It appears right now my son is in the honeymoon stage. Is there any new drug that stops the destruction of the remaining beta cells? Do drugs like Interferon-Alpha and DiaPep 277 work? What are the side effects of these drugs, if any?

There is a little evidence that DiaPep277 may delay the final autoimmune destruction of the beta cells. It has not however as yet been approved by the FDA, and, trials have just started in the U.S.

The position in regard to interferon alpha is very much the same story. See the comment on interferon alpha at Pubmed.

There are also some other interesting approaches like the use of galactosyl ceramide to turn the destructive T-cell response into a protective one, but so far the others they have only been tried in mice.

This is disappointing news, but to offset it, there continue to be important advances in the management of type 1A (autoimmune) diabetes, especially in the use of insulin pumps, basal/bolus insulin regimens that use Lantus (insulin glargine) at bedtime and Lispro Humalog or NovoLog after meals with carbohydrate counting at mealtimes and in the almost pain free alternate site meters.

DOB