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- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -2/+277Finally my mice can lead normal, healthy lives.
- thetechkid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+138This could be REALLY great news.
- bat-21, on 10/12/2007, -3/+103"They also conclude that there are far more similarities than previously thought between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and that nerves likely play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and Crohn's disease."
That sound you're hearing is pharma execs leaping out the windows of their corner offices. - waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -1/+81As a diabetes-2 sufferer, this is amazing news and a godsend. I was diagnosed with diabetes-2 at 28 and 6 years later, I'm still adjusting to the necessary life changes.
My greatest fear is that that doctors and drug companies bury this discovery to line their pockets cause, "there ain't no money in the cure. The money's in the medicine. That's how you get paid, on the comeback. That's how a drug dealer makes his money, on the comeback." (Chris Rock)
One of the reasons I thank god for the Internet, Digg, Reddit, Google, etc. is that the information is disseminated and people are learning so the muthaf*ckers can't go back and say that it didn't happen. - PleaseJustDie, on 10/12/2007, -6/+58This will be great, until its bought out by a large pharmaceutical company who won't distribute it because its not as profitable as current diabetes treatments.
- rnelsonee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+39Well, the FDA has nothing to do with it for now. It's been cured in mice, not humans. While you may immediately think that it's an easy jump from a mouse cure to a human cure, it's not necessarily so. A partial list of things that have been 'cured' in mice:
* Heart Attack, damage reversible 1996
* Cancer, cured 1997
* Baldness, cured 1998
* Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, incubation prolonged indefinitely 1999
* Sickle Cell Disease, cured 2001
* Blindness from Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, symptoms reversed 2002
* Type 1 Diabetes, cured 2003
* Parkinson’s Disease, cured 2003
* Multiple Sclerosis, symptoms reversed 2003
* Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Disease, progression halted 2004
* Phenylketonuria (PKU), cured 2005
* Hemophilia Type B, symptoms reversed 2005
* West Nile Virus, cured 2005
* Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), cured 2005
* Diabetic Blindness, prevented 2005
(source: http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2005/10/of_mice_and_medicine.php) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31if this is true you gotta wonder of the big pharmecutical companies will try and delay/fudd it up as much as they possibly can
treating this disease is a HUUUUGE multibillion dollar industry - bitsyboffin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23@ahawks - "It's an inconvenience, not some horrible life altering disease."
Bollox. I'm T1, have been for many years. My life changed that fateful year.
My chosen career, the only job I can ever see myself actually enjoing, was lost (pilot), and similar careers I would have liked also were now out of my reach (anything from driving to air traffic control), instead I am stuck with programming because even though it's way down the list on careers I'd like, it's at the top of the list of careers I am permitted.
Spontaneouty went out the window (not so bad now with modern insulins it must be said), some of my favourite foods were now off the menu forever even if I did partake I'd pay the price.
Even some recreational activities are now legally verboten, or at least much much more difficult.
And to top it all off, I have all the lovely complications to look forward to later in my life.
Diabetes isn't the death sentance it once was, but it is still very much a life-changing condition for most sufferers in one way or another. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26God damnit, things just aren't going my way.
First i buy a PS3 to auction on Ebay. Demand dies.
Just yesterday I got 5 barrels of insulin in. - danielwsmithee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20@ahawks
You are right diabetes in a developed country is slightly larger then an inconvenience but it a third world country it is a serious issue where people do not have regular access to treatments or the education to handle the situation. It would really be an improvement if all they needed was a yearly shot. - masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19@ahawks:
It can be more than just an inconvenience. You can only hold off the full effects of diabetes for so long. Once your old, you start having to have things amputated, else they become gangrenous. Or the thing I'm most terrified of might happen -- going blind. - waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17@ahawks
Yeah, you can live with it, but wouldn't it be better to be cured of it if it's curable??? If all it took was one shot that replaced the 4 shots you take daily for the rest of your life, wouldn't that be better? - apollyon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Yes, this is the best news we've (Diabetics) have had since ... well, since forever. This is even more promising than islet cell transplants. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islet_Cell_Transplantation
Unfortunately, it will be years before the FDA approves this. It will be a long time before we see this in any humans.
