How close are we to finding a cure for type one diabetes?
826360
HI, I wish there was an easy answer for this question! Apparently we are getting closer to a cure, there have certainly been a lot of medical advances made in recent years. Diabetes can be an incredibly frustrating and debilitating disease to live with. I know exactly how you feel as my 6 year old daughter has it. Not a single day goes by that I don't wish it was me and not her that had to live with this thing. Has your boyfriend considered an insulin pump?? They are fantastic for allowing a lot more freedom and flexibility when living with type 1 diabetes. He is very lucky to have someone who cares so much about him! Best wishes.
380951
If the diabetes is type II (type I must be treated with insulin, as type I does not make insulin at all) and not far along or the A1c test is in the low range, diet and exercise can control it a lot of times, but if the A1c gets too high while trying to control it with just diet and exercise (diet meaning: eating correct foods in correct amounts and at correct times) then you will need the help of medicine. If you are overweight, if possible lose weight. (but that is so much easier said than done, if it was easy to lose weight there would be no larger size people, and they are not that way due to being lazy. That is a stupid myth!)
15253
Since your life is shortened when you have diabetes, you should not aim for being a normal diabetic, you should aim to cure your disease, in other words, be normal in blood sugar.  Type 2 can be cured.  My dad did it with the Pritikin diet.  It is drastic, but the disease's consequences are severe.  Allowing it to continue is keeping drug companies and your doctor in pools of money.  Get angry and get cured.  If you're going to drop oranges because they're carbs, make sure you consume a variety of other fruits including tomatoes.  Until your blood sugar drops to normal levels, cut out those starches that are made without fiber like white rice, potatoes, white bread and batter-fried foods.  Who wants to be addicted to drugs for 40 years, and then die (or get crippled) early anyway?
409600
Not a one. There is a widespread back of the mind conviction among many that there exists an entire alternative medical structure (ancient knowledge, traditional approaches, ...) which offers cures or treatment ordinary medicine does not. That's a false belief, by and large. Any natural cures which worked as well as ordinary medicine would be quite prominent indeed and wouldn't remain alternative for very long. \n\nconsider, in the case of diabetes alone, that a plant long known to help with diabetes (goat's rue) is the source of Glucophage (metformin) and the biguanides generally. Gila monsters (the poisonous lizard from the N American SW desert) is the source of a new diabetes drug nearing approval and release for clinical use. An herb, used in cosmetics because it makes the pupil larger in small doses, is the source of digitalis, still one of the primary drugs in cardiovascular medicine. \n\nThe common sorts of diabetes mellitus (type 1 and type 2) is a condition without a cure. And it's a real pain literally and figuratively. There is a lot of quackery and snake oil om consequence. so far, diabetes related research has earned 4 Nobel Prizes, and any advance as effective as some of the advertising claims about 'traditional' cures or treatments would be high on the eligible list for another. \n\nWe now understand diabetes about as well as we understand broken legs. There's little treatment for a broken leg aside from setting it, splinting it, treating it carefully, and waiting. And for good reason. Likewise there's good understanding of what's going on in diabetes (type 1 and type 2) and what would be needed to fix them (mostly). We can't do that yet, just as we can't get a broken leg to mend in a couple of days. And that's the state of the art in diabetes treatment, alternative included. \n\nSomeday, there'll be a cure... Would save a bundle of money and a lot of nuisance. Support diabetes research and encourage those with research money to assign some to diabetes.
103719
Diabetes is not a disease . It is disorder due to deficiency in insulin production. So there is no cure for it. You have to control it properly by diet, exercise, avoiding stress both physical and mental and reducing weight if you are over weight.  By controling you can live a normal life  and as many years as others live.
614140
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism.\n\nType 1 diabetes\n- an autoimmune disease\n- pancreas produces little or no insulin\n- must take insulin dailiy to live\n\nType 2 diabetes\n- most common form\n- 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight\n- body cannot use insulin effectively even though enough is produced (insulin resistance)\n- insulin production decreases after several years\n\nGestational diabetes\n- women can develop it late in pregnancy\n\nA Cure?\nResearchers continue to look for the cause or causes of diabetes and ways to manage, prevent, or cure the disorder. Scientists are searching for genes that may be involved in type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Some genetic markers for type 1 diabetes have been identified, and it is now possible to screen relatives of people with type 1 diabetes to determine whether they are at risk.
