The Waiting Game: Diabetes Cure

I had such an intense response from a few people regarding my post "BBC Tonight - Cure 10 Years Away," that I felt compelled to dedicate this post (albeit a quickie) to those who left a comment...

The BBC story centered around doctors who are trying to perfect the transplant of insulin-producing clusters of pancreas cells (islets) into patients' livers. If the cells "take" they may enable the patient to make their own insulin, which would end a diabetic's need for insulin. And yes, this trial has been undertaken in various parts of the world since the 1980's.

Sono con lei!

I am with those of you that commented ("The cure was 10 years away in 1980" and "Islet transplantation...will NOT be a cure") - I am always hopeful that people will understand why I post what I do...it wouldn't be fair if I always spelled it out. As I have always been involved somehow in the diabetes "patient" network in some capacity, I am aware of patient cynicism and the media's attempt to revitalize very old news.

This news flash from the BBC couldn't be more stale, but is it their social/civil obligation to remind the public about the search for the diabetes cure? Obviously this story was forwarded to print media by the Diabetes Center at Oxford University.

For those of us living with diabetes, it is hard to understand how this is offered up to the public again and again as the solution. But in another vein (no pun intended), I am happy to see that the general public is occasionally reminded that insulin is not a cure and the search is still on. These are two very important points that get lost in most stories regarding diabetes.

Thank you for your comments. I will always respond directly to hot-button subjects in the future.