I hate the pace of modern medicine. - Araya213, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19Because it's more profitable to treat a disease than it is to cure it.
- ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Yes, but realize that there's an equally large corporate conglomerate thingie on the opposite side:
health insurance providers.
I pay $100/mo or so for an individual insurance plan. (Tonik/anthem)
They pay for me the following each month:
~$100 Humalog (insulin)
~$100 Lantis (insulin)
~$130 bloodsugar test strips for a month (roughly 4-6/day at $.86/each)
So you see... insurance companies would surely rather cure me than continue to cover me on that kind of system. - 47f0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12The connection with the nervous system is intriguing, given this:
"Another woman, admitted to a hospital for diabetes, baffled her physicians by showing no symptoms of the disorder at times when one personality, who was not diabetic, was dominant."
(from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9901E3DC133BF932A15756C0A963948260 - azneggrollz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12why will it take forever to see in humans? I'm actually in the dark on this--humans aren't allowed to volunteer for this kind of thing? I have a family member with diabetes and I'd volunteer if I could promote this cause
- sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Thanks swOhio, for a minute there I was concerned you'd be mad.
- swOhio, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Even though this is a dupe of a story 13 days ago, I think that this is the one time that I'm fine with it.
Obviously some people missed it the first time and seeing as how it's such important news I think it's worth a digg again. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8A few years ago, legislation was passed to allow anything about diabetes cure be put on a "fast track". It won't take years for FDA approval, the thing that will take time is the clinical testing.
http://www.biomarkers.org/pdf/FDA_Globe_June_4_2003.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/oashi/fast.html - TheoDork, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12http://www.digg.com/health/Cure_for_Diabetes
This exact same article was posted the day it actually came out AND made the front page with 2400+ diggs, way to go guys. - Toast1185, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8how come mice get all of the cool useful cures :'(
- thebusdriver, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Yes, this story is a little late. A similar one made front page a couple weeks back.
- humanseemer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'm digging this because, even though it's a week old, more people need to see it. The ugly truth of the matter is, while this has the potential to make a large number of people very happy and healthy, it destroys an entire industry, which a very few, very rich men will be very unhappy about.
People need to remember to stand up for themselves and their friends/ family. Don't let this get swept under the rug. - Klisk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Probably in 200 years.
- LexisNexis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10It was a joke, I thought it was funny...
- KyleGoetz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@waynechng: Don't forget that the FDA is full of scientists who have family members dying of these diseases that have cures you accuse the FDA of locking up. You need only look as far as Congress to see the error of your ways: politicians didn't have much to say about protecting fair use until they started getting iPods. A number of Congressmen have come out recently complaining about how the DVDs they own cannot be put on their iPods, and how they have difficulty with format- and time-shifting.
The FDA may be lobbied consistently, but seriously, what douchebag would throw away a cure for a disease their mother will eventually go blind from (e.g. diabetes). Answer: not 100% of the FDA. In any case, even if the FDA blocked the progress of this treatment, the doctors themselves would work for the acceptance of the treatment in countries outside the US. I mean, a cure for diabetes is Nobel-prize level work. There aren't many scientists who would give up on a Nobel prize because of a US bureaucracy. - sporkmonger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Except that the "drug" in this case is capsaicin. Otherwise know as "the stuff in hot peppers."
- Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Yes, but this treatment isn't for pancreases with destroyed cells, but rather ones that are malfunctioning. If I burned out your corneas with lasers no amount of marijuana would help your cataracts.
