At present, the remedy for Diabetes has yet to be found. However, specialists from all over the world are working hard to find a way to heal the disease that affects up to 246000000 people worldwide.
Though Diabetes cannot be cured at this time, there are certain drugs designed to control the symptoms being felt by Diabetes patients. These drugs allow them added comfort and enable them to do things people without Diabetes can do.
ACE Inhibitors
ACE Inhibitors lessen blood pressure. They lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hamper the process that leads to kidney diseases. There is even some research that shows that there is a possibility for ACE Inhibitors to improve the survival rate of diabetics who do not have cardiovascular diseases.
Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers
ARBs also reduce blood pressure. It does this by reducing a substance in the body called Angiotensin II. This substance is responsible for sending signals that cause the blood vessels to contract. When these signals are impeded, the body’s blood pressure decreases. ARBs are also prescribed for Diabetic Nephropathy, a condition wherein the kidneys become severely damaged due to Diabetes. ARBs are able to treat protenuria, a condition wherein the body’s protein leaks into the urine.
Aspirin
Aspirin is prescribed as a therapeutic treatment for cardiovascular diseases. Because diabetics are highly at risk of developing these kinds of conditions, they are advised to take this drug to improve their circulation and increase blood flow to the heart. This ensures that the risk of them having heart illnesses is lessened.
Still, not all diabetics are allowed to take this treatment. Many factors have to be considered, so it is best to consult a physician beforehand.
Cholesterol Drugs
Many diabetics have abnormal cholesterol levels. This signifies that they have a lot of unhealthy fat, such as triglycerides and cholesterol, in their bodies. This can cause their arteries to harden or become blocked. It may even result to a stroke.
Cholesterol drugs belong to five categories: bile acid resins, cholesterol absorption inhibitors, fibrates, nicotinic acid, and statins.
Diuretics
Diuretics are also called water pills. They stimulate the kidneys and induce them to produce more urine. This flushes excess fluids out of the body. When the amount of salt and water in the body decreases, the blood pressure goes down as well. This means that there is less stress on the kidneys, in the heart, and in other organs in the body.
Diuretics prevent kidney failure and cardiovascular problems in diabetics more effectively than other medications designed to alleviate blood pressure.
Immunosuppressives
Because one of the treatments for diabetics is transplant, immune-suppressives are vital to them. Typically, the body will attack any foreign element in the body, but these drugs prevent this from happening. Immuno-suppressives ensure that the body will not reject the organs and tissues that have been surgically transplanted.
Aside from attempting to control the symptoms through administering drugs, a lot of research is currently being done in the hope of finding a cure. Though most of these studies are in their early stages of development, experts are optimistically predicting that they may someday lead to the treatment of this disease.
Capsaicin Injections
A group of experts from a medical center in Toronto, Canada is said to have discovered a way to induce insulin production and eliminate pancreatic inflammation in laboratory mice. Their treatment is based on the premise that Diabetes is a disease of the nervous system. This is in contrast to the widely accepted notion that Diabetes is caused by a person’s immune system working against itself.
What experts did was they injected capsaicin into the pancreas of the mice. Capsaicin is the phytochemical in chili peppers that causes them to have such bite and pungency. Capsaicin interacts with special receptor cells in the pancreas and kills the organ’s sensory nerves. Once this was done, the scientists discovered that the islets of Langerhans, the insulin-making parts of the pancreas, immediately began supplying normal levels of insulin.
Apparently, these nerves secrete certain neuropeptides important for the islets’ insulin production. They proved that the mice with Diabetes had nerves that secreted a deficient amount of neuropeptides. This stressed their islets and inhibited their insulin production.
They also injected “substance p” into the mice’s pancreas. Substance P is another neuropeptide, which is present in large amounts in mammalian brains. This substance caused the inflammation in the pancreas to disappear; and consequently, all the symptoms of Diabetes experienced by the mice disappeared as well.
The scientists are now attempting to prove that Diabetes is indeed a nervous disease. If they were able to do so, the next step for them would be to see if the treatment works on humans as well as it does on laboratory mice.
Pancreas Donations
Doctors in Australia have found a way to isolate the insulin-producing cells in a donated pancreas and transplant them to a person with Diabetes. Though a fairly new treatment, transplant has a number of successful cases, and is now being promoted nationally in Australia.
Still, the procedure is difficult, and it takes a lot of money. The patient will also have to take immunosuppresants, just like in any other organ transplant procedure.
Organogenesis
Organogenesis is a scientific field focusing on the artificial creation of organs. This is done by utilizing embryonic stem cells, which are pluripotent and may be transformed into any type of cell, and organ primordial, which can transform only into the cells of a designated organ.
This procedure is done by transplanting pancreatic cells from pigs’ embryos at a very early stage, specifically when the cells are still considered to be organ primordial. This ensures that the cells, which are yet to be formed, cannot be seen by the body’s immune system. It means that the body will not attack the cells in defense, and the organ primordial will be allowed to develop into healthy cells able to produce insulin without being rejected by the body.
If this treatment is used, a patient no longer needs to take drugs to suppress the immune system.
The study was done on laboratory mice. It was said to have cured both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in the rodents.
Islet Transplants
An alternative to the two methods mentioned above is to transplant islets. Islets are made up of many kinds of cells, one of which is the kind that produces insulin. Scientists are now searching for viable sources for these islets. An option being considered is pigs.
The ultimate success of this procedure means that a person will no longer need daily insulin injections, and will once again be able to detect if his blood sugar is running low.
Avoiding Carbohydrates
An alternative treatment, which is controversial both in its simplicity and its unorthodoxy, is the complete elimination of carbohydrates from a diabetic’s diet. Carbohydrates, specifically sugar and starch, can easily be broken down by the body. It is turned into glucose, a simple sugar, and is absorbed by the bloodstream. The sugar is transferred from the blood to the cells by the hormone insulin.
Physicians and other such experts believe that the only way to stop the progression of Diabetes is for the afflicted person to achieve normal blood sugar levels. This may be done by restricting carbohydrate intake and consequently, requiring and taking lower dosages of insulin. These scientists claim that, with the basic definition of diabetes being the body’s inability to create or properly utilize insulin, it is only common sense for the cure to begin from there.
This is in direct contrast to the recommendation of the American Diabetes Association, which suggests that people with Diabetes should eat mainly bread and other starchy, carbohydrate-rich food.
There are many opposing views on this remedy, with both sides backed by people knowledgeable in the field.
Preserving Insulin-generating Cells
There is another strategy wherein specific cells in the blood are modified so they can help block the immune system’s attack on the insulin-producing cells. Experts believe that the cure to Diabetes will be discovered at the cellular level. This remedy, when developed, can apply to both types of Diabetes because it targets the underlying factors, which involves them both.
Obesity Surgery
With research showing that obesity is a big factor in the occurrence of diabetes, a study was held to compare the effects of standard diabetic care and surgery in diabetes patients. The study showed that patients who have undergone Bariatic Surgery are most likely to get rid of their Diabetes than those who are just receiving standard care.
Though a lot of study is required before any conclusions can be made, this research has led experts to view Diabetes in an entirely new light.
Diabetes Vaccine
With the research for the cure already underway, a “vaccine” is now being developed to prevent Type 1 Diabetes. The vaccine is in the form of a nasal spray. Researchers presume that if they spray insulin into a person’s nose, this would circumvent the attacks made by the immune system to the cells that produce insulin in the body.