Is There A Cure For Diabetes?
The short answer to the question in the title is both yes and no. Whether a cure for diabetes is possible really depends on the type of diabetes someone has.
At this stage, there is no cure for Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the body attacking its own insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Once the beta-cells are gone, they cannot regenerate by themselves (and if they could, the rogue antibodies are still in the immune system waiting for them).
Research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes is ongoing. Current areas being explored are pancreas transplants (not common, as those who get Type 1 diabetes are often very young - even infants - making transplant donors difficult to source and the likelihood of the transplant lasting for life being low) and means of delaying the final disappearance of the beta cells; some very recent discoveries have found some promising properties in one particular pumpkin extract. Nanotechnology may be another possible way to cure Type 1 diabetes if a nano-machine can be invented that will detect the amount of insulin the body needs and build it as required.
When it comes to Type 2 diabetes, however, a cure can be found. This is because Type 2 diabetes is largely a lifestyle related disease caused by poor diet, being overweight and lack of exercise over an extended period of time. Eliminating all three causes of Type 2 diabetes will cure the disease. First of all, a cure for Type 2 diabetes can be achieved by good diet. By eliminating processed starch and high levels of sugar from the diet - the foods that got the diabetic that way in the first place - Type 2 diabetes can be reversed. A low-carbohydrate eating plan such as the Atkins diet can help this part of curing Type 2 diabetes, but this plan cannot be sustained over the long-term. Your diabetes specialist or health professional will help you find the best plan for you. Taking regular healthy exercise is another part of the cure for Type 2 diabetes. This means that the blood sugars in your system will get used up so they neither get stored on the body as fat nor sit around in the blood stream causing hyperglycaemia. What's more, regular exercise will give you plenty of cardiovascular benefits as well! By fixing the problems of poor diet and lack of exercise, the third factor (obesity or being overweight) will be eliminated in most cases, enabling you to cure Type 2 diabetes before too long. However, if the patient's condition or DNA make weight loss difficult (e.g. the patient is so overweight and unfit that any exercise would put extreme strain on the heart), then a diabetes specialist or a doctor will probably prescribe weight loss medications such as Xenical to assist the patient through the initial stages. The best cure for Type 2 diabetes is prevention. Eat healthily and in moderation, exercise regularly and keep your weight at the ideal level, and you are unlikely to contract Type 2 diabetes in the first place.
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