In my previous post, I took a few examples of STAR TREK's medical technology and cultural biases to
speculate on whether or not diabetes mellitus might exist among humans living in that fictional universe, and
some methods by which it might be treated.

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With all of my STARFLEET chapter's preparations for the new STAR TREK movie opening next Friday, I decided to take a few minutes' retrospective to consider how diabetes might be treated in the STAR TREK universe, and how I expect it might be treated in Real Life.

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The title reads "Cancer drugs halt type 1 diabetes in mice." My first response is: oh my gosh! How can this be??!??!! Then I read further. I can feel the emotions starting to get the best of me.

Do I break out in song? Do I start dancing around the room? Do I cry? What if this is it? What if this breakthrough is the one that we all have been striving for?

The article explains that research has shown two cancer drugs, Gleevec and Sutent, to halt type 1 diabetes occurrence in mice. It also says that up to 80 percent of the mice with type 1 diabetes went into remission from the drug. Eighty percent!

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From the shore, I watch a life I used to know - the seas swirling rough and rapid.

I sit, wrapped in the embrace of a sun I thought I'd never see.

I am unencumbered by worry.  I reach my fingers to the sky, letting the light kiss their smooth tips.  

I think about the storm and how it came, sudden and swift.  

I think about the years of maddening calculations and missteps.  The whirlpools and the hurricanes.  The lashing wind and rain.  The dark days and endless nights.

I think about the fleet of ships that journeyed at my side.  

I think about those that were lost.

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Bessaro

When I heard about the clinical trials that are beginning for a possible cure for type 1 diabetes, I was really excited! I can't imagine not having this disease to lug around anymore but I am willing to give it a shot that is for sure! I would imagine most people with diabetes would.

No more finger sticks and insulin shots. All the calculating of carbohydrates and insulin on board would be gone. No glucose tabs to carry or a medical ID necklace to wear. I can't imagine it but I welcome it. (READ MORE)

Not long after I wrote this post about a news story that called bariatric surgery a "cure" for type 2 diabetes, a friend of mine emailed to ask about one of the comments. A reader suggested that there will never be a cure for diabetes because the disease is a money maker.

I explained to my friend that the multi-billion-dollar industry makes a profit in so many areas: test strips, meters, oral drugs, insulin, pumps, syringes, even accessories. What motivation is there, I asked her, for the world to come up with a cure and put all those good people out of work.

I may be naive and woefully open minded, but I am not a pessimist; I believe there are good doctors and researchers out there who are not motivated by money. (READ MORE)