Type 1 Diabetes might have a cure in 20-30 years

12 January, 2012

While talking to merinews.com, a Diabetologist said that Type 1 diabetes, which young people contract, might not have a definite cure as indicated by the latest research. However, he said that in 20-30 years it might just happen.

TYPE ONE diabetes that occurs due to a certain gene arrangement and many other unknown factors may have a cure, as per the team of research at the University of Illinois. Although the actual cure may take years but according to this study, scientists are claiming that they have found a way to ‘kick-start’ pancreas so that daily doses of insulin are not required. They used stem cells found in the umbilical cord and introduced them to a diabetic’s immune "T-cells" and neutralize mutant or damaged cells in the pancreas. They saw that this step reduced 38 percent insulin use in just 12 weeks. While talking to merinews.com, Diabetologist Rajat Gupta, DM Endocrinology stated, “If such a cure is coming then it would take 20-30 years to actually kick in the market. For now Type 1 diabetes actually has no cure as a number of unknown factors are the some of the major reasons for the occurrence of the disease.”

When asked as to how Indian research centres are geared up for the fight against diabetes, he said “for the next 30 years, one cannot see any hope by way of a major breakthrough. The primary reason being that there are limited number of patients for Type 1 diabetes. Some have pancreas, kidney transplant but this is not a regular practise in India.” On the other hand he also added “Type 2 diabetes is more prevalent in India, with 90 percent people suffering from the ailment and since this is a lifestyle.merinews.com" id="highlight">lifestyle problem, hence one needs to take care of eating habits from an early age.

Experts have named India as the Diabetic Capital of the world. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) is of the view that India will face a great deal of trouble due to diabetes, which will take on epidemic proportions by 2030. Rajat Gupta said that these days he is seeing patients who are as young as 30 and suffering from Type 2 diabetes. Thus, people need to take care and be aware of their lifestyle choices. As it is well known prevention is better than cure, hence obese people should be aware that they are at high risk of getting the disease.