- poxonyou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I have had type 1 diabetes since I was 7 month'ss old. I'm 27 now. I'm rather fanatical about keeping my blood sugar in control, have had my a1Cs in the non-diabetic range (5-6%) my entire life, yet I still see signs that diabetes has affected me. It takes longer for a wound to heal, I get skin funguses easily, my feet don't seem particularly healthy as they should be for someone my age, etc. I am absolutely TERRIFIED of experiencing the dangerous long-term complications. I do not want to lose my feet. I do not want to go blind.
Diabetes does affect your daily life and options. It's harder to do risky things, take certain jobs. I don't drink for fear my blood sugar will drop overnight and I'll do into a coma. You know how socially awkward it is to be the only guy at a party, club, who never drinks? I try to not let it bother me, but it comes up constantly. I'mtrying to get ready for a job I got in Japan, and it so difficult trying to figure out how I can get my supplies there, how much I can bring, how I will get them there, etc. No one can give me a straight answer. Stuff like this is why it would be nice to have a cure.
I really hope this cure or something actually works out within the next few years. I've been hearing about a cure being just a few years away for my entire life though. If pharmas somehow squash this or any true cure because it is not profitable, well, there's millions of us, maybe we can do something together, haha. - eonblue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"This could be REALLY great news. "
Unless youre a drug company who happens to sell insulin. - Lesh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yep this was dugg up before a couple weeks back; made the front page. Still great news to, of course, diabetics, but also to those who suffer from similiar but lesser-known auto-immune deficiencies.
- fjvwing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't think the FDA is going to be the hold-up, really. The pain medication has been cleared by the FDA so it can be used on humans in all kinds of capacities, so called off-label use. I just don't think many docs would take that risk to use it off-label this way until they know a) precisely how b) how well it actually works c) find a way to work around the potantial liability issue. The FDA doesn't need to be a problem, my bet is an enterprising internist could try this now on humans, but waiting for the FDA is the most prudent course of action.
But I bet you will hear soon about medi-flights for diabetcis to Bangkok and New Delhi for the treatment ahead of FDA approval -- and the smart insurance companies will probably start paying for them as soon as a substantial amount of people have come back cured. Getting diabetes nipped in the bud is going to save them tons of costs over having tof ork over money to manage this chronic disease. - thebusdriver, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5They were both about the scientists in Toronto at least, I remember that much.
Check it: http://digg.com/health/Cure_for_Diabetes
They even link to same article. - Wolfboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@ahawks
I'm glad that you adjusted. I get the impression you were diagnosed young. It's not as hard for children to build the lifelong habits needed to cope with diabetes.
I had a friend with type 1 who was diagnosed as a young adult. He was in the Navy, stationed on a submarine at the time. He passed out, nearly died. It ended his Navy career.
He got a new start, went to college, started a new career -- and was successful. But he always remained angry at the world. This anger perhaps fueled his success, but he didn't take proper care of himself. He never fully adjusted.
Finally one night he went to bed after playing poker with this friends and roommate, and he didn't wake up. He was 30. - Dpack1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Again we're seeing a case of Americans forgetting the rest of the world... So what if the FDA dont approve it, they're not the governing body of the rest of the world... and considering this was discovered in Canada you could almost be sure this reaching the public within the next 5 years. Along with any other NHS funded country. Sure it might be profitable in America to keep people sick but when your health care comes out of taxes you pay just as much as everyone else. This means that we'd jump at cures because that would mean money could go toward more things (like staff payrises and better facilities) rather then soley on drugs that keep sick people alive for longer without curing them.
/rant
EDIT: ipop just beat me to it. - ahawks, on 10/12/2007, -6/+10Reply button?
O RLY? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4interpaul, that guy is a nut case!
http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2005/07/29/trudeau/index.html - captinherb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@azneggrollz
So things like the elephant man don't happen
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/03/15/uk.clinical/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGN1412 - Initri, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Well, I'm sure you all realize that if this is true.. it will be squashed by the large pharmaceutical companies. Do you know how much money they make on diabetes treatments every day/week/year ? It's not in their best interests for an overnight 'cure' to come to the market, at any price. Suddenly, this will go away and be proven ineffective and no one will ever hear of it again!
