Yes or No: cured in your lifetime?

No :/

My read and reports I have seen are most suggestive that most resources are being spent on T1 as Natalie_C suggests. My read is that insufficient resources are being on T2. In fact I was led to believe that of the 166 mil collected by the ADA one year only 4 % was being spent on research and little on possible cures!

T2 is not given its full respect for its multi-organ complexity and the research required to delve into why T2 is such a nasty problem.

From what I have seen they ignore the existing type 1’s in favor of seeking a cure. They haul in a lot of bucks for their research via both government and private donations yet if the CGM is mentioned they treat it as some strange thing that does not work. I don’t think they are any closer to finding a cure than they were a half a century ago!

No,I do not believe it will be cured in my lifetime. Being 60 and diagnosed with MODY in 2008, there is very little research and complicated because there are about 8 types of MODY with the only certain diagnosis through genetic testing which is expensive and not covered by insurance. Despite that my endo treats me as a MODY and uses meds that work which have. Unfortunately,sulfa drugs also have a negative effect on beta cells....
I think with all the medical conditions out there due to many reasons, environmental, chemical, etc. they will only get worse with GMO's rampant. We have climate issues, overpopulation and natural disasters occurring more often than not. I am not being a fatalist but a "realist." The general public is clueless about diabetes and spends a lot of time "blaming the victim."
The best I can hope for at my age is to continue my healthy eating habits (low-carb) and exercise program. As long as I can move, I am good! I test often and have been very creative in my meal preparation using spices and herbs and working on a low-carb cookbook. I don't adhere to any one specific diet such as raw, vegan, vegetarian, I do them all! Eat with the season and I do stick to 60 carbs per day. Not perfect but do the best I can and I think that we can't wait for a cure, we have to find out what works best for us and then just do it! For younger people there will most likely be progress by the time you reach 60 and I hope a cure...Now off for a morning run, its 31, blowing and light snow but I always feel better when I do it.

Yes, I think that there will be a cure. Not only because I am an optimist, but mostly because the cost is too high to many EU governments that cover the full medical costs for people with T1 (Finland & the UK for example). I think Finnish research is important for all T1's to watch, as Finland has the highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in the world, where almost 41 people are diagnosed each year per 100,000 people(Diamond Project Group 2006), they have the biggest stake in finding a cure. Check out theses links: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2551660/ & http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131022091721.htm and anyone please friend me if they want to get in touch.

Sorry to say No. Too much $$$$.

Stuart,

Do you think diabetes researchers working 18 hour days, progressing faster in the 2000"s than in the last 60 years are doing fun science? I don't think so. Also one of the largest contributors to diabetes research is Eli Lilly maker of insulin.

The Diabetes Research Institue spends in excess of $25 million each year to research just type 1 diabetes. They have successfully reversed type 1 in many patients some of who are still off insulin. I should know as I was one of them. I have been a type 1 since 1955 and in 2000 was transplanted and enjoyed two years of no insulin. Unfortunately I had to go off the drugs and lost my cells. Many of my fellow transplant friends are still on little or no insulin. The researchers are trying with every ounce of energy to cure diabetes. It is foolish to think that the pharm.'s will halt research because of the money they would lose. When polio was cured the farma's went out of polio care and into other medical care.

I hope one day you will be cured from this awful disease. I am still working with the DRI towards that goal.

Ken Bernstein

Thank you kennyB for sharing your experiences. I as a 30 year type 2 feel confident that the extensive work and research on Type 1 will result in success.

I do not share that confidence on type 2 as there remains much work and research needed but I do not see at this time sufficient dollars and focus on this multi-organ complex problem that would result in better success.

Nope...I feel there is too much money in the medicine. If we were cured it would take away a lot of jobs.

HOWEVER, I feel technology and treatment will make it to the point where it will be like we don't even have it. Which is completely fine with me.

