Canadian research shows promise in Type 1 diabetes fight

New Canadian research is offering new hope for the fight against Type 1 diabetes after studies have shown a natural chemical in the body can have regenerative effects on the insulin-producing cells that are killed at the onset of the disease. The findings, based out of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, suggest treatment using GABA - a natural chemical produced by pancreatic beta cells, which are critical for the production of insulin - can have a reversal effect of the disease and allows the body to better accept the regenerated cells. Roughly 70 per cent of the insulin-producing beta cells are destroyed by the immune system in people who have Type 1 diabetes. The study, however, found that GABA - which is available as an oral dose - protects and regenerates those beta cells and had a reversal effect in diabetic mice. The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that GABA served two key functions in diabetic mice - it regenerates beta cells, but also suppresses autoimmunity, which allows them to remain active in the body