New treatments for type 1 diabetes

Have you noticed how much diversity the omniscient Internet gives out for the query “treatment of type 1 diabetes”? There are some magic pills in beautiful packages, and miraculous procedures like herbal and acupressure massages, and so on and so forth. How effective are all these tools? Or maybe it’s worth fighting radically – with a scalpel?

Medical treatment of type 1 diabetes

When we go to the doctor with some complaint, what do we expect from him? Firstly, a correct diagnosis, and secondly, a list of medicines with which we will be saved. But this is not the case with diabetes. Billions of medicines produced from thousands of factories around the world do not cure type 1 diabetes. Alas.

But how are people treated with a diagnosis? These are not drugs as we imagine them to be. These are insulin injections, and insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It is due to the fact that your own body stops producing insulin, a person develops diabetes mellitus.

“Since 1922, when Canadian scientists Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated the pancreatic hormone insulin, diabetes has ceased to be a deadly disease,” says endocrinologist, nutritionist, Ph.D. Ekaterina Ivannikova. – The discovery of insulin is considered one of the greatest achievements of the scientific world of the twentieth century, for which Frederick Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize.

So forget about the drug treatment of type 1 diabetes.

Treatment of type 1 diabetes with surgery

As we already know, DM1 develops due to the fact that the pancreas stops producing insulin, which is needed to transport glucose into cells (as a result, blood sugar is constantly elevated). So maybe, since the matter is in one organ, just take it and replace it?

There have been and are attempts. Thus, the first transplantation of a part of the pancreas was carried out in the United States in 1966.

– It is believed that life expectancy in the presence of uncontrolled diabetes is one third shorter than in non-diabetics of the same age. This is due, first of all, to the reason that led to the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus: a violation of the immune system against the background of a genetic predisposition. The level of antibodies that destroy pancreatic cells rises, and as a result, insulin synthesis stops,” says our expert. “Since the 60s, numerous attempts have been made to transplant an entire gland, its segment or islet cells, as well as various options for simultaneous transplantation with a kidney. However, the transportation of an organ, like the transplant itself, has a number of technical difficulties. Do not forget about the pathological work of the immune system as the main cause of type 1 diabetes, which continues to negatively affect the transplant now. Most patients after surgery will have a very difficult period of rehabilitation, and therefore this type of treatment is not widely used.

Insulin therapy – and only?

Medicine does not stand still. So maybe there are new alternative ways to defeat the disease?

“For more than 20 years, research centers have been actively working to address the issue of the possibility of reducing the aggression of antibodies against the body’s own tissues, as well as the transformation of antibodies into cells that can protect against the progression of the underlying disease,” says Dr. Ivannikova. — Of course, all practicing endocrinologists and their patients are looking forward to positive research results. But until new discoveries are made, adherence to a type 1 diabetes treatment plan should be a top priority.

So how do you treat type 1 diabetes? To date, the only effective treatment for type 1 diabetes is insulin therapy.

“Thanks to insulin, people with type 1 diabetes practically do not differ from healthy people: they study, work, create families, like everyone else,” notes Ekaterina Vladimirovna. In 1948, Eliot Joslin created the medal, which was given to people who had lived with diabetes for 25 years or more in recognition of their achievements in the fight against the disease. At that time there were no insulin pumps, a large number of test strips, despite this number of such people grew rapidly, and in 1970 it was decided to award a medal to those who had lived with diabetes for more than 50 years. The front side depicts a man with a torch and the inscription: “The triumph of man and medicine”, on the back – “For 50 courageous years with diabetes.” Since 1970, more than 50 people worldwide have been awarded medals for living with diabetes. And in 4000, a new nomination was established – a medal for 1996 years of living with diabetes. This indicates the importance of monitoring the presence of complications and regular monitoring by an endocrinologist.

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