Diabetes: Has a fast cure been found?

A new drug could stop diabetes in its tracks in just six days.

The drug, called otelixizumab, appears to halt the rapid decline in the body’s production of insulin.

It works by switching off the immune system’s self-destruct mechanism that causes type 1 diabetes.

This halts damage to the pancreas, allowing it to carry on producing its own insulin.

Currently undergoing clinical trials, the drug seems to work best when given as soon as possible after someone has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It is given as a daily jab for six days in a row.

Diabetes affects two million people in Britain. The condition develops when the pancreas either stops producing insulin altogether, or its output drops sharply.

Insulin helps mop up excess sugar in the bloodstream. Without the right levels of insulin, the disease can cause irreversible damage to the kidneys, eyes, nerves, heart and major arteries.

Type 1 diabetes tends to affect young people. It occurs when the immune system starts to attack healthy tissues, such as the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Patients often end up needing daily insulin jabs for the rest of their lives.

It’s not known what causes this to happen, although the process can be triggered by even a minor viral infection.

Type 2 diabetes, which normally comes on later in life, is linked with sedentary lifestyles and can sometimes be controlled through diet and medicines, rather than insulin injections.

In recent years, leading drug companies have invested millions in search of medicines that might switch off the immune system once it does start to turn on itself.

Such a drug might transform not only the treatment of type 1 diabetes, but other conditions caused by a faulty immune system, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.

The new drug works by altering the balance between certain types of cell in the immune system.

When the body is being attacked by invading bacteria or viruses, the immune system releases T effector cells to attack them and protect against infection.

It also dispatches another type of cell, called T regulatory cells, to keep the T effector cells in check and stop them doing more harm than good.

One theory behind type 1 diabetes is that this balance tilts too heavily in favor of the T effector cells, so they not only attack invading organisms but healthy tissues and organs as well.

The new drug contains a very specific antibody - a protein that is designed to home in on certain cells in the body.

In this case, the antibody targets a marker found only on the T effector cells. Once the drug locks onto the cells, it stops them destroying insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.