What’s new in the world of diabetes? We’ve rounded up the news for you…
The BBC reported that a pioneering therapy is safe for type 1 diabetics. The therapy retrains the immune system, and it was tested on 27 people in the UK. It showed signs of slowing the disease. Like many of these kinds of treatments, though, it only works on people who have been diagnosed recently – it’s unlikely to help those who’ve had the condition for years.
Another BBC report focused on the rise of Type 2 diabetes in children. More than 600 children and teenagers in England and Wales are being treated for the condition. A report from child health experts found 110 more cases among the under-19s in 2015-16 than two years before. Local councils have warned this is a “hugely disturbing trend” – and that urgent action to tackle childhood obesity is needed.
Bedfordshire News reported on a new approach to type 2 diabetes treatment the University of Bedfordshire and the local branch of Diabetes UK is trying out. The university is hosting weekly exercise sessions so people can take advantage of regular exercise sessions and support to help them make changes to their lifestyle. One 70-year-old told the newspaper the clinic had made a huge difference to his strength and energy levels.
How do you feel about your diabetes? Amy Mercer thought she’d come to terms with her condition a long time ago, but a chakra reading revealed pent-up anger and frustration. Amy wrote an interesting post on what she learned from the reading on Diabetes Self-Management.
Finally, it’s not a week if there isn’t at least one article purporting a ‘cure’ for diabetes… Clinical trials have begun for ViaCyte’s PEC-Direct – an implant that grows insulin-producing cells from stem cells, according to futurism.com. ViaCyte’s president, Paul Laikind, said he thought the PEC-Direct product had the potential to transform the lives of people with type 1 diabetes.
Diabetes Diet 
I think ViaCyte’s PEC-Direct might indeed have a dramatic impact on diabetes, but there are many stages to get there. I wonder if the impact may ultimately be different than we imagine today. I suggest that given a few years this might be combined with a dozen other approaches to make a meaningful impact. Time will tell.
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Good point, Rick. People might work with lots of approaches to treat the condition. Will we be around to see it?!
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I’m always leery of claims that Type 2 “wasn’t found” in children in the past. What they actually mean is “wasn’t DIAGNOSED” – I know enough people with MODY and similar genetic/familial forms. I was simply never given the right tests. A friend with a similar syndrome was not diagnosed diabetic until AFTER her first heart attack, and subsequently discovered she had failed a GTT as a child but was never told (she even recalled being put on a low carb diet for a while, but neither she nor her parents were told why, or that it was anything other than temporary)
If anything I’m even more leery about “cures” for Type 1, thanks to some of the oldies who have been reading that a cure was only five years away for decades.
Meanwhile
http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/type_2_diabetes_market_set_to_soar,_says_globaldata_1202514
add in the 300% increase in insulin prices and my cynicism and sarcasm seems curiously justified
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Me too, Chris – re the ‘cures’! Rick has been doing a great job of raising awareness of the price rises in insulin and how this impacts our American cousins.
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