Perhaps one of the most promising areas of research for long time Type 1 Diabetics lies with Denise Faustman and her lab at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She is working on a methodology for treating long standing Type 1 Diabetes through an innovative, and controversial method- by retraining the bodies immune system.

Denise released research years ago showing that her method is able to reverse Type 1 Diabetes in mice, which was later verified by independent labs.

She is finally beginning her human trials! Another year, and we should see some results.

The great part about Denise’s research is that she is looking at curing the disease in people who have had it for many years. Most new trials that are happening right now are for newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetics who still have some pancreatic function, as opposed to someone with long standing Diabetes.

It is great to have hope! In the meantime, I will stay healthy with my supplement regime and hope for the best.

Two separate studies done on Tai Chi were shown to effect blood sugar levels. Each involved around 30 subjects and 30 controls.

The findings are not too suprising, as moderate exercise is of course beneficial to Diabetics, but it is good to see the research.

The BBC has a good writeup on this recent study.

An interesting news article is getting some coverage in the news about Vitamin D and its relation to Type 1 Diabetes in a new study done in the UK.

The study was done in Manchester at the St. Mary’s Hospital for Women and Children. The effect was dose-dependent and should certainly be of interest to anyone with young children who are at risk for developing Type 1 Diabetes.

The BBC has a good writeup on the piece- Vitamin D “Cuts Risk of Diabetes”.

A recent article I came across has some interesting information about two important minerals for Diabetics- Magnesium and Chromium.

I have an extensive review of the research surrounding Chromium, but I have not done any research on Magnesium yet. It appears that studies are associating low levels of Magnesium with insulin utilization problems and Type 2 Diabetes. Read the study - Serum zinc, chromium and magnesium levels in Type 2 diabetes, published in 2006.

The complete article I found is here.

Magnesium appears to be an important mineral and I am going to do more research into this mineral for Diabetes.

An inexpensive anti-inflammatory drug called Salsalate could help prevent Type 2 Diabetes by lower blood sugar levels and reducing inflamation, which is an important indicator of Type 2 Diabetes.

The study  is in the February issue of Diabetes Care entitled - Salsalate Improves Glycemia and Inflammatory Parameters in Obese Young Adults. The study examined inflammatory markers such as C-peptide levels and glucose levels in 20 obese patients for a month.

The results look pretty clear- a reduction in the fasting glucose tolerance test, reduced C-peptide levels, and improved insulin sensitivity. Further research is neccessary to see how helpful this drug could be in the long term, but this study certainly looks promising.

The National Institute of Heath recently granted $169 Million Dollars to the University of South Florida to study the environmental causes of Type 1 Diabetes.

The causes for Type 1 Diabetes are thought to be both genetic and environmental, but not much research has gone into the environmental part of the equation. This study will follow babies with the genetic predisposition for Type 1 Diabetes for 10 years and monitor their environment and eating habits. The study will also take place internationally to control for geographic differences.

The study design and abstract are here- The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) study. The press release from the USF Heath department is here- USF Center of 10-year International Study to Determine Cause of Juvenile Diabetes.

I feel that this is a great study that will highlight the problems associated with the modern diet. It is no coincidence that Type 1 Diabetes occurrences have climbed dramatically since the 80’s. I think the advent of fast food and the lack of nutrition has certainly helped the disease. Personally, I always make it a point to ask Type 1 Diabetics that I meet about their eating habits when they were younger. Every one that I can recall has always talked about having a sweet tooth, or a certain love for candy. I know that I used to eat table sugar in a bowl with milk after realizing that the cereal was just spoiling the flavor. I now think this probably had something to do with becoming Diabetic.

Other diabetics I know share a similar story, or at least felt they ate too many sweets when they were younger. If your a Type 1 Diabetic reading this- go ahead and share your story in the comments. How would you rate your pre-diabetes eating habits?

An interesting study was completed at the University of Texas School of Health Information. It was called Glucose-sensing pulmonary delivery of human insulin to the systemic circulation of rats.

The research team was attempting to create a delivery mechanism for Insulin that would be automatic when sugar was sensed in the blood stream. The insulin was binded to particles that were inhaled by rats with hyperglycemia. Once the particles were in the blood stream and “sensed” the sugar, a reaction caused the insulin in the particle to be released. The study successfully lowered the rat’s glucose levels down to normal.

