"Century-Old Vaccine Could Be Major Breakthrough In Diabetes Treatment" - Dr. Max Gomez
There’s a potential breakthrough in diabetes treatment that could help millions of people around the world. It involves a vaccine for another illness that’s been around for more than a century. The vaccine is called BCG and it’s actually used to immunize children against tuberculosis. It’s been given nearly four billion times over the past century, mostly in China, Africa and South America, but not that often in the U.S., because TB is less common here. Surprisingly, it may also treat diabetes. The study found that when adults with longstanding type one diabetes were given two BCG vaccines a month apart, three years later, their diabetes was reversed, their blood sugar stabilized and stayed stable for up to eight years, so far. “What it seems to show is that the body’s way that it processes glucose is altered when repeated administration of this vaccine,” said David W. Lam, MD, assistant professor of medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and bone disease at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “This is absolutely a big deal for type one diabetes,” added Dr. Lam. Doctors aren’t ready to call it a cure just yet, but there is a lot of excitement around this – partly because the benefit has lasted for years, and also because the vaccine may stop or slow other autoimmune diseases from rheumatoid arthritis to lupus.
-David W. Lam, MD, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes, Bone Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai