Since I was diagnosed, I always hoped that one day I’d wake up to the news of diabetes being cured. For now this is a prospect that I can only dream about. Type 1diabetes has been with me for 19 years and the truth is, until they find a cure it will always be a part of my life. I pray that, one day I will be able to say “I had diabetes” and “it affected me in this way and that way, but I now no longer have it”. I’ll be Amina and although my diabetes will be long gone. It will be like a scab, pick away and all I’ll have left of it will be the memory of our time spent together. I will be able to function just like everybody else. No blood glucose checks before meals, no insulin pump, no insulin and no need to correct my sugar. Diabetes free, I will be.
I strongly believe that one day there will be a cure for diabetes. I may not be able to benefit from it, but maybe whatever cure they develop will help others affected by this condition. I know that there has been and there currently is a great deal of research being done to try and eliminate this horrible condition. Just to outline the current research that is being done:
1. Diabetes Research Institute Foundation – have developed a cell based therapy, that works by transplanting insulin producing islet cells and they have been able to restore natural insulin production in patients involved in clinical trials. Patients have been able to attain insulin independence and experience normal blood sugar levels. A lot of these patients have lived without any insulin for a long period of time.
They have now gone further with this research and are currently trying to develop what is known as the BioHub (mini organ) which is able to function like a normal functioning pancreas. This BioHub will contain thousands of insulin producing cells and be able to know what blood sugar levels are and then administer the correct insulin required instantly.
2. Melbourne researchers, Professor Len Harrison, Dr Esther Bandala-Sanchez and Dr Yuxia Zhang – have identified an immune protein that has the potential to stop or reverse the development of type 1 diabetes in its early stages, before insulin-producing cells have been destroyed.
For all the type 1 diabetics like me who have had the condition for a longer period of time, this is not an option for us. Newly diagnosed T1D’s are more likely to benefit from this treatment. Click on the following link to read more about how this research works. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130520104932.htm
3. Matthias Hebrok, Ph.D, University of California, San Francisco – has developed a stem-cell-based strategy which is able to boost the immune system in mice. Click on the following link to read more about this great research. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516123650.htm
4. Tech engineers and Emory University clinician – have made a significant first step with newly engineered biomaterials for cell transplantation that could help lead to a possible cure for Type 1 diabetes. Please refer to the following link. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130509154554.htm
Today’s news 10/06/2013
5. Researchers from the University of Cambridge, have developed the ‘closed loop’ device. This device is able to monitor blood glucose levels minute-by-minute and uses infrared technology to relay this information to an Insulin pump attached to the patient’s body, which then delivers the correct amount of insulin into the blood stream. http://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2013/Jun/first-ever-home-trial-of-artificial-pancreas-for-diabetes-treatment-96325905.html
In order for more research to take place and for us to hopefully be successful in finding a cure for diabetes, organisations and research institutions need more financial support. If you’re able to help please refer to some of the links below or look for a diabetes charity of your choice.
Diabetes UK – https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Donate/
Diabetes Research Insitute (DRI) – https://www.diabetesresearch.org/Support-BioHub
Diabetes.co.uk – http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-charity/donate.asp?id=duk
Related articles
- Curing the Incurable (plantbaseddietadventures.com)
- Combining Bone Marrow Cells With New Drug Restores Insulin Production, May Cure Type 1 Diabetes (medicalnewstoday.com)
- Stem Cell Therapy Cures Type 1 Diabetes in Mice (news.health.com)
- Adult stem cells could hold key to curing Type 1 diabetes (medicalxpress.com)
Sugar High Sugar Low - My life with Type 1 diabetes 
It’s in fact very difficult in this full of activity life to
listen news on TV, so I just use world wide web for that reason, and
obtain the mostt up-to-date news.
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I like it when individuals come together and share ideas.
Great blog, stick with it!
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Yes I see your point, perhaps it’s an increase in the way social media is being relayed. However I do believe that more research is actually being done, but how much more is hard to tell.
Oh really! That would be amazing, if us long suffers of T1 D were able to benefit from Dr Denise’s evidence and produce our own functioning beta cells again. That sounds promising, but I still feel a cure is a long time in the making, but we must not lose hope 🙂
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Regarding #2, there is recent evidence (published by Dr. Denise Faustman) that even some “veteran” T1s still produce minute amounts of their own insulin. It wasn’t measurable under traditional methods, but the newer tests show that it exists. This suggests that, if the autoimmune condition were stopped, that single functioning beta cell (or two) could reproduce and spawn a whole new generation of insulin-producers.
Meanwhile, I sometimes wonder if there really is so much more research than there used to be, or if it’s just the recent surge of social media that brings the news to our eyes. Were people still researching this before Twitter, silently in the privacy of their own basements?
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I love that so much research is being done. Gives me hope. Like you said, even if we don’t benefit from it, others will and that’s just as important. Thanks for sharing this. 🙂
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🙂 hoping for that cure! Thanks for stopping by x
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