Chances are good there is someone in your life that has diabetes. Maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s a relative, maybe it’s you. Diabetes is a widespread issue in this country – 2 million adults over the age of 20 and 250,000 children under the age of 20 in the United States have type 1 diabetes.
If that isn’t cause for concern, maybe this is: These numbers are expected to continue to grow at the current rate of 2.9% per year.
Most type 1 diabetes cases begin in childhood or young adulthood and as of now, there is no cure for this condition. However, recent hope has been found in trials of a diabetes drug that may be able to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
It’s called teplizumab and it was just FDA-approved.
What Causes Type 1 Diabetes?
A definite cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown. It is thought that this condition may be a result of genetics and/or exposure to viruses.
Type 1 diabetes means that the body’s islet cells are destroyed, which translates to the pancreas’ inability to do its job of producing sufficient insulin. Those with this condition either have little or no insulin, which throws off blood sugar entirely, making type 1 diabetes a life-threatening condition.
To avoid these concerns, people with type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin shots with their meals to keep their blood sugar levels from getting too high.
Hope for Type 1 Diabetes
Though there is no cure for diabetes, a new drug called teplizumab has recently been approved for people over the age of eight who have the antibodies that begin the body’s attack on the pancreas cells.
This drug is not for those who have already fully developed type 1 diabetes, but rather for those who are displaying signs that diabetes is in their future.
Teplizumab has been shown in trials to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes by reducing the activity of the immune cells responsible for killing the pancreatic cells that make insulin.
In other words, receiving daily teplizumab infusions for a two-week period has resulted in the slowing down of the T-cells that cause the pancreatic issues that lead to type 1 diabetes.
The 76-person trial revealed that among those who developed type 1 diabetes, teplizumab delayed the onset of the condition by three years.
Those chosen for the trial were children and young adults with the antibodies as well as a family member currently with type 1 diabetes. This means that their body’s attack on the pancreas had already begun, and the drug was dosed in an attempt to prolong the development of diabetes.
This is a big step in the right direction for type 1 diabetes and also opens up the doors for the potential of introducing other drugs that may have an effect on the immune system and further delay the onset of diabetes.
Even more common than type 1 diabetes is type 2 diabetes. While type 1 diabetes is often genetic, type 2 diabetes is typically related to lifestyle, which means there is an opportunity for change. Read more about the latest breakthroughs in Tony Robbins’ book, Life Force.