53043
There is no cure for diabetes, but it can be controlled through diet, lifestyle, and medications.
406260
Help find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes.
45182
Try www.insulin-pumpers.org \n\nSite is for those with diabetes using insulin pump therapy and caregivers of diabetics.  There's always lots of discussions on the latest breakthroughs in technology and research.
69848
diabetes can be cured through pancreatic islet transplant or whole pancreas transplant. Diabetis is a condition where the body's alpha pancreatic islet cells fail to produce insulin or produce insulin that is inable to allow glucose to enter the cells and be metabolized. What i just described is Insulin Dependent Diabetis Mellitus or Type I diabetes Type II or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus is caused by the body producing inadequate amounts of insulin or the body lack of sensitivity to insulin and can be treated with diet and exercise or injections of insulin or with oral medication.
755619
i am a type 1 diabetic since the age of 4...i developed hypo thyroidism also, but only after 20 years...there is some belief that type 1 diabetes develops after having an illness because your immune system has been figting to rid the body of the infection and somewhere the wires got crossed and it attacked the pancreas too...but yes, those are both auto immune diseases..
1184589
At this point stem cell research is still very much in the testing stage when it comes to curing diabetics. I would strongly advise you away from this option for right now. There are some child friendly ways to administer insulin, and any pediatric endocrinologist would be more then happy to help you find ways to make sure your son can get used to being diabetic. \n\nBut like I said before - the cure for diabetes is not here yet. If the people behind these sites are claiming a cure, they're lying. What they're more then likely looking for are test subjects. Which is dangerous and best left to diabetic patients who can make that choice for themselves - not a 6 year old boy.
1066397
Please do not take this response as the 'right' response. I am going to assume you are talking type 2. My 2 year old is a type 1 so things are a little different but when it comes to BG we all want the same target #'s: 80-120 is perfect. My son uses Humalog insulin which is fast acting but takes three hours to have its full affect. I am not sure what meds/insulin you are using but I am assuming that the reaction time is going to make a huge difference. \n\nThis website (the ADA) has been a godsend for us: http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp\nthis link will take you right to the begining and will explain a lot. There are also message boards for every type of diabetic and they are great support systems. It is nice to talk w/ someone who knows just what you are going through.
229315
no but i have type 1 diabetes... and alot of kids have it. if u go and talk to ur diabetic educator they have support groups for the kids and the parents of diabetics.. just where u learn more and the kids can interact with other kids with diabeties and know that they're not alone. im not sure what they do wehere your from but where im from they go on camps and its just like a little youth group ment to be alot of fun!! worth checking it out. i've never been myself i was 15 when i was diagnosed so i was too old. but i heard its a good thing for both the parents and kids
226602
Because there are many types of Diabetes and medications that are used to treat it, it is impossible to answer your question logically.
97312
Diabetes is really a non-curable disease.  There are many 'tests' and hopeful research being done at this point.  The cure is out there...someplace.  My daughter will tell you that it is in a strange lab somewhere...she was diagnosed when she was two.  There have be SOME successful transplants in adult patients...but they are on high doses of anti-rejection drugs at this point for the rest of their lives.  This would not work for children.  Their immune systems would not be able to handle this.  \nIt can be a sucky disease, but it is a lifestyle, not a disease....
128300
Funny you ask that, can you get your hands on a pancreas? Exactly, thats why they don't offer them to cure diabetes, they would rather you live with it shooting up day in and day out. They offer them when they are going in for other reasons like kidneys and such but they are time and money consuming. To get a transplant is very expensive and time consuming also a little dangerous. They need you to shut down your immune system for six months to a year and then do the transplant and they you have a greater chance of rejecting the pancreas because of the diabetes also the ability to heal is slowed so its not likely that your doctor will do that for you if you want to live almost needle free get a pump and try that out your diabetes will be much better after pump therapy.