- Treatment through a TB vaccine - Preliminary experiments in a small number of people show that very low doses of an inexpensive vaccine normally used against tuberculosis may stop the immune system from attacking pancreas cells and an increase in insulin production. Earlier research in mice had already shown that the tuberculosis vaccine called BCG, prevents the T cells from destroying insulin-secreting cells, allowing the pancreas to regenerate and begin producing insulin again, curing the disease.
The new findings hint that even in patients with long-standing diabetes, the body retains the potential to restore pancreas function.
Dr. Denise Faustman of Massachusetts General Hospital and her colleagues are working with the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccine.
The success of these trials can help cut down morbidity and mortality of diabetes which is much harder to prevent and treat than other conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol.
By Poonam Vaswani
Senior Dietitian Nutritionvista.com
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