A Phase 2 clinical trial is currently investigating a new technology to slow the progression of type 2 diabetes. A simple outpatient procedure can be performed early in the diagnosis and can delay the need for insulin injections.
Insulin is an important hormone that helps process glucose in the bloodstream to produce energy, but in people with type 2 diabetes, the body begins to lose its ability to use insulin effectively. If left untreated, prolonged elevated blood sugar levels can lead to a variety of serious health complications.
In the early stages of the disease, many patients can be managed with lifestyle and diet changes or oral medications, but eventually it often progresses to the stage where regular insulin injections are required. Treatments are designed to prevent or slow progression to injections.
This procedure targets the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine just past the stomach. This organ plays an important role in digestion, including regulating insulin and blood sugar levels. In people with type 2 diabetes, the cells lining the duodenum are damaged, and the study hypothesizes that removing these cells will replace healthy cells and improve blood sugar regulation. .
Patients in clinical trials undergo endoscopy to have a device inserted into the duodenum and a series of electrical pulses to remove dysfunctional cells. The procedure itself is minimally invasive. It takes about an hour, is performed under general anesthesia, and the patient is discharged the same day.
Early results seem encouraging. Patients who have undergone this procedure in recent months have already seen a reduction in their blood sugar levels. With continued success, we may have a new treatment for diabetes within a few years.
New participants are currently being enrolled in clinical trials in the Los Angeles area. Eligible patients must be between the ages of 22 and 65, have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within the last 3 years, and have not progressed to insulin injections. I have.
Source: USC Keck Medicine
