NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The number of adults living with diabetes worldwide has surpassed 800 million, and the World Health Organization calls Type 2 diabetes an epidemic. But new science is giving hope. With more than 300 clinical trials underway, experts say prevention, early detection, and innovative treatments could dramatically change the outlook for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the next few years.
For Lindsey Kovaleski, Type 1 diabetes has been part of her life since she was 12 — just a little older than her girls, Lila and Evie, are now.
“I remember now being thirsty all the time. I remember running to the bathroom all the time,” she said.
Lindsey has navigated three decades of evolving treatments.
“I started off with multiple daily injections,” she told Ivanhoe.
But now, diabetes research seems to be moving at lightning speed. There’s a new class of medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists. They are drugs that mimic a natural hormone to regulate blood sugar and reduce appetite. The next generation, triple agonists, is already in trials.
“I’m really optimistic that those two things will decrease the need for orthopedic intervention in diabetic patients and ultimately decrease the need for amputation,” said Dr. Mark J. Berkowitz, an orthopedic surgeon and director of the Foot and Ankle Center at Cleveland Clinic.
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Technology is transforming care as well. Continuous glucose sensors now link to insulin pumps that predict blood sugar spikes and drops before they happen, adjusting insulin automatically, day and night.
“These are devices where patients can have their glucose readings immediately without poking their fingers,” Dr. Barbara Gisella Carranza Leon, an endocrinologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said.
Researchers are also testing cell-based therapies that regenerate the insulin-producing beta cells destroyed by diabetes, with early trials showing some patients live months without insulin.
“Imagine having a medicine before that you had to give yourself twice a day, once a day, and now once a week. I’m looking forward to what is going to happen in the next 10 years,” said Carranza Leon.
Companies are engineering islet cells that evade the immune system, making pancreas transplants possible without immune-suppressing drugs.
And it’s not just medicine.
A new study at Harvard shows that a Mediterranean-style diet combined with moderate exercise and professional weight-loss support lowered the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 31% in older adults — proof that lifestyle changes, along with these cutting-edge treatments, can help turn the tide of this global epidemic.
Contributors to this news report include Marsha Lewis, producer; Matt Goldschmidt, videographer; and Roque Correa, editor.