British scientists are currently developing a drug which could not only improve child wellness by stopping children from developing diabetes, but also in the future, young people could be screened for vulnerability to the disease at school, then given the drug to ensure their wellbeing. Even if the drug only delays the onset of type 1, or childhood diabetes, the health benefits could be huge.
Charities have said that the pioneers who are working on this drug are bringing you a ‘step closer to a world without diabetes’, which is surely no bad thing, as there are currently over 400,000 Type 1 diabetics in Britain, who daily rely on multiple injections of insulin to survive, and fear future harm to their wellness such as amputations and blindness.
According to Mark Peakman, a researcher at King’s College London, ‘With prevention there is everything to play for,’ and there is also the option to slow or delay progression of the condition in those who have recently been diagnosed with the disease. Type 1 diabetes is a condition that occurs when your immune system attacks the insulin-making cells in your pancreas. Your body needs insulin to convert sugar into energy, which is why type 1 diabetes can take 20 years off life. Unlike type 2 diabetes, it is not linked to poor diet and obesity.
The drug is being developed at King’s College London and Cardiff University, and works to boost the numbers of a second, protective type of immune cell, which hopefully will bring the immune system back under control. Early trials have shown that the drug is safe and produces encouraging immune system changes, and a trial is already underway, in which 24 people with type 1 diabetes will be given vaccination-type injections every two weeks for six months.
Unfortunately the drug is in need of much further research and won’t be available as a widespread treatment for the next five to ten years. It is also not expected to benefit you if you have had the condition for years or suffer with Type 2 diabetes. Yet Sarah Johnson, of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is part funding the study, says, ‘If this drug works, it would mean that there will be a future generation for whom Type 1 diabetes is no longer a risk. But it is early days. This is not something that is going to happen tomorrow.’
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