Posted on 08/26/2008 2:00:46 PM PDT by Dysart
A Dallas-based researcher says he’s pulled off a medical first: successfully treating mice and rats dying of insulin-dependent diabetes without using insulin.
Dr. Roger Unger, chair of diabetes research at UT Southwestern Medical School, is quick to warn that practical applications, if any, are years away. But the research team he headed used high levels of leptin, a substance naturally produced by fat cells, to somehow reverse the otherwise fatal effects of diabetes.
If the experiment is repeated in other labs, and then if leptin can be adapted to treat humans, it might offer the first alternate to the multiple insulin injections used by millions of people who have type 1 diabetes, Dr. Unger said.
How surprising was the result of the experiment?
“It would be like finding aliens landing in your backyard,” Dr. Unger said.
It’s not easy for diabetes to surprise Dr. Unger. He’s been a top researcher for decades with a long list of honors from many major diabetes-related organizations. At 84, he’s still someone that others in the field pay attention to.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Lots of research going on in different areas with leptin. Very interesting.
for later
As the sibling of a diabetic, I have participated in diabetes research at Southwestern since 1985, when I was 12 years old.
I am pleased that they continue to make discoveries, and I pray that they will one day find a cure.
Hmmmm...wouldn't it be a kick in the butt if they discover that the rise in numbers of diabetics in the US coincides with the lowering of fat intake by the average american due to the "fat will kill you" mantra of the past decades?
bmflr
If and if.
They have any number of ways of curing Type I diabetes in mice. The problem is that none of them work on humans....
Good stuff, and I hope I'm wrong, but I think his "years away" is probably optimistic.
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