No medical company is going to put itself out of business by curing diabetes. They'll just develop ever more expensive devices for managing the disease. It has been a fantasy of mine to develop an affordable "artificial pancreas" system. All the technology exists. The legal liability of selling such a system, makes in not practical from a business standpoint. I've even thought of trying to develop an "open source" system that would have no legal liability for its designers, but I don't know how you could manufacture and distribute such products without any legal liability. A project of that scale is beyond my capabilities. I don't have the financial resources or expertise to make it happen. The only people who have those kinds of resources, are the ones who will do everything in their power to see that it doesn't happen.

Stem cell research seems promising to me. I believe that has the potential to lead to an actual cure; new beta cells. It makes me really mad when the religious right uses their influence to manipulate our political system and limit the stem cell lines available. Ignorance at its best.

I've gotten really pessimistic being fed a lot of false hope for the past 20 years, and I'm tired of me and my family throwing money into the American Diabetes Association black-hole.

I try not to think about it too much, or I start getting really really negative.

Can't remember who said it first: "Diabetes is not a disease, it's an industry."

Are you on Immuno-suppressant drugs for your new pancreas? I would not call that "cured". You've just traded one set of problems for another.

NO! We spend too much money on the "tools" they sell us to stay alive. It's the perfect cash cow scenario.

That's crazy Look this up.

http://www.diabetesresearch.org

They are focused on the cure for type 1.

Remember after polio was cured the drug companies moved on to other diseases.

Thanks for telling me my opinion is crazy, support forum remember.

I didn't mean to insult you. I'm sorry if I did. You see I touched the cure with an Islet Cell transplant as I donated my body to seek a cure for all of us. I was insulin independent for over two years. I personally know how hard the researcher are working on curing type 1 diabetes. I work with them to this day and see how dedicated they are to find a cure. They also work with drug companies who profit from diabetes and I can assure you there is no conspiracy from the drug companies to prevent a cure for type 1 diabetes. Unfortunately I lost my islets when I Had pneumonia.

Ken

Actually, it's the poor T2's who will never see a cure in their lifetime. T1 is metabolically simple compared with T2, and as KennyB said, there is a lot of effort going into curing T1, and while I don't expect to see it in MY lifetime (I'm 66 this Friday), I fully expect it to come within the next 25 years or so. Which is WELL within the lifetime of many on this list.

T2, on the other hand, is composed of SO many disorders that all pile on top of each other, that the scientists haven't even discovered all that is going wrong with them. It's NOT just weight, and some scientists are questioning whether it's the propensity to develop T2 that is causing the excess weight in the presence of abundant food (starve people, and they won't develop T2). So in addition to enduring a lot of blame and stigma, people with T2 don't have a lot of sunshine on the horizon -- all they have are drug after drug, many of which get pulled from the market because they cause other diseases.

So the answer to the question is yes for T1s and no for T2s.

Apology absolutely accepted, I don't believe in a conspiracy theory, but I do know cures take money. There is only so much to go around. So where do you spend the money and where do you make it? Doesn't mean those working on a cure aren't dedicated, it's a matter of priority. This is my opinion based on much research not just an assumption.
Ken, Thank you so much for for your response.
Dawn

The Diabetes Research Institute is funded by private donations and by some very successful labor unions. You need to know that there are some very wealthy people who have kids with type 1 and they want the cure. That's where the millions of dollars have come form to find the cure. There is over $20 million per year spent at the DRI just to find the cure. Have hope as it will come.

Kenny B

Actually, the frantic research in T2 is good to see. Not only have genetic markers been identified but one was published this week that actually codes a protein that seems to protect people who would otherwise be T2. Ther research into metabolic pathway is also interesting. Unlocking the key to insulin resistance would be huge.

Similar pile of issues in T1. Need to find a way to modulate the autoimmune response. Most science breakthroughs are preceded by an accumulation of data and observations that do not fit previous models. I think we are in that phase now.

If we could figure out either a better treatment or a cure, we would find a way to make money from it - feel sad for the conspiracy theorists. There used to be a lot of money in Polaroid and Kodak film, then there was a lot of money in digital cameras until cell phones added that capability...