Comment

Comment by joshualevy on March 15, 2011 at 12:19pm

Paul, I'm aware of three studies done in the 1990s where some people got BCG vaccine and others did not (placebo controlled, double blind studies). All three failed in the sense that BCG did not improve their type-1 diabetes in any way. Together they covered over 200 people. In addition, there were several studies (two or three) were people who were given BCG as a TB vaccine were compared to people who did not get it to see if they had lower type-1 diabetes rates, or delayed type-1 diabetes or anything like that. Again, no difference was found. --Joshua

Comment by Paul Anderson on March 8, 2011 at 11:49am

Has anyone with type 1 diabetes considered or tried to take the BCG vaccine available for TB prevention to produce the TNF proteins that killed the "bad" T-cells in mice?

Comment by Don on February 28, 2011 at 9:21am

I deeply appreciate Dr. Faustman's courage. She has put her career on the line for a chance to revolutionize our lives. Regardless of the outcome, it is good science and it focuses attention on curing the underlying autoimmune disease instead of banging our heads against the wall of transplanting beta cells only to have them destroyed by the autoimmunity.

Comment by Paul Patten on February 24, 2011 at 10:54am

I still question how long the autoimmunity lasts. If it is possible for the immunity provided by a vaccine to wear off, wouldn't it be possible for the pancreatic auto-immunity to wear off in time. I ask this question because I know that in my case the only diabetes related auto-immunity I have is insulin antibodies. These could be the result of taking insulin for 52 years. If I ever had Islet-cell, GAD or IA2 antibodies they are no longer present. I wounder if there are some type 1 diabetics that could be cured simply by finding a way to regenerate beta cells.

Comment by Holger Schmeken on February 24, 2011 at 9:06am

Thanks for the great interview, Amy (DiabetesMine.com)