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Researchers at the University
of Florida continue to provide international leadership
in the search for a cure for diabetes. Some of the
research initiatives investigators are currently involved
in include:
Genetic Screening -
UF is home to a pioneering study - the
PANDA Program - an opportunity for parents of
infants identified as being at high risk for developing
diabetes to have their children monitored throughout
their lives for the appearance of antibodies in
their blood which are known to signal the earliest
signs of diabetes, often many years before the patient
develops symptoms.
DPT-1
Study - a nationwide study to determine if type
1 diabetes can be delayed or prevented. DPT-1 is
looking for relatives of people with type 1 diabetes
to screen for their risk of developing the disease.
Those who have a high or moderate risk of getting
type 1 may participate in testing the effectiveness
of oral insulin therapy in preventing or delaying
the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Stem Cell Transplantation
- UF researchers are studying the restoration
of normal insulin production in patients by transplanting
healthy insulin-producing pancreatic cells from
donors. To date, scientists have reversed diabetes
in mice with a simple injection of cells that soon
produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar effectively.
Gene Therapy - Through
the new Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gene
Therapy Center for Prevention of Diabetes and Its
Complications, UF scientists are striving to build
a better viral delivery system that could be used
to insert protective genes into pancreatic or kidney
cells to help prevent the disease and its adverse
effects.
Diabetes Associated Vision
Loss - UF researchers are studying diabetic
retinopathy and the role of the molecule adenosine
in affecting blood vessels in the mouse retina and
are testing different ways of preventing adenosine
from triggering uncontrolled cells growth in the
retina, resulting in blindness.
The health care costs, the
devastating complications and the now epidemic proportions
of this chronic disease necessitate every available
means to expand on-going research and discover a cure
as quickly as possible.
In children, the risk of developing
type 1 diabetes is higher than nearly all other severe
chronic childhood diseases, including cancer, cystic
fibrosis, multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy.
In adults, the incidence and
prevalence of type 2 diabetes is growing at an alarming
rate. Right now it is estimated that 10-15 cents*
of every dollar spent on direct health care costs
can be attributed to diabetes and its complications:
kidney disease and failure, amputation, heart attack
and stroke and blindness.
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