The Tuberculosis Vaccine Could Treat Type 1 Diabetes
The bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine, which has traditionally been used to prevent tuberculosis, may have a second calling. The first phase of clinical trials using the vaccine as a treatment for type 1 diabetes has ended, and researchers believe they may have stumbled upon not only a treatment— but a possible cure.
What Is Type 1 Diabetes?
About 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, which destroys the body’s ability to create insulin. A chronic condition, type 1 diabetes usually strikes during childhood or adolescence, although it can begin at any age.
Symptoms include increased thirst and urination, intense hunger, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision, wounds that are slow to heal, tingling or burning in the hands and feet, and frequent infections.
Clinical Trials
Recent studies have examined the BCG vaccine’s ability to help the body regrow pancreatic cells lost to type 1 diabetes. Until recently, researchers believed diabetes-related damage to the pancreas was irreversible, leaving patients unable to produce insulin and certain digestive enzymes. Amazingly, the vaccine treatment allowed patients to lower their blood sugar levels, and without the dangerous risk of hypoglycemia that comes with insulin injections. So far, one dose of the vaccination has shown to be effective for 5 years.
Phase II of clinical trials, which is looking at the long-term effectiveness of the vaccine as well as the effect of additional inoculations, is now underway.
Future of Type 1 Diabetes… and Beyond
Studies indicate that the vaccine works by altering how certain genes are expressed, resetting the immune system so that it no longer attacks the pancreas. Not only does the BCG vaccine show promise in treating and curing type I diabetes, but it may also have similar uses against other autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.
If the BCG vaccine passes clinical trials, it could prove to be a safer, less expensive treatment alternative that could be given by anyone qualified to administer a shot. What great news for all the families of those who contend with diabetes every day of their lives.
Other Sources:
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/67/Supplement_1/2339-PUB
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170610134818.htm
http://jamc.ayubmed.edu.pk/index.php/jamc/article/view/2670
https://clinicaltrials.partners.org/study/10085
https://www.cdc.gov/tb/publications/factsheets/prevention/bcg.htm
Related Keywords
