Diabetes has been long handled through pills and insulin therapies. Hence, a team conducted a gene transfer in mice and was surprised to see that the procedure cured diabetes with no side effects at all.
According to Belmarra Health, a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio discovered the treatment for type 1 diabetes. The treatment was said to deal with focusing on the pancreatic cells. The treatment for the type 1 diabetes was stated to have side effects and could be a potential cure for type 2 diabetes as well.
With that said, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes was described to be both caused by insulin deficiency. Both is also identified to have similar symptoms like the age of onset, weight loss, and a thin appearance. The treatment was done through gene transfer, which made other digestive cells and other cell types to create insulin as soon as it is injected into the pancreas.
Dr. Doiron, assistant professor of medicine at UT Health then stated that the treatment worked in mice models completely. The process also didn’t make the mice have any side effects and regulated their blood sugar levels successfully. Nonetheless, the procedure was still done to mice and further experiments would still need caution.
Meanwhile, The Conversation debunked some myths that are circling diabetes recently. The first myth was said to be that diabetes only occurs in the pancreas. It was then cleared out that the disease is not merely for the pancreas since it also affects some of the person’s mental abilities.
Mental abilities affected by diabetes were identified to be weighing food choices. In which, diabetic stress, depression and difficulty to recall memories could occur. Another debunked myth was said to be the link between type 2 diabetes and obesity. It is explained by a Public Health England report that obese people are five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. However, further studies are still needed.
Furthermore, type 1 diabetes isn’t associated with obesity unlike type 2. The last myth was given to be that insulin is needed to be injected regularly. Thus, insulin pumps are introduced to reduce the social stigma of injecting in public. Lifestyle changes and metformin pills were also advised to be capable of handling early type 2 diabetes signs.
