The Cure
Will there be a cure for diabetes in my life time? That is a question that I have been asking myself a lot lately. It saddens me when I have to answer that question with a no. I know there are both diabetics and non-diabetics out there that think “the cure” is just around the corner, but I don’t seen it happening anytime soon. I feel that this country is too corrupt. The insurance companies and drug companies would be broke as a joke if it wasn’t for diabetes. At least someone is benefiting from this disease. Drug companies like sick people, so why would they take millions of them and cure them? They answer to that question is…THEY WOULDN’T! That would be mean less cash in there pocket and lets face it, they like there money honey!
Does this mean that I don’t support the search for the cure? Of course not. I would love to walk into my doctors office and him say drink this and you will be all better. There has been some “recent breakthroughs,” but I just don’t find them very promising. JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) started working with Islet (pronounced EYE-LITS) in 1999. They tried transplanting them into the pancreas in hope that the beta cells would start producing insulin again. At first only 1 out of 10 cases were successful, now there are 8 reported cases that have been a success. So why is this not on the market? Well you see Islets are very very fragile and they are almost impossible to isolate, making there not be enough to cure every one. JDRF reports that scientist are working around the clock trying to figure out how to make more Islets. Here are there ideas thus far: One is with stemcell research but there are political, moral and ethical views stopping that from happening, another is from animal cells but then that might mean humans will start getting animal diseases and well that would be no fun. Could you imagine coming home and saying hey mom I was cured from diabetes today but I brought home heart worms! Last would be genetic engineering of cells but scientist face complex technical difficulties…go figure, I though they were supposed to geniuses! Another big problem that scientist and researchers are facing is that the human body is rejecting the transplantation of Islets. Your body tends to fight off any foreign object that it comes in contact with and these Islets are one of them.The way I see it, a diabetics body attacks its own islets to begin with so why would anyone think that it wouldn’t attack new islets.
Here is some pretty interesting information from JDRF:
Where Do Pancreases Come From? A cadaver is the body of a person who has died. Organs are obtained from cadavers 1) with the permission of the donor before death (many people make it known they would like to be an organ donor when obtaining a driver’s license, where it is clearly marked) and his or her family, and 2) after the person is determined to have no brain function, while machines are still maintaining the vital organs. The pancreas and its islets must be taken out (“recovered”) rapidly. The time from removal of the pancreas to injection of islets into the patient with diabetes is limited, generally only 12 hours, although new advances are giving doctors more time.
2,000: Pancreases available in U.S. for islet transplants each year.
About 1 million: Islets from a healthy pancreas.
700,000: Islets needed per transplant for a 150-pound person.
At least 1: Islet transplant needed to be free from insulin.
At least 1: Pancreas needed per transplant patient.
More than 1 million: Patients with Juvenile in the U.S. alone.
With that information it doesn’t look like there will be a cure for a really long time let alone the chance to get my hands on a donated pancreas. JDRF is trying to fund these researches but the government is a tightwad, well unless it comes to bonuses they like to give out, jetting off to Hawaii, bailing out GM, or the trillions of dollars they are spending on this war. JDRF rely on support from fellow Americans. They ask kids to participate in events like Walk To Cure Diabetes, so they can raise money to pay for scientist salaries and laboratories.
So, let me know what you think. Will there be a cure in the next 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Ever? I would love to hear your opinion on this matter. Also, I challenge you to get involved with JDRF. They are in need of volunteers and donations.
Thank you for allowing my to share this info with you!
-Kimberlee