BOSTON (WSVN) — A new study has shown that a common vaccine may be able to reverse advanced cases of Type 1 diabetes.
According to WCVB, the eight-year study, conducted by the Massachusetts General Hospital, shows that a vaccine used for tuberculosis could permanently lower blood sugar levels.
“This trial is unique in treating people who have long-standing disease — 10, 15, 20 years out,” said study lead Dr. Denise Faustman.
New insight into how an old TB vaccine lowers blood sugar in Type 1 diabetes https://t.co/cOruPMdOkY
— Faustman Lab (@FaustmanLab) June 21, 2018
Researchers reportedly found that three years after receiving two doses of the drug, blood sugar levels would drop and stay in the near-normal range.
Patients in that range can dramatically reduce the risk of complications from diabetes, including cardiac disease, blindness and kidney failure.
Faustman believes her team’s research shows that the vaccine helps the body produce a hormone people with Type 1 diabetes need. Faustman said the vaccine could potentially play a role in Type 2 diabetes treatment, but that study has not yet been conducted.
WPBF reports that the next step is to replicate the findings in another trial.
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