There is still hope

[mommyofocean]

very ineresting

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=a042812e-492c-4f07-8245-8a598ab5d1bf&p=1

Carolyn

[Amy C.]

Once again, we need to remember that many, many mice have been cured of diabetes and the results have not moved forward to humans.

This is interesting, but is not my hopeful category.

Please note the article was published almost a year ago.

[Ernst]

mommyofocean

Do you have any information about Afference Therapeutics Inc.?

I can't find any homepage for the company.

[Nelson]

Once again, we need to remember that many, many mice have been cured of diabetes and the results have not moved forward to humans.

This is interesting, but is not my hopeful category.

Please note the article was published almost a year ago.

I don't think this is a study to brush off so lightly. Follow-up takes time and we won't see follow-up studies to support this in humans until there has been time to do them. It is typically a year after proposals that grants are awarded and another year or two before papers come out of the reasearch.

This study appears to have been well put together and suggests a dramatic paradyme shift. If there is a lucky stumbling upon a cure, this is exactly how it will come. I don't hold up high hopes, but I am certainly excited about the possibility and both hope and expect some significant insights to come from follow-up studies.

[TeresaB]

I don't think this is a study to brush off so lightly. Follow-up takes time and we won't see follow-up studies to support this in humans until there has been time to do them. It is typically a year after proposals that grants are awarded and another year or two before papers come out of the reasearch.

This study appears to have been well put together and suggests a dramatic paradyme shift. If there is a lucky stumbling upon a cure, this is exactly how it will come. I don't hold up high hopes, but I am certainly excited about the possibility and both hope and expect some significant insights to come from follow-up studies.



Well said!
Yes, I believe so also!

[DadCares]

This press release intrigued me very much last December. Stopping the autoimmune attack is a must before other solutions (such as Beta Cell Regeneration) will succeed. But, I have not seen one press-release or follow-up article since then (perhaps I'm looking in all the wrong places!). Thus, I'm less optimistic about this particular study. If anyone has seen updates by Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, or the university or research lab associated with this study, please post.

[TeresaB]

I emailed and called several people at the Hospital for Sick Kids in Canada and here is the information that I received regarding progress on this study and/ or clinical trial proceedings by Dr. Dosch/Dr. Salter (sorry about the cut and pasting of this email if it's hard to read):


To: Families, Patients and Individuals Interested in the Progress ofDiabetes Research Carried Out at The Hospital For Sick Children, Toronto. Principal Investigator - Michael Dosch. So here we are at the end of Summer 2007, working hard on the process totranslate our exciting animal research findings to humans with diabetes.As is common in research, it is one thing to make serious plans for futuredevelopments, and another to execute these plans.But yes, there is good news. Work in our Sick Kids Laboratories hasprogressed well. All of our initial findings have now been confirmed inadditional, independent experimental settings. We count ourselves lucky tohave come up with several exciting new findings, both in animal systems aswell as, more recently in humans, including diabetes patients. Thisincludes new data from diabetes genetics as well as diabetes familystudies. As we complete these investigations and work on publications, Icannot go into great detail at this point, but I am able to state that ourconfidence to be able to translate our findings to human diabetes hasdistinctly grown. While we are very satisfied with our progress in the lab, we are not happywith the rather slow pace of putting funding into place that can carry thetranslation process. However, a sizable, peer reviewed grant application tothe Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) has just been approved:we expect initial funding to arrive in the near future. Our main clinical plan in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients is:1. Expand specific studies of patient responses to neuromodulators2. Complete regulatory approval process towards phase-1 trials in Type 1and Type 2 diabetes patients3. Conduct neurological, non-invasive studies of afferent (pain) nervesensitivities4. Collect patient blood samples for genetic sequencing studies ofidentified molecules suspected to play a role in human diabetes. We expect to begin intervention studies in 2008. To-date, we receivednearly 8000 contacts, mostly E.mail, many of which are enquiring aboutjoining these studies. For logistical reasons, our initial patientinvestigations will be conducted in Toronto where we are connected to largegroups of patients and families through other diabetes researchinitiatives. All the members of our team appreciate your interest and the virtuallyunanimous support implied in your messages and your. For myself, thisclearly is the peak of my career and it is receiving my most serioussupport. I remain, with serious enthusiasm H.-Michael Dosch, MD, PhDProfessor of PediatricsProfessor of ImmunologyUniversity of TorontoThe Hospital For Sick ChildrenNeuroscience & Mental Health Program555 University AveToronto, ONCanada M5G 1X8voice: 416.813.6260fax: 416.813.6255e-mail: hmdosch@sickkids.camichael.dosch@mac.comwww.sickki ds.ca Kathy KorcokAdministrative Assistant toHans-Michael Dosch, M.D., Ph.D.Neurosciences & Mental Health ProgramTelephone: 416-813-6260Fax: 416-813-6255E.mail: Kathy.korcok@sickkids.ca----- Forwarded by Kathy Korcok/Research/HSC on 11/08/07 09:46 AM ----- Shelley Romoff/PubAffairs /HSC To Kathy Korcok/Research/HSC@HSC 11/07/07 07:43 AM cc Subject Fw: Study on Capsaicin and substance P Neuropeptide for diabetics Good morning Kathy. I'm forwarding a note received last night requesting information on Dr.Dosch's study (reported last year) and upcoming clinical trial. Shelley----- Forwarded by Shelley Romoff/PubAffairs/HSC on 2007-11-07 07:40 -----

[DadCares]

Teresa:

Very good work! I will watch for more updates to this study.

[Nelson]

But, I have not seen one press-release or follow-up article since then (perhaps I'm looking in all the wrong places!). Thus, I'm less optimistic about this particular study.

Welcome to the world of scientific research. Even though lots of press can help with some funding sometimes, dealing with the press is a pain in the neck and often gets researchers in trouble because they are pressured into presenting research conclusions that the data alude to but do not fully support yet. That leads to retractions and destroyed careers.

It sounds like these finding were a surprise, and there isn't going to be any more news or progress until more research produces more results (at least a couple of years in most cases. Then, six months is a fast track to publication after all the research is done. And, no responsible scientist is going to be talking to the press about their research results until they are ready to publish a supportable scientific paper on them. If you'll notice, most science news is published referencing the scientific journals that the study is published in.

We need to keep our eyes open and the pressure on, but giving up hope in this and many other cases is probably premature and pretty short sighted.