Diabetes Could Be Cured With Cells Retrained to Produce Insulin

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have developed a way that could potentially cure type 1 diabetes by retraining gastrointestinal cells into insulin producing cells. While stem cells have been used in many of the attempts to create the necessary replacement cells, scientists have been unable to get them to function as they needed. This new research has found that changing the function of existing cells may restore the same type of insulin production expected in a healthy body. This new technique has already proven effective in lab mice and new studies using human tissue are showing promise.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system attacks the pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. Once these cells are eliminated the body is no longer able to create the substance necessary for natural functioning, and individuals afflicted with the disease are forced to inject the required drug. In order to effectively adjust dosage, these individuals have to calculate how it will affect their body based on dietary intake, exercise amount and blood sugar levels in order to prevent dangerous drops or spikes in glucose. Scientists have been attempting to replace the lost pancreatic cells in a way that would respond to bodily changes automatically and prevent the need for injections and complex dosage calculations.

Previous experiments using stem cells have successfully generated cells that can produce insulin, but to this point they still cannot be made to function the same way as the naturally occurring pancreatic beta cells that react to changes in sugar levels. When mouse cells, or even human cells, have been retrained with this new method, research has shown that insulin is only produced in response to the presence of sugar, which corresponds with the natural functioning of the original pancreatic cells lost in the development of diabetes mellitus type 1.

The new technique that could cure diabetes deactivates the FOXO1 gene that prevents gastrointestinal cells from producing insulin and results in a cell that has been retrained to also be glucose-responsive. Once the FOXO1 gene is deactivated, it takes roughly one week for the affected cells to begin production of the hormone, but only in response to glucose levels rather than constantly as converted stem cells have done to this point. This slight difference in glucose response based insulin delivery versus constant delivery could mean the difference between curing the disease and killing the afflicted person due to hypoglycemia, commonly known as low blood sugar.

While this new research indicates great promise, the process is not yet complete. In order to turn a technique that could cure diabetes into a process that does, a drug must be developed that can effectively deactivate the FOXO1 gene in the necessary cells, so they are retrained to produce insulin. Once such a drug is created it will then have to be tested extensively to ensure both its effectiveness and a lack of dangerous side-effects. However long this process may be, though, science appears to be one step closer to winning the battle.

Low carb diets help diabetes and multiple sclerosis in new studies

Low carb diets have been shown to trump low fat plans for weight loss. Now new research is pointing to the benefits of low carb diets for several diseases. Most recently, a group of scientists and physicians have discovered that low carb diets represent the best initial intervention for diabetes, reported Science Direct on July 16.

The experts involved in the new report cite evidence that low carb diets lower high blood glucose and allow patients to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate their medication. And while low carb diets are effective for diabetes regardless of whether patients lose weight, the researchers also concluded that "nothing is better for weight reduction."

Side effects can pose problems with medication. However, the researchers also discovered that no such side effects result from low carbohydrate diets. They cited 12 points indicating that low carb diets are the most effective therapy for diabetes, beginning with hyperglycemia.

Noting that dietary carbohydrate restriction has the greatest effect on decreasing blood glucose levels, the researchers also pointed to the ongoing epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The calorie increases in the typical American diet occurring during these epidemics are primarily due to increased carbohydrates.

On average, Americans eat about 500 calories more each day than we did 30 years ago, and much of that increase comes from foods high in sugar and grains, according to a new study. And while more experts are blaming high carb processed foods for our obesity epidemic, low-carb diet gurus have been earning increased attention and respect for new studies showing that low-carb high fat (LCHF) and high protein diets are most effective for weight loss.

Based on the latest data, the Standard American Diet (SAD) includes a small amount of dairy, a slightly more generous serving of produce and protein and lots of oils, fats, sugar and grains. "It's hard to pinpoint why exactly it's increased," Jeanine Bentley, the social science analyst responsible for the USDA's food availability database, said about the added calories. "But it probably comes from an increase in processed and fast foods."

Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE, believes that low carb high fat ketogenic diets are beneficial for weight loss and diabetes. In an exclusive interview, she noted that her clients have experienced improvements that parallel the new study. "I have seen several people with diabetes experience remarkable improvement in blood sugar control after adopting this way of eating,” she said.

Conducting his own research, Dr. Stephen Phinney, also believes that ketogenic diets are the most appropriate approach for diabetes. "Given both the healthcare costs and the medical risks associated with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, plus the immediate improvements (if not complete remission) in these diseases with a well-formulated ketogenic diet, this diet should be the primary (aka first) therapy that doctors and dietitians recommend," he said in an interview.

And the benefits of ketogenic diets may also extend to multiple sclerosis (MS) in some studies. However, in contrast to the significant body of research pointing to high fat low carb diets for diabetes and weight loss, the ideal plan for MS is more controversial, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on July 17.

The MS Center of St. Louis, a partner of Mercy Hospital St. Louis, has been active in educating people with multiple sclerosis and their families. Mercy dietitian Rebecca Doss feels that significant evidence does not exist to recommend any special diet.

However, some studies have shown that vitamin D may reduce the risk. Doss feels that eating a high fiber diet may help but argues against saturated fat. But several physicians disagree.

Dr. Terry Wahls, author of "The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine," has conducted new studies showing that high fat low carb ketogenic Paleo dietsare most effective. In an exclusive interview, she revealed that she began her research when she developed MS herself.

"After 20 years as a vegetarian, I read through the scientific studies and decided that the Paleo Diet as an intervention had merit. I added meat back to my diet and removed grain, dairy and legumes. I continued to slowly decline. The following year my doctors told me that my disease had transitioned to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. I took the recommended chemotherapy; I got the tilt/recline wheelchair and even took Tysabri, but continued to slowly decline," she recalls.

Dr. Wahls used the Paleo diet as a template, then customized it "to get 31 nutrients that science said my brain cells needed to thrive. That is when the magic began to happen."

Within only three months, her fatigue diminished significantly. "Within six months I could walk throughout the hospital without a cane and my neurologist agreed that I could taper and discontinue my disease modifying drugs. And within 12 months I was able to do an 18-mile bike tour with my family."

For years, ketogenic diets have been used to control seizures. Recently, for example, a family revealed how their little boy, who suffered from 50 seizures daily, found relief from a ketogenic diet.

But Dr. Wahls feels the potential goes beyond epilepsy, diabetes and MS. "Ketogenic diets are being studied as treatment for other neurological and psychiatric disorders including brain cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s, MS, dementia, bipolar, depression and schizophrenia," she said. In her research currently, Dr. Wahls is seeking how to balance nutritional needs with the focus on ketosis.

Also arguing in favor of high fat low carb diets for MS is Dr. David Perlmutter, creator of the "Grain Brain" diet. He lists several case studies on his Web site showing that halting grains and sugar while boosting fat and protein made a dramatic difference for their MS.

One woman recalls that her "signs of MS started in 1988, but it wasn’t until 2004 that I had an attack that left me disabled and forced to retire from a career I loved in education. I have gone through periods of being in a wheelchair, using a walker, and walking with a cane. Today, thanks to going grain-free, I rarely have to use even a cane."

Diabetes: Let Food Be Thy Medicine

Type 2 diabetes can be cured! There! I've said it. Why, in our modern society where this disease is the seventh leading cause of death, does such a statement get suppressed from the general public?

Both major health entities, medical professionals and Big Pharma, fail to get the word out that withnutritional guidance combined with patient motivation, Type 2 diabetes can be reversed. But the word is beginning to get out. Some of the prominent physicians who are in the forefront of speaking out about reversing diabetes include Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Mark Hyman, and Dr. John McDougall -- all not afraid to say the word cure. It can be done, and they have done it.

Diabetes is not a bug we catch. Most of us know it's the foods we eat that create the dysfunction within, but it's the elephant in the room; some don't know what an elephant is, but most just do not want to look at it.

Let me offer two main conceivable reasons why the public isn't being told:

1. Curing it involves natural nutrition (without the help of drugs), something the medical community knows about and does little with. The typical scenario is doctor discovering that the patient does indeed have type 2 diabetes, instructing the patient to lower sugar consumption, yet will need to take diabetic medications the rest of his or her life.

2. The strong-arm pharmaceutical companies want their diabetes drugs to continue bringing in billions.

Advertisement spending by the pharmaceutical industry was $2.4 billion in 2011, as reported by Nielsen TV. The diabetes drug Lantus had total sales of $7.8 billion in 2013. The forecast for theworldwide diabetes drug market is $47.2 billion by 2017.

This falsehood of only being able to "maintain" the disease for the life of the patient is also unfortunately perpetuated by every major diabetes organization. Upon visiting their websites -- theAmerican Diabetes Association, The Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, Diabetic Living Magazine-- the common theme throughout is that there is no cure for diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association's website (diabetes.org) proclaims, "diabetes is a chronic disease that has no cure," and "eating well-balanced meals is an essential part of taking better care of yourself and managing diabetes." Instead of advising that diabetics stop eating refined grains and sugars, the suggestion on their site is: "Save money by buying less soda, sweets and chips or other snack foods." The Diabetes Research Institute Foundation claims they are "the best hope for cure." They offer many suggestions on managing diabetes, but not how to overcome it. "There is a lot you can do to stay well and remain healthy with diabetes."

The Diabetic Living website gives recipes that include refined sugar and refined flour, as well as artificial whipped toppings and the like.

Even Webmd.com tells us, after all the research and advances in diabetic treatments, "there is no cure for Type 1 nor Type 2 diabetes."

Being privy to successful turnarounds myself with my diabetic clients, I can say it definitely is possible. Being honest, even though it can be done by changes in diet and lifestyle, it is a struggle for many to get there, as well as a struggle to stay there; half of them will most likely revert because resistance to the outside influences and offerings of the restaurants, food manufacturing companies and supermarkets is difficult. It requires diligence and dedication to stay on the wagon for those who have been diabetic for so long, and therefore can fall off the wagon at any time. It's no different for those on the brink of diabetes currently who are continuing to eat refined foods, and soon will join the club. But when patients learn the whys of diabetes, and the horrible consequences of the disease, by rights the incentive should be there.

The culprits behind the onset of diabetes are most definitely refined, processed foods. These include refined sugars, refined flours and refined oils. It's the bakery goods, the hamburger and hot dog buns, and the foods deep-fried in trans fats and additives of highly processed oils. These surround us at all times in restaurants and supermarkets, and because of convenience, we fall for it. What also contributes is a lack of fresh fruit and vegetable fiber that so many avoid in their meals. As with smoking, to quit is to quit. To cure diabetes, quitting all refined foods is a must.

In various reports, there is a definite correlation between the introduction and proliferation of high fructose corn syrup, the rise in polyunsaturated fats, and the decline of animal fats, and the rise in diabetes. In 2012, over one-third of our children were overweight or obese; 80-90 percent of Type 2 diabetics are overweight or obese, which explains the recent popularity of the term diabesity.

It's these influences all around us that make it so difficult to maintain a healthy body. This is why it comes back to us individually to be mindful of what we put into our bodies. The task of preparing more and more of our own foods is more important than ever.

The medical community should be in the forefront of directing patients toward better, natural foods, and, if need be, advising that any diabetic contact a certified nutritionist to help guide them away from diabetes. Any doctor who is still writing the prescriptions for diabetes drugs for their patients at the onset of discovering elevated blood sugar, and not offering advice on food and nutrition, needs to refresh his or her memory of a quote from Hippocrates, considered to be the father of western medicine: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."