End Of Daily Injections For Diabetes Sufferers Is In Sight
Diabetes suffers may be able to ditch daily injections after scientists showed that it is possible to restore insulin production by boosting the immune system.
Type 1 diabetes suffers have to inject themselves daily in order to regulate their blood sugar levels.
This is because the disease attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and while most people have protector cells call ’T-regs’ to shield the cells from their immune system, people with diabetes don’t have enough.
New research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine shows that the T-regs can be removed from the body, increased by 1,500 in the lab and reintroduced in to the bloodstream to restore normal insulin production.
The potentially life-changing study by researchers at the University of California and Yale says that the breakthrough could be used in future to ‘re-educate’ the immune system.
In initial trials, the therapy has been shown to last for up to a year.
As well as stopping the need for daily injections, the discovery could also prevent the disease from progressing, limiting drastic side affects associated with diabetes such as amputation.
Image credit: IB Times
Via: The Telegraph
