Current Research into Cures for Type-1 Diabetes: Introduction to this Blog

Introduction to this Blog

This is sample email that I send out from time to time to introduce this blog to new readers.

I keep track of all the potential cures for type-1 diabetes that are in human trials, or will be soon. I've done this for years. When my child was first diagnosed with type-1 diabetes, I spent time reading news accounts of various "cures" that various researchers were working on. As with a lot of other people on the Brave Buddies emailing list, I quickly became frustrated by the difference between the incredibly optimistic news stories and the lack of useful results.

My blog, which you can read here:
http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/
is my personal attempt to provide more informed news about possible type-1 cures.

In general I only follow research which might lead to a cure for type-1 diabetes. There is lots of research into better insulin and treatments for various side effects, and lots of people follow that research, but I choose to focus just on a cure. Also, I only follow research which is being tested on people right now (called "clinical trials"). So I don't cover animal research.

These restrictions mean that I'm usually only following 20 to 30 lines of research at any given time, so I can keep pretty good track of them all. I also (occasionally, and as time permits) write up longer summaries of research issues in type-1 diabetes.

For the research that I cover, I try not to be a "news clipping service". I do not just copy a press release or news article (especially not the shallow ones that are just rephrased press releases themselves!) I view all press releases and most news articles (including blogs articles, and forum posts, etc.) as having three huge flaws. First, they only include good news; only what the researchers want you to know. Second they only include information on one treatment; the one that group of researchers are working on. And third, they have no historical context to the news they report.

So in my blog and web site, for each piece of news I report, I try to include these things:

Both the good and the bad points
Comparisons with other lines of research.
Historical context of the line of research.
Links where you can learn more details, if you want to.

The blog is organized most recent posting on top, so it is easy to read to go back in time. I do try hard to have useful tags. If you are interested in one line of research, then I urge you to look at my tag list (right side of the blog) and click on the tags you are interested in. The web site is organized by line of research, so it is easy to see what the different researchers are doing, and the timeline of their progress.

Here are some web pages associated with my blog, that I think are particularly useful:

Here are some of my blog posts that you might want to start out with (as general background):

I'm always on the lookout for lines of research that are new to me. So if you hear about any research aimed a curing type-1, which is being tested on people, or soon will be, then please tell me about it! Finally, many of my best posts are written in response to specific questions that people have emailed me, so please do email questions that you have about research into a cure for type-1 diabetes.

Joshua Levy

This blog discusses cures and preventatives for type-1 diabetes that are either in human trials or just about to start. Treatments for diabetes are not generally discussed here, unless they can turn into a cure or a preventative. My definition of a cure is this:
1. Blood sugar control without testing and with doctor's visits 4 times a year, or less. Any cure must result in an average lifespan close to normal.
2. Does not require a lifetime of immunsuppressive drugs, so it is not trading one treatment for another. (but a couple of operations, or a short course of drugs is OK)
Obviously, this is my personal definition of a cure; yours may differ.
Because a cure for type-1 diabetes is likely to involve a combination of several different drugs or treatments, I try to follow research into anything which may be an important part of the cure.

My Non-Conflict of Interest Statement

For the first 10 years of running this blog, I did not work for a company doing medical research. In 2018, I started working for Bigfoot Biomedical, which is developing an "automated insulin dosing/delivery solution" (what many call an Artificial Pancreas).
I blog on research aimed at curing type-1 diabetes, and I view Bigfoot Biomedical's work as treating type-1 diabetes (not a cure at all). Therefore, I don't view this work as conflicting with my blogging. However, if you consider the kind of automated insulin dosing/delivery solution that Bigfoot is developing to be an actual cure for type-1, then this would conflict with my blogging. I think they are quite different.
I don't get paid in any way by any company working on a cure for type-1 diabetes; I never have. And that includes free samples, free travel, or free anything. I do sometimes participate in market research studies or focus groups, and they sometimes pay.
None of the hours that I have put into my blog, or the posts that I make to any web site, has ever been paid for. (Except for some very nice and heart felt thank-you emails, and those are worth more than money.)
My daughter has type-1 diabetes and participates in clinical trials. I sometimes report on trials that she participates in, but I do not reveal her participation because I consider her medical history to be private.
I sometimes "beta test" new software or devices involved in type-1 diabetes. When I'm blogging about something where I have been given special access, I say so.
In the past I have volunteered with JDRF and The NIIB Project. I currently am a fellow with JDCA. The JDRF and NIIB work was completely unpaid. JDCA has given me equipment that I use to help my blogging, and on one occasion paid for specific consulting work.