Yes or No: cured in your lifetime?

Oh and I agree with KennyB, this is not a money issue. No one manufacturer controls enough of the market to stop a cure from happening. Want to get get rich, make a cure and license the proteins. Money will flow out of your ears.

Lawrence Phillips Ed.D.

Actually HIV is an example of a condition where it was in the best interest of the pharmaceuticals to keep patients alive. A dead patient does not fill many prescriptions, but a live one can drive up the value of a medical company for years. And though they didn't find a cure for HIV I hear that the survival rate for patients in terms of years is beyond the dreams of medical professionals just 20 years ago.
The problem is that diabetics are not at an acute risk of dying, just of requiring increasing amounts of prescription drugs. So a cure would spell disaster for a number of major pharmaceuticals, possibly with the exception of the company that held the patent for the cure.

No, I do not think a cure for diabetes will be found in our lifetime.
I think the focus should be on the second best: prevention.
Find a way to identify the people who have the gene that make them susceptible to diabetes type II, so they can take measures early on to NOT facilitate diabetes (keeping their weight at a reasonable level, activity and healthy eating).
Add a very substantial health tax to those slurpies, burpies, 30 ounce cokes and super sized meals that have been the main driver behind the obesity epidemic, which is closely linked to the increase in diabetes type II.
Encourage people to use their feet for what they are meant for - not to rest on a gas pedal but to WALK.
And in particular, drag kids away from their computer in darkened bedrooms and tell them what is was like when mom or dad was young - neighbourhood baseball teams, rollerblading, skateboarding, throwing firecrackers into the neighbours barbecue and other stuff young ones today are deprived of.

You are right -- T2 is a multifactorial disease, and LOTS of work needs to be done both by scientists studying it, and people who have it. In a certain segment of the population, the genetic propensity is there, but it's far from certain what genes and what hormones and enzymes may be malfunctioning, so treatment targets may well be inappropriate. And the fact is that people CANNOT live a hunter-gatherer life when their livelihood depends on spending 8 hours a day in a cubicle, and their diet consists of what is available in the grocery store. (I'm pretty sure our meat does not resemble the meat of the aurochs, from which modern cattle were derived, and there was no chicken in Europe during those times -- chicken originated in Vietnam!). So it's a difficult problem, and I don't see a real cure for T2 coming anytime soon -- all people can do is manage it, the way you're doing, but I don't THINK you would say you're cured.

As far as T1, that's a different case altogether. Again, the cure is not imminent, because no one knows just what the trigger, or triggers are that cause the genetic propensity to manifest itself. And while Dr. Faustman is working on her idea, it's not at this point ready to be called a cure. I'm sure there are others working on it, but it will take time, because again, there is so little known about the actual workings of the immune system. The media makes discussions look authoritative, but I don't trust the media on science and medical reporting, so I remain skeptical.

I've heard it for too long, it's not likely, yet my answer is

YES

excellent comments and thoughts Natalie.

For me, I see where there are cures for certain medical misfires, liver leaking, aging pancreas but for the whole package all i see is that one manages T2 as best one can. I do not see overall cure there. The body needs a genertic reprogramming that would facilitate throwing over the side/bypassing excess glucose in gut intestine when body needs no more.

Presently, present system as I understand it absorbs/generates every possible molecule of glucose available in ingested food and throws it at the blood system with the assumption in my mind - here it is - you get rid of it. If you do not; you have the same problem all of us T2's are fighting - excess glucose in blood system and very few places to go.

Working on the pharoahs 2 ton stone projects always got rid of the stuff. Sitting in the cubicle all day will definitely make one ill for many folks.

No reply at all this time.

Honestly, no and even if there was a cure I would not want it

Why wouldn't you want a cure?

I will be a diabetic in July 57 years and I really don’t believe that a cure is in our near future. there is no insentive

A very old thread but yes, why not? I know nothing about "gene therapy" but maybe someday we can insert harmless dna sequences into our beta cells that renders them unrecognizable by our immune system. Our killer t-cells would still be floating around but would not recognize and attack our beta cells. Maybe not in our lifetimes but I can imagine this kind of cure happening just from general advances in science.

i think ill die in a few years, no cure for sure! :(

No.

Dennis,

Just go to the website Diabetes Research Institute. You will find how everyday the researchers there are working on new cure focuses. I am also 57 years out. May 10, 1955. I was transplanted at the DRI with Islet Cells and for two years did not infuse insulin with perfect blood sugars.

Ken Bernstein

Well, not in my lifetime, but it WILL come. I'm turning 65 on March 7, and hope to have another good 15 years in me, but even if there were a cure during that time, I don't think they'd offer it to old folks. But I sincerely WOULD like to live to see a cure for the children and the young adults. And even better, I would love to live to see a way to prevent diabetes from even getting a toehold to begin with. Which would extend to all autoimmune diseases -- what a blessing to get rid of them! :-)

I hate to be a pessimist, but truthfully I can't see a cure or even a vaccine in the foreseeable future. Even discounting the conspiracy theories, it seems that there has been more than enough time and money devoted to searching for a cure.

Having said that, I believe that the pharmaceutical companies are less than enthusiastic about researching a cure. They make tens of billions of dollar per year. Yet they spend peanuts per year on research of ANY kind. Firestone and Goodyear spend more money on tire research! I'm tired of being asked to donate money for research which is looking more and more futile as time passes.

I agree that yes there's to much money to be made.
But, on the other hand there are others that are here to make the world a better place.
OTHERS aren't in it for the money (like me).
I have read many articles on testing using mice. They used stem-cells and close to 75% were "cured" and the other 25% weren't "cured" but it helped b.s stay lv and they needed less insulin. So maybe in my lifetime there will be. I am 21 and have very healthy organs (eyes, liver, kidney, heart, and A1C's) so I hope to live a lil longer then usual. lol

Stem cells are half the solution.
If all we needed were working insulin producing cells, we'd all be up and running again with a pancreas transplant.

Unfortunately, our bodies would continue to attack those cells. The real issue is from our own immune systems.
This is why upon transplants of any kind, immune suppressants are used. These are a WHOLE load of fun with multitudes of new problems.

It's promising of course, but it really isn't quite there yet.

No. 1000 to 1 against.

As a type 2 who has gotten his mess under control, I must disagree here that fixing Pancreas fixes all. Maybe in type 1.

For type 2 is whistling pass the graveyard on the ole wish if we could only add enough insulin and that would fix the issue. Skeletal muscle cells have a limited storage space for glucose and beyond that one saturates them.

While insulin may be required due to aging pancreas and other hiccups, it will not solve type 2 diabetes. Please be clear what you are targeting here.