Attack type 2 diabetes from a new direction, says new research

Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 28 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes Association, but medications now available only treat symptoms, not the root cause of the disease.

New research from the USA’s Rutgers University shows promising evidence that a modified form of a different drug, niclosamide – now used to eliminate intestinal parasites – may hold the key to battling the disease at its source. The study, led by Victor Shengkan Jin, an associate professor of pharmacology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, has been published on-line by the journal Nature Medicine.

Dr Jin says it is important to find a suitable medication to correct the cause of the disease as quickly as possible because the only way now known to “cure” the condition involves major gastric bypass surgery. “The surgery can only be performed on highly obese people, and carries significant risks that include death, so it is not a realistic solution for most patients,” he explains.