« No Beer for Padres Pitcher David Wells | Main | Correlations Between Blood Sugar and Cancer - an informal discussion »

March 22, 2007

Oral Insulin Crystals Could Delay Or Prevent Diabetes In Children

Recently we posted that Bristol University researchers have discovered that the number of children under five-years-old with Type 1 diabetes has increased five-fold over 20 years, and the incidence of childhood Type 1 diabetes has been shown to be increasing all over Europe. It should be noted that the number of children under 15 with Type 1 diabetes doubled over the same time period.

To delay the start of the disease researchers propose that those at high risk could be treated with oral insulin crystals. The idea is that when the immune system encounters the insulin in the intestine it will learn not to perceive it as a threat, and in effect, be "re-educated" to no longer attack the patient's own insulin producing cells.

Very cool... prevent diabetes but calibrating the immune system to befriend islet cells.... read about it here.

Posted by Diabetologica at March 22, 2007 1:28 AM