Diabetics will be able to give up insulin
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have begun developing a new form of medication for type 1 diabetes. If successful, patients will be able to refuse regular insulin injections.
Type I diabetes is one of the most common diseases in children. In the UK, about 400,000 people suffer from it, 29,000 of them are children. The affected immune system mistakenly considers the insulin-producing cells to be harmful and destroys them. Due to the lack of insulin, the level of glucose in the blood increases, this leads to numerous pathologies. Therefore, patients are forced to constantly inject themselves with insulin.
Scientists have found that the drug aldesleukin, which is now used in large doses to treat certain types of kidney and skin cancers, in small doses increases the ability of immune cells (T cells) to maintain control and prevents them from causing damage to the body.
The main difficulty for the researchers was to determine the correct dosage of the drug. To do this, they conducted an experiment with full monitoring of the immune system in 40 patients with type 1 diabetes, and found that one application stimulates T cells by about 10-20%. Such a dose is enough for the immune system not to attack the body, but not enough for the drug to suppress natural immunity. Scientists also found that daily use of the drug reduces its effect on T cells, and recommended not to prescribe the drug for daily use, writes EurekAlert (New approach to treating type 1 diabetes aims to limit damage caused by immune system).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
17.10.2016