drug companies must love diabetes, its the ultimate razor-blade business model.
    Indeed. Why ‘cure’ a health condition when half a dozen medications can be prescribed thus increasing Big Pharma’s profits? Vested interests as usual.

    Can’t believe that people actually believe this would be true

    An insult to the thousands of people who work day in and day out in medical research on crap salaries and shitty contracts

    Drac
    Full Member

    Stem cells have the potential to help in many conditions and problems. Just have to get around the religious bods who think they kill babies in order to get them.

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