- ornitier, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Islet inflammation is the reason why beta cells are destroyed. Here they're saying that they've shown that the TRPV1 receptor is important in the control of this autoimmune reaction. Your experiment involving the destruction of beta cells using alloxan does not fully mimick the in vivo situation for diabetes type 1 sufferers.
- poxonyou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3mugenkeiji: see the post below about people getting the 2 types mixed up. I wish they had completely different names. Do you think I was chowing down twinkies and french fries when I was an infant? I don't do it now either or I'd have poor control and more complications.
- JamesSaveker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is not just good news for people with diabetes. I have Crohn's and after reading the article it seems there may be some hope for us too.
- poxonyou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That's why we need human cloning. Just clone a copy of myself with diabetes also, alter his brain so he doesn't know anything (so he won't be bothered by so many tests), and test stuff out on him.
- VeronicaFox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just something to keep in mind:
1) This study did not CURE mice. It PREVENTED stress in insulin-producing cells in a PRE-DIABETIC mouse (i.e. the mouse did not have diabetes). Furthermore this is a genetically altered mouse model for type 1 diabetes (also called the NOD mice for non-obese diabetic mouse). These mice are already screwed up and do not mimic type 2 diabetes at all. They are a research MODEL for type 1 diabetes.
2) This is media hype and it was done as well when another mouse, an obese type 2 diabetic mouse model, the OB/OB mouse, was "cured" from fatness when it was discovered this mouse was lacking the fat hormone, leptin. Everyone thought that if obese people injected themselves with leptin, they wouldn't be fat anymore. That was wrong too and the leptin story wasn't so ground-breaking anymore.
3) Mice are extremely different from humans. Furthermore, genetically altered mice, like the ones used in this study, are very different from normal mice as well. Making this finding extremely far removed from humans.
Great scientific findings happen frequently in the diabetes field (I have been personally involved in this research), so this information in itself should give some hope to those of you who deal with this devastating disease on a daily basis.
But it is just really annoying when research stories like this come out and say scientists have CURED diabetes just to get some pharmaceutical money because the media knows that most people (including the journalists themselves) don't understand what the researchers really looked at in this study. And the researchers don't explain the research properly, giving an inaccurate story and exaggerated findings.
While the findings of this study were very interesting, the way this story was written gives false hope to these same people who just want to have a normal life.
Here's the real story: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17174891&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum - qamelian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@ahawks:
You may not consider it a big deal but for some of us it is. Maybe you're not going blind because of related retinal damage. Maybe you're lucky enough not to suffer the never damage that often accompanies diabetes. You obviously haven't had to lose a finger or toe or other body part due to gangrene. None of these are as common as they used to be, but they are still problems that many diabetics cope with every day. Yes, even those who religiously take their meds etc. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones. Some of us aren't. - PDave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3As a scientist myself, I'm a bit skeptical until I read it in a journal, rather than a news article. Anyone seen a JOURNAL link?
Everyone remember the supposed cloned baby a few years back? Uhh, yeah.... - ScottZed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@PDave
http://www.cell.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0092867406014656
It's a Cell paper, so prepare to be hit with a withering avalanche of data. ;) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@teddtech: depends on the country you're in really. The value of life isn't a standard in the Third World, it really varies globally. I'm not advocating drug testing on Third World folks, but they've tested AIDS drugs on Africans for decades now.
- rnelsonee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I know that pharmaceutical companies make more money off of continuing treatment rather than one-time cures, but to suggest that the FDA is holding the cure for cancer in the dark because some lobbyist pays off a congressman is truly foolish. No one's going to hold back the cure for cancer, or heart disease, or Alzheimer’s so he can buy a new house. And plenty of those diseases (blindness, SARS) don't even have treatments, so there's no continual-treatment options available - the pharms would only stand to gain from cures. Same with male pattern baldness - sure people pay money for Propecia, but they'd pay a lot more money for a treatment that actually works.
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