Researchers out of Harvard University have indicated there may be an added benefit that comes along with a 90 year old tuberculosis vaccine: the reversal of Type I Diabetes. In order to control their blood sugar, patients with Type I Diabetes give themselves daily shots of insulin, since their bodies cannot do this without assistance. The tuberculosis vaccine, however, has the potential to kill many of the cells that diminish insulin in the blood stream, a finding that may prove tremendous in the field of diabetes research.
A trial with three test patients showed that two of them had “renewed insulin production”, thereby warranting a much larger test sample, with results that would not be available for several more years. This initial trial, using the BCG tuberculosis vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin), lasted 20 weeks, and yielded enough information to prove there was a need for more investigation.
According to global reports, BCG may be the most widely used vaccine in the world, an immunization that has very few side effects and great levels of usage in areas outside the United States. Since tuberculosis has not been a major public health problem in the U.S. and other advanced nations, its usage has been most beneficial in countries with high poverty rates.
BCG would not be the first drug to have healing attributes for more than one disease, but we will pay particular attention to its potential for reversing Type I Diabetes.
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