You wake up tomorrow and the news (pick your favorite channel) tells you that they’ve found a cure for diabetes. Do you go for it? Why or why not?
I think it would depend on what the cure was.
I’d love to be cured! Although I reckon I’d sort of ‘miss’ diabetes. Mourn is maybe the better word. It’d be weird without it.
If it was an easy and safe cure, I’d go for it without doubt.
If there were risks I didn’t like, I’d rather stick with the devil I know - at least until I’ve seen how it affects the other people who go for it!
I’d wait and see what the studies say and if it’s a cure forever, I’d hate for it to go away temporarily and come back, all my son remembers is diabetes so that’d be rough!
I would be very scpital. Why? I’ve had diabetes for 34 years and always heard a cure was like 10 years away and haven’t seen one yet! I went through the pancres transplant not only for me but for my children too because I really wanted it to be a cure then wound up rejecting after 2 years and 7 different rejection episodes. Now my oldest daughter is a Type 1 too so I would just have to wait and see.
The minute they add, “In mice” I ignore it. They’ve been curing mice of diabetes every couple weeks for the 9 years I’ve been following the diabetes news.
Mice have very different glucose metabolisms than humans do and almost nothing found in mice translates to humans. In addition, a lot of mouse research is with “knockout mice” which are mice that have had genes selectively removed to see what happens. While the results are interesting to researchers, it rarely means anything for people.
The famous OB mouse that discovered the role of Leptin, for example, made everyone think they could cure obesity with leptin, but it turns out there have been something like a dozen people, world wide, who a genetic problem with leptin like the OB mice and leptin supplementation does nothing for everyone else.
I agree with most of the other posters…it depends. For the longest time the “cure” has been focused on transplanting a working set of cells. The issue there is mostly rejection. So, the next steps have been reducing or eliminating rejection…so that led to a host of drugs (for the most part) to be taken.
So, the quick answer of whether I would cure my diabetes if given the opportunity and the research was there and the complications and drugs were minimized (or eliminated), I would absolutely go for it. There is nothing about diabetes that I would “miss”. I will say that I have learned a great deal but I would not lose that discipline nor the knowledge if I no longer had diabetes.
Jack
Hi Doris - I’m sorry for your ordeal following the pancreas transplant. Seven rejection episodes must be very tough to go through. I’ve been though one kidney biopsy so far, and the times around that were difficult for me.
I had the opportunity to use the “Pancreas after Kidney” (PAK) transplant procedures. I received a close match kidney from one of my sisters and am still using a non-steroid anti-rejection drug protocol. I decided against the pancreas transplant, because I didn’t want to risk trouble with my new third kidney.
I have one dumb question about pancreas transplant. Is the donor pancreas added as a 2nd one? Thanks.
I think we can expect a big change in how type 1 is handled and maybe cured. The amount of change in the last few years is still pretty amazing to me. Science has and does continue to change our world for the better. Sometimes it’s not as fast as we would like, but the work of science continues and does bring practical results.
Yes the Dr refered to it as the 2nd pancreas. He told me that my 1st pancreas still was hooked up to make diagsteion and waste products. The 2nd one only made the insulin. It sounds like you’ve had your share of trouble too. How are you doing with your 3rd kidney? I really hated the steroid treatment, But I think my family hated it more than me. They were the resementis of my really bad moods! HA!
There is no need for a cure, they already have an effective treatment that is making TONS of money. I stated in another post that, economically, I don’t think we can afford to find a cure for these types of diseases. We are on our own, just like the animals in the forest- they blame no one and rely on no one for survival.
I’ve heard this so many times over the past 31 years of living with type 1, I have learned to investigate completely. But if we assume that it really is a cure that works, which I think is what you’re asking about, then I would definitely do it … as complications wait for no man or woman … we can merely hold them back as best as possible. Having said that, I think I would also use the opportunity to work and ensure the cure was made available to all of those people around the world who may not be as fortunate as we are!
YES! Unless the medical harm done by the cure was equal to or greater than diabetes. Otherwise, YES.
