They come out with these types of articles all the time and its always way before there is any solid proof. I remeber the BCG treatment from Dr. Fautsman’s lab at MGH also it showed some promise in mice and all these articles came out about how a cure is right around the corner. Her study is moving into human trials now but im not holding my breath for that one either. Even if they had a solid cure it would take close to a decade to bring it to market.
Im waiting for the artificial pancreas that BU and MGH are working on to keep my numbers stable as possible until this “cure” thats always “5 years around the corner” comes out.
I think this is great. Dr. Robert Elliot in New Zealand developed something similar years ago and had human clinical trials in Russia and Australia. Did not pan out but he is on the right track and still refining. He was in human trials. They “just” have to figure out how to keep the islets alive. There are about four other companies working on this that I can think of, but forgot the names of them. The DRI, of course. Hanumann (large islet sheet)… I think that one is either trying to raise more funds before proceeding, a Canadian company (name escapes me) who are pretty far along in the process. Viacite; most promising at the moment, I think. Someone is bound to get it right. But this type of cure, I would give a longer timeframe, perhaps 10 years? The artificial pancreas will be here first (not a cure but a help), perhaps in five years? I have hope but do not have much hope for the near immediate future.
Viacyte is still a therapy because likely you would have to replace the beta producing cells, not necessarily a one shot deal. Smart Insulin may be more of a cure of sorts, still a therapy, for Type 1 and 2. Sanofi just bought the rights to a new insulin in India, hope it wasn’t the Smart insulin SIA-II the Indians were inventing…The Indian insulin was working well for Type 2; that was the market they were interested in. Type 1 only ten percent of the market. We would be an orphan disease if not for all the Type 2s… Smart Insulin should work for both. Don’t see why Type 2s are not willing to try Afrezza. I don’t see why Afrezza would not work for Type 2. I know at least one Type 2, Spiro, posts on internet and has had success with Afrezza. Afrezza, after using for a month or so, stops glucogenesis in the liver. That should help Type 2s as well.
Just in passing, sweeping generalizations are always iffy when you are talking about diabetes. While many (most?) cases of Type 2 are characterized by high insulin resistance, some aren’t.
There’s nothing new here. All the story does is say that a cure is the “goal” (when wasn’t it???) and list three well-established avenues that are being pursued by researchers worldwide. It’s not a prediction, it’s a wish. Same old same old.
I’ve only been waiting 33 years for that five years to finally come around, but I did realize one thing: they never specify which five years. So it could still be accurate if it occurs between, I dunno, 2030-35.
I firmly believe the “five year cure” is a compassionate lie told to parents or person newly diagnosed in order to give them hope during the first five years of learning how to deal with the diagnosis. The first five years are very hard and doctors are giving us something to hold on to.
I was just a little kid, but it didn’t take me long to catch on to the scam. I kept hearing 5 years, and after a few years, I started thinking, “Hey, 2 years ago you told me 5 years. Shouldn’t it be 3 years now, instead of 5?!”
