New Diabetes 'Cure'?

[sheanna]

So some of you may have heard of the new lettuce-vectored insulin treatment that they say could help people with Type I diabetes.

I hate these news releases because they dumb down stuff so much that I can't understand how it would work. The press release says that it makes the body learn how to make its own insulin. What I don't understand is...does it repair beta cells, or what?

And depending on the mechanism, is there hope for those of us with CFRD?

 

[sheanna]

So some of you may have heard of the new lettuce-vectored insulin treatment that they say could help people with Type I diabetes.

I hate these news releases because they dumb down stuff so much that I can't understand how it would work. The press release says that it makes the body learn how to make its own insulin. What I don't understand is...does it repair beta cells, or what?

And depending on the mechanism, is there hope for those of us with CFRD?

 

[sheanna]

So some of you may have heard of the new lettuce-vectored insulin treatment that they say could help people with Type I diabetes.

I hate these news releases because they dumb down stuff so much that I can't understand how it would work. The press release says that it makes the body learn how to make its own insulin. What I don't understand is...does it repair beta cells, or what?

And depending on the mechanism, is there hope for those of us with CFRD?

 

[sheanna]

So some of you may have heard of the new lettuce-vectored insulin treatment that they say could help people with Type I diabetes.

I hate these news releases because they dumb down stuff so much that I can't understand how it would work. The press release says that it makes the body learn how to make its own insulin. What I don't understand is...does it repair beta cells, or what?

And depending on the mechanism, is there hope for those of us with CFRD?

 

[sheanna]

So some of you may have heard of the new lettuce-vectored insulin treatment that they say could help people with Type I diabetes.
<br />
<br />I hate these news releases because they dumb down stuff so much that I can't understand how it would work. The press release says that it makes the body learn how to make its own insulin. What I don't understand is...does it repair beta cells, or what?
<br />
<br />And depending on the mechanism, is there hope for those of us with CFRD?

 

[Mockingbird]

For anyone who is curious, there is an article here:<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/17101982/detail.html">http://www.thedenverchannel.co...h/17101982/detail.html</a>

It probably would not help us. I think our body already knows how to make insulin, it's just that the pancreas doesn't get enough water because of the CFTR gene, then it gets thick secretions and scarring occurs and then the insulin cannot get out as well as it should.

 

[Mockingbird]

For anyone who is curious, there is an article here:<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/17101982/detail.html">http://www.thedenverchannel.co...h/17101982/detail.html</a>

It probably would not help us. I think our body already knows how to make insulin, it's just that the pancreas doesn't get enough water because of the CFTR gene, then it gets thick secretions and scarring occurs and then the insulin cannot get out as well as it should.

 

[Mockingbird]

For anyone who is curious, there is an article here:<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/17101982/detail.html">http://www.thedenverchannel.co...h/17101982/detail.html</a>

It probably would not help us. I think our body already knows how to make insulin, it's just that the pancreas doesn't get enough water because of the CFTR gene, then it gets thick secretions and scarring occurs and then the insulin cannot get out as well as it should.

 

[Mockingbird]

For anyone who is curious, there is an article here:<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/17101982/detail.html">http://www.thedenverchannel.co...h/17101982/detail.html</a>

It probably would not help us. I think our body already knows how to make insulin, it's just that the pancreas doesn't get enough water because of the CFTR gene, then it gets thick secretions and scarring occurs and then the insulin cannot get out as well as it should.

 

[Mockingbird]

For anyone who is curious, there is an article here:<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thedenverchannel.com/health/17101982/detail.html">http://www.thedenverchannel.co...h/17101982/detail.html</a>
<br />
<br />It probably would not help us. I think our body already knows how to make insulin, it's just that the pancreas doesn't get enough water because of the CFTR gene, then it gets thick secretions and scarring occurs and then the insulin cannot get out as well as it should.

 

[Mockingbird]

Also, to answer your question about beta cells, it looks like from this article: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/04/diabetes.html">http://www.northwestern.edu/ne.../2007/04/diabetes.html</a> that the body is able to repair its own beta cells, so I think the lettuce treatment is simply designed to stop the immune system from attacking them.

 

[Mockingbird]

Also, to answer your question about beta cells, it looks like from this article: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/04/diabetes.html">http://www.northwestern.edu/ne.../2007/04/diabetes.html</a> that the body is able to repair its own beta cells, so I think the lettuce treatment is simply designed to stop the immune system from attacking them.

 

[Mockingbird]

Also, to answer your question about beta cells, it looks like from this article: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/04/diabetes.html">http://www.northwestern.edu/ne.../2007/04/diabetes.html</a> that the body is able to repair its own beta cells, so I think the lettuce treatment is simply designed to stop the immune system from attacking them.

 

[Mockingbird]

Also, to answer your question about beta cells, it looks like from this article: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/04/diabetes.html">http://www.northwestern.edu/ne.../2007/04/diabetes.html</a> that the body is able to repair its own beta cells, so I think the lettuce treatment is simply designed to stop the immune system from attacking them.

 

[Mockingbird]

Also, to answer your question about beta cells, it looks like from this article: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/04/diabetes.html">http://www.northwestern.edu/ne.../2007/04/diabetes.html</a> that the body is able to repair its own beta cells, so I think the lettuce treatment is simply designed to stop the immune system from attacking them.