Definitely…my doctor wants me to take a much smaller amount of insulin than I have been using for a couple of years. Occasionally I can follow his plan: then if I try all of the time I will have to use way too many corrective doses, because my average meal is not 30-45 g carbs. As a vegetarian, on foot much of the time, with limited money to buy the healthiest choices of food (although I do eat vegetables and fruits daily). A serving of spaghetti sauce these days counts as a carb exchange(unless you spend the extra money to get no sugar added). Gardenburgers are one carb exchange, though a protein also. I would definitely get it, and I would be curious why any diabetic wouldn’t want it.
You are stating a point that many of us know and forget…it is proof rather than citing greed of the pharmaceutical companies that the current methods of testing drug effectiveness are dated and a complete waste of time. But I still long for a cure. I suppose they would have to test it on some poor underpaid human?
Beth,
VERY good point.
I went through this myself this winter. A brand new, very hyped drug, Januvia, looked like it was custom designed to work for my oddball form of diabetes which involves beta cells that don’t secrete in response to rising glucose. When it took it, yes, I got near-normal numbers without insulin. Seemed too good to be true, and alas, it was.
I was considering some fairly major elective surgery, and asked the surgeon what the impact of the drug would be on my healing, as I’d been noticing that my finger sticks were getting much sorer than usual and seemed to be healing slower. The surgeon didn’t know, but I started to do some serious medical journal research, and to my horror I discovered my “wonder drug” also had unknown impacts on the immune system and inflammation, and that there were some hints that it might be capable of promoting the growth of existing melanoma cells.
Well, I’m a melanoma survivor, and very possibly have just such cells left in my body. (I’m not allowed to give blood or donate organs for this reason.)
What really shocked me was the discovery that the drug company that promotes the drug had done no research on this possible “side effect” though it is well documented in the research literature about the enzyme the drug suppresses. The test for cancer used for a new drug only test that it doesn’t cause cancer in rodents or bacteria in a test tube. Nothing looks at whether it shuts down the mechanisms that the human body uses to kill cancerous cells. Melanoma is not a huge problem in our furry rodent friends who live short lives and are covered with fur. For those of us who are furless and long living, it is.
I’m back on insulin and will be until someone can reassure me that the “cure” really is safer than the disease!
The minute they add: “immunosuppression” I ignore it.
Lara
YES in a heartbeat! Though it would be very strange not to deal with diabetes. It’s almost like a part of me. But I’d be more than willing to let that part go to feel better.
I already take immunosupresent drugs (due to having my sister’s kidney being transplanted to me). These drugs are powerful and not without cost to my health, although net gain from new kidney far outweighs the cost.
When the study finally gets going in NYC, I’ve been selected as a test subject to receive beta cells. The drug protocol I use for the new kidney is almost identical to the one required in the study. It helps the medical professions to " do no [further] harm".
The risk to me is low and I accept that risk At the same time,it could potentially rid me of diabetes. If the cells only partially work, they would help fine tune insulin dosing I do myself. It will further research whether or not it works.
Maybe science fiction, maybe not: After working with stem cells for a few years, science {and industry) learns how to generate beta cells which are a perfect match to each person who will receive them (meaning no immunosupression required). These can be grown at low cost and administered on a out-patient basis. Low & behold, a cheap cure for type 1.
good heavens, Since this is a hypothetical question, I'm free to imagine no side effects, no risks, a magic pill that re starts my pancreas and since you haven't prefaced it with any down sides, of course I would!!!
It's definitely science fiction. The reason is that your OWN antibodies would knock out any beta cells you got, even if they were genetically your own. Until and unless they find a way to tame the immune system without knocking out its useful parts, beta cell transplants are more trouble than they're worth, unless the person is already taking immunosuppressive drugs for another reason, such as a kidney transplant.
As far as the rest of the question, I'd accept a cure, but it won't happen in my lifetime -- I'm 65, and it would have to be developed and approved within the next 15 years or so, and it's still very likely that they wouldn't offer it to older people -- the children and young people come first. So I'm not going to worry about it -- I'll die a diabetic, but hope it's not for a while yet, LOL!
omg, if there were a cure that didnt have terrible side effects and i didnt have to think about my body and constantly do maths in my head, then yes. ive only had this t1 crap for two years but cant even remember what it was like to not be thinking about this all the time, but i know it was probably pretty good!
every time i go to see the doc or my nurse i ask if they can fix me yet. im waiting for that answer to be "yes" one day.