{"id":25609,"date":"2020-10-09T07:58:12","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T07:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25609"},"modified":"2020-10-09T07:58:12","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T07:58:12","slug":"treatment-reverses-type-1-diabetes-will-it-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bengalnewstimes.com\/?p=25609","title":{"rendered":"Treatment Reverses Type 1 Diabetes. Will It Last?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"NewsBy Serena Gordon<\/b>
HealthDay Reporter<\/i><\/p>\n

THURSDAY, Oct. 8, 2020<\/p>\n

After starting a drug that’s officially approved to treat a type of blood cancer<\/a>, a young man with type 1 diabetes<\/a> was able to stop using insulin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He’s been off insulin<\/a> since August 2018 — more than two years.<\/p>\n

Dr. Lisa Forbes — his doctor and co-author of a letter describing his case in the Oct. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine<\/i> — stopped short of calling the drug a cure for type 1 diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Forbes, an assistant professor of pediatrics<\/a>, immunology, allergy<\/a> and rheumatology<\/a> at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said the patient’s diabetes<\/a> appears to have been reversed. She hopes it will stay that way as long as he keeps taking the oral medication called ruxolitinib (Jakafi). It’s in a class of medications known as JAK inhibitors.<\/p>\n

Whether this drug can help others with type 1 diabetes<\/a> isn’t yet known. This patient had a genetic mutation that ruxolitinib is known to work on. Forbes said it’s not clear if other people with type 1 diabetes<\/a> also have this specific genetic mutation.<\/p>\n

Type 1 diabetes<\/a> is believed to be an autoimmune disease, though the exact cause is unknown. It develops when the immune system mistakenly attacks insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that ushers the sugars from foods into the body’s cells to be used as fuel.<\/p>\n

People with type 1 diabetes<\/a> produce little to no insulin and must take multiple daily injections of insulin (or use an insulin pump<\/a>) to survive. No treatments are approved for reversing type 1 diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At 15, Forbes’ patient had been experiencing chronic yeast infections (of skin, nails, mouth and throat), chronic diarrhea<\/a>, oral and rectal ulcers, recurrent sinus and lung infections and another autoimmune condition called hypogammaglobulinemia. At 17, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because he had multiple conditions, his doctors ordered whole genome sequencing to see if they could pinpoint a root cause. They saw one particular genetic mutation and thought ruxolitinib might help. He started the drug nine months after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The drug had an unbelievable effect on his type 1 diabetes<\/a>,” Forbes said. “A year after starting ruxolitinib, we took him off insulin, and he’s been insulin-free ever since.”<\/p>\n

The patient is in college now, and Forbes said he calls the drug a “game-changer” because it’s a pill and so easy to take.<\/p>\n

Forbes said this case provides potentially important information into a pathway that leads to type 1 diabetes<\/a>. But more research is needed, she added.<\/p>\n

Because ruxolitinib acts on the immune system, patients have a higher risk of certain infections. And their white blood cells, liver function<\/a> and kidney function have to be checked every few months, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n

She isn’t the only one excited about the potential of JAK inhibitors in type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

JDRF (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) has been funding research into JAK inhibitors for years, and will soon start a clinical trial in Australia for people with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, according to Frank Martin, director of research at JDRF.<\/p>\n

“We’re hoping JAK inhibitors will have a really profound effect in type 1 diabetes,” Martin said. He noted that they’ve been used to treat other autoimmune conditions, too.<\/p>\n

In type 1 diabetes, “They tone down the immune system response, tamping down the strength of the immune cells, and improve beta cell survival,” Martin said.<\/p>\n

Although the Australian trial will focus on people who are newly diagnosed, Martin suspects even people with long-standing type 1 diabetes may benefit from JAK inhibitors.<\/p>\n

“They may still need to be on insulin, but less, depending on what their beta cell reserve is,” he said.<\/p>\n

Like Forbes, Martin also hesitated to call ruxolitinib a cure.<\/p>\n

“People have to continue taking the drug, but they don’t appear to become resistant to it,” he said. “We still want a permanent cure, but this may be a step in the right direction.”<\/p>\n

\"MedicalNews\"
Copyright \u00a9 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n


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QUESTION<\/h4>\n


\n Diabetes is defined best as…<\/span>
\n See Answer<\/span>
\n<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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References<\/p>\n


\n SOURCES: Lisa Forbes, M.D., assistant professor, pediatrics, immunology, allergy and rheumatology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; Frank Martin, Ph.D., director, research, JDRF; New England Journal of Medicine<\/i>, Oct. 8, 2020 \n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n