It’s been a hundred years since doctors began treating diabetes with injections of insulin. Now, for the first time, they have another drug that can delay development of symptoms in people at risk for type I diabetes for two years on average.
“It allows us to slow down that progression so that we can delay the time that they need to be on insulin and improve quality of life for those patients,” says Dr. Bryce Nelson, one of the first doctors to prescribe the drug, called Tzield. It’s infused at the Children's Hospital of Richmond over a 14-day period and can decrease the risk of long-term costs and complications.
“Kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, so long-standing, poorly controlled type I diabetes can cause multiple problems in the body and even earlier mortality,” Nelson explains.
He lost a beloved uncle to the disease at an early age, so he’s excited to see this milestone in treatment and urges people with type I diabetes and other auto-immune diseases in the family to talk with their doctor or call the hospital and arrange for testing.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
