Canadian researchers say they've cured diabetes in mice.
The mice "became healthy virtually overnight after researchersinjected a substance to counteract the effect of malfunctioning painneurons in the pancreas."
Their conclusions upset conventional wisdom that Type 1 diabetes, themost serious form of the illness that typically first appears inchildhood, was solely caused by auto-immune responses -- the body'simmune system turning on itself.
They also conclude that there are far more similarities thanpreviously thought between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and that nerveslikely play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such asasthma and Crohn's disease.
Don't forget the usual caveat that's sometimes neglected when this kind of research comes along: mice aren't people.
Still, this sounds pretty cool.
Diabetes breakthrough [National Post]
