Imagine how devastating it was to have your child diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1922 before there was any treatment. You knew your child was going to die. Then, a miracle happened that year. Canadian researchers discovered a treatment that saved your child’s life, insulin. Although not the same insulin used today, it was the start of research to treat diabetes.
In the last 94 years, purer insulin has been developed, along with longer-acting and ultrashort-acting insulin and everything in between. Delivery systems have also improved dramatically from a syringe and large bore needle to the currently programmable insulin pump.
I have spent my career working to help those with diabetes prevent its dreaded complications: heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, limb amputation. And now we hear what was just a whisper five years ago being talked about in the media as a cure, a word rarely used in the medical community when speaking about a chronic disease such as diabetes.
For this reason, the nurse in me is skeptical. However, the person in me who has loved ones with diabetes is hopeful. A cure won’t be easy or quick. But maybe, just maybe, we will see the second miracle for Type 1 diabetes – a cure by the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin. And if brilliant scientific minds can cure Type 1 diabetes, we can hope that they will also develop a cure for Type 2 diabetes.
The Clinical Research Center at The Corvallis Clinic is proud to have participated in diabetes research for the past 15 years. The staff supports Michael Chen, M.D., Lindsay Bromley, M.D., and Ruth Palma, FNP-C in research on treatments for diabetes.
The Clinical Research Center is currently seeking volunteer patients in studies for Type 2 diabetes, walking difficulties after a stroke, those with very high triglyceride levels, COPD and contraception. For the record, each of the volunteers who qualify for participation in these studies receives a modest stipend for each study visit!
If you are interested in learning more about clinical trials, contact the Clinical Research Center at 541-766-2163, or send an email to research@corvallisclinic.com or fill out our Research Study Information Requestform. And, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/corvallisclinicresearch.
– Pat Eshleman, RN, BSN, is the manager of the Clinical Research Center at The Corvallis Clinic.
