Treatment Preserves Insulin-Making Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Treatment with a monoclonal antibody, a new type of therapy, may help preserve insulin-making abilities in people who have recently developed type 1 diabetes .
New European research shows that just one six-day course of the experimental treatment resulted in improvements lasting 18 months.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease caused by T lymphocyte cells targeting and destroying insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas. About five percent of all diabetics carry the type 1 form of the disease, which is usually diagnosed in childhood or adolescence.
The success of the new therapy "clearly shows that our understanding of the basic science is beginning to translate into clinical application,"