There is a significant difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Most of what we hear about is type 2, which in the vast majority of cases is due to a poor diet and lack of exercise. The beta cells in the pancreas can still produce insulin, but after years of diet caused abuse, the amount of insulin produced is no longer enough to counter the poor diet. This is why many people with type 2 diabetes see their diabetes go into remission when they change their diet and lose weight.

Type 1 diabetes is different. Many believe it is an autoimmune disorder where the body’s antibodies destroy the beta cells in the pancreas, which means there is no production of insulin. Without the insulin, the blood sugar level would quickly build up to lethal levels.

According to the American Diabetes Association, less than 5% of the people in America with diabetes, suffer from type 1, with the rest suffering from type 2. While less than 5% doesn’t sound like that many, realize that about 1.25 million Americans suffer from type 1 diabetes and it is estimated that about 40,000 new cases will be diagnosed every year.

The key to managing type 1 diabetes is regular testing of the blood sugar and regular injections of insulin when the blood sugar levels get too high.

I worked with a young lady with a fairly severe case of type 1 diabetes. She made sure that her co-workers were aware of her condition just in case anything happened to her. She was a rather small woman, definitely not overweight, but she required multiple doses of insulin every day. Her condition was to the point where she wore an insulin pump that automatically injected her life-saving insulin as needed.

In other severe cases, physical activity is limited due to the severity of a person’s type 1 diabetes. I knew a kid in school who could not play sports due to the severity of his type 1 diabetes.

But what if there was a vaccine developed that could lead to a cure of type 1 diabetes, at least for several years at a time? Such a vaccine would be a lifesaver for millions, especially since most cases of type 1 diabetes are diagnosed with during childhood.

I was reviewing a copy of Time Health from Fall 2018 and found a small one-page article that talked about a vaccine for type 1 diabetes and the article is very encouraging for those who suffer from this autoimmune disorder. Here is part of what that article stated:

“Could a vaccine for Type 1 diabetes be on the horizon? In a new study, a small group of people with Type 1 diabetes who were given a vaccine showed improvement in their blood-sugar levels to nearly normal levels—and the changes lasted for five to eight years.”

“The study, published in the journal npj Vaccines by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), looked at nine people with Type 1 diabetes who were given an anti-tuberculosis vaccine called bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). They had two injections, four weeks apart. Levels of their hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), which measures blood sugar, dropped more than 10% three years after treatment and more than 18% four years after treatment. On average, the people in the trial had lived with Type 1 diabetes for 19 years.”

“The BCG vaccine has been used for decades to prevent tuberculosis, and the researchers believe it could be used for other autoimmune disorders, including Type 1 diabetes. The MGH study is ongoing, and so far more than 120 people with Type 1 diabetes have been treated. (The new study shows the results of nine of the people in the study who have been followed for more than five years.) The participants have not experienced complications and are performing better that the people in the trial who were given a placebo. Everyone is till being treated for diabetes, but the people who have received the vaccine are using about one-third less the amount of insulin they did prior to the vaccination.”

Sometimes, new discoveries in medicine are made while treating something else as is this case. Like so many other exciting new studies I report on, further testing is in the works, however, this is THE most promising news for type 1 diabetics that I have ever seen.