Slashdot Mirror
Near-Complete Cure For Diabetes In Two Years?
resistant writes "Researchers at a Toronto hospital have stumbled upon a dramatic treatment for mouse diabetes, with large implications for the treatment of diabetes in humans. From the article: 'The islet inflammation cleared up and the diabetes was gone. Some have remained in that state for as long as four months, with just one injection... They also discovered that their treatments curbed the insulin resistance that is the hallmark of Type 2 diabetes, and that insulin resistance is a major factor in Type 1 diabetes, suggesting the two illnesses are quite similar.'"
Update: 12/17 03:46 GMT by KD : resistant adds that the Cell Journal article is posted as a PDF as well as in plain text.
Update: 12/17 03:46 GMT by KD : resistant adds that the Cell Journal article is posted as a PDF as well as in plain text.
Why? They share most of the same body parts, organs and systems. Everything works the same way as it does in us. We're only a few ticks away on the genetic map. I'd be more surprised if they didn't work like us.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
ok, ok, i'll do the work for you...
P IIS0092867406014656
http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=
the link to the PDF for the entire article is to the right of the page
You mean like the PETA VP, Mary Beth Sweetland, who is a type A diabetic and rationalized "I don't see myself as a hypocrite; I need my life to fight for the rights of animals."
This isn't a press release about some research conducted over the weekend. If you read the article (I know it is /. tradition to never RTFA), you will see they are talking about their publication in the journal Cell, which is a pretty respected medical journal. The article was written in May, and only published a few days ago. It has been peer reviewed, and your characterization that it is just a scam for fame and fortune is a sad insight into the state of drive-by criticism so prevalent on the internet these days.
To purchase it is not like spending money but rather it is an investment in the future in a blow against the empire
Mice don't like cheese.
They are similar in name because of the symptoms, not because of the underlying cause.
Type 1 Diabetes is caused when the immune system attacks the islet cells in the pancreas. The islet cells are what produce insulin and when they shut down from the attack, your blood sugar levels rise. (Slowly at first, but at more islet cells are killed/incapacitated your glucose levels go steadily higher.) This can lead to circulation problems, blindness, and death among other things if not controled by injections of insulin.
In Type 2 Diabetics, insulin is still produced, but the body is resistant to it for some reason. (possibly from a person eating too many carbohydrates over a long period of time or because of genetic reasons.) In a lot of cases this can be treated with a diet low in carbohydrates along with regular exercise. Other drugs may be needed in some cases where diet and exercise are not enough. Some doctors suggest a healthy balance of protein along with any carbs you eat.
Some women can have "Type 3" Diabetes when they are pregnant. I don't have much information on this, but from what I understand it tends to clear up after childbirth in most cases.
A person can also become diabetic from pancreatic cancer. (But in this case the diabetes is pretty much the least of their worries...)
You can learn more about the various types of diabetes at http://www.diabetes.org/
RTFA - part of the big point here is that their research shows that this type of treatment cures BOTH types, indicating that contrary to what is believed, BOTH types have a similar cause, not just similar symptoms.
To purchase it is not like spending money but rather it is an investment in the future in a blow against the empire
I encourage you to read the primary literature of the study: http://www.cell.com/content/article/fulltext?uid=P IIS0092867406014656&highlight=salter
Then your opinion may or may not change, or may or may not have any credibility left. As a trained scientist, I think this is a very remarkable study, far more promising then the stop-gap measures we currently have for diabetes treatment. Let's not make opinions based on headlines.
Again with the conspiracy theories. Take off the damn tin foil. This is already a FDA approved treatment. Just this particular medical application is off-label. And the FDA isn't going to have much say in whether this is approved in Canada where the research is being done.
To purchase it is not like spending money but rather it is an investment in the future in a blow against the empire
Honestly, I do understand your complaint. A paper gets published by a grad student, or some joker who can't even get their PhD and is squeaking out a master's degree shows up at a poster session with a pile of photocopied papers and some newspaper reporter wandering through turns it into a wire story that goes across the headlines of the global news industry. It's not terribly uncommon, but the problem is not with the scientists or the way scientific research works, it's in how the mainstream media reports on it. It's hard to get published in the big name journals like Cell, so it's likely this has gone past a sharp eyed committee of experts in the field. It may well be preliminary, but if so, that's made clear in the source paper. By the time it hits Slashdot it has passed through a game of telephone and has become a miracle cure.
But don't say they reported prematurely. They published their results, which is not only their job, it's their duty as ethical researchers.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Weight gain and loss isn't really mediated by insulin. Although insulin acts as a growth factor during prenatal development, it is generally thought that growth later in life is mediated by levels of growth hormone. This is why babies born to mothers who were uncontrolled diabetics during pregnancy tend to be large for gestational age. However, after birth, insulin doesn't seem to play a large role in growth.
What you're thinking of is type 2 diabetes, which is probably *caused* by excess weight leading to insulin resistance. Unlike type I diabetics (who are insulin deficient), type II diabetes have normal insulin levels but don't respond to insulin*. This treatment restores production of insulin in type I, but probably won't have an effect on type II, which sadly makes up 90% of all diabetic cases.
Still, the discovery could improve the lives of thousands of type I diabetics, if it translates into humans.
*It's a little more complicated than that. They later lose insulin secretion ability late in the disease for some reason, but insulin resistance is usually considered the primary event.
If you think that the paramedics & EMTs who come when you dial 9-1-1 should be able to break down the door, go find out what the law is in your area. In some states, I suspect they can break down doors. If your state doesn't let them, write to your legislators and governor asking for them to be granted that power.
Umm, I'm not sure if that was a joke or not, but mice share so many of the ailments that we do because we give them to 'em.
Hundreds of substances have already been demonstrated to cure mice of obesity, diabetes, or hypertension. They have all been published in prestigious journals as well. A few years ago, leptin was thought to be a wonder drug that would cure obesity in humans, because leptin caused mice to lose weight permanently.
Of course, human metabolism has turned out to be far more complicated than mice. The only value of mice tests is to
1. make sure it probably won't kill humans.
2. demonstrate an effect, and claim that the same will happen in humans
a) even though the same effect may not happen in humans
b) even though any number of drugs may have no effect on mice, but have an effect on humans
c) get venture capitalist funding
d) become the laughingstock of the science community a year later