New Promising Research to cure Diabetes type 2.-By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Transcript:
“The current type 2 diabetes medications available all work to reduce glucose absorption, or kick-start insulin production in the pancreas. But once you stop taking them, the disease comes back”.
How can we reverse Diabetes type2?
Is it possible?
Yes, right now there is no cure. But it is if we focus on rejuvenation of beta cells in your pancreas that produces insulin, and not keep on increasing your insulin injections more and more to keep up with the insulin resistance.
We are optimistic over the latest promising research from the Mt Sinai Diabetes Institute, New York.
The time is coming even to prevent diabetes related problems.
One of the most important keys is to keep moving- exercise is as important to managing diabetes as taking medication.
Exercise makes your body sensitive to insulin, help control sugar, lower your risk of heart disease and other related problems.
400 million people are affected with diabetes type 2, and so far, it has been recognized as incurable and progressive, but with proper guidance and management it could be controlled. There are some medical and non-medical personnel boasting about cures, but the bottom line is a sale of some product.
In Sri Lanka today, diabetes is epidemic and a growing problem.
People prefer street foods to home cooked wholesome meals cooked with water. Evenrecreational grounds like the Galle Face Green most popular for the walker’s joggers and the stretchers has now become a street food series of outlets, feeding with deep fried, heavily salted foods. How close are we to a cure for type 2 Diabetes asks Andrew Stewart, MD, director, Mount Sinai Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism Institute, New York?
He states that type 2 diabetes is one of the world’s greatest health problems. It affects about 400 million people globally. If it is uncontrolled, it can lead to dangerous complications like kidney failure, blindness, heart attack, and stroke. But while there are over 30 different drugs on the market to help manage this disease and prevent these problems, none provide an actual cure. Mild, or early diabetes, sometimes referred to as Spring Diabetes, if detected early can be controlled with regular walk and low glycaemic diet, and hopefully reversible. The risk of developing type 1 diabetes is genetically related unlike type 2 which does not have a clear pattern of inheritance, although familial, where one member gets diabetes, other members are also liable to contract the disease. It is possible that diet has got to do more than a familial history.
If you are a full-blown diabetic, your doctor will prescribe oral medication and refer you to a dietitian for a plant-base low glycaemic diet. Learn to love Veggies. Invariably, the most popular starter is metformin which forms the recommended firstline drug. It works by reducing the amount of sugar your liver releases into your blood. It also makes your body respond better to insulin secretion by your beta cells in the pancreas. It has its side effects and as such best to take with a meal and drink plenty of water. If you are on metformin for a while, it is good to do a blood vit B12 level, as this drug reduces B12 concentration. It also increases homocysteine concentration.
Homocysteine is a common amino acid in your blood. You get mostly from eating meat. High levels are a risk factor for heart disease. Your kidneys must function well with an eGFR of over 60 to take metformin. If your kidneys are not functioning properly, metformin can build up in your system and cause a condition called lactic acidosis.
So be aware of these issues when you take metformin for a long period.
There are more drugs with combinations, I shall not go into. All diabetic drugs have side effects though a great way to keep your blood sugar levels. Most of them can range from an upset stomach to a serious condition as mentioned before. There are also other medicines you take that can interact with these drugs and may not work as required. If you have any side effects after your doctor puts you on a new diabetic medication you must promptly report to him. It is sensible to go on a low glycaemic diet and exercise daily, keeping your weight within the normal range, may help you to reduce those drugs and the side effects will minimise. Insulin sensitivity can be increased by having adequate sleep. Exercising daily, at least 25,000 steps with intervals, daily.
Stress is also another risk factor for insulin resistance. Activities like meditation, exercise and sleep are great ways to help increase insulin sensitivity by reducing stress. The problem in diabetes type 2, lies with the beta cells in your pancreas which produces insulin to control the blood sugar levels. These beta cells are made during the early formative years, and some people seem to make more than others.
So, if they start to get insulin resistance due to factors like eating the wrong food, and obesity with no exercise, the extra reserve of beta cells will produce sufficient insulin to prevent diabetes.
If you are the type born with less beta cells, they go into a state of overproduction of insulin and gets into a stress situation and die. These are the candidates for type 2 diabetes. Research produced in Mount Sinai Hospital, has found a drug that will regenerate these dying beta cells, called harmine. Harmine found naturally in many plants around the world. and it can block an enzyme in the beta cells called DYRKIA. Blocking by the enzyme can cause beta cells to multiply. Mount Sinai research team says that harmine treatment tripled the number of beta cells in diabetic mice and restored their blood sugar level to normal. These studies on mice may not work on humans. The researchers tried by combining harmine with another class of type 2 diabetes drugs known as GLP1R agonists, and lixisenatide. These medicines target the specific protein found on beta cells that encourages them to produce insulin. Andrew Stewart said that, “we took beta cells from normal people and people with type 2 diabetes and put them in tissue culture dishes and transplanted the rest into mice. When harmine was combined with any of the GLP1R drugs currently in the market for diabetes, there was a big improvement.”
He further said that harmine alone causes beta cells to grow by about 2% in a 24-hour period, and when GLP1R was added, the beta cells increased by up to 40% in just 4 days.
These findings are optimistic that similar results will be found on studies conducted in humans. Presently, it is found that diabetes goes into remission among those very obese people who undergo bariatric surgery.
Bariatric surgery is surgery that affects your stomach and how you digest food. It is designed to make your stomach much smaller, which causes you to feel full after eating only a small amount of food.
Research project carried out in Mt Sinai Institute is heartening and encouraging for all diabetics.
Reverting to the current promising research at the Mt Sinai Institute, the harmine drug cocktail would be the answer to “cure”
millions of people around the world. Let us be hopeful.
Hope this video talk was useful and promising.
Stay safe and goodbye for now.
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