The next step is going to be finding better delivery molecules for humans that do not cause as much inflammation.

Yet another development in the recent Rosiglitazone controversy has scientists disputing the recent meta-analysis of Rosiglitazone (Avandia). From what I recall, the debate to date has generally taken this form. First there was a controversial meta-analysis study of over 40 studies completed on Rosiglitazone. It concluded that there was an unforeseen heart attack risk associated with use of the drug.

Glaxosmithkline, the manufacturer of the drug came out strongly against the study, pointing out that they tested the study and found no problems with its use. This is not surprising, as Avandia is making huge sales for the publically traded company, Glaxosmithkline (GSK). A massive stock drop followed suit with the Nissen study, as Avandia sales dropped and the comapny was forced to buyback more shares than normal and fiercely defend Avandia’s usefulness and safety.

The FDA panel found that it should be kept on the market, voting 22-1 in favor of keeping in legal. They felt that the drug was still helping more than it was possibly hurting and instead opted for a “black box warning” on the drug. Basically, that means it gets one of those warnings like something you would find on a pack of smokes on each bottle.

I have followed this controversy for a while and I think it points to one of the main problems found in our medical industry here in the US. The drug companies sell drugs, first and foremost. In a capitalistic society such as the US, they are guided by the “invisible hand” of profit and you can see by looking at their stock price what happens when one of their hit drugs is threatened- their stock tanks. Naturally people at GSK would scramble to keep it on the market if they are heavily vested into the stock. I am not saying that these people would act without integrity, but I do think their thoughts would be altered by the lens of GSK. And if they did act without integrity they would be doing so to preserve vast sums of money. They would want to believe that Avandia is safe, because if it wasn’t their livelihood is at stake. Such is one of the many faults of medicine as an industry.

A great study was recently published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal called Expression of cholera toxin B–proinsulin fusion protein in lettuce and tobacco chloroplasts – oral administration protects against development of insulitis in non-obese diabetic mice.

The study demonstrates that it may be possible to get around the main reason why Type 1 Diabetics have to take insulin shots which is because the stomach breaks down insulin during the digestive process. These researchers added the insulin gene to tobacco plants, which caused the plants to create insulin within their cell walls. Having the insulin protected by a plant’s cell wall is a way to get the hormone into the bloodstream without it getting broken down by the digestive process until it is further along down the digestive track.

The amazing and most promising data gleamed from this study is that the diabetic mice fed this special tobacco plant actually were producing normal amounts of insulin after five weeks of treatment. The insulitius was halted and the beta-cells were preserved. Basically, it halted the progression of disease and normalized blood glucose levels!

I’ve always thought that taking insulin is a necessary evil. Injecting your body with a foreign substance really just cant be good for the immune system, which is already confused because it is attacking the insulin producing beta cells. A therapy like this sounds like it could give time for the body to heal itself, or perhaps this could be used in conjunction with Denise Faustman’s research which “retrains” the bodies own immune system which would cure the root cause of the disease, the destruction of islet cells or insulitius.

Human trials should begin next year for Denise Faustman and hopefully Henry Daniell will have his tobacco plants being tested in human trials soon as well. From this great Science Daily Article it appears that human trails are the next step. Both approaches appear to yield immense promise.

PR Newswire today has an interesting read about a study recently done that shows how 80 Billion dollars of the federal governments money goes to treat people with diabetes. The staggering number shows just how large of a scourge is afoot.

There are approximately 20 million diabetics in the united states and that number is supposed to double by 2025. The cost of diabetes is certainly not going to go down if no steps are taken to change the system.

Again I think this is where some alternative treatments could bring that cost down. If people were not just prescribed drugs to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, etc and were instead given a personal trainer and some vitamins/supplements I think the associated health risks for diabetes related problems would drop and the diabetes related spending as well. The thinking needs to shift away from allowing people to think pills will solve their problem, away from spending monies on finding a “cure” (at least for type 2 diabetics. It is still worthwhile to find a cure for type 1, it is an autoimmune disease), and move towards finding ways to get people motivated, healthy and interested in taking steps to reduce side effects of diabetes.

I wish doctors would prescribe personal trainers and salads as opposed to Avandia.