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Verapamil: an effective therapy for type 1 diabetes

To promote the functioning of beta cells and insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes, researchers have developed a novel strategy that minimizes the requirements of insulin and the incidence of hypoglycemia. These researchers have worked at the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA.

The journal Nature Medicine published these findings recently. Verapamil is the most commonly used drug for controlling blood pressure; it was approved for oral administration in the year 1981. Following the administration of verapamil, type 1 diabetes patients were able to produce greater amounts of insulin. Thus, their daily requirement of insulin was reduced substantially and their blood sugar levels were also in control. The drug verapamil is not just safe and effective for type 1 diabetes but also a promising therapy that provides new hope to people living with this life-threatening condition. These were positive results confirmed in a human clinical trial that was randomized and double-blinded in nature; the clinical trial was controlled by placebo.

Verapamil has shown promising results in improving the function of beta cells in pancreas; the functioning of beta cells is related to the control of insulin production. Optimum levels of insulin ensure a good quality of life in patients. Under such a scenario, type 1 diabetes patients have new hope. It is otherwise difficult to control such a life-threatening condition that offers no hope. Although this drug does not sound like a complete cure for type 1 diabetes, it is however a promising therapy for altering a life-threatening condition: type 1 diabetes. Such patients need to boost the production of insulin in their body in order to have better disease control.

A clinical trial was conducted on animal models in the year 2014. In this clinical trial, it was reported that the condition of type 1 diabetes could be completely reversed by administering verapamil. Then, they conducted a human clinical trial to determine the effects of this drug. For more than three decades, the drug verapamil has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of high blood pressure. Current research findings are path-breaking in the sense that the drug is quite safe and effective in the treatment of type 1 diabetes patients. In patients with type 1 diabetes, the body’s immune system attacks beta cells of the pancreas. These beta cells are responsible for the production of insulin. Insulin is the hormone that controls blood sugar levels in the patient.

The production of insulin decreases substantially when the beta cells of pancreas are destroyed in the human body. Consequently, blood sugar levels would rise in the human body and the patient would become extremely dependent on external sources for insulin. The function of beta cells can be preserved effectively when a patient is administered verapamil. This drug induces the body to produce more insulin. In various clinical trials, it has been proved that the participants’ dependency on external insulin decreases substantially. Several individuals with type 1 diabetes can effectively regulate their blood sugar levels with this strategy.

In the human clinical trial, the drug verapamil was administered to 24 patients. These patients were in the age group of 18 to 45 years. Over the course of one year, verapamil was administered to 11 patients while a placebo drug was administered to 13 patients. Only patients with type 1 diabetes were included in this clinical trial. They received insulin therapy to manage their condition throughout the duration of this clinical trial. The total daily dose of insulin was monitored in both the groups, that is, the group that received verapamil and the group that received placebo. Moreover, we also monitored the amount of insulin produced in these groups. Factors such as the percentage of change in insulin and HbA1C levels were also monitored. There were patients who experienced hypoglycemic events; all such events of each patient were recorded in our human clinical trial. A continuous glucose monitoring system was used to determine the healthy blood glucose levels of each patient.

Patients with type 1 diabetes do have therapeutic options for hope. In fact, such patients should be able to deal with the illness in a promising way following the successful administration of verapamil. Insulin dependency was substantially reduced in patients with type 1 diabetes following the administration of verapamil. The quality of life was significantly improved in these patients. The risk of comorbidities would be improved when the overall blood sugar levels was controlled in patients. Thus, a patient with type 1 diabetes would not develop several other comorbidities, such as kidney disease, blindness, and heart attack.

 

 

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The risk of heart failure increases with aspirin consumption

 

In people with an underlying risk factor for heart failure, aspirin should never be prescribed as it increases the risk of heart failure by as much as 26%. This finding was published in the ESC Heart Failure journal, which is affiliated with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The underlying risk factors include smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

This is a path-breaking study as it is the first to report how dangerous aspirin medication is to people having at least one risk factor of heart failure. Although the potentially dangerous link between aspirin consumption and heart failure has been unraveled, the finding needs to be backed up with substantial evidence that confirms the finding. The association of aspirin with heart failure can seem to be baffling to some medical researchers.

In the journal article, researchers explained how the incidence of heart failure was related to people with and without any heart ailment. Thereafter, they also assessed whether the use of a drug could lead to a new diagnosis of heart failure in people who have underlying risk factors. In this study, researchers investigated 30,827 patients with a risk factor for heart failure. These patients were from Western European countries and the US, that is, patients from the developed world.

The age of participants was at least 40 years and above, with the average age being 67 years. At the time of enrolment, they did not have any incidence of heart failure. Based on the usage of aspirin medication, the participants were divided into two groups: users and non-users. The patients who had the first incidence of heart failure were followed up, regardless of whether the attack was fatal or non-fatal as the incidence needed hospitalization.

About 34% of the participants were women. Nearly 25% of the participants were consuming aspirin, that is, 7698 patients in total. In the follow-up period of 5.3 years, heart failure occurred in about 1330 participants. The researchers investigated whether the use of aspirin was truly related to the incidence of heart failure in patients.

They also took into consideration several risk factors: gender, age, body mass index, smoking habit, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, creatinine levels, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Some of the other risk factors for heart failure included treatment of drugs inhibiting the levels of renin, angiotensin, and aldosterone, blockers of calcium channel, beta-blockers, diuretics, and drugs used to lower lipids. The researchers reported that the consumption of aspirin increased the risk of heart failure by about 26%.

 

 

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The onset of type 1 diabetes may be prevented with existing drug

According to researchers at the University of Colorado, a drug used to treat high blood pressure may also be used as a preventive medication for type 1 diabetes. This study was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.  This seems to be an important breakthrough to combat type 1 diabetes. In the clinical investigating laboratory, this discovery was path-breaking on mice and humans with the aid of supercomputers.

In pregnant woman and children, the drug methyldopa was used to treat high blood pressure for the past 50 years. This drug was included in the list of essential drugs at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Many drugs may be used to treat a single condition; however, the path-breaking discovery was completely unrelated to current use of medication. The risk of developing type 1 diabetes increases manifold with the molecule D8, with about 60 percent people with type 1 diabetes being diagnosed with this molecule. Scientists believe that the onset of heart disease could be prevented if the molecule D8 can be blocked specifically.

Every allopathic medication has side-effects. Excessive consumption of acetaminophen can cause damage to liver. Every small molecule approved by FDA was taken into consideration and analyzed with a supercomputer to identify whether the linkage between HLA and DQ8 existed. Each drug exhibited more than thousand orientations. We identified the ones that were associated with DQ8 molecule.

Thousands of drugs were analyzed with a supercomputer. The drug methyldopa was found to block DQ8. Nevertheless, the immune function of remaining cells was not compromised in this case like the way other immunosuppressant drugs. These research studies were conducted over a period of 10 years, but the efficacy was proved in mice and in 20 patients who were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

These patients participated in the clinical trial that was conducted at the School of Medicine, University of Colorado. With this discovery, prediction of type 1 diabetes is possible. The ultimate aim of this study was either to delay or to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes among the people who were at risk of developing diabetes.

The drug used to prevent type 1 diabetes can be administered orally, at least three times a day. The strategy of blocking the expression of a specific molecule can also be used to combat other diseases.This study showed significant improvement in people suffering from diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.

The same approach can also be used to treat other autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, etc. To verify the implications of this disease, a larger clinical trial would be conducted at the National Institutes of Health in spring season. A very significant development would be the prevention of type 1 diabetes in people at risk of developing the illness.