Is there any serious research going on to find the cause and the cure for diabetes? I am seeing more and more people I know contracting diabetes. I am a Type 2 diabetic myself, and every day more and more of my friends and acquaintances are contracting. I feel with the large commercial considerations in diabetes that research in finding a cure is slow at least and even may be curtailed in some sectors.

By “cure” do you mean something that people could do or take to prevent the serious complications? That would make them feel as well as before they got diabetes? Well, congratulations, the magic bullet is here! All you have to do is pick up the gun. The gun is normal range control of blood sugar: and I am not saying you have to do it all with diet and exercise. By using effective medications and even combinations of medications you can get your blood glucose and blood pressure into the normal range and feel good and live long and healthy. Isn’t that as good as a cure?

Type 2 diabetes is a complex combination of metabolic derangements that won’t be “cured” by one pill or a shot, but we can prevent the complications from diabetes.

By the way, there is an extensive NIH prevention trial going on right now with people who are “borderline” to see if they can prevent them going on to have diabetes. We won’t know the answer for many years but there is a huge amount of research going on out there, much of it sponsored by American Diabetes Association, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Federal Government and the pharmaceutical industry looking for these answers.

Please, pick up “the gun” and tell all your friends. Demand that your physician work with you to achieve blood glucoses of 80-120 and blood pressure less than 130/85; it’s worth it.

VV