Is there a cure for diabetes? (2024)

FAQs

Will they ever find a cure for diabetes? ›

While the end to diabetes is still in the distant future, strides in genetic research are showing promise. Immunology and beta cell function have long been two core areas of research in the hunt for a cure for diabetes.

There's no cure for diabetes and no way to completely get rid of it. However, diabetes can be reversed in most people. Reversing diabetes means carefully managing blood sugars to a point where medications are no longer necessary, and staying at that manageable point through a healthy routine of diet and exercise.

Type 1 diabetes is not preventable, and there is no permanent cure for diabetes. However, it can be managed through insulin injections and a healthy lifestyle. Type 2 Diabetes, on the other hand, occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or cannot produce enough insulin.

Start with a healthy diet

The one change that may have the biggest impact on your ability to manage or reverse type 2 diabetes is related to your diet. Reduce the amount of sugar and simple carbohydrates you eat and drink.

There's no cure yet, but our scientists are working on a ground-breaking weight management study, to help people put their type 2 diabetes into remission.

Researchers worldwide are investigating treatments and therapies that could potentially stop or reverse the disease's effects. While there is no cure for T1D, significant progress has been made in understanding the disease and developing innovative treatments.

We know that being overweight or obese puts one at a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. What we may not know is that people who looked thin can and do get Type 2 diabetes.

Life expectancy is known as the number of years a person is expected to live. At age 50, life expectancy is 6 years shorter for people with type 2 diabetes than for people without diabetes. By meeting type 2 diabetes treatment goals, life expectancy can increase by 3 years, or for some, as much as 10 years.

What foods should I avoid with diabetes? ›

You limit dairy products, red meat, sweets, added sugars, sodium (salt), and highly processed foods. Some additional guidelines include focusing on seasonal produce and reading food labels to help you avoid added sodium and sugar.

According to a 2019 study, remission of Type 2 diabetes can restore full pancreas function. Beta cells start to work again, and the insulin-producing capacity of the organ returns to normal. The beta cells' response to glucose also improves within the first year.

Eating too much sugar is not linked to type 1 diabetes, and it doesn't directly cause type 2 diabetes — but it can increase your risk of developing it. Studies have shown that people who regularly consume drinks that contain added sucrose and fructose, like soda, have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Most of the people who reversed their type 2 diabetes lost 30 pounds or more. They also hadn't had diabetes as long as those who weren't as successful. So it's important to get started on a weight loss plan as soon as possible after you're diagnosed.

The beta cells have been damaged and the underlying genetic factors contributing to the person's susceptibility to diabetes remain intact. Over time the disease process reasserts itself and continued destruction of the beta cells ensues.

Despite its huge impact on the global population, there is still no cure for any type of diabetes. Most treatments help patients manage the symptoms to a certain extent, but diabetics still face multiple long-term health complications.

Tzield is the first new medication to help treat Type 1 diabetes since the discovery of insulin. While insulin injections help replace the lost beta cell and pancreatic function in persons with diabetes, Tzield aims to slow the autoimmune destruction of the beta cells that occurs in Type 1 diabetes.

Insulin was discovered by Sir Frederick G Banting (pictured), Charles H Best and JJR Macleod at the University of Toronto in 1921 and it was later purified by James B Collip.

Nearly all individuals who have surgery to treat diabetes (also called metabolic/bariatric surgery) show improvement in their diabetes, sometimes as quickly as a few days after surgery. They experience lower blood sugar levels, need less diabetes medications, and see an improvement in diabetes-related health problems.