A Possible Cure for Diabetes – The Latest Research Breakthrough

A cure for diabetes has long been the holy grail of diabetic research and it appears as though the goal of actually reversing diabetes may now be possible. Past research has focused on the immune system, but new diabetes research information points to the nervous system in the development of this disease. Thus there are exciting new possibilities for the treatment of diabetes.

There are two forms of diabetes, type 1 in which the islet cells of the pancreas stop making insulin and the insulin has to be supplied daily by injection. In type 2 there is a loss of insulin sensitivity requiring a lower glycemic diet, and various forms of medication including insulin shots to manage blood sugar levels.

It has long been thought that the immune system attacked the islet cells in the pancreas, and damaged them to the point where they no longer produced insulin. It was thought that there was no way of reversing diabetes. Recent research at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada has produced an experimental method that has reversed type 1 diabetes in mice and could result in a cure for diabetes in humans.

The scientists were experimenting on mice that were specifically bred to have type 1 diabetes. They began to investigate the function and role of sensory nerves in the pancreas and their effect on the insulin producing islet cells. What they found was that the nerves produced too much of a neurochemical called substance-p which causes inflammatory around the islet cells damaging them and preventing them from producing insulin.

They used a technique, which involved injecting an anti-inflammatory extract of chili peppers called capsaicin into the nerves, which reduced the level of substance-p. The result was a normalizing of islet cell function and the complete elimination of diabetes in the mice in a 24-hour period.

While much research and testing remains to be done, this technique could lead to a cure for diabetes in humans, or at the very least revolutionize the treatment of diabetes greatly increasing the quality of life for those who suffer from it.